In the end . . .
So Uli didn't win. Even after I made her my official official prediction. Next time, she should follow in the steps of her east german countrywomen and take steroids. How that would help, I don't know, but maybe steroids would help realign the universe.
No one can blame me for picking Uli . . . all 12 people watching with me at my place, when it came down to Jeffrey and Uli, picked Uli to win. Her collection was absolutely gorgeous and made us all go "wow". It was just so pretty! Most thought it should have been between Uli and Laura. Apparently we know nothing.
Or perhaps it just made for a better story for Jeffrey to win. Bad boy redemption and all.
But just as all reality shows go, successive seasons can become increasingly less fabulous. This season was, by far, the most "produced". Every other episode Tim Gunn was running in saying "Designers, can you gather 'round? I have an announcement to make. You only have until the end of the day to finish", when originally they had been given until the end of the next day. How can a good designer plan anything around complete randomness? I'm sure that it simulates "real life" when you are designing for bitchy celebrities, but even celebrities cannot suddenly make the Emmys or the Oscars happen a day early.
In a discussion with a co-worker, she mentioned some tidbits she picked up in an article she read recently. The article talked about how the designers in this season, although thoroughly fucked with, demonstrated superior skill to prior seasons. For example, sleeves were a regular part of pieces this season . . . in prior seasons, sleeves were almost always avoided. My co-worker went as far to say that the skill level this season was so much higher, that even Michael's collection would have stacked up against the likes of Chloe and Jay.
With that, I must disagree. If this season proved anything, it's that the producers shouldn't allow the original model to be fucked with. Who had the worst dress in the final regular season competition? Michael. Who had the worst collection in the finale? Michael. Who should have been kicked off instead of included in the finale? Michael. Yes, he was a fan favorite. He was a super guy, one of the good guys who has so much potential you want to give him the trophy before his time just to validate his potential. But in the end, that decision to include him made the show suffer.
Instead of 3 collections in the finale, they had to squeeze 4 collections into an hour show. The result was less time spent on showing the pieces on the runway. Instead of long shots on models working the runway, we were shown the front and back of each piece for maybe a second. Quality, not quantity, should rule.
It is also true that the designers this season were only given 2 months to work on their collections. Prior seasons had 4 - 6 months. Is this a testament to the skill of this season's designers that they put it all together in such a short amount of time? Or does shortening the time frame allow the least talented to better compete with the most talented?
In my opinion, there was a clear winner in season's one and two. When Jay's pieces walked down the runway they were unique AND pretty. When Chloe's pieces walked down the runway they were unique AND pretty. I didn't have to ponder "is that innovative or ugly?" It just jumped out and grabbed you as such. None of the collections this season had both. Uli's collection was the most pretty, in a way that wasn't boring. Was it innovative? Apparently not to the incomparable Nina Garcia, Michael Kors, Heidi Klum, and non-celebrity guest judge (is it really that hard to find someone with some name recognition to judge for this thing now?). Jeffrey's was definitely the most innovative, but did not evoke a great emotional response like Uli's did. And at times, his innovation seemed tawdry. Maybe in real life, or in high-definition (Bravo, seriously, you have to put this show in HD), the tawdry impression disappears. Perhaps, had the desingers been given 4 - 6 months, Uli or Jeffrey would have found what their collections appeared to lack and the superiority would have materialized.
Maybe, given more time, Laura could have worked her way out of her rut. Maybe Michael would have aged a bit more like the fine wine everyone says he will someday be. Or at least he would have grown tired of all that animal print and sold all that crap to the local Naughty Nites lingerie store.
Or maybe what we all just really want to see is Project Runway All-Stars. Let's stack some of these personalities that didn't win the first time around against each other. Keith can come back for some of his own bad boy redemption. Allison can make it to the final and wow us all. Andre can rekindle his Red Lobster romance with Tim Gunn. And for the group competition, Nick, Kayne, and Austin Scarlett can team up to make an evening gown so fabulous it produces spontaneous female orgasm.
It's over, it's done, I'm moving on with my life. But if Uli is looking for investors for her new line, I have a jar full of change that gets filled up every couple months or so that I am more than willing to invest.
No one can blame me for picking Uli . . . all 12 people watching with me at my place, when it came down to Jeffrey and Uli, picked Uli to win. Her collection was absolutely gorgeous and made us all go "wow". It was just so pretty! Most thought it should have been between Uli and Laura. Apparently we know nothing.
Or perhaps it just made for a better story for Jeffrey to win. Bad boy redemption and all.
But just as all reality shows go, successive seasons can become increasingly less fabulous. This season was, by far, the most "produced". Every other episode Tim Gunn was running in saying "Designers, can you gather 'round? I have an announcement to make. You only have until the end of the day to finish", when originally they had been given until the end of the next day. How can a good designer plan anything around complete randomness? I'm sure that it simulates "real life" when you are designing for bitchy celebrities, but even celebrities cannot suddenly make the Emmys or the Oscars happen a day early.
In a discussion with a co-worker, she mentioned some tidbits she picked up in an article she read recently. The article talked about how the designers in this season, although thoroughly fucked with, demonstrated superior skill to prior seasons. For example, sleeves were a regular part of pieces this season . . . in prior seasons, sleeves were almost always avoided. My co-worker went as far to say that the skill level this season was so much higher, that even Michael's collection would have stacked up against the likes of Chloe and Jay.
With that, I must disagree. If this season proved anything, it's that the producers shouldn't allow the original model to be fucked with. Who had the worst dress in the final regular season competition? Michael. Who had the worst collection in the finale? Michael. Who should have been kicked off instead of included in the finale? Michael. Yes, he was a fan favorite. He was a super guy, one of the good guys who has so much potential you want to give him the trophy before his time just to validate his potential. But in the end, that decision to include him made the show suffer.
Instead of 3 collections in the finale, they had to squeeze 4 collections into an hour show. The result was less time spent on showing the pieces on the runway. Instead of long shots on models working the runway, we were shown the front and back of each piece for maybe a second. Quality, not quantity, should rule.
It is also true that the designers this season were only given 2 months to work on their collections. Prior seasons had 4 - 6 months. Is this a testament to the skill of this season's designers that they put it all together in such a short amount of time? Or does shortening the time frame allow the least talented to better compete with the most talented?
In my opinion, there was a clear winner in season's one and two. When Jay's pieces walked down the runway they were unique AND pretty. When Chloe's pieces walked down the runway they were unique AND pretty. I didn't have to ponder "is that innovative or ugly?" It just jumped out and grabbed you as such. None of the collections this season had both. Uli's collection was the most pretty, in a way that wasn't boring. Was it innovative? Apparently not to the incomparable Nina Garcia, Michael Kors, Heidi Klum, and non-celebrity guest judge (is it really that hard to find someone with some name recognition to judge for this thing now?). Jeffrey's was definitely the most innovative, but did not evoke a great emotional response like Uli's did. And at times, his innovation seemed tawdry. Maybe in real life, or in high-definition (Bravo, seriously, you have to put this show in HD), the tawdry impression disappears. Perhaps, had the desingers been given 4 - 6 months, Uli or Jeffrey would have found what their collections appeared to lack and the superiority would have materialized.
Maybe, given more time, Laura could have worked her way out of her rut. Maybe Michael would have aged a bit more like the fine wine everyone says he will someday be. Or at least he would have grown tired of all that animal print and sold all that crap to the local Naughty Nites lingerie store.
Or maybe what we all just really want to see is Project Runway All-Stars. Let's stack some of these personalities that didn't win the first time around against each other. Keith can come back for some of his own bad boy redemption. Allison can make it to the final and wow us all. Andre can rekindle his Red Lobster romance with Tim Gunn. And for the group competition, Nick, Kayne, and Austin Scarlett can team up to make an evening gown so fabulous it produces spontaneous female orgasm.
It's over, it's done, I'm moving on with my life. But if Uli is looking for investors for her new line, I have a jar full of change that gets filled up every couple months or so that I am more than willing to invest.
Labels: Musings on Project Runway
posted by J.r.n at 10:36 AM
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