PR4: Monkey House Edition!

[octothorpe]

I thought that Chris' designs ROCKED!!

Remi's designs were good, but I wasn't thrilled with the grey draped thing everyone else did.

::sigh::

Discuss!!

Comments

[joebehrsandiego.livejournal.com]

Chris ... sweet guy, the show *just started* in this time zone.

Could we start these discussions an hour or so later?

[theoctothorpe.livejournal.com]

Actually, if I understand how their programming works, it *is* on at the same time (they show the same episode back to back, then again a couple hours later for west-coasters. Theoretically you could watch it at 7pm your time, as we're watching it at 10 =)

All that aside, what didja think?

[inbhirnis.livejournal.com]

Nope - it's not on at 7pm here. We see two or three older episodes starting in the early evening, then the new one is aired at 10pm, Pacific Time.

[theoctothorpe.livejournal.com]

Iiiinteresting. That's markedly different from how many cable stations work. They normally have a single feed that's repeated (during prime time). For example, we in the east coast see a string of shows for 3 hours, then see *the exact same shows* for the west coast's "prime time".

[joebehrsandiego.livejournal.com]

Roy's description matches mine, so ... from now on, it would be nice to start this discussion a couple hours later, or the following morning. :)

[theoctothorpe.livejournal.com]

Well, that's why I don't put spoilers in the body of the post. Those who have not seen it, can join in when they have.

I'm not getting scooped by the universe just because some of you live on the wrong coast ;-)

[joebehrsandiego.livejournal.com]

Ahh - well maybe that's a quirk of our cable company then as the "new" show doesn't follow the pattern you describe.

My thoughts:

Chris: Very creative stuff, but spun off into a place that's just too creepy for me. Morticia Adams seems to be the target market.

Rami: Loved the evening gown, liked the regular dress. I agreed with the judges' choice but he won't win the final.

Quote from my post last night on Christian and Gillian:

"From what they showed us of Gillian and Christian's work ... I preferred hers. I'm biased though ... she's radiantly pretty, has such a big heart and throws her whole soul into her craft. As talented as Christian is ... he doesn't dig down as deep inside himself for his work as Gillian does.

Plus, her family is so cool."

[theoctothorpe.livejournal.com]

I really liked Jillian's collection. I hope they post video of Chris' runway performance. I want to see those outfits move.

Let's hear it for the gag reflex!

[danbearnyc.livejournal.com]

[rogueboi.livejournal.com]

OMG Larry Verba! Maker of bling for fabulous queens everywhere! It is well and truly good that he and Chris March are friends. I want a job for just two weeks as duster-of-baroque-gaudytabulousness in his apartment.

[theoctothorpe.livejournal.com]

I nearly died when they went into the apartment.

WOW!

[rogueboi.livejournal.com]

You should see his jewels (speaking entirely literally...)

[kjaz.livejournal.com]

I could not live like that. That whole baroque decorating thing would make me nuts. Years ago, when I was a young thang, I went home with this guy to his house in the suburbs of Minneapolis. He had transformed his suburban rambler home into an all Egyptian theme, complete with a monkey room. Yes, a room with real spider monkeys swinging around.
I've been pretty much a minimalist ever since.

[rogueboi.livejournal.com]

I'm not saying it would work for me, either, but I've met Larry (my better half was a long-time member of the Imperial Court of New York, and has worn and/or owned a few Verba pieces) and the apartment was just such the perfect environmental representation of him, that it brought me great glee.

[snapperboy.livejournal.com]

That grey draped thing was hideous, a dog of a dress.

[chrisglass.livejournal.com]

Again I'm reminded that my reaction is always the opposite of the judges.

[brindledbear.livejournal.com]

-Chris really gave them creative work.

-Rami's coat was vaguely familiar (Jillian had a collar like that on her (2nd?) coat. On TV, the bodice on the grey dress didn't look right.

Mostly I think it would have been appropriate to at least say that Chris and Sweet P would show but were not in contention for the prizes. Having seen (on the web) the collections I think Chris really had the best stuff on the runway at fashion week and should have been given a little more recognition.

[theoctothorpe.livejournal.com]

Seeing the human hair outfit (the one with the collar) walk down the runway was PURE FUCKING WIN!

[brindledbear.livejournal.com]

I agree, that one was the best of the 3 he showed. I would have liked to see how the dress with the face print worked when in motion. Chris's collection had a better sense of couture with an edge while Rami's was more pedestrian, safe and not threatening to any sense of style.

[theoctothorpe.livejournal.com]

And that's exactly why he won over Chris. According to design, Chris blew him out of the water. However, I don't think you can "deconstruct" those looks and turn it into something viable for the general market.

Of course, that's not Chris' intention at all. I don't think there is a "general" bone in Chris' body.

[50poundnote.livejournal.com]

And yet, in any given challenge (spanning all four seasons), when the final two come down to "safe" or "over the top", they'll auf the one who played it safe.

[theoctothorpe.livejournal.com]

Yeah... and it's always the reverse when it comes to Bryant Park. Fucking Chloe. ::shudder::

In the end, it's not about art, it's about making money. Remi's designs can be transformed and sold off the rack.

[brindledbear.livejournal.com]

As the talent has risen in the pool of designers the signals the judges/producers send has become very mixed. They want couture and then they say deliver ready-to-wear. I have to fall back and remember this is a reality show and the producers want drama - which by the end of the run may mean cultivating audience anger/response.

The only satistisfaction is that Chris did get to show at FW but unless the TV audience does the web work they don't know that.

On every count Chris just had it all over Rami -
http://bp2.blogger.com/_N2GwfFRCkGA/R8a7jNZ-F9I/AAAAAAAABmk/w33j5E6TRVs/s1600-h/PollEpisode13.jpg

[50poundnote.livejournal.com]

Once you knew exactly what Chris had used it was a crime not to reward him with one of the final three spots.

Rami didn't deserve it.

[theoctothorpe.livejournal.com]

Although the judges behaved exactly how I expected them to behave, ie carrot and stick. "We love the innovation, the style, blah blah blah" ... but went ahead with boring conservative, and downright ugly.

That said, I did like Remi's gown, but it had *nothing* on the cropped jacked with hair trim Chris made.

[thornyc.livejournal.com]

I don't get it -- a dead animal fur good, human hair bad?

[theoctothorpe.livejournal.com]

I don't think Chris tried hard enough... one of those coats should have been human *skin*.

[50poundnote.livejournal.com]

I just LOLed IRL.

Can you picture Chris sewing human skin while belting out that laugh of his?

OMG, I'm now imagining a film that crosses Silence Of The Lambs with Female Trouble!

[theoctothorpe.livejournal.com]

Exactly!

[delmarmar.livejournal.com]

I nmy humble and not so fashionable opinion, the decision was simply wrong. Makes me wonder how different these things look in person.

[kjaz.livejournal.com]

Oh now I liked the Remi grey draped thing and I usually don't like his work.
I thought that the human hair work looked great. It had nice movement. Would the washing instructions read, "lather, rinse, repeat"?

[theoctothorpe.livejournal.com]

Ha!!

[badgerpdx.livejournal.com]

I agree. Chris' rule... (But I'd fock Rami).

[grandiva1968.livejournal.com]

My feeling is this:

I did like Chris’s work better than Rami’s in general.

That said, there is, alas, a difference between staying true to your aesthetic and doing what you need to do to win a reality show.  On Top Model, you have to kiss Tyra Bank’s ass, and on Project Runway, you need to not scare Nina Garcia with human hair.

The trick here, then, is to remember why you’re on Project Runway to begin with.  Are you trying to get a higher profile, or are you trying to win $100,000?  If you’re trying to win the bucks, then you need to work harder at getting inside Nina’s pretty little head and come up with something that impresses her without creeping her out, and I think it goes without saying that you gotta manage that with all the judges.

Tim knew what he was talking about, and Chris didn’t want to compromise his vision in the interest of winning, which seems to be a pretty typical reality show contestant pattern.

Rami’s work was safe, definitely, but he apparently worked his vision into the corner he needed to in the interest of actually continuing on.

ETA: I suppose the comparison could be made: when a designer already has assured financial backing for his line, he can send whatever he wants down the runway without much concern for what the Fashion Editors of the world have to say about it.  However, Chris March, in the PR context, probably could have had that principle a little higher in mind, fair or not.

[grandiva1968.livejournal.com]

And now Sissybear has gone public with how he really felt about the judges’ response to his collection…