Oldernowiser

I don't like Amanda and I think she will win. She's been acting like the whole thing is a done deal since the first episode. I would prefer a Kini win but mostly I really don't care. I haven't seen a single garment this season that made me wish I could wear it successfully. Or at all :) Sigh.

What people react to (well, meaning people = me) is the obvious evidence that not all is perfect/precious/neat in Duggarland yet the Dugger Elders insist that everything is not only good, but PERFECT. After all, God has given them so many Blessings that clearly he is 100% on board with everything they're doing as parents. It's a complete tautology of WTF: We are perfect parents because we keep becoming...parents. Go, God.Positive thinking is one thing. Glossing over everything that doesn't fit with the family's image of themselves is another. I grew up with that crap and it's insanity-making to have parents who tell you in no uncertain terms that everything is precious and outstanding and wonderful, even in the face of glaring evidence to the contrary. As a result, you never completely trust your own judgment about anything. It's much worse for the Duggar kids because they have all of those siblings also spouting the party line at them. If Michelle or JB ever once said, "You know, we had all of these kids because of our faith but some days are just brutal and we don't always do everything we should for each of them," I would actually have a tiny bit of respect for them. Very tiny. This episode just proves it...when everything is perfection it's just boring. They're out of storylines and six more courtships/weddings/grandchildren isn't going to make it any more interesting.

I'm waiting for the moment (if it hasn't already happened) when would-be contestants will have to pay reality shows in order to participate. So many famewhores, not enough profit...isn't it the inevitable path?

My current theory is that they're trapped in their "WE HAVE A HUGE HIT" bubble, complete with moronically howling studio audience, and therefore don't recognize crap when they see it anymore. Seriously, the studio audience sounds like baboon island during mating season before anyone even opens their mouths. WTF? I hate it when great shows forget how to be even...okay.

Yeah, but if you have to close your eyes in order to board Team Amanda....perhaps in this show's context that's not a good thing? ;)

Finally watched the first episode and I was braced for the worst, but it wasn't awful. Personally, I think Kaley's hair is stunning. It plays up her cheekbones and her eyes and makes her look much more sophisticated and professional.

I'm wondering if they didn't use PR's own makeup people for the "real-life" models. I'm sorry, but PR's makeup people are and always have been, atrocious. For years, every judge looked like an oompa loompa, even Heidi, and the foundation/pancake whatever was always much too heavy for the lighting. I'd be surprised if Mary Kay is springing for the caliber of makeup artists they used in the L'Oreal Paris Makeup Studio. At least back then, the models looked good.

I'm going to have to quit watching this just because every episode is giving me PTFD (post traumatic fashion disorder), complete with flashbacks. PRAIRIE is back now, Emily? As for Amanda...honey, the 70s were hideous. HIDEOUS. Stop dredging them back up. Add in Korina's Rhythm Nation jacket...I have to go lie down with a cool cloth over my eyes. Maybe I'll soak it in vodka. Bye, Alexander. At least I can stop trying to remember why I can never remember you. P.S. And did Kina's jacket have shoulder pads? So many memories...so many bad memories....

Was Randy involved in that episode? I saw part of it in a rerun once, but can't remember. I do remember thinking her posture was atrocious even then. HPmec, unfortunately, the only part of that description that Mechelle hears in her head is "hot." She's never gotten over cheerleader syndrome. Some people never mentally leave high school.

Last season was so dispiriting that I'm not going to go back and rewatch the episode, but wasn't the "big role" a reprise of her semi-nude, low budget horror film about bisexual blonde morphing into a gorilla? IIRC, and I probably don't, first she got fired for being unwilling to do something during the filming, I forget what, and then Wheaton got fired for defending her. So after that, it would make sense that she would be over it, acting-wise. Not that making sense is any kind of priority for this show at this point.

Okay, I'm sincerely baffled here. Other than Sandhya's talking about this famous pro-women "message," where else does this supposed daring, anti-domination theme appear? Her designs all looked like Sesame Street meets Bollywood, but maybe I missed something? Do they say something subversive in Hindi script that I just didn't comprehend?

The irony of it just dawned on me...Sandhya's design "aesthetic" all season has been childish-looking clothing. So the challenge that sends her home is?

Sean's model, poor girl...I could tell exactly what she's going to look like at age 60, thanks to that faded out gardening ensemble. It made her look like she had a booze gut. Buh-bye Sandhya. If you were half as good as you think you are that would still be twice as good as you really are. I enjoy the real life models when they look like they're having such a great time. I thought Char's model was really darling. Alexander. I swear I forget about him even before he's off my screen. WTF. Someone has hacked Lifetime's fan favorite voting for certain. Kini's pieces were really cute but I agree that bulk over bulk wasn't the best way to go. But it's high time he got a solo win. Amanda. Please stop talking. And take Korina with you.

Apparently "All Stars" = former contestants who will agree to show up.

Thanks for that link...I'm sorry, but I just don't get those clothes at all. As much as I would respect what she claims to be the inspiration behind her collection, I see absolutely nothing that would back it up unless it's a protest march at Gymboree at a Mommy & Me class. This is problem--she says one thing and her clothes say another yet for some reason it's considered what, controversial? Edgy? I'm baffled.

It's been bugging me where I've seen something like Fade's dress before....and then it hit me... http://www.thebacklot.com/modern-family-preview-starry-night-has-mitchell-in-a-dress/03/2010/5/ Scroll down to the second to last photo... So maybe Fade's a MoFy fan...who knew...

Oh, you mean Cleopatra's makeup running down her face as she watched her city drown in the Nile? See, every time I think Amanda just has a super-dry self-deprecating stealth wit (which I would actually really enjoy) she ruins it with something stunningly vapid like that story. That and she has this weird 70s throwback vocabulary, did she actually say "rad" non-ironically the other night or am I not remembering it correctly? It was something like that.ETA: I now remember, "I dig it." Okay, Amanda, I was actually alive in the 70s and never used that phrase then, let alone now. WTH.

So that she wouldn't be defrauded? Because if that's their theory, it's possibly the one thing we know for sure about Michelle--that ship has sailed.

Amen. Pretty much every REAL artist I know (as in, makes a living creating something beautiful or interesting or useful and often all three), never calls himself or herself An Artist. I've heard painter, sculptor, craftsman, metallist, photographer, but never ARTIST. To me, it's the mark of the pretentious wannabe.

I'm wondering if that isn't what happened with Fade. It must have become rather clear that the winner is pre-selected so why the hell bother.ETA: I keep waiting in vain for Nina to haul out her usual "It's not even PRETTY" criticism, because no season has ever deserved it more. But nothing.

My current theory is that Sandhya's family has invested heavily in this network or is a silent sponsor of the show, because that was the single most unflattering garment ever put on a female form. When you manage to make a 6 foot tall 105 pound model look like a Tijuana food truck, you're in the wrong line of business. I'm now over all of them. There isn't one that I really feel excited to see on the runway, or even half interested. I'm getting such a Season 9 2.0 vibe this year.

Yes but the giant check would be for fourteen dollars, because even I believe there are seven people naive enough to buy that ugly thing. Seven's my limit, though...I like to retain some faith in the human condition.

Wow, that bracelet is UGLY. If you're going to exploit people with a disability, at least make it pretty? I tried to go to their website to see how much it was and gave up after watching it try to load forever. I'm probably better off.

One word: Cameras.

If Bin is making $10k a year as an honorary Duggar, I'll get a "ONW loves the Duggars" tattoo in a highly visible place. I can't remember the specifics, because frankly the whole topic annoys me, but I seem to remember that every time this topic comes up it turns out that the family is getting paid one lump sum to some LLC to get around paying them as actors. If JimBob is paying Bin anything like a full share, assuming there is such a concept in Duggarworld, I'd be flat-assed shocked.