S18.E06: There Is Only One You

[hula-la]

1 hour ago, Samwise979 said:

First of all, the guest judge 😍😍😍 someone please remind me of his name so I can google stalk him. 

 

I had to look him up too. His name is Fernando Garcia  https://www.allure.com/story/oscar-de-la-renta-monse-laura-kim-fernando-garcia

[Pepper Mostly]

21 minutes ago, Corgi-ears said:

Sergio: "Christian is not a Latino...I come from a family of immigrants, and that's something you can't explain to everyone."

And as we all know, Italians did not immigrate to the US. They were here when the Pilgrims stepped off the Mayflower. Who'd have thought?

Sergio makes me very, very tired with this schtick. This is a country of immigrants. Every one of us has an immigration story, whether recent or generations old.

[carrps]

15 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

I felt really terrible for Geoffrey. His family is just not supportive.

I know. When he was trying to tell his mom "I won the Cyndi Lauper challenge!" and she just went "What? WHAT? I can't hear you!" I know there might have been technical problems, and maybe his mom is a technophobe, but that just made me sad. I actually had a little non-Sergio tear.

7 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I liked Geoffrey's military inspired dress. It referenced different elements of military without being too literal. I know he said he wished that the camo stood out more but I liked that it looked more subtle on the runway.

I liked the pop of pink on Dayoung's jacket.

The silhouette of Sergio's dress was okay but I hated the red lace over the white fabric. It just looked very cheap. I also hated the front of the skirt. The way he made it, it looked like it was missing a panel.

Re: Geoffrey -- me, too! I thought his dress was cute.

Re: Dayoung -- that's exactly what I said when I saw the completed jacket. That little pop of pink was such a nice touch.

Re: Sergio -- The missing panel made me think of the first Parent Trap movie when one of the Hayley Mills twins cut out the back half of the other twin's dress. And it was even white cotton!

 

2 hours ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

Victoria definitely knows fit.  Those pants hugged the model's curves perfectly.  I think she was in the top just for the judges to applaud her fit.  I am curious to see what happens if she gets a plus-sized model.  

I know! I don't think she's had a plus-sized model yet.

[dleighg]

why did Shavi choose that material? It is impossible to work with and is bound to buckle.

The pants on Victoria's look reminded me of those awful stretch polyester pants that were popular in the 70s and the seams were stitched in. Anyone remember those?

Edited January 17, 2020 by dleighg

[ElectricBoogaloo]

4 minutes ago, dleighg said:

why did Shavi choose that material? It is impossible to work with and is bound to buckle.

He seemed really married to the idea of doing a silver or gold lounge singer dress and unfortunately when you are determined to do a shiny metallic colored dress, there are only so many fabric options. If he hadn't been so stuck on that color palette, he could have made the same dress with a drapier fabric and it would have made a world of difference in the stiff bunchy sections.

[Jessa]

I’m just fascinated that Sergio seems to say all of the right things (politics, environment, up cycling), but comes off as so insufferable. 
 

I don’t know jack about fashion, but I liked the safe looks the best. 

[dleighg]

Sergio's dress reminded me (in a bad way) of Ashley's stuff (was that her name? The designer who specialized in plus size). And why was it missing a piece? And yes, his crying seemed very fake. 

[TexasGal]

28 minutes ago, hula-la said:

I had to look him up too. His name is Fernando Garcia  https://www.allure.com/story/oscar-de-la-renta-monse-laura-kim-fernando-garcia

Ok so I maybe got a little stalkery after reading that.  It's a good thing he didn't marry his creative partner I guess...

https://fashionweekdaily.com/laura-kim-fernando-garcia-interview-2019/

[AZChristian]

1 hour ago, Brookside said:

Is it cultural appropriation to wear the winning design if one comes from a country that has no history of letter jackets?

Or if one never played varsity sports or graduated from high school?

Yeah . . . I think the whole cultural appropriation thing is weird.  How many parochial school girls have to wear plaid skirts?  Is that cultural misappropriation of kilts?

I would think of it more as a compliment that a particular cultural's clothing is beautiful.

[terrymct]

7 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I liked Geoffrey's military inspired dress. It referenced different elements of military without being too literal. I know he said he wished that the camo stood out more but I liked that it looked more subtle on the runway.

 

To me, it looked like a cheap, rushed offspring of what he did last week.   Last week's outfit was tailored and looked well made.  This one looked rather random, like he'd sewed the chest area, then just sort of heaped fabric around her hips and legs and called it a day.

[carrps]

5 minutes ago, dleighg said:

Sergio's dress reminded me (in a bad way) of Ashley's stuff (was that her name? The designer who specialized in plus size). And why was it missing a piece? And yes, his crying seemed very fake. 

I just watched a few of the after show videos, and I saw some close-ups of his face, and he was completely dry-eyed seconds after supposedly crying.

[CoyoteBlue]

2 hours ago, RoxiP said:

Cultural appropriate is crap in my opinion.  It should be looked upon as a compliment to the culture represented if it is worn in a beautiful and respectful way.  So everybody that braids their hair is appropriating Native American culture?  Everybody that wears fringe?  If someone wears overalls they are appropriating the culture of people who farm?  People who wear kimonos are disrespecting Asians? 

When as a society we have become so sensitive to every little nuanced thing I believe we are in big trouble and have way too much time on our hands.

The issue is when white kids take other people's culture and use it in disrespectful ways. Using clothing with actual cultural significance as pajamas or costumes, wearing a hairstyle and considering it trendy when you wear it and ghetto when the originators wear it, using a culture's religious items as jewelry, that kind of thing.

So Dayoung's style was not particularly special beyond "Korean fashion inspired" and wearing it would not be appropriative. If she had, say, made Buddhist robes into a mini skirt and use prayer beads as a belt, like a Sexy Buddhist Monk Halloween costume, it would be both appropriative and extremely tacky.

 

ETA When they announced the safe people, it was my exact list of top outfits. *sigh*

Edited January 17, 2020 by CoyoteBlue

[CherryMalotte]

6 hours ago, Beden said:

All I could think when Victoria's onsie came out was that it looked like a bad costume for Star Trek, circa 1970-something. Body hugging, sexist (and this is my boob...!) and unwearable for virtually any normal human.

I thought Star Trek TOS or TNG at first and then realized that it was more Buck Rogers In The 25th Century with a splash of Hunger Games.  I like Victoria as a person, I think she's a good soul but if she designs similar in the next couple of challenges she'll be facing some harsher critiques.  Remember, don't bore Nina! 
  

[njbchlover]

16 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

 

What the fuck did Victoria make? That was hideous. Well made sure but hideous.

I know a lot of people (including one of the judges, I think?) are mentioning Star Trek, or outer space reference, but to me, it seemed very "Studio 54"/late 70's disco vibe.

I could totally picture Iman or Bianca Jagger wearing that outfit to Studio 54.  

ETA:  And, with Iman's and Bianca's coloring, stature and just their whole countenance, they both would have rocked that look!  

Edited January 17, 2020 by njbchlover

[Snewtsie]

I'm relieved that I'm not the only person who has family members who are totally whackadoo.

Nancy's caller- "Italian?- well there's pizza, pasta, cannoli..."  LOL - and poor Geoffery with his mom not knowing how to adjust the volume or whatever.  I felt their pain.

[Snewtsie]

2 hours ago, Corgi-ears said:

Sergio: "Christian is not a Latino...I come from a family of immigrants, and that's something you can't explain to everyone."

Fernando Garcia: "As a Latino, your design suuuuuccked. I wished you elevated the concepts. I feel like this stayed in comic book world."

Ha!  ...Seriously, that comment of Sergio's really ticked me off. How would he know if Christian's family hadn't migrated here? With an Italian last name, I would assume Christian probably had a grandparent or other family member who did migrate from Italy to the US. 

[HurricaneVal]

33 minutes ago, Snewtsie said:

Nancy's caller- "Italian?- well there's pizza, pasta, cannoli..."  LOL

Was Nancy's sister completely unclear on where Nancy was, and what she was doing?  It sounded like she thought Nancy was on a cooking competition show, like Top Chef or Chopped rather than a fashion design show.

[Deskisamess]

I don't care one bit for Sergio using those children's names that way. Sergio is only interested in one thing, himself. His crying was fake, he is a fake. His use of their names in a competition is exploitative in the extreme, and hugely manipulative of the show and the judges.

Why not just embroider "I dare you to not like this!" on the skirt as well?

This season is filled with very untalented "designers."

[cinsays]

17 hours ago, Nidratime said:

I absolutely hated the winning look, with the huge initials and name on the back. Who's going to buy that? I wish the lady from South Korea had won.

I am also absolutely thrilled the woman who made the blue outfit didn't because it didn't make any sense in regards to the challenge.

 

Totally agree

A cheerleader outfit? this representing your family history? not something of your actual blood heritage? Lovely girl but hated that she won this.

But at least it wasn't Victoria's strange alien jumpsuit - which one of the judges forced this into the top 3? Makes no sense...…..

My vote was Dey Young all the way - beautiful and well crafted and fit the challenge.

Also liked Nancy's and Brittney's.

[cinsays]

16 hours ago, mauras said:

Thank you, I thought maybe I had imagined that she said that the blue was popular in Moldova earlier in the episode. It Seemed like the only acceptable reason to use that color.

Ok, the color maybe, but that outfit?

I would love to see a pic of people in her native land wearing something like that...….doubt you could find anything at all close.

[pasdetrois]

I loved Nancy's outfit but agree that its connection to the challenge wasn't clear.

I'm glad that Chelsea won and liked how she did connect her design to her heritage and honored her grandmothers.

Sergio's efforts to be compassionate reminded me of Buffalo Bill in "Silence of the Lambs." Bill the psychopath would practice mimicking normal people's behavior.  Sergio's affect is very disturbing.

Elaine the judge earned her Bravo paycheck by carefully explaining to Sergio why his transparent manipulations just didn't cut it. And his dress was hideous.

I can only speak for Native Americans and cultural appropriation. First, some regalia items are very sacred and worn only by a relatively few honored tribal leaders, such as the war bonnets. Seeing tacky war bonnets, made in China, worn at Halloween or keg parties is deeply offensive.

Second, Native Americans have been massacred, shoved all over the US, and even today fight to have their treaties honored, to collect monies owed them, and fight for their rights as sovereign nations. As late as the 1970s they were being pressured to move to US cities, promised jobs that never materialized. Their languages and customs have been annihilated, families broken when little kids were forced into Indian boarding schools. Their culture was almost wiped out.

From this perspective, it's annoying and offensive to have the beneficiaries of all that mistreatment turn around and pretend to "honor" Native Americans by using their likenesses as sports mascots, in costumes and clothing, in cheaply made fake Indian jewelry..,all of which line the pockets of the people who do it. It's insult added to injury.

[RoxiP]

28 minutes ago, pasdetrois said:

I loved Nancy's outfit but agree that its connection to the challenge wasn't clear.

I'm glad that Chelsea won and liked how she did connect her design to her heritage and honored her grandmothers.

Sergio's efforts to be compassionate reminded me of Buffalo Bill in "Silence of the Lambs." Bill the psychopath would practice mimicking normal people's behavior.  Sergio's affect is very disturbing.

Elaine the judge earned her Bravo paycheck by carefully explaining to Sergio why his transparent manipulations just didn't cut it. And his dress was hideous.

I can only speak for Native Americans and cultural appropriation. First, some regalia items are very sacred and worn only by a relatively few honored tribal leaders, such as the war bonnets. Seeing tacky war bonnets, made in China, worn at Halloween or keg parties is deeply offensive.

Second, Native Americans have been massacred, shoved all over the US, and even today fight to have their treaties honored, to collect monies owed them, and fight for their rights as sovereign nations. As late as the 1970s they were being pressured to move to US cities, promised jobs that never materialized. Their languages and customs have been annihilated, families broken when little kids were forced into Indian boarding schools. Their culture was almost wiped out.

From this perspective, it's annoying and offensive to have the beneficiaries of all that mistreatment turn around and pretend to "honor" Native Americans by using their likenesses as sports mascots, in costumes and clothing, in cheaply made fake Indian jewelry..,all of which line the pockets of the people who do it. It's insult added to injury.

I did emphasize that it should be respectful and tasteful...I grew up in the era where we all emulated The Lone Ranger and Tonto - when we know better we do better.  I would not wear that kind of garb now (and doubt that I did back then - I always wanted to be the horse, not the rider), but I would not think wearing a beautiful kimono would be anything less than a compliment to the culture (although in my plus sized body I would look awesomely stupid in something that finely crafted - not respectful to the viewer at all...LOL!).

[ElectricBoogaloo]

5 minutes ago, pasdetrois said:

I can only speak for Native Americans and cultural appropriation. First, some regalia items are very sacred and worn only by a relatively few honored tribal leaders, such as the war bonnets. Seeing tacky war bonnets, made in China, worn at Halloween or keg parties is deeply offensive.

Second, Native Americans have been massacred, shoved all over the US, and even today fight to have their treaties honored, to collect monies owed them, and fight for their rights as sovereign nations. As late as the 1970s they were being pressured to move to US cities, promised jobs that never materialized. Their languages and customs have been annihilated, families broken when little kids were forced into Indian boarding schools. Their culture was almost wiped out.

From this perspective, it's annoying and offensive to have the beneficiaries of all that mistreatment turn around and pretend to "honor" Native Americans by using their likenesses as sports mascots, in costumes and clothing, in cheaply made fake Indian jewelry..,all of which line the pockets of the people who do it. It's insult added to injury.

Also annoying: when people claim it's okay for them to do something like wear a headdress to Coachella because they're honoring their heritage since they're 1/32 Native American. That is part of the reason I said earlier that I kind of wish they'd done DNA tests before this challenge.

[pasdetrois]

Absolutely ElectricBoogaloo. People should stop claiming Native American ancestry if they don't have bona fide proof. My friend handles applications for tribal enrollment for a large tribe, and she says it's not possible for there to be as many ancestral "Indian princesses" as there are people who swear their grandmothers, aunties, etc. held this title. Just one example of the nonsense that sprang up beginning in the 1970s.

[Samwise979]

Something I forgot to mention in my earlier post. At the beginning of the episode when Victoria said she felt guilty for winning (being in the top) so many weeks in a row I honestly thought she meant she felt guilty because she kept making the same thing over and over and was getting away with it. (Because remember last episode she did make a comment that her design was basically the same as last week and hoped the judges wouldn't notice). Silly me for thinking that when all she wanted was people to be like, no don't feel guilty! You deserve it!

[izabella]

I am clearly out of touch with so-called fashion.  First, I hated Chelsea's look.  That jacket was awful and the cheap, mustard dress underneath it was worse.    Then, half the designers did that asymmetrical, half on-half-off, one sleeved bullshit that they are passing off as fashion.  NO ONE wants to look like Victor/Victoria on a bad Picasso day!

Maybe I need to be done with this show, because these looks are nothing like what I want to see, much less can imagine anyone buying.  I like Nancy's jacket and would wear/buy that.  I guess that makes me too old for this show?

[izabella]

3 hours ago, terrymct said:

To me, it looked like a cheap, rushed offspring of what he did last week.   Last week's outfit was tailored and looked well made.  This one looked rather random, like he'd sewed the chest area, then just sort of heaped fabric around her hips and legs and called it a day.

He did one of those half-and-half skirts.  One half was longer than the other.  HATE this trend, just HATE it so much.

[Ohiopirate02]

32 minutes ago, pasdetrois said:

Absolutely ElectricBoogaloo. People should stop claiming Native American ancestry if they don't have bona fide proof. My friend handles applications for tribal enrollment for a large tribe, and she says it's not possible for there to be as many ancestral "Indian princesses" as there are people who swear their grandmothers, aunties, etc. held this title. Just one example of the nonsense that sprang up beginning in the 1970s.

I do know that many white people legitimately think that they have a Native American great-great-etc grandmother because of family lore.  Then they do the DNA test and find out that grandmother was not Native American but had African ancestry.   These women were light enough to pass for Native Americans which put them on a higher level than a black woman.  They then married white men and the family lore was born.  We forget the old social order from the 1880s.  

[bourbon]

Unpopular opinion, but I was not impressed with Chelsey's look at all. It was cute, but it was a swing coat. There was nothing terribly original about it, and it certainly wasn't "fashion forward" as they like to say. She shouldn't have been in the bottom, but that was a safe look if there ever was one. I can't believe Dayoung didn't win, and I can't believe some of the safe designers weren't in the top. It was marketable, I will say that, which is ultimately why Chelsey won and not Dayoung. The less said about Victoria's monstrosity, the better.

Sergio's look was gross. Exploitive, weird, and gross. There's nothing wrong with the sentiment. There's nothing wrong with being political in fashion. But to embroider dead children's names on a frivolous party dress was so many shades of wrong to me. It was just tone deaf and there was such a disconnect between the sentiment (immigrant children dying) and the garment (a lacy party dress). Ew. I hated hated it. Sergio is awful. 

[HurricaneVal]

1 hour ago, pasdetrois said:

Sergio's efforts to be compassionate reminded me of Buffalo Bill in "Silence of the Lambs." Bill the psychopath would practice mimicking normal people's behavior.  Sergio's affect is very disturbing.

Yes.  You put your finger on what has really been bugging me about Sergio.  He has such a flat affect.

[Tabbygirl521]

18 hours ago, Cotypubby said:

I can’t with Sergio. His whole thing this episode felt really exploitative. It did not feel natural at all, it was like he was using the story of the kids to prop up himself as a designer and it came across really icky. Like he thought the judges wouldn’t be able to auf him because that would be like they were against the kids or something. His tears felt fake as well. Gross. 

I agree, and when he talked about wanting to see women wear this dress to PARTIES because the message is important...UGH. I don’t see people getting into in-depth convo about serious social issues at parties so I’m picturing people saying, “what’s your dress say? Oh really.  Sad. Anyway...”

[WaltersHair]

FWIW, since I asked the question, I think cultural appropriation is just stupid. I was curious to see if anyone else thought so too.  The world is a melting pot and if a girl wants to wear a Chinese style dress on her prom date, she should be able to. I thought she looked great.

ETA

I've worked with something like 7 Native Tribes all over the US for about 15 years. Some ceremonial items are sacred and shouldn't be worn by anyone. But, one tribe had a Halloween contest with the winner receiving 50 dollars. A group showed up as the guys doing the YMCA dance complete with cheap headdress. When I asked him about it he said "As long as the feathers aren't eagle feathers, it's okay". Sacredness can be a fluid thing, apparently

Edited January 17, 2020 by WaltersHair

[Tabbygirl521]

2 hours ago, Snewtsie said:

Ha!  ...Seriously, that comment of Sergio's really ticked me off. How would he know if Christian's family hadn't migrated here? With an Italian last name, I would assume Christian probably had a grandparent or other family member who did migrate from Italy to the US. 

Most of us come from families of immigrants so this remark of Sergio’s had me rolling my eyes HARD. 

[StrictTime]

It struck me that Sergio figured out pretty quick that the cotton he chose at Mood (“My ancestors had a cotton farm, blah blah”) was not going to work as the cocktail dress he had planned, so he quickly decided to save himself by constructing this other story. It came off as totally fake and the dress was the worst thing on that runway.

[AuntieDiane6]

Quote

FWIW, since I asked the question, I think cultural appropriation is just stupid. I was curious to see if anyone else thought so too.  The world is a melting pot and if a girl wants to wear a Chinese style dress on her prom date, she should be able to. I thought she looked great.

No woman is going to tell me what to wear.  Ever.  Especially my mother.  

[SuprSuprElevated]

16 hours ago, sempervivum said:

Chelsey's jacket made Thijin look like she has no neck. I also didn't get why a letter jacket = education.

Artistic license.  Varsity jacket/school/education.  A graduation gown and mortarboard may have been a little too difficult to market to the masses.

16 hours ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

I think she was in the top just for the judges to applaud her fit. 

That is it exactly.

Edited January 18, 2020 by SuprSuprElevated

[SuprSuprElevated]

6 hours ago, RoxiP said:

Cultural appropriate is crap in my opinion.  It should be looked upon as a compliment to the culture represented if it is worn in a beautiful and respectful way.  So everybody that braids their hair is appropriating Native American culture?  Everybody that wears fringe?  If someone wears overalls they are appropriating the culture of people who farm?  People who wear kimonos are disrespecting Asians? 

When as a society we have become so sensitive to every little nuanced thing I believe we are in big trouble and have way too much time on our hands.

👏👏

 

 

 

Edited January 17, 2020 by SuprSuprElevated

[SHD]

Victoria needs to time travel back to the 70’s and design clothes for David Bowie.

[raeb23]

1 hour ago, bourbon said:

Sergio's look was gross. Exploitive, weird, and gross. There's nothing wrong with the sentiment. There's nothing wrong with being political in fashion. But to embroider dead children's names on a frivolous party dress was so many shades of wrong to me. It was just tone deaf and there was such a disconnect between the sentiment (immigrant children dying) and the garment (a lacy party dress)

This!!!!! There are so many ways he could have referenced the issue symbolically rather than with names. Using their names seemed exploitative since he didn't have the families' permission and this would potentially be mass produced.

I also didn't like the way he brushed off Christian in the workroom; saying he wasn't Latino so he couldn't understand the immigrant experience.

1) Only 1 of the regular judges is Latinx; was he not going to explain his look to the others on the runway?

2) Latino ≠ immigrant. Based on his name, it is quite possible that one of Christian's parents, grandparents etc. were Italian immigrants. There might be aspects of the immigrant experience that he understands, despite not being Latino. 

3) The stated reason for his design was to start conversation about what's happening at the border. If he can't explain it to Christian in the workroom, how is the wearer going to explain it in a social situation?

Also, I would have put Geoffrey in the top 3.

Edited January 18, 2020 by raeb23

[TVbitch]

I can only pray that they are showcasing Victoria like this cuz she has a big fall coming that will make for great TV. 

And also that they are holding back acknowledging one of the very good always "safe" designers because the judges/producers can already see they are the front runner and want to keep the competition interesting. 

[Whimsy]

2 hours ago, Samwise979 said:

Something I forgot to mention in my earlier post. At the beginning of the episode when Victoria said she felt guilty for winning (being in the top) so many weeks in a row I honestly thought she meant she felt guilty because she kept making the same thing over and over and was getting away with it. (Because remember last episode she did make a comment that her design was basically the same as last week and hoped the judges wouldn't notice). Silly me for thinking that when all she wanted was people to be like, no don't feel guilty! You deserve it!

I was thinking the same thing!  I think it's just because they were flashing all her samy-samy outfits as she was talking and I was just seeing the same thing over and over.  I guess she's not as aware as I thought. 

[little black cloud]

 

10 hours ago, njbchlover said:

I  understood where Sergio was coming from with the names of the children, but while his intentions were pure, this was not the challenge for that.  Besides the fact that his dress was just fugly, it was also a pop-up sale challenge.  Most people are not going to want to wear a dress with names embroidered on it, unless it is a very famous brand or designer.  So, because of the political statement and the explanations that would have to go along with the garment, I don't think the dress is very "sellable". 

So I might be wrong about this, but I don't think the designers knew it was a flash sale challenge until well into the day, after they'd come pretty far with their designs. I found that frustrating on their behalf -- they might have made very different decisions had they known that the judges would surely be considering whether their design could be mass-produced.

[stormy weather]

20 hours ago, hula-la said:

I love that Shavi apologized to his model that he was making her not look good on tv. He will be missed.

That one sentence made me love him even more than I already did, I'm glad they left it in after the editing. You can tell a lot about a person by just a few words like those. He will truly be missed. And please someone tell me who is Christian saving his save for if he didn't save Shavi. 

13 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I have to agree with Victoria - it's great if Sergio has these interesting stories, but ultimately all that really matters is what the garment looks like. "If your design looks bad, your story won't save you."

Except unfortunately it did. They completely fell for Sergio's fake crying, it was painful to see. That dress was ugly, exploitative and unimaginative, and Sergio's attitude towards Christian and the models is so disrespectful he should be sent home just for that, regardless of what clothes he makes. He didn't even ask the model if it was okay for her to help him embroider the skirt, he just said (his exact words, yes I went back and checked) : "I'm gonna finish this one stitch and then you're gonna help me finish these names up." EXCUSE ME?! And then he gathered more models and it turned into Project Sweatshop. I'm still convinced the judges/producers are keeping him 'cause the viewers love to hate him. After all, the judges are wearing earpieces all the time while they're discussing the clothes and I strongly doubt they're listening to their Spotify playlist. 

10 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

How are they going to judge the fan favourite?  The show is obviously not live.  I didn't understand that part.

Wondered about that too! When and how did the fans vote for Chelsey's jacket? 

8 hours ago, sempervivum said:

Chelsey's jacket made Thijin look like she has no neck. 

I agree. Thijin is really beautiful but she does have kind of a short neck. Maybe that jacket + the turtleneck dress were not exactly the most flattering outfit for her.

5 hours ago, CoyoteBlue said:

ETA When they announced the safe people, it was my exact list of top outfits. *sigh*

Same! When they said those 4 names I thought "wow, I guess there's going to be 4 people in the top this week!". Ooookay, I guess not. 

Finally, Victoria. I am speechless. She keeps designing clothes for 2001 Paris Hilton. Her taste is utterly Eastern European (hello, Melania Trump), and I understand some may like it (apparently the judges, who are either constantly high or they're getting money from the Moldovan Tourism Board) but I don't. And why wasn't she speaking Romanian/Russian with her husband?

Edited January 18, 2020 by stormy weather

[Brookside]

(For some reason I can't multiquote, sorry.)

Regarding DNA tests on the contestants, I'm sorry but I would decline to appear on a TV show if a requirement was that my DNA end up on a huge database that who knows has access to now or in the future.  If I want to find out myself, fine, then it's my choice to take on the risks of data breaches etc.

Christian mentioned that he dressed like his "Italian father" in the workroom on the day of the show.

 

[dleighg]

3 minutes ago, Brookside said:

Regarding DNA tests on the contestants, I'm sorry but I would decline to appear on a TV show if a requirement was that my DNA end up on a huge database

my kiddo (who works for one of those big four tech companies that you have heard of) is the most "paranoid" of anyone I know. Especially concerning DNA data. Yes, I agree with you.

Edited January 18, 2020 by dleighg

[caitmcg]

 

14 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Oh, Sergio. First he spent so much time refusing to talk to Christian about his design, claiming that there wasn't anything for him to look at and that he couldn't explain being an immigrant. Then he called Christian over (still without a garment to show him) and explained the story he wanted to tell. Um, you could have done that when Christian first came to your work station instead of arguing with him about it.

I'm assuming there was some producer intervention there, where he was told he had to consult with Christian and could not actually put it off until the next day.

[auntlada]

14 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

. . .

I get Shavi's inspiration, but over the course of the episode, he said that his grandmother's sister sang at the Cotton Club (which closed in 1940) in the 1940s and the 1950s. Then during the judging, he said that she was a dancer. They gave you a tablet to do research, man! For the record, his mom said that Ella DANCED at the Cotton Club.

. . .

Nancy's design looked like a regular outfit, not something specifically for this challenge. I liked it but it just didn't look like something for this particular challenge. I'm not saying that it should have looked like one of those internatioal costumes for the Miss Universe pageant, but it just looked like normal clothes.

. . .

On Shavi's Aunt T (that's what closed captioning told me he said): The fact that she was light enough to pass as white almost certainly means his mom is right, that she danced at the club. If she had been a singer at the club, she would have been a performer and could have done so without passing as white. Black people could perform at the Cotton Club. They just couldn't go as customers/guests.

On Nancy: This is what I don't like about these heritage challenges. What if you are white and your family has lived in this country for generations? I mean, part of my ancestry is Scottish (or so we've been told), but they came here in the late 1700s. So, technically, I guess I could claim it as my heritage, but I've never been there and probably don't really have a lot in common with the Scots of today. I live in the middle of the country. My family ended up here after moving from various parts of the South. I always try to think about what I'd do for my heritage, and I don't know.

10 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

I'm curious why the question is if Dayoung's outfit is cultural appropriation but not anybody else's.

I can see why they might be afraid people would say it was cultural appropriation to sell it to just anyone. If non-Latinx people can get hammered for operating food trucks selling tacos and burritos, anything can happen. (I don't remember where it was, but I remember reading about that.) I loved the jacket, but I'd be afraid to wear it for that reason, even though I think that's stupid. We go to lots of Celtic festivals (see the Scottish stuff above), and lots of non-Celts are there wearing and buying all manner of kilts and tartans.

9 hours ago, Kroliosis said:

Nancy’s has nothing to do with the challenge either. She said she made something she would have worn when she was young. What does that have to do with heritage?

I think she was interpreting heritage to mean the family she grew up in, rather than her DNA and ancestors. It was something she would have wanted to have, but couldn't have afforded when she was younger. Growing up with hand-me-downs was part of her heritage.

[alrightythen]

Bummer.  I liked Shavi.  I would've picked Marquis or Geoffrey for the win and sent Sergio the Poseur packing.  That dress wasn't fashionable or flattering.  It reminded me of the designer who won about 5 years ago who dressed all her plus size models in 50's style dresses and put bowls of flowers on their heads.  Yeah, I think Sergio stole one of her looks.

Poor Geoffrey.  "Hey mom, I won the challenge last week."  Mom:  "I can't hear you.  I can't hear you.  Tell someone I can't hear you."   Sweet lady.

[Nordly Beaumont]

43 minutes ago, stormy weather said:

And please someone tell me who is Christian saving his save for if he didn't save Shavi. 

Shavi was a nice guy, but I didn't see anything special or creative in his designs. I think that's what Christian will look for when using the save. Are they bringing something special to the runway?

[TexasGal]

58 minutes ago, stormy weather said:

Wondered about that too! When and how did the fans vote for Chelsey's jacket? 

I was looking at the Bravo PR page today to see if there was an easy way to see who’s been top and bottom in all the challenges so far, and there was a reference to their instagram story where you can vote on the designs.  I don’t know if that’s how they tally the fan vote but I didn’t see any other way.  The voting by the way was just thumbs up or down for each look, it didn’t ask you to rank them or pick the one you’d want to buy.

I agree that Shavi seems like such a nice guy, but the reason I wanted to check tops and bottoms was that it felt like he was in the bottom a lot.  Short of going back through each episode “blog” with the photos I didn’t see a way to check.

Edited to add:  didn’t they say both the judge’s winner and the fan winner would be produced?  So Chelsey’s was the judge winner and the voting would be for the fan winner.