S18.E06: There Is Only One You

[Corgi-ears]

I feel like we haven't sufficiently memorialized Sergio's intricate embroidery. I mean, if we don't, the amazing technique will just die with him.

 

I'm trying to replicate it. Am I doing it right? Is this good? I mean, it's not done yet; I need my model to do the rest of the name.

 

Edited January 19, 2020 by Corgi-ears

[PamelaMaeSnap]

On 1/17/2020 at 9:55 AM, SuburbanHangSuite said:

Damnit, man!  Shavi was my favorite and now he's gone with no Christian save.  I knew he was going to be in trouble when he started talking about using muslin for his liner.  Sigh.  Nothing good ever happens when muslin hits the runway.  And I just wanted to hug him when he was clearly embarrassed by the final product.

But he seems to be such a sweet soul with an easy humor and I hope they bring him back for a future season.  

This this this this and this ... LOVE Shavi! His designs up to this week have been lovely and have fitted his models like a glove ... I have a really hard body to fit and I would hand myself over gladly to Shavi to make me look great!

I had a feeling he was in trouble (though I didn't think his design was as complete and utter a mess as was, say, oh, maybe SERGIO??? (Insert "disapproving chipmunk" meme here, please) and was audibly begging for the Siriano Save here ... really really sorry it didn't happen. Maybe between last week and this week they'll somehow find a contestant cheated (Sergio?) or was ineligible (Sergio?) and they bring back Shavi. 

Hey, a girl can dream ...

[Rt66vintage]

On 1/18/2020 at 4:17 AM, SuprSuprElevated said:

My mother's Pendelton wool plaid jackets!  

Thrift store shopping fans, these vintage Pendleton 49er shirt-jackets from the 50's are a treasure to find. 

On 1/18/2020 at 7:11 AM, bugsmum said:

 

I'm going to watch it again and check out Nancy's outfit.

On 1/17/2020 at 9:30 PM, Lamb18 said:

- I was a child in the 60s and as I grow older I feel more drawn to the clothing my mother wore during that time. She was in her 20s then. I recently bought a dress that had a similar style and pattern to one she had. Maybe I'd go with a paisley print. Of course this is all theoretical since I can't sew. Anyhow I'd be interested in reading what you would make.

Yes, same generation on the west coast. My grandmas & mom wore cotton shirt dresses. For my project I would designed a shirtdress in dark blue poly/cotton, knee length, skinny blue leather belt with small silver buckle. Blue leather pumps w small silver detail. Silver hoop earrings. Probably a red printed scarf. Medium length hair pin-curled. My model is the heavier brunette on the show. 

[PamelaMaeSnap]

On 1/17/2020 at 10:30 PM, Lamb18 said:

Now I haven't read any posts so if you've already discussed this . . . But what would you have designed for this challenge? This type of challenge is tricky because you might think you have to make make something representing your ethnicity or other element of your heritage and get stuck in those weeds, but I feel you really need to examine your background and go with what calls to you. For example, I am German and Norwegian from the upper midwest but I don't feel called to make anything particularly German or Norwegian-inspired or Minnesotan (if there can even be such a look). But I do know what speaks to me - I was a child in the 60s and as I grow older I feel more drawn to the clothing my mother wore during that time. She was in her 20s then. I recently bought a dress that had a similar style and pattern to one she had. Maybe I'd go with a paisley print. Of course this is all theoretical since I can't sew. Anyhow I'd be interested in reading what you would make.

What a fantastic question ... and I am really glad you "went there" with going beyond literal heritage and took it a step further to background ... 

I have the world's most boring Ancestry.com profile ... 100% (up from the original 98% after they added some updates) European Jew with 100% of my relatives from Ukraine, though they called it Russia when I was growing up (including three out of four grandparents all born within about 30 miles from one another -- the fourth grandparent was that rare breed of second-generation American but also a Russian Jew when they go back far enough). I don't even know where I'd go with that as a design spark ...

But I'm old enough to feel my growing-up years should qualify as my background, so at 60 I'll take the "I grew up in the 60s and 70s in Manhattan and spent most of my time in the Village and surrounding music environments" ...

Unlike the OP here, my own "sense of style" had a lot to do with my comfort zone (hated anything itchy or restraining, plus I was sort of puffy so didn't like things that were fitted.)

My mom was, I realize in retrospect, quite a fashion plate when she and my dad went out ... she was very thin and flat and looked good in EVERYTHING (I say I realize this in retrospect, looking at a lot of old photos of her, because she actually HATED to dress up and wear makeup and stuff and when she was home she'd just as happily live in a comfy robe or the 60s/70s equivalent of sweatpants and sweater and just read books and smoke Parliaments). 

I, OTOH, was short and busty and off-and-on chubby and looked kind of awful in EVERYTHING. (Discovered diet pills and cigarettes and vintage clothing stores the summer before I started college, lost 50 pounds and could start wearing fun things). 

If I could only sew, I really believe I could have made a great clothing line for slightly puffy people with a funky aesthetic but I can only sew enough to replace buttons on my husband's shirts (hey, he does ALL the cooking so I can fix those buttons). 

My design would be one of those peasanty-flowy long top-dresses with flower-petal shaped drapes and a deep plunging neckline (boobie reduction) in peacock feather colors with ballet flats.

Edited January 19, 2020 by PamelaMaeSnap

[gibasi]

Quote

 

auntlada said:

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.

 

 

 

I am right there with you. I acutally took one of those DNA tests because I was hoping to find something interesting in my heritage. And my sister is a genealology nut and has taken the family back to the 1600's. So I also wanted to do an I told you so since she is a so hyped on tour"heritage". But nope we are boring as hell. English.  

Edited January 19, 2020 by gibasi

[carrps]

21 hours ago, Andyourlittledog2 said:

  The interim Soviet period would be bland and colorless midcentury workers unite! (I think of that old commercial of a Soviet fashion show for those who remember it).

Svimvear! I remember. Thanks to auntlada for posting it. I'll have to go back and watch it.

 

17 hours ago, Brookside said:

I love this.  When my grandma died in the early 80s, my dad asked if I wanted to keep her suits.  She had maybe three suits, probably made in the 50s/60s, and while the family was far from wealthy, they were in the wool industry and the suits were made back in the time when quality meant something and they had access to the best, both in terms of materials and craftmanship.  I still kick myself for saying no to those suits.  Stupid teenager.

My mom bought her "executive secretary" suits at the City of Paris in the 40s. They cost around $60...in 1940s money. I did keep some, although I mostly wore the jackets. My mom was 5'6" and 104 lbs, and she did not have my bootay.

[carrps]

2 hours ago, PamelaMaeSnap said:

If I could only sew, I really believe I could have made a great clothing line for slightly puffy people with a funky aesthetic but I can only sew enough to replace buttons on my husband's shirts (hey, he does ALL the cooking so I can fix those buttons). 

My design would be one of those peasanty-flowy long top-dresses with flower-petal shaped drapes and a deep plunging neckline (boobie reduction) in peacock feather colors with ballet flats.

I'd buy from your line! Just my thang. Another shortish, busty, off-and-on-again chub!

[chitowngirl]

4 hours ago, PamelaMaeSnap said:

My design would be one of those peasanty-flowy long top-dresses with flower-petal shaped drapes and a deep plunging neckline (boobie reduction) in peacock feather colors with ballet flats.

I’d wear the crap outta that!! 😊

Edited January 19, 2020 by chitowngirl

[BradandJanet]

On 1/18/2020 at 5:17 AM, SuprSuprElevated said:

My mother's Pendelton wool plaid jackets!  

I wore Pendleton in college in the '60's (when I could afford it), and I love this jacket. Plaid is back in style, so the jacket would work now. The lines of the plaid match perfectly too. I reject so much now because of sloppy cutting and sewing. That's management cost cutting not the workers' fault. 

[WaltersHair]

Quote

I am right there with you. I acutally took one of those DNA tests because I was hoping to find something interesting in my heritage. And my sister is a genealology nut and has taken the family back to the 1600's. So I also wanted to do an I told you so since she is a so hyped on tour"heritage". But nope we are boring as hell. English. 

Thank you and to the others up thread. Vanilla is my middle name.

[Brookside]

On 1/18/2020 at 11:03 AM, meep.meep said:

To give Sergio his due - he willingly chose one of the larger models because she is Hispanic.

I'm trying to understand this.

[kirklandia]

"My mother's Pendelton wool plaid jackets"

I inherited my grandma's, but there was a moth issue.  I was always searching the vintage shops, then discovered that Pendleton had brought them back!  So I have an authentic reproduction.

Edited January 20, 2020 by kirklandia

[PamelaMaeSnap]

I suddenly realize that I come from the small country of Stevienicks. 

BTW, I still have this amazing gown my mom wore to "fency-schmency" events in the 60s ... I'd love to just touch the neckline when she was ready to leave (with my dad looking handsome in his tux) ... they were rare occasions but every so often he had to go for his work. 

She promised me that when I grew up I could have the gown. And it fit me for approximately 15 minutes when I was 12 before "the girls" busted out all over. BUT ... I still have it in a "garment bag" in my closet, 50-plus years later ... there is NO tag in it so I have absolutely no idea who the designer was but she showed up in a few fashion columns back in the day always wearing this gown ... 

If I knew how to post a photo here I would ... it was sort of Cleopatra-inspired, very slim and fitted, burnished gold threaded material with a Cleo neckline of several layers of faux gemstones. Sounds tacky but it was GORG.

 

 

[RedbirdNelly]

On ‎1‎/‎16‎/‎2020 at 10:27 PM, leocadia said:

Apparently, the ladies of Moldova, lol.  I also found it interesting when she explicitly said that she chose the color (early in the challenge) because it was one that was favored by Moldovans, but she then backtracked and said "No" when the judges asked her if the color had anything to do with her heritage.  Maybe there was a miscommunication, but that seemed a little sketchy.

 

I'm not a huge Victoria fan, but I do think there are some communication issues and this was one of them. There are times where I think she doesn't quite grasp the challenge or what is being asked--in that she understands the words but not the layers of meaning--just like if I actually learned a 2nd language  but was not 100% fluent.

[Tabbygirl521]

I admired the fit of Victoria’s garment but I really disliked the design. That boob presentation panel is just not flattering in any way, and I can’t figure out any reason for it except to be “edgy” or something. I didn’t find it interesting or intriguing - just stupid. 

[meep.meep]

17 hours ago, Brookside said:

I'm trying to understand this.

Sergio and his model are both Hispanic.  He chose a model who shared his heritage in a competition intended to focus on the designer's heritage.

[Tikichick]

On 1/17/2020 at 4:07 PM, cinsays said:

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.

You'll probably have a harder time finding a look like that because you'll hardly be able to take your eyes off of all the beautiful women, according to Victoria and her husband that's one of Moldova's claims to fame.  

[dleighg]

9 minutes ago, Tikichick said:

You'll probably have a harder time finding a look like that because you'll hardly be able to take your eyes off of all the beautiful women, according to Victoria and her husband that's one of Moldova's claims to fame.  

LOL I googled "are women of Moldova beautiful" and the top (many) hits were of the "russian brides" website sort, which assure us, that yes, they are.

[stormy weather]

On 1/19/2020 at 1:35 AM, Andyourlittledog2 said:

And although Victoria's was horrible I do empathize with her dilemma also. Moldovan would be difficult to use as a heritage. Native Moldovan dresses would be OTT and current Moldovan is just Eastern European streetwear.  The interim Soviet period would be bland and colorless midcentury workers unite! (I think of that old commercial of a Soviet fashion show for those who remember it). So I think she may have just been overwhelmed with the idea of 'heritage' there. It was still horrible though.

So I googled traditional Moldovan costumes and wow, they are SO beautiful. I'm sure if Victoria could actually conceive and assemble something other than cheap-looking stripes of fabrics held together by some sort of belt in an asymmetrical fashion she could have for sure drawn some pretty cool inspiration from them. She could have gone for a bohemian vibe:

 

Or for a more classic, flowery kind of Dolce & Gabbana-style dress+shawl:
 

Or yeah, she could have also made a Soviet work clothes-inspired jumpsuit or something! I mean, she had A LOT she could get inspiration from, and she did have a tablet to research it. Instead she chose to ignore the requirements completely and design a skintight suit for David Bowie circa 1974. 

But THANK YOU Andyourlittledog2 for mentioning and auntlada for posting that Wendy's Soviet fashion commercial video. I had never seen it before (I was 3 in 1985 when it came out) and it has now become my favorite ad of all time. Hilarious and genius!! 

 

[Jobiska]

Well, now we know what Sergio will look like in about 30 years--his dad!

My heritage is almost entirely British with a small helping of PA German/Swiss--every blessed one of them here before 1776--and entirely half were Quakers (as I still am), so I wonder what they'd think of the old Quaker saying about dress materials, "Plain but of the best sort."  (In other words, not fancy or gaudy, but stuff that would wear well).  Of course, since my Quakers were more the farmer ones and not the Biddles and bankers, that would have affected their ability to buy the "best sort."  

 

[EssieMay]

Oh mah lawd, these so-called artists? How many of them could communicate something with their garment without literally writing it on the hem or across the shoulders? Could they be more literal? Could it look more junior boutique? Yeah, there was a trend of graffiti garments for five minutes ten years ago. Ugh.

 

To me the fit on Victoria’s pants was perfect only if you want people to know what brand of tampon you’re wearing.

 

As a Heinz 57 American mutt of mostly European origins I have no significant cultural heritage other than poor white folks. But your heritage and where you came from isn’t just a matter of ethnicity or country of origin. Again, some of these designers are so literal and dull and show no depth of feeling or imagination. In my case I think of my grandparents supporting their six kids through the depression by growing and preserving their own food and making do. I think of worn floral print dresses passed down from sister to sister and blouses made of flour sacks. Their determination to survive is a big part of who I am. There’s an idea in there somewhere right? 

[Brookside]

4 hours ago, EssieMay said:

To me the fit on Victoria’s pants was perfect only if you want people to know what brand of tampon you’re wearing.

 

I don't know about you, but there are a few weeks every month when I'm not using a tampon.

[Kerrey92]

I believe Victoria’s pants were well constructed but way too tight!   The judges would have dinged another designer for that.  The proportion of the jacket was wrong.  The long piece didn’t work at all.  I was so surprised she was in the top.  The judges are mesmerized by her hair!

I come from peasant stock no matter where in the world we were (Poland, England, Ireland, Germany) so I would have designed a Tessa Clark style drab colored, cowl neck open side dress with a white long sleeved t under it and a pair of droopy bottomed leggings.  Good for working the potato fields in the cold!

I wondered about cultural appropriation with Dayoung’s top.  I probably wouldn’t wear it as a non Asian for fear of causing offense.  Even though I thought it was beautiful!

Edited January 21, 2020 by Kerrey92

[IndyMischa]

On 1/18/2020 at 5:33 PM, TattleTeeny said:

But Victoria's (which I didn't hate) actually reminded me more of the '90s version. We called them "sorority pants," haha--they were slightly stretchy, form-fitting flares, always made of a somewhat scratchy fabric, and a staple of Mandee, Joyce Leslie, and stores like that at the time (and a staple of "whoo girls" in bars!).

Official Whoo Girl checking in: we called them "sex pants." I had like four pairs of the same ones, from Express. Good times.

On 1/18/2020 at 7:35 PM, Andyourlittledog2 said:

The interim Soviet period would be bland and colorless midcentury workers unite!

This reminds me of what's-her-face from last year, and the super fashionable "overalls that fold down into an apron."

[Ohiopirate02]

17 hours ago, stormy weather said:

So I googled traditional Moldovan costumes and wow, they are SO beautiful. I'm sure if Victoria could actually conceive and assemble something other than cheap-looking stripes of fabrics held together by some sort of belt in an asymmetrical fashion she could have for sure drawn some pretty cool inspiration from them. She could have gone for a bohemian vibe:

 

Or for a more classic, flowery kind of Dolce & Gabbana-style dress+shawl:
 

 

I come from Polish and Ukrainian stock, and admire the traditional dress.  But, that is all hand-embroidered and the embroidery has meaning as well.  Each piece takes months of sewing to complete.  Corners can be cut, but it always looks cheap.  Even if this was Victoria's aesthetic, the time constraints of the challenge make this kind of look impossible.  

[AZChristian]

5 minutes ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

I come from Polish and Ukrainian stock, and admire the traditional dress.  But, that is all hand-embroidered and the embroidery has meaning as well.  Each piece takes months of sewing to complete.  Corners can be cut, but it always looks cheap.  Even if this was Victoria's aesthetic, the time constraints of the challenge make this kind of look impossible.  

Besides, several of the models were already busy embroidering Sergio's dress.

[ML89]

17 hours ago, stormy weather said:

So I googled traditional Moldovan costumes and wow, they are SO beautiful. I'm sure if Victoria could actually conceive and assemble something other than cheap-looking stripes of fabrics held together by some sort of belt in an asymmetrical fashion she could have for sure drawn some pretty cool inspiration from them. She could have gone for a bohemian vibe:

I think that's what they were thinking she'd make and when she didn't....who was it that started the big "peasant clothes" trend in the 70s? I think that's what they were thinking.

Honestly, she should have made a smart suit with big shoulder pads and said she was going for the popular idea of Moldova from Dynasty.

[ItsHelloPattiagain]

Quote

now I haven't read any posts so if you've already discussed this . . . But what would you have designed for this challenge? This type of challenge is tricky because you might think you have to make make something representing your ethnicity or other element of your heritage and get stuck in those weeds, but I feel you really need to examine your background and go with what calls to you. 

Interesting question. . . my mother was Cuban and my father was Irish/German.  My mother abandoned her Cuban heritage when she came to the US - didn't even teach us kids how to speak Spanish. So if I was a designer, I might have been designing something California 70-ish since that's where and when I grew up.  That would have called to me more than my Cuban heritage. 

I agree with a bunch of you that Victoria's fit was great. But I don't really know who would be wearing that futuristic pair of pants these days with the one-boob top. I actually liked Chelsey's jacket but the mustard dress was icky. 

Oh Shavi, I wish you had gotten your model to take that dress off and sewn the zipper from the INSIDE so it didn't look so janky. I'm not a designer, but more a seamstress and I've had to repair lots of outfits from the inside. Come to think of it, I was always assuming the designers were also sewists who were able to competently sew their own designs. Guess I was wrong. Even just knowing that if you sew a knit or bias fabric to a muslin, it's going to look weird and puckery. 

[SuprSuprElevated]

10 hours ago, EssieMay said:

I think of worn floral print dresses passed down from sister to sister and blouses made of flour sacks.

My M-I-L (may she RIP), first generation American of Italian immigrant parents, told of learning how to crochet as a young girl, by crocheting straps and trim onto flour sacks, and transforming them into slips and underpinnings.  She became a prolific crochet artist (in my mind anyway), gifting me with numerous pieces, almost all made of thread/string, very little done with yarn.  God I miss her.  I will go to my grave regretting that I didn't record her many stories for posterity. 

[ItsHelloPattiagain]

On 1/21/2020 at 1:24 PM, ItsHelloPattiagain said:

 

 

Edited January 23, 2020 by ItsHelloPattiagain
duplicate post

[Eulipian 5k]

55 minutes ago, ItsHelloPattiagain said:

Perhaps if he sewed crosses or plus signs or some other designator for the six children instead of the childish embroidery that he had the models doing, it might have helped. 

But then Nina would have cautiously asked, "Sergio, you too? Sorry, but your confession is too derivative of Season 8"

[zoltana]

On 1/16/2020 at 9:45 PM, nb360 said:

Also, when Christian asked how he was able to embroider so fast, Sergio did not acknowledge the work the models did to help him out (or at least that wasn't shown).

Yes!  He just seems like a schemer.  I still haven't seen all this talent he's been talking about.  That red dress was horrid.  It looked like a dollar store challenge from him.  Those models were so nice to help him out even after he essentially told them to do it rather than asking.  But this is one of the worst I've seen on the show. 

I had to come back and add that I kept wondering how the deaths of those children related to where he came from.  Their deaths were horrific, but where was his history, his up bringing?  It just aggravated me because he took those children's stories trying to make it a part of his story.  I understand as an Hispanic man he has a connection to what's happening to his countrymen, but it doesn't relate to him personally.

Edited January 21, 2020 by zoltana

[TattleTeeny]

4 hours ago, IndyMischa said:

Official Whoo Girl checking in: we called them "sex pants." I had like four pairs of the same ones, from Express. Good times.

This reminds me of what's-her-face from last year, and the super fashionable "overalls that fold down into an apron."

OH, you were a big spender on your sorority/sex pants, comparatively!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

4 hours ago, IndyMischa said:

Official Whoo Girl checking in: we called them "sex pants." I had like four pairs of the same ones, from Express. Good times.

We called them ass pants. I was able to use some of the jazz pants I had for dance as ass pants but I also had a pair from Express. You know, for when you wanted fancy ass pants.

[IndyMischa]

30 minutes ago, TattleTeeny said:

OH, you were a big spender on your sorority/sex pants, comparatively!

Sale shopping! Lol. 

[TattleTeeny]

I love that someone actually knows what the hell I was even talking about, haha!

[meowmommy]

I grew up believing I was Irish Catholic through and through.  When I was in my forties, several years after my grandfather died, my sister told me that his parents had been Russian Jewish immigrants.  It was well hidden in the family tree.

When Sergio said he was doing embroidery, I was expecting something intricate, y'know, like real embroidery.  What I saw instead was the kind of stitching we did making Christmas stockings in third grade.  Which he then pushed onto his models to do for him. 

And I know others have said it, but I really felt like he was co-opting the stories of these kids for his own benefit.  If it had won and been part of the flash sale, would it have been appropriate for Bravo to profit from the sales, or would they have felt obligated to donate the proceeds?

 

 

[PamelaMaeSnap]

1 minute ago, meowmommy said:

I grew up believing I was Irish Catholic through and through.  When I was in my forties, several years after my grandfather died, my sister told me that his parents had been Russian Jewish immigrants.  It was well hidden in the family tree.

When Sergio said he was doing embroidery, I was expecting something intricate, y'know, like real embroidery.  What I saw instead was the kind of stitching we did making Christmas stockings in third grade.  Which he then pushed onto his models to do for him. 

And I know others have said it, but I really felt like he was co-opting the stories of these kids for his own benefit.  If it had won and been part of the flash sale, would it have been appropriate for Bravo to profit from the sales, or would they have felt obligated to donate the proceeds?

 

 

Yes!!!!! In 3rd grade we had a “sewing class” and made “samplers” (that’s what they were called but this was 50 years ago so I don’t know if it’s still a thing). We had to stitch the alphabet and the absolute first thing I thought of when I saw Sergio’s lettering was that we did a better job than he did. The fact that he was safe and Delvin and ShaVi were B2 convinced me the fix was in to keep this season’s villain around a while longer for the draaaaaama because it seems most of the others are pretty likable. I just hate losing ShaVi for the sake of this asswipe. I feel he had so much more to contribute. 

[Ohiopirate02]

13 hours ago, meowmommy said:

And I know others have said it, but I really felt like he was co-opting the stories of these kids for his own benefit.  If it had won and been part of the flash sale, would it have been appropriate for Bravo to profit from the sales, or would they have felt obligated to donate the proceeds?

 

There was no way Sergio was going to win this challenge with his political statement and the flash sale aspect.  He could have had the best design on the runway but another designer still would have won.  Obviously the producers know that profiting off of this would be a very bad look for them.  This is also a fashion show where the producers and network want to stay as middle of the road as possible and would not want to upset the apple cart with their sponsors.  The show is going to stay neutral in order.  The judges can all donate their own money to RAICES or other charities operating on the border, but the show itself will not.  

This is part of the reason why I hate the show when it decides after the trip to Mood that this is going to be a flash sale challenge.  I don;'t think Sergio would have changed his idea, but there would have been time for a producer to speak to him off camera to let him know how things would stand with his political statement.  The same thing with designers like Dayoung in this challenge and Delvin in the previous flash sale challenge who chose prints for their design.  Mass producing clothes based on the prints found at Mood is not something that can always happen.  It doesn't matter how good the design is if the designer picked a print that Nineteenth Amendment cannot reproduce.  Not to mention the other logistics of producing hundreds of the design in multiple sizes.  Not every design works in a factory.  These are things that IMHO the designers need to know at the beginning and not mid-challenge especially a one-day challenge.

[gooberfish]

Victoria’s was my favorite except for not meeting the challenge criteria.

[BlackberryJam]

Knowing I'm not alone in my lack of deep, personal cultural heritage during my upbringing is nice. I feel like my heritage is patchwork, a little of this, a little of that, and wow do I hate patchwork clothing.

[bitchin camaro]

4 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

Knowing I'm not alone in my lack of deep, personal cultural heritage during my upbringing is nice. I feel like my heritage is patchwork, a little of this, a little of that, and wow do I hate patchwork clothing.

I'm glad to not be alone too. Except mine's not patchwork, it's just a boring gray muumuu of a heritage. English people living in the same town for 350 years isn't very interesting.

[jpgr]

I think I might do color-blocking, with the blocks of color representing the percentages of my heritage. For me, that would be somewhat boring (75% German, 25% French). For some of you that could be really interesting depending on the garment.

Otherwise, I would probably reference Chicago art and architecture somehow. There has been a decent amount of New York-related garments that worked.

Or maybe think about how I've lived in California for 30+ years and love the desert Southwest, but my roots are in Chicago. Maybe a big coat for Chicago winters, but take it off to reveal something for the California climate....

Interesting to think about different approaches!

[Ashforth]

Watching the rerun, hoo boy, Sergio's fake crying looks even more fake than the first time. Not a single drop of a tear. Plus, his claim that all of his evening gowns are based on political statements? 🤣

[EssieMay]

Again with Victoria: yes traditional embroidery is intricate and takes a very long time to execute properly. But the challenge was not to reproduce a costume; the challenge was to do something *influenced* by your heritage and background. 

[MelinaBallerina]

On 1/18/2020 at 3:31 PM, lovinbob said:

Did Sergio even once say out loud the names of the children he was highlighting? 

Who knows, maybe he did.  Maybe he talked about them at length and it was left on the cutting room floor.  

[MelinaBallerina]

On 1/19/2020 at 3:39 PM, gibasi said:

I am right there with you. I acutally took one of those DNA tests because I was hoping to find something interesting in my heritage. And my sister is a genealology nut and has taken the family back to the 1600's. So I also wanted to do an I told you so since she is a so hyped on tour"heritage". But nope we are boring as hell. English.  

Haha.  I did too and my brother is a genealogy nut.  He's taken us about that far too, linked us up to Pocahantas and George Longshanks.  Which put's me about, what 4,000ths in line for the throne?  LOL  Not something I'll be crowing about, that's for sure.  My family is Texas.  That's all there is from my point of view, so I'd probably be designing something Texas, then being dinged because it's not "Hollywood's" version of Texas.

[Brookside]

On 1/19/2020 at 11:19 AM, PamelaMaeSnap said:

What a fantastic question ... and I am really glad you "went there" with going beyond literal heritage and took it a step further to background ... 

I have the world's most boring Ancestry.com profile ... 100% (up from the original 98% after they added some updates) European Jew with 100% of my relatives from Ukraine, though they called it Russia when I was growing up (including three out of four grandparents all born within about 30 miles from one another -- the fourth grandparent was that rare breed of second-generation American but also a Russian Jew when they go back far enough). I don't even know where I'd go with that as a design spark ...

 

Easy!  Just do a modern twist on Tevye, I'm sure the judges would love it.

Edited February 2, 2020 by Brookside

[PamelaMaeSnap]

17 hours ago, Brookside said:

Easy!  Just do a modern twist on Tevye, I'm sure the judges would love it.

 

This ... is hilarious! And, no joke, my husband and I were talking about "Fiddler on the Roof" YESTERDAY ... despite being in his 60s, a professional musician who works with a lot of show music people, a New Yorker who grew up around a lot of music and musicals, and a movie fanatic, he has NEVER seen any production (film or stage) of "Fiddler on the Roof." So I'm searching for the DVD of the film (which isn't THAT awful) for us to watch together ... now, I'll also look for fashion ideas!

ETA: Oh, and did I mention we’re both Jewish and my grandparents could have been Tevye’s neighbors in Anatevka?

Edited February 2, 2020 by PamelaMaeSnap

[SemiCharmedLife]

On 1/17/2020 at 7:50 PM, kicksave said:

Just have to make some commentary on Christian Siriano and Karlie Kloss...I really am not warming up to Christian as a mentor for the designers. He seems extremely judgmental most of the time and all the eye rolling and weird facial expressions he makes when he's disapproving of what a designer is doing is just so immature. He's no Tim Gunn, that's for sure. He has no kind gestures for the designers that are booted off...just a send off to the workroom. Tim seemed to really care about each designer and and would hug them goodbye and say some kind words...even if he was less than enthusiastic about the designer leaving. Christian acts like he's doing Bravo and the audience a favor for doing the show. 

 I agree! Although I find  Christian very entertaining, he does not give much advice, let alone support, to the contestants. I think as a “ mentor”, Tim Gunn Rises above. No one’s perfect, but he had sage advice and suggestions for the contestants. Christian abounds in eye rolling, put downs and general snark. I love him as entertainment, but not so much as a mentor.