S19.E02: #Streetwear

[MartyQui]

17 hours ago, SemiCharmedLife said:

couldn't quite figure out why he was so passionate against Meg; even though she was tone deaf during their morning discussion, she was supporting him.

She was saying that a white man wearing Praajes’ (sp?) design would be cultural appropriation, which showed she didn’t understand cultural appropriation at all. She was an annoying jerk who wore dirty underwear as a *fashion* statement

The whole model thing was a train wreck. Just do a random draw and give them 15 minutes to try to convince someone to switch with them if they feel the need.

[WaltersHair]

It just occurred to me that Meg saved Ken's @ss. If she had come back and the judges didn't know about 'the awful thing that happened to Ken' he would have gone home on that atrocious look. This Show.

[ML89]

Everyone above has articulated all the horrible moments so, I have to ask the judges why they didn’t ask Aaron how many times he’d seen Star Wars…(although that was one of my favorite looks).

Also Mr TikTok can’t set up his camera so his ring lights aren’t reflected in his glasses?

[StatisticalOutlier]

1 hour ago, Passing Strange said:

I wonder if there's somebody whose job it is to drape the judges' clothing. Last week someone had to pool Elaine's dress around her feet, this week Nina's sleeves needed artful arranging and probably picked up and wrapped around her so she could walk. I can't wait until it's Brandon's turn to be draped, otherwise I'd hope PR would fire that person and hire some extra models.

Yeah, what the hell was with Nina's sleeves?

Elaine's right (to our left) shoulder strap bothered me in this episode.  It was stiff, so it didn't conform to her shoulder, and was either suspended above it or it had fallen down to the side, which made me keep hiking up my shoulder every time I saw her.

During the later discussion, she had draped a shawl around it.  The drapers be busy.

Don't these fashion professionals understand that different activities might require different clothes?  Like an outfit that looks good while standing or walking might not be all that great when you're sitting?  Even I know that.  Those dramatic sleeves that trail as you walk?  Not so spectacular in a chair.

1 minute ago, ML89 said:

Also Mr TikTok can’t set up his camera so his ring lights aren’t reflected in his glasses?

Okay, I know zero about ring lights except they're very distracting when they're reflected in people's glasses.  You can set the light up so it doesn't reflect?  Then why in the world doesn't everybody do that.  It's so distracting.

I can maybe understand one of the authors I watch on Book TV not figuring it out, but Tik Tok celebrities??

[Nidratime]

After Meg left -- a designer I did not love -- I turned off the show. What is it about "street wear" that one must have a model who looks exactly like the designer to express themselves? Are they saying that a person who is not of their race and/or ethnicity cannot wear their  street wear clothes? What about their ball gown clothes? Or, their cocktail clothes? The woman who left should not have, but I don't blame her. If she was another race, would she have been so pressured to give up her model after a full day of work? I just want a show about designers, not about pacifying a bunch of males needing an ego boost and a hand hold.

[Thumper]

Note to self:  check my ring light next time zooming.

Will have to google frog butt. 😂

[Texasmom1970]

I am a 51 year old woman and did not care for many of the looks. Guess I'm not very street wear.

That being said I want those pants Aaron designed. I would wear the hell out of them.

[nokat]

Kenneth about the models: I want someone who looks like me. Sweetie, only in your dreams would you look that tall and hot. 

[nokat]

6 minutes ago, Texasmom1970 said:

I am a 51 year old woman and did not care for many of the looks. Guess I'm not very street wear.

That being said I want those pants Aaron designed. I would wear the hell out of them.

So far I'm liking what Aaron is designing. I think Nina hasn't called his designs "fresh" yet but if they sell to women of a certain age who cares.

I've heard people call Aaron a silver fox, and then I saw his age of 39 and I feel like a cougar now. 

[gorgy]

Kenneth is a little shit-stirrier. Listen I can't stand The Meg, and she obviously acted like a total asshole, but Kenneth up and deciding he wanted a different model at the last minute because Prajje(sp?) couldn't fathom coming up with a different design, and had to have Christian, a person of authority within the workroom, hound the quiet unassuming immigrant woman, which is a total other conversion about how women, specifically those not born in this country are seen in our society, into giving up her model, through gritted teeth, yeah not a fan. If both of them can only dress people that look like them, well they should have brought it up earlier to their fellow competitors instead of sulking until they got their way.

Kenneth pulling that shit on an obviously frazzled Meg, who's emotions are palpable (and annoying), like you know she was in a no-win situation. If she says no, she won't be seen as "ally" in front of the cameras and all of those watching and the lovely editors had to emphasize her supposed hypocrisy (which is not what it was, but it was edited to look like it) in such a bullshit manner. Then he had the audacity to throw out his original look to make some shitty patchwork crossing guard outfit. Oh, it was to commemorate everybody coming to comfort him after he fucked over a fellow competitor for utterly no reason after all. Ugh, enough. He's acting like a shy little boy, when he's a 32 year old man. The fashion industry is tough and he won't go far. 

As far as The Meg, I'm glad she's gone. I think I saw her randomly crying over her dead mother for no particular reason, and I just remember muttering, "yeah, she's the type only a mother could love." Just nonstop blather and cliched social media meme speak. Plus, she does that thing where her voices rises at the end of a sentence like everything is a question. Also, the only outfit she made first week sucked, so no loss. I'm sure her heart is in the right place, but her head is firmly up her own ass.

As far as the runway, some good, some not so good. I think the Russian competitor has done two strong looks so far, so she's one to watch. I liked Zayden's look, but it wasn't anything too special. Prajje's (sp?) look was eh. Of course the bottom two was between Kenneth and the middle-aged clown lady, so both can go. 

If you're into streetwear, HBO Max had a really good fashion competition show similar to Project Runway called The Hype. It even has PR alum/celebrity stylist Marni Senofonte in a judging role and she's pretty good at it. 

 

 

Edited October 23, 2021 by gorgy

[TattleTeeny]

All she had to say was “sorry, too late, I have already made my shit to his dimensions” (is “dimensions” the right word?) and that would be that; she wasn’t even visibly (to me) annoyed that he asked. She seemed to decide to make it a “thing” after she agreed to the switch. And then she said some nonsense like “I’m only allowed to have white models” afterward, when that wasn’t the issue at all.

[T Summer]

50 minutes ago, gorgy said:

Kenneth is a little shit-stirrier. Listen I can't stand The Meg, and she obviously acted like a total asshole, but Kenneth up and deciding he wanted a different model at the last minute because Prajje(sp?) couldn't fathom coming up with a different design, and had to have Christian, a person of authority within the workroom, hound the quiet unassuming immigrant woman, which is a total other conversion about how women, specifically those not born in this country are seen in our society, into giving up her model, through gritted teeth, yeah not a fan. If both of them can only dress people that look like them, well they should have brought it up earlier to their fellow competitors instead of sulking until they got their way.

Kenneth pulling that shit on an obviously frazzled Meg, who's emotions are palpable (and annoying), like you know she was in a no-win situation. If she says no, she won't be seen as "ally" in front of the cameras and all of those watching and the lovely editors had to emphasize her supposed hypocrisy (which is not what it was, but it was edited to look like it) in such a bullshit manner. Then he had the audacity to throw out his original look to make some shitty patchwork crossing guard outfit. Oh, it was to commemorate everybody coming to comfort him after he fucked over a fellow competitor for utterly no reason after all. Ugh, enough. He's acting like a shy little boy, when he's a 32 year old man. The fashion industry is tough and he won't go far. 

As far as The Meg, I'm glad she's gone. I think I saw her randomly crying over her dead mother for no particular reason, and I just remember muttering, "yeah, she's the type only a mother could love." Just nonstop blather and cliched social media meme speak. Plus, she does that thing where her voices rises at the end of a sentence like everything is a question. Also, the only outfit she made first week sucked, so no loss. I'm sure her heart is in the right place, but her head is firmly up her own ass.

As far as the runway, some good, some not is good. I think the Russian competitor has done two strong looks so far, so she's one to watch. I liked Zayden's look, but it wasn't anything too special. Prajje's (sp?) look was eh. Of course the bottom two was between Kenneth and the middle-aged clown lady, so both can go. 

Wish I could like your post 10 times!

I can't tell you how much I wish Meg had gone home last week (as well as the contestant who didn't make a garment, Darren?), so we could have been spared  all  of this.

Meg IS insufferable but so are Prajje and Kenneth. On demand I can't even listen to Kenneth's BS on the runway or the judges feigning drawing him out. Really? YOU were humiliated? Pul-eeze! Think of the model who had to wear (and is forever on video in) that shithow you ran up in the work room. "I wanted to do a tribute to what happened" said Kenneth as his  look walked 🤮

I liked Aaron's look and Anna's  (w/ removable suspender skirt and hood) and Octavio's and Kristina's. Chasity upped her game significantly from the 1st challenge too. I was actually surprised by the judges favorites except of course, in the case of  Aaron.

How was there 3 pieces to Sabrina's strappy  Octopuss thing?

[T Summer]

 I just watched the show on You Tube to go right to the runway and get some names straight. Louise in the comment section said:

"Meg was emotionally incontinent"

☺️

[dleighg]

8 hours ago, ML89 said:

Also Mr TikTok can’t set up his camera so his ring lights aren’t reflected in his glasses?

I have a vague memory of his eyeglasses looking like they lit up-- and now I know what it was! Yes that was really stupid looking.

[nokat]

5 hours ago, TattleTeeny said:

All she had to say was “sorry, too late, I have already made my shit to his dimensions” (is “dimensions” the right word?) and that would be that; she wasn’t even visibly (to me) annoyed that he asked. She seemed to decide to make it a “thing” after she agreed to the switch. And then she said some nonsense like “I’m only allowed to have white models” afterward, when that wasn’t the issue at all.

The issue definitely wasn't she was only allowed white models, but that Prajjé only wanted a black model and then Kenneth jumped on that bandwagon. Christian did not help by putting pressure on a designer to swap. The situation was ugly in so many ways.

[dleighg]

1 hour ago, nokat said:

The issue definitely wasn't she was only allowed white models, but that Prajjé only wanted a black model and then Kenneth jumped on that bandwagon.

It occurs to me that Prajje "needed" a black model because of his desire to explicitly reference Haiti's independence/ending of slavery. I agree that with that sort of messaging, it would have been weird on a white model. However I think he could have kept with the crying mother artistry without any problem-- while that comes from a specific culture, it is also rather universal. And with the focus on Haiti's independence, is he really implying that no white guys could buy/wear it? Seems counter-productive.

[jrzy]

14 hours ago, Surrealist said:

And there it is. 🤣

I make a point of never watching those horrible women on those horrible shows.

[watch2much]

upon reflection, I think the ones at fault here are the show's producers.  they obviously knew about the discussion between Meg and Prajje in the morning.  then Christain reignites the situation knowing something happened previously and Prajje was wound up.  he's already told poor insecure Meg that her fabric choices basically suck.  and Kenneth, who should have known it was too late to ask was encouraged to do so and it was the final straw for Meg.  

of course, anyone who has watched Unreal or the current show, The Big Leap understands this is how these shows get the drama.

I would prefer the drama came from Kenneth and Prajje "making it work" with what they had.

[StrictTime]

2 hours ago, dleighg said:

It occurs to me that Prajje "needed" a black model because of his desire to explicitly reference Haiti's independence/ending of slavery. I agree that with that sort of messaging, it would have been weird on a white model. However I think he could have kept with the crying mother artistry without any problem-- while that comes from a specific culture, it is also rather universal. And with the focus on Haiti's independence, is he really implying that no white guys could buy/wear it? Seems counter-productive.

All he had to do was NOT include that date (looked like it was duct-taped) on the pants and he could have kept the original model. I hate watching shows that make me feel worse for watching them—this episode was just ugly in all respects.

[izabella]

I'm pretty tired of designs that have letters and words on them.  Seems like a lazy way to get a message across, and it doesn't make the clothes more wearable or interesting or attractive, certainly not as much as designers seem to think.  That's what novelty t-shirts are for, and they are a dime a dozen.  You want to make a statement with your clothes?  Design great clothes.

[backgroundnoise]

I hope the designers bring the creativity they showed for streetwear into more challenges.  I really liked most of them.  Lots of great details.

If I had to pick a winner, it would have been Aaron.  

ETA I don't mind words on clothes, but not spray-painted.

Katie's fur vest looks like the same fabric used in the Elton John denim look from a season or two ago.

Kenneth was a crybaby.   I just find crying so unprofessional, especially for self-created drama.  Where was S2 Nina saying, "I don't need to hear this!" 

Edited October 23, 2021 by backgroundnoise

[Jobiska]

20 hours ago, TattleTeeny said:

 but why not a better bra in a pattern or a color? I was baffled! 

I am a round person (more so than Meg) and it's hard to find bras that are not torturous.  I generally only buy one brand (Lane Bryant Cacique) and while they do offer some non-standard colors, I end up buying mostly white and beige, because the others show through fabric.  And yes, they start to look dingy.  Which is why I don't even wear tank-tops, ever; I'm too self-conscious that some of the bra will show.  

18 hours ago, bourbon said:

1) That's a very broad statement that I can't either agree or disagree with, and that's the problem 2) what was her "harmful" behavior?

I get the statement, because it's something I had to teach my very impulsive son when he was little.  If he accidentally caused harm by doing something impulsively (for example, this was harm to property rather than to a person, but he once grabbed a thumbtack off a wall and popped a huge therapy ball that they were using in his occupational therapy based social skills group), the harm still happened even though he didn't mean it to.  And yes, I paid them back for the therapy ball.  Same if, say, he impulsively ran into someone because he decided to get up and go and didn't pay attention to who was moving around him.  So he still needed to apologize and make right his harm if he could.  

That's where Meg is--not malicious at all, but needs to sit more with how she expresses allyship and what it means and to listen more and what it means to not center her own experience; but she was put in a very difficult and time-sensitive position (with, I'm sure, producer- and Christian- interference with the catalyzing events of the first model switch) and I hope she is able to learn from all this.  And from now on have the self-knowledge, also, that a pressure cooker like PR is not for her.  Had she looked out for her own mental health from the beginning, she wouldn't have been on the show!  

I noticed that Bones called Chasity "Chastity" when he complimented her look on the runway.  

[StatisticalOutlier]

I kind of hate that most of the discussion is about the fight and not the clothes (Facebook engagement algorithms, anyone?), but have to admit the discussion has been interesting.

11 hours ago, gorgy said:

Christian, a person of authority within the workroom, hound the quiet unassuming immigrant woman, which is a total other conversion about how women, specifically those not born in this country are seen in our society, into giving up her model, through gritted teeth, yeah not a fan.

I was thinking about that, and while Coral might not have wanted to do it, it wasn't terrible for her because she had to know that if she did as Christian asked, he'd have her back and there's no way she would be eliminated.  If she went down, Christian would be implicated because of his meddling and persuasion.  And especially if Prajje won and Coral lost.  I'm not surprised that Coral was in the middle, and I don't even remember what her outfit looked like.  I'm not sure it mattered, if it wasn't going to win.

I don't know if they make clear in their contracts that the judging is done in consultation with the producers, but it says so on my teevee in tiny print at the end.  And while Christian's not a judge or a producer, I'm sure he would somehow ensure that Coral wasn't eliminated.  I contrast that with Meg's switch, where I think she really didn't have a choice and the most she would gain is some brownie points from people who already didn't like her and were therefore probably not inclined to give her brownie points.  Her swap had possible ramifications that Coral's didn't.

Furthermore, it's a competition.  Why should anyone do anyone else any favors, never mind be expected to do anyone else any favors?  And I don't buy for one second "All she had to do was say no."  Unfortunately, we'll never know, because she didn't just say no and instead waffled and then seethed and generally handled it very very poorly.  But she'd already alienated a lot of these people, and I don't think they were inclined to think kindly of anything she did that wasn't favorable to them or their allies.

[Surrealist]

27 minutes ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

I kind of hate that most of the discussion is about the fight and not the clothes (Facebook engagement algorithms, anyone?), but have to admit the discussion has been interesting.

That's because the fight was appalling on many levels (as outlined in the other responses here). I pretty much tuned out for the rest of the episode. 

I think Meg should have been sent home last week because she was whiny and it was clear she probably wasn't in the right space mentally. In her last talking head, she acknowledged that she handled things poorly, and that she wasn't in the right headspace. I'm surprised that no one else seems to have watched Meg's talking head. At any rate, she took herself out of the competition so that's done.

That said I wasn't impressed with Kenneth either, and Prajje should have stayed out of their issue. Their problem wasn't about him.

I think Kenneth should have been sent home this week because his outfit was dreck.

[TattleTeeny]

56 minutes ago, Jobiska said:

I am a round person (more so than Meg) and it's hard to find bras that are not torturous.  I generally only buy one brand (Lane Bryant Cacique) and while they do offer some non-standard colors, I end up buying mostly white and beige, because the others show through fabric.  And yes, they start to look dingy.  Which is why I don't even wear tank-tops, ever; I'm too self-conscious that some of the bra will show.  

Aww, man! That stinks! I generally get all kinds of colors and stuff in an effort to at least mitigate the hellishness that is bra shopping. I’m sorry that I didn’t realize that I might have an easier time doing that than other people. I also just don’t much care if it shows, depending where I am (I do have a beige one, I think, for when I don’t want anything showing under the rare light-colored outfit — though for the last year and a half, that hasn’t mattered much anyway!).

[lovinbob]

The clown lady’s outfit … is her name Katie? Whenever she is onscreen all I can think of is a woman I used to hire to do face painting  at events. The collar especially. 
 

A literal clown! I cannot even imagine how that aesthetic/point of view could be fashionable or wearable. 

[LennieBriscoe]

My biggest issue with the entire show is that we barely see the runway outfits, let alone the preceding process. The "safe" ones are like poof, gone! 

This dereliction has been getting worse year by year. 

From the "Second Thoughts" Dept:

I wonder if The Meg (™ Gorgy) was planning, with her beiges and browns, a twist on a typical Wall Street suit? 

[JapMo]

On 10/22/2021 at 10:43 AM, Madding crowd said:

I thought Meg was exhausting and passive aggressive but she didn’t need to be yelled at and talked down to the point of bullying. I was really disappointed that Christian or at least a producer didn’t intervene ; instead Meg was basically bullied out of the competition .

Meg wasn't bullied out of the competition...she was planning this from the moment she was informed she was going to be a contestant. 

I've seen people like her before.  Very confident, very loud, all 'I'm going to kick their ass' bravado.  And then once they see the competition or team they are assigned to, their lack of self-confidence kicks in and they're immediately looking for an out.  She sabotaged herself.  If it didn't happen this episode, it was going to happen shortly after. 

Last week she constantly mentioned how tired she was, even grimacing when told her "team" will be working at night.  Crying about being homesick and missing her mother.  I'm not saying these things aren't important, but face facts...this is the biggest deal of her career.  People would kill for this opportunity.  Yet she's already setting the stage.

Christian isn't thrilled about her lack of color.  She's immediately defensive instead of just accepting his critique.  Kenneth wasn't demanding.  He meekly asked if it was OK to switch.  It didn't have to turn ugly.  She could have taken him aside and explained that she was feeling stressed after Christian's critique and having a model change at this point would stress her out more.  Instead she agreed to switch but did it so ungraciously that it then turned into a giant hissy fit with her stomping off and quitting.  She created the drama but was unprepared for it to turn against her.  Then she quits because the drama (self created) caused her too much stress.

I'm not saying other people were without fault here, and I particularly blame the producers for not jumping in immediately and diffusing the situation.  I'm saying Meg is passionate, strongly opinionated, and gung ho on the outside, giving the impression she is really in control of her life.  On the inside she's a bundle of insecurity, convinced she doesn't deserve good things to happen to her so she ruins it before she has a real chance to get it. Self sabotage.  She's probably not even aware she's doing this.  Sadly, Meg didn't really think she was worthy of Project Runway and so she found an exit.  I would bet she's regretting her decision to quit.  

My analysis is now complete.  I'm removing my shingle and am closed for business.

[Kaiju Ballet]

21 hours ago, NYCFree said:

 In the resulting kerfuffle, after Prajje yelled at Meg, Meg took it out on Kenneth.

 

21 hours ago, NYCFree said:

I didn’t hear Prajje say he couldn’t stand the idea of white men wearing his clothes. Not a single word. Prajje, in fact did for Kenneth what some say they wished happened for Meg. He defended Kenneth against a bully. Meg was the bully to Kenneth. She yelled at him, told him to “shut up.”

After Prajje took Meg to task, Meg then went and yelled at Kenneth some more.

 

20 hours ago, lovinbob said:

Kenneth seemed like a very meek person (snip) Instead she said yes -- TWICE -- and acted like a martyr and then like a straight-up asshole. "Just stop talking." -- who the eff does she think she is? That is asshole behavior.

(snip)  she was absolutely out of line in her language and behavior toward Kenneth when their models arrived.

(snip)

I'm not sure where the power discussion comes in -- Prajje and Kenneth may have had power than Meg in terms of social capital amongst the designers, because by that point I imagine the designers had realized Meg was a needy and performative person who was hard to be around. But historically, which is where systems of privilege come into play, someone like Meg is more likely to have power and privilege than Prajje and Kenneth, and I think that's where Prajje's beef was.

I thought Kenneth came across as sincere. Yes, his patchwork designs a steaming hot mess. I'd like to see what else he has to offer.

Bolded for emphasis. I refuse to rewatch to confirm, but I believe Meg several times yelled "stop talking" at both Prajje and Kenneth, even in the midst of wokesplaining oppression to a POC. Being told to shut up or aggressively silenced is most definitely an act of privilege or power disparity in most contexts, and to me that's when I lost sympathy for her.

I also noted that Meg was shown screaming "F*ck you" to Kenneth, which she didn't do to Prajje. I feel that if she had, it would have been shown because likely Prajje would have immediately and clearly responded (catnip for show editors!)  But it seemed that she specifically felt ok to curse out Kenneth because she knew he wouldn't react with the same level of intensity or overt aggression, so he was "safe" to attack. And I couldn't help but think that she wouldn't curse out Kenneth if he were not small framed and Asian (as am I). I wouldn't be surprised if he had a history of being bullied and avoiding confrontation as a result, so Prajje's explanation that Meg was taking out her anger on Kenneth rang true to me.

I too believe Kenneth came across as sincere. That was already ugly and awful to experience as a TV viewer, it must have been devastating to be in the thick of it, and have that vitriol directed at you/started off because of you. And to have to continue working in the aftermath.

Although it didn't turn out well, I appreciated his attempt to try to transform the incident into something positive in his design.

I'm also glad that Meg had the self-preservation to remove herself from the show's pressurized environment. I do feel compassion that she's obviously in a lot of pain --she's living proof of the adage "Hurt people hurt people"--and I sincerely hope that she gets the help she needs.

[JapMo]

3 minutes ago, Kaiju Ballet said:

I'm also glad that Meg had the self-preservation to remove herself from the show's pressurized environment. I do feel compassion that she's obviously in a lot of pain --she's living proof of the adage "Hurt people hurt people"--and I sincerely hope that she gets the help she needs.

I have never heard that adage before, but it's so accurate.  Meg seems to confidently embrace her big woman status.  But I fear it's just the opposite.

[nokat]

2 hours ago, TattleTeeny said:

Aww, man! That stinks! I generally get all kinds of colors and stuff in an effort to at least mitigate the hellishness that is bra shopping. I’m sorry that I didn’t realize that I might have an easier time doing that than other people. I also just don’t much care if it shows, depending where I am (I do have a beige one, I think, for when I don’t want anything showing under the rare light-colored outfit — though for the last year and a half, that hasn’t mattered much anyway!).

I don't need the boulder holders, so I have some pretty ones. I would definitely not wear something that showed my entire bra. 

[Lady of nod]

On 10/21/2021 at 11:05 PM, Lassus said:

I can't come close to remembering anyone's name, but our favorite look of the night was one of the safe ones, the gorgeous asian model with the amazing reveals was the most striking moment of the runway.

And I agree with above, it was a great runway.  

Lastly, the winner should have been the Russian and her cascading blue outfit.  The jacket that won had a BEAUTIFUL painting on it, but as a complete piece of fashion, it wasn't really close to the best thing on the runway tonight, in our opinion.

Ita. Her outfit was so cool and original and wearable for so many. 
and here’s an unpopular opinion. Meg was so wrong in her behavior- and that top she wore - but prajji was over the top aggressive. Hes bad energy and his hat at runway was ridiculous. 

[Lady of nod]

On 10/21/2021 at 11:40 PM, LennieBriscoe said:

Meg could not have refused, not after her verbose "I'm so woke, you can't believe" BS. She made the bed she didn't want to sleep in, so she quit! 

I would have quit too with all that bad energy coming at me. She may be an ass, but he’s aggressive to the point if bullying. It should never have gotten that far. Safe space needed. 

[Lady of nod]

On 10/22/2021 at 2:13 AM, Surrealist said:

I feel the same way. I can't put my finger on why this season feels off.

I can  but not gonna share

[CraftyHazel]

On 10/22/2021 at 7:26 AM, BloggerAloud said:

I did not enjoy Meg at all but one thing I thought was weird was Christian telling her back at the design studio that he thought the color palette was boring essentially. Like yes, telling her at MOOD made sense because she could change her mind and switch fabric. But once you're back at the place, cutting and designing, how helpful is that critique at all. I think that added to how rattling.

I thought the overall, the argument really crystalized how things can spiral out of control with people and their various privileges (being a man vs. being a woman, black vs. white, etc.) go sort of unchecked and left to chaos.

Christian did tell her at Mood.

Christian: What is the color? 
Meg: My color scheme is a little more traditional, a little more muted, because my model is Asian… (Which, WTF?)

Christian: Why muted?  You just did a muted navy dress that you couldn’t even see anything.

Meg: I may have ginger hair, Christian Siriano, but that does not mean…uh, me and color, we’re still in the talking relationship.  We’re not committed.

Christian: Can we just like, pump it up, though?

Megan: (as she runs off) You don’t think I’m exciting?

She could have done color or a print for at least one of the elements.  She chose not to.  Then started crying again when Christian told her it was very “little old man”, which it was.

Kenneth actually did try repeatedly to tell her she didn’t need to switch with him.  At that point, no one else seemed to be involved.  And she wouldn’t even let him get a sentence out.  Just, “No. Shut up and let me speak.  You wanted this, I’m doing it, so here.”  And she went into the sewing area and asked the room at large, “Was I mean?”, after snapping at Kenneth and her new model.  That’s when Prajjé jumped in and said what he thought, telling her she was “fake as fuck”.  And she was.

The whole thing was a bunch of people who all felt that their own feelings weren’t being heard, with two of them yelling over each other to try and get their point of view to be the one everyone agreed with.  It was never going to happen, and kudos to the designers who kept their heads down and dealt with the task at hand.

Bones saying he wanted to take everyone to pet animals was cute.  I think he’s extra, but I actually think he has shown some decent qualities.  He helped a teammate 100% last week and didn’t say a word about it until Darren acknowledged him.  I know I may hate him next week, but so far I don’t think he’s an ass just because he bit back at Christian (who I happen to love.).

And finally, I’m a very large woman.  I wore my first C-cup at the age of 10.  I guarantee Meg wears a smaller bra than I do, and there is no way I would be caught dead in anything that dingy or ill-fitted.  I have black, white, beige, purple, turquoise, and mauve, with lace and without, and although they’re not as cheap as tossing a cute little 34C in the cart with your lunch meat and Oreos at Walmart, they’re affordable enough and much cuter than whatever Meg was wearing.

[Toodleoo]

On 10/22/2021 at 12:58 PM, Pepper Mostly said:

 Her annoyance was justified, but she went way over the top and out of line. Kenneth was ready to back down. She could have said something like "you know, I've been thinking and in light of all the work I've put in I can't risk it. I do understand where you're coming from. Next time maybe we could address something like this a little earlier?" Then she was so full of rage she was mad at everyone! She was yelling at her model, for crying out loud. For having the audacity to speak. She was furious at Prajje "I've already shown you that I am a 'good white person'! Why are you so ungrateful?" And continuously referring to "the race thing"? Her heart may have been in the right place but oh so tone deaf, so unwilling to listen. 

Meg tried to appear to Prajje as an ally, but she did the standard "white lady" thing and made it all about her. The first thing a potential ally needs to learn is to sit back and listen, not turn on the tears and suck up all the energy in the room. I'm an old white lady and I wanted to smack her. Seriously? "I understand what you're going through as a person of color because I didn't see plus size ladies on TV when I was a kid"? Girl. Respect a person's lived experience. 

In any case, the poor woman was way too fragile for the hurly burly of a reality TV competition. I'm glad she's gone. 

Agree completely.

Chasity’s summary of the situation was spot on, too. I like her a lot. Aaron’s my favorite for design though. 

 

 

[Pattycake2]

What’s different this season?  We haven’t seen the development of the clothes.  The sewing, the figuring out, the hard work.  Instead, it’s been moaning, posturing, going into depth about their essence and struggles.  Perhaps they should bring Dmitry Sholokhov back every season.  He would have looked up from his machine, frowned at what was happening, and gone back to work.

[TattleTeeny]

11 hours ago, nokat said:

The issue definitely wasn't she was only allowed white models, but that Prajjé only wanted a black model and then Kenneth jumped on that bandwagon. Christian did not help by putting pressure on a designer to swap. The situation was ugly in so many ways.

I mean, I guess? But they all could have said no (I assume they all understand that redesigning is a pain in the ass). But Meg may have been her own undoing if she was worried about public perception of her ally-ship. 

[T Summer]

5 hours ago, Lady of nod said:

Ita. Her outfit was so cool and original and wearable for so many. 
and here’s an unpopular opinion. Meg was so wrong in her behavior- and that top she wore - but prajji was over the top aggressive. Hes bad energy and his hat at runway was ridiculous. 

I second your opinion in the the strongest way possible! He is hateful. and his bullshit about fakeness is pure projection.

and while we're at it Kenneth saying I wanted  to do a tribute to what  happened turned my stomach

and the freaking tears?  from both of them? I'd love for them both to follow Meg right out the door.

Edited October 24, 2021 by T Summer
added the omitted word: happened

[chitowngirl]

Just what was Kenneth going to do if he didn’t get the model he wanted to sell the story of an outfit he already designed???

[lovinbob]

2 hours ago, CraftyHazel said:

Christian did tell her at Mood.

Christian: What is the color? 
Meg: My color scheme is a little more traditional, a little more muted, because my model is Asian… (Which, WTF?)

Christian: Why muted?  You just did a muted navy dress that you couldn’t even see anything.

Meg: I may have ginger hair, Christian Siriano, but that does not mean…uh, me and color, we’re still in the talking relationship.  We’re not committed.

Christian: Can we just like, pump it up, though?

Megan: (as she runs off) You don’t think I’m exciting?

She could have done color or a print for at least one of the elements.  She chose not to.  Then started crying again when Christian told her it was very “little old man”, which it was.

Kenneth actually did try repeatedly to tell her she didn’t need to switch with him.  At that point, no one else seemed to be involved.  And she wouldn’t even let him get a sentence out.  Just, “No. Shut up and let me speak.  You wanted this, I’m doing it, so here.”  And she went into the sewing area and asked the room at large, “Was I mean?”, after snapping at Kenneth and her new model.  That’s when Prajjé jumped in and said what he thought, telling her she was “fake as fuck”.  And she was..

Bones saying he wanted to take everyone to pet animals was cute.  I think he’s extra, but I actually think he has shown some decent qualities.  He helped a teammate 100% last week and didn’t say a word about it until Darren acknowledged him.  I know I may hate him next week, but so far I don’t think he’s an ass just because he bit back at Christian snip

100% re that Mood exchange. And that reminds me of a thought that solidified for me. The way Meg spoke to Christian was very peer to peer. She didn’t treat him like you would a mentor. Same with Darren essentially asking him out upon meeting him, and to a lesser degree Bones’s behavior toward him last week. Just because he’s youngish and came up through the PR ranks doesn’t mean he’s your equal. 
 

Agree about Bones having some good teammate qualities this show. The only thing I objected to was his wig. Milli Vanilli called and want their hair back. 

[AZChristian]

JMO.

I don't think Meg just quit on her own. I think production people realized that she was not only emotionally incapable of dealing with the stress of the competition, but she was a major source of politically incorrect offensiveness.

To quote Christian, "Unfortunately, I am here to let you know that Meg will no longer be participating in the competition. But we really, really do wish her all the best."

That sounds like something a manager comes in to tell a department when someone has been given the choice to quit or be fired.

[30 Helens]

A whole lot of overreacting in this episode. A whole lot of timeouts needed, but not given. A whole lot of people who need to mind their own business. And way too many tears.

Good god. I realize that a certain amount of conflict is inevitable in this type of high-pressure situation, but I am not here for the manufactured drama. Less sniping, more sewing, please.

I get that having a white man model a piece of Haitian-inspired culture is not ideal, but he’s just a model. The garment is what’s being judged, and if it’s good enough, it will stand on its own. Prajje should have been told to made it work, or save the concept for another challenge. But I can’t blame him for the model switch. He didn’t ask Christian to do that.

I hope Christian learned his lesson. I love him, but that was not mentoring. It was just meddling.

[CraftyHazel]

4 hours ago, lovinbob said:

The way Meg spoke to Christian was very peer to peer. She didn’t treat him like you would a mentor

Precisely.  The way she said his name at Mood, “Christian Siriano”, had the tone and attitude of calling him “asshole” or “you jerk” or some such term of disgust and dislike.  Christian was trying to steer her towards buying a bit of color, and she took it personally.  I won’t miss her one bit.

[BlackberryJam]

6 hours ago, Pattycake2 said:

What’s different this season?  We haven’t seen the development of the clothes.  The sewing, the figuring out, the hard work.  Instead, it’s been moaning, posturing, going into depth about their essence and struggles.  Perhaps they should bring Dmitry Sholokhov back every season.  He would have looked up from his machine, frowned at what was happening, and gone back to work.

Then in his talking heads he would say "It was a room full of overwrought contessas...wait what...drama what teens? Oh, drama queens."

[HyeChaps]

If Christian hadn't instigated the model swap on the first day, there would not have been such an incident on the second day.

And, of course, the judges knew about it.

 

[nokat]

I want a model who looks like me! Well, here's Mrs. Potato Head on stilts. Wait, no, not that me!

[gingerella]

On 10/21/2021 at 8:01 PM, Surrealist said:

If Meg had told Kenneth "No," I've no doubt he would have made a stink about that too.

And Meg knew that. She was damned if she said no, and fucked if she said yes. She did all that work patterning and cutting for her model and Kenneth whines about wanting an Asian model? Ditto the other guy who originally swapped models, and Christian was in the wrong for starting this shit, it shouldn’t be allowed. You make it work with the model you get, period. Tim would never have allowed that, nor instigated it. It’s like bitching about getting assigned a plus size model and complaining that your clothing is not looking good on larger people because you make clothing for thinner people. Well, just because you’re an Asian designer doesn’t mean only Asian customers are wearing your designs, you need for your designs to look good on anyone wearing it, that's called marketability. This whole model swapping was just a lot of producer-driven, manufactured BS and really turned me off to this season. Plus, For me there isn’t one person to root for this season. I didn't like Meg, but she had reason to be pissed off being backed into a corner on camera like that, and while she didn't handle it as well as she could have, I'd have been pissed off too.

And dont get me started on this manufactured drama with the judges acting like they don’t know something happened. You fools SEE Meg isn’t there, it’s obvious something happened. 

ETA:

On 10/22/2021 at 5:56 PM, Nidratime said:

After Meg left -- a designer I did not love -- I turned off the show. What is it about "street wear" that one must have a model who looks exactly like the designer to express themselves? Are they saying that a person who is not of their race and/or ethnicity cannot wear their  street wear clothes? What about their ball gown clothes? Or, their cocktail clothes? The woman who left should not have, but I don't blame her. If she was another race, would she have been so pressured to give up her model after a full day of work? I just want a show about designers, not about pacifying a bunch of males needing an ego boost and a hand hold.

^This^ You said it better than I did. The majority of contestants this season appear to be more into their own schtick and how they look on TV, rather than just putting their heads down and getting the job done. I deleted this season from my DVR, I'm out.

Edited October 24, 2021 by gingerella

[Ohiopirate02]

17 hours ago, CraftyHazel said:

 

And finally, I’m a very large woman.  I wore my first C-cup at the age of 10.  I guarantee Meg wears a smaller bra than I do, and there is no way I would be caught dead in anything that dingy or ill-fitted.  I have black, white, beige, purple, turquoise, and mauve, with lace and without, and although they’re not as cheap as tossing a cute little 34C in the cart with your lunch meat and Oreos at Walmart, they’re affordable enough and much cuter than whatever Meg was wearing.

I have a smaller band size than Meg, but a larger cup.  Most of my bras are colorful because the basic colors of white, black, and beige never go on sale while the colored ones do.  They really are not that noticeable under clothes, and I like knowing I'm wearing something fun.  When you find your UK size and order online,  you can find cute ones at a decent price.

[novhappy]

I don’t believe this is a group of people I want to hang out with for the next few weeks