S04.E08: Making A Splash

[Dirtybubble]

I liked both his looks, but what the heck was up with his model?  The way she stood at the end of the runway when she took off the cover to reveal the swimsuit, with her chin pushed forward, looked like something a Top Model reject do.

When she was standing on the runway during the critiques she seemed to be slouching as well.  Her shoulders where hunched over and as the bloggers here pointed out it looked like she had menstrual cramps.  She looked miserable.  But maybe she was uncomfortable in the bathing suit.  Like self conscious or something like that.  Who knows...

 

 

 

[FineWashables]

I'm with you, joanne3842, I thought Justin's coverup was exactly that, and not an evening look at all.  I have to question whether or not these designers have spent any time at all at a beach resort, or even watched a made-for-tv movie set at a beach resort.  Silk, let alone silk charmeuse, is a nightmare in the heat and a nightmare when it's wet, so...?

[DHDancer]

.... Silk, let alone silk charmeuse, is a nightmare in the heat and a nightmare when it's wet, so...?

 

Agreed!   I did like Dimitry's outfit but NOT for a beach resort!!   And yeah me too on what the challenge was about:  I expected two standalone pieces that could be combined if wanted:  not a beach coverup in other words.  Having said that I did love Justin's outfit and glad he got some redemption.  I also like Dimitry's but he lost points on using the silk.

[Wootini]

Yeah, Justin's model was NOT selling that garment, which is why I was surprised he won. She was standing up there during judging looking like she wanted to die.

 

it's like when they do the real-person challenge. You want to make sure your client likes their outfit otherwise they're not going to sell it on the runway. The judges always ask them if they like the outfit that was made for them, but you can always tell just by watching them walk down the runway whether they like it or not.

[laprin]

I'm sorry, the praise for Sonjia was my "jump the shark" moment for this show.  I know many have already had that moment, but this was just so antithetical to my take on her design that I doubted what I was seeing. That lace/denim combo was hideous and I didn't think the bathing suit flattered her model's figure at all. The top seemed to flatten the model's already small breasts. 

[Dirtybubble]

Agreed!   I did like Dimitry's outfit but NOT for a beach resort!!   And yeah me too on what the challenge was about:  I expected two standalone pieces that could be combined if wanted:  not a beach coverup in other words.  Having said that I did love Justin's outfit and glad he got some redemption.  I also like Dimitry's but he lost points on using the silk.

I agree as well that Dimtry's fabric wasn't for beach wear but I thought he mentioned that it wasn't suppose to be a cover up; his outfit was for going out at night and she just so happened to have a bathing suit underneath.  *shrug*  yeah I was confused as well as to if the outfits were meant to be coverups/beach wear or just going out to party. 

 

I'm sorry, the praise for Sonjia was my "jump the shark" moment for this show.  I know many have already had that moment, but this was just so antithetical to my take on her design that I doubted what I was seeing. That lace/denim combo was hideous and I didn't think the bathing suit flattered her model's figure at all. The top seemed to flatten the model's already small breasts.

ITA!  What is her obsession with this hideous lace fabric?!  She pulled this crap a few weeks ago with a fugly deep maroon lace number and a blue outfit underneath.  GAH, and then denim, those fabrics looked so heavy for resort wear.  If she ends up in the top 3 I'm gonna be pissed. 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 9, 2015 by Dirtybubble

[woodscommaelle]

 

Also is Justin's design going to be in US Weekly today??  Or has that already passed?  Alyssa kept saying the winning design will be featured in US Weekly tomorrow but I didn't know if that meant today or what.  I'm not sure when the new issue of US Weekly is released.

USA Today. Think it already happened.

[Calamity Jane]

This show is so effin' annoying with their cute little "twists." They never make the show better or the competition more interesting. Switching the models didn't add anything to the show. There was zero point to the "bobbing for fabric" activity. I FF'd right through it. Ditto for the opening restaurant scene. I get that that they're trying to add fresh elements to the show, but every time they do this, it comes across as forced, gimmicky, and lacking in creativity.

 

I wish each designer had had two models, one for each outfit. It doesn't work for me to have the judges discussing the outfit after the model has removed it. It would've been better if we could see both garments while the judges were discussing them. Either that, or have the judges confine their comments to the garment the model was wearing at the time.

 

I don't understand why anyone would make a jumpsuit or a one-piece bathing suit without the model's measurements. Or maybe in this case, knowing whatever measurements had been provided were probably wrong. Since they usually are.

 

None of the garments bowled me over. I thought Sonjia was overpraised as usual.

 

Nigel was a good judge. It was interesting to have a fashion photographer's perspective. He actually had something relevant and interesting to say and wasn't talking just to have screen time.

Yes to all.

 

Michelle looked awful in the opening segments. I thought she had cut her hair but she just had it fashioned into some kind of hair turd on top of her head.

 

 

Laughed out loud and spit Dr. Pepper on my keyboard.  So TRUE!  

[panthergirl13]

Plus 1 to all comments about the offensive and time-wasting 'pool boy' segment. Not cool, not entertaining, cringeworthy.

 

And Justin's win was so baffling to me that I started forming my own highly offensive fake USA Today headlines that referenced a deaf contestant and blind judges. I KEED. I KEED.

Edited January 9, 2015 by panthergirl13

[Brandywine]

That lace and denim (??) thing Sonjia sent down the runway was the ugliest effing thing I've ever seen. She should have been sent home on that piece alone.

Co-sign.

When Michelle is on my screen, I see nothing but TinTin. She is a dead ringer.

Reminded of Boo on OITNB

[Texasmom1970]

I am finding it increasingly harder to focus on the looks the designers are making. The trio of Michelles ever changing ridiculous hairstyles. Then Zanna wardrobe, seriously how the hell did she get a job in fashion when she dresses like that. And Sonjia's blue, I just kissed a Smurf lipstick! It's just too much. How do they look in the mirror and go yeah this is a good look for me today?!

[ChelseaNH]

If the roles were reversed I'm certain I'd feel the same way.

 

So all those shots of swimsuit-clad models on the runway made you uncomfortable?  You have my sympathies.

 

everyone on that runway is a size 0 with A cup boobs--easy!

 

Different torso lengths; different waist to hip ratios; different shoulder to bust distance -- off the top of my head and I don't even sew.

[GaT]

Alyssa should wear her hair down. She looked so pretty in that USA Today photo (yet another gimmick...sigh). The old lady up-do is doing her no favors. And OMG she is big. I can't even remember what she was wearing I was so transfixed by her size.

 

I'm sure the USA Today photo was photoshopped to death. Not that she isn't pretty, but all publicity pictures are photoshopped.

I'm not size-shaming or calling out someone's weight due to pregnancy, but holy mother of prego's!  How big was AM's baby when she finally delivered?  I'm guessing he was the size of a 1st grader.  She must have been so frickin uncomfortable those last weeks.  And she really has to stop with the Aunt Bea updo's and the Krystal Carrington earrings.  She is aging herself with these choices.  How fresh and natural did she look in the USA Today picture? Less is more.

 

 

 

I can't understand the updos or the jewelry choices either. She's been wearing bizarre giant costume jewelry necklaces with matching earrings almost every week (from the previews it looks like next week they're back). I think she must be pushing for a designer friend, or she owns at least part of whatever business sells them, because I can't think of any other reason for her to wear them.

[slensam]

So all those shots of swimsuit-clad models on the runway made you uncomfortable?  You have my sympathies.

 

 

 

 

Different torso lengths; different waist to hip ratios; different shoulder to bust distance -- off the top of my head and I don't even sew.

Thanks, I guess. But it was in a different context.

[RedheadZombie]

I commented to my sister that Michelle is starting to resemble Pepper on American Horror Story.

 

I can't not see Seth-Aaron.  They were separated at birth.

 

Unlike the judges, I didn't much care for Sanjia's at all. I HATED the boxy top which looked nothing like anyone would wear at a resort. I guess it could have resembled a 1960s terrycloth beach jacket. The top of her suit was nicely fit and flattering, which definitely is unusual for bandeau, but I didn't dig the bottom. At least the model's entire arse wasn't hanging out, though.

 

I thought it looked like an unconventional challenge, and Sonjia had only lace doilies, duct tape, and blue dye to work with.

[phoenix780]

For me the models had a purpose and ultimately it was the clothing being discussed, though I suppose they could have used mannequins.  The pool boys at the beginning were just there so everyone could fall all over the place fanning themselves.  So I don't see them as equivalent.  They're all objects, in a way, but I guess for me the hangers get a different reaction than the sex objects.

 

I may have been in a mood, though, because it also bugged me when Alyssa tacked on "and he's easy on the eyes" to Nigel's intro, and I suppose that's not that different from something like "the gorgeous Georgina." 

 

About the clothes- meh.  Add me to the list of those who didn't get why Sanjia got a pass for her look.  I also couldn't help but think that Justin won partly because he has a story that might appeal to readers who aren't PR fans, whereas the others...it's not as obvious, if they do.  His stuff was pretty, but I'm a cynic so I wonder what gave it that extra edge, especially since he didn't work with the awful patterned fabric they gave everyone which could be seen as dodging part of the challenge, though it was a smart move.

[MortysCleaningLady]

Yuck.

I wouldn't be caught dead in any of those bathing suits.  Dmitry's probably was the best.  Then, Justin's and Michelle's.  The remaining 5 were terrible.  And the praise for Sonjia's....  totally flattened the model's chest. 

 

I can see Dmitry and Justin in the top, but the rest of them were horrible. 

 

Samantha was ready to go.

[ratgirlagogo]

 

Bebecat:I think I will be fast-forwarding, as usual. I hate the gimmicks. Just want to see runway, and glimpses of Swatch.

Sounds like you and I are using the  same viewing strategy:)

[Archery]

I suspect that Alyssa' s updo has more to do with the fact that her face is so very round with her weight gain. She's double-chinned. Wearing her hair down would give her face even less definition, and would accentuate the roundness.

[designing1]

Re Michelle:

 

I can't not see Seth-Aaron.  They were separated at birth.

 

Too bad for Michelle that Seth Aaron got all the talent and personality.

 

 

Samantha was ready to go.

 

I question why she was even brought back to begin with. I just took a look at her Spring 2014 collection and it was every bit as uninspired, Forever 21 sale rack-looking as the stuff she created on the show. If that collection was the best she could do when presumably she had more than one day per outfit, why did they think she was worthy of a second chance?

Edited January 10, 2015 by designing1

[Bebecat]

I could not watch the runway part, link kept crashing, will have to google the links. But I am glad, as I can't stand it when Justin wins. If they are going for the sympathy factor with him, it is not working on me. I find him annoying, not very creative, and I assume it is safe to imagine he cried??

Did not like the blue lipstick, lol...was that on Sam? Can't remember, so distracted by the lip color.

AM just has the world's worst taste. Imo, no way she doesn't have a say in styling or hair. It is funny seeing her do hair commercials for Wen, when she looks so ridiculous.

As always, hating Michelle with a passion. I think she has become my least favorite person to be on TV, ever.

[heythere]

I could not watch the runway part, link kept crashing, will have to google the links. But I am glad, as I can't stand it when Justin wins. If they are going for the sympathy factor with him, it is not working on me. I find him annoying, not very creative, and I assume it is safe to imagine he cried??

He didn't! As soon as they announced he had won I said "Please don't cry".  I love his stuff for the unconventional challenges but a lot of his real cloth stuff is rather blah. Still, I really liked his bathing suit this episode. 

 

Dimitry's dress was so blah...I wasn't seeing what was so great about it.

 

I did really like Michelle's bathing suit as well.

[Bebecat]

Lol, can't believe Justin did not blubber...maybe he finally realized how silly he looked, or saw some footage...

[ElectricBoogaloo]

some kind of hair turd

Ha! It's funny because it's true.

 

There was so much fug on the runway tonight. Between the unflattering bathing suits and the ugly coverups, I started wondering what kind of resorts the designers imagine are on Ibiza.

 

Sidenote: When Jay said, "I've never been to Ibiza," and pronounced it with a Z, I thought well, that's obvious. Does no one on this show (designers, judges, hosts, mentor) speak Spanish or know how to pronounce Ibiza correctly?

 

I was really hoping for a double elimination this week after the previous episode's non-elimination so I was really disappointed that only one person was sent home.

Edited January 10, 2015 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Aulty]

between Michelle's stomach lips, the Chippendale beach boys and Zanna's pointless critiques all I can do to describe this episode is roll my eyes.

[pasdetrois]

 

Is Michelle on something?  Wow, she is acting so strange!  "OHHH, NIGEL!!"  And so on.

I know! Like a deranged Tinkerbell, drunkenly gushing over everyone. And the HAIR TURD.

 

I thought Dmitry's suit was beautifully fitted. He made me laugh when he said he was imploding inside, because of course all we saw was his usual impassive expression.

 

I cannot stand Nigel, so I groaned when I spotted him.

 

The stupid pool-boy schtick, ugh.

 

Does Zanna just roll out of bed, grab what's closest in her closet, fluff up her hair and stumble out the door?

 

Did each of the designers have a different destination? That seemed kind of planned.

[auntlada]

Sidenote: When Jay said, "I've never been to Ibiza," and pronounced it with a Z, I thought well, that's obvious. Does no one on this show (designers, judges, hosts, mentor) speak Spanish or know how to pronounce Ibiza correctly?

 

I'll bite. How do you pronounce it if it isn't Ibiza with a z? I took Spanish in college, but my professor was from Venezuela so that's the Spanish I learned. I'm pretty sure a z was pronounced z.

[Julia]

I'll bite. How do you pronounce it if it isn't Ibiza with a z? I took Spanish in college, but my professor was from Venezuela so that's the Spanish I learned. I'm pretty sure a z was pronounced z.

 

If you speak pure castilian, it's ihbeetha. 

Edited January 10, 2015 by Julia

[auntlada]

If you speak pure castilian, it's ihbeetha. 

 

I suspect if any of the designers speak Spanish, it isn't pure Castilian (or any bit Castilian), but is Central or South American Spanish. I suspect most people in this country who learn Spanish in school learn Central or South American Spanish.

 

Also, as near as I can tell, in Catalan, it would be pronounced with a z sound (it appears to be spelled with a double s). Catalan is a co-official language in the Balearic Islands.

Edited January 10, 2015 by auntlada

[Oholibamah]

I just can't seem to care what happens this season. I probably won't even be mad if fucking Helen wins. Because I just don't care.

 

The whole thing with the pool boys...yuck! Why are we objectifying anyone on this show? What does this have to do with fashion?

 

I was against it too until I noticed the one that resembled Joe Manganiello. Then my outrage suddenly evaporated.

 

Michelle's horror at having to go in the water was hilarious. I could see her thinking "I've actually done my hair and managed look good for the first time this entire season. No way in hell."

 

I was praying that somebody would think outside the box and do a Ski Resort look. The budget was a little tight, but a faux fur wrap, a luxe brown lycra with gold trim swimsuit and pair of camel palazzo pants would have been an unexpected and divine take on the challenge.

 

Instead we got a parade of boring cliches. I will admit that Michelle's swimsuit is the first wow moment of the season for me, but unfortunately it was paired with that absolutely tragic silver dress.

 

Everybody either had a nice resort look and a shitty swimsuit (Helen, Jay, Fabio, Sam) or a nice swimsuit and a resort look with some problems (Michelle, Dmitry, Justin, Sonjia). All things considered, I agreed with the Top 3: Sonjia's was at least an attempt to do something new and interesting and Dmitry's were cohesive, if illadvised for a resort, and Greece was a nice inspiration (Although personally I found Dmitry's swimsuit a little done and dated. She looked like the lead singer of the Vengaboys). Justin's was more of the expected department store clothes that we are accustomed to from him, but both looks were strong even though the dress was more of an accessory to the swimsuit than a standalone outfit. But I agreed with his win.

 

I really liked Sam on her original season, but she's been skating through for weeks now. She was the right choice to go home.

Edited January 10, 2015 by Oholibamah

[Julia]

I suspect if any of the designers speak Spanish, it isn't pure Castilian (or any bit Castilian), but is Central or South American Spanish. I suspect most people in this country who learn Spanish in school learn Central or South American Spanish.

 

Also, as near as I can tell, in Catalan, it would be pronounced with a z sound (it appears to be spelled with a double s). Catalan is a co-official language in the Balearic Islands.

 

I tend to think that the impulse behind language "purity"(in all languages) is an essentially conservative urge to be the group who get to define what the language is (generally, whatever the purist group grew up speaking). The fuss is actually worse for italian, where there are plenty of people alive now whose grandparents spoke the dialect of their region until they had "italian" (tuscan) imposed on them.

[auntlada]

That's probably true. I think it's impossible to do with Spanish because there are so many Spanish-speaking countries, and they all speak it differently, and I think very few of them speak it as they speak it in Spain (where I think it's not all exactly the same regardless of what the official Castilian language police would like people to believe). (I don't know that the official Castilian language police is a thing, like L'Academie francaise in France.)

[WearyTraveler]

That's probably true. I think it's impossible to do with Spanish because there are so many Spanish-speaking countries, and they all speak it differently, and I think very few of them speak it as they speak it in Spain (where I think it's not all exactly the same regardless of what the official Castilian language police would like people to believe). (I don't know that the official Castilian language police is a thing, like L'Academie francaise in France.)

 

There is the Real Academia de la Lengua Española (The Royal Academy of the Spanish Language).

 

I was born in Venezuela, my parents (and everyone before them in my family) were born in Spain.  I learned English translating songs from The Beatles when I was 12 and a few years later I attended Babson College in Mass.  I now live in Spain but I have traveled to many Central and South American countries and I'm familiar with several accents.

 

No one outside of Spain speaks Castilian Spanish, and even some Spanish territories outside of Europe (The Canary Islands, for instance) have a completely different accent.  One of the main differences is the pronunciation of the letters "C" and "Z", which sound almost the same in Castilian-like an exaggerated "th" English sound, but are pronounced like a regular "S" in every other Spanish speaking country in the world.  Not to mention that even within countries the accents vary (and this includes continental Spain:  a person from Andalucía does not have the same accent as a person from Madrid).

 

I don't think it's fair to expect the designers to have a perfect Castilian pronunciation.  That would be like a person who speaks British English expecting that all other English variations (American, Australian, Caribbean, etc.) sounded the same as the British version because it was the "first" one.  Languages evolve as societies change, as it should be.

 

As for the designs, I thought Michelle had the best bathing suit, but I wasn't wowed by anyone's full garment.  The lace ones looked terrible.  Who the hell wears lace to a beach resort?  Do you know how hard it will be to get the sand out of it?  I've been to the Bahamas, Jamaica, Aruba and the Cayman Islands and I never saw anybody (local or tourist) wearing anything made of lace.  If you wore any of the lace pants presented on that runway and sat down for more than 15 minutes (say while eating lunch at a restaurant), that lace against your bare skin will leave marks.  After 20 minutes it will start to itch, and at the half hour point it will feel like it was cutting into your skin.  Don't these people have a small amount of common sense?

Edited January 10, 2015 by WearyTraveler

[sinkwriter]

As soon as Samantha started talking about how her suit was going to be very "Baywatch," I thought YUCK. Those high-leg low-cut swimsuits are not attractive and not wearable for anything but the objectification of all the actresses on that show who had to wear them. Hideous. So why on earth would you want to emulate it in your design? (Except for humor purposes.) I couldn't stand her swimsuit, and the jumpsuit looked like it was gaping on the sides, which seemed to expose the wearer's breasts, so... her entire outfit this week belonged at the very bottom. It was bad.

 

I also hated the lace outfits, especially Sonjia's. It was so ugly! And yet the judges kept talking about how they liked it. And they loved Michelle's swimsuit, but all I could think about was how most people's breasts would be popping out of that minuscule top if they tried to even move a muscle. Meanwhile, I actually liked Jay's flowing dress, no matter how much the judges lambasted it. *sigh* I'll never understand the judging process...

Edited January 10, 2015 by sinkwriter

[sinkwriter]

I laughed pretty hard when the USA Today woman told everyone in the design room that she couldn't wait to hear about their "girls" (what an overdone phrase: "my 'girl' is a jet-setting lawyer by day and a strip club waitress by night, and I really see her wearing this outfit on the beach or going to brunch...").

 

I also eyerolled because she kept emphasizing how Important their prize was, getting the opportunity to be featured in USA TODAY! Oh, please. Take it down a notch, lady; it's not that big.

 

(edited because stupid auto-spellchecker keeps trying to correct my words even when I know what I want to say. It kept turning "eyerolled" into "eyeballed." Damn it, stop correcting me! That's not the word I want! LOL.)

Edited January 10, 2015 by sinkwriter

[PrincessSteel]

I laughed pretty hard when the USA Today woman told everyone in the design room that she couldn't wait to hear about their "girls" (what an overdone phrase: "my 'girl' is a jet-setting lawyer by day and a strip club waitress by night, and I really see her wearing this outfit on the beach or going to brunch...").

Preach! The descriptions of the designers' girl never match actual human people. But I suppose if a designer said something like 'I am designing for a middle-aged working mom who wants to cover her upper arms at all times during her annual vacation on a quilting cruise', that designer would be ripped to shreds during judging. And yet I know many women who fit this description and want to look cool and have money to spend on themselves...a designer who targets ignored demographics would make for good business. Just wish it also made for good television.

Edited January 10, 2015 by PrincessSteel

[izabella]

I loathed both Sonjia's and Helen's lace looks.  Not only were the outfits unattractive, they look like they'd be uncomfortable and scratchy in a hot, humid island environment.  Gross.  I go on island vacations regularly, and I would never wear anything that looks like it would become a scratchy, sweaty mess 5 minutes after I put it on.  Plus they were ugly and lace adds pounds to a body, so no way.

 

Glad Sam finally went home.  She was way, way overdue.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I found Dmitry's swimsuit a little done and dated. She looked like the lead singer of the Vengaboys

I kept thinking it looked like the camo outfits in the Survivor video. I hadn't seen it for ages so I rewatched and saw that Kelly is wearing a one shouldered crop top that looks very similar. To be honest, there is only so much you can do with a bathing suit and I didn't find the others to be innovative or unique. They were all derivative.

http://youtu.be/Wmc8bQoL-J0

Edited January 10, 2015 by ElectricBoogaloo

[RedheadZombie]

I could not watch the runway part, link kept crashing, will have to google the links. But I am glad, as I can't stand it when Justin wins. If they are going for the sympathy factor with him, it is not working on me. I find him annoying, not very creative, and I assume it is safe to imagine he cried??

 

Responding in Justin's thread.

[bilgistic]

...if a designer said something like 'I am designing for a middle-aged working mom who wants to cover her upper arms at all times during her annual vacation on a quilting cruise'...

Mom??

[Tony]

Isaac Mizrahi is a total joke. I just can't deal with him after watching the judging and hearing the idiocy that comes out of his mouth,

 

Even though there are a million things that make this show craptastic, him being one of the judges has to be the final nail on the coffin for me.

Edited January 12, 2015 by Tony

[EyesGlazed]

I like Zanna's outfits!  There, I said it!  To me, living in NYC and having several friends in the fashion-magazine biz, her outfits are the kinds of things that the girls at Vogue and Bazaar wear.  Zanna's sometimes-fried blonde locks are pretty standard Vogue material too.  It's a contrast with Heidi, whose looks tend to be Hollywoodish or Las Vegas-y, not to mention insanely short.  I find Zanna's looks more interesting and creative.

 

I'm sorry, the praise for Sonjia was my "jump the shark" moment for this show.  I know many have already had that moment, but this was just so antithetical to my take on her design that I doubted what I was seeing. That lace/denim combo was hideous and I didn't think the bathing suit flattered her model's figure at all. The top seemed to flatten the model's already small breasts.

Guess I'm feeling contrary today because I disagree with this too.  Sonjia's designs are consistently different and fresh.  Yes, I wouldn't pick her runway outfit to wear to a resort, but I appreciated the use of contrasting fabrics and shapes.  It was a lot more intriguing than Justin's off-the-rack snorefest.  And her swimsuit was THE BOMB.

 

I loved Jay's caftan to pieces and thought Isaac's critique was B.S.  I would wear that in a heartbeat.  It was the most eye-catching, versatile, easy and resort-y outfit that anyone sent down the runway.

 

 

[PepperMonkey]

Finally had a chance to rewatch four days after I first thought I was going to do.....

 

I liked Jay's dress also and I liked the leather trim, even if it might be "too heavy" for resort. Most of those resort outfits were hideous anyway, so Jay's was one of the best, IMHO.

 

Sonjia's was just bad, I think. The top with the denim was not even that well made. When they zoomed in on it, you could see the edges of denim which weren't evenly distributed or anything. It was boxy and unflattering. Is blue lipstick still a thing? Cause I remember she wore it on season 10 and that must be at least 3 years ago now. She's an attractive young lady, but I hate the blue stuff on her lips.  I do agree with EyesGlazed, though: at least she tries to give us something different. I said in my original comment that I didn't love Justin's swimsuit the way the judges did, and I still feel that way. It was just not quite right and he is quite "off the rack" but then I'm pretty sure that's what PR and PRAS are all about these days. Especially with QVC and (oh lord) Red Robin as the main sponsors.

 

Re: Isaac. I'm going to harken back, briefly, to something he said in the last episode before their four month break. He called something ugly and very Banana Republic. That's rich, coming from a QVC and former Target designer. And not one of the high end guest designers Target has once every season, but a regular, like for years, Target designer. I'm not a fan of Banana Republic, per se, and I'm not opposed to QVC (I own a few things that came from a shopping network, although not QVC), but his snobbery is pretty much laughable. The moose knuckle comment was unnecessary; it's like he's trying hard to be "controversial" or something. None of those girls has enough flesh to give any indication of either camel toe or moose knuckle, so it was clear it was the fabric giving that appearance; I looked closely and she didn't appear to have male genitalia so Isaac just needed to STFU.

 

Also, seriously, and I like Fabio just fine, but how in the seahag did his swimsuit not land him in the bottom? That was one of the ugliest things I think I have seen so far on this season of PRAS, although, they've been on for so long and taken so many breaks, I guess I could be mis-remembering.

Edited January 12, 2015 by PepperMonkey

[morakot]

While I liked the movement of Jay's caftan, it really wouldn't work as a cover-up, especially with all that fabric trailing on the ground. By the time you got into the restaurant, you would either be dragging half the beach or half the swimming pool water with you in your train.

[Calamity Jane]

There is the Real Academia de la Lengua Española (The Royal Academy of the Spanish Language).

 

I was born in Venezuela, my parents (and everyone before them in my family) were born in Spain.  I learned English translating songs from The Beatles when I was 12 and a few years later I attended Babson College in Mass.  I now live in Spain but I have traveled to many Central and South American countries and I'm familiar with several accents.

 

No one outside of Spain speaks Castilian Spanish, and even some Spanish territories outside of Europe (The Canary Islands, for instance) have a completely different accent.  One of the main differences is the pronunciation of the letters "C" and "Z", which sound almost the same in Castilian-like an exaggerated "th" English sound, but are pronounced like a regular "S" in every other Spanish speaking country in the world.  Not to mention that even within countries the accents vary (and this includes continental Spain:  a person from Andalucía does not have the same accent as a person from Madrid).

 

I don't think it's fair to expect the designers to have a perfect Castilian pronunciation.  That would be like a person who speaks British English expecting that all other English variations (American, Australian, Caribbean, etc.) sounded the same as the British version because it was the "first" one.  Languages evolve as societies change, as it should be.

 

As for the designs, I thought Michelle had the best bathing suit, but I wasn't wowed by anyone's full garment.  The lace ones looked terrible.  Who the hell wears lace to a beach resort?  Do you know how hard it will be to get the sand out of it?  I've been to the Bahamas, Jamaica, Aruba and the Cayman Islands and I never saw anybody (local or tourist) wearing anything made of lace.  If you wore any of the lace pants presented on that runway and sat down for more than 15 minutes (say while eating lunch at a restaurant), that lace against your bare skin will leave marks.  After 20 minutes it will start to itch, and at the half hour point it will feel like it was cutting into your skin.  Don't these people have a small amount of common sense?

I thought lace was a terrible choice in general, and then to mix it with that awful denim in that awful, boxy top Sonjia made.... words fail. 

[phoenix780]

Preach! The descriptions of the designers' girl never match actual human people. But I suppose if a designer said something like 'I am designing for a middle-aged working mom who wants to cover her upper arms at all times during her annual vacation on a quilting cruise', that designer would be ripped to shreds during judging. And yet I know many women who fit this description and want to look cool and have money to spend on themselves...a designer who targets ignored demographics would make for good business. Just wish it also made for good television.

With the right judging it totally could.  Hand that designer a couple wins and heaps of praise, watch the drama unfold when the others freak out, get pissed off, and so on.  They aren't all that hip and cool anymore, why not just switch focus?  Cross-promote by having them design an outfit for the women on Dance Moms...I think it could be at least as entertaining as what we're getting.

 

Speaking of- I love how much of this discussion is about the proper pronunciation of "Ibiza."  Even the bad outfits weren't worth talking about that much, apparently. 

Edited January 13, 2015 by phoenix780

[TexasGal]

No one outside of Spain speaks Castilian Spanish, and even some Spanish territories outside of Europe (The Canary Islands, for instance) have a completely different accent.  One of the main differences is the pronunciation of the letters "C" and "Z", which sound almost the same in Castilian-like an exaggerated "th" English sound, but are pronounced like a regular "S" in every other Spanish speaking country in the world.  Not to mention that even within countries the accents vary (and this includes continental Spain:  a person from Andalucía does not have the same accent as a person from Madrid).

 

I don't think it's fair to expect the designers to have a perfect Castilian pronunciation.  That would be like a person who speaks British English expecting that all other English variations (American, Australian, Caribbean, etc.) sounded the same as the British version because it was the "first" one.  Languages evolve as societies change, as it should be.

All valid.  But at some point, don't you have to give credit to local pronunciation if you're going to be tossing it out there like a jet setter?  Like, for instance, I have no idea why Leicester Square in London is "Lester" Square, but it is and if I pronounced it the way it appears to me phonetically while describing what my "girl" was like I would deserve to be dinged a little.  

 

For the record, I actually really like Jay.  I have no idea why I like him, short pants and all, but it must be some left over goodwill from his season although I can't really remember him from before.  I thought his dress was gorgeous as well, as a dress but not a cover up.

[carrps]

While I liked the movement of Jay's caftan, it really wouldn't work as a cover-up, especially with all that fabric trailing on the ground. By the time you got into the restaurant, you would either be dragging half the beach or half the swimming pool water with you in your train.

Yeah, but this is another instance of the challenge not being clearly explained. Was it meant to be a pool/beach cover-up? Or was it meant to be a resort outfit in itselt?

 

Because Jay's dress would be great for dinner or dancing.

[Jobiska]

If a designer said on this show "My girl is wearing this in Pah-ree" instead of "in Pair-iss" they would sound pretentious and silly, so I don't see what's wrong with saying Ibiza the way (Jay, was it?  I didn't even notice till you all started talking about it) said it.

I was surprised none of the judges asked Justin how he came up with the black fabric for the swimsuit when everyone else had those godawful prints.  This is the kind of thing that gets me about judging--it's so capricious--if they had asked him, it's even chances whether they'd say "how inventive" or "you didn't really live up to the challenge of making that print work."  

Re discomfort over the male swimmers scene vs. how we feel when looking at the models on the runway--the designers were catcalling, leering, squealing, etc. over the men, but not over their own models.  If someone were doing that when the models were walking the runway, yes, that would be disturbing.

(That's separate from the overall more general question of whether fashion objectifies women, but the question here is what attitudes were being shown by the other people present towards the people in bathing suits).

[DHDancer]

I was surprised none of the judges asked Justin how he came up with the black fabric for the swimsuit ....

 

 

If I remember correctly, he used the wrong side of the fabric.