S17.E10: What Do You Care About?

[hoodooznoodooz]

2 hours ago, Desert Rat said:

I know many don't agree, but I really miss Heidi and Tim. 

I don’t really like Carly or whatever her name is. I really dislike the way she lowers her head and then peers up under her brows. Or looks way off to the side for emphasis. She also seems too one-note. But clothes look great on her. 

[Kdel1079]

I just have to say that ‘clown caught in a blender’ is one of the funniest phrases/descriptions I ever read!! 

I loved Sebastian taking a selfie and saying ‘I don’t know where my good side is, maybe it’s on the inside.’ And yes, I think it is.

Also, please note the spelling is ‘Colombian’ not ‘Columbian’

Edited May 18, 2019 by Kdel1079

[TVbitch]

I did not like the winning look. Thought it was an "old" blah color and a done-before ruffle and the glitter faces looked juvenile. Also Dimitry made looks that were two faces meeting that were better, so I am biased.

I would have had Sabastian win. His concept was genius, the execution was cool, and his t-shirt was great. What does this guy have to fucking do to win?!

[Ilovepie]

22 hours ago, Stats Queen said:

Garo’s outfit was poorly executed and I’m sick of him doing that darn corset. However, one of the judges did not approve of what he chose as important to him because something about this “is not where we are culturally.” That was stupid and insulting. His cause was important to him and actually is something that should concern us.

Just because it wasn’t about a cultural issue (e.g., gay rights, equality, diversity, acceptance, etc.) he gets dinged? 

I thought when she said “that’s not where we are culturally” that she was referring to his design, not his cause, as in, we are not culturally into cheap corseted costumes that look like something a hooker would wear.......That being said, all I could think about with Garro’s cause was the episode of Black Mirror about the bees. It’s called Hated In The Nation.  If you haven’t seen it (And you have Netflix) watch it - it’s scary - it will make you want to get on the save the bees bandwagon!

I liked Bishme’s look, but I think some of that has to do with his model - for instance, I think Sebastian’s look, which I also liked, would have had more impact if it was worn by Bishme’s model. Mimi gets all the attention this season but for me, Thinjin (is that her name?) is my favorite. 

If Jamal gets to the finals, are we just going to see a bunch of puffer clothes. Gah!

Hester is working my last nerve with her stupid hats. I HATE them. And her outfit was the worst. No grown woman wants to dress like that.

I feel so conflicted about Tessa. I don’t like her, but her story got to me. I thought her dress represented her cause the best, but in many ways it was so basic. I guess safe was the best place for her this week.

 I really love Venny, but he’s been circling the drain for a while. I just hope Hester and Jamal join him soon...

[StatisticalOutlier]

41 minutes ago, carrps said:

I didn't hear anything about recovered memory. Only that it happened five (?) years ago.

Okay, I watched that part again and she said, "When you guys delivered this challenge, my mind immediately went to, about three years ago I recalled a moment in my life when I was younger when I was molested?"  (Her question mark, not mine.)

So it was a recovered memory.

[Fukui San]

6 minutes ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

Okay, I watched that part again and she said, "When you guys delivered this challenge, my mind immediately went to, about three years ago I recalled a moment in my life when I was younger when I was molested?"  (Her question mark, not mine.)

So it was a recovered memory.

This is what she said in the workroom with Christian:

"This cause means a lot to mean because it’s closely related to an experience I had.

I have not shared this story with many people, and I can’t suppress this anymore. So this is what I’m going to share."

In the runway dialogue, I would not characterize her as as having a question mark at the end of the statement. It's a little uptalky, but I would not say that it's a question.

[carrps]

25 minutes ago, Fukui San said:

In the runway dialogue, I would not characterize her as as having a question mark at the end of the statement. It's a little uptalky, but I would not say that it's a question.

Yeah, when I hear the phrase "recovered memory" I think about those "therapists" who use hypnosis to supposedly come up with something the person doesn't actually consciously remember. That's not how I interpreted what Tessa said.

[buttersister]

21 hours ago, HaaCHOO said:

The guest judge asking Tessa what was behind her design felt exploitative and like producer manipulation.

Dame Judi Densch couldn’t have sold that questioning as spontaneous.

[Token]

1 hour ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

Okay, I watched that part again and she said, "When you guys delivered this challenge, my mind immediately went to, about three years ago I recalled a moment in my life when I was younger when I was molested?"  (Her question mark, not mine.)

So it was a recovered memory.

That's not what a recovered memory is.

[ChelleGame]

13 hours ago, qtpye said:

Ya’ll this episode left a bad taste in my mouth. This was not because of the designers who all shared some worthwhile causes but because the fashion industry supposedly congratulating itself for being so damn “woke”.

Also, as a woman of color, I wondered what they would of done if one designer was racist or homophobic?

Seriously, would the judges be like, “ Your hatred for people different then you disgusts me on a personal level but the way you incorporated that halter top into a deconstructed Klan outfit was genius”.

This. Entirely. And --

I cracked up at this post.

[stormy weather]

5 hours ago, Stats Queen said:

I loved Sebastian’s dress (as I do with most of his designs). 

He did have limited time so he went for a lot of shades and I thought he made his point,  but you are correct in that he did not represent darker shades adequately. I, like Tessa, am on the other extreme where  I am mostly translucent (I burn in florescent lighting) and I wasn’t represented either. Which is much less important than darker shades not being represented given the history of our country. However, I do take umbrage a a previous poster who slammed Tessa about her not being represented in the design. Just because I was born a certain way doesn’t mean I’m an awful human being or don’t care about others who are different than me.

 If he had more time, I think he would have done a better representation.

I think you're talking about me so I'm going to explain myself, if it wasn't me you were referring to I apologize! 

Of course I never meant that if you're born a certain way you're necessarily an awful human being. What was awful about Tessa was the fact that in an episode where the issue of being discriminated because you're not white was brought up by so many designers who obviously care about this and struggled with it throughout their whole life (Sebastian, Venny, Jamall and in a way also Bishme - practically every contestant who is not white), whining out loud saying "but hey! There's also very pale people like us in the world! I want to be represented! Match my skin tone!" was really uncalled for. And if it was a joke (which I don't think it was because her tone might have sounded like she was joking but her face was serious), it was a tasteless joke. Let's put it this way, if I was Tessa, even if I had noticed that my "translucent" white complexion wasn't represented in the dress, I wouldn't have said it, not in this context. 

On a lighter note, I wanted to add that I'm one of the very few, apparently, who actually liked Venny's outfit. I thought the jacket was very cool and urban and I would definitely wear it. More so than Bishme's prom dress from 1987 or that hideous tulle hedge jacket from Hester that besides being bulky and just ugly to look at must've also been itchy as hell. 

Edited May 18, 2019 by stormy weather

[nb360]

In regards to Tessa and her recovered memory: On the runway she said something like, “Three years ago I had a realization that something happened to me when I was younger...” or something to that effect.

[WaltersHair]

Regarding Tessa and memory, there is a fascinating study done about failure of memory. In other words, it is difficult for individuals to remember something correctly after a traumatic event, particularly if given false information in conjunction..

Lost in a mall  

If Tessa's memory is something she remembered 'suddenly one day',  it might not necessarily be what she remembers. I am in no way discounting what was clearly painful memory, but events remembered years later are dicey.

[dleighg]

I realize why I had so much trouble understanding Sebastian's "#=DNA" slogan. I'm an engineer, so an equal sign is part of an equation. And I grew up LONG before "hashtag" was a thing. So I read it as 

NUMBER EQUALS DNA

which of course makes no sense at all. If I (as an old person) wanted to do the hashtag thing, I might have instead done

#sameDNA

or 

#humanRACE

or something like that. 

[terrymct]

13 hours ago, Stats Queen said:

It really is and Hester’s outfit was her regular clothes. 

Mysteries I would like solved include how many suitcases were involved in Hester’s hat collection. I think it might compete well with the number of suitcases “real” housewives need for a two day trip.

Hester's hat collection is promotion of her business.  She sells those stupid berets via a website.  

https://www.sunshinebyhester.com/

Edited May 18, 2019 by terrymct
Edited to add the url

[dleighg]

16 minutes ago, terrymct said:

She sells those stupid berets via a website.  

they really are stupid. What's also weird is that on this page there a pics of Hester in her typical outfits that link to a dead page on Nineteenth Amendment.

https://www.sunshinebyhester.com/pre-order-mini-collection/

Edited May 18, 2019 by dleighg

[heckkitty]

Her website looks like an elementary art classroom barfed all over it. 

Re: Sebastian’s dress: I thought someone asked him about representing more skin tones, and he gave the explanation about not enough fabric?

[mightysparrow]

12 hours ago, Ilovepie said:

I liked Bishme’s look, but I think some of that has to do with his model - for instance, I think Sebastian’s look, which I also liked, would have had more impact if it was worn by Bishme’s model. Mimi gets all the attention this season but for me, Thinjin (is that her name?) is my favorite. 

I agree with this.  Bishme's model, makes an okay design look spectacular.  I believe she's been the winning model on several occasions.  Hester should literally kiss her ass on a regular basis because it was her spectacular booty that saved Hester's horrible swimsuit.  I'm sure the client didn't really want to wear the swimsuit; she wanted the model's ass!

[hoodooznoodooz]

2 hours ago, terrymct said:

Hester's hat collection is promotion of her business.  She sells those stupid berets via a website.  

https://www.sunshinebyhester.com/

The website says Cutsomer instead of Customer. Is that deliberate?

How old is Hester? Her accessories are supposed to appeal to adult women? My son’s fourth-grade classmates have more sophisticated wardrobes.

[Ashforth]

10 hours ago, stormy weather said:

On a lighter note, I wanted to add that I'm one of the very few, apparently, who actually liked Venny's outfit. I thought the jacket was very cool and urban and I would definitely wear it.

I think Venny's idea was on point and the problem was that his ability to execute it fell short. The jacket could have been over the top gorgeous streetwear (I hate myself for using that term) if it had the hood and was edited down and finished properly, and it would have made up for the lackluster dress. 

I think he'll do well in the industry if that's what he chooses.

[qtpye]

4 hours ago, terrymct said:

Hester's hat collection is promotion of her business.  She sells those stupid berets via a website.  

https://www.sunshinebyhester.com/

2 hours ago, heckkitty said:

Her website looks like an elementary art classroom barfed all over it. 

Re: Sebastian’s dress: I thought someone asked him about representing more skin tones, and he gave the explanation about not enough fabric?

1 hour ago, mightysparrow said:

I agree with this.  Bishme's model, makes an okay design look spectacular.  I believe she's been the winning model on several occasions.  Hester should literally kiss her ass on a regular basis because it was her spectacular booty that saved Hester's horrible swimsuit.  I'm sure the client didn't really want to wear the swimsuit; she wanted the model's ass!

1 hour ago, hoodooznoodooz said:

The website says Cutsomer instead of Customer. Is that deliberate?

How old is Hester? Her accessories are supposed to appeal to adult women? My son’s fourth-grade classmates have more sophisticated wardrobes.

Hester's website makes me feel like I have been bitch slapped by preciousness. Bishme's model is amazing. She is the type of model that all designers dream of because she elevates almost anything she wears.

[Ashforth]

Hester's style doesn't appeal to me, but eh, so what.

[hookedontv]

On 5/17/2019 at 11:19 AM, stormy weather said:

Then there was Hester, all hunched over like that using her tiny voice saying "I'm so sorry my outfit is so baaaad" so that everyone could say: "Oh no! It's so beautiful!" (it wasn't), who really reminded me of those women who ask their partners if they look fat in a dress just to hear them say "no honey you look great". It's manipulative and just not cool.

The worst part of these episodes: Hester. Always. Hunched over with a pinched face, designing “clothes” that were barfed up by a mutant baby made by a rainbow and unicorn. No Hester, women do NOT want more glitter. 

The best part of these episodes: SWATCH! Always. 

[Desert Rat]

12 hours ago, dleighg said:

I realize why I had so much trouble understanding Sebastian's "#=DNA" slogan. I'm an engineer, so an equal sign is part of an equation. And I grew up LONG before "hashtag" was a thing. So I read it as 

NUMBER EQUALS DNA

which of course makes no sense at all. If I (as an old person) wanted to do the hashtag thing, I might have instead done

#sameDNA

or 

#humanRACE

or something like that. 

I also had trouble with the equals thing. We do not have the same DNA. I really liked his design and concept. The idea that all people are variations of the same skin tones/shades was very moving and the design met that concept. What confused me was the idea that all people have the same DNA. As a matter of science, that is plainly wrong. We don't share the same DNA.  Each person has unique DNA. No two people are the same. Every person has their own DNA, even identical twins. So I didn't liked that his design was based on a flawed understanding of science.

Edited May 19, 2019 by Desert Rat

[carrps]

4 hours ago, hoodooznoodooz said:

The website says Cutsomer instead of Customer. Is that deliberate?

How old is Hester? Her accessories are supposed to appeal to adult women? My son’s fourth-grade classmates have more sophisticated wardrobes.

I'm unimpressed considering the lack of both technical skill and creativity in those berets. Whatever pays the bills, I guess...

Edited May 18, 2019 by carrps
changed wording to be more concise.

[jcbrown]

7 hours ago, terrymct said:

Hester's hat collection is promotion of her business.  She sells those stupid berets via a website.  

https://www.sunshinebyhester.com/

Good lord, her website makes me stabby. I lived through the 70s. Just stop it.

2 hours ago, hookedontv said:

The worst part of these episodes: Hester. Always. Hunched over with a pinched face, designing “clothes” that were barfed up by a mutant baby made by a rainbow and unicorn. No Hester, women do NOT want more glitter. 

The best part of these episodes: SWATCH! Always. 

Heehee! I love this description, even though it is offensive to both mutants and unicorns to give them any blame for Hester's abomination of a "personal style."

And yes, Swatch is the best.

[millennium]

On 5/17/2019 at 1:27 PM, StatisticalOutlier said:

Oh, for crying out loud.  It's vulgar AND poorly punctuated?  And why is "Be" capitalized in the slogan but not "Totally"?

Because we are Be's.   Or wear Be's.   Whatever.

(FWIW, I detest vulgarity in the mainstream.)

[millennium]

1 hour ago, jcbrown said:

Good lord, her website makes me stabby. I lived through the 70s. Just stop it.

I knew the 70's too, and you, Hester, are no 70's.

I find her look more childish than retro, and to me there's something very cringey about a grown woman dressing like an odd little girl.   If a man went about dressed as a parody of a little boy, he would probably be labeled insane or be suspected of being a pervert.

[LennieBriscoe]

Two possibilities for Sebastian's lack of some darker skin tones: he didn't have enough fabric; or that organza simply wouldn't become any darker,  no matter the layering. 

Same with "Hashtag: Equal DNA" (#=DNA). Did anyone not get his "We Are One" message? There ya go. Fashion isn't science,  and vice-versa.

Edited May 18, 2019 by LennieBriscoe

[RedbirdNelly]

17 hours ago, stormy weather said:

I think you're talking about me so I'm going to explain myself, if it wasn't me you were referring to I apologize! 

Of course I never meant that if you're born a certain way you're necessarily an awful human being. What was awful about Tessa was the fact that in an episode where the issue of being discriminated because you're not white was brought up by so many designers who obviously care about this and struggled with it throughout their whole life (Sebastian, Venny, Jamall and in a way also Bishme - practically every contestant who is not white), whining out loud saying "but hey! There's also very pale people like us in the world! I want to be represented! Match my skin tone!" was really uncalled for. And if it was a joke (which I don't think it was because her tone might have sounded like she was joking but her face was serious), it was a tasteless joke. Let's put it this way, if I was Tessa, even if I had noticed that my "translucent" white complexion wasn't represented in the dress, I wouldn't have said it, not in this context. 

I may have this wrong--I watched the episode only once and was not focused on this scene--but I thought Sebastian was stressing because he'd come up with this idea but didn't have enough fabric to do the entire dress like he wanted--and that Tess helped him be ok with stretching his fabric by using the white--by pointing out that it actually did match some people's skin tones so it would fit. That was my take away. May have been off. 

[Token]

3 minutes ago, RedbirdNelly said:

I may have this wrong--I watched the episode only once and was not focused on this scene--but I thought Sebastian was stressing because he'd come up with this idea but didn't have enough fabric to do the entire dress like he wanted--and that Tess helped him be ok with stretching his fabric by using the white--by pointing out that it actually did match some people's skin tones so it would fit. That was my take away. May have been off. 

That was my take on the scene as well.  Some people just seem to want to hate on Tessa.

[Archery]

I loved Bishme's Red Bull + coffee stream of consciousness run on sentence at Mood while the employee was cutting the fabric.  I think his dress accomplished what he set out to do:  make a message and a dress that one of his mentees could wear.  

Disconnected from the "story," I didn't mind Garo's dress, but when the judges automatically know it's yours, you are one note. OTOH, Jamall lucked into a challenge where the puffer jacket carried the message.  I was shocked Hester was safe:  that thing looked like dress-up play time at daycare.  And no grownup should use the expression "AF" unironically, ever.  

I really liked when the guest judge told a crying Venny, "You'll nail that jacket another time."  The fact that he couldn't execute it here doesn't mean he couldn't execute it ever.  I thought that was very kind of her.  I'm really considering buying his i have a name T-shirt for my son, though, because it's a perfect encapsulation of his experience walking around the world in this place and time.  

When they panned past all of those T-shirt slogans, I did think, What if someone's passion was pro-life or something conservative like that.  I think they would self-censor instantly and pick something the judges could get on board with.  

[auntlada]

3 minutes ago, Archery said:

I'm really considering buying his i have a name T-shirt for my son, though, because it's a perfect encapsulation of his experience walking around the world in this place and time. 

I've been iffy on his T-shirt design (not necessarily his cause, but his slogan on the T-shirt), but you just reminded me of one of the stupidest calls I ever got when I worked at a newspaper. I got the call because no one else knew what to say to the stupid woman. Her son had gotten in trouble at school for calling a little girl the N word. The little girl had one black parent and one white parent. The mother seemed to believe that the reason her son got in trouble was because he used the wrong word because the girl had one white parent. She called the newspaper to ask us what you call someone who has one black parent and one white parent. (She didn't say it quite like that, but she did not use vulgar language with me, or I would have quit talking to her. I maybe should have anyway).

When she asked me what to call someone like that, I said, "Her name?" Remembering that, I understand Venny's shirt.

(There are so many things that I thought of after getting off the phone with that woman that I wished I'd said, but just couldn't think of them in time. This was more than 20 years ago, and I still have conversations with her in my mind. Unfortunately -- or perhaps fortunately -- I don't know who she is.)

[Jextella]

On 5/17/2019 at 12:18 AM, millennium said:

I think there's not an ounce of talent among this group.  They're all hacks. 

I don't agree.  Having said that, I think the pool of candidates for a show like this might be limited, perhaps.

There are a kazillion fashion schools out there and yet I'm always surprised how few contestants come on with formal training.  I think early-on it was a bit different, e.g. Christian, and we see it from time-to-time, but without actually counting, it seems most aren't formally educated or maybe they were but haven't been able to make it???

It's risky.

Being called a "hack", for example, could be very damaging for a career.

Edited May 19, 2019 by Jextella

[Desert Rat]

3 hours ago, jcbrown said:

Good lord, her website makes me stabby. I lived through the 70s. Just stop it.

Heehee! I love this description, even though it is offensive to both mutants and unicorns to give them any blame for Hester's abomination of a "personal style."

And yes, Swatch is the best.

$45 for an ugly beret!!!! Is she nuts??? Who buys that shit????

[WearyTraveler]

5 hours ago, Desert Rat said:

I also had trouble with the equals thing. We do not have the same DNA. I really liked his design and concept. The idea that all people are variations of the same skin tones/shades was very moving and the design met that concept. What confused me was the idea that all people have the same DNA. As a matter of science, that is plainly wrong. We don't share the same DNA.  Each person has unique DNA. No two people are the same. Every person has their own DNA, even identical twins. So I didn't liked that his design was based on a flawed understanding of science.

Sebastian is probably referring to the fact that all of our DNA is made up of the same molecules.  The sequencing and pairing of the molecules is different in each one of us, thus leading to different eye colours, variations in height, skin tone, etc.  

Identical twins are actually the exception, they both have exactly the same DNA, which is why every single crime procedural out there has done an episode where the criminal is an identical twin and the protagonists have to figure out another way to prove their guilt, other than DNA.

Here's an article that explains DNA, for anyone interested in learning more.  This quote explains what Sebastian was referring to:

Quote

DNA is made up of molecules called nucleotides. Each nucleotide contains a phosphate group, a sugar group and a nitrogen base. The four types of nitrogen bases are adenine (A), thymine (T), guanine (G) and cytosine (C). The order of these bases is what determines DNA's instructions, or genetic code. Human DNA has around 3 billion bases, and more than 99 percent of those bases are the same in all people, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM). 

In most Latin American countries, the high school curriculum includes the mandatory study of Biology and in your last years of high school this includes material that is taught at US college level in classes named Intro to Biology or Biology 101.

But I agree Sebastian's hashtag was confusing, as DNA itself is not the same for all of us and saying #=nucleotoids would be a colossal miss (clearly, most of the general audience is not that well versed in Biology).  

That said, I loved his dress, and think he should have won,

[CrinkleCutCat]

I loved that Garo chose the dwindling bee population issue and so wish he had created a better dress/outfit 😞

I keep thinking about what might have been a great ‘bee design’. Something advant garde that looked a bit like pollen? Or a design that celebrated the hexagonal shape of honeycomb? (Could possibly have used a different colour then and not been so literal with yellow). 

I just went looking for inspiration and ideas of what Garo could have designed after I wrote this ^^^ and I found Sarah Burton’s designs for Alexander McQueen which are ALL about bees:

Pic of one, link to a webpage with lots more designs...

https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/spring-2013-ready-to-wear/alexander-mcqueen

Edited May 19, 2019 by CrinkleCutCat

[theatremouse]

On 5/17/2019 at 1:13 AM, millennium said:

Especially after Tessa said, "I hope I won't they won't ask me about what's behind my design," or something to that effect.

I thought it was an odd thing for her to say since literally, they always do. That's the format of the show. Models walk the runway. Then the judges ask the designers why they did their designs. It's hard for me to think of it as exploitative that they asked her, or that it was in any way because producers knew she'd commented that she hoped she wouldn't be asked. She was always going to be asked no matter what the design was. I think the hypothesis someone else made that when she said it she was coming from more of an "oh shit am I really doing this" place is the only thing that makes sense. If she really went into it not at all wanting to discuss it on television, she should not have used it as the idea behind the design. 

[Ashforth]

58 minutes ago, CrinkleCutCat said:

I loved that Garo chose the dwindling bee population issue and so wish he had created a better dress/outfit 😞

I keep thinking about what might have been a great ‘bee design’. Something advant garde that looked a bit like pollen? Or a design that celebrated the hexagonal shape of honeycomb? (Could possibly have used a different colour then and not been so literal with yellow). 

I just went looking for inspiration and ideas of what Garo could have designed after I wrote this ^^^ and I found Sarah Burton’s designs for Alexander McQueen which are ALL about bees:

https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/spring-2013-ready-to-wear/alexander-mcqueen

and it has a corset. 

[Sesquipedalia]

On 5/17/2019 at 4:41 PM, millennium said:

I always thought PR was about struggling or up and coming designers.   If you're boasting you've designed for Beyonce, Madonna, etc., and you have "a place in the Adirondacks," you're not what I would call struggling.

I have been wondering this the whole time. Everyone likes money, but other than that, what does he really get out of this competition? Isn't designing for Beyonce--and thereby becoming wealthy--the ultimate goal? If he's already achieved all that, what's the point?

I loved Garo's theme, but I wore a steampunk bee costume for Mardi Gras this year that was less literal.

Even though I'm super white, I noticed that Sebastian's dress lacked darker tones. To give everyone the  benefit of the doubt, he was running out of fabric (and therefore only the seams were darker), and Tessa (and Christian, if I recall correctly) was trying to help him stretch his fabric by pointing out that white is a color.

Some of the themes were cliche, but if your major worry is this challenge wouldn't be fair to white supremacists, you might want to reconsider your priorities.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

10 hours ago, Archery said:

Disconnected from the "story," I didn't mind Garo's dress, but when the judges automatically know it's yours, you are one note.

On the flip side, there have been seasons when the judges LOVED that. They would say, "I knew that this was made by ______ as soon as I saw it on the runway." Then they would bash other designers for "not having a clear point of view." Which on of these opinions emerges just depends on whether or not the judges like you.

19 hours ago, terrymct said:

Hester's hat collection is promotion of her business.  She sells those stupid berets via a website.  

https://www.sunshinebyhester.com/

17 hours ago, hoodooznoodooz said:

The website says Cutsomer instead of Customer. Is that deliberate?

Her website has several other misspelled or grammatically incorrect words. I'm going to be totally honest - that is the kind of thing that would make me not buy something (this is assuming I liked anything she made).

Your website is your online presence. Cutesiness aside (which I realize is personal preference), your website still needs to be professional and that means not having misspelled words and incorrect grammar. If you know that's not your strength, ask a few friends (the ones who actually know how to spell) take a look. Hire someone to proofread what you wrote. Maybe consider using spellcheck.

If you don't care enough to be professional and at least check for simple things like that, I'm going to assume you don't care enough to make your items well or to get back to me if your send me the wrong item. It tells me that you don't give a shit and I do not give money to people who don't give a shit.

I know a lot of people who run small businesses (and some of them are very niche/non-mainstream businesses) so I know it's a lot of work, but you need to present yourself as professional. You can still portray yourself and your brand as fun, whimsical, etc. and still pay attention to details.

[Beden]

12 hours ago, Jextella said:

I think the pool of candidates for a show like this might be limited, perhaps.

There are a kazillion fashion schools out there and yet I'm always surprised how few contestants come on with formal training.  I think early-on it was a bit different, e.g. Christian, and we see it from time-to-time, but without actually counting, it seems most aren't formally educated or maybe they were but haven't been able to make it???

Well...you're right, there are tons of fashion schools out there for formal training in technique, sewing skills, estimating needed yardage and the like. But there are other ways to pick up the essentials--my own mother taught sewing for decades (having a degree in Home Ec from back in the 40's when such things were common). I learned the basics from just growing up with her then added to whatever skills I have by minoring in costuming in college. I went into college already knowing how to use a sewing machine, set a zipper and things like that.

My point is simply that there are any number of ways to become reasonably proficient in whatever your area may be. First you need to have the desire to know your craft, to understand the realities of what you're doing, not just airy-fairy ideas. I taught theatrical design in a university, gritting my teeth at a fellow professor who always told the students there was no real need for designers to learn the nuts, bolts and how-to's of costume or set construction, insisting that, basically the tech director, carpenters or head of your costume shop would handle those pesky details. Essentially saying that designers design, the hired help did the grunt work, Just--wrong. If a designer doen't know the potential or limitations of their materials how the hell can they know what is or isn't possible? PR has endless examples of designers not understanding how various fabrics respond or how to--I dunno--set a sleeve or hem a skirt.

There are countless wanna-be designers out there, some talented, some not so much. This is a TV show; I strongly suspect that the producers cast contestants with ratings in mind. Hester is an example of that to me. OK, JMO, as they say.

[StatisticalOutlier]

14 hours ago, Desert Rat said:

$45 for an ugly beret!!!! Is she nuts??? Who buys that shit????

But what if the beret magically changes from saying "Plz Die" to "Cutie Pie" in the course of a single critique by the judges?  Surely that's worth $45, if only to take it apart and see how it does it.

.

5 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Her website has several other misspelled or grammatically incorrect words. I'm going to be totally honest - that is the kind of thing that would make me not buy something (this is assuming I liked anything she made).

Shoot--I have trouble even "liking" posts that are full of misspellings or grammar mistakes, even if I agree with the basic sentiment. 

The errors you pointed out on her website really are atrocious, and you even didn't delve deeper, to the comma splice I saw, or this:  Hester was "running a private label company that designed hair and jewelry, cold weather accessories and Halloween for many companies..."

But remember that this is the person whose t-shirt for this challenge, which is being sold for people to wear, has "its" instead of "it's" on it.

I know, I know...old people.  Everybody knows what she means, so get over it.

.

On 5/17/2019 at 11:49 PM, Token said:

That's not what a recovered memory is.

She didn't say what prompted her to recall the event.  Maybe it just came to her out of the blue, and maybe she had help recalling it.  I assumed the latter. 

And I was posting in response to someone who, when I originally said I thought Tessa said it was a recovered memory, responded that they didn't hear anything about a recovered memory, and only that it happened five years ago.  I'll concede that Tessa didn't actually say "recovered memory," so obviously not hearing it is true, but the responder did think Tessa said the molestation itself happened five years ago, which made me wonder what in the world I'd heard to make me think it was a recovered memory. 

That's why I went back and watched it to get the exact quote, which clearly says what happened three years ago is her recollection of something that happened when she was younger.  That's where I got my recovered memory theory, even though she doesn't say what actually prompted it to suddenly show up.

.

On 5/17/2019 at 10:19 PM, Fukui San said:

In the runway dialogue, I would not characterize her as as having a question mark at the end of the statement. It's a little uptalky, but I would not say that it's a question.

Since I was directly quoting her, I wanted to include the inflection, and going up at the end of a sentence has traditionally been signified with a question mark, so that's what I used. 

[Pallida]

I was wondering if Hester’s berets were reversible, so seeing that they can be rotated to provide a different message makes sense. I like the concept even if it’s not something I’d wear. I wish someone had corrected the grammar on her shirt. I don’t judge that she doesn’t seem to have grammar as a strength, but it’d be nice if someone had caught it.

Regarding Tessa, I find it distasteful to question her story. Yes, I realize this is reality tv and people do unsavory things, but I’m not a fan of questioning victimhood. Based on her wording, I think it’s possible that she realized as an adult that behavior/activity was abuse that she didn’t understand at the time of occurrence was abuse. This is different than recovered memories. 

Back to more specifics from the episode, I liked Sebastian’s technique quite a lot but his construction was a bit awkward. There was some odd draping around the waist. With more time and fabric, I’m sure it’d be better. 

I don’t often like Jamall’s puffer technique (but appreciate the concept behind it), but I thought it worked well for this challenge. I have a hunch the effect wasn’t as visible/prominent on some screens. 

[carrps]

On 5/19/2019 at 11:39 AM, Pallida said:

I was wondering if Hester’s berets were reversible, so seeing that they can be rotated to provide a different message makes sense. I like the concept even if it’s not something I’d wear. I wish someone had corrected the grammar on her shirt. I don’t judge that she doesn’t seem to have grammar as a strength, but it’d be nice if someone had caught it.

Regarding Tessa, I find it distasteful to question her story. Yes, I realize this is reality tv and people do unsavory things, but I’m not a fan of questioning victimhood. Based on her wording, I think it’s possible that she realized as an adult that behavior/activity was abuse that she didn’t understand at the time of occurrence was abuse. This is different than recovered memories. 

I wouldn't want to wear a hat with cutesy verbiage on it, in any case. That they have two phrases is less of an inducement to buy.

Actually, it's common for little kids to not realize -- at the time -- that they're being abused. Abusers are very good at grooming. Makes me think of that HBO movie "The Tale."

Edited May 21, 2019 by carrps
Wow, didn't notice an obvious typo for two days!

[Diane Mars]

20 minutes ago, LucindaWalsh said:

I have a few articles videos to post in the media thread. I went Binging Mondo's plus sign pants and found out that he is doing a Project Runway 2019 spinoff show that runs during the season after the episodes air.  He shows how to make the garments.

Do you have a link to provide ? Thanks a lot in advance 🤩

[chitowngirl]

2 minutes ago, Diane Mars said:

Do you have a link to provide ? Thanks a lot in advance 🤩

It’s in the media thread.

[mightysparrow]

17 hours ago, CrinkleCutCat said:

I loved that Garo chose the dwindling bee population issue and so wish he had created a better dress/outfit 😞

I keep thinking about what might have been a great ‘bee design’. Something advant garde that looked a bit like pollen? Or a design that celebrated the hexagonal shape of honeycomb? (Could possibly have used a different colour then and not been so literal with yellow). 

I just went looking for inspiration and ideas of what Garo could have designed after I wrote this ^^^ and I found Sarah Burton’s designs for Alexander McQueen which are ALL about bees:

Pic of one, link to a webpage with lots more designs...

https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/spring-2013-ready-to-wear/alexander-mcqueen

This is a perfect bee awareness dress but I don't think Garo would do something like this.  I can see a woman wearing this but Garo makes costumes not clothes for a person to wear.  That's why he was so happy about the Elton John challenge.

[hatchetgirl]

Oh hester, you are insufferable. I went to see a band in giant chucky shoes, long skinny black skirt, crazy vintage button up and space buns on my head in '92!  Her look is not precious or special or cool at all. Why didn't her graphic designer fix the apostrophe and the capitalization? The grammar on her shirt was beyond distracting and while the playful message, anyone of voting age who says "AF" is,  to quote my 11 yr old "cringey AF". LOL

Tessa. I knew they were going to push her on this. This felt way more exploitive than with Mondo's plus outfit.  I really hated that elaine tried to get sebastian to change to a message about being gay.  

[SemiCharmedLife]

On 5/17/2019 at 8:45 PM, carrps said:

Yeah, when I hear the phrase "recovered memory" I think about those "therapists" who use hypnosis to supposedly come up with something the person doesn't actually consciously remember. That's not how I interpreted what Tessa said.

Recovered memories can happen in many ways. I experienced it myself when my first boyfriend first touched me in an intimate way. Memories came flooding back - ones that had not crossed my mind in 15 years, but they were crystal clear and firm in my mind as something that I did experience. I hope this is not too graphic, I can edit it, if so.