Opalescent

2018 Grammy Awards

noreply@blogger.com (theminx) — Mon, 29 Jan 2018 14:29:00 +0000

We don't watch the Grammys at Casa Minx. We listen to very little commercial music and don't really care about the Beyoncés and Rihanna's and especially not the Taylor Swifts of the world. Still, the red carpet portion of the program can be interesting. The clothes worn to the Grammys are usually quite a bit more outré than those worn to other awards ceremonies. And not always in a good way.

I think this year was not as fantastical as other years, but there's still a good selection of good, bad, and worse to critique.

All photos Getty Images.

Cyndi Lauper's cherub-printed Moschino suit has landed her on a few worst-dressed lists, but I love it on her. It's quirky, but not crazy, and it fits her perfectly.

Rita Ora was bringing back "old Hollywood glamour" in her black Ralph & Russo gown. I hate the deliberate "my roots are growing out" thing that so many people are doing with their hair, but sometimes it works. This isn't. But she's gorgeous otherwise.

Eve looked cool and classy in her Naeem Khan pantsuit, though it looks a bit heavy and uncomfortable to sit in. This look would be too much on most occasions, but perfect for the Grammys.

I loved Miley's Jean-Paul Gaultier catsuit. She looked both sexy and demure, even ladylike. Our little Miley is all growed up!

I haven't been able to find the designer of India Arie's shorts and duster combo, but I love it. It's bold, interesting, and in-your-face, without being tacky.

Though I have no idea who Kali Uchis, is, I kinda like her jumpsuit--just not on her. Bet Heidi Klum could have rocked it.

Instead, Heidi Klum chose this lingerie-inspired Ashi design. I can't say that she doesn't look good in it, but it's a little cheesy. It's the kind of thing a performer should be wearing--Rihanna, Gaga--not a guest. (Why does Heidi go to the Grammys anyway? She's no longer married to a musician.)

I have no idea who Mel'isa Morgan is, but clearly she wasn't able to get her dress tailored before the big day. It's far too long, and the bodice is gaping on the side. Was it off the rack?

Kelly Clarkson must be a huge fan of Downton Abbey, because her custom Christian Siriano gown makes her look like fucking Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, on her way to dinner.

Sarah Silverman is apparently wearing Maggie Marilyn, but I'm pretty sure she stole this look out of my closet, circa 1987. It was unflattering and unattractive then, too.

Surely Bebe Rexha bought this La Perla gown off the rack because it clearly Does. Not. Fit. Child, go up a size or two. You'll be more comfortable, and so will we.

Cardi B apparently got a few kudos for wearing this furry-looking high-low weird-ass neckline cape dress thingy by Ashi, but I don't get it.

Lena Dunham's ex-boyfriend Jack Antonoff took his sister Rachel Antonoff to the Grammys. Is she wearing what Lena would have worn? Why does it look like she's wearing a dentist's jacket under a pajama top, with boudoir slippers?

If Big Bird mated with a pinata, you'd get Pink's Armani Privé gown. It makes me want to hit her with a stick. And who dresses a little girl in GRAY? I mean, we don't need to see pink, but head to to gray is a little sad, like the poor thing got splashed in gutter water on her way home from ballet class.

Bleona Qereti is a hot mess. Does she think she's Cher, ca. 1986?

If you take mauve polyester drapes from the 80s, pair them with a Frederick's of Hollywood "Farmer Gal" basque, and add some beadazzling, you'll have Kimberly Schlapman's Raisa & Vanessa gown. I suppose it's supposed to have an ombré effect, but the top and bottom look like they belong to two different garments.

I've had enough, though there was plenty more to see at the Grammy's. I'm looking forward to the Oscars red carpet and hope it proves to be a palate cleanser.

Posted by theminx on Opalescentminx.com Because of past content theft, I am forced to add this statement to the end of my posts: If you're reading this post anywhere other than the Opalescent blog, OpalescentMinx.com (also http://minxbeads.blogspot.com) then this content has been stolen. Please do not support this thief!

Holiday Gift Ideas

noreply@blogger.com (theminx) — Mon, 04 Dec 2017 15:32:00 +0000

If you're still stumped for holiday gifts for your foodie friends, please check out my RedBubble shop: https://www.redbubble.com/people/theminx1 The image above shows food-related patterns, all designed by me. They're not only available on dresses and leggings, t-shirts and miniskirts, but also scarves and household items like pillows, duvet covers, mugs, clocks, and more.

There are also several floral designs available in my shop--roses, daisies, waterlilies, mums, and more--if your giftee isn't into food so much.

Today is December 4th. If you order in the next couple of days, you'll definitely get things in time for Christmas. If you order today, you can get something for Hanukkah, but don't wait too long as that holiday is pretty early (12/12) this year.

Posted by theminx on Opalescentminx.com
Because of past content theft, I am forced to add this statement to the end of my posts: If you're reading this post anywhere other than the Opalescent blog, OpalescentMinx.com (also http://minxbeads.blogspot.com) then this content has been stolen. Please do not support this thief!

Project Runway Season 16 Finale

noreply@blogger.com (theminx) — Fri, 17 Nov 2017 16:18:00 +0000

Do you want to know how much I love you guys? It's my birthday and I have a cold and I still got up early to get this recap done. Well, I got up early because it's hard to sleep while coughing, but still.

Well folks, we're finally there, the most important episode of the season--the last one. And it only took 46 short weeks to get here. Ok, it just felt like it took that much time, what with being annoyed by the Annoying Twins for more than half of them, then several weeks in a row when the Top Five finalists remained the Top Five because they were so good that the judges didn't have the heart to auf any of them until they absolutely had to. Now finally, in mid-November, we get to see the NY Fashion Week shows the designers presented in early September (although if you read this blog, you were able to see photos from the shows weeks ago).

The episode starts off with the designers entering the workroom to get the last bits of hemming and doo-dad-attachment done. Kentaro is chanting "cohesive" over and over again. He feels like he's already lost the competition, so he is free to do what he likes with his collection. However, he will try to work on cohesiveness a little. At the very least, he's getting rid of the white dress with the hairy tumor and replacing it with something less weird.

Margarita is resentful of the judges comments that her looks are too "Miami" and says that one can't the tropical out of the girl. She's also worried about her parents who are still in Puerto Rico which at the time was being clipped by Hurricane Irma.

Meanwhile, Brandon is so confident in his collection and has so few things to do, he's stretched out on the couch in the lounge, snoring.

Tim comes in to give everyone (except for Brandon who obviously doesn't need one) a pep talk and advises them all to stay the course, 1000 points of light, etc. He tells Margarita not to undermine her integrity by dumbing down the tropical aspect of her collection. After Tim leaves, Margarita calls her parents to find they've lost power, but are doing their best to make it to NY to see her show. Their flight hasn't yet been cancelled, so they're hoping for the best. Margarita's mom is heard saying that they'll swim to NY if they have to. Personally, I'd have already left for NY and enjoyed a little vacay with my family for a few days, but then I love NY. Maybe Margarita's family doesn't? In any case, fingers are crossed that they'll make it to see their girl at Fashion Week.

The next day, Tim comes in and remarks that he hasn't had a "gather round" all season so it was time for one. He says he's proud of each of them, as well he should be. They are all talented designers, and this is going to be one of the best finale runway shows evarrrr (says the girl who's seen it weeks ago). The designers finish up last minute details before zipping their collections into black body bags and leaving the workroom for the final time.

The designers are up and at 'em at 3:30 am, clothed and made up, and ready to hit the runway. I'm not sure why they need to be up so early, as their show is usually the first of the day, scheduled at 8am in whatever venue is being used that year. (I miss Bryant Park.) We see backstage scenes of the typical controlled chaos of hair and makeup and last minute alterations. Tim tells Margarita that her parents flight was cancelled and they are currently doing the backstroke somewhere east of Delaware. He will keep her posted as to their progress. Drama! Ayana has a ruffle fall off one of her dresses. How that happens is a mystery, but maybe it had only been stapled on? More drama, however mild.

We see the venue is full of curious folks, from fashionistas to fashion bloggers, from former Project Runway contestants to minor celebrities. For some reason, the camera keeps landing on Carly Chaikin, the I, Robot actress who had judged earlier in the season. From what I can tell, she has all the emotional range of Kristen Stewart, but I'm only going by what I see on PR.

The judges enter the arena. Heidi is wearing something so short and sparkly even Barbie would be embarrassed. It looks to be made of many hundreds of purple foil Easter egg wrappers, but not enough wrappers to cover her boobs and legs. Sadly, gravity is affecting even Heidi Klum. The guest judge is Jessica Alba, who has not aged at all. I know she's only 36, but damn she looks so young.

Let the show begin! I love the way they splice in the designers so seamlessly to make them appear to talk to the audience and walk the runway after their models. Because Fashion Week happens so early in the show's airing, it's necessary for the PR show to be completely anonymous. The audience and the designers cannot appear on the runway at the same time. The magic of television, folks!

Margarita is first, introducing her collection as "A Fish Out of Water." I think it's dynamite. Jazzmine gives the audience a "wow look" by whipping off her skirt halfway through the walk. Her plus-sized beauty gets an ovation from many people in the crowd.

The Judges Say: so much energy/passion/color; it's joyous and spectacular. Zac is proud of her. It's fun/sexy/so Latina. Heidi says she's not Latina but may as well be as she loves everything. (Quite a change from last week's critique.) The beaded fish dresses were a lot of work that paid off. The only negative comment came from Nina, who thought the feathers were a bit much.

Brandon tells us his collection is called "Layers of Love." Oh jeez. I am going to gag. But I have to remember that he's only 24 and probably still collects Beanie Babies. His collection is predictably full of oversized button loops and tons of straps and loose strings. The shapes of the pieces are actually interesting in several cases, but the flamingo print is so omnipresent and really rather drab. My favorite thing about the whole collection is the penis on look 8, which I guess is a reminder that he's really a menswear designer.

The Judges Say: Flirty/romantic/cool. Zac thought it was a strong collection but it needed more variation. Brandon says that he was referring to collections that had piece after piece of similar looks, but the judges tell him that those were bigger collections, so while there were several looks in a row that were the same, there were also other looks that were different. In a 10-piece collection, one has to make sure that there's both cohesion and difference. Nevertheless, Brandon is called "an incredibly gifted designer" who gave his peers a run for their money. Liris, who did not look happy while walking down the runway, cries as she tells the judges that this "model diversity moment" means so much for "her community." (As a fat person myself, I've never felt part of a community. But then I don't like people.)

Kentaro hasn't named his collection, but tells us it's inspired by ~~a dead cat that he buried and who later sang to him~~ his native Japan. It's quirky and striking and goes back to the stuff he was designing before Project Runway. The piece he composed is playing in the background, and the audience is so quiet, it's hard to tell if they're holding their breath or have all just gone to sleep.

The Judges Say: You know people love a collection when they're either noisy or quiet. Heidi says it was so quiet in the room that one could "hear a mouse fart." The collection blew Zac's socks off with the level of experimentation, textures, and color, though he wasn't into the two red dresses in a row. One would have been enough.

Finally, Ayana's "Evolution" documents her personal journey. I'm not sure how that works, but the collection goes from more athletic looks to pants to dresses and finally a gown. She's also put head scarves on several of the models, but ones that are somewhat more elaborate than those she herself normally wears. I really love this collection in photos, but less so when I see it walking down the runway. The first three looks especially don't walk well.

The Judges Say: They love her gown, think it is stunning. The looks are hip and seductive. Nina wanted to see more color. The tailoring is beautiful. Nina liked the skirt/pant combo (which is something Ayana herself wore during the show), and Heidi wasn't into the first three looks. They all love the distinctive headwear.

The judges do a little more nitpicking before choosing a winner. It seems that Nina is in favor of Brandon winning, because she keeps reminding the others that he has a real point of view, but I think overall his collection was disappointing in its sameness.

They call the designers back out on the runway. Margarita is auf'd first. When she goes back to the green room, she finds that her parents have finally made it to NY, though they had not been shown in the audience. Brandon is sent home next; he goes backstage and cries like a baby. Again, he's only 24. I think all of the various wins during the competition went to his head so he felt that he could not lose. And with that kind of thinking, it's possible to get lazy.

It was down to Ayana and Kentaro. I was pretty sure Ayana had the win in the bag, but surprise! Kentaro is declared the winner. Thank heavens. The whole season looked like one big fix for Brandon, but it seemed that the judges actually chose the winner on the merits of the final collection. Kentaro showed range, he showed growth, he showed himself. And he definitely deserved the win.

Now how does JC Penney translate his fabulous garments into a capsule collection to be sold on the cheap?

This one's not so bad, I suppose, though it looks cheap and stiff. The tank has more modest straps and why is it black? The look definitely needs the belt.

This one is nothing like the original. The shirt looks sloppy, and what's going on with the crotch on those pants? WWMKS (What Would Michael Kors Say?) about the model's "polterwang?"

In any case, congratulations Kentaro!

Posted by theminx on Opalescentminx.com Because of past content theft, I am forced to add this statement to the end of my posts: If you're reading this post anywhere other than the Opalescent blog, OpalescentMinx.com (also http://minxbeads.blogspot.com) then this content has been stolen. Please do not support this thief!

Project Runway Season 16 Finale, Part One

noreply@blogger.com (theminx) — Fri, 10 Nov 2017 17:12:00 +0000

Uh boy. I spent two hours of my precious time watching this episode last night and the only good thing that came of it was finding out that there is a new season of Project Runway All-Stars coming up. Two. Fucking. Hours. And for the bulk of the show we watched the designers wring their hands over which two looks they were going to send down the runway for judgement. I'm going to be really hot if next week's finale is also two hours long, because the runway show itself takes 15 minutes and who really cares about the minutiae that goes on between Zac and Nina and Heidi when they "deliberate" on who wins? It's clear to me at this point that the winner is going to be Brandon, even though he's going to send a collection of pastel jammies down the runway. There is zero tension in the show anymore, as far as who's gonna win? who's gonna be auf'd? is concerned. Gone are the days when winners were a big surprise, even if the win elicited a lot of head-scratching. I'm talking Chloe Dao, Anya Ayoung-Chee, and Gretchen Jones. I could tell from the very first episodes of season 15 and season 14 that Erin Robertson and Ashley Nell Tipton were going to be the winners. Ok, so this season I felt that Brandon was going to be one of the first eliminated because he had not designed women's wear before, but by his second win, I was pretty sure that he was the favorite. I'm not saying he's not a good designer. He's fine. He has his POV. Don't know how many women over the age of 22 would wear his straps and buckles and not look a little silly though (my blog, my opinion). There were so many strong designers this season, so many that could win. If Brandon wins, I'll be very annoyed. #teamayana
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So the Final Five, who have been the Final Five for about nine weeks now, meet on the runway set for one last time before dispersing to the four winds. Heidi and Tim come out from behind the scrim to tell them that each of them will be getting $10K to create their collections, but not all five of them will be moving on to Fashion Week. Translation: all will be showing, but only three are guaranteed eligibility to win the whole shooting match. (I know. A horrible term to use in this insane gun-happy day and age.) Saying "only three are guaranteed" doesn't necessarily mean that the other two are out. To help the judges pare down however many people are going to Fashion Week, each of the five remaining designers will first show two looks that represent their collection.

Now, me being a sensible person, I would have kept this in mind the whole time I was working on my collection. The two representative looks would be priority. They could actually be the glue that keeps the whole thing cohesive. But noooo...we have to see a good hour of the designers mixing and matching garments, making their models take things off and put other things on, until they find two looks that they want to send down the runway. But that comes later. First, Home Visits™.

The designers leave NY for home; five weeks later, Tim comes to check in on them. He starts off with Ayana in Salt Lake City. She seems a little down because she's quite a bit behind. Apparently while she was in NY filming the first 92 episodes of the season, her apartment got flooded by her upstairs neighbor's leaking waterbed or some such tragedy. Cleaning up took time away from sewing. Before Ayana takes Tim to the petri dish that is now her apartment, she introduces him to her mother and randomly, to her friend Jax. When he discovers that her mother, also named Ayana, popped out 11 children, Tim quips, "your mother's been busy." Maybe just a little.

Only two of Ayana's fully modest outfits, inspired by a trip to her hometown in upstate New York, were complete. For the most part, Tim liked what he saw.

Speaking of Tim, you may have noticed that he was sporting a ginormous bandaid on his forehead. Surely there were more fashionable ways to hide his boo-boo?

Let's go back to "fully modest" for a second. Ayana's outfits tend not to show any skin, or hair, but they can be extremely form-fitting, as do the clothes she herself wears. How modest is that really? How is the obvious curve of a breast or ass more modest than the exposure of an elbow or an ear? Just putting that out there, and I'm sure someone will attempt to explain it to me.

Rather than sticking to the West Coast homes of two of the other designers, editing has Tim travel back east to Atlanta to visit Kenya and her band of rowdy sisters, cousins, and aunts. Tim, sporting a smaller bandage, checks out her sand and sea-inspired collection first and says though he likes her silhouettes, her sandy palette is a "snooze-fest." He suggests that she add a deeply saturated color to give it a punch.

Tim says he wants her to win, and of course Kenya feels the same way. She feels Tim's suggestions have given her a second wind, so they retire to her uncle's lovely home. There they enjoy a soul food feast of goodies like macaroni and cheese and cornbread with Kenya's grandmother, mother, and various aunts. The ladies tell Tim they eat this way every week, and he'd lose his nice figure if he did. No doubt.

Editing takes us back to the West coast to visit Kentaro, whose collection was inspired by classical piano music. To use a musical term, there's some definite dissonance going on. Tim, once again sporting the large bandaid, thinks Kentaro's pieces appear to be from three different collections.

He suggests that Kentaro think of the collection as one sonata, not ten sonatas. But Kentaro doesn't want it to look cohesive. He doesn't want it to look like the same thing over and over, because he would get bored. Unlike his brother Brandon, who obviously doesn't share the same misgivings about repetition.

Kentaro then sits at the piano and plays a little ditty he's composed for his collection. He tells Tim that he was inspired by finding a dead cat in the road. After he buried the cat, he put his ear to the ground and that's what he heard. Not sure what dead cats have to do with his collection, but artists are weird. Tim, to his credit, doesn't roll his eyes or call the men in the white coats.

No sushi and ramen lunches for Tim, he's going waayyy east now to visit Margarita in Puerto Rico. Remember back when PR was still on Bravo and he had to drive from location to location in a Saturn Sky Roadster? He'd have some real problems doing that this season, unless he had a car that flew. Margarita and Tim walk through Old San Juan, which at the time was still beautiful and colorful and not devastated by hurricanes. She takes him to meet her parents...

...then to see her collection, which was inspired by her colorful childhood and the fun house in which she grew up. She created a pretty fun textile based on the patterns of her family's old sofa, but also some tacky-ass crochet fabric with brass rings woven into it, possibly inspired by one of her mother's 70s macrame experiments.

Tim tells her to jettison the hideous stuff because it looks cheap, and that her collection would be a "sinking ship" if she included it. She should take the girl off the beach and put her on the street, whatever that means. She might get hit by a car if she does that.

Finally Tim goes all the fuck back to California to meet Brandon and his girlfriend Dana for breakfast in the park. The big bandaid is back, so we know that Tim actually did all the west coast trips at the same time, which makes sense. But apparently not for Lifetime.

After yogurt and granola, Tim goes to see Brandon's collection at his studio at the awkwardly named Academy of Art University. Brandon's collection appears to be finished and every look includes a piece made from shower curtain fabric printed with pink flamingos. I shit you not. From a distance, it looks like twee baby flowers in pastel colors, but up close, it's worse. I guarantee the judges will climb over each other to compliment it. Girlfriend Dana is like me--she is not a fan of the print. In addition to the flamingo fabric, Brandon is using materials in other pastel hues, most notably an apricot leather which seems an insult to the animal it came from.

It all looks like children's pajamas that got caught in a parachute. I know some of you out there like it, or pretend you like it, or think you should like it because it makes you hip, but I. Don't. Get. It. Tim, predictably, loves it.

Back in NY, the designers reunite at their new shared apartment before heading off to the workroom. Comparing garments, we see Brandon and Kenya are using a similar palette, but while Tim was crazy about Brandon's, he thought Kenya's was a "snooze-fest." Hm. Tim comes in to remind everyone that they need to pick two looks, which he assists with. From what I could tell, he guides them to pick one good look and one somewhat batshit look. He then tells them not to overthink things before he leaves and the "muse models," aka the ones from the season, come in for their fitting.

After a lot of hemming and hawing and changing their minds about their two looks, the designers finally get to send their models for hair and makeup. This whole process wasted about 45 minutes of my precious time that could have been put to a better use. Like sleeping.

There are only three humans at the runway show, Zac, Nina, and Tim. Heidi has reverted to her natural form, a robot consisting of a giant monitor on wheels that is wheeled onto the runway in order to give the usual pre-show spiel/judge intro. She's in LA tending to something or another, possibly being groped by Harvey Weinstein, but promises to be in NY for the big show in two days. Models walk the runway. Time for the critique.

The judges ask each designer for their inspiration and why they chose the looks they sent down the runway. To their credit, nobody responded with, "uh, Tim told me to use this one."

Kenya had a major fit issue, particularly the black dress that threatened to let her model's girls loose. The looks were "luxe" but styling was a problem. Neither needed the extra cocoon of fabric worn on top. Personally, I'm not sure these two looks were the best choices to represent the entire collection. Actually, I am very sure they were not the best choices. They were unoffensive, but didn't leave me wanting more.

Heidi loved the ease of Ayana's garments, and the color palette. There was a nice juxtaposition of distressed and refined. Ayana was one of the ones going back and forth between the looks that Tim suggested and others that she liked. She stuck with Tim's picks, which ended up being a good idea.

One of Kentaro's looks, a white outfit that appeared to be sprouting a black tulle tumor, was "questionable," but the other was super-sophisticated and expensive-looking. Other comments suggested that he was trying to hard, and was too conceptual. Also, his clothes "have no soul." Ouch. He should have told them about the dead cat that played music to him from underground. The styling, with the harsh eyebrows, was a bit wackadoodle, and made the models look unattractive.

As expected, the judges were in ecstasy over Brandon's more feminine color palette. Surprisingly Zac spoke up about the top Brandon put on Liris, saying it looked sloppy, which it did. I thought it looked like something a baby should wear. The other look also was a bit juvenile to me. But again, I. Don't. Get. It.

Finally, Heidi thought Margarita's print was just on the cusp of being hideous, it was loud and out there...but she liked it. Heidi knows from hideous, as she wears enough of it herself. She loved the "bom-ber" jacket. There was no lack of exuberance and attitude in the two pieces, but Zac didn't like the shorts, which were a little floppy and sloppy-looking. Both looks were very "resort." It was suggested that she keep the collection in NY rather than on the islands, which echoed Tim's off the beach and on the street comment. Why is it that they want people to have a POV, but suggest they change it? Margarita is not from NY, she's from an island. I don't recall fellow island resident Anya sending anything other than colorfully-patterned sleeveless maxi dresses down the runway, yet she won. Such bullshit.

The judges ask each designer once again (they asked last week, too) why he or she should go to Fashion Week. Each gave his or her own particular reason, but Kentaro seemed lost. The critique made him unsure of his work, or at least unsure he should go on to the next step.

After sending the designers to cool their heels in the green room, the judges agree immediately that Brandon and Ayana should be going on in the competition. When the designers are brought back out, Heidi tells them that FOUR will be going on to Fashion Week. Kentaro and his unenthusiastic mumblings seemed the most likely to be eliminated along with his tulle tumor, but the only person not going forward was...Kenya.

Fuck that shit. I'm pissed.

Next week: another probably 2-hour time-waster to tell me that Brandon is the winner.

Posted by theminx on Opalescentminx.com
Because of past content theft, I am forced to add this statement to the end of my posts: If you're reading this post anywhere other than the Opalescent blog, OpalescentMinx.com (also http://minxbeads.blogspot.com) then this content has been stolen. Please do not support this thief!

Project Runway Recap - Season 16, Episode 12

noreply@blogger.com (theminx) — Fri, 03 Nov 2017 15:35:00 +0000

We're getting down to the last few episodes of season 16, and not a moment too soon. Recapping is hard work--at the very least taxing to my brain--and I look forward to taking a break! But first, Episode 12.

The designers are in their rooms at The Box Hotel in beautiful downtown Greenpoint, Brooklyn, discussing the last challenge. It started with five designers and there are still five designers because Tim felt it was necessary to use the Tim Gunn Save™ on Margarita's shapely ass. Margarita now needs to demonstrate that she deserved to be saved.

Meanwhile, Kenya really wants a win. She wanted it last week, and perhaps deserved it, but a challenge win remains elusive. Not for Brandon, however, who is seeming less-humble and more "too big for his [poopy-pants]" with each passing week. He won the last challenge and wants to win again. Two consecutive victories would definitely go to his head, which is already full of straps and buckles and flowy noodles of fabric. Kentaro is feeling stupid because unlike Brother Brandon Who Can Do No Wrong, he's been on the bottom for the last two weeks. [Insert Sad Kentaro Emoji Here]

The designers are then seen on the runway set waiting for Heidi and/or Tim to emerge from behind the scrim. They get both this week. Heidi is wearing the kind of short sparkly dress that she is known for favoring. She's not yet what people might call "long in the tooth," but she's wearing something I stopped wearing when I was 10 years younger than she is now. But then I never did have her legs.

Suddenly, it starts "snowing" on the runway. Heidi twirls and encourages Tim to catch snowflakes on his tongue. He knows they're soap or feathers or some other fake shit and ignores her, but still manages to get some in his mouth.

I half expected Heidi to start singing her "hit" song, "Wonderland." In case you've forgotten....

It's November in the real world and it should be chilly--the perfect time to watch a winter challenge. Only it's 75°F in Baltimore so it actually seems a bit odd to hear that the designers need to create "high-fashion winter looks that any fashionista would be thrilled to wear on a winter day." Strange though it seemed for the viewer, it was probably even more so for the designers as the episode was probably filmed in the spring.

Heidi leaves, but Tim stays to play chaperon. The designers are going on a field trip! They are off to experience the coldest place in New York, a gimmicky joint in the Hilton Midtown called Minus 5 Ice Bar. Everything in the place is made from ice--the walls, the seating, etc.--so to keep patrons warm, they offer parkas and gloves...for $22 per person! For $20 more, you can get two specialty "ice cocktails" to speed up the hypothermia process. To get the ugly fake furs that the designers donned, one has to pay $75, which also gets one a souvenir hat and a photo (the website insists this combo of useless future-dust-collecting souvenir tchotchkes is a $100 value), but takes away one of the cocktails. What the everloving fuck? People must do this, because there are two more of these joints in Vegas and one in Florida. Baltimore had one at some point, too, but apparently visitors to our fair city have more sense than to blow money on the opportunity to sit on an ice cube and "get piles."*

When I went to Fashion Week in February of 2016, it was about 5°C in NY, and I'm telling you, it was not fun in the least.

Tim doesn't bother putting on one of the coats, because he knows that scores of smelly tourists harboring bedbugs have already worn them. He leaves the designers to attempt sketching while wearing thick gloves and beats a hasty retreat in search of a hot cup of coffee.

The designers later thaw out at Mood, where they have $400 to blow on materials since most of them will want to make coats. Margarita is inspired by the ugly faux coats at ~~Five Below~~ Minus 5 and decides to use real fur in her design. She can only afford rabbit pelts, but loads up on them. As she's checking out, Tim announces that real fur is verboten. Project Runway is a "cruelty free" show, but apparently that only refers to animals and not to the way they torture the audience with contestants like the Annoying Twins. Time is up and they have to leave. Margarita seems fucked.

After the commercial break, Tim says that it's his fault that Margarita is short on materials and he allows her five minutes to find a replacement for the dead rabbits she was going to use.

Back at the workroom, we see Kenya in love with her fabric, a large-scale plaid clearly inspired by one of Herb Tarlek's suits (a character on the 70s sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati, for you young people), or an ugly 70s couch, maybe with some crochet pillows on top. I have flashbacks to my youth every time that fabric is on screen. Kentaro, on the other hand, is using some yummy-looking thick beige-y fabric that he thinks makes his jacket look like whipped cream. Brandon is working with waxed cotton, which is very heavy and crinkles easily. He's planning on distressing it and lining it with fleece.

The day is short because of all the shopping and freezing, but they have another full day for the challenge. The next morning? afternoon? Tim comes by to see what the designers are doing. He advises Kentaro to use the "whipped cream" fabric for his entire look and to forgo the lavender and screaming yellow fabrics he purchased.

Kenya tells Tim she's going for a classic look, and he advises her that it should be "Kenya Classic" and not merely "classic." The pieces going under her hideous plaid coat need to have some sort of innovation going on so that she can finally win a challenge. Brandon of course, Mr Can Do No Wrong, has exceeded Tim's expectations, so we know he's not going anywhere anytime soon. Except to Fashion Week.

Ayana shows Tim her long coat, which is hot pink on the top and black the rest of the way. She's contemplating putting white paint on it, but Tim looks at her like she's got three heads. She's got too much going on already, considering the coat also converts to a jacket. Instead, he asks her to splatter some black paint on a scrap of fabric, as a test. It's rather Jackson Pollock-y, but he likes it and advises her to go for it.

Margarita's lime green dress with fur cuffs makes Tim think of "Tippi Hedren in The Birds," a reference that probably went over the heads of much of the audience and at least a couple of the designers. He advises her to try something else. An all-fur dress? Why not?

The next morning, Tim tells the designers they have an hour to send the models through the paint department at Home Depot for make-up, and that they should use the JC Penney Accessories Wall "only through the lens of what you've designed." Whatever that means.

I initially thought this week's guest judge was Margaret Colin, but it's actually Katie Holmes, who is 20 years younger. I suppose keeping her daughter out of the clutches of Scientology took a lot out of her. Heidi is wearing her pajamas for the occasion, which are at least more attractive than that hideous top made of old foil gift wrap that she wore last week.

The judges are pretty complimentary to everyone. Are they all on top this week?

Zac thought it was nice to see a winter version of Brandon's trademark straps and buckles and crop tops (oh my!). His outfit felt both luxe and street and it all fit together effortlessly. There was a nice sense of proportion and texture, although he didn't need to make both the NFL apron-style belt muff and a fleece-lined shoulder bag.

Heidi said that an all-fur dress was tricky, but Margarita's worked. None of the judges were impressed with the way the dress was made in the back, but the coat was classic and impeccable. The "surprise effect" of the fur was "everything" to Nina. It seemed the judges were being nicer than usual. Perhaps they all partook of some "specialty ice cocktails" before the show. And when I say "ice," I mean "crystal meth."

Heidi and Nina both like Ayana's convertible coat, but thought the ~~clown costume~~ romper underneath was a bit costume-y and childish. Zac felt the coat was "fresh." I thought it looked like she walked by a construction site and got splattered with roofing tar.

Kenya's ugly plaid coat had "attitude" but her styling wasn't high fashion enough. Each of her three pieces were nice individually, but perhaps didn't work together. And the high pants made her model's torso look very short.

They all loved Kentaro's look, which he said was inspired by his model, Meisha. It's very modern and sculptural, and Heidi thinks it's "heaven from head to toe." It's the "chic-est snow woman" Zac has ever seen, both sophisticated and youthful, which is a hard combo to manage.

Each of the designers are then asked why they deserve to go to Fashion Week and which two others they would want to go with them. Kenya cries as she describes her money situation, and Margarita seems a bit shaky, but the other three are fairly confident. Brandon and Ayana are the two designers that most would want to see at Fashion Week, with Kentaro getting a couple votes and Kenya getting one. Nobody wants to take Margarita, which she notices.

The judges manhandle the five looks before making their decisions. Heidi congratulates Kentaro, Brandon, and Ayana, telling them they are each going to NY Fashion Week. Surprisingly, Margarita is also told that she has a slot at FW, leaving Kenya fretting on the stage alone. We then see her walking into the green room, appearing quite sad, before she announces that she, too, will be going to Fashion Week! No doubt her tears were affecting.

The episode started with five designers and ends with five designers. We don't seem to be making any progress here. However, the promo for next week shows Heidi telling the five that they will each get $10K to create a 10-look collection, but only three of them will be going forward. Or in reality, only three of them will be in contention for the prize; they'll all show, with the addition of Michael, who left what? three weeks ago already?

I still maintain that the top three will be Ayana, Brandon, and Margarita. Guess we'll find out next week if I'm right!

* My mother always warned that if I sat on something cold, I'd get piles, or hemorrhoids. If your mother never warned you thusly, you are probably young.

Posted by theminx on Opalescentminx.com Because of past content theft, I am forced to add this statement to the end of my posts: If you're reading this post anywhere other than the Opalescent blog, OpalescentMinx.com (also http://minxbeads.blogspot.com) then this content has been stolen. Please do not support this thief!

Project Runway Recap - Season 16, Episode 11

noreply@blogger.com (theminx) — Fri, 27 Oct 2017 15:27:00 +0000

Welcome back, kids! Ready for another exciting recap? Me too! If you find one out there on the Interwebs, please let me know....

Last week, Michael made a crap bondage-style outfit and was deservedly auf-ed for it. I know there are a lot of people in the fandom that think Tim should have used his Tim Gunn Save™ to keep Michael in the competition, but why? He is a good designer, but certainly not the best among the people remaining. He was not the winning designer. How do I know this? Well, it's pretty obvious. He was eliminated. Look, this is a very strong season, and Brandon and Ayana are definitely the two to beat. Each has a very strong point-of-view, or aesthetic, if you will. We haven't seen work like theirs ever in PR history, and one of them is going to win. So what if Michael gets aufed in week 10? He still got to show at NY Fashion Week, even if he was just a decoy. (I think his is the first collection on this page).

This week's episode starts in the designers' apartments, where there are only two guys, the Brothers Brantaro, and three gals, the aforementioned Ayana, plus Kenya and Margarita. They are discussing the previous week's challenge and elimination of Michael and generally wasting my time before they notice that someone snuck into their rooms and left behind a pair of pink boxing gloves and a note. They're pink, it's October, so this is likely to be a breast cancer awareness challenge of some sort, no? Kentaro picks up on this right away, telling Brandon that the pink color is the key element here.

The designers find Tim at Gleason's Gym, in Brooklyn, where he is wearing sweats and standing in a boxing ring. There are several women in pink around him, so I'm thinking this is going to be another real woman challenge with the designers creating looks for these cancer survivors. But I'd be wrong. Tim introduces Evy deAngelis, the Executive Director of Sales at Avon who is only there because this is evidently the "Avon Challenge," though Avon isn't giving an extra prize to the designer who wins. Evy talks a bit about the Avon Breast Cancer Campaign and two of the women standing nearby talk about their experience as a survivor. Tim tells the designers that the challenge is to create a high-fashion, editorial look inspired by warrior women. This is a two-day challenge, with a $250 materials budget. But before they get to sketch and shop, they have to participate in a boxing boot camp. Seriously? The five pull on the pink gloves and throw some punches.

Ayana especially seems to have some issues to work through, as she's not only punching but also kicking. Bet she's doing some sweating in that headscarf and long sleeves, too.

Eventually the designers get to Mood. Brandon says because Zac was picking on his drab color story, he was going to snazz things up a bit by using pink and brown fabrics. The two colors he's been using the whole season. So different!

At the workroom, everybody gets started except Kenya, who is having designer's block. She grabs a can of Coke with red tape over the label (because Coke isn't a sponsor) and hopes the caffeine and high fructose corn syrup will help her think. Kentaro is also having a few issues. He's been assigned one of the plus-sized models, Jazzmine, and he's torn between wanting to make her look good and making simply what he wants to make.

By the end of Day 1, Kenya has nothing to show for the day's work except some scraps of blue fabric and her own sense of despair. At the start of Day 2, we see that Kentaro has fabricated a white hoodie and sweater combo that don't look quite large enough for Jazzmine. The sleeves especially look too slim for a plus-sized woman's upper arms. Brother Brandon has a very similar thing going with a white hoodie. Perhaps the Brothers Brantaro are rubbing off on each other? Just don't let Margarita catch wind of any of this....

Tim comes in for his critique. He thinks the ruffled men's shirting top Ayana's working on is a real "wow moment." It's got a sideways collar, which has been a thing all season, and a lot of other stuff going on, too. While it's ok that Ayana's top is crazy busy, Tim suggests that Kentaro might have too many competing ideas.

Brandon is advised to push beyond what the judges have seen already--the light colors, the floppy straps. Too late--that's what they're going to get.

By this time, Kenya has some blue fabric petals and half a skirt pinned to her form. She tells Tim she's in a "creative black space," and he reminds her that she's the only designer left without a win. Way to twist the knife, Tim.

At first he seems unenthusiastic about Margarita's very literal warrior woman red floofy dress with gold corset, yet Tim tells her he really likes it. That he gets what she's trying to say, and that she can't control if the judges get it or not. It might be too super-hero-ish to them, but he's imagining paintings of Queen Elizabeth I in formal dress with armor on top. I'm not sure the judges think that deeply, Tim. Margarita realizes it's very Wonder Woman, but with Tim's assurances, she doesn't change a thing.

There's an amusing scene where Brandon is checking the fit of his drop-crotch pants on Kentaro. It reminds me of the Chinpokomon episode of South Park.

We get a little glimpse into Ayana's life in the next scene as she calls her Mom for a chat. The narrative tells us that Ayana got divorced and moved to Utah from Tennessee, with plans to show in Utah Fashion Week. I had to check out this Utah Fashion Week, as I can't imagine that it's something that serves very many designers. Turns out that on St Patrick's day of this year, both Ayana and Brandon sent garments down the runway for an Urban/Streetwear show at Utah Fashion Week. No telling if they included magic underwear in their collections.

The models come in, but before they are fitted with whatever scraps the designers have ready, they have to go to makeup. Because this is the Avon challenge, we get to visit the Room o' Cosmetics twice this week.

I'm sure it was fun trying things on while avoiding getting electric blue eye shadow on everything. Jazzmine has to wear a schmatta over her face while trying on Kentaro's very snug hoodie/sweater combo.

After nearly ripping Jazzmine's ears off, Kentaro realizes it doesn't fit and goes back to the drawing board for a new top idea. He's left with only black fabrics, so he's using them to make various kimono-esque layers. Margarita, on the other hand, is feeling that she's finding her voice as a designer. Sure, if she's going to go work for Marvel Studios. The two are both getting serious loser edits.

The next morning, the designers send their models to get another layer of Avon makeup spackled on, along with a visit to the No Name Hair Salon. Tim advises them to use the JC Penney accessories wall both "very thoughtfully" and "carefully."

After a commercial break, we see Heidi embrace guest judge Rachel Brosnahan, saying, "I'm really garlick-y," which I guess means she had just snarfled down some Thai take-out before filming. Brosnahan is one of this season's many Millennial guest judges whom I don't know from Adam. Or in this case, Eve. However, she seemed vaguely familiar, so I consulted IMDB. Apparently she was in something I had seen--she was Rachel Posner on 19 episodes of House of Cards, a vaguely memorable character who met with the show's typical gristly end. But that's neither here nor there. What qualifies her to be a judge on a fashion show? Perhaps her aunt Kate Spade.

With only five designers, the runway show is short. Why oh why do they still need to stretch the episode out for 90 minutes? So much blah blah.

Kenya gets the first critique. Liris looks amazing. Kenya's design highlights all her best features and emphasizes her hourglass figure. Heidi thinks Kenya's the first designer who understood how to dress that particular model's shape. Zac finds the dress empowering. Nina loves the shoulder treatment.

Then comes Little Pink and Brown Riding Ninja. Heidi feels that Brandon's "nomadic warrior" is "out there," but she loves it. It's both masculine and feminine, and extremely editorial. The regulars hate the "baby bonnet," but Brosnahan loves it. Zac thinks Brandon knocked this one out of the park, even though he made a pair of "poopy pants." I don't find it to be either masculine or feminine. Not unisex, even. There's just something very infantile about it. The judges see it too, with their "baby bonnet" and "poopy pants" comments. Had someone else made pants with that crotch (roomy enough to accommodate a full diaper), they'd have been ripped to shreds. I don't get it.

Margarita doesn't get such high praise. Zac says the draping of the skirt is nice, but it seems more "clubby" than "armor." Heidi says it's too literal a Wonder Woman look, and Nina agrees, calling it cliche and a costume. It's also a bit too sloppy to be the result of two days of work.

Brosnahan doesn't like that she can't see Jazzmine's body in Kentaro's rather austere garment. And it's black; the judges don't like black. "Black is hard to photograph," and "it's more monastic than majestic," says Nina. They're disappointed that Kentaro has gone back to what he was designing before the competition, rather than doing what they want him to do. (Now wait a minute. They are judges, not mentors. Why should Kentaro change his whole aesthetic because the judges want to see color? Pleasing the judges is of course a better way to win a competition, but being untrue to yourself as a designer won't do you well in the long run.) Heidi notices that Kentaro's look somewhat resembles Brandon's, at least in the strappy thing that Kentaro put around the neck of his model. Haven't we gone through this whole "designers are influenced by other designers" thing a couple of episodes ago? Move on, people. You don't like Kentaro's work? Then don't put him in the top three. Period.

Finally, Ayana's look is deemed "wacky" but incredible. Zac is blown away. The look is bold, beautifully tailored, strong, and sexy without showing skin.

At this point, I realize I don't understand the whole model competition aspect of this season. Christina was Michael's model last week. He was eliminated, but she's still here, wearing Ayana's garments. How does this work? And if you look at the photos from the finale, there are a few models who haven't appeared on the show for a few weeks already. How did they get chosen? Why aren't they all there?

After manhandling the garments to get a closer look, the judges decide that Brandon's toddler ensemble is the winner, rather than Ayana's very cool and well-thought-out take on a power suit. Margarita is sent packing. Or is she? Tim Gunn Save™ to the rescue! So we're still at five designers. However, next week's promo hints at a double elimination. Who do you think will go? (My guess is Kentaro and Kenya. For my reasoning, see this post.)

Posted by theminx on Opalescentminx.com Because of past content theft, I am forced to add this statement to the end of my posts: If you're reading this post anywhere other than the Opalescent blog, OpalescentMinx.com (also http://minxbeads.blogspot.com) then this content has been stolen. Please do not support this thief!

Project Runway Recap - Season 16, Episode 10

noreply@blogger.com (theminx) — Fri, 20 Oct 2017 15:36:00 +0000

Now that the Annoying Twins are gone, this recap should be fairly short and sweet. Ok, maybe a tad sour, 'cuz that's just how I am. But there's not much to complain about anymore, so I think things might be a bit more pleasant around here for the next couple of weeks. Or not.

There are six designers remaining - Ayana, Brandon, Kentaro, Kenya, Margarita, and Michael. All talented. All potential winners. Of course only one of them can win all those lovely monetary prizes and sewing machines and cars and shit. All of them showed collections at Fashion Week this year. What? Don't believe me? Check out this post, which includes photos of every garment from the six Project Runway collections that were shown at Fashion Week in September. Last season, the show also included the final six contestants, and their collections were presented anonymously to the audience. Considering NY Fashion Week was at the beginning of September, over a month ago at this point, when 12 designers were left on the show, I'm thinking they did the anonymous runway thing again (and will edit in the designers thanking their moms later). But why allow six to show when, with anonymity, the top three would do? Do the top three designers have such distinctive styles that they'd easily be guessed? Take a look at the link above and see for yourself.

The challenge this week seems slightly less complicated than in previous weeks, though the designers first meet Heidi on the runway set for a cryptic admonishment to "be careful." Then they rendezvous with Tim elsewhere for the actual challenge. He's with Brian Bolain, General Manager of Product & Consumer Marketing for Lexus USA. Three Lexuses loom in the background. (Lexi?) No matter the manufacturer, they are three ugly SUVs that look just like every other SUV out there. Honestly, I don't understand the need to drive such behemoths. (It's a real riot to watch people in my narrow-streeted neighborhood try to park those things, though most of them couldn't parallel park a Fiat 500. Even my dog stops to watch the hilarity of people parking around here.) Bolain blathers on about the 2018 Lexus for a few minutes before they get to the meat of the challenge: make something fashionable with the unconventional materials that are hiding within the vehicles. Apparently, part of the blather included information about Lexus' dedication to safety, therefore the materials in question were created with safety in mind. They include not only seat belts, but also caution tape, helmets, knee pads, fire hose, reflective vests, traffic cones, etc. The designers have three minutes to grab materials, after which they bypass Mood and go directly to the workroom where they have only the rest of that day to make something fashionable. Or at least not completely hideous.

The workroom is filled with junk. Margarita thoughtfully inventories the many many items she dragged out of the SUVs, utilizing one of the now-empty tables behind her personal workstation. Kenya hasn't picked up many items at all. She seemed to have a little trouble moving back and forth from the cars to the barrels in which she was to deposit the items she was selecting, so she basically has a rubber life raft and some seat belts (plus whatever bits and bobs she had stuck down between her boobs) with which to work.

After playing with some bungee cords, Michael gets bored and goes off to call his sister, Julia. They talk about another sister who has just had surgery, and a bit about how Michael needs to stay in the competition. Julia cries because she didn't realize she missed her brother until she saw him. A little while later in the episode, Kenya calls her Mom for a chat. So one of these designers is ~~most likely~~, possibly going home. Or maybe this is just something to fill the episode since there's no other drama to speak of.

Brandon is a bit lost with all the unconventional materials. He's got a rubber life raft, and he's using that to make a skirt. But what to use for a top? He's wrestling with a space blanket, a large, shiny, aluminum foil-like square of very thin mylar used to prevent hypothermia, but that just looks like a disaster. He asks Brother Kentaro to consult with him, as he needs ideas. Meanwhile, Kentaro is working with fire hoses, cutting them open and sewing the strips into large panels with which he's making a skirt for his model, Liris. He says he can't make it too short, as she has a lot of "chunk in her trunk," "trunk in her chunk." Brandon corrects him, "junk in the trunk."

Ayana is working on what she is calling a ballgown, with a sleek almost leather-looking top with bold padded shoulders and a mosaic of broken reflectors glued to it. She's planning on making a voluminous skirt of orange plastic barrier fencing. It could be amazing, or a real mess. Margarita, likewise, has really embraced the whole "unconventional" theme by turning knee pads into boob covers and red barricade tape into a skirt.

After a commercial break in which we see Brandon's Dixie cup from two weeks ago, Tim comes in to critique what has been done so far. He thinks Ayana's has the potential to be very chic. Kenya, who has settled on making a black dress, is prompted to "turn up the volume," though she is hamstrung by her lack of usable materials. A shame she wasn't able to get more seatbelts. Remember that amazing seatbelt coat that Korto made way back when?

Michael has been working on a bondage get-up with blue bungee cords. He's also made a cute bralette out of bright blue straps that he plans on putting under the bungees. Tim thinks they are two different outfits and advises Michael to go with one or the other. I think he should immediately throw them both in the trash and start over.

Kentaro tells Tim that he's lucky to have snatched all the fire hose, because it's like fabric. Tim concurs. It is like fabric. That's not really in the spirit of the challenge, is it? Brother Brandon is still trying to figure things out. Tim says he appears to be "flummoxed," which is a great word that we should all try to fit into a conversation now and again. (Instead, we--meaning you--are probably going to continue using words like "epic," and "literally" often and incorrectly). Tim reminds Brandon that he usually concentrates on silhouette, in other words, stop trying to make that crinkly foil crap work. Brandon thinks his look is "beautiful," even though the Mylar is so thin, it's impossible to sew, and keeps tearing when he attempts to put it on his model.

The next morning, the designers still have plenty to do during the hour that their models shop at Duane Reade for Great Lash Mascara, Lee Press-On Nails, and Dippity Doo.

Kenya and Ayana both have issues with their garments at the last minute, with zippers breaking and sleeves falling off, but they fix things as best they can and head to the runway.

This week's guest judge is someone named Carly Chaikin who is on "Mr Robot," one of the many shows I don't watch. She speaks with an incredibly annoying vocal fry, which makes my throat hurt just to listen to her. Why is it so hip to sound disaffected? Isn't upspeak bad enough?

The runway show is good. So good, Heidi says, "we love everything." After grumbling by Nina and Zac, she modifies her statement to "well...there's nothing we hate."

Since there are only six designers left, they all stay on the runway.

Brandon's look is critiqued first. He totally gave up on the mylar and instead made an interesting swing top from the yellow reflective vest he had been wearing and part of the life raft. He used the rest of the raft to make a skirt. Both pieces are cute, chic, and festooned with only a few of Brandon's signature flying ribbons of fabric. Zac adores it, and appreciates that Brandon was forced to play with color and texture.

Michael's bungee horror was up next. The bandage skirt and bungees squish his model's butt into unflattering shapes, and the bralette seemed ill-fitting. Nina said this look was "not one of her favorites" and that his model looked like a backup dancer. Vocal Fry said she looked "hookerish," and Zac was just disappointed. It didn't seem like Michael put as much work into his garment as the other designers did.

Kenya's dress was a bit of a hot mess in that it appeared to be lopsided and falling apart, but the judges liked it. Heidi thought it was cool. Zac liked that Kenya had painted over her materials, which gave them shine and texture. The judges praised the wide-hipped silhouette (though the model didn't seem particularly enthused about that), which they declared dramatic.

Ayana's ball gown was over the top, "hot," and "bold," though Zac felt the top was a bit outdated and cliche. The judges felt that Ayana's model looked like she was "on fire" which was what Ayana was going for. Vocal Fry went crazy over the pieces of blue reflector at the throat, which she felt pulled the look together.

Margarita's look, with its knee pad bustier and helmet shoulders, was praised for its "super-hero vibe." Other adjectives thrown her way were "innovative," "graphic," and "inventive." She was also applauded for her "wonderful" use of the materials. Maybe a tad Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles though. Zac opines that after all these weeks, with all the different looks that Margarita has presented, he still doesn't understand her design aesthetic.

Why Kentaro styled Liris to look like Pocahontas, we'll never know.The judges weren't thrilled with this at all. They thought it was kitschy and looked like a Native American costume, or a doll. Surprisingly, Margarita didn't think Kentaro was stealing Michael's Native American-inspired look from the real woman challenge of a few weeks earlier.

I figured that Brandon or Margarita would win this one, since they seemed to garner the most praise. Instead, that distinction went to Ayana, despite the "cliche" top half of her garment. Kentaro and Michael were the only two on the bottom this week, and I imagined both would get to stay because Tim had not yet used his Tim Gunn Save™. Both are good designers, and Michael had just won a challenge. But at this point in the game, nobody is safe. Michael goes home, and Tim doesn't show any real grief when he sends him to the workroom to clean out his station.

Next time: It's Pastry Week! No wait...wrong reality competition.....

Posted by theminx on Opalescentminx.com Because of past content theft, I am forced to add this statement to the end of my posts: If you're reading this post anywhere other than the Opalescent blog, OpalescentMinx.com (also http://minxbeads.blogspot.com) then this content has been stolen. Please do not support this thief!

Model Spotting

noreply@blogger.com (theminx) — Wed, 18 Oct 2017 13:22:00 +0000

I found this image of Project Runway season 16 model Monique Robinson on the Jessica London website. Hopefully she'll move on to higher-quality projects after PR.

Posted by theminx on Opalescentminx.com
Because of past content theft, I am forced to add this statement to the end of my posts: If you're reading this post anywhere other than the Opalescent blog, OpalescentMinx.com (also http://minxbeads.blogspot.com) then this content has been stolen. Please do not support this thief!

Project Runway Recap - Season 16, Episode 9

noreply@blogger.com (theminx) — Fri, 13 Oct 2017 17:58:00 +0000

If you remember correctly, good people, last week's episode didn't quite end on a high note. In fact, it didn't seem to end at all. We had a winner, but no one was yet going home.

<rant>
Except Harvey Weinstein.

But his wife, Georgina Chapman, won't be around when he gets there. WTF is wrong with Hollywood? How could Weinstein's behavior have been an open secret for so long without anything being done about it? How was the old "casting couch" trope allowed to be a reality well into the 21st century? Seth MacFarlane joked about the situation back in 2013, at the Academy Awards best actress nominations presentation. “Congratulations, you five ladies no longer have to pretend to be attracted to Harvey Weinstein.” It was a joke that was no joke, but people still laughed for a good beat or two. Sexual harassment is serious fucking shit, people. In my workplace, an institute of higher learning, all employees must have sexual harassment prevention training and we are quizzed on it annually. Why is it still ok that individuals who are already powerful, who can make or break people's careers and indeed even their lives, can get away with doing such terrible and demeaning things to other human beings? I have to wonder if Weinstein ever harassed Heidi Klum. If so, will she come forward? Or has her own power corrupted her into silence? I can only assume they had a close working relationship from their Project Runway connection. Perhaps she was one of the lucky ones, and perhaps she knew nothing.

Personally, I think anyone not a victim who knew anything about the Weinstein situation and neither said nor did anything is complicit and should be held accountable, at least in a karmic way.
</end of this week's rant>

Back to the show.

After Heidi declared Last Annoying Twin Standing, aka Hairy (also occasionally called "Claire" for some reason), as the winner of last week's challenge, Michael walked off the stage. He doesn't think the competition is fair and squeals to Tim that every garment that the Annoying Twins produced was copied from something they already owned and wore. Though I disliked the twins, I don't think Michael's accusation was quite fair. Their garments from the very first challenge, for example--Hairy's layered tulle dress, and Baldie's unflattering baggy shorts and crop top with weird flowy streamers--didn't look like anything the two of them wore on the show. Ditto for the ugly plastic outfits they made for the unconventional challenge in episode two. The Twins themselves wore sweatshirts, skinny pants (usually leggings), leather jackets, and other "street wear" type things. Except for the black and navy lace top that Baldie wore during episode six, which we only saw the one time. In that episode, it was obvious that there were similarities between the Twins' own clothes and the garments they were producing for the runway. Hairy's design for that challenge involved a sweatshirt; Baldie's was a mashup between the blouses that she and her model wore, and an exact copy of her model's pants.

Meanwhile, back on the runway, the judges are nonplussed. "This has never happened before," states Heidi. She asks Hairy if Michael is upset with her win; Hairy has no idea. Margarita says, mysteriously, "none of us wants to point fingers," just before everyone starts pointing fingers. She then runs backstage to check on Michael, who has just dropped his bombshell on Tim. Margarita tells Tim that Hairy measured her clothes. Tim says, "everyone has a tape measure at their workstation," and "if you want, you can measure the garment you are wearing in the room." He seems confused, for good reason. He's been presented with two issues: 1) copying; 2) measuring. Neither of them seem to be actual problems, if one judges with only the scant amount of information Tim has at hand.

Back on the runway set, Heidi asks for enlightenment. Batani helpfully tell the judges that Hairy had ripped off Margarita's design from the earlier challenge. She then added that Hairy measures her clothing. Hairy, who is standing there openmouthed, admits to taking a pair of her own pants, measuring them, and using those measurements as reference to make the pants she created for this challenge. The judges agreed that was fine.

Backstage, Michael finally tells Tim that Hairy has a tape measure in her room, to which Tim replies that they will "look into it" before sending Michael back to the runway. Once there, he apologizes for his behavior but says he couldn't stand there for a win he felt was unjustified. Yolanda Hadid then asks Michael if he is an exalted highfalutin judge like herself, or merely a participant--a designer knave whose sole purpose in life is to produce the clothes that her daughters wear as rich, sought-after, models.

The judges still don't understand what is really going on. Hairy seems completely clueless, or is at least pretending to be. Michael then declares he can tell the judges the exact reference Hairy used for each garment she made. She defends herself with "nuh uh!" Because for one thing, he can't, and for another, it's no crime to use other garments as reference. The judges agree. They tell the designers to focus on their own work and not that of others. In other words, to mind their own beeswax.

Back to Tim, who is still standing around backstage looking somewhat befuddled. He looks at the camera and tells us that Hairy's copying of Margarita's dress is a non-issue, but if she indeed has a tape measure in her room, that is against the rules and there will be consequences.

Meanwhile, Heidi reiterates that Hairy is the winner of the challenge and the $25K and can leave the runway, along with Kenya, Kentaro, and Margarita, who are safe. Margarita is embarrassed about how they (meaning she and Michael) handled the situation. If they thought one or both of the Twins were cheating, then they should have said something to that effect to Tim or one of the producers two or three or four or five episodes ago. In the same way that people who knew about Harvey Weinstein's deplorable behavior toward women should have said something.

Perhaps they should have taken a knee instead. But that's another argument for another time.

Back in the green room, Claire feels the whole thing was a personal attack. The Good and Evil challenge is brought up. Michael and Margarita claim that the tank-style top she made for her dress was based on something one of the Twins was wearing that day. And that she measured it. At home. She cops to taking four measurements from a tank back at the apartment. She doesn't seem to realize that having the tape measure outside of the workroom is against the rules. Tim steps in and asks if it's true that she has contraband (which also includes pens and paper). Hairy confesses that she is in possession of the forbidden instrument and that she had used it on a tank and the crotch of a pair of pants. Tim then rescinds her win and sends her packing. He doesn't say, "we'll miss you," and he definitely doesn't use his Tim Gunn Save™.

There's now no winner for the challenge, but Dixie still wants to put one of the computer generated designs into production. They choose Brandon's, and he seems inordinately excited to have his doodles on the side of a paper cup. There's no word on anyone receiving the cash prize.

Wow. It only took fifteen minutes of this episode to resolve this challenge, and a much longer time for me to write about it. I guess the producers have had to pad it out because now that the Annoying Twins are gone, the show is boring. The remaining designers are all too nice and get along too well. There's no drama at all for the remaining 75 minutes. Which begs the question: why do the episodes need to be 90 minutes long if there's not 90 minutes worth of content? I seem to remember hour-long episodes being just fine.

We next see the designers going back out onto the runway set, which is choked with toys and little girls playing with hideous dolls and their hideous accessories. Tim gets the rugrats' attention and they march out onto the runway with him, each holding a colorful troll-like creature in their hands. These ugly bits of plastic are called Shopkins, a name that brings to mind small, nebbishy, Jewish men. The original Shopkins are tiny toys from Australia named after grocery store items. The Shopkins these kids are playing with are larger, from the "Shoppies" line. ("Shoppies" sounds like street slang for people who practice the art of shoplifting. Don't these companies have R&D?) The dolls allegedly hail from different parts of the world and have ridiculous monikers like Spaghetti Sue and her friends Pia Pasta and Maria Meatballs from Italy, and Bubbleisha, from China. (China?) There are also several characters that are inanimate objects, like Luigi Lasagna and Peppa Ronnie Pizza.

Hold on. I gotta go vomit.

Anyhoo... Kotomi Nanjo, an employee of the manufacturer of these unfortunate technicolor gewgaws, is there to help Tim present this week's overly complicated challenge. The designers are to create an avant-garde look inspired by the little girls' favorite Shopkins. Ok, so that seems a little more straightforward than other challenges this season. But they can't just pick up a doll and get inspired by it, no, they have to consult with the kiddos who have drawn pictures and have funny stories and blah blah blah. The winner of the challenge will get a bonus of $5K and have their design turned into a special exclusive Shopkins doll. If that's not exciting, I don't know what is.

Oh yeah, most things.

Tim pairs up the kids with the designers. Somehow the African American kids get the African American designers, the one Asian kid gets the one Asian designer, and the Caucasian designers get white kids. It's hard to tell with Margarita's kid; she could have Spanish roots, or her family could be from one of the many other nations bordering the Mediterranean. Michael's kid seems pretty darn white though. Tim had the button bag in hand, but that only gives him the order in which the designers are chosen. Incidentally, the kids themselves are not playing with racially-matched dolls. Yes, I notice these things.

The designers and kiddos consult for 30 minutes, which would have killed me. Ugh. All that pink plastic. And all those enthusiastic children. Michael's kid is into disco, so he decides he'll make a disco ball. However, he has to be careful not to reference an actual disco ball, lest he have to accuse himself of cheating. Brandon's girl is obsessed with chocolate and she wants him to grind up chocolate and smear it into the dress, and then pour chocolate over it. Brandon's not into that at all, which surprises me. Considering that a few of his garments this season were blotched with what looked like baby poop stains, his kid's suggestions should be right up his alley. Over on the other side of the room, Amy taps into her inner child and plays happily with her kid, not really paying much attention to the fact that she should be thinking and sketching. A portent of doom if I ever saw one.

After consulting, the designers head to Mood with $300 to spend. They should probably brush their teeth too, after sugar-fest they just experienced.

Now that both Annoying Twins are out of the picture, the workroom is calm and quiet. And boring. I think I fell asleep for a few minutes because my notes on Tim's critique are pretty vague. He tells Batani to lose the fishing pole she has sticking out of the colorful mounds of fabric she's calling a dress. He tells Ayana that she's got a lot of stuff going on and she should lose this fabric and consider that one carefully, etc. Once Tim leaves, Ayana starts making a cage out of chicken wire. Wonder what he would have said had he seen that?

Michael's sequinned fabric is pretty unforgiving so he needs to watch every detail. Amy's outfit is great from the hips up but otherwise yuck. And Brandon's is....well, Brandon doesn't really have much done. And it's green, not baby poop brown, which is nice change from the usual. For him, switching colors like that is somewhat avant garde in itself, but there's not much garment there otherwise. Tim makes some suggestions to him, pronounces himself excited about what is generally going on in the workroom, and beats a hasty retreat.

The models come in for a fitting. Michael has made a sheer bodysuit thing, and I'm not sure how that's fitting into the design because while sparkly, there are no sequins on it. Batani's model is unsure about the pile of fabric she is being made to wear. It shows off her back fat, which some people might consider unflattering. Brandon's model has nothing at all to put on, so she sits in the green room to play Candy Crush for a while until he's cobbled together some pieces.

There doesn't really seem to be all that much workroom time in this episode, probably because of all the wasted time at the beginning. In a flash, it's the next morning and Tim is telling the designers they have one hour (only one hour? isn't it normally two?) to send their models to the Rainbow Brite makeup studio and the Strawberry Shortcake hair salon. I don't recall any mention of the JC Penney Accessories Wall, but I may have blacked out momentarily. [Edited to add: My lovely and talented husband, who managed to stay awake through the entire episode, says Tim suggested that it's important to use the JCPAW very thoughtfully for this challenge.]

The guest judges this week are Kate Upton's boobs. There is no way to unsee those things. She's got 'em, so she's flaunting them in a super low-cut dress that looks a bit dangerous.

The judges were impressed enough with the show this week to choose four top looks and only two bottoms. Kenya and Kentaro are safe, which I had figured, as they got the least amount of camera time this week.

Ayana's dress is called a "show-stopper." Unfortunately, by my clock, there's still about 30 minutes left in the program, so that's not at all true. Zac calls it "surrealist Bo Peep," (I think it looked like a giant baby bassinet.) They love the color, the volume, the giant bow. It is a fun look, and if you think about it, it fit Ayana's "modest" aesthetic pretty well as only Liris' neck and her lower legs was showing. It was a "different side of Ayana" that we hadn't seen before.

Michael revealed that his was meant to emulate a "melting disco ball." The judges felt it was well-made and imaginative. Zac called it a "futuristic tin man." I think it looked like a boa constrictor had crawled into his garment just before his model did and it had wrapped itself around her body.

Brandon's is roundly praised as being "really cool." I don't think it was any more "avant-garde" than anything else he had made during the course of the competition. It had layers, appeared to be made from cotton (though it was probably a more expensive material) and sported a shit ton of those weird strips of cloth that he likes to put on everything. I thought it looked like a pile of folded napkins tangled with an apron left behind by Craft Services.

Batani's looks like a pile of scraps. She had left a bit of black stretch skirt un-embellished, and that looked like a mistake to the judges. To me, too. It appeared to be falling apart, unfinished, not polished. Zac said he wrote down "laundry day." I'm guessing he meant a pile of dirty laundry and not the one clean thing left to wear, but it works either way if the only clean thing was a duvet cover.

Amy's coat thingy is a bit baffling. Her usual streamlined aesthetic isn't visible, and the overall design isn't risky enough. Zac felt it was "sad and depressing." Nobody mentions that it looks nothing like something inspired by a line of saccharine pink and purple kids' toys.

Heidi loved Margarita's look. She thought it was "beyond stunning" and "like a cloud." Like Batani's look, Margarita's was a big pile of fabric, but it was more thoughtfully assembled.

While the judges were taking a closer look at the garments, Zac noted that they were getting close to fashion week and perhaps should start really cutting back on the designers. That prompted the elimination of two people this week. Batani's elimination was obvious, but it was also Amy's time to go. She had made some great garments this season, though was only safe every week. I think it was unfair for her to go home for her first mistake. I mean, it wasn't awful, just not good. But the judges were feeling rather cut-throat, I guess, after the whole debacle with Hairy Twin.

Disco Ball Michael got the win. Can't wait to see the hideous toy that results!

Next week: ZZZzzzzzZZzzzzzz! Oh wait - it's an unconventional materials challenge. Could be fun, but probably not.

Posted by theminx on Opalescentminx.com Because of past content theft, I am forced to add this statement to the end of my posts: If you're reading this post anywhere other than the Opalescent blog, OpalescentMinx.com (also http://minxbeads.blogspot.com) then this content has been stolen. Please do not support this thief!

Love Pumpkin Spice?

noreply@blogger.com (theminx) — Wed, 11 Oct 2017 13:10:00 +0000

Now lovers of pumpkin spice can show off their affection for the autumnal favorite with cute t-shirts, dresses, and other items like mugs, tote bags, and duvet covers. These items are 100% designed by me, and available through a company called RedBubble.

Find "Basic" items here.

Find "Pumpkin Time" items here.

Posted by theminx on Opalescentminx.com Because of past content theft, I am forced to add this statement to the end of my posts: If you're reading this post anywhere other than the Opalescent blog, OpalescentMinx.com (also http://minxbeads.blogspot.com) then this content has been stolen. Please do not support this thief!

Project Runway Recap - Season 16, Episode 8

noreply@blogger.com (theminx) — Fri, 06 Oct 2017 15:58:00 +0000

I know you've all been on tenterhooks since last week, awaiting this recap with bated breath, and assorted other old-fashioned phrases expressing a sensation of anticipation. Or not. Perhaps you have forgotten that the fate of the Annoying Twins was completely in their own hands. They ended up in the bottom three, but as the judges could not tell which of them was responsible for the more egregious bits of their garments, they would be forced to battle each other in a fierce hour-long hairy-head-to-bald-head contest, with the winner saying a fond farewell to her loser sister. Rather than subject viewers to an extended episode last week, the conflict was to take place at the start of this week's episode. So when we join the show, we see Heidi--still seated with the other judges--banishing Hairy and Baldie to the workroom where they are to use the fabric there to create a look, one of which needed to be at least passable. And no helping each other!

Hairy tells us this is a "tiresome" situation, but she sets immediately to work, grabbing some blue fabric and scissors and draping a dress. Baldie just cries, her hot pink mouth opening and closing like that of a cartoon fish, tears streaming down her cheeks but not budging her industrial-strength mascara. She demands to see Tim, who steps into the workroom. Baldie concedes the competition to her sister, who is still working furiously, demonstrating that she deserves to remain.

There is still quite a bit of time left in their hour, but the Annoying Twins and Tim go out to the runway to find the judges and give them the news.

Tim seems somewhat choked up, guest judge Asia Kate sheds some actual tears, and Zac looks affected at the news that Baldie has volunteered to leave. Heidi simply says, "huzzah!" and Nina nods. It is done.

Meanwhile, the other designers are still sitting on those damn couches in the green room, wondering what the hell is going on and why it's taking even longer this week to make a decision.

The next day, the designers all troop into the workroom and take their places near dress forms that seem somewhat smaller than usual. Tim enters with Teresa Bossong, Brand Building Leader for Dixie, the company behind all of those annoying commercials for sturdy, environmentally unsound, coffee cups. They are there to present this week's overly-complicated challenge of many elements. The first element is important: the designers will be creating looks for "women on the go," which I assume means no housecoats and jammies. The second element of the challenge is relatively unimportant: these women are friends and relatives of Project Runway crew members (photographers, directors, producers, etc.). Third, this will also be a custom print challenge. Fourth, the winning design will be printed on a Dixie To Go cup, and the designer will get a $25,000 award. That last thing is the most important point of all, wouldn't you agree?

The designers are pre-matched with their client models, all of whom want a look for a different occasion, like a wedding or day-to-night or just to wear to feel beautiful. They get to brainstorm design ideas for 30 minutes, get 20 minutes to finalize their custom print, and finally take a trip to Mood for $150 of supplemental fabrics. That seems like a pretty big budget, doesn't it? This is a coveted two-day challenge, so there's plenty of time to get things right. Or, not, as the case may be. There are always issues.

Though this is a custom print challenge, Last Twin Standing's client model hates prints. This means Hairy has to think a bit to satisfy both the challenge and her client. Can she do this without consulting with her sister every 45 seconds? She has decided to use the print on one pant leg, making the other black. As for the top, she starts draping a blouse that to Margarita looks exactly like the top of her winning shirt dress from last week. It has an asymmetrical slash across the bodice, a high collarless neckline, and ruching on the sides. Margarita starts telling everyone who will listen and some who will not that Hairy is stealing her design.

When the fabrics come in the next morning, there are mixed emotions all around. Kentaro likes his bold hot pink and red stripe, but the material is stiff. He decides to use it to make a jacket for his client, who wants a look to wear to an Indian wedding. Michael is happy with his fabric, which is mostly white and decorated with a small motif of orange triangles and other shapes. Margarita, who has already gotten herself in a tizzy over Hairy's design, hates her own fabric. Hates that it looks tribal, that the colors are weird. She grabs a bottle of turquoise dye and re-colors her hot pink fabric to a more florid hot pink and aqua job that looks like the exterior of a Miami nightclub. Still, she seems happier with it.

Actually, the fabric looks almost exactly like the print on the cushions of a piece of rattan furniture my parents had in the 80s. I wish I had a photo of it to share with you, but you'll have to trust me on that.

When Tim comes in for his critique, he advises Kentaro that his look is too simple and not inventive enough. Batani's client, who is a breast cancer survivor, wants something colorful. Tim thinks the light denim dress Batani has made appears to be a "gray shroud," which is probably the most opposite of colorful that one can get. Luckily, there's some purple fabric, too, which is an improvement. Kenya's textile is a soft pink fabric with a pattern of stylized fireflies. Her customer is a 60-year-old first-time grandmother who doesn't feel like and certainly doesn't want to look like a granny. Kenya has created separates with peplums on both the top and skirt, but Tim doesn't think the upper one is such a great idea, and that it doesn't seem integrated.

After considering Hairy's design for a few moments, Tim tells her he's seen it before. We see Margarita in the background, waiting for a moment when she can jump forward and shout, "a-HA!" Tim continues that he's seen the look from Hairy before. Margarita is absolutely fuming.

Some time later, when Hairy is asking her for advice, Margarita ignores her before reluctantly giving a few thoughts on sleeves. It's completely childish behavior on Margarita's part.

At no time during the two days does Margarita suggest that Hairy is working on something that seems derivative of the winning look from last week. Meanwhile, Hairy has decided to change things on her own, moving the keyhole from a diagonal position to one at the center of the shirt, and adding similar slashes near the sleeves. At this point, especially in the solid black fabric she has chosen for the garment, it really doesn't look like Margarita's at all.

While Margarita is fuming, she keeps repinning and recutting her own fabric incorrectly. She ruins all of the gray she had planned on using for her dress and has to resort to using a not-quite-matching hot pink. She's embarrassed that she's created such a "Barney" looking outfit. I'd be more embarrassed about stewing over something that's not really my business rather than concentrating on winning $25,000.

Still, she fumes, and talks behind Hairy's back in Spanish with her buddy Michael. Now it seems that she thinks Hairy has a pair of pants hidden somewhere that she's using as the pattern for the ones she's creating. Which sure sounds like cheating to me. But if that is the case, why doesn't Margarita say something to anyone involved with the production?

The next morning, Tim comes in to tell the designers to send their models to the Kindergartners with Fingerpaints Beauty Lounge and the Oh Fuck It! Hair Studio and to use the JC Penney accessories wall "carefully."

This week's guest judges are Real Housewife of Beverly Hills Yolanda Hadid, mom to models Gigi and Bella, and Sophia Stallone, 21-year-old model daughter of Sylvester Stallone. Heidi comes out onto the runway and asks the assembled designers how the work went. Margarita suggests she had a bad time this week, and Heidi says it's a good thing she had immunity and can't be eliminated no matter how shitty her garment looks. And oh by the way, it's the last immunity, so she should really thank her lucky stars.

Hairy, Batani, Kentaro, Kenya, Michael, and Margarita are pulled out of the lineup as the top and bottom looks. Once the critique starts, however, it's hard to tell who's on top or bottom, as everyone gets criticized.

Batani's the print queen, but where is her print? It came out with a much larger spacing than she had intended, so she cut her tie-dye motifs out of the original fabric and combined them into strips on her garment, which, to the judges, seemed like an afterthought. Heidi thought the outfit looked like something one would wear to Coachella, hippy-dippy. My guess is that Batani's definitely on the bottom.

Zac was disappointed in Michael's outfit. The design, which was made to look like a Native American blanket, was ambitious, but he clearly didn't take his client's proportions into consideration. She was rather short and round, and those pants would work better on someone much taller. Not that pants made to look like a heavy wool blanket could possibly look flattering on any human. (Bottom.)

Kenya's top peplum was unflattering, yet the judges thought the top was otherwise beautiful, elegant, and classy, with exceptional detailing. The skirt was too tight, and the flounce at the bottom was a bit much. Still, can't decide if this look is on the top or on the bottom.

Kentaro's look was called "sublime." Zac was simply blown away. Heidi, on the other hand, thought the model appeared to be drowning in fabric. Nina disagreed, calling it 360° elegance. Kentaro said he was feeling like a new designer, after giving up his extensive use of black. Nina felt proud that she's seen Kentaro growing right there in front of her. They just love Kentaro, so I'm guessing this look was definitely on the top.

Heidi thinks Hairy's look is perfect, both chic and modern. The use of her giant black and white print is effective in the pants. Nina isn't blown away, and Zac thinks she's more creative than that. Yet, if Heidi likes it, it's on the top. Maybe.

Finally, the judges tell Margarita that her dress and jacket aren't quite working together. Zac likes the print though. Margarita tells them she was distracted in the workroom, but when pressed for information by Heidi, she says she doesn't want to talk about it or throw anyone under the bus. At this point, I'm pretty sure Heidi knows exactly what was going on in the workroom. I think that after Margarita indicated before the runway show that she had issues during the challenge, Heidi sent out some feelers to the crew to find out what had gone down. (Bottom?)

Why else would they give Hairy the win? Even after the judges took a closer look at the winning and losing looks, only Heidi was enthusiastic about Hairy's shirt and pants. It really seemed that Kentaro was going to be the winner, or maybe even Kenya, since her client seemed so very happy, despite the unflattering boobskirt.

Once Hairy is declared the winner, all eyes are on Margarita, though she doesn't get a chance to react. Michael steals her thunder by storming off the runway. He tells someone backstage that he's there to play fair, but this win lacked fairness. Tim heads backstage to see what's going on.

And the episode ends, just like that. We don't see who is eliminated this week, if anyone. If Michael leaves the premises, than he'll be the designer that is out. We can speculate that in next week's show he reveals something about Hairy cheating. Think back to all of the Dixie To Go commercials we've seen over the past 7 weeks. Doesn't the black and white cup used in every one of them look just like Hairy's design? Why would they want another very similar design? Will they take the win away from her?

Stay tuned....

Posted by theminx on Opalescentminx.com Because of past content theft, I am forced to add this statement to the end of my posts: If you're reading this post anywhere other than the Opalescent blog, OpalescentMinx.com (also http://minxbeads.blogspot.com) then this content has been stolen. Please do not support this thief!

Project Runway Recap - Season 16, Episode 7

noreply@blogger.com (theminx) — Fri, 29 Sep 2017 17:08:00 +0000

Hello again! I guess if you're still hanging in with me through Week 6, my recaps must not suck too much, eh? or they do, and you're just a glutton for punishment. Either way, welcome back! If you're joining us here for the first time, I have been a sporadic recapper of Project Runway over the years. If you check out the "recaps" link over at the top right of the page, you'll find links to recaps of past episodes from this season, plus the random other seasons (and shows) I've covered.

This season, the producers seem to be making a real attempt at creating challenges that are far from the "make a pretty dress" challenges of yore. There was one whole season some years back when that was the theme pretty much every week. Snoozapalooza. Not only are the challenges more thematically diverse this season, their introductions are on the overly complicated side. Take this week's, for example. The designers meet Tim in the men's department at JC Penney where he's standing near some ~~dummies~~ ~~mannequins~~ male models and barrels containing bolts of fabric.

Also Monica Dalton. Monica holds the exalted position of Design Director of Contemporary Brands at JC Penney. That's at least a step or two up from my high school best friend's position of Assistant Manager of Apparel at K-Mart (note it wasn't called "fashion") back in the 80s. Some of the designers are a bit nervous about being in the men's department. Many have never created menswear before, but I have no doubt that the noxious fumes wafting over from the men's fragrance department are adding to their growing sense of despair. Have you ever noticed that most commercial men's fragrances lean so heavily on pine-y and wood-y notes that they seem better suited for disinfecting floors or cleaning toilets? I guess the idea is that men need to smell like lumberjacks or some shit like that. And we women (and other men) are supposed to suck it up and pretend we think they smell good. But they don't. While I'm on the subject....Men, if you ever notice that people cough or gag when you walk by, it's because you're emanating a miasma of bad department store cologne. If you're going to insist on buying that garbage, please spray it, as Tim might say, judiciously. Better yet, don't use it at all.

But as usual, I digress. Where was I? Oh yeah, designers in Penney's men's department. Brandon is rubbing his hands together and laughing maniacally (inside his head, we don't see this) because he is a menswear designer. Everyone else (except Michael, who also does menswear) is worried. There is a collective sigh of relief (and a WTF from Brandon) when the challenge is announced. They will not be making menswear. However, they will be using it as inspiration for stylish Fall womenswear. It is pumpkin spice season, after all. Now here's where things start to get complicated. JC Penney has supplied fabric for the challenge, which is arranged near the male models who are wearing said fabrics. Each of the five models is holding two cards, each bearing the name of one of the designers.

Model one reveals cards with the names Kenya and Kentaro; the next model's cards read "Brandon" and "Annoying Bald Twin." Model three has Ayana's and Batani's cards. Four and Five have cards with the names Amy and Hairy and Margarita and Michael, respectively. These designers must work with the fabrics associated with their particular model. But wait, there's more! We're not finished with the complications quite yet: This is also a team challenge. However, though the designers appear to be paired up, they are not yet in their teams. The button bag appears. Each designer must choose a partner who is working with completely different fabrics, in other words, not the person they are currently standing with. As winner of the last challenge, Kentaro chooses first, and you get one guess as to who that might be. (Brother Brandon, duh.) Amy picks Kenya. Hairy picks Baldie (duh again).

Margarita gets Batani, and Michael is with Ayana. One member of each team gets to go to the workroom, and the other goes to Mood with $100 to spend on notions and supplemental fabrics.

It's Swatch's tenth birthday, coincidentally. The store mascot is seen wearing a crown, looking like he gives very few fucks. I swear he's the most easy-going Boston Terrier I've ever seen. The ones I've encountered were all hyper maniacs.

Speaking of hyper maniacs, the workroom is fairly quiet because the more hyper-maniacal of the twins, Baldie, is busy knocking things over at Mood. Meanwhile, Hairy is getting started on a pair of jeans. She's got to get some work done before her sister comes in and takes up all of her time with her extreme neediness.

At the beginning of the episode, we saw Hairy musing about her place in the universe after ending up in the bottom three two challenges in a row. I'm not sure why she's so confused; she's just not that good. Take a look at her portfolio on the Lifetime site. (Baldie's, too.) It all looks rather trashy/twee, and not particularly original. They are garments for backup dancers, and "street" wear. (I am beginning to think that is code for designers who aren't particularly imaginative.) Sure, they made stuff for Katy Perry, but she's known for wearing over-the-top costumes, not for an actual fashion sense. I had to wonder if the Annoying Twins working as a bonafide team could produce at least one cohesive design (dreamed up by Baldie and constructed by Hairy) or if they would simply make two haphazard sweatshirts and call it a day.

Not only were the Twins going to lean heavily on each other, a few of the other designers were going to take advantage of their partnerships. Batani was going to need Margarita's assistance for her garment, as "tailored and menswear-inspired" are not necessarily in her wheelhouse. Surprisingly Amy, too, was going to do some leaning on her partner, as she had only ever been safe in the past and Kenya had been on top more than once (but also on the bottom).

For a while, we see the teams working genuinely as teams, bouncing ideas off each other and seemingly not resenting the fact that it's a team challenge. Kentaro and Brandon especially are in a good place. They have a similar style and a clear affection for each other. The Twins, however, start squabbling pretty early on, with Baldie accusing Hairy of "abandoning" her when she merely wanted to quietly work on her own piece.

When Tim comes in for his critique, Team Annoying needs serious help. They are having issues with the fabrics and each other and the fact that they have a model--Liris--that isn't skinny. Tim is not pleased with what he sees thus far and suggests the drape-y thing they're working on for Liris should become a tunic. It's as if he has no faith that they can do anything more complicated than that.

His feedback for Kentaro and Brandon, whom he called "the Dream Team," was a bit more general. The Brothers were making pieces in the baby-colored buffalo plaid, but also several items in Kentaro's favorite color, black. (And none in Brandon's favorite color, diarrhea brown.) Tim suggests they lose some of the black, and his input doesn't make them happy. Meanwhile, I'm just confused, because it seems like they're making a lot of pieces. A lot.

Tim thinks Ayana's shirt dress looks like a hospital gown. It does, really, because it has no sleeves yet and the fabric is atrocious. But the sideways collar and button placket is cute and novel. Similarly askew are elements of Margarita's look, which is also a shirtdress. She wants to make a working button placket, but Tim suggests that might be a bit time-consuming. She's been helping Batani with many elements of her coat dress, which was taking time away from her own fabrication.

Once Tim leaves, the teamwork seems to fall apart. Kenya is working on a pleated top that they might not even use, and Amy is worried that there are other, more important, things that are being ignored. The models come in and Liris confesses to the mirror that she is nervous about working with the Annoying Twins, as she should be. Baldie is busy looking for other ideas and asks Kentaro if she can steal his black legwarmer idea from week 3. The whole time, the twins are sniping at each other. I want to see them rolling around on the floor in a catfight, but they haven't quite gotten to that point yet. Yet.

The next day, Tim comes into the workroom to ask the designers to send their models to the Hello Kitty Sparkle City makeup studio and the Play-Doh Fuzzy Pumper hair salon, and to "have a blast" with the JC Penney accessories wall. Because this is the JC Penney challenge, after all.

This week's guest judge is Asia Kate Dillon, a person of the pansexual persuasion who prefers to use the plural pronoun "they" when referring to...err...."themself." Lovely pansexual personages of the world, please just invent a new pronoun. You might be attracted to multiple genders, but you are still just one person. Unless, of course, you have multiple personality syndrome. Then of course it's ok. (Don't want to piss them off, in case one personality is an axe murderer.) As a writer, I get a little tired of people giving different meanings to words that already have meanings. Life is confusing enough. If you need a new word to describe something, by all means please make up a new one. It's easier for everyone, and you don't have to get all pissed off when people make the honest mistake of using words to mean what they have meant for years and years.

Wby am I so preachy? Because I am old and cranky, that's why. You'll get to this point eventually, too.

The runway show is ok. I'm not blown away by anything, but I think Margarita's dress is pretty cute. Michael and Ayana are safe, but everyone else is either in the top or the bottom.

Brandon and Kentaro are on the top, no surprise there. Their looks are cohesive and definitely part of the same collection. They wisely shared their fabrics and used them in similar ways. Zac thinks their looks are "Penneys ready," which I think might be an insult. They are also "cheeky" and "cool."

Batani and Margarita are also on top, mostly because of Margarita's super cute dress. They (as in all of the judges, not just Asia) love its asymmetry, and think it's sophisticated and polished. Batani's is nice, but not anything we haven't seen before.

It's no surprise that the Annoying Twins are on the bottom. They've (as in the Twins, not Asia) dressed poor lovely Liris in an inside-out sweatshirt, the same sort of thing Baldie was wearing for part of day one in the workroom. (She actually had a few wardrobe changes for unknown reasons.) It has a tie on one side of the hem, but if you didn't notice it, you might think the wearer got part of her dress stuck in the waistband of her panties after a trip to the potty. And what happened to Liris' right boob? It looks flat. The other look is a pair of faded wash jeans with a horrible baggy ass and a two-tone t-shirt, belted with a pair of mis-matched, disembodied, sleeves. The judges jump all over the Twins, saying they are "big time disappointed, " and "the world doesn't need this." Nina is also bored, and you know what that means.

Kenya and Amy are also on the bottom. Their looks are well made, but dated. That's what the judges say, but I'm not sure in what era the denim pantsuit with floppy clown collar might have been fashionable. (That collar just screams, "my boobs are droopy!") The other outfit, separates that look like a dress (what they told Tim in the workroom - it looked like separates to me), was pretty blah. Asia thought both teammates' designs looked like flight attendant uniforms from the 70s, which was a funny comment but not quite right. The neck tie on the dress was probably what gave her that impression. The suit was just "costume" and the poor models were styled to look much older than they were. Nina was also bored by these looks. But after 15 1/2 seasons, she's probably bored by almost everything she sees coming down the runway.

The judges asked both top and bottom designers who should be the winner or loser, if their team was the winning or losing team. With a two-person team, one might wonder why both can't get the win. However, this challenge had a special prize in that the winning design would be sold at JC Penney. Another company taking advantage of free design labor, yet the designers seemed thrilled. I don't really see the point of asking who should be loser or winner, throwing someone under the bus or appointing them bus driver. It's painful to watch and definitely more painful for the designers to contemplate. Everybody wants to win, and nobody wants to go home. And the judges are capable of making the decision themselves.

In the end, Margarita gets the win. Here's her winning dress at JC Penney. Not quite the same. ~~Cheap~~ nicely priced though. Kenya and Amy are safe. Their designs might have been bad, but there's no argument that they were well-made. The Annoying Twins, on the other hand, made crap. Baldie was willing to take the fall, but as the judges couldn't really tell who was responsible for what in the piles of poo they sent down the runway, they couldn't decide who to auf. I don't see why they couldn't just send both of them home, but I'm sure the producers wanted to keep the drama factor alive. Instead, the judges decided to torture the Twins, which I'm all for, as long as I don't have to watch. But I will. Next week's episode will start off with a head-to-head 1-hour battle between Hairy and Baldie, with the loser going home. Let's hope they don't waste too much time on that nonsense, or make the episode 2 hours long to accommodate the twinly drama. Ugh.

Posted by theminx on Opalescentminx.com Because of past content theft, I am forced to add this statement to the end of my posts: If you're reading this post anywhere other than the Opalescent blog, OpalescentMinx.com (also http://minxbeads.blogspot.com) then this content has been stolen. Please do not support this thief!

Project Runway Season 16 at Fashion Week

noreply@blogger.com (theminx) — Sat, 23 Sep 2017 16:56:00 +0000

I've been terribly remiss in not posting the images from the Project Runway show at New York Fashion Week. The show took place on September 9th, and included six designers. That means three decoys, although I don't know why they would even bother with decoys when at that point there were 12 designers left and there was no way they could show the faces of the participants. In any case, I think it's pretty obvious whose collections are whose. My guesses are, in order - Michael, Kenya, Ayana, Brandon, Kentaro, and Margarita. I think this is one of the best runway shows we've seen in years--definitely better than last year.

My favorites are 3, 5, and 6 (my guesses are Ayana, Kentaro, Margarita). Which do you like, if any? Which do you think belong to the final three? And who wins?

I am guessing that Ayana, Brandon, and Margarita are the final three. As far as I can tell, each of their collections use two models from the competition; the others three designers don't appear to have used any of them. It might be coincidence, but maybe not.

Click on each collection to see a larger image.

Project Runway Recap - Season 16, Episode 6

noreply@blogger.com (theminx) — Fri, 22 Sep 2017 16:35:00 +0000

Greetings Earthlings! Welcome back for week 6! I gotta say, I found the whole beginning of this episode to be unnecessarily complicated and contrived. First we see Tim cavorting with the models at a "Model Brunch" on a roof somewhere. Like that's a thing. I am sure the models who do shows together always socialize and have brunch together, right? I know I loooove to spend time with people from work when I'm not stuck at the office, don't you?

Meanwhile, the designers are dutifully gathered at the runway, awaiting their next challenge. Heidi prances out in something that looks like a nightie from the former Mrs. Seal Samuel's Intimates Collection and announces that Tim is out eating avocado toast and açai bowls with the models. To prove it, she shows off a bunch of selfies allegedly sent to her just now by Tim, who is having the time of his life with his tribe of Amazons.

Heidi sends a few selfies to Tim in return.

When all of that foolishness is over, more foolishness begins: Heidi sends the designers packing to join Tim and the models, wherever the hell they are. By the time the designers get there, I guarantee there will be nothing left of brunch except for a couple spoonfuls of chia seed pudding and a half-eaten dish of shakshouka with a bit of congealing egg yolk in it. They may look skinny (some of them, anyway), but I've been around models at a buffet and those girls can eat.

Eventually, we get to the challenge: the models will become the designers' clients. The task is to develop a street style look that they can wear on their day off, one that they wouldn't be embarrassed to post on social media (using the hashtag #modelsoffduty). Models are all pretty young, so I imagine on their days off they normally wear things like Minions pajamas, sweatpants with some pithy phrase emblazoned on the ass, and "vintage" (read: holey) band t-shirts that they swiped from their older brothers. The stuff that college kids wear to the supermarket. But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe a model's "street wear" is far more fashionable and doesn't have last week's pizza stains on it.

First, the models choose their designers. It's a very back-in-school moment. The popular girls (the models) are selecting other popular kids (Kenya, Brandon) or their favorite pet nerds (Kentaro, Samantha), and shunning the zitfaced kids who eat their own boogers. Hairy, Baldie, and Ayana are the last three standing, which is not so surprising. Of the three, Baldie gets picked first, possibly because between the Annoying Twins, she seems to have the better ideas. None of the models wants to be stuck in long sleeves and a head scarf on their day off, yet Ayana gets chosen before Hairy. Poor Sian--who was stuck with Hairy last week--suffers the fate of the button bag and gets stuck with her again.

The pairings go like this:

Kentaro + Meisha
Batani + Monique
Amy + Marsha
Michael + Liris
Brandon + Colleen
Samantha + Jazzmine
Margarita + Christina
Kenya + Sanita
Baldie + Janine
Lena + Ayana
Hairy + Sian

Once paired up, the designers and the models go off to take selfies in the streets of New York, talk about their impending garments, and do some sketching.

Baldie and Janine are coincidentally both wearing navy and black, and they both seem to like what each other is wearing. Baldie has the bright idea to basically do a mash--up of their two looks. A mash-up of their blouses, actually--she plans on making the exact pants Janine is currently wearing. Meanwhile, the other Annoying Twin feels that street wear is indeed in her wheelhouse and is excited to get to work on a giant sweatshirt. Yawn. Kentaro is very happy to be working with Meisha again, a fluent Japanese speaker with whom he bonded during the last challenge. His idea for her is to make her look homeless...but in a neat, clean, and stylish way. Margarita's client/model, Christine, is "peeing her pants" to be able to work with her. Perhaps Margarita should keep in mind that her garment will need to be roomy enough to cover a pair of Depends.

The designers are then off to Mood with $200 burning holes in their pockets, followed by the workroom where they will cut and sew until 1am.

Tim's post-Mood visit to the designers includes the models and a fitting. Hairy talks about wanting to be at the top of her game this week, but it almost seems like her own sister is sabotaging her. Every few minutes Baldie is calling for her help: should she cut the fabric this way? should she sew it that way? does this look good? can they consult on this other element? It seems that between the two of them, there is one competent designer. Baldie seems to have the best design sensibility, but Hairy seems to have all of the technical skills. I am beginning to think they were born conjoined at the head and one of them got more brains than the other during separation surgery.

After a rough challenge last week, Kenya is feeling good about herself and her design. Leave it to Tim to burst her bubble. She's chosen a dark green fabric that he is concerned might make Sanita look like a "long green bean." And is she making fashion, or just clothing? Sanita herself is not quite sure that Kenya heard her thoughts and desires when they were discussing design ideas.

Brandon, who has immunity after winning last week, calls his girlfriend Dina Marie to share "I love yous" and that sort of thing. We know he's not getting a loser edit, and he doesn't seem to be having issues or losing faith in his ability, so I'm not sure why we get this segment. Perhaps to affirm that he is a taken man? Earlier in the episode, in a confidential, he's asked whether he was crushing on any of the models. He wisely pleads the fifth, mentioning the GF. We had heard from two different models in two previous episodes that they all seem to have the hots for him. Were the producers trying to cause trouble? Does anyone know if he and Dina Marie are still together?

There are some amusing moments in this episode, mostly not involving the Annoying Twins, particularly one where Margarita and Michael start critiquing their own looks. He realizes his resembles "cheap Pocahontas cosplay," which at that moment it does indeed. Margarita is having fit issues with her pants (possibly because she remembered to allow room for an adult diaper). The two of them pretend to be Zac Posen; one delivers the spot-on line, "I didn't even bother to score it. I just wrote down, 'trash.'"

Ayana is concerned that her model wants to show as much skin as possible, which of course isn't her thang as a modest designer. So she makes a long peach-hued satin coat that would make a fine bathrobe. One of the AT's criticizes it as such, but as I agree with her, I can't be critical about her constant criticisms. Not this time, anyway.

Speaking of criticism, let us now pause for a commercial break introducing the new Project Runway line at JC Penney.

Argh. That is some hideous stuff right there (although there are a few passable looks). The shiny "track pants" on the left have a matching off-the-shoulder bomber jacket in the same lovely shade of puce. I can see a 80-year-old rocking it quite nicely. The metallic skirt on the right just looks cheap. And the crushed velvet dress. Ugh. The fabric looks to have come from re-purposed season 16 button bags.

The dress's lace-up front takes me back to when one of my younger cousins was hit by a car. Apparently the impact caused his guts to fall out; the doctors put them back and closed him up with enormous stitches. When I visited him in the hospital, I was shocked to see what appeared to be thick rubber shoelaces holding his abdomen together. If you don't believe me, do a google image search for "large abdominal stitches." Warning: you'll get some pretty graphic results, so if you're in any way delicate, just take my word for it.

I need a palate cleanser now. How about photographs of a cute dog?

So where was I? Oh yes, Day Two, and the designers are scrambling to get things completed. Baldie still needs to complete important elements, like a waistband and a zipper. She doesn't like doing those things, so Hairy charitably does them for her while ignoring her own work. Baldie is clearly the bitchier of the two, so perhaps Hairy fears her wrath if she doesn't help? I don't understand why she is so willing to work on her sister's design without insisting on quid pro quo.

Tim comes in and tells the designers they have two hours to send their client-models to their local Avon representative for makeup and to the JC Penney Salon in Flushing for hair.

I have to wonder how many stylists they have in the hair salon. I would imagine it took quite a bit of time to flat iron Christina's hair from it's natural ultra-curly state to the pin-straight 'do she wore on the runway this week.

Tim also admonishes everyone to use that damn accessory wall "thoughtfully AND carefully." Afterwards, the models need 15 minutes to be prepped for a photo shoot before going down to the runway. So runway prep isn't enough? I certainty don't take 15 minutes to prep before I take a selfie. Hell, it takes me only 20 minutes to shower, do my hair, and put on makeup and clothes in the morning before work. I can't imagine these attractive young women need more than 20 seconds to look good.

This week's guest judges are Marchesa designer and Project Runway producer Harvey Weinstein's wife, Georgina Chapman, and some young singer named Kelsea Ballerini who I'm not even going to bother to look up because I just don't care.

The runway show isn't horrible, but it's not the best we've seen this season. Margarita, the Annoying Twins, Kenya, Kentaro, and Samantha are pulled out of the lineup as the top and bottom
.

The judges start with Hairy, and they ding her for using almost all black, apart for a bit of blue, telling her she needed a pop of color. The outfit was "crisply made" but wasn't a fashion statement. Heidi didn't like that the shorts were so short and showed so much butt cheek (which must have been visible from her vantage point, because I didn't notice any cheekage), yet she clearly has no such compunctions about showing her own underboob. Nina noted that Hairy's model looked pregnant, and nobody wants to look pregnant if they're not (and maybe even if they are).

Baldie, on the other hand, was praised for her design with adjectives like "classy," "chic," "expensive," "sexy," and "elevated." Zac thinks it's a great day-to-evening look for models rushing around between shows who want to go out afterward. It is an attractive look, but as it was basically what the model was wearing at the "model brunch," with the midriff and sleeves chopped off, it's also something we've seen before. And we'll see it again....

I was holding my breath waiting for what I knew would be harsh criticism of Kenya's look. "Debbie Harry meets Peter Pan meets 101 Dalmatians," was the first thing out of Zac's mouth. Astonishingly, he meant it in a good way. All the judges liked her outfit, which seemed dated to me. Like early 90s officewear, once women were allowed to lose the pussy bow and wear pants to work. The green color that Tim thought was a detriment was actually an asset in the judges' minds. They said the model had "legs for days," and a certain "je ne sais quois." Ok then.

They also liked Kentaro's design, a funky kimono-shorts thing over denim leg warmers that appeared to be leggings, and a cream-colored top that seemed to be made of a rather thick fabric (and which reminded Kentaro of mayonnaise). His look was "dangerous," "masculine," "crisp," "easy," and had a "Samurai edge."

Samantha's model shared her girly grunge aesthetic, so Sam made pretty much the same style of dress she herself has been wearing every week: full skirt with petticoat, fitted bodice, high-ish neckline. Samantha was a pioneer in the "Lolita" fashion movement, one of the many strange things that comes out of Japan but doesn't exactly make it to the mainstream. The judges felt her look was "verging on costume." They liked it better without the added vest, and Nina preferred the version that Samantha herself was wearing, which was in a gold fabric and somewhat more interesting. Still, it was the same dress.

Margarita received the final critique. The judges noticed the fit issue with the pants and felt the look was dated and not modern, cheesy, and too "Miami."

When the models came back out for the judges' closer look, Tim tells them that Hairy sacrificed some of her time to help Baldie, which is why her own look was kinda crappy. The judges said that was on Hairy, which of course it was. There are no rules against designers helping each other--we see it all the time. Kenya even asked for some help in the workroom this week. But when they are in competition with each other, designers shouldn't help so much that their own work suffers.

Unfortunately, this is not a lesson that Hairy learns this week. She's safe. Samantha is the one who is out. A shame--I like her. I would probably even wear some of the things she creates, but modified to remove the petticoats and lengthen the skirts. A-line skirts have always been most flattering on my frame, and I do find the vintage silhouette attractive. It does verge on costume (or cosplay) so it needs to be worn judiciously (like the JC Penney accessories). But there is room for a look like that here and there.

Kentaro is given the win this week for his rather groovy Samurai Mayonnaise with Denim Legwarmers. Well-deserved.

Posted by theminx on Opalescentminx.com Because of past content theft, I am forced to add this statement to the end of my posts: If you're reading this post anywhere other than the Opalescent blog, OpalescentMinx.com (also http://minxbeads.blogspot.com) then this content has been stolen. Please do not support this thief!

Project Runway Recap - Season 16, Episode 5

noreply@blogger.com (theminx) — Fri, 15 Sep 2017 16:32:00 +0000

For this challenge, the designers met Tim at Lyndhurst Castle. Until they arrived, Tim was forced to make small talk with two pretty young girls named China Anne McClain and Dove ~~Bar~~ Cameron, who are promoting Disney's latest piece of kiddie drivel "Descendents 2." Dove and China (the names together could be a shop selling posh wedding-related crap, or maybe a restaurant in Baltimore, where names must include "and" or "&") like most Disney kids, are singer/actors. Ugh. "Singers" of course means that they perform derivative, second-rate, R&B stylings and pop schlock and either will or have already performed on a float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

So the intro to the challenge is a little confusing. The designers must take inspiration from the sequel of a made-for-tv live-action feature about the offspring of cartoon villains--Dove plays the daughter of Maleficent, and China is the daughter of Ursula, the delightful part-cephalopod baddie in The Little Mermaid--and also the fabulous gothic revival building in front of them, but they cannot make costumes. To make things harder, each designer must create something that is either "good" or "evil." But not costumes! I suppose they should be thankful that they weren't also treated to a special viewing of Descendents 2 (in which Dove wears a purple wig and China channels Bill Nighy's Davy Jones) to assist them in not making costumes.

As Michael was the winner of the last challenge, he is tasked with assigning the other designers their good or evil theme. Being as both seem equally difficult (no costumes!), it's not an opportunity to sabotage his enemies or assist his friends.

After 30 minutes of sketching, which seems to happen primarily outdoors, the designers pile back onto the bus for the hour-long drive back to the City and Mood, where they have $300 to spend. What with all the tarrying in Tarrytown, not to mention the 2-hour-plus road trip, the designers get (almost) two days to complete their garments.

Watching the designers at Mood this week is interesting, as one can see how fabric choices really affect the final design. Kenya falls in love with a textured burgundy material, but there's less than four yards of it in stock. She buys it anyway. Michael falls for a black and gold lace, which could end up super tacky (I'm not a fan of lace), but he thinks it's evil without being traditionally so. Hairy Twin has armfuls of filmy pastel-colored material, which immediately rings alarm bells, at least in my head. Good alarms, in that she might get herself aufed for making a princess costume.

When the designers get to the workroom, they find that "evil" designers are on one side of the room, and "good" designers are on the other. The Annoying Twins have opposing designations, so they are separated. Which may have been completely intentional. Not separated, however, are Brandon and Kentaro, who have started to call each other "brother." They have gone beyond simple bromance to an actual familial relationship. It is so effing cute. Kentaro is like an innocent elf. He is so full of joy and goodness. Brandon has that calm zen thing going on. They are a perfect couple. Yes, I realize Brandon is straight (not sure about Kentaro), but that doesn't mean that he can't have a spiritual relationship with another man.

Margarita is having a crisis of faith, for no good reason. Perhaps the pressure of so many consecutive challenges is getting to her. She is designing for a full-figured model for the first time, but that shouldn't throw her off her game that much. She goes into a room by herself and calls her parents. And cries. The dreaded "loser" edit. I'm hoping it's a red herring, because Margarita is a pretty strong designer and she'd have to make a real piece of poo to get thrown out this early in the game. But I may be wrong.

The next day, Tim comes in to check on things. He finds Brandon's work to be unexpected because it doesn't have that typical eveningwear look. Hairy Twin is making a fairy princess costume for a four-year-old. She doesn't want that, but with the materials she's purchased, it's hard to come up with anything else. Tim gives her the evil eye and moves on. Michael has let his gold and black lace take over, and the result is rather matronly. Amy is working with a light-colored fabric with a bird pattern on it, but with the pink dress and grey velvet "Erte-style opera cloak," the effect is very Barnum & Bailey.

Ayana's look includes lace and colorblocking in all the myriad shades of baby poop. Kentaro charitably calls the yellow color she is using "curry powder." Pink-Haired John Lennon's outfit is still in the muslin stage, but Tim is finding it gimmicky so the entire concept gets scrapped.

Baldie is working on a dress that is half leather and half not and says, "this is me." So maybe we're not just working with two Annoying Twins here...one of them may have multiple personality disorder. Kentaro is using two very similar shades of pink, which look to Tim as though one of them might be a mistake. Though Margarita is having doubts about herself, Tim seems to like her burnout velvet dress a lot. He does not, however, like Samantha's usual meticulous, layered, intricate work. He calls it a "big craft project," which hurts her feelings. I personally do not like it, although I do appreciate her "aesthetic." It will be interesting to see if she can transform it into something more attractive.

On Day 2, most designers are well on their way to finishing up. Except for Hairy, who needs Baldie's assistance with the top of her dress. She actually needs assistance for the whole thing, which more than halfway through the second day of the challenge still looks like a kindergartner's wet dream. Pink-Haired John Lennon is also having some serious issues and is just starting to cut fabric for his redesign.

The next day, Pink-Haired John Lennon's look is still barely underway, and Hairy has received overnight inspiration for the top of her cotton candy nightmare. Tim comes in and advises the designers to send their models to get made up with "Get A Grip" eye primer and "Give 'Em Gel" eye liner in the "Aren't We Punny" beauty lab and have some hobo on the street do their hair because Lifetime couldn't find anyone to sponsor their salon. He also suggested that the designers "avoid costumeland," while using the JC Penney accessories wall.

Meanwhile, the twins are running back and forth from the workroom to the sewing room, which Kenya just looooves.

They are also throwing some shade. Baldie opines that Kenya's look is "oxblood mariachi band," and Hairy suggests that Brandon's design "literally looks like a napkin tied around his model's body. It's a smock with sleeves and side boob." Sam's "looks like poison ivy. It has a lot of green and a lot of texture...and it looks kinda like a hot mess." It is completely fine that the Annoying Twins say these things because they are such great designers themselves.

In no time, the designers are called to go down to the runway.

The Disney black-and-white cookies are judging this week, no surprise there, along with the usual gang, Heidi, Mean Nina, and Zac. The show starts off with Aaron's toilet paper pinata, at which Zac looks simply horrified. Amy's looks like a Disco Mary Magdalene (tell me it doesn't). Ayana's modest baby poop and yellow dress isn't as horrible as expected, but it's not pretty. The rest of the show is decent enough, with a few exceptions. Pink-Haired John Lennon, Brandon, Michael, Kenya, Hairy, and Samantha are top and bottom, and it's pretty obvious who is in which category.

Heidi starts off by calling Brandon's look a "modern straight jacket" with "peek-a-boob" and a bunch of other comments that seem negative, but she actually loves it. Zac calls him out for making another shirtdress-type garment and suggests that he may be a one-trick pony.

Hairy's dress is "Cinderella on her day off," and a cliché. Nina is bored by it, and we all know that it's very dangerous to bore Nina. Zac feels he doesn't know her as a designer yet. Really? All she's done so far is filmy pastel confections, none of which are particularly interesting or modern. She's been safe all along.

Heidi lists all the multitudinous elements of Kenya's design--ruffles, cuffs, open back, etc.--making them seem negative, as she did for Brandon. But she also loves it. It was "risky" and excellent work.

Samantha says she was inspired by poison flowers and poison fruit, and one can see that in her gown. But she gets dinged on the ugly bottom section, which is flat and boring and looks like an afterthought. It seems too short and a bit dingy. I think the dress would have been better as a mini than as a gown with a flounce.

Michael's lace dress is roundly praised. It's sexy, shows a good amount of cleavage, and the fabric is actually pretty amazing, despite being lace. Michael says he didn't do much cutting, he just let the fabric do all the work. It's impressive, and a nice change from the original matronly look we saw in the workroom.

Dove has to say something nice, so she compliment's Pink-Haired John Lennon's sense of personal style. I guess she has always wanted to be a flight attendant or something, because that's what he looks like today (tell me he doesn't). Otherwise, the judges are seriously hating on it. His model is so pretty, with a great figure, and she usually has a big smile on her face, but she seemed so sad in this. Heidi tells Pink-Haired John Lennon that this is not "Project Kindergarten," which is mean, but deservedly so.

It's no surprise that P-HJL is out this week. Though Hairy and Samantha didn't make anything particularly good, their designs were still much better than this poorly-made streamer-festooned (they are actually supposedly fly-fronts, flies from pants) mess. What was surprising was that Brandon won the challenge. Not that his design wasn't good, but that he had just been called a one-trick pony who only made shirtdresses. And Kenya's pantsuit was so nice, as was Michael's gold lace gown. But I'm ok with it, and I'm sure Brother Kentaro is, too.

Next week: Er...I wasn't paying attention. I could barely stay awake last night. I'm sure Lifetime will run lots of previews in the interim.

Posted by theminx on Opalescentminx.com Because of past content theft, I am forced to add this statement to the end of my posts: If you're reading this post anywhere other than the Opalescent blog, OpalescentMinx.com (also http://minxbeads.blogspot.com) then this content has been stolen. Please do not support this thief!

Nina Gets a Promotion

noreply@blogger.com (theminx) — Tue, 12 Sep 2017 18:06:00 +0000

Nina Garcia is now the editor-in-chief of Elle Magazine. Does that mean bye-bye for Marie Claire as sponsor of Project Runway, or bye-bye to Nina?

Stay tuned.

Posted by theminx on Opalescentminx.comBecause of past content theft, I am forced to add this statement to the end of my posts: If you're reading this post anywhere other than the Opalescent blog, OpalescentMinx.com (also http://minxbeads.blogspot.com) then this content has been stolen. Please do not support this thief!

Project Runway Recap - Season 16, Episode 4

noreply@blogger.com (theminx) — Mon, 11 Sep 2017 14:59:00 +0000

Sorry that this recap is so late - I made a quick trip to NYC to see a couple of shows for New York Fashion Week. While the big Project Runway finale show wasn't one of them, I did get to see the team up between Mychael Knight and Korto Momolu. More on that in a separate post.

Episode 4 begins with Heidi and Tim strapping on backpacks to introduce the next challenge. Heidi is wearing the same black floral minidress she was wearing for the runway show in Episode 3, so I can only assume that this intro bit was filmed immediately thereafter. Otherwise, Heidi should have had time do something more interesting with her hair. This week's challenge is to design sleepwear for Heidi Klum Intimates new line of sexy pjs using textiles that the contestants create themselves by hand. Why the designers are always excited about the Heidi challenge are beyond me. For one thing, she's getting free labor. For another, the design is offered for a limited time. The PR designs are always much more interesting and intricate than the usual basic stuff that Heidi offers, so the production costs are likely higher. But she can only charge so much for the piece, because the price point should fit with the rest of her line. So if she's not making $$$, there's no point in putting the winning design into real production. And of course none of that cash is going to the person who designed the garment. Does anyone actually remember the winner of any of the previous Heidi challenges? Was it a launching pad to their success?

The way some designers react to things, I have to wonder if they've ever watched Project Runway in the past. Why are they always surprised that the very first challenge of the season starts within minutes of all the designers meeting for the first time? Why are most of them shocked and dismayed at team challenges, or unconventional materials challenges, or any challenge at all that is somewhat...challenging? Or are they directed to feign surprise/shock/dyspepsia?

Sorry for my aside (though you should be used to them by now)...back to the show. The inspiration for today's Heidi Klum Intimates challenge is to be found at the Empire State Building, where the designers will be spending the night. The backpacks that were distributed by Heidi and Tim contained rather sheer (cheap? Heidi Klum collection?) pajamas and a dossier of each designer's new model.

The designers are shown parading down 5th Avenue to the iconic Art Deco building while wearing their matching jammies. Ya know, I've been to NY dozens of times, and recently have been staying at hotels very close to the Empire State Building, but I've never been in it. Certainly not while in my jammies. I suppose I should rectify that situation at some point, but the $34 dollars it costs to ride the elevator to the top could buy a nice dinner, even in New York.

The Annoying Twins are freaking out over the idea of sleeping on the top of the Empire State Building. OMG! It's so high! Good thing they're only sleeping on the 86th floor, because being up on the top floor--the 103rd--would probably cause heart attacks. Lucky for them, there's no room for that sort of nonsense all the way up there.

The designers get a few minutes to sketch before sleepy-bye time. Kenya wants to do a romper using the motifs found in the ceilings of the ESB, but she's worried that she's never decorated fabric before. Michael is inspired by the Chrysler Building, which isn't the same as being inspired by the ESB, but it's part of the view so I suppose it counts. Kentaro was dinged for using black last week so he's vowing to decorate his maxi dress with neon colors.

Early the next morning, the designers are awakened by Tim, bearing paper sacks of breakfast sandwiches. Did they come from the Panera in the next block, or the Maison Keyser a couple blocks north? Were they still warm after the 86-floor elevator ride? Did Tim have to pay the $34? Inquiring minds need to know. I also would like to know how much bird poop they had to scrape off those sleeping bags by morning.

After breakfast, the designers head to the studio. They will have fabrics chosen by Heidi to work with, so a trip to Mood to visit Swatch is not in order. Besides working on patterns for their garments, the designers need to get started on fabric decoration as early as possible, in order for things to dry thoroughly. There are lots of paint items available, plus tools with which to make stencils and stamps--even potatoes. Good to know those elementary school art classes won't have been for naught!

The models have been switched for everyone again this week; Kentaro gets to work with one of the plus-sized gals. Rather than panic, he seeks fit advice from the two larger ladies in the cast, Samantha and Kenya. Samantha is shown suggesting how the armhole should fit so there's not too much side boob or cleavage, which is very kind of her. She understands that they can help each other out yet still be in competition. Kinda the way the Annoying Twins work, only not annoying.

Heidi comes in pretty early in the day to demoralize the group. She suggests that the Annoying Twins, who have been running around and chattering with each other all morning do more work and less talking. Heidi thinks Hairy's design might be a bit too basic. She's also not getting Baldie's desire to make a jumpsuit, because women have to go to the bathroom frequently during the night. If it takes too long to disrobe, a woman could pee herself. I have one suggestion: trap door.

Deyonté is doing something with wide mitered stripes that Heidi suggests could be a clown costume. Ouch. Also the angle of the stripes point directly to the vajayjay, which is always a no-no in Heidi's book. Kenya, who is struggling, is working on a piece that doesn't look like it could be sleepwear. It's too fitted and has no ease. Amy wants to put the NY skyline on the rear end of a pair of panties, which gets a no vote from both Heidi and Tim. Ayana's look is daringly sheer. She says there's no need to do a modest look for something that's only worn indoors.

After Heidi leaves and the designers stop crying in despair, they rework what needs to be reworked. Then the models come in for their fitting, which causes more reworking. Finally everybody gets to go sleep in their own pajamas in their own beds.

The next day, everyone is sent to the Cosmetics Your Mother Used to Sell Because Your Father Wouldn't Let Her Get a Job Outside the Home makeup studio and the Comb-overs by Donald Trump hair salon. Tim also advises them all to use the JC Penney accessory wall not the usual "thoughtfully," but "carefully." Or maybe not at all because isn't this a sleepwear challenge? Personally, I don't feel the need to accessorize the over-sized Orioles t-shirt I wear to bed, but perhaps I am missing out on a new trend. A new trend that I really don't care about.

Demi Lovato is guest judge this week. Apparently she's also a fashion designer because she's got a line of sports bras and leggings with Fabletics, a sports bra and leggings company owned by Kate Hudson. Hadn't sports bras and leggings already been designed decades ago? How does having her name on these things make Demi Lovato (or Kate Hudson) a fashion designer? Most importantly, I must ask WHY THESE THINGS ARE CONSIDERED FASHION?

The runway show is pretty decent. Well, it certainly could be worse. Pink-haired John Lennon, Kentaro, Michael, Deyonté, Baldie, and Kenya are pulled out of the line up while the rest are declared safe. The judges start on Michael's look, which is really stunning. They compliment the unique neckline, unusual strap placement, and Chrysler Building-inspired decoration on the bodice. They think this "Deco Cleopatra" look is sexy, sophisticated, and expensive-looking.

Zac appreciates that Pink-haired John Lennon is wearing tighty whities under his frilly sheer yellow bloomers. As are we all. Heidi loves the print he created on his fabric, but the top is shabbily constructed and the shorts (not just the ones he's wearing) are not flattering.

Baldie's jumpsuit with a silver-on-silver print is really pretty nice, considering she made it. The judges used a lot of the same adjectives that they used for Michael: sophisticated, sexy, elegant. They also thought it could be worn out on the town with heels and a leather jacket.

Deyonté's look didn't seem like sleepwear to the judges The shape was "nothing," boring, and not sexy. It was definitely not flattering. He had a plus-sized model this week and he took an Omar the Tentmaker approach with his baggy pieces. And who wears a top and a long skirt to bed? A skirt? Really? And this man has slept with women before!

Kentaro also had a plus-sized model, but his flowy gown was obviously sleepwear and obviously gorgeous. Samantha had given him good advice about the placement of the straps and armholes (she could have taken the opportunity to sabotage him, but I have a feeling that she's just a really nice person) and the end result was adorable and charming, fresh, quiet, modern, ambitious, and happy.

Kenya clearly struggled through the entire challenge, which was disappointing. I think she's super talented and she's one of the designers I want to see in the finale. Heidi said she would pee her pants before being able to undo the hook-and-eye closure on Kenya's short jumpsuit. (Heidi must have a tiny bladder.) Kenya cries a little. Zac tries to be nice by praising the colors she used, though it really was kind of a hot mess.

Michael is declared the winner of this challenge. You can buy Michael's winning design at Heidi Klum Intimates.

Deyonté is out. He really looked to have some great potential after winning the first challenge of the season, but fizzled out pretty quickly after that. Too bad - I liked him.

Next week, the designers go on a road trip to a fancy house, but they don't get to sleep there.

Posted by theminx on Opalescentminx.com Because of past content theft, I am forced to add this statement to the end of my posts: If you're reading this post anywhere other than the Opalescent blog, OpalescentMinx.com (also http://minxbeads.blogspot.com) then this content has been stolen. Please do not support this thief!

Project Runway Recap - Season 16, Episode 3

noreply@blogger.com (theminx) — Fri, 01 Sep 2017 16:46:00 +0000

I'm happy to report that episode 3 was much more entertaining than episode 2. While the Annoying Twins were (indeed) still annoying, there was less focus on them this week. There was plenty of other drama though. The good kind, involving fashion, and not over-the-top personalities or lying or back-stabbing or any of the other childish stuff that adults do when they are thrown in a room full of other people and submerged in a high-pressure situation like a reality competition. Or the White House.

Anyhoo...

Heidi is attempting to teach Tim how to dance. She tells him to "shake his booty," but he's not altogether sure what part of the body constitutes his booty.

They jump behind the runway scrim and their shadows tell a story that makes the assembled designers laugh. When they emerge, Heidi and Tim present the next challenge, which is to create a fashionable look informed by dance, movement, and innovation. For inspiration, they watch the new animated movie, Leap! conveniently open in theaters right now and possibly one of the reasons the season started so late this year. The movie was released last Friday, the 25th, and it was important for the PR episode to run at about the same time. (If the season doesn't seem to have started late to you, take into consideration that Fashion Week starts next week and the PR show is slated for the morning of September 8th, a week from today. And there are still how many designers left? Yes, it looks like the finale will once again be an anonymous show that will have the designers introductions added digitally after the fact. But I digress. As usual.)

After the movie, members of Hiplet, a troupe of dancers that do hip hop dance en pointe, do a demo. While I know there are people who are excited about this mashup, personally I think it needs some work. Hip Hop dance is amazing. Ballet is amazing. The two together appear to me to be ballet with lots of arm waving. And "Hiplet" (pronounced "hip lay") is quite the awkward bi-lingual portmanteau. But I'm sure it will be super popular and they'll make a movie and a Broadway show about it and the Bolshoi will incorporate it into their repertoire and people will say I was wrong and mean to criticize. But everything needs criticism--how else do we know when things need to be improved or changed?

The designers get 30 minutes to sketch right there in their seats by the runway before spending $200 each at Mood. Margarita tells us she's inspired by the traditional Puerto Rican dance style called Bomba and the ruffled costumes women wear while doing this dance. Kintaro is inspired by classical ballet, sans hip-hop, as he played classical piano since the age of 3. He plans to do something Swan Lake-ish. Kudzanai wants all of the colors that Mood has to offer for his African-inspired design, which by the looks of the piles of stuff he's purchasing is based on ancestral clown vomit.

Back in the workroom, the first line of business for the Annoying Twins is to drop an entire box of straight pins on the floor and scurry noisily like angry squirrels to pick them up. On a calmer, gentler note, we see that Mexican Michael and Puerto Rican Margarita have bonded because of their shared language. Plus they both seem to be kind and gentle people. This is one of my favorite things about creative reality competition shows (the only kind I watch), the moments when, instead of table flipping and under-bus people-throwing, contestants find common ground and bond. 💜

Deyonté has purchased several fabrics in a fabulous shade of chartreuse, which happens to be my favorite color. I am picturing an end result that is beautiful and flowy, with a long skirt that has lots of movement. But before we get to see his vision completed, Deyonté drives the sewing machine needle down sideways through his finger tip. It's bad enough that the medic has to come and bandage him up, but there's also blood on the sewing machine. Which Deyonté wipes off with a tissue? Hey, producers, it's blood! Shouldn't there be some hazmat team around to do clean up when this sort of thing occurs? The designers use the same sewing machines regularly, but think of the models who might have to wear bloodstained clothes. Not saying that anyone has anything communicable, but why take the risk?

Meanwhile, the Annoying Twins are running around like the proverbial headless chickens. Baldie is dying her fabric in a separate room, but before she gets that far, she knocks over a table. The floor is slick, so both twins take turns falling down as they run around. Is running part of their process? Or are they disorganized? or just not linear thinkers? Not only are they racing about like toddlers after too many cookies, they're calling to each other every few minutes, "hey, pumpkin, can you come look at this?" for help/critiques/moral support/just for shits and grins. Note to the producers: Next time you have twins as contestants, make sure they're Siamese. There will be half as much running around, and no need to shout for your twin's attention as she is literally right there.

Quite the opposite of the Annoying Twins is Brandon, who seems very zen. The designers have started teasing him about it, how he gets in the zone and can ignore everything around him--including direct questions--while he's cutting and sewing. It's really a great ability to have, especially when you're stuck in a room with Baldie and Hairy.

Tim comes in for his critique, which doesn't seem to have as much of the usual hand-to-chin contemplation (though there is some of it). He's in love with almost everything. Kenya's patterned suit is "smashing," Michael's dress and cover-up are "fabulous," Samantha's black dress with many textures is "quite magnificent," Amy's convertible jumpsuit/sweater is "remarkable." He even doesn't hate what the Annoying Twins are doing, but he tells Hairy to stay away from Red Bull and Coffee and Baldie that perhaps she's a tad too literal in her interpretation of the dance portion of the challenge. Tim seems to like pink-haired John Lennon's jumpsuit idea, but doesn't want it to be a "puu-puu" platter of different treatments. When he gets to Margarita and listens to her explanations of ruffled sleeves and ruffled skirt, he tells her he's afraid it's "full-on costume," which it absolutely is. Ayana has a "lot going on," and Kudzanai's design with its fringe and feathers and gee-gaws, is "a lot of look," but overall, Tim "couldn't be happier" with the work so far.

The designers who received criticism rework their looks a bit. Margarita decides to turn the bodice of her bodysuit around, so the revealing open back becomes a midriff-baring front. She keeps the ruffled sleeves but tones down the skirt. Ayana got dinged for her fabric choice, so she uses the reverse side, which is more subtle. But Kudzanai is going full steam ahead with his cacophony of colors, textures, and trim. When the models come in for a fitting, the part of it that he has assembled looks like a bad arts-and-crafts project. Nobody is getting a "loser edit" this week, but I start feeling that something is up with Kudzanai. Either the judges will hate his look, or fall in love with it, as they sometimes do with absolute bullshit.

Margarita is also having issues with blood, only not her own. Her outfit is still pinned together during the fitting. While undressing, one stabs the model, who bleeds. Did I mention Margarita's outfit was all white? Cotton, no less. I have to wonder if she's going to resort to splashing red paint on her look to make the blood match, or if she will be able to hide it. Speaking of blood, Deyonté is in pain, but needs to finish his dress. It looks terrible on the model; it's too short, which makes her legs look very very long, which only emphasizes that it's too short. Pink-haired John Lennon's model has a longer torso than he allowed for, so he has to recut parts of his jumpsuit. Brandon's model is happy that she's working with him because, "all the girls are kinda like in love with him." It's the zen.

The next day, everyone gets time to finish (mostly) as models are sent down to the Ding Dong! Avon Calling Studio for makeup and The Ratings Are So Low Nobody Wants To Sponsor Our Hair Salon to get their hair did. And let's not forget accessorizing with baubles from ~~WalMart~~ ~~Claire's Boutique~~ JC Penney!

The guest judge for this week is 14-year-old Maddie Ziegler, formerly of Lifetime's Dance Moms, dancer in Sia videos, author, model, fashion designer, and star of the movie Leap! I only know her from the videos for Chandelier and Elastic Heart, which were impressive, considering she was 11 or 12 when she made them. She is such a good dancer, one can almost ignore that Shia LaBeouf was in the latter video. The runway show is pretty good, some garments are really pretty fab, but there can only be three top and three bottom looks and they are:

Top: Batani, Margarita, and Brandon

Zac wasn't into the metallic material in Batani's butterfly-esque caped outfit, but he liked the look overall. The judges felt it flowed nicely and really fit the dance theme. Everyone felt Margarita's was dramatic, crisp, and fashionable. They loved the spirit and the little pop of color (not from the blood stain, but from a bit of red on the bodice and on the underside of the skirt. They thought turning the bodice back to front was very smart fabrication, and they even liked the puffy sleeves. But Brandon's layered shirt dress blew them all away. It was well made and creative. Other adjectives used were chic, cool, modern, and lyrical.

Bottom: Deyonté, Kentaro, amd Kudzanai

Poor Deyonté's injury didn't get him any sympathy for his poorly-made and ill-fitting dress. The skirt was too short, the waist came up too high and looked uncomfortable. The proportion of the hi-low hemline was way out of wack. Additionally, the entire bodice was pinned closed because he didn't have time to sew it shut. Not to mention that it did nothing good for her boobs. Kentaro got dinged for not having a good "runway impact." His interpretation of the dance aspect of the challenge was a bit too literal, and it seemed as if he didn't make enough of an effort. Especially when it turned out that the back of the skirt was open, like an apron. Kudzani, on the other hand, made too much of an effort. Zac thought he was overly inspired by the children's movie, what with all the colors and fringes and feathers. It was like a pinata exploded. The construction was ambitious, but a mess. Maximalism to the max. I think the dress itself, without all the shit on it, could have been interesting for an athleisure challenge, as it reminded me of an oversized sweatshirt with extra details. Alas, this was not that kind of challenge.

It was no surprise when Brandon was declared the winner, as they positively salivated over his dress. Also not a surprise was Kudzanai's aufing. What did kinda surprise me was that Tim didn't say his usual, "we're going to miss you/I'm going to have to tell you to pack up your workstation" lines. It was basically, "bye!" Strange, because Kudzanai seemed to be a nice, quiet, hard-working guy and Tim even seems to like the schmucks. Maybe I'm reading too much into this, huh?

Next week: the designers get to sleep with some guy named Al Fresco at the top of the Empire State Building!

Posted by theminx on Opalescentminx.com Because of past content theft, I am forced to add this statement to the end of my posts: If you're reading this post anywhere other than the Opalescent blog, OpalescentMinx.com (also http://minxbeads.blogspot.com) then this content has been stolen. Please do not support this thief!

Textile Designs by Minx

noreply@blogger.com (theminx) — Wed, 30 Aug 2017 16:22:00 +0000

I always have to be doing something creative, be it making jewelry or knitting or graphic design. I've recently taken up textile design. Fun repeating patterns of flowers or food items so far, but I'm always dreaming up new ones.

The one exception so far is this rather trippy yellow and green pattern that is made from the fire of an opal. Honestly.

Can you see it? I took the opal and mirrored it a couple of ways to make the pattern. I love it.

I'm using RedBubble.com to get my designs on garments and such. The Magic of Silica is available on scarves, dresses, tote bags, pillows, and more. Check them out here.

Posted by theminx on Opalescentminx.comBecause of past content theft, I am forced to add this statement to the end of my posts: If you're reading this post anywhere other than the Opalescent blog, OpalescentMinx.com (also http://minxbeads.blogspot.com) then this content has been stolen. Please do not support this thief!

Project Runway Recap - Season 16, Episode 2

noreply@blogger.com (theminx) — Mon, 28 Aug 2017 13:50:00 +0000

I'm sad to say it's only week 2 and I'm already bored. Too many of the designers seem level-headed, except for those blasted twins, and that doesn't make for humorous recapping. There wasn't even any real moaning and groaning over a team challenge, no "I'm not here to make friends," bullshit. Just those effing twins. Gah. I hope they don't last long.

We start off seeing the designers in their Brooklyn hotel rooms, happy that they survived the first challenge. Suddenly they start to notice that hard hats and safety vests have appeared, along with notes from Heidi saying that they will be meeting Tim and a "special guest" somewhere for the next challenge. The hard hats don't exactly scream "Mood," and the designers pick up on that. I don't think they expected to be hauled off to Queens to wade around in trash though.

The exact location is Royal Waste Services in Jamaica, one of the largest recycling centers in New York. The designers turn up their noses at the place--literally--as it stinks. The Annoying Twins declare it "repugnant," which is a good word, one which I will probably use to describe them in the not too distant future.

Tim is there with Marie Claire editor-in-chief Anne Fulenwider to present the first unconventional materials challenge. Can you imagine Anna Wintour putting a hard hat on her hair helmet and stomping around through piles of trash? She'd probably require a sedan chair, or more likely, appear as a disembodied head on a monitor somewhere. I appreciate that Fulenwider is a real person. She's so into the challenge, she's wearing a dark blue dress that was made from recycled materials. Four hundred plastic bottles, as Tim tells us. Impressive. The dress is attractive, but probably also sweaty.

The designers are told that this will not only be the first unconventional materials challenge, but also the first team challenge. Team One, who choose to call themselves, "Wabi Sabi," is comprised of Marguerite, Kentaro, Michael, Deyonte, and Kudzanai. The second team, "Ballin' on a Budget," includes Pink-haired John Lennon, Kenya, Ayana, Batani, and Brandon. Finally, Samantha, Sentell, Amy, and the Annoying Twins make up "Tsunami." They get 5 minutes to gather their trash without picking up rats and old food items, and head back to the workroom to design 5-look mini collections for new-to-them models.

It doesn't take long for AT Baldie to start an episode-long high-pitch whine about: 1) her first unconventional challenge; 2) her first team challenge; 3) her first time working with a plus-sized woman. Wah, wah, and wah. I am really hoping she's getting a loser edit and goes home, because one less twin will be an improvement in the cast. Rather than worry about her own garment, Baldie is wringing her hands and complaining that the rest of her team's looks are too "girly." Her somewhat less-whiny sister is thrown off by her twin's erratic behavior, and is questioning her own garment. Thankfully they're both on the same team so not everyone in the room has to deal with their Not-So-Wonder-Twin sniveling, but I can imagine everyone is fairly annoyed.

I tell ya, this existential drama shit is far less entertaining than the usual flamboyant bitchy queen drama.

While I'm hoping Baldie is getting a loser edit, Sentell goes off into another room for a "private" conversation with his new husband, whom he married just days before the competition started, or so that's how it sounded in the telling. With 2 or 3 days equaling a week in reality television land, they may have gotten married a year ago. Unfortunately, phone calls with tears usually = aufing, except in the case of Season 15 contestant Mah Jing who seemed to spend much of his time crying and/or on the phone with his family. I start to have a bad feeling about this Sentell situation, which becomes more intense when I see what he's putting together with his pile of green garbage bags.

Several of the designers are experiencing crises of confidence, especially after Tim's critique. Just about all of team Ballin' decides to redesign their looks, apart from Brandon. He's taken the initiative and transformed some sheet vinyl by painting it with a checkerboard print, which will be a unifying element for his team's looks. I started counting him out from the beginning, but this week he seems to be one of the smarter and cooler-headed designers in the bunch. What a difference a day (a week for you and me) makes!

The models come in for a fitting and we start to see pieces coming together. However, Baldie's model doesn't get to put anything on, because nothing is made. There's been more whining than designing going on.

Eventually everyone gets their shit together after a good night's sleep and the models are herded to the Avon Makeup Room and the Sad Hair Salon with No Sponsorship to get beautified before the runway show.

Anne Fulenwider and Maggie Q are guest judges. I find Team Wabi Sabi's looks to be the most cohesive and attractive, but the judges prefer Ballin' on a Budget's garments. Tsunami should have changed their name to "Shit Storm," because their stuff still looks like garbage. Sentell's especially looks like wadded-up pale green garbage bags that he hot glued together in five minutes. Zac said it looked like a "leprechaun went dumpster diving." The team planned their collection as "resort wear," but I don't think even in a dystopian Mad Max kinda world would this stuff ever pass for something to be worn to post-nuclear Miami or Monaco. Meanwhile, there are details like topstitching on Team Ballin' and real thought put into their looks.

Click to enlarge

My favorite look on that team is Batani's, which is a real improvement over what she showed Tim when he came in his for his critique the day before. Ayana, however, had the judges gushing over her floor-length fringe. I felt it was too thick and it reminded me of tentacles, or maybe a car wash. However, the judges liked it enough to give it the win. And as the winning garment, Ayana's dress will be featured in a story in Marie Claire about sustainability.

It will be interesting to see how Ayana fares through the rest of the season. She's Muslim and designs "modest" clothing, meaning covered from neck to fingers and toes. I predict that by mid-season the judges will start complaining that she's "one-note" because all of her looks are floor-length skirts with long sleeves and turtlenecks. OR, she'll get special consideration and end up winning the whole thing because the show has never had a Muslim winner. Kinda like the way Ashley Nell Tipton won season 14. Was she the most talented designer that season? Not by a long shot. She was also pretty one note, putting out pastel full skirts and crop tops for just about every challenge, and for her finale show as well. But she was the first contestant who wanted to design for plus sized women, which made her different and, I suppose, special. Though as a plus-sized woman myself I wouldn't be caught dead in anything she put forth during her time on Project Runway. I am hoping that the producers aren't influencing the judging as much as it seems they are. Heidi is a producer, of course, but how much sway does she have? If it were solely up to her, likely the designer who made sparkly miniskirts all season would always be the winner.

Click to enlarge

On to the losing team. Baldie tries to blame her model for her issues by calling her "curvy," but even the very slender Maggie Q insists that the model is of normal size. Anne Fulenwider says that the model is probably slimmer than she is. Though she caused a commotion throughout the challenge, Baldie did manage to pull together a complete look, with the help of the rest of the team, and especially of Sentell who immediately took credit for sewing the top. At that point that giant tour bus from the first episode drove in so the teammates could start throwing each other under it. It was expected and pretty sad, but the truth was no matter how annoying the Twins were, Sentell deserved to go home. If he had been on Chopped, the judges would have said he didn't transform the ingredients sufficiently. It still looked like garbage.

And he did. Or, at least he went to another apartment to be sequestered with the other losing designers until the end of filming. Not the honeymoon surprise he and his new hubby had hoped for.

Posted by theminx on Opalescentminx.com Because of past content theft, I am forced to add this statement to the end of my posts: If you're reading this post anywhere other than the Opalescent blog, OpalescentMinx.com (also http://minxbeads.blogspot.com) then this content has been stolen. Please do not support this thief!

Project Runway Season 16, Episode 1

noreply@blogger.com (theminx) — Sun, 20 Aug 2017 20:25:00 +0000

It's been a long time since I've recapped Project Runway: The Mothership--November 2009. That's eight years and ten seasons ago! I did recap All-Stars last year, and that was fun. I figured I'd try again and if I hated it, or even worse, if you hated it, I'd give up for good. But let's get on with the show, shall we?

This season there are sixteen competitors, only five of whom are white. That's a huge shift from previous seasons. Another big change this season is the models, who range from size 2 to size 22. Models will be randomly assigned throughout the season so everyone will get a chance to work with a bigger girl and not exclusively with someone tall, leggy, and hip-less. Yaaaas! Big is beautiful! It's about time that the fashion world recognizes that the average American female is a size 16, with curves, or if more like me, shaped somewhat like a tree trunk. In either case, we are not wire hangers and typical size 0-2 models do not represent us.

The new contestants meet up in what looks to be a large garage-like facility. There's a bartender shaking up creamy coffee-looking drinks that everyone is holding but few seem to be drinking. Possibly because those drinks contain Grey Goose vodka and it's only 8am. Still, that's good vodka and I probably wouldn't turn one down even that early in the morning.

We meet Kenya, a plus-sized woman herself with bold lipstick and a shaved head. She says she is coming to "murder you up...in a good way." I instantly like her. Two of the white girls this season are identical twins Shawn and Claire Buitendorp. Shawn's the "edgy" twin, as evidenced by her shaven head. She says the way to tell them apart is "Shawn shaved, Claire hair." They both have nose rings and matching hot pink lipstick and occasionally speak in unison. Five minutes into the show I am already completely annoyed by them.

The rest of the cast has unfamiliar-sounding names that will take me a week or nine to remember: Kentaro; Batani-Khalfani; Kudzanai; Amy. Brandon seems immediately lost and full of self-doubts. He's 24, and has only designed womenswear once. Once. He won't last long in these here parts. Aaron has long bleached hair with pink roots and looks like a cross between Dr Drew and John Lennon, so I'm probably going to refer to him as Pink Hair John Lennon when I can't remember his name is A-A-Ron. Or maybe even if I do remember. I liked Samantha, Margarita, Ayana, and Deyonté immediately--they were full of enthusiasm but not full of themselves. Sentell and Michael didn't make much of an impression of me at all. And then there is ChaCha from Taiwan, who is 24 going on 7. His name is really Vincent, but everyone calls him ChaCha, which means "annoying little bird." Right on the money. I determined he would be the first to be aufed simply by reading his bio on the Lifetime web site. When asked what his weakness was as a designer, he replied,"I’m bad at fitting!" Welp, kiddo, Nina and Zac don't play that. And after so many seasons, it's getting more and more rare to find a cast member who doesn't have good sewing skills. Thankfully.

There's a bit of "getting to know you," during which Shaved Twin acts like she's the fucking hostess of the party, greeting every new person who walks through the door with her hand outstretched, "Hi! Who are you?" Once everybody is in the room, garage doors open at one end of the space to let in a huge tour bus. Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn emerge and share awkward double-cheek kisses. Tim appears to be uncomfortable during the exchange, which seems odd after so many years of doing the show together.

They introduce the first challenge, which is to design a red carpet look that showcases "who you are as a designer." The designers seem pleased that the first challenge isn't particularly challenging, but then Heidi says, cryptically, "expect the unexpected." On cue, models emerge from the bus. Some contestants feign pleasure at the variation in size, but others just plain freak out. Like poor menswear designer Brandon, who is assigned the biggest girl of the bunch. I briefly reconsider my prediction that ChaCha will be the first out, but only briefly.

The models get a feature this season called "Model Mirror" when they gaze upon their reflection in a full-length mirror and talk about how they are feeling at the time. What we see looks like a standard to-the-camera confessional, but with an added overhead angle showing the models and the mirror. I don't understand the point, but whatever.

The designers get a budget of $300 for this one-day challenge and are quickly whisked to Mood to purchase fabric, after which time they are introduced to their work space.

There are so many designers in the beginning the show tends to concentrate on the ones who are most likely to be in the top or bottom. Brandon is getting a loser edit because he is so concerned about designing for a plus sized woman. ChaCha is also getting a loser edit, because, well, he deserves it. He calls his model fat, then switches to "oversized." Nice. But his model is not what I would consider "plus sized." While sketching, ChaCha said he would purposely emphasize her "big butt" with a snug dress, but what he's actually fabricating looks more like a big bag of cotton candy.

They did let the camera linger briefly on Sentell, as his story is somewhat interesting. After working as a dancer for 12 years, he was tired of the struggle. So he went to a medium who insisted he should be a designer. That's not to say he has any talent, but I guess we'll see as the season progresses.

The photos we see of Batani's pre-Runway portfolio show a strong African influence and she herself is wearing a fun patterned dress with matching head wrap and huge earrings. She says she loves to use bold colors and wanted something colorful for her model, but then settled on a drab gray stretch material, claiming that it would be "best on her body shape," because she wants to "tuck her in." Right there that sounds like she sees having a plus-sized model as being a problem.

Tim comes in for his consultation with the designers and except for ChaCha's bag of cotton candy, doesn't seem to have any overly serious issues with what they're creating.

The models come in for their fittings and everything goes fairly well there, too. Brandon still seems a bit lost, and his model hopes that he can deliver something that's figure flattering. What I'm seeing mid-creation looks completely unflattering. The skirt is too voluminous, and the blouse is boxy, with some weird tie detail on the left sleeve. It's still in the muslin state at this point though, so perhaps once it's created in the actual fabric he plans to use it will be good. But the fabric turns out to be a brown and peach camo. Errr...I have issues with camo. I think it belongs in the military or in the forest on a person hunting deer, otherwise, it's ugly. But hey, that's my opinion. I have a lot of them, and it's fine if you don't agree.

The day ends and the designers are tired, but they still have some commuting to do. Their lodgings for this season are in the Box Hotel. While that sounds like a euphemism for a cardboard appliance casing somewhere on Broadway, it's actually a real hotel...in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. I suppose it's not that far, but still at least a 20 minute ride. I can imagine the designers will be getting pretty punchy during their evening commute by mid-season. Hopefully we get to watch them snipe at each other in a moving vehicle.

The next day they have two hours to finish their red carpet looks, plus send their models to the Avon Beauty Lab and get their hair did at what sounded like "our" beauty salon. I couldn't tell if there was a sponsor for hair at all this year. And accessories....oy. They are furnished by JCPenney.

...and accommodations in Jersey City.

Tim seems more concerned than usual about over-accessorizing. I don't blame him.

Designers and models are soon herded to whatever faraway venue they use for the runway show these days, perhaps on Staten Island. Heidi, Nina, Zac, and guest judge Olivia Munn are awaiting the potential shitshow, but I think by the end they're pretty pleased overall. It's not a bad group of designers this year...apart from one or two.

Since there are so many designers at this point, I'm just going to talk about the top and bottom three looks.

Batani talked a good piece about doing colorful African-inspired garments, but then she put out this drab, stretchy, mess. When she was talking about using the lace applique as a motif, I thought it would be really pretty, but she just tacked it on to basically hide her model's big tummy, and then added a drape on top of that. Her gal had a great curvy shape and deserved better than that.

I thought for sure poor Brandon was on the bottom, but the judges loved his look. Maybe they felt sorry for him? But they called it strong, sassy, and fabulous, so maybe they actually liked it. I don't think the colors were very red carpet-like, but it really wasn't a bad outfit if you're into athleisure, despite the camo.

Predictably, ChaCha's clown costume was on the bottom. Who knows what he was thinking? The outfit was made with a fabric that the judges seemed to think was beautiful close up, but the overall look with the ridiculous ruffles looked like a "dance recital costume," a "scrunchie," and a "clown/unicorn" mashup.

Deyonté's floral two-piece gown was magnificent. Though Tim usually has issues with large floral prints, he loved it, and the judges loved it too. the draping was perfect, and the colors really went well with his model's coloring. So lovely.

Kenya's look was "white hot," definitely white but not at all wedding gown-ish, which is a usual complaint heard when a designer chooses to use all white. It was sexy, elegant, clean, and well-made, although she got dinged for using a fabric that perhaps didn't offer enough support to a bustier. Still, gorgeous.

Bald Twin's look had promise until you got to the tacky silver leather shorts. I think if they had been tight hot pants, it could have worked, but the floppy boxer short look was just tacky. It was too "club kid," too "hooker-y" for the judges.

I think Deyonté's look just edges out Kenya's for the top spot; I would have been happy with either. Predictably the annoying little bird was sent home. Told ya so.

What did you think? Did my recap suck? Hopefully not. Leave me a comment or two so I know if I should continue on or not.

Posted by theminx on Opalescentminx.com Because of past content theft, I am forced to add this statement to the end of my posts: If you're reading this post anywhere other than the Opalescent blog, OpalescentMinx.com (also http://minxbeads.blogspot.com) then this content has been stolen. Please do not support this thief!

Project Runway Season 16

noreply@blogger.com (theminx) — Sun, 13 Aug 2017 16:47:00 +0000

Is anyone else excited about the premiere of Project Runway this coming Thursday? I've watched every season of every variation and still can't wait for the show to start every year.

The cast seems pretty diverse this time around. Only five of the 16 contestants are white, and among those five is a pair of twins. Check out their bios here.

I think I might recap this season. Anyone interested in reading my recaps? I did All-Stars last season, but haven't recapped regular PR in ten seasons. I might be rusty, but I'm willing to give it a shot if you are.

Check out my old recaps here.

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Because of recent content theft, I am forced to add this new statement to the end of my posts: If you're reading this post anywhere besides the Opalescent blog, OpalescentMinx.com (also http://minxbeads.blogspot.com) then this content has been stolen. Please do not support this thief!

If I Had a Million Dollars...

noreply@blogger.com (theminx) — Sat, 05 Aug 2017 00:54:00 +0000

...I'd spend it on stuff like this:

Alexander McQueen
Chunky Lace-Up Zip-Front Sweater
$1,775.00 at Bergdorf Goodman

Cute, versatile, tough yet feminine. Love the lace up details and the zip up turtleneck. A must-have.

Gucci
Iridescent Floral-Embroidered Crepe Jacket
$6,200.00 at Bergdorf's

It's just beautiful. Would be amazing over a LBD or black trousers. Hell, even with jeans and a tank top. So beautiful.

Gucci
Embroidered Hooded Coat
$9,500.00 at Bergdorf's

It's stunning. I'd probably just hang it on the wall like art.

Givenchy
Pandora Small Pepe Crossbody Bag
$1,750.00

It's crazy, yet not. Only one handle on a bag that seems like it should have two. How does one wear it? Who cares? It's gorg! The washed metallic sheepskin looks so rustic and interesting.

Dries Van Noten
Patterned Velvet Block-Heel Bootie
$660.00

I love these so much, I'd marry them.

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Jewelry Round-Up - Rings

noreply@blogger.com (theminx) — Wed, 19 Jul 2017 17:49:00 +0000

Every once in a while, I like to look through pages of jewelry items I can't afford but would love to own. There are so many vintage styles that I adore, but also a handful of modern looks.

When I was in the jewelry business, I did a lot of appraisals. Some folks jewelry was pretty ordinary, but once in a while I'd get a batch of really gorgeous things to ogle as I was measuring and estimating. There was one diamond cluster ring in particular that took my breath away. The center diamond was over a carat, and it was surrounded by approximately .10 carat smaller round diamonds. It was an old European cut with a larger crown and shallower pavilion, so the setting had a fairly low profile against the top of the finger. It was just stunning. I've found similar rings on the Internet, and this one on the right is a good example.

Lots of the engagement rings available today have a similar feel - large center stone surrounded by many smaller stones - but it's just not the same. Today's rings tend to be far too over-the-top, with diamonds tucked away in weird areas in the gallery, making them hard to clean (because the most important thing to do with a diamond ring is to keep it clean so it is always sparkly and bright). Plus, I think they're all starting to look the same. No offense to those of you who like that sort of thing. I just don't. Give me an old fashioned diamond cluster any day over a modern one, please.

Then there are snake rings. I loooove snake rings for some reason. I own two or three, including a cool Victorian enameled one that's far too big for my scrawny fingers. Here are some others I really like that I've found all over the Web. The third ring in the top row is a favorite, for its daintiness and the very well-done engraving. the double snake in the center of row two is also well done, and the bottom ring on the left side pairs two of my favorite jewelry elements--snakes and opals--into one simple but gorgeous ring. The enameled snake on the bottom right is unusual in that it includes a cluster of pearls to simulate snake eggs. Very cool.

While this Tiffany rose gold bow ring is modern, I find its simple asymmetrical style very attractive.

This Armenta ring, available at Bergdorf's, is pretty cool. The center stone is a reconstituted turquoise and rutilated quartz doublet. In other words, it's a composite gemstone made from two elements. One is a flat disc of blue stone made by compressing scraps of turquoise with binder and dye into a block that can be cut into shape. The other is a cabochon-shaped dome of clear quartz that has needlelike inclusions of a mineral called rutile embedded in it. The two are glued together to make a doublet. (This isn't a new thing. Many opals on the market are doublets.) This sorta-gem is set in 18K yellow gold with .20 carats of diamonds and white sapphires on a sterling silver band that has been oxidized to a deep matte black. I think it's pretty darn cool looking.

Like anything you see here? Leave a comment and we'll discuss!

Posted by theminx on Opalescentminx.com Because of past content theft, I am forced to add this statement to the end of my posts: If you're reading this post anywhere other than the Opalescent blog, OpalescentMinx.com (also http://minxbeads.blogspot.com) then this content has been stolen. Please do not support this thief!

Gorgeous Opal Jewelry

noreply@blogger.com (theminx) — Mon, 10 Jul 2017 16:18:00 +0000

As I perused the Web for opal jewelry, I stumbled upon this image of a high-karat gold bib festooned with boulder opals. It took my breath away, so I clicked through to find out more about the designer.

Carolyn Tyler is a native Californian who moved to Indonesia after falling in love with beautiful Bali. Her designs are executed there by skilled Balinese craftsmen, using high-karat gold, sterling silver, and gemstones. My kind of gig, let me tell you! It would be my dream to have a workshop full of talented goldsmiths who would take my drawings and turn them into three-dimensional works of art.

Carolyn's designs are very much within my personal aesthetic, and indeed there are similarities in the materials we prefer to use as well. I love to use fossil ammonites and asymmetrically-shaped boulder opals, stones that, as Carolyn says, have spirit. They are also some of the most beautiful things that nature has to offer.

Whereas the stones she uses in her designs are not precisely-cut or otherwise flawless, her designs are. They are a wonderful, carefully balanced, melange of colorful gemstones set in sunny yellow metal adorned with the ancient technique of applying hundreds of miniscule orbs of gold known as granulation. Her pieces can take weeks or months to complete, and the results are worth every minute.

See more of Ms. Tyler's jewelry by visiting her Web site at carolyntylerjewelry.com. (Her site design is also pretty great, IMHO.)