bloody elle

(or, as a woman I worked with in London used to say: "bloo-awdy 'ale!")

Let me first say that kora in hell loves the title of this week’s challenge. The only thing better would have been “what the bloody buggery elle is all this then?” But "what the elle" is a little more concise I suppose.

hang on uli #2

(click here for hang on uli #1 - and scroll down)

She did it! Good for our little miami mädchen!

They had to let all four go because they were counting on auffing uli and then she, smart girl: 1. nabbed Nazri, 2. had a house-frau crisis with her first dress, 3. ripped it apart, 4. and in a few hours created the most beautiful hippy dress in the world. Yes, I’d say Uli works well under pressure.

And how cute was uli’s scrunched-up excited face?


That's putting the body into it. And speaking of which, Nazri playing drums was almost as cute as my nephew playing drums:

That is some serious hippy babe cuteness going on there.

I am talking about cavity-inducing ADORABLE, people.
(With effusive thanks to Rich for his inspired posting of this clip because it never fails to make my day and I just had to find a reason to link to it and I am sure I will find more so you should really check out the whole cuteness context for it while you are there because it is hilarious.)


the difference between uli and zulema

(By they way don’t they sound like new brands of alcoholic beverages? “Bartender, give me one uli straight up and a zulema on the rocks.”)

First rule: if you steal someone’s muse you damn well better win with her. Zulema immediately got herself and her “stolen booty” kicked off. Zulema had a bad reputation for the way she treated her models and Uli did not. Zulema humiliated the models with a “walk off.” Zulema had no remorse for what she did and did not have any sympathy for the effect her actions had on the model or on Nick. Uli approached the matter a bit differently.

While I think Michael was really thrown for a loop on this and I feel bad for him, I don’t begrudge Uli too much for what she did. I mean Nazri looks fantastic in everything but you can’t tell me that any other model is more perfect for Uli’s style of dress than Nazri. Michael took the high road, as Tim said, and didn’t flip out. No one ostracized Uli like the group did to Zulema. However, Uli’s choice was one that everyone could understand and she did it in a way that didn’t cause bad feelings.

And the outcome was one of the most winning combinations we’ve seen:

s-mokin'

jeffrey & marilinda

Jeffrey‘s success owes a lot to Marilinda who is another of the very best models. And that girl was so was so damn pretty this week I nearly melted. Lordy! It doesn’t matter if you are man, woman, straight, gay – if that photo of her in the "rickshaw" (really?) didn’t send you reeling head-over-heels in love then you are sorely lacking in romantic spirit.

Do they actually have rickshaws in Central Park these days?

I liked Jeffrey's dress -- but how ironic is it that he made a Holly Hobbie dress?!!!!


check out the holly hobbie chronicles:

• the hh chronicles
• the hobbien mysteries
• when hh hits the runway
• circa 1974

laura & michael

I was just wondering -- what if Laura and Michael combined their dresses?

laura

Laura’s dress was exquisite. She accomplished the difficult task of topping herself. She made the most beautiful of her dresses with the exception of the fact that the v-neck was far too low. But that dress was exquisite and proof that she creates fashion at the highest level, even if its range is rather narrow. It isn’t like that is unheard of in the world of fashion. (See my earlier post on Laura’s win for a discussion of the importance of Camilla.)

michael

Clarissa is truly beautiful but Michael would have done well to pick Amanda. No one can work something like her. She’s the most chameleon-like of the group: put her into anything and she just inhabits the role and sells it hard.

There was really nothing wrong with that dress. It was lovely although the keyhole was too large. Just like Laura's neckline was too low. What is it with these designers?

Poor Michael seems to have hit a roadblock. He will need to work through this to make it to the next level. No one questions his ability. I think the problem is that he has the least experience of the final four and he probably just needs a little more time – and some good mentoring – to get past whatever it is that is holding him back.

Unlike Kara Janx from last season who was the 4th designer and got auffed, we’ve seen that Michael has the imagination and skill and range to really make it some day as one of America’s top designers. With Kara there was a sense that we had seen what she can do. With Michael one feels that we haven’t seen it all yet and that is what makes him more exciting. (And I don’t think his runway show was very strong, but that doesn’t change my argument.) I think he is just in an earlier stage of his development as a designer and when he hits his stride he could be better than all of the other three designers.


another shark sighting

Frankly, I have to say that my interest in pr has waned: too much vincent sucked the joy out of the show. It wasn't interesting; it was just tiresome.

Then there was a 2-week break during which we were able to see the so-so final collections.

For all the producers manipulations to make the show "interesting" they made the dumbest mistake in television -- screwing up the scheduling.

(click here to see the first shark attack warning- and scroll down)


bloody hell – another kih rant

keith

note: please read "for the record" if you haven't already

The previews show Keith at the reuinion, sweating and seething with rage.

It better be good. I want to see bad mommy put him in his place. By which I mean in the corner on a "time out" until he can behave like a grownup who has learned that sometimes you have to suck it up and live in a world where you are not always allowed to do exactly as you please. boo hoo.

Here’s the thing: there are the iconoclasts who see rules as there for the breaking; and then there are the sociopaths who see rules as there for the breaking. Keith is the latter.

That is to say, he thinks that the rules apply to everyone but him because he is better than everyone else. Some people call that that “narcissistic personality disorder.” (In fact, I would call that narcissistic personality disorder.) Combine that egotism with an inability to control one’s anger and that person becomes dangerous.

Keith just exudes that sense of entitlement that whatever he wants should be his to have. The irony is that, given how special he thinks he is, this attitude is as mainstream all-American as you can get.

He reminds me of a spoiled child who is outraged to discover that the world doesn't always give them whatever they want. It is a hazard of the constant ego-stroking done in the name of “nurturing” that creates brats who approach the world only in terms of what they deserve to get. It fosters all sorts of anti-social behavior from just being an irritating wanker to treating waiters badly to whining about getting an A minus when they deserved an A plus to cheating on tests to pathalogically lying to fraternity hazing (whether they are straight/gay makes little difference: it is all homosocial bonding over violence anyway) to thinking that the Geneva conventions' rules on torture should apply to the rest of the world but not him . . .

. . . oh wait, who was I talking about?


"it was a lulu"

In his podcast this week Tim Gunn said of the reunion: “it was a lulu” which made me feel all warm and fuzzy because I haven’t heard that in ages: that is something my grandma used to say and it was nice to hear someone say it again.

now available:

Insouciance & Apéritif review Episode 11 --

Don't miss Runway Model Theatre
(in French -- with English subtitles)