A Runway Rewind

I'll be very honest--I'm amazed and appalled at my own lack of commentary on one of the few shows actually giving us new episodes every week. So let me begin with a rundown of what I've thought of this season so far:

Insight #1: I'm amazed that these are listed as "the best designers" so far. Personally, I don't see it. When I think back to some of the designers of the past seasons--Kara Saun, Jay, Santino, Chloe, Daniel...even Andre ("Where's Aaaahn-dre?")--they weren't fooling around. They were awesome. And while there are clearly some break out superstars in this season, on a whole, there seems to be a wide array of "hot mess" present as well. They may be more accomplished in terms of their own businesses (Rami and others actually have previously put out their own lines of clothes and some have actually dressed celebrities for minor awards shows), I can't say from my amateur standpoint that they're bringing a higher design acumen to the show.

Insight #2: Project Bore-way. After nearly every show, I find myself longing for the days of Santino Rice, Jay McCarroll...hell, even Wendy Pepper. They had personality, they had spunk. We might have hated them, we might have loved them--at least we felt something about them. As much as I love Jillian's designs, listening to her is like scraping my nails across an emery board. Victorya (now booted) was at best puzzling and annoying. And Christian, who appears to be the poster-child for personality this season, screams "I would really rather be Paris Hilton" to me. I don't want to be on Christian's side. I don't want to be on anyone's side. Problem.

Insight #3: Guest judges are getting better. Oh, I remember the days of PR when a Betsey Johnson or Cynthia Rowley (who interestingly is actually an automaton, apparently) was a "special" day. The guest judge for the Season 1 FINALE was Parker Posey, for chrissakes (if you don't watch Christopher Guest movies, you have no idea who this is. Even if you do watch, you have no idea why she's able to judge fashion--I'm still in the dark myself). So, to see the veritable list of designers trot through that fourth chair has been really impressive. You know exactly what Michael Kors and Nina Garcia are going to give ya. But that 4th chair is like the knowledgeable and respected wildcard...and offsets Heidi's growing weirdness.

And now, My Official PR4 Rant: What is with the blatant, shameless product placement this season? While we've always had to contend with "The Tresemme hair salon and the l'Oreal Make Up Room," and then last season we tacked on the "BlueFly Accessories wall" (which, incidentally, used to be something else which I cannot recall at the moment), I've not remembered this incessant bowing to the gods of capitalism. Past challenges were for the US Postal Service or Banana Republic (okay, that last one's iffy). But the Hershey challenge could not have been more tacky, really. While the designs themselves didn't scream Hershey, watching 45 minutes of designers unwrapping Reese' cups and Twizzlers made me long for some chocolaty goodness and I felt manipulated. Then last night's challenge was nothing but idol worship of jeans juggernaut Levi's. At least Levi's is clothing and, therefore, has a logical connection to fashion. But c'mon. All the judges do is lean on the designers to be less mainstream, more imaginative, and then in the same breath say--But how really does this say Levi's? I don't like it. Let's not box in the designers by trying to give us more commercials for brands during a telecast that is already laden with too much commercial time. Because, if you're Rami, how really do you drape denim and twizzlers wrappers?

All I have to say about last night: What the eff. Ricky winning? I'm sorry...did somebody slip Michael Kors a crazy pill while we were blinded by Levi's branding? On the other had, seeya Victorya. Good riddance.

Definitely more to come in the future. Next week: picks for top 3.