12/27 All-Stars 2 - Show Discussion

[Arielflies]

$700 for one of those monstrosities?

Retail was the challenge this week with the winning design to be sold in Tahori stores and website. The proceeds to go the Fashion Benefit like last season.

The best part of the show was discovering Elie Tahori and his story. The designs - not so much.

[Tilden]

I felt the same way about the designs--and I just about choked when they acted like $500-$700 was a midpoint retail dress. For whom? Certainly not the general public.

Emilio's dress was just boring. As for the top two, since part of the challenge was supposed to be about wearability for different women (or at least that's what I thought they said), I would have given the win to Uli rather than Anthony Ryan. It's not that I disliked what AR did with his dress. I just didn't see it as being something a lot of different women could or would wear, whereas Uli's dress might be more versatile in that regard. Also AR's dress was more dependent on the fabric itself, whereas Uli's design could have been done in different fabrics, colors, which I'd think would be good for retail. Or maybe I'm just sick of AR being kind of snippy and winning, whereas Uli's attitude is impressing me more. If I had the money to go to a designer to have a dress made, I'd much rather work with Uli.

As for the bottom two, I think they Josh should have been auf'd, though I assumed Ivy would, based more on her past designs than what they each did that night. Ivy's might have been a dull design, but I don't agree that no one would have pulled it off the rack or that fewer women would have tried it on than would have tried on Josh's. If anyone tried on both, I can't imagine someone going with Josh's design over Ivy's, assuming they had to choose one of those two. Josh's was just a hot mess. Not only did that zipper make the back of it look like the model was wearing a full diaper underneath the dress, but the front of it made it look like she had a third, saggy boob. Who wants either of those looks, much less both in one dress? Ivy's dress may have been too simple, but at least it didn't do disastrous things to her model's figure.

I didn't really want Ivy saved either, but if it was just about what they turned out that night--which is what it's supposed to be about--then Josh should have gone home, because his design and his execution of it were both bad.

[MFWalkoff]

Good riddance Ivy! Woo hoo!

I want clay-head Josh gone too, but Ivy's dress really was worse. His was hideous, but once again hers was hideous AND poorly made.

And once again, Anthony steals another win from Uli when she should have won. I like them both, but it's starting to tick me off.

[Tilden]

I don't care that Ivy is gone, but I think Josh's dress was at least as poorly made as hers. The zipper up the back was clearly put in improperly and that droopy front was a terrible, unflattering idea.

I would have been fine with a double elimination.

I do agree, though, that AR is grabbing too many wins away from Uli, and I'm starting to think it's because they don't want a Bravo designer to win. I hope she comes up with a killer finale collection that they can't deny, assuming they don't find a reason to dump her out of the finale. If they do, they might as well hand the win to AR, because I can't see Josh or Emilio standing much of a chance against him unless they really step it up from what they've been doing lately.

I'm wondering about next week's challenge. I've been saying for some time that they really should do an adaptive clothes challenge, where they have to come up with stylish clothes that can be managed independently by someone with a particular disability. I saw an assistance dog with one of those veterans, but I'm not sure what the dog's purpose was--that is, I don't know if she has a physical handicap or if the dog was there for PTSD reasons. Anyway, I looked into tops that would be easier to get in and out of immediately after shoulder surgery, and let me tell you--they were not even remotely stylish and were marketed as being designed for people in nursing home situations. I thought that was really wrong as obviously people who don't require the level of care a nursing home provides--and who might be significantly younger than most nursing home patients--might temporarily or permanently require clothing that could be eased on or around an injury.

Plus, I just think it would be a challenge that would require thought and innovation, and if someone could come up with an idea that worked well, I think there'd be a definite market for it, especially if it could be reproduced at a reasonable price (the tops I saw were not only completely lacking in style--they might as well have been modeled on hospital gowns--but they were expensive and frankly, they wouldn't have worked unless you could reach your shoulder to button/snap them, which someone with a shoulder injury wouldn't be able to do without help).

[AZChristian]

Glad to see Ivy GONE, but I agree that Josh's dress was equally bad (and he's on my pool team). When I looked at Ivy's dress, I figured it looked like something that could be picked up at Wal-Mart for $29.95. I can't imagine anyone paying $500 to $700 for ANY of those dresses (except maybe Uli's). It cracked me up when Josh seemed to condescendingly infer that $500 to $700 would be a low-to-mid range price for the type of retail customers he designs for. And then he shows up in those hideous shorts to meet one of the top designers in New York. Do these "artistes" have no mirrors and no concept that the clothes they put on their own bodies can be the best advertising?

[PA Snow Bunny]

I did like Emilio's dress...it was...well fine. I could wear that to work & then out for drinks. Uli's was fine too...but the top was too bulky & heavy for me to wear comfortably; the dress would be wearing me instead of me wearing the dress. I did love Anthony Ryan's though.

I could never imagine paying $500 for one everyday dress though. I did find/buy several Kors & Tahari dresses on ebay for under $100. Granted they may be from collections that are several years ago as long as they still have the tags on...works for me. This is my one time a year purchase though.

[pikachu]

The most I ever spent for one dress was under $200. It's been such a while ago it's hard to remember what it cost but I believe it was $140/$160, around there. Very expensive for me since I was working my first full-time job and barely making ends meet. I got this fancy dress while I was taking ballroom dancing lessons so I could wear it for our annual showcase. It wasn't necessary to wear a costume or ballroom gown but I wanted to dress up since we had some ladies there who danced competitively and wore actual ballgowns.

I agree with the assessment of most people here that I would not pay between $500 and $700 for any of the outfits shown on this episode and know very few people who could afford to spend that much for a casual dress in this economy. I don't think I'd pay over $100 for any of the outfits.

BTW, pictures of the fashions this week will be delayed. I have the week off from work and just got up and had breakfast. I haven't even started on the pictures yet. I'm loving my vacation time!!

[mandmmom2]

I liked Uli's dress the best and she should have won BUT I think the reason, IMO, that she didn't win was because it was white....again. That is the only reason I can come up with for the reason she didn't win the challenge.

[Maybaybie]

One of the last questions asked during the time the judges were trying to pick a winner was 'which dress will photograph better?" and then they said "I think we have made our decision". I believe the only reason AR won over Uli was because his will be much more flashy and eye-catching on the cover of a magazine or on a poster because of the colors. I think they really wanted to pick Uli, though. They had more complimetary things to say about her dress. I agree with the above poster who said they her dress could be done in a lot of different colors and I bet it would sell like hotcakes!

I too agree that $500-$700 is an insane price for an everyday dress. I paid $600 for my wedding dress and that was almost too much for me. I don't think I've paid more than $30 for a dress I would wear to work and under $100 for a fancy dress. I guess I'm cheap and I shop the sales for everything I buy. I always say if I won the lottery I would still shop with coupons and comparison shop...it's like a little challenging game to me that I find fun and I love to see what I saved versus what I might've spent.

[Tilden]

I liked Uli's dress the best and she should have won BUT I think the reason, IMO, that she didn't win was because it was white....again. That is the only reason I can come up with for the reason she didn't win the challenge.

Which wasn't her original intention, I don't think. Her original sketch called for a vest, which was a contrasting color, if I recall correctly. But the vest put her over the price point, so she couldn't afford the other material.