Project Runway: All Stars: Flags of the United Nations

I have decided that I do not like Angela as a host. There's nothing terribly offensive about her, but she's so unnatural on screen. Instead of projecting with normal intonation, she starts speaking in a loud monotone and it grates on my nerves. Petty? Maybe. But if you're talking a lot on TV, your voice should not be hard on the ears.

Moving on.

Is it just me or were the designs this challenge uninspired and drear? It seems to me that one would be steeped in inspiration when considering not only a country's flag, but its history and culture as well. In fairness, with a time-crunch it would be easy to fall into the trap of cliché and stereotypes. (I'm looking at you Jerell and Michael.) But the fact remains that not one of the designs made me sit up and say "boy-howdy"!

Mondo's was the best this week with his Jamaican flag inspiration, so his win was deserved. (At the moment I can't think of a harder dress to wear, but when has runway fashion ever been about wearability?) I disagreed with Isaac's opinion that the geometric strap down the back "ruined" the dress by being too literal. If Mondo had presented this dress outside of the flag inspiration, I don't think that would have been an issue at all. If anything "ruined" the dress, it was the styling. It's time for me to admit to the hard fact that although Mondo is a great designer, he can't style worth beans. His clothes speak volumes so he doesn't need heavy styling, and I wish someone could pull him aside and explain that to him. (Side note: Mondo's own hair was so fantastic this episode.)

As a point of interest I looked up guest judge Catherine Maladrino's American flag dress, and what is it if not literal with a pretty flowing fabric and a nice cut? (Apparently celebrities and socialites wore it to express patriotism after 9/11, but I don't recall seeing it before now.)

I didn't hate Kenley's Chilean flag dress, I just didn't see what it had to do with the challenge. Sure, she used the colors in the flag, but I didn't and don't get "Chile" from that dress. She gave some explanation about current street-style in Chile (which I'm sure she hasn't researched), but I think it was mostly a cover story for her penchant for sameness in her designs. I was happy that Isaac called her out on that issue. Let me be clear, I don't think Kenley is a terrible designer, but an obnoxious one whose inspiration is so narrow that it ends up doing her a disservice.

Michael rounded out the top three with his Greece flag dress. Everything that the judges said about this dress was true. It was too low and wide in the back opening, it was borderline pageant, and it had too much fullness in the draping. However, it was a nice enough dress. The white sequined trim was gorgeous.

I was shocked Jerell didn't go home with his mess of an Indian flag dress. The judges thought he had some good but unrefined ideas in the jumble, but I didn't see it. Anything he did have going for him was nulled by that overly blousy, green sari sash. There was nothing flattering about it. That green shade was a little sad and dusty for India as well. 

Austin, oh Austin. I like him so much, but the more I'm exposed to his aesthetic and designs, the less talented I think he is. Not only did his dress look tortured and overwrought, but the color palette was too dusty for his Seychelles flag inspiration. His styling is really always about the old lady look. In the end I thought his design looked more inspired by the grecian urn scene in The Music Man.

Mila went home this week with her Papua New Guinea design. She kept referencing "freedom" in the episode, but freedom certainly didn't come across in her finished design. Jerell was right saying that the dress looked more inspired by communism, especially when you consider the styling. Mila suffers the same malady is Kenley, meaning that Mila's narrow focus on color blocking and geometrics often does her a disservice. I will say this, Mila's construction skills are fantastic. Her garment looked sharp and polished as far as construction goes.

Favorite quotes:

"This isn't 'Greased Lightning,' this is more Greece frightening." Mondo about Michael's dress.

"I could feel his suffering in the workroom." Georgina Chapman talking about how tortured Austin's dress looked.

A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck

A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I like to read YA fiction. Correction, I like to read anything that is well-written. Richard Peck is one of the good guys. What makes Peck's a delightful writer are his full and fascinating characters and his healthy sense of humor. In this instance, he also takes full advantage of the colloquialism and idioms from the rural Illinois setting, which adds loads of charm to his characters. A Season of Gifts is part of a companion series that includes A Long Way From Chicago and A Year Down Yonder.

All three books center around an eccentric, old, salt-of-the earth woman named Mrs. Alice Dowdel and the children who become part of her life. (The books cover a swath of time from about 1930 to 1955.) She is no-nonsense and she intimidates everyone enough that they assume she wants to be left alone, but the truth is she's as kind and generous a person as you'll ever meet. Fourteen-year-old Bob Barnhart narrates A Season of Gifts, which begins with his family moving next door to Mrs. Dowdel. At first the Barnhart family keeps their distance from Mrs. Dowdel, but bit by bit she becomes a co-conspirator with Mrs. Barnhart, a patron to Mr. Barnhart, a teacher to sixteen-year-old Phyllis, a role-model to six-year-old Ruth Ann, and a savior to Bob.

I recommend A Season of Gifts for a fast and easy, palate-cleansing read. (Meaning sometimes I like to read light and easy stuff between my darker reads.)

View all my reviews

The Secret World of Arrietty, Hayao Miyazaki, and Ghibli Studios

Have you ever heard of Hayao Miyazaki or Ghibli Studios? Well, let me give you the dirt, because believe me, you'll want to know. Ghibli Studios was co-founded by an adorable and hugely imaginative Japanese man named Hayao Miyazaki. Miyazaki and Ghibli create traditionally animated movies that are beautiful in visuals and in content. Most people I talk to have at least heard about his Academy Award winning movie, Spirited Away, but they are unaware of the rest of his delightful filmography.

Hayao Miyazaki, adorable animator.

My first Miyazaki was My Neighbor Totoro, and I was immediately hooked. It's about a little girl who is dealing with a new house and the emotional strain of a mother who is in the hospital, but she finds distraction and comfort with Totoro, a big creature that lives in the forrest.

My Neighbor Totoro

Luckily my sister had already started collecting Miyazaki films, so in quick succession I watched Castle in the Sky, The Cat Returns, and Kiki's Delivery Service. Over the years Miyazaki films have become more popular in America, which led to celebrities lending their voices to the American releases (Billy Crystal, Christian Bale, Tina Fey, Kirsten Dunst, Anna Paquin, Cary Elwes, to name a few), and a partnership with Disney for distribution.

All of the Miyazaki movies I have seen are full of whimsey and charm. They are not typically action-packed, but the animation is a detailed visual feast, and Miyazaki often deals with complex emotions and situations as seen from the viewpoint of a child. Basically they are the "art films" of animation.

Tonight I saw The Secret World of Arrietty, Studio Ghibli's newest release, and it stayed true to Miyazaki's general filmography. (Miyazaki usually writes and directs his movies, but he only wrote the script for Arrietty.) Arrietty is based on The Borrowers books by British author Mary Norton. The Borrowers are tiny people that live in the nooks and crannies of the houses of regular-sized people, or "human beans." They "borrow" things the Beans won't miss, like lumps of sugar or a piece of tissue. But if Borrowers are seen by a Bean, they must pack up and move, because the Beans become too curious and always end up destroying the Borrowers. The movie was whimsical, adventurous, and thoughtful, with great character arcs. It also includes the voices of Carol Burnett, Amy Poehler, and Will Arnett. (And yes, Poehler and Arnett voice a married couple!) I highly recommend this movie, and I hope you will enjoy Miyazaki as much as I have.

P.S. If you like the movie Dune, watch Miyazaki's Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. I coincidentally watched those two movies in the same week, and the plot and style of each film is funnily similar.

Project Runway: All Stars: Broadway

I was engrossed in this week's episode. Not only do I have training in fashion design, but I also worked as a stitcher in a costume shop for three years to help put myself through a second round of college. I didn't design anything for the shop, that was reserved for students in the costume design program, but I did learn a lot about how clothes and fabrics work for the stage. So my creative mind was all abuzz during this episode.

Even though I've never seen Godspell, the criteria that was set out for the costume, based on staging and character, was quite clear. Since the character was being dressed on stage, separates were a must. The character was described as a wealthy and ostentatious woman who literally takes the clothes off of the backs of the poor to enhance and enrich and flaunt her wealth and appearance. This tells me that layers are also a must, and the the look should be eccentric. (It made me think of this incredible preview for an upcoming documentary.)

And who's better at eccentric than Mondo, this week's winner! The second his model stepped out on the runway my brain said, "That is stage-ready." I loved it. You can tell from the costume that the character is dark, eccentric, and concerned about their appearance. There's also plenty of shiny bits of fabric and jewelry to convey ostentatious wealth. I particularly liked the ties that trailed behind the model as she walked. For some reason those were the icing on the cake of the costume for me. Plus Mondo's styling, which has been off the past few challenges, is spot on.

Austin's design was also completely appropriate for the challenge. I adore that brocade he used. (I thought it would have looked great as a corset for this challenge.) His design also looks as though it came from different sources, but it all works together, which is exactly what was prescribed for the character. It could have used more glittery additions. A legging with a wee bit of sparkle and a few rhinestones sprinkled through the fur would and a richness that would read well from stage. (I'm not a shiny, glitzy person, but it really can change a costume to a wow on the stage.)

Michael rounded out the top three. While his design was good, it was more appropriate for regular fashion and not for this challenge. Costumes often push boundaries that don't really fly in everyday fashion; bold strokes are needed to make ideas read from the stage. I love the idea of that skirt and the fabric in the top is glorious.

Mila's outfit was horrific. The proportions were completely wrong and the model looked bulky on top and skimpy on the bottom. Sutton Foster (Thoroughly Modern Millie, Little Women) had it right when she suggested Mila's model looked like a prostitute. I didn't understand any of the design, from the fabric choice to silhouette choice.

Kenley's outfit looked so cheap, from fabric to design. The judged oohed over the cut of the jacket, but it was nothing special. The outfit looks like a little girl playing dress-up rather than a woman who flaunts her ill-gotten wealth. It looks like student work.

Kara went home this week. The thing is, I think her ideas were in the right place, but they were a) not executed properly; and b) did not push far enough. I thought it was a great idea to have lots and lots of pieces that the character keeps stacking on her body, kind of like a bag lady with access to couture fashion. But none of the fabrics looked rich enough and Kara should have pushed each piece of the design to be more grandiose and flashy.

Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!: The NPR News Quiz

Here are two facts about me: One, I love much of NPR's programming, from This American Life to Car Talk to A Way With Words to Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me. Two, I have an NPR radio crush on Carl Kasell. Yes, I have a crush on a 78 year old, recently retired radio news broadcaster. I mean, look at him.

Last night two of my loves came together when I got to see Mr. Kasell on stage at a live taping for Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me in Salt Lake City. (It's a panel news quiz show that is hysterical, and Mr. Kasell is their regular scorekeeper and moderater). It was fun and funny and exciting! Dreams do come true, Internet.

Our seats were on the third balcony, about 4 rows up from the back of the theater. My point and shoot camera almost got some really good pictures. Here is the cast, from left to right: Carl Kasell, Peter Sagal (host), Mo Rocca (not pictured, he had to catch a flight right after taping), Kyrie O'Connor, and Peter Grosz. All the people in the back are the producers and tech people.

And here is my Mr. Kasell during the Q&A after the show, in grainy glory. When he first came onto the stage he did this little high-knee run and kind of boogied across the stage. Delightful!

Next time I will spring for better seats. I want to see the sweat on their upper lips. If you have never listened to Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me, you are in for a real treat. The weekly podcast is available free on iTunes.

Project Runway: Fashion Face Off

Boy-howdy, the drama for the Fashion Face Off challenge! They did this challenge during the last regular season and I hoped it would be back. Two designers were assigned to one season (winter, spring, summer, fall) and were in direct competition with each other. Each season had one winner who was in the running for winning the entire challenge, and the other was in danger of going home. Of course this type of pressure will bring out some drama.

Winter was chosen by Michael and Jerell.

Michael's left; Jerell's right.

There were thoughts and accusations that Michael plagiarized Jerell's design. While Jarell's and Michael's designs do have silhouette similarities, they do not look designed for the same customer. Furthermore, they bought their fabrics independently, so the similar color palette is coincidence, and, let's be honest, a common palette for winter. So everyone calm the eff down. 

The truth is that this is the best design I have seen from Jerell and my favorite from the challenge. (I feel sheepish saying that, but I'm guessing it's probably one of those exception-proves-the-rule things?) I love the giant herringbone fabric and that he used at least three different fabric patterns in the coat. And I always like a retro-inspired cardigan. He won the face off and the entire challenge.

Spring was chosen by Kara and Austin.

Kara's left; Austin's right.

I found Austin's outfit to be a bit frightening and not fondly reminiscent of Molly Ringwald in Pretty in Pink. The judges oohed and aahed over the pants, but I just don't feel right about pleated pants. They're dandy for a rail-thin model, but an odd and unflattering choice of most women. Also, the model's hair was horrific. Austin was very close to going home on this challenge

Kara's outfit won the face off. Unlike Isaac I actually liked the color combination well enough and found nothing offensive about the outfit. She was going for a Miami look, and it looks like a subdued Miami to me, but Miami nonetheless. (Side note: Don't you love that "nonetheless" is one word? It pleases me so.)

Summer was chosen by Mondo and Kenley:

Kenley's left; Mondo's right.

They judges really hated Mondo's outfit, but I'm not really sure why the criticism was so intense. Those shorts with the yellow belt were adorable and perfect in construction. (Ms. Rowley have different ideas about Mondo's shorts, but I respectfully call her out as a fashion charlatan.) Sure, the top wasn't his best, and the styling was a little heavy handed, but there was nothing terrible about it.

What's terrible was Kenley's romper that won in the face off. She always does these patterns and polka dots, but never attempts to match the pattern. (It's not always appropriate to match the pattern, but she should have in at least three challenges so far.) I was glad to hear that the judges know she is a one-trick pony. That gives me hope for her prompt dismissal.

Fall was chosen by Mila and Rami. 

Rami's left, Mila's right.

I was bored by both these designs, but Mila's won the face off. The judges thought Mila's cape looked cheap, and I agree. Additionally the fit of the pant and top looked sloppy on the runway in juxtaposition to the cleaner lines of the cape.

Although I didn't love the shilhouette, the blue of Rami's cardigan with the suede details was lovely; I love a change of texture but not color in the same garment. But his green top was again terribly overwrought and bulky, not to mention his ill fitting pants. I wasn't surprised he went home this week since his past few designs were not pretty.

Project Runway: All Stars: Clothes Off Your Back

I was horrified by the challenge this week. I am introverted by nature (although not particularly shy), so not only do I fiercely guard my own time and my personal physical and emotional space, but I fiercely respect that same space for others. I don't want to be bothered and wheedled and cajoled by strangers, and neither do I want to invade their time and space by being the wheedler. The mere idea of approaching a stranger and asking for their clothes is mortifying. But I suppose my opinions on the topic are neither here nor there in the context of a reality show that I am not a contestant on.

False: My opinions are always relevant to everyone. Always.

Moving on.

As soon as I saw Jarell's final design, I was hoping and "please bless-ing" that he would get the axe this week. As you may know, I don't enjoy his aesthetic, and this week was no different. The thing is, I actually liked much of his pattern mixing, it was the proportions and shapes in the silhouette that were bothersome. There was so much midsection bared, and those gathered halter tops always look one move away from a wardrobe malfunction. (Said malfunction would of course be accompanied by this sound effect: bloop.)

However, the judges were right in sending Anthony home. He ignored the point of the challenge to use a street muse's clothing to create another look inspired by said street muse. Instead he created an outfit for his usual client. Plus his outfit was dated and boring.

I'll be blunt, I loathed, loathed, Rami's outfit. I was surprised he was in the top. It looks so cheap in fabrication and dated by the nothing special vest and polyester 70s color scheme. I just...I can't...that is all.

I was equally surprised that one of the girls wasn't in the top three. I had problems with each of their outfits, but they all seemed more thoughtful and reasonable based on their muses than, say, Rami's or Austin's 80s new wave revival.

Kara's asymmetrical top looked well-made and in good proportion with the high waisted pants. The vest was her misstep.

Very few women could wear a knit dress cut like Kenley's without miscellaneous bulges and jiggles being a problem. Additionally how she divvied and placed each pattern was problematic and awkward, but the general color and pattern mixing were awfully fun and forward.

Mila's outfit was also plagued by a weird winged vest that dated the outfit. She also had odd crotch pieces on the pants. Otherwise she translated her geometric sensibilities into the youngest and most forward pieced I've seen from her. As always, I love when soft or feminine is paired with hard or masculine, and Mila does it well here. I like it the more I look at it (sans vest).

Let's face it, Michael dodged a bullet this week with his mess of an outfit. He wasn't inspired by the challenge, which happens, but he didn't even construct his garment with care and attention. He's lucky that the judges felt that Anthony was even less inspired.

And finally Mondo won a challenge! I won't say that it's my favorite outfit I've seen from him, but he did say he was going for "Japanese street wear," which he surely accomplished. I loved how he worked out the pattern on the shorts. I didn't like that he gave his model a purse; she looked like she'd never carried a purse before. Awkward.