Project Runway goes to Paris

OK, just a few quick thoughts on the show. The challenge was to design an outfit for a 'trendsetting jetsetter'. The jetsetter turns out to be the designers themselves, and they have to make an outfit that they could wear to jump on a plane and go to a party or event in.
They modeled their own garments and then after the usual runway critique, they are told to go pack their bags and go to the airport. At the airport they find out that they are going to Paris. In Paris, they end up at the French branch of Parsons school of Fashion. Some French designer critiques their outfits, which they did wear on the plane, and then someone gets the boot and has to fly right back to the US, while the others stay to do the next competition in Paris.
Jeffrey le douche wins with a poser rock star outfit. He's a jerk, but the outfit did look good. I would have preferred to see Michael or Laura win, both designed a true jetsetter look, rather than a costume for a performer. Laura did a pretty, pale jersey halter dress with wrap at waist. Michael did an all white outfit that perfectly suited his style. The pants were made out of seersucker. Yeah, I would have thought seersucker a strange choice for mens pants, but they looked great.
Uli got a tongue lashing for being too tropical, and for making too many of the same style dresses. Vincent is obviously being drug along in the competition for some reason. The PR boards are talking about a comment that Heidi made about winning a competition being important later on. So the theory is that he was given the win last week for a future competition.
Angela was out. She made a funky little Angela outfit from silk linen, which wrinkled and caused hemorrhaging among the judges. She put 2 of her wacky little rosettes on the behind of the pants and did this weird half circle top stitching around the lower behind. She might as well have put a sign on her back that said 'look at my wrinkled behind'. The French judge said she was from 'Out of this world' After disliking so many of her designs, I was a bit said to see her go, I guess I was starting to like her. Vincent should have gone before her.
Sheesh, I had to come back and add to the post because I forgot Kayne! He made an outfit that looked like something Versace would have made for Elvis. I kept trying to think that it wasn't that bad, but it was a bit gaudy. He's been struggling the past two competitions, I hope he gets back on his mark soon.

Last night the show announced a competition where the viewers can vote for their favorite designer, even booted designers. The viewer's choice winner will receive $10,000. I'm not sure who I'll vote for yet. You can vote here -
http://www.bravotv.com/Project_Runway/Vote/index.html

More baby photos

Here are some current photos of the baby deer. Baby now comes out into the clearing to eat corn with momma. It's growing fast. I love the white spots, they're so cute!
Click images for larger views.

Of course here is my favorite baby, all cuddled up on his blanket on the couch. He gets really made if you try to touch his blanket! He's very possessive.

I'm steadily working my way through the website, installing the shopping cart buttons on each item. I did 27 pages today (yeah me! Good Girl!) Now I only have 9 pages left tomorrow! Big job, but I think this cart is finally what I was looking for, and it should make ordering easier for everyone. I still have to work out the shipping, and whether I'll continue to calculate it for each order or charge a flat rate.

Next Monday is Labor Day (Summer, where did you go?) so there won't be an update on my website (I'll be in Strathmere ) The update will return the following week with a few suits, dresses and jackets for the Fall. Plus, I've sold a bunch of purses and hats the past few weeks, so I have to add some more of those too. I'm almost caught up on listing my backstock of purses, but I feel like I have a bottomless supply of hats.

It's Wednesday, Project Runway Day. I'm going to try to keep myself from bitching about the show here in the blog tomorrow. I can already tell from previews that Jeffrey is still going to be a DB in tonight's episode too.

A tour of the sewing/craft area, and Eeyore too

By popular request(actually, I only had 1 request, from Alison) here is a tour of the sewing and craft area in my room. The video is kind of dark, so I hope that you can see it alright. I do the narration, I should have had it scripted out before I started filming. It's funny to hear your own voice. I alway imagined myself speaking like a young Lauren Bacall, but I don't know, I sound more like a Valley Girl without the Valley slang. I only had about 1 minute on my camera, so I kind of rush through things. I'll get better doing videos with more practice.

Project Runway - Every Day Woman

Vincent won.





I know, I can't believe it either. This week's project was to design clothing for the 'Every Day Woman' - who turned out to be the designer's Moms and sisters. But they didn't design for their own relative, they had to choose someone else's relative and consult with them on the type of outfit that they wanted. Robert's sister was probably the youngest at about 30 and the most average in size. The other gals were 40s to maybe late 60s and varying sizes, including a few plus sizes. Some of the designers were in a panic about making larger clothing.

Vincent designed for Uli's Mom, and he actually behaved like a polite sane man. He did win the competition, but I really didn't like his dress. It was a black dress, fitted at the waist with a belt on the front. It had a big pimp collar on the front done in tan. Maybe a more subtle collar. It looked like a very basic dress though, something that a moderate sewer could have made from a McCalls pattern.
Angela designed for Laura's Mom (also a redhead) It was a long tunic over short pants. But the tunic had several rows of long fringe, which made it a little too young for her. The judges called it 'Stevie Nicks' style.
Laura chose Jeffrey's Mom, and she also stunned her own Mom by accidently revealing that she is pregnant with her 6th child. She just found out after the show started filming, and apparently hadn't even told her husband yet. Laura designed a cruise outfit with a high waisted sailor style skirt and blouse and scarf. Cute actually, but not suited to Jeff's Mom, it looked kind of stiff and poorly fitted on her frame.
Robert designed for Vincent's sister, who was a plus size gal. She wanted a long dress with a kimono style top in red and black, and that's what Robert made. She seemed happy with it, but the judges didn't like it for some reason, so Robert got the boot in the end. I was sad to see Robert go, but then again, I've been disappointed in his designs except for the 1st challenge with the bow and the doggie style dress. I guess I was expecting more Wow! from him. He's a good designer, I just think he has trouble with the challenges.
Jeffrey gave another DB performance while trying to design an outfit for Angela's Mom. I think that he just got it in his head that he didn't like Angela, so he wasn't going to like her Mom either. Her Mom was a very nice little lady, soft spoken, polite. She wanted a long dress in dark colors. Tim asked her how she felt about the colors that Jeff ended up picking, and she said she was concerned about them making her look matronly. Jeff went off and accused her of trying to sabotage him. She never raised her voice, never said anything offensive or confrontational, and she looked like she was on the verge of tears. Finally he told her he didn't want her around while he was working and that he didn't care if she liked the dress or not. While she was in the sitting room crying, he was in the sewing room calling her a 'crazy bitch'. Then HIS Mom went in and apologized to Angela's Mom, saying he was under alot of pressure (oh, no one else there is under pressure?) She ended up crying too and so did Angela. I don't know how many times Jeff and his Mom said in this episode that he was once a junkie on the street and then pulled his life together. Good, great for you. But that's no reason to be obnoxious and rude to people. He ended up making a really horrible gown that should have been enough to get him booted. But of course he's still here because of his high drama factor.
Michael designed a reversable dress for Robert's sister. Black with print trimed on the outside and print on the other side. Very sharp looking.
Kayne designed for Michael's Mom. He chose her because she was wearing bright colors and had rhinestones on her shoes - he's said before that he is attracted by sparkley things. The judges didn't like Kayne's outfit, but I did, cute capris with an orange top and floaty print chiffon scarf over the top. I thought it was flattering for her full figure and her age.
Uli designed for Kayne's Mom. She worked her wild print magic again, making a floaty chiffon top on an angle over an orchid top with khaki pants. I thought Uli should have won.

Check out the outfits here (If you can get anywhere on Bravo's slow site) http://www.bravotv.com/Project_Runway/rate/


What was fun was the lunch that the designers and their Every Day Women had with Michael Korrs and his Mom, who was also the guest judge. Designer Michael admitted that he was a 'Momma's Boy' and mused that Korrs was probably a Momma's Boy too. The Mom's showed off some embarrassing childhood photos of the designers (ha-ha Jeff) I would have liked to have seen a picture of Little Laura, but instead we got the 6th baby on the way announcement.
Hi! I'll work on a better post later in the week, it's been a little hectic lately. The winner of the drawing for the fab book 'Striking Poses' - is Sara R! Thank you to Sara and to everyone who took the time to sign up for the drawing. I'll be doing another drawing/give away soon, I just have to figure out what it will be!

Carol

Project Runway - I don't know what to say

Yeah! Michael won again. He should def be in the final 3.
Boo! Alison is out and Vincent stays? What?

I don't know what to say because I was very tired last night for some reason. I was struggling with heavy eyelids to try to stay awake during the show. So, I wasn't as observant as usual, I might add more notes to this review after I see the show again. I also don't know what to say because how can Vincent still be here and Alison be gone? Maybe I dozed off, maybe that was part of a very sleepy bad dream? No it wasn't. I was suddenly wide awake, sitting up and yelling at the tv when I realized that Alison was going to be the one out.

From the beginning. The challenge was to make a garment from recycle materials - paper, plastic, mylar and lame (I didn't know lame was a recycle material) Most of the results looked odd, some slightly wearable. Uli & Robert used lame for their dresses and thankfully Robert's looked like something that you would expect from him and he was safe. Angela used a colorful mylar to make a basketweave fabric treatment. That part of the dress actually looked good, but the cut of the dress itself was bad, a racer top jumper dress over a tube top. It was enough to keep her safe.
Kayne designed a gown for Miss intergalactic 2099 that was really gaudy. He cut it down and changed it, but it was still glittery and gaudy. Jeffrey made an interesting dress out of newspaper which he painted, so that it didn't look like newspaper, it almost looked like a regular dress. But it looked exactly like every other dress that he has made so far. So his use of material was very good, but the dress was a repeat.
Michael made a dress that almost looked like regular clothing with a lame halter style top, white skirt that I think was plastic and a clear plastic wrap, which I didn't really like. His outfit didn't really stand out as a regular garment, but it did stand out from the other outfits in this challenge as at least looking normal and somewhat wearable.
Laura used a plastic bag to make a tailored babydoll dress. The writing on the bag ended up on the back of the dress. It said something like 'For Nuts Only' so it turned out to be a pretty cute and funny dress.
Vincent. Weirdo. Made a long plastic or paper tapered gown with bits of scraps and paper glued to it. He always loves what he does (no matter how wacky) and if he said 'It turns me on' or 'It gets me off' about this dress one more time, I was going to heave.
Alison made a dress from crumpled kraft paper. Kind of a corset top and puffy bottom. Not a good week for her, but her dress wasn't as bad as Vincent's or Kayne's. When one of the judges said the dress made the model look 'fat' I knew Alison was going to be the one gone. Because as you know, there is no 'fat' or designers who design for 'fat' people allowed in the fashion industry. Tim described her as being 'zaftig' and on his blog he called her a 'plus size model' - The gal is a sz4, 34-24-36. If she is plus sized, what are we? That's what I hate about the modern fashion industry, they really don't know anything about real women. They are focused on models, celebrities, wanna-be's and socialites. That's why I never buy fashion magazines.
One of the guest judges was some girl who styles those young, skinny, talentless pseudo-celebrities. There's some great credentials, making nobodies seem important.

Backstage everyone was upset that she was going and while Alison cried, Laura, who was also obviously upset, took it out on Vincent. She yelled at him for making a bad dress that the model couldn't even walk in. Loved it! Even if Jeffrey and Kayne have big problems with Laura, I like her (so far, in spite of her comment about Jersey) Oh and Jeff, this may sound mean, but I liked seeing him lose to Michael this week!


Dear Project Runway,
I'm getting very mad at this season. Do the producers really want us to still believe their claims that designers are not kept on the show just for drama and conflict while talented designers are out? Why else is Vincent still on the show? He hasn't produced any good, wearable garment without some kind of weirdness or oddity included. Alison is a talented girl with very interesting ideas. I may not wear her clothing, but her designs and final runway presentations were always interesting to see.
You may be thinking of drama and ratings, but you are hurting yourself in the longrun by damaging the credibility and integrity of the show. I want to see talented people win. I don't want to see schmucks advancing just because of their schuckiness.




Bye for now, Carol

Slobbering & Grumping

I was trying to get a video of the fighting hummingbirds, but settled insead on Mr. Grump, mooching some breakfast from me out on the porch. Please ignore my kissy noises and baby talk.


Get this video and more at MySpace.com

Project Runway - Update a Fashion Icon

First let me say, Thank goodness we finally got to see some of Michael's personality and his garment! He's been kept in the background for weeks now.
This week's challenge was to update a Fashion Icon. Usually, the designers pick the models, but this week the models got to pick the designers that they wanted to work with. The models also got to choose which fashion icon they would be by wrestling each other for the photo of their desired icon. Some of the models appeared to actually think about the designers that they would work with and chose their icons perfectly for their designers. Some models just ended up with whoever was left over.
Laura did Kate Hepburn, which was a perfect choice for her. Classic pants and blouse, much like the way Laura dresses herself.
Uli did Diana Ross in a long halter gown made of a wild purple print. It looked liked something that Ms Ross would wear today, her people are probably phoning PR right now.
Alison did Farrah Fawcett. Now, Farrah is def an Icon, but I don't think that she is specifically a 'Fashion icon' she's known for her hair, and maybe for a red swimsuit, but no other fashion. I think the producers could have chosen better (no insult to Farrah) Alison appeared confused too and ended up making some hippie babydoll with metallic trim.
But Alison didn't have to worry about getting the boot because jinkies Scoob! Bradley got Cher! He sat in a mumbling daze for awhile, and then produced a puffy silver metallic crop top and white pants with fringe down the front (Apparently for Cher's Space Age Indian phase) Bradley and his beard got the boot in the end.
Stepping into the shoes left behind by 'villian' Keith is Jeffrey, who got Madonna. I don't know if Jeffrey thinks he's the new villian or if the producers are making him look that way. But we were treated to alot of rude DB comments from him last night. Although I do agree if Angela messed up the machine, she should have fixed it instead of using someone else's machine. So, the Madonna outfit was this chunky corset dress with a puffy bubble skirt. Nothing that Madonna would have worn. Maybe in her very early struggling days, if you paid her. He should have done something that she would have worn now instead of rehashing the 80s bustier look.
Robert. I was excited when I heard that someone who use to design for Barbie was going to be on this season. But the last 2 outfits from Robert have been very plain and disappointing. Robert had Jackie O, Perfect for him right? Imagine Barbie dressed as Jackie O. But no, he did a plain oatmeal linen jacket and skirt with black cami top. Fine for a regular average woman, but the judges felt it didn't have the 'Impeccable Chicness' of Jackie O.
Vincent designed a dress for Jan Brady - I mean Twiggy. A half black half cheap plaid dress. Possibly cute, but not fun enough for Twiggy.
Angela got, got, got, ah, I can't say it - Audrey Hepburn. I swore that I heard a collective gasp from Audrey fans everywhere when that was announced. But she did fairly well, no space age puff-tart bubble skirt this time. She did a pinch pleated fitted cocktail dress. I don't really like those low, narrow square necklines though. She did sneak some poufs of fabric on the dress though, around the bottom and at the waist. But overall, it was fairly ok.
Kayne did Marilyn Monroe. At first he said he wanted to do Marilyn-meets-Gwen Stefani- I though yuck! (sorry, I'm not much of a fan of Gwen's style, I do like the way that she dressed while she was pregnant though) Marilyn was the perfect choice for him, and I thought that he was going to win the way the judges made such a big fuss over it. His gown was a halter with flowing skirt. The top was trimmed in black leather and the rest of the dress was sheer black over nuded, gathered and seamed perfectly over the model's body. The seaming on the train of the dress was fantastic.
Michael got Pam Greer. He did a bombastic hot pink top and hot pants, that were actually really cute and wearable looking, not trashy at all. It was nice to see more of him this episode and he seems like a very nice guy. Defending Angela when Jeffrey was on her case, and he phoned home to his mom too. Michael and his model will appear in an ad for Treseme in Elle magazine.

Welcome back Michael Kors. I actually missed your Nelly Olsen commentary and your oompa-loompa tan while you were gone. The word of the day was 'Insane' Michael Kors used it to describe the 'insane pockets' on Vince's dress and the 'insane crotch' on Bradley pants.
Heidi wore yet another horrific outfit. I think she was a futuristic Greek Goddess Super hero in that short hippe dress and high boots.
I had to laugh, because I swore that NinaGarrrrcia and guest judge Diane Von Furstenburg were staring at Angela's giant baggie cargo pants (worn one leg up, one leg down) and big clunky combat boots when she walked out on the stage. I wonder what those ladies were thinking?

So ends another episode, I can't wait until next week! (please pull it together Robert)
You can see the outfits here - http://www.bravotv.com/Project_Runway/rate/

Baby, Baby!

We've been watching and waiting for one of our doe-girls to show up in the yard with a baby, and it finally happened! Last night one of the regular girls came in with a baby (see him in the back peeking out from behind the tree?) The baby didn't come out into the open area where it's momma was scoffing up the corn buffet. Baby stayed in the trees around the clearing, usually out of sight (making it hard for me to catch a good clear photo of him) My digital camera was bought for close ups, so it's far off shots are lacking in quality, even zoomed in.
Below are 3 more shots with momma in front and baby in the background, then a blurry zoom of baby alone. The white spots on it's back look so cute.





Finally the baby must have gotten tired and went and laid down where I couldn't see it. The momma munched happily and every now and then glanced around to check on the baby. After about 45 minutes, a second doe came in to eat, no baby with her. Now these two gals have eaten in our clearing before with no problem, but I guess momma was being protective because she ran off the 2nd deer, several times. The 2nd deer kept trying to creep into the clearing to get some corn, but momma ran her off. Finally momma left, and the 2nd deer was able to come in an eat in piece.
I've never seen a baby deer in person before, so having one come into the yard is very cool!

'Striking Poses' - book giveaway

A special book giveaway for vintage clothing lovers and fans of old Hollywood. This hardback, 140 page book is called 'Striking Poses' and it has tons of color promotional photos from Hollywood 1940s, 50s to early 60s. Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Olivia DeHaviland, Maureen O'Hara, Joan Crawford, Marlene Deitrich, Joan Collins, Jean Tierney, Elizabeth Taylor, Betty Hutton, also Lassie, Bogart, Brando, Edward G Robinson, Glenn Ford, Spencer Tracy and more. Staged poses in gowns, silly costumes, swimsuits and lingerie. Also some staged candid shots of the stars at home. Lots of great images.
You can enter the drawing by either sending me an email at dvintage@comcast.net or by posting a comment at the bottom of this blog post. Winner will be drawn on August 21st.








Post comment directly below to be entered in the drawing for this book

Four Kinda Boring Outfits - Project Runway

I'm sorry, but I didn't really like the 4 outfits made for last night's challenge on Project Runway. In teams of 3, the designers had to make a 3 piece outfit, with the winner's outfit going into production by Macy's INC line of clothing. I'm not familiar with INC, so maybe I don't know enough to judge what they are looking for design-wise. Going by what the designers made, I'm guessing that they are a basic separates label. But what I really need is a second look at the outfits, because, as always, you don't get a very good look at them the first time around. Maybe they'll look better to me when I get a closer look at them (which will be easy, because Bravo re-airs the show about 10 times during the week)
Angela won, and out of the 4 outfits, hers was the best. Angela was very smart in picking Michael and Laura as her team mates. They are both very good designers and they managed to keep her design mainstream, and they kept her from covering her design with more of those puff-tart rosettes that she used last week, or as Laura described it - "Full tilt boogie Angela extravaganza of puff". Angela really did want to put them on the jacket and the pants, and Michael was funny telling her no-no-no when she kept saying couldn't they just put a few on the jacket. She said that the rosettes are her signature for her designs. Her rosettes are actually good old fashioned yo-yos that were popular to make quilts in the1920-30s. They did end up put a few very small matching yo-yos on the jacket, which actually looked good as small accents. The jacket and pants were nice, but maybe with different pieces. There was just something about the overall look that didn't appeal to me. I think Angela owes alot of her win to Michael & Laura and their design ideas. It reminds me of Wendy Pepper and the dress she did for Banana Republic. The only nice, wearable garment that she made that season was the one for Banana Republic, and for that she had to use the guidelines of their style and color to follow. She did alright being told what to design, but on her own, her ideas were way off base during the competitions.
You can buy Angela's outfit at Macy's online - http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=213742


Robert, who use to design Barbie clothing made a very basic and boring top, skirt and jacket and so did Bonnie's team except with pants. Judge Nina Garcia threw a fit over Bonnie's pants, she didn't like the cut and the fabric which she thought was cheap. She threw such a fit that I figured right then that Bonnie would be the one to go, and she was (does Nina rule Project Runway?)

The big build up to someone being thrown off of Project Runway was overdone. Keith was the one to get the boot. It seems that he snuck in some design/pattern books into his apartment. Designers have strict rules that they are not allowed to have any sources or references during the production of the show. Kayne saw the books and told the producers. The designers are also not allowed to go anywhere during the production of the show either, and Keith snuck out for several hours at some point, and had access to the internet during that time. So he was given the boot. Broken rules certainly deserve someone getting the boot, but it wasn't as big of a scandal as I had hoped it would be. Keith didn't turn out to be such a villain afterall, because he really only hurt himself. I'm sure we'll all be treated to endless interviews with Keith proclaiming that he would have won if he hadn't gotten the boot and that everyone was jealous of his talent and were threatened by him, so they turned him in.
Keith's team of Alison & Jeffrey were left to finish his design on their own. They did pull it off, but they should have changed that wacky pull down tank-top that Keith came up with. The pants were sharp (for tall gals with skinny legs)

I really like Alison, and I think at this point (this will probably change) I'd like to see either her or Uli win the show.

A Victorian drying rack becomes a room divider and display for vintage fabrics

Fabric display 1This is what you see first when you walk into my new room. It is a room divider and camoflauge for my craft area. It is actually an old Victorian drying rack. I saved it from being sold at our yardsale before we moved last year. It was stored in the rafters of my parent's garage, and I don't remember seeing it before my dad pulled it out to sell it. I thought it was really interesting and I didn't know then what I was going to do with it, but knew that I would think of something eventually. Now here it is, happily acting as a room divider and display for some of my favorite fabrics and linens.
I should have taken a photo of it with nothing on it so that you could see it better. It is 3 folding sections with 4 dowels in each section to hang your clothing on. It's not the sturdiest thing. Behind it is my ironing board, two trunks and a bureau that store fabrics and craft supplies, and my work table.
Click images for closer views of each of the 3 sections, and more details on some of the fabrics.

Fabric display 2 Fabric display 3Fabric display 6

Fabric display 4 Fabric display 5