The Fashion Show: The Ruffle’s Demise

This week on The Fashion Show, it’s an upset!

When we meet up with the designers, Morris Day is congratulating Lil Dom on her second win, and she seems like she’s getting a little cocky.  CalTran reminds us that he’s the only one left in the competition who hasn’t won a challenge yet – so now is his time or it might be all over for CalTran.  Nooooo.

Iman invites them to some kind of accessory warehouse.  Business first – Iman notes that the only person on House of Emerald is Cesar, so Morris Day is assigned back to his roots to re-join Emerald.  Then we are introduced to “fashion legend” Simon Doonan from Barneys.  He lectures briefly on the importance of accessories and then we learn that he will be assigning each designer an accessory from the warehouse.

Dom is first.  She acts cutesy with Simon, and then he hands her a little pink pig that’s also a purse, and an old bustle.  Then he bids her “bon appétit”, clearly assuming that the American public is far too stupid to understand that he’s handing her a purse and a bustle and wishing her a good meal.

I’ll just disguise my French gibberish with a snooty British accent and these cheeky glasses.

Next is Eduardo.  He gets what Simon describes as an “Audrey Hepburn goes to Woodstock hat” and a belt.  Eduardo’s confused.  CalTran gets a pair of cuffs and an Elizabethan type neck ruffle that CalTran just finds dirty.  Cesar gets a bejeweled flower, and a felt mug that has a bird attached to it with a springy wire.  It looks like a knickknack from – actually, I don’t know who would have this kind of knickknack.  A baby?  Oh, fashion.

Morris Day is rewarded with the “carnival of eccentricity” – a blue and green feather capelet and some chandelier earrings. Morris Day is happy with his accessories.  And then Iman drops the boom.  They have to complete two looks.  And the fashion show is tomorrow!  There is predictable panic among the designers.  Iman takes the time to every so sensitively remind them how bad it would suck to come this far only to get eliminated.

In the studio, Cesar and Morris Day are happy to be working together and ideas are flying everywhere.  Until Cesar mentions tie-dye.  And Morris Day’s off the bus.  He mentions that Cesar has been getting called out by the judges for his extreme theatricality.  On Team Nami, we are once again reminded that it’s Dom and Eduardo and CalTran’s the odd man out.

CalTran tells us that while Eduardo’s a great designer, he does the same thing every time. “Ruffle, ruffle, ruffle,” he drawls.  Eduardo is indeed designing something with a ruffle, and already acting concerned about the time crunch.   “Simple and chic,” decides Dom, only to get torpedoed by CalTran.  He tells her it’s meant to be a theatrical show.  Dom and Eduardo sigh.

In the fabric store, CalTran doesn’t know what he wants.  Morris Day is choosing 700 shades of cream, and Cesar’s still on the tie-dye thing.  They head back to the studio to meet with Isaac, and Nami is up first.  Their inspiration is black and white, my fair lady, avant garde.  I have no idea how any of these things fit together and a shot of the mood board does nothing to clarify.  Isaac loves Eduardo’s hat, but reminds him that the judges need to see something else besides a cocktail dress.  In fact, he suggests that Eduardo do…pants.  Pants!  Shocking.

You mean pants with a ruffle?

Dom is making a “pig face coat”, which is a coat with a pig face buckle.   CalTran shows Isaac his sketches, and for the first time his bluster is gone and he sounds unsure!  Isaac sighs and reminds CalTran that he has to win this challenge because Eduardo and Dom have already won multiple times.

Emerald’s mood board works for Isaac.  But then Cesar starts in on the tie dying thing and now Isaac’s on the side of the road with Morris Day.  “I don’t know, darling,” he clucks at Cesar.  It’s streaky, you have to cut it…and we know how much Cesar adores critique.

Oh, don’t you.

Morris Day makes a few dissenting murmurs, but Cesar is defiant.  “I’m dying it,” he declares.  “Oh God!” gasps Isaac horrified.  Get a grip, man.  After the meeting, we check in with Morris Day’s long tunic for the feather thing, and another long tunic that is meant to showcase the chandelier earrings.  Cesar’s doing a matte jersey twisted bias something for his sparkly brooch, and a two piece cover up with cocktail dress.  He talks about how surreal his design is and Morris Day flat our reminds him to reign it the hell in.

Over on Nami, Dom is all about the “pig coat”.  And she’s using the bustle a “humpback”, which is always flattering.  Eduardo is completely ignoring Isaac’s advise – well, maybe not completely ignoring him.  Instead of a cocktail dress, he’s doing a pencil skirt and a shirt.  With, you know, ruffles.  But oversize ruffles, and that makes it way eccentric.

CalTran is making a long skirt and a “pencil hugging” dress. Well, if you can call this person CalTran.  He’s nervous – he hasn’t won a challenge yet.  And he really want to win, because he wants to give his winnings to the Gay Men’s Health Crisis for guiding him through the darkest time in his life.  Apparently, CalTran’s lover of ten years is at home dying, and CalTran wants to give something back.  Is this true?  If so, then what are you doing prancing around some reality show when your lover has weeks to live?

Back to Cesar – he’s a New Years baby, and that’s why he loves color, he informs us.  Morris Day is still trying to talk Cesar out if it.  He makes the argument that dying clothes is eccentric.  Meanwhile, Eduardo is freaking out over his lack of progress.  I hear Dom mention something about trousers and now Eduardo’s getting stressed out.  The models are on their way for a fitting, and he’s not ready.

When they arrive, CalTran comes back to life to tell us that he’s not a fan of Morris Day’s “chicken look”.  Of course accompanied by a “hell to the no”.  He thinks that Nami has a much more eccentric look.   And over on Emerald, a miracle is happening!  Cesar is admitting that Morris Day and Isaac might be right, and he might be setting out to ruin his dress with dye!

But he does it in a totally conceited way, saying that if his design is already beautiful, no need to add to it.  Then he ever so graciously tells us that Morris Day can hold his own, and does not require Cesar to “babysit” him.  Interesting assessment, considering the plan of tie dyeing everything bears striking resemblance to a plan executed in my playroom when I was seven.

On Nami, Eduardo’s pulled out something fabulous with the hat, and Dom’s hunchback bustle looks angelic.  CalTran’s got some nondescript black things going on, and he’s concerned.  He thinks that compared to his team, he’s not avant garde at all.

After the fitting, CalTran lurks around his dress giving it accusing looks.  Dom runs around bragging about her pig coat.  CalTran and Eduardo both point out that she’s getting cocky over her double win.  CalTran says that just because it’s got a pig on it, doesn’t make it a good coat.  ”It’s so chic, I want one!” crows Dom.

Clearly, a masterpiece.

But CalTran’s got problems of his own.  He says that he needs a new idea, but he’s clueless.  And then…he discovers some lost silk chiifon fabric!  No one can believe that he’s starting a new dress, but don’t all CalTran’s dresses take like five minutes to make?  The draped and stapled look doesn’t take much time at all.

The next day, the teams drag their clothing racks across the street.  Do they really have to do this?  Aren’t there production assistants for this sort of thing?  But something tells me whoever puts this thing together thinks designers pushing clothing racks through the streets of NYC is an authentic shot, cause we see it every week.

You know you’re a real designer when you can pay someone to do this menial shit for you.

CalTran is still thinking his dress is “off”. Cesar created a bird’s nest muff made out of fur.  Complete with two eggs.  Dom is carrying on about her piggy, and Eduardo is flipping out because his garment still is not finished.  The crowd enters the venue, and we get our first huge surprise of the night -

Death appears to have released it’s grip on Laura Brown!

Stefan counts down to “lineup”, and then the show begins!  First up is Dom’s pig coat.  She can not stop talking about what a surreal designer she is.  Put a pig purse in it, honey.  It’s a high fashion feed sack at best.

CalTan’s two looks come next.  Short black dress for the cuffs, long black dress for the ruffle.  He has really gone miles out of the box to create two black gowns.

Then it’s Eduardo’s looks.  First is a jumpsuit with ruffles.

Then, a dress.  With ruffles.

And finally, is Dom’s humpback angel look.

Dom and her newfound confidence are thrilled with her second look as well.  But Cesar notes that Nami’s collection is not, all together now, cohesive.  You’ve got a geisha over here and a ruffle over there, and well…he’s got a point.

So what do they have for us?  Morris Day and his feather shrug are up first.  I don’t think he did anything special here, but I am in love with this feather thing.

Then comes Cesar’s looks – the bird hat, and the broach.

Finally, it’s Morris Day’s chandelier earring look.

Naturally, CalTran doesn’t like Emerald’s collection.  Nami’s got ruffles, and hunchbacks and a pig coat  - how can you beat that?

In the judging room, the guest judge is of course Simon Doonan.  Isaac gives a speech about energy and tells them it was an explosion on the runway!  Iman was a fan of both shows as well.  ”It’s anyone’s game this week,” says Isaac.  But congratulations…House of Emerald!  It’s a win for the gay little birds (Cesar’s description, not mine!).

They loved the structure of Cesar’s collection, and Morris Day looked like he had a “signature”.  The individual winner will be allowed to choose one accessory from the warehouse for the next challenge.  Big deal.  You also get $500 for the finale.

And the winner is – Morris Day?  Really?  I thought Cesar’s work was so much stronger.  But Isaac thinks the chandelier earring dress is the best dress in the competition so far.  Then, he calls Morris Day’s leggings “fearless”.  And I am not making that up.

But then, we have to deal with the losers.  The judges actually loved all of the looks.  Simon called it just as fun as “the tents”.  First up for judgement is Eduarodo – Simon says it best, that it’s glamourous but not avant garde.  The judges all seem to agree.  And they think his ruffles are getting bigger.

Next up for critique is pleased with herself Dominique.

Oh, me.

She giggles to herself as she describes her designs.  Isaac thinks they were the most eccentric of the day, and Simon says they’d be perfect for the Barney’s window.  But, there’s a “staggering lack of cohesion”.  Iman doesn’t like the pig coat.  But they’re happy that Dom is taking risks.

Next up is CalTran.  He is super nervous!  Practically stammering!  Isaac is kind to him, says it’s his best work.  Iman calls it “kind of messy”.  Simon thinks they can sell one of the dresses at Barney’s tomorrow.  But Isaac doesn’t like the shoe on the model’s head, until CalTran explains that it’s a metaphor for everyone stepping on him.  Brilliant.

And now for the final judgement.  Dom was the most eccentric, but her construction sucked and her fabric looked cheap. Eduardo’s look was more of the same.  CalTran had one dress that was clumsy and overdone, but the other one was eccentric and accessible. CalTran…can stay!

“You might have felt stepped on, but you stepped up!  And now, you are one step closer to the finale!” says Iman, clearly high on quips. Look, I adore CalTran.  But Eduardo and Dom have been scooping up wins right and left, and CalTran’s on the bottom every week!   But, I’ll be the first to admit that I might not even be watching this crap without CalTran, so I guess production wise it was the smart move.

So who do we lose?  Predictable or inexperienced?  Well, considering I want a wardrobe full of Eduardo’s cocktail dresses, I say let the pig girl go.  But it’s Eduardo! He’s out of fashion!  He is, as always, “confused”.  I think that’s the cutest thing about Eduardo, his perpetual state of confusion like he just landed on this set and figured he’d ruffle his way out of it.

Well, I am really disappointed to lose Eduardo, but I think I need CalTran to live.  And I think Morris Day is getting way overrated.  So we’ll see how it all unfolds next week  - til then!