Thursday, January 10, 2008

Prom and Ghosts

Reality TV...I don't like it, but last night I was grateful that two of my shows are realityesque, because they had new episodes for me last night, which kept me fat and happy (figuratively speaking) on my couch for hours.
So, our weekly PR report: rarely have I disagreed with judges on so many points than I did this week, not the least point of which is Heidi's comment that they only liked two of the dresses...since I disliked Victorya's garment and loved Chris's, this struck me as ridiculous. I will pass over the color comments about Victorya's dress (electric blue is fine by me), but I really cannot stand bejeweled placards like the one she had. Interestingly, Tim Gunn is with me on this point: "Furthermore, the jewel emblazoned panel on the front of the halter made the dress look more appropriate for a hostess at a Vegas cocktail lounge than a teenager attending a suburban prom." So. Not a winner for me.
I was for Sweet P or Chris, and that is that (also the top two favorites of the Rate the Runway on Bravo's website). I would have liked a better look at the back of Chris's dress...I thought it looked interesting, but couldn't commit to it if I couldn't see it clearly. But his dress was tasteful and looked very nice on the model, as did Sweet P's. I was, thus, SO irritated by the judging. I thought Chris's dress was more unusual, but I would love to have worn Sweet P's because it was so sleekly feminine and flattering.
I also disagreed with a lot of the judges' visions on prom. It was increasingly clear to me that they had no idea of what goes on at proms, and that they had a skewed picture of being a 16-18-year-old girl. They kept talking about "teenagers" and what they want, but these girls are about to be adults. They are trying to leave standard clothes behind and take this first step into looking like a woman. Well I remember the search through Gantos in particular, wading through racks and racks of colors and shapes. You can have a similar experience now in the back of Windsor, and find a wide range of garments...and though it's a younger woman's store, many of the popular looks are adult shapes. Furthermore, looking whorish is not about age, and looking adult, even if it's not sophisticated, does not make a girl either matronly or whorish.
Kevin's color, for example. Passing over the lack of finishing on his garment, I have to say that bright red is a popular prom color. My own junior prom dress was red, and I looked fabulous in it, in my own opinion. I loved my dress. Now, the dress Kevin made was a little trampy, but others described it as matronly...I begin to suspect that this is now a byword like "society" that doesn't actually mean anything anymore. Looking older is not looking matronly. Red is not an inappropriate prom color.
I felt similarly about Ricky's color. Sure, they wanted something that popped, but I think with a different garment, that color would have been absolutely ethereal. I've mentioned before my hatred of bubble skirts, so that knocked his dress out for me, but the color, I think, suited his model...and ballet pink is also a popular prom color.
Rami...what to say about Rami? I did not agree that his look was matronly (again that word--it doesn't mean what you think it means!) or that the dress was too adult. The way a lot of proms work, that look would have been perfectly appropriate, and even admired. I didn't love the dress, and I didn't love the color, but I didn't think it was as far out of whack as they seemed to think it was. I firmly believe you could find a shape like that (excepting the front drape) in Windsor. Ladies wear women's dresses to prom. That's the whole point for a lot of girls!
And the rest: I liked the color of Jillian's dress...the camera angles made the bust look weird so I didn't like it on the show; it looks better on the website pictures. I didn't care for Kit's dress much; just didn't add up for me. Christian? Gah. Has there ever been a challenge that that kid didn't complain about from the get-go? What DOES he like doing? I sympathized with his situation, but his people skills are frightening. The dress, to be frank, was ridiculous. It reminded me of a four-year-old flower girl's dress. But his complete lack of will to fix it hurt me, especially when Tim expended so much energy trying to get him motivated, as if he were, indeed, a Parsons student. I feel like he got coddled in the workroom because he's young and was suffering a lack of confidence. I'm kind of done with his whining, I guess.
Ultimately, I was disappointed not just in the judges' decision, but in their attitudes about young women and prom in general. If you're talking about homecoming, fine, but prom is a whole other entity, and I think they seriously missed the mark.

Fortunately, my frustration was mitigated by the two hours of Ghosthunters that preceded it. I about laughed myself off the couch when Kris got stuck (totally saw that coming) and I enjoyed the spooky thermal footage in particular. My jury is still out on International Ghosthunters. I get a kick out of Irish Barry most of the time, but I think the whole group is a little too...harsh? Grant and Jay sort of balance each other out, but I feel like most of the Int'l group is a little too grr. Donna is very nice, but she's not one of the major leaders at this point. Ultimately, I am still geeked, though.

New Supernatural and Pushing Daisies? I miss you heartily.

3 comments:

Jill (Lady Lazarus) said...

I was so mad Chris didn't win. I loved Sweet P's, too, but Chris just did a fabulous job with the color and silhouette.

But I think my favorite moment in the episode was when Ricky was interviewing and said when he went to prom he designed his date's dress and that should have been a clue. haha.

Anonymous said...

Victoriya's dress made me think "Classic Star Trek, Kirk's Newest Alien Babe". Still, it was a pretty color, and fun, and maybe it is what hip teen girls want today. What do I know. I am startled when I look at a Delia's catalogue or pass the Forever 21 shop window.

Sweet P's dress was yummy - she did right with that oyster color - but I felt it was a neutral all-ages glamour that would have worked as well for a Red Carpet challenge. I didn't see it as the most apt fulfillment of a prom dress challenge. While I agree with you that teen girls do (sometimes) have very elegant, mature tastes for special events, I wanted to see gowns that made me think fun, youthful PROM.

I lost faith in Christian. He has a strong vision and tight execution, but I could see springs and gears popping from his ears as he tried to work *with* someone else's vision. He needs some flexibility and humility. I have thought up myriad ways that his style could have melded with Matty's tastes and figure.

Loved some of Ricky's ideas, especially the jeweled belt effect, but he needed a fresher pink and finer finishing.

-SECP

Carrie said...

Dude- Gantos. I haven't thought about that store in YEARS. Awesome. Thanks for the flashback. :)

I guess I slightly disagree because I really, really liked Victorya's dress, I thought the jewels were cute, and I thought it was very young and hip. But regardless, I loved Sweet Pea's and definitely thought she should've won. So elegant! Which is what I aspired to when I went to prom- I attempted a whole Audrey Hepburn thing.

I definitely agree that most girls want to look older and more elegant for Prom- hence all the requests for plunging necklines and backs that everyone thought was inappropriate. I liked Chris's dress, and I really liked Rami's, and completely disagreed with them about the color. However, I think Rami could've done a much better job defending his dress (like anything you said about it). Maybe since he was raised in Jerusalem and admitted he didn't have prom, he just doesn't get the whole idea. But I agree, I thought the judges were a little harsh when they said that there were only 2 good dresses.

I want to like Kit, but I hated her dress. Kevin's sucked too, but I was sad to see him go, b/c I think he's talented overall. I'm tired of Christian and his whining. His dress was horrid in my opinion, and that's like the 2nd or 3rd time he's made something questionable, so I just wish he'd go. I just think he's too young and his taste isn't refined enough yet.