DAMN! You bitches have a lot to say! Over 270 comments and over 500 suggestions later, Laura finally decided on a winner. The things is, there were SO MANY fantastic suggestions that Laura and the iVillage people couldn't decide on just one. So they picked one primary winner, who will received the aforementioned signed PR Complete Third Season DVD, but also picked a bunch of runners-up, who will be receiving a fabulous autographed picture of Laura. In fact, they apparently loved the suggestions so much that we did hear they're going to try to use most of them at least once.
So, without further ado:
THE WINNER: Fashion Vixen by Wannabe
Wannabe, send us your address and we'll make sure you get that signed DVD as soon as it is available!
THE RUNNERS UP:
Path: Cashmere Cape Turbulence: The Scarlet Stiletto Cleamontis: The Scarlet Needle BG: Deep Vee Jay: Glitterata Weiz: Glam Girl Lydia: The Plunging V-Neck Kelly: The Scarlett V
Ladies, send us your address and Laura will send you an autographed picture of herself.
NOW. You thought we were done, didn't you? Well, now Laura and the ivillage folks are interested in hearing your suggestions for what to name the actual comic strip. Y'know, like "THE ADVENTURES OF FASHION VIXEN" - although that's really boring. Come up with something fabulous and you could win an autographed copy of the Project Runway Season 3 DVD! We'll announce the winner at the end of the week.
Get cracking, ladies! And congrats to the winners!
EDITED TO ADD: "Fashion Vixen" is the winning name as chosen by Laura, but the actual character's name isn't necessarily going to be "Fashion Vixen," so you don't have touse that in your suggestions.
EDITED AGAIN: Laura left a note in the comments section:
"Here are some hints, iVillage wants to use my actual name in the title, like Laura Bennett: Adventures of a Stylish Mom. They also seem to be leaning toward an old school comic strip, like Brenda Starr or a 1940's Private Eye, sort of a super hero in hiding. The title should try to reflect what I will be doing which is fighting frump and solving fashion dilemmas. Try to be concise.
I am overwhelmed by the generosity and the creativity of the posters here. Your ideas have actually caused us to change direction so that we can use many of the great suggestions. If we name the strip after what I do instead of who I am, that will give us the opportunity to end each strip with something like, "another caper solved by the Cashmere Cape..."
Thanks so much for all your help. And let's all give it up for T&L!"
Darlings, you better hurry because the first episode of PR Canada is up on YouTube and God only knows how long it's gonna stay. In Part 1, the designers meet and silently judge each other, then they all form little cliques and judge the other cliques.
Here's the deal: Laura's going to be starring in her very own comic strip on iVillage. The premise of the strip is that Laura will be a superhero that solves women's fashion dilemmas. Thing is, she hasn't come up with a name for herself yet. That's where you all come in.
Come up with a superhero name for Laura Bennett and if she picks yours as the best, she'll send you an autographed copy of the Project Runway Season 3 DVD! We can't guarantee that the winning entry will actually be used by iVillage, but at least you'll have the comfort of knowing that Laura liked yours best.
Post your answers in the comment section and leave some sort of name (doesn't have to be your full name) so we won't be stuck saying "CONGRATULATIONS, ANONYMOUS AT 10:57 AM!!!" We'll announce the winner on Monday or Tuesday. Get cracking, ladies! Post as many suggestions as you want!
Adorable Andy Cohen had a little hissy fit on his blog yesterday. Let's listen in, shall we?:
"Today, NY Post TV Critic Linda Stasi has a piece complaining that this season's designers on Runway are TOO TALENTED. Whaaaaayt? I often follow the old chestnut that if you don't have anything to complain about, then FIND something to complain about. Does Linda, too? Perhaps next season we'll consider a group of home-sewers to make the runway shows less interesting. (In truth, we have pretty much the same mix as we did in year's past, but Tim does consider this season's talent level to be the highest.)"
Isn't he cute when he gets indignant? Now lets see what all this fuss is about: "DOES 'PROJECT' STILL HAVE ROOM FOR AMATEURS?" "But it's turned into the Olympics - a competition for amateurs that morphed into a pro-preferred event. For my money, "Project" has gotten too high end - with real designers competing where beginners used to thread."
"The professional-quality competitors in the upcoming season range from a guy whose jeans made the cover of the Victoria's Secret catalog to another who dressed Jessica Alba for a recent red carpet walk. There's a lingerie designer and an active-wear designer.Still, I pine for the days of the desperate beginners. I wish they'd reversed things. Really, wouldn't you rather watch rank amateurs tackle $50,000 worth of fabric and laugh at pros trying to make designer gowns out of used tires and aerosol cans?"
"'Project Runway' is good to watch, but not as much fun as when it was just inspired wannabes with a lust for what they were doing."
Well, she certainly jumped the gun on that last sentence. How does she know whether or not this season will be as much fun as previous ones? On the other hand, Andy, doll, she has a point and we think you may have misread it. She didn't complain that this year's crop is too talented; she complained that they were too experienced - and that's a huge difference.
To be honest, we kind of agree. We had largely similar thoughts when we were first introduced to the new contestants. Will there be a Jay McCarroll among this group? A hungry, raw, untested talent? Will there be a Laura Bennett? A surprisingly polished and talented home sewer? Will there even be a Marla or Wendy Pepper? Someone who should have stayed home? Or a Lupe? A completely out-of-left-field whackjob?
Obviously, it's too early for us to say, but we were disappointed to see resumes that were so polished and accomplished. Would American Idol be as much fun to watch if every single contestant had already recorded an album?
It probably won't change the mechanics of the show because in past seasons, even the most accomplished contestants struggled under the constraints of the competition. But we can't help feeling that some of the charm is lost with such an experienced group vying for the prize.
On the other hand, we can pretty much guarantee that this year's crop is the most entitled bunch of bitches the show's ever seen and that should make for some delicious, delicious drama.
Big queens that we are, we were watching Stacy London's special, Fashion Fanatic, on TLC the other night and, big MARRIED queens that we are, we got into a little argument over something.
The divine Stacy was reporting on high end shoes and bags, when she informed us that one of the bags retails for $10,000. Tom immediately said "That's ridiculous." Lorenzo pounced. "Why? If you have the money, why not buy a $10,000 bag? Should everything be bought at Payless and Walmart?"
He's cute when he argues absolutes.
Anyway, Tom struggled with his point. "It's about...context, I guess. It's a disproportionate amount of money to be paying for something like that. I can understand buying, say, a pair of shoes for $800 or even a handbag for- I don't know - let's say $5000. But after that, it's just a bullshit amount of money. Look at it this way: You'd pay $50,000 for a car, even $100,000. But would you pay a million bucks for a car?"
"YES!"
Honestly, it was like trying to describe frugality to Imelda Marcos.
The point was, everyone has their threshold. It can be persuasively argued that a $5000 Hermes bag is of much higher quality than a $50 bag bought in a department store. Same goes for a pair of Manolos vs. a pair of Payless. Money quite often does buy higher quality. It can also buy higher style. But seriously, what does a $10,000 bag have that a $5000 bag doesn't?
Lorenzo's default position is "If they have the money, who cares?" And he's right. But Tom thinks once you cross that (admittedly, highly subjective) threshold, you're just paying bullshit amounts of money because someone came up with an exorbitant price tag and you're gullible enough to meet their price.
Yes, it's The Barkleys of Broadway! Fred and Ginger! Together again for the first time (on this blog, anyway)!
We weren't planning for our first Fred and Ginger movie to be their last one, but the day we announced we were doing F&G next, lo and behold, Netflix finally found our new address and this is what showed up in our mail. We took it as a sign. Onward! Fred and Ginger play Josh and Dinah Barkley, a highly successful Broadway song and dance team who seemingly have it all: money, fame, money, success, money, love and money.
Despite that horrific thing she's wearing in the opening number, Ginger's wardrobe is divine throughout the movie. Having just completed the opening night of their new Broadway show, they head to their opening night party and - what's this? Bitch at each other the whole way there! Ho ho! Apparently, things aren't as rosy with these two as the public thinks! At the party, Ginger decides to indulge in a little bulimia to deal with her troubled marriage. Trying to hide her 3rd and 4th helpings behind her back, she meets Jacques Pierre Barredout, who might as well have been named Frenchy McFrencherson. Frenchy captivates her by telling her everything she wants to hear about herself, the things that Fred never says to her: she's magnifique, she's talented, she's beautiful, etc., etc. After the party, she and Fred have a fight about her shameless flirting.
The days before conditioner were sad ones, weren't they? Fred makes a point to mention her flyaway hair and split ends and she throws a shoe at him. Instead of having hate sex, they sing and dance in their bedroom. The next day, at rehearsals, they meet Shirleen, who the producers have decided to bring in as an understudy for Ginger since they think the marriage might be in trouble. Despite the fact she's younger than her and has a penchant for walking around without a skirt on, Ginger readily agrees to have her hired.
Then, they dance:
Unfortunately, this film doesn't really have any dance numbers with the iconic quality of their films of a decade early, but it is a cute number and it's kind of jarring to see Ginger dancing in pants. Especially since her outfit is more masculine than his. Later, they attend an art gallery, where one of those snooty, ridiculous "modern" artists unveils a new portrait of them. She's a pancake and he's a frying pan. Unsurprisingly, she's offended by this. Later she forces Fred to wear a skirt, since she had to wear pants. Still later, they head out for a weekend in the country with their idle rich friends. Among them, Frenchy, who stares longingly at Ginger while she plays tennis naked.
HaHa! Not naked! We just wanted to see if you were still paying attention. Frenchy's girlfriend shows off her breasts. She will be playing the lead in his new play about Sarah Bernhardt. He hates her. He corners Ginger on a really ugly sofa and makes her read his script. He wants her to play the young Sarah, but she's not sure she's got the acting chops for it. Later, at their fabulous Manhattan apartment with its painted backdrop, Fred discovers her reading the script and flies into a rage. Fred's kind of an asshole. Wisely, they decide to openly argue about it in front of the paparazzi that live in their apartment with them.
You know what that means: Spinning headlines! Fred continues on without her:
There's a lot of reasons we don't like this number. First, Fred was always much better with a partner; second, it was of a piece with a trend in musicals that he and Gene Kelly started where they would try to one-up each other by doing these gimmicky dances (like dancing with a cartoon character or a mop or a sheet of newspaper or on a ceiling) and after a while it just gets old. Finally, there's the whole "WTF?" thing. No one knows better than us that you have to really suspend your disbelief when you're watching a musical, but when they do these fantasy sequences where shoes come alive and present it like it's something he's performing on a stage in front of an audience, well...WTF? At rehearsals for her new play, Ginger is depressed because every single one of her co-stars hate her and think she's a no-talent whore. Plus, she's prettier than them. Fred has drinks with musical director pal Oscar Levant and some blonde in a vagina hat. Oscar tells him that Ginger's having a shitty time in rehearsals because Frenchy doesn't know how to direct her. Fred decides to impersonate Frenchy and calls Ginger to give her the kind of direction he knows she needs. He calls her while she's catching up on her beekeeping, but she's grateful for the wonderful advice he gives her. The next day, her co-stars love her! "I don't care if she's thinner than me and fucking the director, she's MARVELOUS!"
Oscar Levant tricks the two of them into performing one of their standards at a hospital benefit:
It's lovely, certainly. And they look just like how Fred and Ginger should look when they're together, but this number was akin to a Rolling Stones concert today. They're just sort of going through the motions and waiting for the applause. They don't have to give it their all because they're FRED AND GINGER, bitches. Anyway, after the dance, Fred's all "Hey, maybe we should -" and Ginger's all "Not a chance in hell, asshole." On Ginger's opening night, Fred toasts to her success with Oscar and some other blonde in a vagina hat. Unfortunately... ...she sucks. Like, really, really sucks.
But, everyone in the film acts like they've just witnessed the finest actress of her generation, so if we can accept the shoes dancing by themselves, we guess we have to accept this. Fred is saddened by her standing ovation because he knows he's lost her for good. Also, because he's kind of an asshole. Frenchy declares his love for her backstage, but she's still waiting for Fred to show up. Meanwhile, some blonde without a vagina hat is saying things that annoy the fuck out of him. He decides to call her one more time as Frenchy and ask her who she really loves, him or...him? Which is kind of stupid of him because she's in her dressing room after the show that the real Frenchy wrote and directed. It didn't occur to him that he might still be there? Ginger figures it all out and strings Fred along for awhile. She shows up at their apartment that night in a dress clearly made for ballroom dancing, but Fred doesn't get the hint. At least not right away.
That couch looks like a skinned muppet, but we'll take those chairs in the background. Anyway, all's well that....you know. Could there be any other ending, kittens? And for some reason, Ginger decides to end the show wearing one of Ann Miller's old castoff dresses. Or is that one of Miss Piggy's?
Kohl's recently started selling their exclusive Simply Vera by Vera Wang collection. What does Kohl's have to say about it?
"Known for her pricey couture wedding dresses, Vera Wang offers up more attainable clothes with a new line designed exclusively for Kohl’s department stores. She already has mattresses, wedding dresses, hotel rooms, perfume and stationery under her bejeweled grosgrain belt. Now, Vera Wang is romancing the masses with a soup-to-nuts cheap-chic line for Kohl’s called Simply Vera by Vera Wang. And it uses the same design ingredients as Wang’s existing empire of high-end goods. Dark, moody and voluminous don’t usually describe the cheap and cheery world of designer collaborations – but this time, they do. With a smoky palette of navy, black, ash and dusty lavender, and a nod to Eastern Europe, the Kohl’s line is straight out of Wang’s fall runway collection."
Yeah, it's straight out of her last collection - and we're not sure that's such a good thing. There's nothing wrong with muted colors; we happen to be fans of them ourselves. But there's muted and then there's clinically depressed.
It's not bad, really. It's mostly classic shapes and looks and the clothes look like they're well made. It's just that, as a collection, or more specifically, as a brand, it's a bit of a downer.
Still, Kohl's isn't always known for having the most stylish clothes in the world, so this is a bit of a step up for them. It makes us think of Tim Gunn, actually. These are the kinds of wardrobe basics he would force his makeovers to wear. That's not a bad thing, necessarily. It's like they're clothes for women who don't know how to dress stylishly.
Can't say we're any more impressed with the accessories:
Nothing to write home about (although some of those bags looka little cheap). What do you gals think?
were SO MANY fantastic suggestions that Laura and the iVillage people couldn't decide on just one. So they picked one primary winner, who will received the aforementioned signed PR Complete Third Season DVD, but also picked a bunch of runners-up, who will be receiving a fabulous autographed picture of Laura.
