The Gays Fight Back!

Because we just can't help stirring the pot even more.


(Photo: ProjectRungay)

Andy Cohen, Bravo's Senior Vice President of Production and Programming shared his thoughts on this week's New York Magazine story here.

"I can't let the article sit on stands without jumping into the fray and saying how proud we are of our shows and of everybody who competes on them."

"I am not saying everybody who competes or wins is going to turn into a superstar. But there are notable success stories out there from a galaxy of former contestants. Emmett McCarthy has a boutique on Elizabeth Street and a home shopping deal; [...] Chloe Dao's Houston store has expanded and she's selling on QVC; Michael Knight has a jewelry line (!); [...] Not to mention Kara Janx, Kara Saun, Malan Breton..."

"I wish the article talked about how much the producers and crew sweat to death making everyone look great and take home a weekly paycheck for the privilege, not a chance for a hundred grand or to hawk a cookbook. And the shows rock as a result."

"By the way, I thought the article was pretty good and fair... Until I got to what I think is a slam regarding the fact that nobody on these Bravo competish shows are allowed to sex it up together."


(Photo: Getty Images)

Also, Ted Allen, of Queer Eye and Top Chef fame, had some things to say too. Money shot:

"He's whiny, he's immature, he's catty — he's really kind of a jackass, whether he won Project Runway or not."

Mrowr! Go read the whole thing.

He's Lost It.

Actually, that's not true. He looks like he's just having fun with it. In a video posted on YouTube in the last 24 hours (in other words, the day the New York Magazine story that proclaimed him "homeless" broke), Jay McCarroll wanders the streets of New York in a bad wig and a sign that reads "Will Design for Food."

Say what you will about him, he's got a hell of a sense of humor.

Starting Your Week with Delicious Dish.

New York Magazine has an eye-opening article about what happens to Bravo reality show contestants after their 15 minutes are up. We were really happy to read this because it contains stuff that we'd been hearing for a while but didn't have the right to publish ourselves. Bravo doesn't come off that great here and Heidi has a real bitchquote at the end.

Some choice bits (but you really need to read the whole thing):

Jay:
“I haven’t been living anywhere for two years,” he says. “I sleep at other people’s houses. I sleep here if I’m drunk.”

“I have a fucking gazillion e-mails from all over the world from people asking, Why isn’t your stuff out there?” says Jay. “Yet financially, I have no way to get them a product because I got pushed out of a boat and into the ocean, as if, Oh, you can survive now.”

(Photo: Jessica Wynne)

Andrae:
"Today, he still sews the odd custom dress for $1,500, and he teaches too, but he makes a fair chunk of his money doing gigs that exploit his reality-show fame, like hosting events at gay bars in Pittsburgh. He knows this won’t last. “I tell everyone I’m not a star,” he says. “I’m a brown dwarf.”

Austin:
"Austin Scarlett, the young Quentin Crisp from the first season of Project Runway, says he was approached about a role on Heather Graham’s short-lived sitcom, Emily’s Reasons Why Not. Today he wonders if he should have mulled it over. “Because I don’t think you should turn down work that much,” he says. “That’s one of my continuing struggles, being considered a reality-TV, you know, star.” I ask if he’s ever done TV gigs he’s come to regret. “Yeeeeeeeees,” he says. “Battle of the Network Reality Stars.” Shortly afterward, he appeared on a reality reunion show on Bravo, too. “I felt so cheap and tawdry,” he says. “They gave me $500, and I was like, Keep the money. It was just part of my confusion, grasping for the next thing.”

Nick:
“When they asked me why I wanted to be on Project Runway,” says Nick Verreos, 40, who made the fetching Barbie dress from Season Two (it sold for $1,700 on projectrunway.com), “I said I wanted to use it as a trampoline. Because I knew I was doing fierce stuff, but nobody was noticing.”

Santino:
“No one wanted to interview Chloe,” Santino says. “I’m sure I did like 500 percent more interviews. That’s what I won.”

"I crack myself up by saying, It’s lucky that I turn things down so that Nick has stuff to do,” says Santino."

“Between Heidi and Michael Kors and Nina Garcia, the judges were like a three-headed monster,” he says. “They all basically have the same point of view. I mean, have one avant-garde person who has an art-as-fashion approach, rather than fashion-as-commerce approach.” Then, of course, he made an almost perversely beautiful collection for Fashion Week, and the judges said there wasn’t enough of him in it. “And it’s like, Really?” he asks. “Gee, that’s funny, because I made this shit!”

Laura:
"When Laura, hugely popular with fans, failed to notify the network she’d signed a contract to host a style show on MSN.com, they called and demanded an explanation. “And I said, ‘So what do you have to offer me?’ ” she says. (She’s now in talks with Bravo about doing something for its Website and iVillage.)"

UPDATE: "Is Jay McCarroll Homeless? He Sure Said So (and So Did His Publicist)." Read it here.

She said WHAT?!

"Supermodel HEIDI KLUM is already planning her outfit for this year's (16Sep07) Emmys ceremony - but she won't be choosing a PROJECT RUNWAY winner.

The German beauty's TV design contest is nominated for an award for the third time, but asking contestants to make her a frock for it isn't an option after a red carpet fiasco last year (06).

She says, "I tried that once. The very first time I got nominated, I asked the winner of the first season, Jay McCarroll, to design something. He had all these great ideas, and then designed something that was absolutely not appropriate.

"It was not an evening red carpet thing for the Emmys - it was like an MTV/Halloween costume! I could not have gone that way. At the end of the day, I said no…He got upset."

Source: PR-inside.com

Y'know, generally speaking, we like Heidi. We think she's really grown into her role as a hostess and she's great at getting attention for the show, but this was just a nasty, stupid thing for her to say.

First off, Jay is probably the last person anyone should turn to for a red carpet dress, talented as he is. It's neither his style or his aesthetic. Granted, he probably should have just turned her down, but when you're a struggling designer and a world famous supermodel asks you for a dress for a highly photographed event, how can you possibly say no?

Second, what kind of hostess (and PRODUCER) trashes the person her OWN SHOW chose as the next great American fashion designer? That doesn't say much about the competition and it doesn't say much about the show itself.

Third, you mean to tell us that in 3 seasons and almost 50 designers, she didn't think ANY of them were worthy of dressing her just because she made one bad choice? Laura? Nick? Kara Saun? Uli? Even Kayne? Any one of them could have given her a gorgeous kickass red carpet dress that would have made her look beautiful and glamorous and would have been fantastic PR for the show.

Besides, she hasn't always made the best choices in terms of her red carpet dresses:

57th Emmy - by Christian Dior


58th Emmy - by Michael Kors

(Photos: Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage)

And just for reference, here's Jay's sketch for the infamous dress:

Now this is interesting...

There's a new feature documentary coming out about about Jay McCarroll by the same team who brought us "Project Jay."

"It’s been two long years since the sharp-witted Jay McCarroll was dubbed “the next great American designer” on season one of reality TV’s Project Runway, and he’s anxious to finally show his first line of clothing. The feature documentary, “Eleven Minutes,” chronicles his year-long journey preparing his first independent runway show for New York’s Fashion Week in Bryant Park and the subsequent selling of his line to stores. The result is an in-depth, painfully raw and humorous exploration of the creative process and the constant conflict of balancing commerce with art, fame with talent, and reality-TV with actual reality."


"I like to think that I am the only winner, now entering its 4th season. I am an asshole."


You can visit the official website to find out more.


This sounds like a great idea. Jay is always entertaining and outspoken and who wouldn't love to see the down and dirty side of the fashion industry?



We don't know where or when this is opening but color us there, darlings!

Oh no she DIDN'T.

Photo: Patrick McMullan

Catfight!

Jay McCarroll lets loose with both barrels at Tim Gunn:

"He’s having his heyday, but I also don’t think he’s an authority on any designer’s life. He went to school for sculpture or something. I don’t think that he’s ever, to my knowledge, started a fashion line and therefore should not be the adviser or the fuckin’ creative director … how dare you pretend to know what I should be doing with my company?"

EDITED TO ADD: You bitches got us our first mention in New York Magazine!

"Project Rungay's commenters have their designer undies in a bunch over Jay McCarroll's tongue lashing of Tim Gunn."

Jay darling, thank you for shooting your mouth off and commenters, thank you for getting your undies in a bunch. Mwah! We love you all!

Ripping the Collections: Jay, Part two

Dear Jay, We'll take one in a large and one in a medium.

Oh, we covet that sweater, kittens. Gorgeous. 21st century argyle. We're not sure what that loincloth-y thing is, but it doesn't really add anything to the outfit.

Beautiful. Even though it looks monochromatic at first glance, there are actually several variations and shades in the outfit. Love the patented McCarroll circles on the pants, albeit extremely toned down and subtle. Love the styling too.

Mmmm. Not so much. The hoodie's cute and the skirt is a masterpiece of construction but the tights and the boots kind of ruin the effect.

Another "not so much." We like the tights, but that jacket -- no. It's not just that we don't like it; it just doesn't "feel right" for the collection.

Gorgeous and - unusual for Jay - sexy. The dress is pretty basic but then again, the dress is just an accessory for that incredible coat. We couldn't get any clear shots of the back of it, but it's all done in a traditional quilting pattern, reflecting Jay's rural, crafty background. Who knew a quilt could make a woman look hot? Not the Amish, that's for sure.

Here's the thing: yes, we could easily make another muppet joke here and yes, this isn't something 99% of the women out there would wear, but as a signature look, an aesthetic statement, it's beautiful and powerful. Breathtaking, really. This is really a culmination of the work he started back in the Nancy O'Dell dress. Shredded layers of graduated colors. Dead perfect execution combined with Jay's highly refined color sense make for a stunning look. And kudos on Julia's styling. She looks incredible.

We're finding it hard to write a wrapup because we think we've pretty much used up every synonym for "gorgeous." At any rate, we stand by what we said earlier: this is the most creative and fashion-forward (hate that term) collection Project Runway ever had. A powerful expression of an aesthetic dying to be expressed. In fact, to a certain extent, the show owes at least some of its success to the fact that in its very first season it was able to unearth such a talent. Sure, Jay made for "good television" but in the end, the only thing that mattered is that Jay made beautiful clothing.


[Photos: First View]


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Ripping the Collections: Jay, Part One

This one's going to be tough to write. How many times can we say "OhmiGOD, this is GORGEOUS!" Ever since we started this blog, the one question that people ask the most often is "Did Jeffrey cheat?" but since that has nothing to do with this entry, we'll move on to the second-most-asked question, which is "Which designer had the best runway collection?" The answer has always been the same: Jay.

Are these clothes you're going to see on the average woman? No, not really. Are these forward-thinking, innovative, and inspired, demonstrating an explosive creativity that literally takes our breath away? Oh yes. Two years later and every single garment is still seared in our minds' eyes. We could describe the whole collection without looking at a single picture.

The headphone thing was a little gimmicky but it worked. He chose unconventional-looking models and wisely had each one styled differently according to the outfit.

Let's start the show.

Gorgeous. Jay has a sense of color that we really respond to. It takes a refined eye to dress someone head to toe in different shades of the same color and not have it look boring or even look like it's different shades of the same color. That wrap is stunning and so is that skirt.

This one's okay. It doesn't wow us like most of the rest and it's not as original as most of the rest. Also, the color scheme is so similar to the previous piece that he probably should have put it later in the collection. Beautiful tailoring, though.

This is one of our favorites, maybe because it's one of the most wearable pieces. That skirt is to-die-for, the belt is fierce and the colors in that scarf are gorgeous.

Another highly wearable outfit. Another instance of taking something that's been done to death - the buttons on the vest - and turning it on its side by re-imagining it as little bursts of color. Could have done without the little frilly epaulets, though.

Goddamn breathtaking. Our absolute favorite. This is what we mean about his color sense. You'd think it would be relatively easy to dress someone in all in blue, but how many people could do it this masterfully? Each shade distinct from the others, each shade making a contribution to the whole.

That poncho -- we hate ponchos and crochet isn't something we'd normally consider chic but it's just so beautiful. And the skirt. Again, patchwork isn't something one would consider stylish but Jay is such an artist that he can take something Holly Hobbie and make it look couture. We also love that little peek of sheer fabric under the skirt. It's just a little touch but it adds so much.

This is a stunning piece, although it's probably one of the less original of his pieces. The leggings, the belt and the accessories are what make it pop. Again, we wouldn't have recommended having two pieces in the same color scheme follow each other on the runway, although it appears this was deliberate as each outfit naturally leads to the next: golds to browns to greens to blues. We always roll our eyes at the fashion term "color story" but you know, Jay seems to have taken it literally. There really is a color story.


[Photos: FirstView]


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Homeward Bound

Alright, let's cleanse the palate, shall we? We'll be ripping the collections and delving further into the drama in the days to come but for today, it's a kindler, gentler PRGay.

One of the best ideas Project Runway ever came up with was following the final three home to get to know them better and having Tim as the guide just makes it all too perfect. See, Tim's appeal works on so many levels. On the one hand, he's such a sweet, genteel, open guy that it's a pleasure just watching him interact with people. On the other hand, he's so ... of a certain place, we guess is how we'd put it, that there's a certain devious glee in seeing him plunked down in alien settings and watching his unflappability try to assert itself. If you look closely, you can see the little gyroscopes spinning as he tries to get his bearings. "Yes! Concrete septic tanks! That's why you're a fashion designer, Jay!" Too cute for words.

On the other, other hand, Tim is so good at connecting with creative people and drawing out their thoughts and getting them to defend their work that the whole thing is illuminating in addition to being entertaining and a little schmaltzy.

We love seeing the designers' backgrounds and day-to-day life. It fills in the blanks, not only on their personalities but on their aesthetics as well. Of course these things are edited to tell a story and we can't ever really lose sight of that, but it's not hard to draw a straight line from Jay's rural background to his knits and quilting-inspired collection, or from Kara Saun's Hollywood career to her ultra-glam, movie-inspired collection, or from Wendy's old-money, horsey set world to her somewhat traditional, mature collection.

Of the three, Jay's was probably the most interesting. It was a bit of a surprise to see how organized and focussed he seemed to be, especially in a setting that, at least on the surface, wouldn't lend one to think it was a place to cultivate an explosive creativity.

Wendy was interesting in that she seemed to be desperate for Tim to recognize her in some way. Desperate for his input; desperate for his approval, not just on her collection, but on her life. It was a little icky how she trotted her daughter out to perform in front of the cameras but we're going to be uncharacteristically generous and leave that one alone.

Kara Saun: all professional. Here's my collection, Tim. Here's where I buy my fabric, Tim. What do you think, Tim? What should I be doing next, Tim? Not that she wasn't sweet. She clearly loves Tim but she also clearly values his opinions highly.

More than anything else, though, the reason we love the "home movies" is because this segment is the closest the show ever really comes to depicting the process of fashion design. No designer gets locked in a room with a dozen other designers and told to make a dress in 12 hours. That's not fashion; that's reality TV. Getting to watch the designers, alone and without any drama, designing clothes and discussing their work with a stylish, debonair, kind and knowledgeable teacher? That's just fabulous as far as we're concerned.


[Screencaps: projectrungay.blogspot.com]


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