S1/E7: Congratulations Kara Saun (again)!

Thursday, December 14, 2006 by
Working as a team (with Kevin as team leader), the designers have to create a collection for the year 2055. To make it more interesting, all their materials need to be purchased at Cheap Jack's vintage clothing store. You can read Tim's Take on this episode here.


Go, girl! This was gorgeous.


Imaginative, well-thought-out, and believable. None of which is particularly surprising because Kara Saun is a costume designer. This kind of challenge is right up her alley.


We absolutely love the use of the leather jacket to make the bodice. Less crazy about the lace. She needed something to soften the tailoring in the coat, since the through-line for the collection was supposed to be deconstruction, but we don't think the lace really adds anything.

Clearly, most of the group chafed under the deconstruction mandate, so why the hell did everyone choose it?

Gorgeous and dramatic. The beauty is, it works as a costume for 2055 while at the same time, you could see this walking down a runway today.


Lovelovelove all the little leather details. Hatehatehate the lace the more we look at it. And it pains us to say this, but there are some construction issues with this piece. There's puckering all over the place. Granted, some of it looks intentional, but the back does look a little messy.



[Screencaps: projectrungay.blogspot.com]



Post a Comment

35 comments:

Erica said...

Love the outfit, hate the challenge.

jinxy said...

I liked Jay's more. I agree that Kara Saun's look was versatile, but I hated the lace too, and it ruined the look for me.

Her piece was definitely the one that stood out but in a good way.

Anonymous said...

I love this outfit. Kara Saun did an incredible job. It reminds me of Alexander McQueen's designs.

Anonymous said...

i liked this too, but I loved Jay's most of all
CP

Anonymous said...

See, I liked the lace. To me, it's like going back in time combining "traditional" materials with 2055 ideas and resources.

Anonymous said...

Kara's Matrix meets Dune outfit was HOT HOT HOT. Jenny looked amazing!

Anonymous said...

"Clearly, most of the group chafed under the deconstruction mandate, so why the hell did everyone choose it?"

They didn't. Go back over the episode, it was given to them as part of the challenge.

I can't stand the deconstructed look. "HAY! Let's make _everybody_ look homeless! BRILLIANT!"

Anonymous said...

I hated the challenge. I hate this whole "let's pretend we're in the year whatever" bullshit, but I loved Kara Saun's outfit. It's a very strong piece. I liked Jay's too, but I'll wait until you boys post about that.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
They didn't. Go back over the episode, it was given to them as part of the challenge.



No it wasn't. Tim even said to them "You have to decide if the future is Jetsons or Bladerunner."

Anonymous said...

I loved this outfit. I would wear that in a second. Great design, great idea, great pictures, guys.

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous outfit! I love everything Kara Saun has made so far. This time, her time constraint showed no signs of being an issue as she designed a gorgeous and inspired piece.

PS. What's with all the iPods this season?

Anonymous said...

love it. love jay's too. don't know why jay didn't love his, i thought it was equal to this one and these were the only two possibilities for the win . . .

Anonymous said...

Kara Saun has got quite a rack! I never noticed that before. I love this outfit. I love her choice of fabrics, texture, colors, everything.

Anonymous said...

Enough of Kara Saun. When do we get to bitch slap Wendy Pepper?

Anonymous said...

I liked Kara Saun's and Jay's pretty much equally. Kara's was very beautiful, and so detailed! I was surprised they pulled it off considering they seemed to not know what direction they were going for this challenge and had already spent a good chunk of time.

Anonymous said...

I loved her deconstructed 2055 future look. I could see that walking down the runway today.

Anonymous said...

Granted, I did not see season one (my daughter had not hooked me yet), but when I opened this morning's blog and saw 'business suit 2055' I had to laugh.

So in 50 years we STILL can not see a business woman as anything but a hot babe slinking around the office!

Anonymous said...

" The Dogs' Mother said...

Granted, I did not see season one (my daughter had not hooked me yet), but when I opened this morning's blog and saw 'business suit 2055' I had to laugh.

So in 50 years we STILL can not see a business woman as anything but a hot babe slinking around the office! "


I think it's a matter of looking and feeling sexy whether you are a woman or a man, regardless where you are. Hey, I want to look yummy even if I'm behind a desk and a stack of papers.

Anonymous said...

I'm not a huge fan of deconstruction but I really liked this outfit. It still looks like, as Nina would say, "she thought about it."

Anonymous said...

They had no choice about "deconstruction" since they had to use vintage clothing. Isn't that the very definition of "deconstruction?" Or am I missing something?

I'm not sure how you can even evaluate whether something is appropriate for 50 years in the future. The whole challenge was just a joke. This was before they had a whole internet full of blogs from which to pilfer good challenge ideas.

I miss Morgan!

Anonymous said...

I loved it! My friends and I still talk about this outfit. It looked fantastic on Jenny.

Fnarf said...

I've been in Cheap Jack's, and I find it utterly impossible to believe that they bought all those garments for under $50 per.

I really did not like this challenge, or any of the outfits, at all.

Vic said...

I'm just not crazy about the challenge in any way, so I can't even rave about the winning design. I agree with Steve Thornton.

Anonymous said...

They had no choice about "deconstruction" since they had to use vintage clothing. Isn't that the very definition of "deconstruction?" Or am I missing something?

There was some choice. Everyone kept saying that Kevin's design wasn't deconstructed because it was so tailored.

The definition of deconstruction comes from Derrida, who is rolling over in his grave.

Anonymous said...

i think it lookeed like she was robbing someone in a victorian erotic boutique

Anonymous said...

Kara Saun deserved to win. No fuss, no drama, AND she produced a beautiful gown.

Anonymous said...

The coat is absolutely gorgeous!

Anonymous said...

Kara Saun’s seem to have followed the group’s vision closely. I loved her outfit.

Anonymous said...

To me that also looked very military-inspired, don't you think?
I remember Kara saying that "she comes from a service-oriented family, a military family."

Anonymous said...

Kara Saun's look is fierce! I agree about the lace and the leather.

Anonymous said...

I love the outfit, I really do, but business suit? I don't think so.

Anonymous said...

How interesting that Kara Saun Fall 2006 Collection was entitled “2056.”

"Kara Saun’s LA runway debut described a world destroyed by war and natural disasters, but given hope from the emergence of beauty in fashion."
http://www.lasplash.com/
StyleAndFashion/
Kara_Saun_Fall_2006
_Collection_House_of_the_
Rising_Saun.php

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous, well-done design, but...am I the only one who thought, "Seen it!" about that coat? Could have easily come from any fantasy anime from ten years ago.

Hell of a lot better than most everything else that came down that runway, though...they really blew this challenge.

Anonymous said...

I've been in Cheap Jack's, and I find it utterly impossible to believe that they bought all those garments for under $50 per.

Steve. Word. Cheap Jack's is such a misnomer for that store. It's odd that they chose it to begin with, since there are plenty of vintage clothing stores in NYC that are less expensive. BTW, did you know that "Cheap" Jack's is on Fifth Ave. now? *So* much more appropriate.

macasism: I agree with the anonymous of 5:08 pm -- certainly part of the challenge was taking apart vintage clothing and creating new garments from those materials, but there was no reason why the new outfits had to be "deconstructed" in the "unfinished, ragged-edged" sense. The designers chose to make that part of their overall aesthetic on their own. It certainly wasn't forced upon them.

Of course, I suppose it depends on how one defines "deconstruction". That's where we get into Derrida, and where I leave the conversation. :)

eric3000 said...

I cannot see this as a business suit no matter what year it is but I really liked it anyway.