Tuesday, October 31, 2006 by
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As far as we're concerned, this is how it should be done. It's still Jeffrey, still very now, but it's clean and it looks good on a woman's body. The proportions are perfect, the cut is stylish and the bag looks great. One of our favorites.
The judges didn't seem to like this one, but we did. The color fits with the rest of the collection and it's got that patented Sebelia "ugly/pretty" thing going on, which he does well. Yeah, it's a little too deconstructed for our tastes and it has at least one too many elements to it, but overall, we liked this.
This, on the other hand, is just plain ugly. The fabric, the color, the construction - none of it works. It's totally unflattering to her body and there's just way too much going on. An empire waist with pleating? And a ruffle? AND a layered hem? It's like a Sewing 101 project.
Oy. We're not going to mince words here, this was HIDEOUS. The fabric is ugly, it looks poorly sewn, the proportions are all way off and the overall effect is "bleh." Look at all the puckering in the trim around the collar. And the trim around the waist is crooked.
And sorry to say it, but that model was awful. She had absolutely no idea how to wear the clothes or walk on the runway.
Another one we liked. "And the Beat Goes On" meets "Mystery Achievement." Jeffrey's not innovative but he reimagines certain looks very well. We don't love the lawn chair fabric, but there's no denying that's a beautiful and beautifully made jacket.
Credit where credit's due, this is an absolute stunner. As we said, we're not crazy about the fabric but it totally works here and helps to highlight the masterful construction of this piece. The use of the zippers, the way the skirt creates its own pockets, and the way he used the stripes to highlight a woman's body (as opposed to hiding it or fighting it like he sometimes does) combined to make this one of the most memorable pieces out of all four collections. Marilinda looks adorable in it and she rocked it, but that "left my sunglasses on by the pool" makeup is awful.
As we said previously, he would not have been our choice for the win but that doesn't mean we don't think he deserved it. Frankly, "innovative" is a bullshit criterion for evaluating a collection because fashion is almost always variations on a theme, with true innovation being so rare (and in the end, relatively unimportant) that it's almost not worth mentioning. No, this collection wasn't innovative; it was risky, and THAT is absolutely a valid and expected criterion for judging a collection and from that angle, he definitely was the clear winner.
Who do we think should have won it? Well, tomorrow we're going to judge the judges and we'll let you know then.
[Photos: FirstView]
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93 comments:
I agree with most of your critiques except the gray dress. I did not like it. It looked sectioned and overdone... like so much of his stuff IMHO.
I also agree that risk taking alone should not be that master criterion for choosing a winner here. As much as Nina and MK go on about taste level, they really don't seem to hold it as high as risk-taking at the end of the day. I agree with Tim in that risks are all fine and good, but is it even pretty?
Some of Jeffrey's stuff is pretty, but when he misses... he REALLY misses...
I could see some of my artistic friends wearing his clothes... his collection has a very retro/japanese feel and it's not my style at all, but I think there is a small niche following for him.
i agree with most of all of your opinions on jeff's collection. i do love those tight pants that went with the green jacket outfit. that was hot. but like Jinxy said, "when he misses...he REALLY misses..."
Am I the only one thinking that the flowy print dress (#10) looks like a poorly executed Uli rip-off, kind of...? I was very surprised, in a bad way, to see something like that in Jeffrey's collection. Love the rest of it but that one dress...I just don't get it! Why Jeffrey, why?! ;)
Although I am no fashionista, I agree with most of your critiques. You guys rock. One thing I will say for Jeffrey, though, is he brought to the runway many different looks, but they all had a common thread. One point of judging was whether or ot the 12 outfits could be seen in the same woman's closet and be used at different times....Jeffrey succeeded on both. And, although I preferred Uli's collection, Jeffrey deserved the win based upon the known elements of the judging(At least the ones we knew about, the objective ones).
I never watched the show with a favorite designer in mind to root for, so it didn't disappoint me when Jeffrey won. But the more I look at his collection, the less impressed I am. A lot of it is just plain U-G-L-Y, and there's just not enough stuff going right in that collection to balance that.
Plus, what's up with his hems? I really dug his final dress when I first saw it, but having that longer hem in the back is ill-advised, to put it mildly. It makes the model look like she's crapping out extra fabric. You could say similar things about at least three or four other looks in the show, and in a 12 item collection, that's a big chunk.
I guess that's been my biggest concern with Jeffrey throughout watching the finale — while the other three really seemed to think about the type of woman who would be wearing his/her clothes, Jeffrey was always about HIS taste and HIS vision. There's nothing wrong with a strong POV, but I think it leads him to sometimes make design choices that are adventurous and look good on paper, but don't flatter the wearer at all.
FWIW, I actually didn't find Jeffrey's collection at all "innovative" — I was actually disappointed with what he showed at Bryant Park. I honestly expected more than floaty dresses and skinny pants in neutral colors/patterns from him. I thought he played too safe. You can already see that sort of stuff in any given issue of Elle (coincidence?).
"The Beat Goes On" meets "Mystery Achievement"?
Dennis Miller's got nothin' on you! Hysterical!
Ah, the one piece I really loved - the vest! It's flattering, it's modern and it's well-executed. I know everyone raves about Marilinda's dress but the way the stripes were cut on the bra top is very amateurish.
I love the white vest and skinny pants outfit. And the green striped blazer with the skinny pants. I think Jeffrey does jackets and pants really well. He makes great separates, and he had the most diverse range.
I didn't like the grey dress, but I;ve heard from people at the show that it moved quiet well. Maybe it looks better in motion?
Finally, Marilinda is a beautiful woman. He's lucky that his model is so pretty. I'm glad she got the ELLE spread.
I agree with Tina and Candice...
The blue dress was a very badly done Uli rip-off and a bad move on Jeffrey's part... Why do a cheap knockoff of a designer you are actually competing against? He knows that Uli does that particular style of dress very well, and that's never been his asthetic, so why go there? It could have backfired on him worse than it did, IMHO.
Candice said
"You can already see that sort of stuff in any given issue of Elle "
And I couldn't agree more. I even made the remark that I felt Laura wouldn't win, no matter how many wonderful garments she made, if she didn't deliver something Nina would die to put all over Elle... so the reversal of that bears true too, since Jeffrey made the most "Elle-ish" garments, he would most likely be strongest in Nina's eyes.
I know Jeffrey had a strong POV, but at the end of the day, I keep going back to the judges' own questions... Who is the woman who would wear this? Can you design for someone other than yourself?
I honestly think the judges each judge based on their own favorite criterion...
Heidi - Does it look expensive?
I feel this is her favorite question ever...
MK - What woman is wearing this and where is she going?
Nina G - a tie between
Have we seen this before?
&
Is the taste level there?
So, looking at all 4 of the collections, who addressed all these questions the best? I guess the judges feel it was Jeffrey.
I'm still of the opinion that while yes he gave a good show, he had a lot more misses than Uli and Laura put together. (IMHO, of course)
I really despise that last green zipper ribbon candy dress. It doesnt look like a dress that any woman would wear. It was costume. happy halloween everybody...
I can't understand why everyone thinks the final dress was so well made. There's no reason why the stripes shouldn't be symmetrical on the bodice.
I didn't see innovation. I saw Jeffrey taking elements of other winning designs - Laura's babydoll dress, Uli's dresses (& braiding), Michael's hotpants. The other looks are retro which is already being done mainstream.
i agree with the boys as usual, The outfits with the skinny pants were the best. I really didn't care for the rest of it. Very H&M
"Frankly, "innovative" is a bullshit criteria for evaluating a collection because fashion is almost always variations on a theme, with true innovation being so rare (and in the end, relatively unimportant) that it's almost not worth mentioning."
Amen! You guys rock!
Sometimes, I wonder why Laura made such a big deal about Jeffrey's craftsmanship, there do seem to be some flaws on the runway...I agree with others who have said that the more they look, the less they like.
One more thing,I know this is off-topic as its not about Jeffrey's collection, but I'm not sure I'll get another opportunity to post about Jeffrey, so excuse this interruption... Much has been said about how Jeffrey and Melanie are going to be in trouble if they have a second child--where will that tattoo go? But today I had a vision of Harrison's adolescence--not only will he have these 50-something parents trying to rock out like they are 30 years younger, but Dad will be sporting that embarrassing tattoo homage everywhere! I suspect Harrison will be demanding that Dad wear very long turtlenecks!!! My advice to Jeffrey would be to invest in some laser surgery and trade the neck tat for a nice bicep homage.
...And invest in a stylist to help him with his own wardrobe to avoid the capri sweatpant getup he was wearing on the runway!!!
I was wondering when you would mention a bad model! Although all of the models who were actually featured in the show did a good job at Bryant Park, I thought more than one of the others were surprisingly awful.
I think everyone's missing exactly why Jeffrey's "Uli" dress was such a miss. The main problem (IMO) is the way the dress fits her chest. The bodice sort of billows away from her [small] chest in a balloony way that makes the top half much bigger than it should be. Maybe if the model was stacked, it might work, but my main problem with this dress is the way the chest area is mis-proportioned.
Anonymous said
"I think everyone's missing exactly why Jeffrey's "Uli" dress was such a miss. The main problem (IMO) is the way the dress fits her chest. "
No, we saw that... It was just that it was only a small part of why that dress was so bad... the puckering collar and crooked waistband were distracting enough that even if the proportions were spot-on, an amateurish mistake like that would have ruined the dress either way...
Laura's the obvious winner on this blog. But I think Uli really made a killing.
I think Jeffrey's pants outfits are the most successful looks in his collection. It's no surprise, since he's been doing skinny pants, jackets, and vests for years--no wonder he does them well. His dresses just don't impress me. I think that silver dress is almost as unflattering as the blue ones. And I just don't get why folks are so impressed with that final green striped dress. I disagree that the stripes were done in a way that flatters the body--I don't think it's a flattering look at all--Marilinda looks overwhelmed by the dress. I agree with the posters who think it looks like a costume-- she should be in a late 50's/early 60's movie, in a nightclub, with a tray of cigarettes hanging around her neck.
loveit loveit loveit.
I am in zen heaven. Leather, zippers and green lawn chair fabric. Yes,the risk taker won. As they say in ping pong, it’s all in the wrist, dahling, all in the risk.
Jeffrey aced the judges test.
Heidi: I would wear everything that you make, expensive, no?
MK: High taste level. Green is the new black.
NINA: Don’t bore me. Congrats Nina and we need more drama/babies?
Fern: Whatever you decide, I liked it. Jeffrey for the win.
The Final Four game was over when they thought JS collection was perfect. It was cherry on the cake with Sewgate. More publicity, ditch those wigs and pull another pair of leather pants out from thin air.
He won by default, karmic intervention, whatever. All four are winners. They got to show at Bryant Park. By the way Jeffrey, blue is not your color.
I agree Bean. Uli was awesome. I've liked her from the beginning, and I only really disliked one of the outfits she made (her black and white outfit).
When you really break down the outfits like this and look at them closely, it really changes your perspective. I only liked two of Jeffrey's pieces (the Marilinda dress and the white pants w/vest), and I think most of the others look awful. And I'm tired of people saying that if you don't like Jeffrey's clothes it means you aren't creative enough, or that you just don't like innovative artwork. Um, no... I just don't like clothing that looks poorly made and is unflattering.
I really hope to see Uli's stuff in stores someday soon!
Check out engrish.com today T&L fans.
Jeffrey is the feature. Also play it like a video game and you may find some TALP treasure!
you know boys, i wish you had a blog for all my fave shows.
glad we are done with jeffery. i have to say if i could turn back time i would have worn the green stripped jacket but only if i could turn back time :)
xo
sissy
"And sorry to say it, but that model was awful. She had absolutely no idea how to wear the clothes or walk on the runway".
Ja! Same thing I posted the day after the finale. She was horrible.
Except for the obvious fugly dresses, I prefer this back half to the baby doll craperooni. He really gets how to make pants & jackets. I still will never understand how this collection was raved over by the same judges who hated his "betsy ross weeps" dress. (thanks, fourfour!)
My husband thinks the green/silver fabric looks like either awning material or "she should be scooping ice cream in that." I kind of liked it....
Still think the collection as a whole sucks ass. Jay is the best thing to come out of PR ever. Will we get anyone comparable in S4?
Right on, Candice.
"There's nothing wrong with a strong POV, but I think it leads him to sometimes make design choices that are adventurous and look good on paper, but don't flatter the wearer at all."
I've tried to think about who would wear Jeffrey's clothes and I can sort of imagine a clientele...16-30, youthful, slightly edgy but with a definite femininity. But also body-conscious.
I can easily see women trying on his clothes and loving them at first glance, then saying "wait...that hem makes your butt look big" or "that lump looks like you, not the dress". That's not going to fly.
Of course, wide commercial success isn't what everyone is or should be looking for, so I'll leave it at that.
Oh, and the green zipper dress? It does look kind of cool but it also really obliterates the model's shape. Kind of like "Future Camo" for a much stripier world.
Nina and Heidi were tripping on a cocktail of pregnancy hormones. THAT'S why Jeffrey won.
Marie said...
I was wondering when you would mention a bad model! Although all of the models who were actually featured in the show did a good job at Bryant Park, I thought more than one of the others were surprisingly awful.
I was thinking the same thing. I think we all focus so much on the fashion (as we should since it IS a show about fashion design) that we often forget about the models. Though that's pretty tough to forget ("Models, this is a competition for you as well" :P) But did anyone notice more than one of those models walking down the runway like Jan Brady? You know, rocking back and forth so their hair would sort of sway back and forth behind them? It's really distracting when you're trying to focus on the clothes and all you can hear is "Here's the story, of a lovely lady..." :P
Or maybe that was just me :)
I'm surprised you didn't comment more on Marilinda's styling--I really hated her hair pulled back like that. The model wearing the striped jacket was perfect styling: hip, urbane. Marilinda's pulled back hair and odd makeup made it look like she was doing a walk of shame.
I disagree with your comments on the grey dress also--while very pretty, I thought it moved horribly--the bustline was just jumping out all over the place as the model walked.
And yes, I agree that there was more than one model who couldn't walk, although for the most part Jeffrey did a good job.
And we finally had one Season end with NO models tripping on the runway!! S1 had KaraSaun and multiple models, S2 had Daniel V....finally, all models could walk! BRAVO!
Love the pants and jackets he does. Some of the dresses are beyond fugly. Still not sure that I would have called him the winner but they didn't ask me to judge.
If Bradley had done that striped jacket & skinny pants for the icon (Cher) challenge, it may have been just right.
It's intersting to me that, for all Jeffrey's bashing of Uli's & Laura's work while speaking candidly in the "confessional", he failed miserably when he attempted to include their styles in his collection. Most people, including the PR judges, found his seemingly Laura-inspired, blue cocktail dress and Uli-inspired foral print to be, well, less than adequate. His pants, however, looked great and I wish we could have had the opportunity to see the banished shorts. (The fault for that lies totally with Jeffrey and his poor business skills.)
As opposed to Uli's & Laura's designs, most of Jeffrey's clothes come with a rapidly approaching expiration date, both in terms of style and the client's age. Buy a Laura or Uli dress and you'll be able to wear it 10 years from now. Wear one of Jeffrey's 10 years from now and you'll look about as foolish as a man in his late 30's wearing knickers and a mohawk.
Jeffrey will do well in his niche and I wish him, as well as his competition, all the luck in the world.
I guess there is something wrong with me, because I love the blue flowy dress!! It's the only thing in his collection I could see myself wearing. I agree, there are definate construction issues and it's the odd man out in his colleciton. But, I think the fabric is beautiful and the style is pretty. The slit is too high. I forget how the model walked, but when the show aired, I said "oh, that's pretty" when she walked it down the runway. Guess I'm just out, out , out. I still love Laura the best.
Great jackets. Anyone can make a skinny pant; no mad skillz there.
The rest was a joke.
Chgo_John said...
"...most of Jeffrey's clothes come with a rapidly approaching expiration date, both in terms of style and the client's age...Wear one of Jeffrey's 10 years from now and you'll look about as foolish as a man in his late 30's wearing knickers and a mohawk."
**********
You said it!
My little nephew wore a mohawk when he was 3 years old. He graduated this year from high school.
I have about 8 pair of skinny jean-type pants in my closet of which only one pair is leather. I just need to put a couple of holes in them to make them look the same as Jeffrey's.
I have a ski jacket that has two zippers on the bottom like Jeffrey's and it has 2 more on the collar into which I can zip stuff into the narrow pockets like cash and a detachable windbreaker hood.
I had the uni-suspender jumper when I was in high school but it wasn't tied, it was latched like an overall. I'm 50+ years old now.
My grandmother wore a dress/apron ensemble something like that deconstructed red dress nearly everyday of her life. Eventually it had strings hanging off it too.
Nothing Laura did could possibly make a person look as old as that swimsuit of his. The bottom part comes ABOVE her bellybutton. Talk about granny-panty. Does Michael K think that is demure? Really? Liar.
Using a zipper for piping is different but that is the only really different thing the kid did.
He should have been auffed for making the two girls in blue look fat. Alison was.
I could write a very loooong entry with everything I think about this collection. But I'll resume with a 5 letter word: P-H-O-N-Y.
Ok, I did like the vest combo. That's it.
The striped stuff, not only is a carbon copy of other 2 designers, but it looks like Miss Oompa-Loompa circa 1986.
Jay McCarroll ~ Good Willy Wonka.
Jeffrey Sebelia ~ Bad Wolly Wonka.
Almost everything in Jeffrey's collection looks like a rip off of another designer's.
Uli was robbed.
I thought the striped jacket outfit was perfectly fine for something you would pull together from your closet but on the runway I found it prety uninteresting.
That final dress was beautiful but I'm not quite sure I understand why it is so exciting to use zippers as trim. If the zippers could actually be used to transform the shape of the dress then, yes, that would be exciting.
You can not tell me that the same person who sewed the "Uli" dress in Jeffrey's collection sewed the zipper-trimmed dress.
On the first the craftsmanship was non-existant; a horror show. The simple bands are puckered and uneven right in the front where everyone looks first.
The other, that included a fairly difficult sewing technique (the application of the zippers as piping) was very well done. Anyone who can do the latter can do the former with their eyes closed.
I wonder if Tim Gunn has his eyes closed when he looked over those pieces...
The silvery gray "ugly pretty" one probably looks pretty on a hanger. It does have a fluffy prettiness to it. But on a real person? It's not as in your face bad as the blue one, but come on, that model is gorgeous and the dress makes even her look lumpy!
I was kind of disappointed in Jeffrey's show. I really didn't think the zipper dress was so fantastic; clever, yes, but not that special. I did think his couture challenge dress was fantastic, and he deserved his win. I'd even almost say he should have won the recycling challenge -- and I was rooting for Michael throughout the show. But Jeffrey's collection. . . eh. The vest was kind of cool. And the uni-suspender dress might be nice in person. But I remember seeing the opening (red) dress on the dressform during Tim's visit and thinking, oh, THAT can't be for his collection?!
Winner: for me, Laura.
Her collection was the only one that made me wish I was a size 0 and had $ to spend on "fashion show" clothes.
Jeffrey - enough said.
Laura (and Uli) will win in the end -- their clothes have a broader market.
PS - LOVE you Guys!
My hope is that Jeffrey spends every last dollar of his prize manufacturing the clothes from his collection then distributing them nationwide. His fervent fans will be able to stand in the dressing room and see how those hems and bustlines and pleats and zippers and stripes actually make a woman's body look. Those same fans will then put their own clothes back on, open the dressing room door and go spend their money on something they might look good in. And Jeffrey will be about $65,000 poorer (after taxes).
Anonymous said...
I think everyone's missing exactly why Jeffrey's "Uli" dress was such a miss. The main problem (IMO) is the way the dress fits her chest. The bodice sort of billows away from her [small] chest in a balloony way that makes the top half much bigger than it should be. Maybe if the model was stacked, it might work, but my main problem with this dress is the way the chest area is mis-proportioned.
The Fashion Curmudgeon replies:
I believe that there was an additional problem also. This dress looked like it was supposed to be very sligtly empire-waisted as well. Yet the model wearing it was all legs, shorter toso, and wider-hipped than some of the other models, so that the dress actually cut across her right at HER waist and her hips billowed it out immediately below the horizontal trim. Had she been proportioned differently, i.e. longer waisted and slimmer hipped, the weight of a dress NOT settling on the model's waistline would have pulled the top down properly and the dress would not have billowed out so much either above or below the horizontal trim.
With respect, I also disagree with the PRboys about the horizontal trim being crooked, as it just looks to me like her hip action was moving it.
Many of you have just trashed Jeffrey's garments for not being well-made. I prefer to credit Laura, Uli, and Michael, all of whom picked through his clothes on the rack and exclaimed at his superior craftsmanship and complained that they were made "too well."
If Laura can say that "you don't just pull craftsmanship like that out of your ass," who are we to disagree with that judgment that the craftsmanship was so perfect?
Heck, Laura was so threatened and jealous of how well-made those clothes are that she tried to get Jeffrey kicked off for cheating. And all her back-pedaling comments notwithstanding, that was exactly the result she was going for. She saw Keith eliminated for cheating, and knew very well that Jeffrey could be eliminated for cheating if he was found to have done so. Don't kid yourselves, people. Laura disclosed a very ugly little side of herself in the heat of the competition with that monstrous knife in the back. Talk about back-stabbing. She plunged it in with full force and twisted it in a rare display of rabid competitiveness and poor sportsmanship.
Jeffrey, on the other hand, showed himself to be a true gentleman by publicly ascribing her actions to inexperience.
"Jeffrey's not innovative but he reimagines certain looks very well."
Sounds like fashion in general. You guys nailed it as usual!
I agree with most of what you guys said, except that I HATE the skinny pant in all of its forms, so none of those outfits worked for me. Also, I really want to like the green striped dress, but there's something about it that just seems off to me. Something about the proportion combined with the fabric that makes the whole thing look kind of clown-like.
Actually, I don't find the construction on the last dress at all good. Look how unmatched the cut of the upper bodice pieces are...the stripes should be mirroring eachother. The cups also look uneven in size. And the puckering on the rolled hem is appalling. Doesn't even look like anyone attempted to press it out.
that other redhead said...
"Using a zipper for piping is different but that is the only really different thing the kid did."
There's nothing at all different or new or innovative about using zippers as piping. Heck, even DOLL DESIGNERS have been doing it for years (Optic Punk ensemble from Superdoll, UK).
I don't know why the judges though Jeffrey was risk-taking or innovative. Not forward thinking at all, and based almost entirely in fad than anything that could last. His designs are also incredibly non-woman-friendly...and the Uli-knockoff had the same boob issue that most of Santino's stuff did...
This collection was just BEAUTIFUL. Even the blue dress is beautiful. I would love to have those 2 outfit with the leather pants or the dress with the vest, that could be my office attire
Why won't anyone respond to the fact that Jeffrey's striped dress is a knockoff of Libertine's dress from the Spring 2006 Olympus Fashion Week? He really, really did copy that one. And then he tries to copy Uli, then he tries to copy.......and on and on. Rehashes of other designs with his "spin" on them. Really not innovative, not interesting, not wearable, not well fitted, poor choices of fabric. He'll make a "splash" like Jay has so far - Nada. He has no staying power and really won't be able to compete.
Barf-o-rama. Jeffrey's clothes are simply not intelligent. Or sexy. Or pretty. Or stylish. They do not have flair, or personality, or presence. They suck.
Uli was robbed.
That green & white striped jacket looked exactly like the jacket Davy Jones wore when he took Marcia Brady to her prom.
--Gotham Tomato
Anonymous said...
"Why won't anyone respond to the fact that Jeffrey's striped dress is a knockoff of Libertine's dress from the Spring 2006 Olympus Fashion Week? He really, really did copy that one."
If you read the responses, I said earlier:
"The striped stuff, not only is a carbon copy of other 2 designers, but..."
Not only he copied the dress from Libertine's, he also copied that striped jacket from Balenciaga, last season's at that!
He should stick to leather jackets. That's definitely what he does best...or so it seems...
"Why won't anyone respond to the fact that Jeffrey's striped dress is a knockoff of Libertine's dress from the Spring 2006 Olympus Fashion Week?"
Oh my God. I just looked at that, and you are SO RIGHT. How could the judges say he's innovative?! Why, Ninagarcia, WHY?
I wonder how many of the over-the-top anonymous rave comments for Jeffrey's garments are sock puppets. I don't suppose the PR lads would care to track a few ISP addresses to see under whose name they're registered.
14:59:57, 14:59:58, 14:59:59,
15:00:00
OK then, Jeffrey's fifteen are up.
Now we can finally forget him and let him drift into the dustbin of fashion wannabes.
This collection totally won me over the day after the finale on the Today show where you could see the pieces up close. The detailing was WOW and that pale bluish gray dress was a total stunner.
Interesting thoughts on innovation. Naive me thought he was innovative but clearly I don't know anything about the high fashion world. If you could see me right now and what I wore to Target earlier, you would completely agree.
Sewhat said:
"14:59:57, 14:59:58, 14:59:59,
15:00:00
OK then, Jeffrey's fifteen are up.
Now we can finally forget him and let him drift into the dustbin of fashion wannabes."
I like your story, Sewhat. It just works for me.
but . . . but . . . doesn't pretty count for something? did i see pretty anywhere in that collection? anywhere? i think not.
the belle says bleeeeeeeech. ugly.
Oops, I'm sorry, I walked into the wrong room. This is clearly the room for people who hate Jeffery. My apologies.
Now can anyone help me find the room with MY friends? You know - Heidi Klum, Nina "kickass" Garcia, Diane von Fabulousberg, and Catherine Malandrino? We're going to think of ways to turn couches and lawn chairs into FABULOUS dresses....
Hmmmmm...yes, the blue dress is hideous in a way, but....if you take a closer look at the collection, it's hideous in the same way as many of the other garments, particularly in the misplaced waistline and billowy sides at the breast.
Could it be that Jeffrey is "changing the silhouette" of a woman's body? You know how the judges have near-orgasms when anyone does that.
You know, what I don't understand is why the judges were so impressed by Jeffrey designing different looks for the same woman...how, exactly, is that better than designing looks for different women? I understand going for a market, really I do, but designing strictly for *one* type of woman...wasn't that what Uli and Laura got criticized for throughout the season? Laura's collection, yes, a big chunk of it would appeal to well-heeled, sophisticated, mature (if by mature we mean, no longer in their early 20s) women going to a cocktail party or to the Met, etc. The judges thought that was too limited -- fair enough. (I adored all her stuff, but I understand the judges' thinking here). But Uli? She designed outfits that a variety of women would look and feel great in, that would be appropriate in many different settings. In what way is Jeffrey's "line of clothing for a slightly fashion-challenged young (probably very young) woman who cares more about making a statement (although it's often more ugly than pretty) than she does about looking her best and feeling comfortable" better? I don't get it.
I didn't begrudge Jeffrey his win at the time, and I *did* actually like a couple of his outfits (I thought the green-striped stuff was great) but the more I look at most of his designs, the less I like them. It's the exact opposite with Uli's collection. I now think the judges made the wrong decision. I think Uli's designs are far better, and would have a wider market as well.
theycallmelilsteph said...
The fashion curmudgeon said...
"Jeffrey, on the other hand, showed himself to be a true gentleman by publicly ascribing her actions to inexperience."
Oh hi Jeffrey, didn't think I'd see you hanging out here.
8:25 PM
Why is it that you would think that anything positive about Jeffrey has to be posted by him? No, I am not him.
Laura, by trashing internationally famous designer Jeffrey's professional reputation to third parties without even personally knowing what the level of his sewing skills were outside of the prior elimination challenge time contraints and without even bothering to just ask him to verify the facts first, could possibly have committed actionable slander under New York State law.
And while the Bravo contract Keith recently published indicates that contestants sign away all rights to sue the show, producers, etc. for defamation, that contract would not protect the contestant from a defamation suit by a fellow contestant.
Moreover, Laura's most recent OutZone.com blog indicates that she knew they were "making TV" and thus also knew at the time that her [inflammatory] comments, if edited into the final cut of the show, would be broadcast across the entire nation (and possibly internationally as well).
What she did was incredibly stupid. Her blog appears to be trying to do some post-hoc butt covering by laying the groundwork for a possible defense that that was her honest opinion based on the facts as she knew them at the time. However, since she didn't bother to verify the accuracy of the facts regarding the level of his craftsmanship outside of PR, had no personal knowledge of whether Jeffrey had outsourced work in a manner not permitted by the PR rules, and only questioned Jeffrey afterwards to hear his perfectly reasonable explanation for why those jeans were so well-executed, it is questionable, IMO, whether she can excuse her behavior in this manner after the fact.
Laura is quite lucky that Jeffrey chooses to be a true gentleman and good sport by ascribing her behavior to inexperience. It demonstrates extraordinary good sense and maturity on his part, and I admire him greatly for it.
And, yeah, anonymous -- one of the anonymouses -- I checked out the Libertine dress you mentioned and you are 100% correct -- they are startlingly similar (the Libertine dress, though, is much more flattering. That is a hot dress!)
I don't know how the ALL the judges missed that. I mean, even if Jeffrey didn't intentionally copy it, still, it realy does look like an inferior knockoff.
fashion curmudgeon:
Wait. Are you criticizing Laura for not verifying the facts before she asked others to verify the facts?
How is Laura supposed to research Jeffrey's skills? When would she have time? She saw his collection a few days before the show. It was markedly different in skill level from his Project Runway efforts. Yes, of course that can be explained by better equipment and more time. Laura, however, did the same meticulous work on her outfits during the show as she did making her collection. From her (new to the fashion world) perspective, it seemed like an unrealistic improvement on Jeffrey's part. She was wrong, but that doesn't make her an idiot for questioning Jeffrey, nor does it make her a monster for voicing her concerns.
xanthia said...
"You know, what I don't understand is why the judges were so impressed by Jeffrey designing different looks for the same woman...how, exactly, is that better than designing looks for different women?"
I think that the judges are trying to communicate what goes into making a "good" collection from the Fashion World's perspective.
In season 1, we learned about the importance of the order of the looks as they come down the runway, makeup, shoes, and accessories. Season 2's last minute 13th look was about having a "unifying" look in the collection.
Last year in particular, we heard Michael Kors complain that Chloe just didn't know how to put a show together. But, the judges have never actually come out and told us what the criteria are for a successful, unified runway show.
This season, we've heard about point of view, diversity, range, fit, lines, cohesiveness of the entire look, etc. We learned about one sheets and how to give the five second, three-word summary about the designer's particular looks. Tim Gunn said something about how all of the garments are supposed to look like they would come from the same woman's closet.
It could be that the message is not about designing for many different women, but rather is about how to properly communicate the designer's particular "look." The notion that the garments are supposed to look like they would all be in the same woman's closet may be designer-speak shorthand for "in twelve looks, you've just got to boil it down to the essence of who you are as a designer, and it should be a very focused point of view, incorporated into several different kinds of garments."
I'd be interested in hearing from others about what the real criteria are here.
And Jeffrey is the one who threw the 4 year old fit and that finally got Keith kicked off. We are soooo over that and boy are we soooo over the Laura thing. Jeffrey ain't suing cause he ain't got a case. I was married to a lawyer and I call him with these questions. He just laughed at the whole idea.
We are ready to move on to the real problem - the judges.
Anonymous said...
fashion curmudgeon:
Wait. Are you criticizing Laura for not verifying the facts before she asked others to verify the facts?
How is Laura supposed to research Jeffrey's skills? When would she have time? She saw his collection a few days before the show. It was markedly different in skill level from his Project Runway efforts. Yes, of course that can be explained by better equipment and more time. Laura, however, did the same meticulous work on her outfits during the show as she did making her collection. From her (new to the fashion world) perspective, it seemed like an unrealistic improvement on Jeffrey's part. She was wrong, but that doesn't make her an idiot for questioning Jeffrey, nor does it make her a monster for voicing her concerns.
11:37 PM
Not exactly. Laura did more than just ask others to verify the facts. She also filmed a segment, knowing that it may well be broadcast nationally, saying, with regard to Jeffrey, that "you don't just pull craftsmanship like that out of your ass." There was also some commentary while the three designers were pawing through his collection about how he couldn't have done that stuff (i.e., comments to third parties), and her comments to Tim might also have crossed over from questions to accusations.
And as far as when did she have the time to research Jeffrey's skills? She certainly had the time right then and there. In fact, she was filmed questioning him about them AFTER she had made her charge to Tim and instigated an investigation by the producers. So, it wasn't a question of whether Laura had the time to investigate by questioning Jeffrey directly (she clearly did), but of her judgment in questioning him after, rather than before, she leveled charges affecting his professional reputation.
As well, she was filmed saying so, if I had just come to you first and shared my concern with you, I would have found out all this stuff about why you could whip out such well-constructed garments and we would not have had to go through all this, right? That segment clearly communicated that she realized that she had started something without having gotten all the facts first, and,mostsignificantly, that the facts were readily available to her prior to her leveling her charges against Jeffrey (had she merely questioned him earlier).
Moreover, she was well aware that she was new to the fashion world and presumably also well aware that Jeffrey was an internationally established fashion designer. The mere fact that she operated at the same speed and level of quality throughout the project runway challenges doesn't mean it is reasonable for her, a complete novice in the industry, to assume that others with far greater professional experience operate exactly the same way. To the extent that the law focuses on "reckless disregard of the facts," Laura could possibly be vulnerable for not educating herself about Jeffrey's ability to execute high-quality garments using all the specialized equipment (himself) in his mini-factory in California before making statements that can be taken as impugning his integrity and professional reputation. And the core of what she did was to question his integrity. Jeffrey certainly viewed her as having done exactly that, and said so.
It is a stunning leap from knowing that a designer has professional equipment at his or her disposal to the conclusion that the designer had others operate the machinery to do the work for him/her rather than just doing the work by him/herself on that machinery. What on earth would be the good faith basis for jumping to that conclusion? It is one thing to say that you had the Encyclopedia Britannica right on the shelf as a resource when writing a paper, and another thing altogether to leap to the unsubstantiated conclusion that somebody else read it for you and wrote the paper for you.
I do see her actions as partly competitiveness run amok and inexperience. However, professional reputations and integrity are taken quite seriously in the law, and those who impugn another's reputation can get into very serious trouble.
If Laura is going to continue to express her negative opinions about other people's work and ethics to anyone other than them (i.e., to third parties), she might want to hire a good defamation lawyer and acquaint herself with exactly what she can and cannot say without exposing herself to liability.
She was lucky this time that Jeffrey chose not to make an issue about it. It should be a wake-up call for her.
"Could it be that Jeffrey is "changing the silhouette" of a woman's body?"
vs.
"We're going to think of ways to turn couches and lawn chairs into FABULOUS dresses...."
* * *
A-Ha! Here we have the crux of the problem. Jeffrey's clothes are all so plug-ugly and make women look so weird because he's *really* designing for couches and lawn chairs, rather than the human body! How *incredibly* innovative!!!
Gigi said...
I know everyone raves about Marilinda's dress but the way the stripes were cut on the bra top is very amateurish.
1:20 PM
Look again. That was actually a very skillful job of fully matching the stripes in the center to the stripes on the next bodice piece down. The bra top had to be just a tad off-center side-to-side to achieve that up-and-down matched stripe effect. It was a deliberate construction choice, not an amateurish mistake.
the cur' said...
>>Look again. That was actually a very skillful job of fully matching the stripes in the center to the stripes on the next bodice piece down. The bra top had to be just a tad off-center side-to-side to achieve that up-and-down matched stripe effect. It was a deliberate construction choice, not an amateurish mistake.<<
I took a look on Sparklies nearly-life-sized pictures and you would have an argument if you were right but THE STRIPES DON'T MATCH. I did a better job matching stripes in high school.
Again you astute guys said it better than me. Peanut's fugly collection stood out from the others' because it was risky.
Using that logic, Marilyn Manson's getup makes him stand out from other rockers: Does that make him the better singer?
Anonynous 1:04 am:
Thank you, Keith's lawyer, for giving us a preview of the complaint you will be filing on behalf of Jeffrey Sebelia.
I need to review a transcript of the show to find out where Laura made statements she knew to be false. I always thought that was one of the requirements for a libel suit. (I also recall the ezine piece that implied Jeffrey's mum told Laura's mum something that gave rise to Laura's suspicions about outsourcing. In other words, "BRING IT ON" -- let's engage in full factfinding. Really. How silly is this whole lawsuit thing.)
that other redhead said...
"We are ready to move on to the real problem - the judges. "
Amen to that!
Re: Jeffrey's Libertine knock-off bodice stripes. The point is not that the stripes should have matched the next lower piece - they couldn't have. The point is that they should have been carefully cut to be the mirror image of each other. In a dress so clearly dependent on the geometric effect of the stripes, this was either an amateurish mistake or a time-crunch oversight.
For god's sake....stick a fork in it. It's DONE! Let's move on to some good old fashioned fun. Let's start ragging and ripping on the judges. It's a game the whole family can play.
I am more than a little bored by the never ending sermonizing of some of the Jeffery fans. The diatribes about St. Jeffery are not going to change anyone's mind at this point and your psuedo-legal expertise is tedious at best.
In case you didn't notice, your boy won.
Are you so hyper-defensive because on re-examination even YOU can see that the judging this season was somewhat wacky?
I ,for one, think it is pretty gutless of all of the "anonymous " posters to not have enough courage of their own convictions to pick a name and put it on their postings.
Give it a rest, you are sucking all of the helium out of this delightful site.
"It's only fashion"
So, first it's the arts attorneys posing a warning to Laura on a blog. Oh, that's good.
Then, its:
*******************
The Fashion Curmudgeon said...
Laura, by trashing internationally famous designer Jeffrey's professional reputation to third parties..."
********************
Internationally Famous Designer? Oh really? Then what the hell was he doing on Project Runway?
I really wish Bravo would decide who the contestants should be and would communicate that to everyone.
A contest for "internationally famous designers" needing a boost for their existing business? Or, a contest for brand new designers without a factory of machines and Guatemalan workers to draw from for the finale.
Yes, whoever said it earlier is right -- stick a fork in it, it's done.
Guys, enough.
I think that most who post anonymously just don't feel like registering. Just because some post using a name doesn't make us less anonymous. Is this my real name? Do you know anything about me? (My account is shared by 5 people) Email addresses can be changed any time. The internet allows us to write anything regardless of whether we register or not. Just read and enjoy the comments. Don't let them get under your skin. It's just a TV program about people we don't even know.
Let's just have fun and enjoy the blog provided by our witty hosts.
mea culpa, ignosco
i don't think it was fair that jeffrey got to work in some wonderful workshop area., while the others had itty bitty spaces. he definitely had an edge.
"Laura is quite lucky that Jeffrey chooses to be a true gentleman and good sport by ascribing her behavior to inexperience. It demonstrates extraordinary good sense and maturity on his part, and I admire him greatly for it."
Is it Halloween or April Fools Day??
--Gotham Tomato
Anonymous said...
Re: Jeffrey's Libertine knock-off bodice stripes. The point is not that the stripes should have matched the next lower piece - they couldn't have. The point is that they should have been carefully cut to be the mirror image of each other. In a dress so clearly dependent on the geometric effect of the stripes, this was either an amateurish mistake or a time-crunch oversight.
9:27 AM
I think what we would expect to see and what Jeffrey chose to do are two different things.
You are absolutely correct that we would automatically expect to see the traditional perfect mirror image stripes on the two bodice pieces and straps. However, since Jeffrey chose to center a silver stripe on the main torso piece, the only way to make the bodice pieces mirror image would have been to have half of the center silver stripe on the inside edge of each bra piece, so that as they came together in the middle, they would form a single stripe that would then continue down on the solid piece below. A home sewer such as myself would have automatically chosen that way to do it because making mirror image bodice pieces definitely would have been my goal. Very matchy-matchy, as Michael Kors would say.
Jeffrey chose not to split the stripe above, and so did an asemetrical alignment of the bodice stripes to achieve the match of stripes. I did notice that they were not mirror image and originally thought it to be a rather shocking layout error. But after staring at it to see why such a thing was done, I realized the intentional design choice that he made.
That's why I don't view the bodice stripe thing as an amateurish mistake. Jeffrey simply chose to do the unexpected. Mind you, I haven't been a rabid Jeffrey fan at all -- far from it, in fact. But seeing this kind of surprise in his garments really woke me up to the degree of his risk-taking and innovation and I literally found myself admiring his construction choices against my will.
The question is, given that design choice, does it add to, or detract from, the garment as a whole?
To me, it actually gives the garment more of a knockout overall visual impact. Others may differ.
One last thought. The other dead giveaway that this was an intentional choice is that one inner edge of the bodice (right hand side looking at the picture) is curved outward, like a sweetheart bodice (think Kayne's Miss America dress bodice or Michael's blue couture dress). The inner edge of the other bodice piece (left-hand side looking at the picture) is cut to curve inward, like a gently rounded "v" neck. The two pieces really were intended to be quite different.
I think that's what throws everybody off. You look at it and see the stripes matched going up and down (at least until you get to the gathering on either side), yet the bodice pieces look different. Somewhat Escher-esque. The poor old brain knows that something is different here, but can't quite put it together.
You added new pics! C'est merveilleux! You guys rock.
where is this sold and i also like his couture dress. where is the couture dress sold??? someone please email me at cookiesaurous@yahoo.com
thanks :]
I like the 2 striped dresses and the grey ones. The other stuff? Eew.
Japanese inspiration? LOL.
Raffaella
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