Sunday, October 29, 2006 by
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This collection is getting shinier with each outfit. Ignoring the color and fabric choice, which is of course nigh-impossible, we still don't like this one. The proportions seem off; belt too thick, waist too high, pockets in weird places. Just not working for us on any level.
We'll say one thing, that is one striking model. They had to Zamboni the runway to clean up all the attitude she splashed around.
Whither art thou, Pam Grier? There can be no better example of the difference in Mychael's work when he has guidance, because this is nothing more than a cheap knockoff of a much finer piece he did on a much lower budget.
Good god.
We don't even know what to say about this one. Tacky, too-tight in the wrong places (hello pelvis!) and just bad, bad bad.
This isn't bad. Like every other piece in the collection, there's too much going on but we like the proportions, the belt's not bad and the styling works. It's still hooker, mind you, but it's toned-down hooker.
This is at least less offensive than the other bathing suit, but if you've got something you want the model to take off on the runway, don't give her a big honkin' bag to carry at the same time. She looks like she's fishing for her room key.
Did Kayne help him out on this collection or something? Take away a couple of elements and it's a great dress, but it's hard to see under the distracting print and the beading and the excessive shininess. And we hate to say it, but she looks like she bought that bag off the back of a truck. Maybe that's why Clarissa looks so pissed off.
There's nothing wrong with sexy or even hootchie as the focus of a collection. Like everything else in fashion, it works if it's done well and there's real thought and expression behind it. We have no doubt that Michael really thought about it, but we think he's got some growing to do before we really see what he's about. This was too young, too raw, and just not sophisticated enough. Like all four of the finalists, he's a major talent with a future ahead of him but not everyone can get it right on the first try.
[Photos: FirstView]
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This is at least less offensive than the other bathing suit, but if you've got something you want the model to take off on the runway, don't give her a big honkin' bag to carry at the same time. She looks like she's fishing for her room key.
83 comments:
In re: Pelvis bathing suit.
Man's gotta stop reading those superhero comics. All this needs is a cape.
"Good god."
Yep, my thoughts precisely. I could even hear Tim Gunn in my head saying, "Oh Jesus!".
Lordy, what happened to our Mychael née Michael?
That hoochie gold swimsuit was the absolute worst. Her "kitty" was practically hanging out. Hooker clothes, indeed!
As always, your commentary is spot on.
The comment: "They had to Zamboni the runway to clean up all the attitude she splashed around." is priceless. ROFL
PLease youre breaking my heart all over again! Now lets get to you guys hanging out at Laura's!
Excellent, guys. I agree 100%. I'm looking forward to My(i)chael's future work/collections.
The gold superwoman bathing suit is the worst look of any collection of any season, I hate to say.
I know this collection is too hootchie, but I think there's something refreshing about it. At the risk of getting to symbolic here, it always seems like the less color you wear, the classier you are (such as Laura's collection) The more color, the lower class you are. There's something f**cked up about that.
Mychael's collection and Laura's collection were polar opposites and I like them both, but I don't like one more than the other. In a way, I'd much rather wear a bright orange dress that showed people that I'm friendly and confident then an aloof dress that says "watch me ignore you".
I know that Mychael is treading a fine line between approachable and desperate, but I just wanted to throw that out there.
(BTW, this doesn't count the swimsuits, which basically say "just try and come near me, I dare you.")
Agreed. Mychael's collection was disappointing, but once he develops, he'll be worth the vote of "fan favorite."
I think he (im not typing the name because it might be wrong) outsourced his shoes *cough* Laura *cough*!
It's too bad Laura didn't poke her nose into MYchael's business and question his taste level or styling choices, like she did with Kayne, Allison, Vince, Uli, Robert, eh, just about everyone else.
Seriously, I wish Laura had used her blunt honesty on MYchael. I wonder why she held her tongue with him?
Didn;t she used to go around and critique everyone else's work. Well, MYchael needed a reality check. His collection was pure trash. Tim Gunn was the only person who was honest with him and told it like it is. It would have been even WORSE (imagine that) if Tim hadn't intervened.
I really think MYchael has been coddled. It's a shame because he has so much potential. But now he just seems so deluded about his work.
At least the girl in the gold suit doesn't have camel toe!
"This was too young, too raw, and just not sophisticated enough. Like all four of the finalists, he's a major talent with a future ahead of him but not everyone can get it right on the first try."
This is why your blog blows the competition out of the water: Your critiques are so well-thought out and they carry some heft, just like Tim Gunn's. Mychael would do well to read your thoughts and learn from them,
He also needs a new PR team, one that knows what it's doing. (And I know whereof I speak in this specialty.)
There's only one outfit, the short belted dress, that might catch my eye in a display window, but up close the shiny fabric would turn me off.
Those hootchie mama bathing suits are excrutiatingly awful. They remind me of hooker costumes in a 1980's Aaron Spelling production. All we need are the pimp outfits, and you're set.
I still have high hopes for our Mychael though, and will be following his professional growth with interest.
Eeeeek. Can you say camel toe?
Lisette, you crack me up. Camel Toe! What a hoot. But so true. I've been calling them hooker lips.
This link gave me a refresher definition! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cameltoe
LOL, lisette.
The whole street safari thing is just way too hoochie. the model in the white swimsuit looked so uncomfortable--and look at her boobs! they look so saggy in that suit. I think I liked Michael's work better than Mychaels. *sigh*
Mychael with a "WHY????"... exactly!
he's a sad flash in the pop culture pan...
PS he's NOT THAT YOUNG...
"...he's a major talent with a future ahead of him but not everyone can get it right on the first try."
The new Mychael might not get a second chance try. Let's put our crystal balls back in the closet and just wait and see if he is even around next year. These people are not real designers, they just play them on TV.
It's interesting that Michael and Jeffrey both tried to do "Uli" dresses and failed miserably at it...
"Good God" is right.
As always, you guys are spot on.
Like everybody else, Michael is on a life journey. He'll change and grow and it will be interesting to watch his talents flourish. Even if he stays a hoochie-man, he'll do fine with the Hoochies of the world.
I don't think it's the colors making the collection seem cheap. Making the too-tight hot pink jumpsuit in black or ecru will not class it up one bit.
I think Michael thought his assignment was to dress Destiny's Child. Cause that's what he did.
I think this collection answers the lingering questions about Mi(y)chael's sexuality. I don't know any gay man that would take a size 2 model and send her down the runway in a gold lame bathing suit that makes her look like a linebacker.
Y'know, if Mychael had made small adjustments in clothing, I think they would have been smashing: see each garment just a little looser, a little longer, a little less shiny (imagine the orange safari dress in orange linen or dupioni silk), a little less decorated. Then his collection would have appealed to a really broad audience. Michael has a great future if he cares to market to the broader audience. On the other hand, designers like Roberto Cavalli do totally OTT clothing all the time (actually, Cavalli backed it off a little for Spring 2007, but not much) and they do just fine.
Michael's got a great future, I'm just glad that I didn't put real money on him to win.
I have to tell you something - this blog is the very first time I realized that was a belt. I thought it was a too-high top and some too-high shorts with a band of nondescript model-skin in the middle.
For God's sake.
LOVED the Zamboni model. If nothing else, some *fierce* models got a shot here. They really didn't use many from the PRW season, did they?
Anne
I forgot something.
You know what I don't like about that gold bathing suit? Well, I mean, everything, but what I *really* object to is that it makes the model look so WEIRD! Click and make that picture bigger, and you'll see what I mean - she looks completely out of proportion and wacky.
Anne
I suspect Mi(Y)chael outsourced the design of his collection to Flava Flav. Just call it a gut feeling...
Captain-Save-A-Ho turned into Captain-Make-A-Ho. For a minute there, I thought I was watching a 50 cent video.
Oh, and L'il Kim called. She wants her camel toe back.
Wow, harsh boys, harsh. But not off the mark. The beauty of the other three collections is that any woman could find an outfit she would be happy to wear. Maybe not every single look, but at least a few from each show. This is absolutely not the case with Mychael's collection. Even if a woman is a size 2 and works in the music industry, would she really want to show that much skin and wear those colors and fabrics? Yeeech.
That's Mychael with a "Y", not Michael with an "I" 'cause Mychael with a "Y" shows "Ho" not who.
...something like that - sounded beter in my head but I couldn't get it quite right.
What's next Uli wih a double "L"? Geoffrey Sebelia?
At first I thought well, he's young, he'll have time to mature as a designer. But now I'm not so sure -- he's really not actually that young. Austin from S1 was far younger and, IMO, much more talented. I don't know if Mychael really has enough talent to become a major (or minor) designer. I adore Mychael, but I abhor his clothes.
All of this crap has been done to death, but the swimsuits were so Frederick's of Hollywood, 1982. I know, I worked there.
"I know this collection is too hootchie, but I think there's something refreshing about it. At the risk of getting to symbolic here, it always seems like the less color you wear, the classier you are (such as Laura's collection) The more color, the lower class you are. There's something f**cked up about that. "
I completely disagree. Uli uses color wildly, but is isn't tight, short, shiny and sheer.
Color alone isn't hootchie. It's when it's combined with the other elements listed above and little restraint is used that the stuff starts to look slutty.
It does however, as Tim Gunn advised, all look like it's hanging in the closet of the same woman. Unfortunately, that woman is a call girl.
Sadly, your evaluation of Michael's collection was absolutely correct. On PR, Michael showed that he could intuitively reach for that high taste level (until the last challenge, anyway). Yet he was completely missing that gut instinct for the higher taste level in this collection.
He is talented enough to have made adjustments had he understood how cheap some of the outfits were going to look. It really depends on where he is going from here -- to the mass market, or to higher end one-of-a kind outfits. I hope he chooses the higher taste level. It would be such a shame to waste his incredible talent on lesser clothes.
I like Michael. I understand that the producers assign personalities and develope plots around those story lines but they can't polish a turd and they can't make a nice guy out of Michael unless he gives them enough footage to back it up.
Yes, yes, I am sure he watches porn and spends time in tittie bars regardless of his sexuality (there are many establishments with a "lady's room" if that's the way he swings) because, well he has testosterone and EVERY man I know indulges so I give him a pass. Eventually he will learn discretion and keep that kind of thing more private.
As for his sexuality I don't really care. Why do we need to know? We don't. But women are much more intimate with their gay men friends that they would be with a straight man. I can imagine there is a bouquet of gays wondering if they have a chance in hell with Michael and whether flirting with him will get them a phone number or a shiner. Women want to know for the same reason. Will flirting be appreciated or will they be coldly ignored? There's a crowd growing at the Hallmark store because no one can pick a card.
The duplicity concerns me. Is he making it up as he rolls alone or is he getting bad advice? He needs to pull up the breaks right now and assess the situation. People who were confused by him are becoming suspicious of him because it's too easy to break his story. Heck, with Google you can find his name spelled with an "i" in articles in Atlanta Style, Art Institute of Atlanta Newsletter, Black Men's Swimsuit Issue and Aol Black Voices just to name a reputable few. He never corrected these publications because????
Who you gonna trust? Michael Knight, Mychael Knight, Myke Stereo, RKO Joe or TV Stevie? Pick a name and live with it. The Smoking Gun is going to dig up the documentation eventually so Michael should be careful of what he puts out there. The potential is there for really looking silly.
I don't know any woman who wants her personal business put out on the gossip circuit and God Forbid it ever make it's way into print. I have scars on my skinny body that are nobody's business. Who wants their weight, their measurements, their scarstheir radiology tattoos or their nips and tucks discussed by anyone other than her doctors and maybe her SigOther?
Trust is important. I don't care which way you swing as my designer but I care a lot about how you handle my secrets.
I'm of mixed feelings about Mychael's collection. It wasn't for me, but I'm a suburban white girl. Perhaps Mychael's friends were yawning while Laura's models went down the runway. Just as Laura admitted in an interview that she made a conscious decision to aim her collection toward a particular woman and a particular aesthetic (even though it wasn't necesarily "fashion"), maybe Mychael made that choice too. The only thing that seems odd is that (a) on the front page of his website he's wearing a tweed suit - not in line with anything he sent down the runway, and (b) I think he thinks that what he made is fashion, in the haughty way that those in that circle mean it. It's not like he's come out and said, "Look, I want to dress sexy women for music videos." If he had, then perhaps we would be saying that he nailed it.
I would love for him to take some sort of an internship at a design company in order to mature a little bit, but I doubt that will happen at this point.
Rachel
I totally disagree with many of the opinions expressed here about Michael's show.
There is an entire urban market out there, filled with people who enjoy color, wild patterns, entertaining designers, and fun!
Kimora Lee Simmons, Jay-Z, et. al are millionaire designers for a reason. Fashion caters to more than just Park Avenue WASPs these days.
Moreover, Michael is still in his 20s and that is far younger than the thirty and forty-something designers he competed against.
His name will be remembered and he is truly going to be the next great American fashion designer. ROWR, indeed!
I'm worried for Michael/Mychael. Like everyone else, I thought his collection was awful and so disappointing! He has a short window of opporunity here to take his career to the next level before his 15 min are up, and he seems to be wasting his potential on foolishness and silliness.
He doesn't have one distinct specialty area that can showcase his expertise. Uli has her colorful pattern dresses. Jeffrey has his custom-made leather pants and jackets. Laura has her elegant eveningwear dresses. But what is Michael/Mychael's niche in that hip hop market?
He doesn't seem to have his own voice or strong POV, unless it's cheap shiny fabric and hoochie cootie cuts.
I wish he could take Tim's advice and find a mentor to work under for a few years. Perhaps Michael Kors? This young man needs direction so he can realize his potential.
Oh, I don't know, I think my (mumble mumble) year old body would look totally hot in any of these numbers!
Bwwwahahahahahaha!!!
Sorry, I tried to keep a straight face.
This collection really pained me. If My/Michael had come out with a half-way decent collection, he would have won. I really believe the judges wanted to support him all the way.
However, there is money to be made with the clothes he showed. If this is his niche, he can make oodles of money.
The sad thing is that I believe My/Michael could be someone with a timeless presence in the design world. I'm not sure that he'll take that road but I wish him the best regardless. Still love him as a person!
On a slightly different note than everyone else...
I love the first model's skin tone with that dress. I love that model's skin tone in general, wow. So dark, so pretty!!
I think as Michael Coors said. Michael will be a great sports designer for both men and women. I bet Michael Jordan will pick him up and put him under his wings - rumor has it they are already talking.
B.
TCA peel
Headlight Restoration
When I saw the gold-and-zebra bathing suit, all i could think of was a Bond girl from the 70's. And not in a good way.
It's too bad Mi/ychael did not receive any constructive criticism from anyone other than Tim Gunn. He really needs it. The judges seem to handle him with kid gloves. Even Laura isn't her usual outspoken self with him.
I think it's because he's such a nice guy, they don't want to hurt his feelings. They're afraid to tell him the truth. Too bad.
Dear Mi/ychael, I adore you so I'll be blunt: your collection sucked. It was trashy, hoochie, cheap, tasteless, badly constructed, unflattering and demeaning to women.
I agree it was all stuff a hooker would wear. Or some soft porn star. Do you really want to design slutty clothes for playboy bunnies and gangsta rap background dancers?
Oh, and the name thing: Michael, Mychael, Myke Stereo nonsense... it's really stupid.
Please, stop it. You're better than this.
Did anyone else see the reality show on Sci-Fi that was a contest to be Stan Lee's next superhero? The gold bathing suit looks exactly like the costume for Monkey Girl.
The sad thing about the shiny bathing suit is that you could check your look in the boobs.
Erica
Remember in the episode where Kayne got kicked off and Mychael was trying to help him? He told Kayne that his dress looked like a "working girl"?
Oh Mychael why? Why did you go so, so...hookeriffic? He can do sexy, but he can also do clean and sophisticated. That's why I liked him.
I know him as Michael, so Michael he shall be!
Michael's collection is not HIP HOP. There is nothing hip hop about any of the garments whatsoever. You may see some of the music video "performers" wearing these garments, but that does not qualify them as being hip hop.
I can't believe any self-respecting woman, whether she is a fan of hip hop or not, would wear any of the clothes in Michael's collection as is.
And by the way, I really like Michael and it pains me to criticize him in any way. =(
Yeah...I came back to read your crit on Mi/ychael's show, and still flinch.
But I also agree with some threads that run through the comments (and did as well before in other postings on Miychael) that adds up to something is a bit "off" in the whole PR Mychael story. He just couldn't go that off so fast. The producers get the idea of someone during a show and know if he can pull it off or not. There was no reason for 4 in the end.
So in this PR experiment, I think Mychael is still the only one to wind up as more "damaged goods" than potential anything. And that should have been more carefully thought through by the judges and producers. He just wasn't ready with that last competition.
Pity.
I agree. It should have been a Final 3 with Uli, Jeffrey and Laura. There was no point to add Mi/ychael just because he was a "fan favorite". It should be based on design talent - not personality.
My/ichael's collection was by far the most inferior. I just can't think of anything positive to say about it. It's a shame because he's such a nice young man, and his mother is a lovely kind woman, but his collection was so appalling. I'm still in shock. It's just so vulgar!
I agree that Michael might be getting bad advice from others about what clothing looks good. I'm sure that there are people willing to tell him that anything he makes looks really good, or hot, because they want to encourage him and not hurt his feelings.
But Michael is sorely in need of a really respectable mentor to refine his "taste level." Even if trashy or hoochie is really the look he prefers, it is possible to take it up several notches to really classy trash. Like Dolly Parton's famous quote," It takes a lot of money to look this cheap." Although she was referring mostly to her plastic surgeries, clothing is definitely a factor. There is high-class trashy-glam, and there is just trash.
I sincerely hope this very talented designer gets a mentor who focuses directly on the "high class" part. This is where he needs firm direction and guidance. Even Kayne had trashy glam down pat and makes a fortune at it. If this is what Michael strives for rather than true couture stuff, he still needs direction to "make it work."
The final challenge was supposed to be a preview of what we could expect at OFW and I have to say this---Michael gave them a true example of what he brought to Bryant Park. I blame the judges for failing to pickup on it and caution Michael.
"...something is a bit "off" in the whole PR Mychael story. He just couldn't go that off so fast. The producers get the idea of someone during a show and know if he can pull it off or not. There was no reason for 4 in the end."
Except he was the crowd favorite. We would have roared our disapproval if Michael was auf'd and Jeffrey stayed, though you make an excellent point. Had Michael not shown at Bryant Park, we would have always wondered. Now we know.
I still have hopes for our golden boy, no pun intended. If he's smart, he'll take these critiques to heart and seriously think about the direction he's taking.
Best piece of free advice I can give you, Mychael: in marketing your collection, you need to brand yourself. You'll have to settle on one first and last name and one logo, and not go all over the place.
Scenario one: Michael is straight and a male chauvinist who thinks women should be in skimpy, trashy clothes.
Scenario two: Mychael is gay but so conflicted that he is confused--even about fashion.
Scenario three: Michael loves the flashy trashy shiny look. "I'm from the South."
Scenario four: Mychael is trying to hide his gayosity by designing what he thinks a straight man would.
Scenario five: The darlin' boy, the fan favorite, is simply not as talented as everyone thought. Sometimes nice guys DO finish last.
It seems to me that Mychael always did better with constraints put on him. He needs guidance because the minute the challenges got vague, that's where he seemed to flounder.
Just think back to the challenges. The challenges he won, he was either designing for someone who already had a defined style (pam grier) or he was using a pre-defined material list (recycling challenge) and even in his interview, he brought clothing that he made while following the challenges of previous seasons.
I think Mychael will follow the critiques of those around him. Living on Atlanta's doorstep myself, I can only imagine they style of opinion he was receiving.
Mychael needs to work for another designer for a while, or needs to surround himself with people with impeccable taste and unwavering opinions.
I propose a sixth scenario: not as "nice" as everyone thought. That's why this crowd's growing ugly-- we saw a few of Michael's good qualities, then embellished madly-- crediting him with virtues that he never really possessed.
Totally agree. But on "Mychael": someone at BPR said he did that only because michaelknight.com was already taken (Don't Hassle the Hoff?). Alas, the "y" is a fitting question for the collection.
The worrisome thing about the boy is that his interviews suggest he really hasn't learned anything. Loved his collection, loved the couture dress. Wow. The boy needs to move in with Tim Gunn for like, a year, and then he could be let loose on the fashion world.
I tend to agree with Jinxy. He needs to find a way to put limitation on himself, left to his own devices he was kinda skanky taste-wise. I think he has some talent but he needs the seasoning that comes with more experience. I really liked the yellow and orange "slap the photographers" dress. Yes, INC is a mass market line but imagine Michael's "sexy, sultry,..." Whatever the third S was with their buttoned up sec'ty. Could be hot and presentable!I could envision a rash of office romances breaking out!
Anybody up for a write in campaign to get this guy an internship at INC.
The "sixth scenario" is easily applied to the others as well, specifically Jeffrey. The difference is they pulled off something.
All those scenarios mentioned earlier just recalled for me how divided Michael / Mychael always was, and that he expressed this in his own voice.
Whenever he would speak of his PR competitions and later collection, there was "on stage" talk, in that kind of general, blahblah, "confident bravado"-soundbyte speak that some think designers need to use.
Then in each competition and the final runway, when he discussed his work with the judges, he seemed to think quietly, carefully, as if for the first time able to really speak, and find just those specific points in a few words which quickly articulated the concept, or at least his issues. That is what made his path attractive to me, he showed the act of creativity linked to growing, maturing, thinking.
But in this last runway show the divide was too wide. All the "ooohhh" bravado was there, at volume "11", but then afterwards, in the judging, he seemed like the old Michael, calm as if relieved to actually say a few things about his overall situation (no prompting needed), which was about being suddenly confronted over the time of the PR show with the issue of identity.
So the Mychael collection was fascinating because it offers to hold up a mirror onto the PR process and designers as well. It will never happen again - the fan favorite, deservingly so, yet being so "off the mark" in the end as to be inappropriate...
All that just seems it's as if he couldn't help himself from signalling there's a fight going on within, between the actual, 3d person Mychael and the character of Mychael.
The question is the path that brings those two back into a productive dialog again. And Tim is right, it requires a third position to be in discussion, a mentor - but one who understands what going through PR does to someone!
I agree it is a reflection on Project Runway. I think Mychael was maybe truly hoping to have been auf'd on the last competition. He deserved to be. He had choked under the pressure. It was like something was alreay in him to lose. Leaving as the fan favorite after blowing it then, would have been perfect for him, and the judges would have been valid for making tough decisions that follow rules, rather than all that "bringing back Vincent and Angela" stuff.
And I agree the PR judges or producers MUST have known Mychael long enough to know what was his trajectory so far and if he had it in him to do the final runway. If not, then just what is their role exactly...
Laura, Please for the sake of all things holy...Adopt this poor guy and teach him about sophistication and class. What the hell, you've got 5.95 kids already. Just throw him on the pile with the others.
Anonymous wrote: "The worrisome thing about the boy is that his interviews suggest he really hasn't learned anything. Loved his collection, loved the couture dress. Wow. The boy needs to move in with Tim Gunn for like, a year, and then he could be let loose on the fashion world."
*******************
This is certainly the venue to air your opinions and criticize or applaud the designers. But please, resist the temptation to call My/Michael "boy" -- that has very negative overtones. We don't need to go there.
I still adore My/Michael. Think of how he behaved throughout the series. When Uli took his model, he could have been an ass and stolen Jeffrey or Laura's model. That would have played with their heads as much as Uli's taking his muse played with his head. He could have raged around the sewing room all two days wailing about losing his model. He didn't. He remained a gentleman throughout. Love My/Michael!
That being said, I do wish he would slow down and find a great design house to work for -- one that would broaden his range, not limit it.
I know this maybe doesnt fit but I want to just say, I can't imagine looking at his family environment around him in his house, his mother especially, and that fashion he went for. That really doesnt match.
Take a closer look to the last picture. Are those red-soled shoes walking away in the white swim suit???? Louboutins????
How in the HELL did he stay $1000 under budget with Christian Louboutins? No wonder the clothes
"look" so cheap. They are! All of the money went to the shoes.
Do I smell a sample sale at work??
From the moment I saw the collection on Style.com, I thought this was "Kayne Gillespie meets Big Daddy Kane".
Anonymous said...
On a slightly different note than everyone else...
I love the first model's skin tone with that dress. I love that model's skin tone in general, wow. So dark, so pretty!!
10:39 PM
Straight out of the African prairie.
Patsystone, I doubt they're Louboutins, as I've noticed a lot of off-brands sporting knock-off red soles at cheaper shoe stores like >shudders!< Shoegasm. Either that, or they were just borrowed from the Macy's stocks, although I don't think Macy's carries Louboutin...
Anonymous upthread mentioned that PR Producers should have realized in the final challenge that Michael wasn't ready for OFW-- I think many people agree with that, but also think of how many people who were so latched onto Michael that they would outcry/not watch the show anymore because he got eleminated before OFW. Despite the fact he did produce some clunkers in the season.
"The worrisome thing about the boy is that his interviews suggest he really hasn't learned anything. Loved his collection, loved the couture dress. Wow. The boy needs to move in with Tim Gunn for like, a year, and then he could be let loose on the fashion world".
We need to remember that Project Runway was filmed at a much faster rate than we viewed it - perhaps six weeks tops. In that timeframe, you are so focussed on the challenges that you don't have a lot of time to absorb anything. So it is not surprising that he did not retain very much.
I also think it is the reason that it will take years before he is ready to be a full fledged designer in his own right. You really can't put three years of experience in a six week bag. I just hope he won't put his name on a lot of trash before he makes it big and thus cheapen his brand.
Like so many others, I wish Laura and Mychael would become business partners. They work so well together.
The designs in this collection are bad but possibly the bigger problem is how shockingly cheap the fabric looks. Uli used metalics but they looked expensive. Mychael's look like they were cut from a polyester table cloth. Why didn't he buy better fabrics? (Is it really the expensive shoes?)
And the model in the orange outfit is absolutely stunning but I question putting that belt on her. At first I thought she had a bare midriff. I'm sure it was fine in person, though.
Thanks for noticing Clarissa's attitude: I'm surprised you didn't say anything about it on the runway in front of the judges--she obviously had never heard of "put your best face forward" because she looked like she expected to be taken out and shot! I felt bad because she didn't work it rather than ramp up the attitude that Nazri, Marilinda, and Camilla bought.
I'm surprised that no one mentioned the similarities between the final dress and Mychael's final challenge dress. The keyhole is almost the same. He didn't listen to that final critique because he really didn't care. He got what he wanted, a show at OFW, and decided to use it to show the kind of clothes he intends to produce. You guys still don't get it.
Mychael, design whatever you want for whomever you want. Don't listen to us uptight white people. Fly your freak flag high.
"The designs in this collection are bad but possibly the bigger problem is how shockingly cheap the fabric looks. Uli used metalics but they looked expensive. Mychael's look like they were cut from a polyester table cloth. Why didn't he buy better fabrics? (Is it really the expensive shoes?)"
Nope. Tim Gunn said Mi/ychael was under-budget by $1000. He had money to spare. Tim was also disappointed by the cheap fabric. He said Mi/ychael should have used that extra money to buy a better quality fabric.
"I'm surprised that no one mentioned the similarities between the final dress and Mychael's final challenge dress. The keyhole is almost the same. He didn't listen to that final critique because he really didn't care. "
Exactly. He basically replicated his final challenge dress. He knew the judges hated it, but it didn't matter.
I've seen some items from Mi/ychael's "Kitty and Dick" line. It's obvious that these are the type of clothes he wants to produce.
Hey lauraandmichael:
I made the comment about Michael needing to move in with Tim Gunn. I certainly did not mean to use "the boy" in a racially offensive way. Really, I was reacting to him being a sweet young man, not fullly mature, really, though I see your point, and wouldn't use it again.
As I said above, I find it troubling that after having weeks to digest the constructive criticism he received from judges and the press, he says he wouldn't have changed a thing. He thought those clothes were beautiful, and doesn't get the "trashy" label many have used. That's less mature than his on-show behavior suggested. His website claims that he's the most anticipated new designer since Zac Posen. That postively "Libretti-esque."
I too, really liked Michael and believe him talented. And it may be he ends up the richest of them all. Starting an underwear line called "Kitty and Dick" doesn't exactly convince me that his taste improved after the experience, however.
" His website claims that he's the most anticipated new designer since Zac Posen. That postively "Libretti-esque."
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LOL. That shocked me too. "Myke Stereo" is starting to sound as delusional as Vincent.
It's funny that both Mi/ychael and Vincent are coming out with a fragrance now. I suggest the name, "d'eau de bullshit".
geeeze, all that strippy strappy stuff. yuck, my michael, yuck. cupcake, you can do better than this . . .
As someone else mentioned - I did not care for the way Michael talked about women during the season. I'm at a loss as to why he got a free pass from all his "fans." Some of us older women have been working hard since the late 60s to try to point out that we are not to be viewed - as a bunch of ho's. That's not the way classy, professional people view women.
His collection reflected his warped view of women.
I am still laughing about the change of spelling. Even if someone else has his original choice for domain name, it's pretty easy to work around that - MichaelKnightFashion.com - for instance.
Barnaby54
"I did not care for the way Michael talked about women during the season. I'm at a loss as to why he got a free pass from all his "fans." Some of us older women have been working hard since the late 60s to try to point out that we are not to be viewed - as a bunch of ho's. That's not the way classy, professional people view women. "
Amen! Preach it. I agree 100%.
It set my teeth on edge every time M(Y)ichael referred to women as "ho's". I realize that it may be trendy in some circles to call women "ho's" and "bitches", but I find it degrading and disgusting.
Words have power. And when you flippantly call women "ho's", it shows an appalling lack of respect.
I'm just amazed that he's been getting a free pass to use that kind of vulgar language this entire season.
I think his skanky hoochie collection reflects his rank attitude towards women.
Very disappointing.
Well, I agree about "hos" and MyMichael but is it something about that show - the straight men that were there were all sort of... I mean, Jeffrey with his "feminazi" if not just misogynist take on the world (his son is more important than his wife, obviously, who is in turn less than his mother) and Vincent (no need to elaborate) and (sigh) MyMichael with his "Kitty and Dick" worldview emerging.
hey, I just checked out www.mychaelknight.com. Anyone else find it ironic that it is designed and maintained by "Ebrasive" technologies?
I do know that the heavy reliance on flash for fashion webpages (Michael is not the only one) is very abrasive to me.
Holla to those who pointed out that his final dress was the same dress as his final challenge, except that it didn't have the 'benefit' that he could have Clarissa leaning against a glass wall to really bring out the class.
Also, I too have problems with the use of 'ho and b!tches and whores, in church or not, but I put that down to be so far out of the hip-hop realm that Chloe's hiphop references to Michael in the Road to the Runway episode came across as authentic. ;)
As for the shoes...
Bravo had an ad last week titled "It's all about the Shoes" for Chinese Laundry. There was a note from Tim in the ad that said that shoes for the runway were furnished by arrangement with Chinese Laundry.
They resale children, current fashion and vintage fashions including shoes. Chinese Laundry has a full screen describing their participation on PR at OFW. So, tbe shoes could be Louboutin on loan.
Looks like they made some arrangement with Chinese Laundry to avoid the Kara Saun problem. You can view their website by Googling Chinese Laundry footwear.
When I saw his collection. I was embarassed for Myke. You know the feeling when you do something REAL stupid and you do it in public?
Like that, only he also did it on TV.
What I said was They resale children
What I meant was They resale Children's
Sorry Madonna. Didn't mean to get you all excited.
Can we discuss "Knight" The Fragrance? For a moment? Please?
SPOT ON BOYS. Sorry Mychael. I love you, but not the clothes. The lines are all wrong.
Wait wait wait!!
Look, I agree about the collection. It's bad. It's not flattering. It's repetitive. It's trashy and boring at the same time. Strange, strange combination, but that's what Michael managed here.
But I don't understand any of the comments about "how Michael spoke about women." When, exactly, did anyone see Michael be other than charming and courteous to his fellow contestants, both female and male, both to their faces and in camera interviews? Who was the only one to express sorrow at Angela's aufing? Who charmed all the moms and sisters? Who was referred to as a gentleman by pretty much everyone who came into contact with him during the show? Why, I do believe it was Michael. The quality, or lack thereof, of his final collection doesn't undo all of that.
I also don't see how people can take a few of Michael's flippant "whore in church" sayings as an indication of disrespect for women in general. It almost seems to me that people who are disappointed in the direction Michael's going in the fashion world are determined to rewrite the entire Project Runway season. He can design hoochie-wear and still be a kind, decent person, guys. The two are not mutually exclusive. Sheesh.
I still love you, Michael!
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