Let's review, shall we?

Wednesday, January 17, 2007 by
Before the drama and the screaming of the finale rivets us to our seats, we thought we'd take a second and look at each member of the final three's output for the competition.

First up: Wendy.


Looking at it as a whole, there's not much here that we could call bad. Sure, the first one is awful and there are aspects of almost every piece that we don't like, but for the most part, her stuff is workman-like. Her failing as a designer is that nothing really stands out as particularly good nor does anything jump out at you as a pure Wendy Pepper design. It's all kinda bleh.

Kara Saun:


This looks more like a collection. KS likes her ruffles, plunging necklines and layered hems. Much more developed sense of color, too. She seems to know when to use color to help the design along (1,2,3,8) and when to let the design do all the talking (4,5,6,7). There's also a nice range of simple classic looks alongside more complicated, structured looks. In short, Kara Saun knows what the hell she's doing.

Jay:

His work makes the strongest statement out of the three of them. At first glance, it looks less cohesive than Kara Saun's but really, that's only because he's so creative. There's still a bit of a through-line for his work. He's clearly a fan of buckles, belts and straps (as well as frillery and frippery, done Jay-style), but even though he uses more whites and blacks than the other designers, he's also got a fantastic sense of color and tends toward deconstruction with his work, although he's more than capable of turning out highly tailored pieces.

Your thoughts?

38 comments:

Vic said...

Re: Wendy's, there's not much you can call good either. Though, upon second viewing of the show, Austin's output wasn't all that outstanding either.

Jay's is by far and away the edgiest collection. Kara Saun's leaves me meh. Don't know why: Her color choices, perhaps?

Anonymous said...

Jay's body of work really wasn't as disjointed as it may have seemed, was it, now that the outfits are shown together.

Any chance we can see Austin's work this way, too?

SNF in VA

SassyGinger said...

Dear Mr. Kors and Ms. Garcia:

I don't want to hear about Laura Bennett putting plunging necklines into every garment. Look at the work Kara Saun did!

Anonymous said...

Leaving aside for a moment Wendy's bizarre behavior on the show, I think her clothes are, for the most part, truly awful. Especially when you see them stacked up against Jay and KS. A lot of Home-Ec projects (except the BR challenge winner which I don't love but at least looks professional). That first piece is an abomination.
CP

jinxy said...

I agree that Jay has the most striking body of work. I think his designs are fun and fresh. There is a variety of looks achieved, and I love that.

I think Kara's are good and a little more polished than Jay, but also a little more focused on one tone.

I think Wendy's work was very uninspired. I blame the judges on this. They never called her on this. They booted so many people for not having a clear vision, but Wendy was let through time and time again. UGH!

I would also like to see Austin's work lined up as well, but I agree with Ms. Place that Austin's work was not so great as I had previously remembered. (But at least we knew he had an actual aesthetic)

Anonymous said...

To quote, of all people, Wendy: "Jay's clothes have power." It's true. Kara Saun's are well turned-out and consistent, but the message she's selling is tired. Jay's work looks fresh, and interesting, in a way Kara's does not. And you two are spot on with respect to Wendy being workmanlike. Not really bad, just mediocre. Doesn't the duchess call her a good tailor somewhere? True enough.

Anonymous said...

Jay has the most creative pieces. Kara Saun's are gorgeous, but Jay definitely has a unique point of view.

Embeedubya said...

No comments on the clothes, really. Just love the use of "frippery." Is that the gayest word of all time? Just wondering.

BigAssBelle said...

until i watched this season, i couldn't imagine why jay won. i also thought he was an ass.

now i love jay AND his clothes and can clearly see why he's the winner.

it's delightful, really, to be proven wrong in my dotage. it's a good reminder that initial impressions can be utterly false. keeps things fresh. yea jay!!

Bean said...

i still can't believe Kevin's design beat out Jay's for the rock star outfit.

Anonymous said...

Seeing this reminded me how pretty Wendy's dress for Joy was.

Fnarf said...

Jay's picture retrospective isn't showing up for me. That's OK; I can remember it, and the fact is, his is better. Plus, while Jay understands drama, he also understands how to be genuine, and he's the only contestant on Season One that I would let through my front door, which has got to be worth something.

chicksinger said...

Jay's photo collage wasn't showing for me, either, but I was able to click on the the little box to see it full-screen.

Katie, I agree with you about Kara Saun's use of plunging necklines, but I think that the judges got on Laura's case because they wanted to make sure she wasn't just designing for herself all the time.

Crow Winters said...

As for Kara Suan not getting called out on her plunging necklines, it probably helped that her color pallete and cut were much, much wider then Laura's.

Gorgeous Things said...

Personally I liked Jay's 'collection' the best when you put all the looks next to one another. Kara's was also good. Wendy's? Well, I think I could put a better collection of looks on the runway, and that isn't saying a lot!

Anonymous said...

Jay's collection doesn't come up on my computer. There might be something wrong with the link. Could you guys reload it?

mjude said...

i had the same problem w/ jay's photos. but i clicked on the "x" & they opened up.

TLo said...

Anonymous said...

Jay's collection doesn't come up on my computer. There might be something wrong with the link. Could you guys reload it?


We tried on Firefox, IE, Safari and it worked for us. We reloaded them. Sorry about that!

T&L

Anonymous said...

I have nothing really to say about Wendy's. Even when she made something that I didn't find to be generally abhorrant (which was rare), it still didn't speak to me at all. In fact, even the terrible stuff wasn't really even terrible enough to give a good God damn about.

Kara vs. Jay. This one was very tough for me, especially as a woman with actual breasts, which Jay did not design for per se. I loved pretty much all of their stuff, I think it all came together cohesively, and I think the match-up between the two of them was pehaps the strongest seen at Bryant Park, which may be one of the reasons this is still probably my favorite season (although 3 gives it a run for its money). In the end, while I felt that Kara's stuff was very pretty, very flattering, in the end Jay's seemed to have so much more to say. I mostly agree with what you guys had to say about "innovation" possibly not really existing in fashion during Jeffgate '06, but I think Jay came damn close. Everything he made seemed to be truly original and truly and completely him. He never strayed from that. Kara was always masterful in her design, her execution, and generally in how everything came together. She absolutely knew her shit through and through, but there was something in the way of vision and expression that I can't quite describe that Jay had in spades.

Sugar said...

THE CHALLENGE WAS MAKE AN EVENING GOWN OUT OF THING FROM THE GROCERY STORE

WENDY MADE A FRIGGIN BIKINI!!!

sorry, i still think she should have been out on that challenge. at least daniel made a dress!!!

Anonymous said...

Jay = Barneys New York

Kara Saun = Rave Girl/Contempo Casuals

Wendy = Kmart/the crazy lady who lives under the train tressel

(Somehow, I feel like I just insulted Kmart.)

Anonymous said...

fergus said...

Wendy = Kmart/the crazy lady who lives under the train tressel

(Somehow, I feel like I just insulted Kmart.)

--I don't think that's possible. They're pretty much an insult all to themselves.

Anonymous said...

KaraSaunKaraSaun KaraSaun KaraSaun. I could say her name all day long because she's just that fabulous! Save for that debacle with the leather Jumbo Dumbo pants I fail to see how she didn't win Season 2. I call it the Uli conundrum!

The Dune meets Matrix outfit still floors me.The Wedding dress..flawless and latley from some of the things I've been reading in prior postings it seems like more than a few should be wearing her Envy ensemble.;) Don't get me wrong I love Jay's stuff too but I think, as with season 3, there's a tendency to exalt the more flambouyant, witty character. The angry little peanut is just Jay's straight brother in spirit. Whereas Kara is tempermentally and aesthetically an Uli/Michael Knight type.

Leto2000

Anonymous said...

I just want to say thanks to the Gay Boys for showing us all the looks togather... what a difference that makes..... oh yeah and you make me laugh out loud too!

Anonymous said...

If Laura had dressed differently, she would not have been called out on the plunging necklines. The difficulty was that she, quite often, was wearing something similar to what she had designed.
It was a poor strategy.
Kara Saun, I don't think, appeared in a plunging neckline herself.

Anonymous said...

I think that the judges saw plunging necklines ON Laura more often than they saw them FROM her. I think T&L showed a review of her work prior to the finale and there were fewer plunging necklines than you would imagine.
The judges should have been focusing on the clothing being modelled, not what the designers were wearing themselves.
I think KS did show a little skin now and then, too.

Suzanne said...

I think you were very kind to Wendy because quite frankly the only thing of hers I thought was decent was her wedding dress.

Piece for piece I think Kara Saun edged out Jay if the winner were to be decided on the episodes alone.

Anonymous said...

AHH I LOVE JAY

JAY FOR PRES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

I definitly think Jay is the most creative. Jay's clothes are also the clothes I want to wear the most. I'd wear kara saun's designs when I was older, or if I was richer. But Jay's clothes are just fun.

Unknown said...

I think Kara Saun's work is the strongest. But Jay showed up at Bryant Park!

Anonymous said...

Hold on, why does Jay have 9 looks? WP & KS have the wedding gown as #4, but for him it's 5. What's the one before that? Was that for a group thing?

DolceLorenzo said...

I love Jay's design. He is truly an artist and a very creative designer.

DolceLorenzo said...

"Anonymous said...
Hold on, why does Jay have 9 looks? WP & KS have the wedding gown as #4, but for him it's 5. What's the one before that? Was that for a group thing?
"

Jay was picked as one of the designers for the "Collaboration" challenge. Kara and Wendy worked as team members.

Anonymous said...

Oh, yeah, the team challenge. Thanks, toddny, for filling in the blank.

Anonymous said...

Like embeedubya, I'm loving the use of "frippery"-it inspires me.
When you're loaded with frippery
And the runway gets slippery
Don't get all trippery
Or you'll bust your dam zippery.

I know, very lame.

I think Jay's body of work on the show holds up really well--I don't understand why he didn't win a single challenge.

Anonymous said...

I think Jay's is definitely the strongest, although Wendy's really isn't bad, like you said. It's jsut not good.

By the way, PRGayBoys, are you going to be blogging season 2 right away after season 1 or are you taking a break first?

TLo said...

Anonymous said...

I think Jay's is definitely the strongest, although Wendy's really isn't bad, like you said. It's jsut not good.

By the way, PRGayBoys, are you going to be blogging season 2 right away after season 1 or are you taking a break first?


We'll be blogging Season 2 right after Season 1.

T&L

Maddy Lucas said...

Goodness, I would love to wear Jay's clothes. His Future look had me floored, I thought, that's an out there look but it's so amazing I think I would actually want to wear it. His final collection had me drooling I wanted everything walking down that runway!

I'm a poor college kid but I would go in debt to have some of his clohtes...