Friday, February 16, 2007 by
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This is the story of two dresses. Both were wacky-looking things, but one was wacky with a purpose and one was just plain wacky.
Let's take a look, shall we?
Strangely enough, Lupe had the best materials with which to work. She had a lot of fabric with beautiful colors and a bold print. She could have gone in almost any direction.
She chose this one.
***
Excuse us for a moment, kittens. We just vomited a little in our mouths and we need a breath strip.
There.
Ugh. It hurts just to look at it. We're fine with designers who desire to go off in crazy, expressive, nontraditional directions. We applaud it, in fact. But you absolutely have to have some thought behind your decisions. Otherwise, it's the fashion equivalent of a 3-year-old doing finger-painting. She just stuck shit on it and ruched it haphazardly and there's no reason to it; no theme - unless you consider "throw it all at the wall and see what sticks" a theme.
It's a pretty sad commentary when the most accomplished thing about the garment is how well the bow was tied.
Then there's Santino. Despite the title of the post (which we couldn't resist) we actually like this dress.
Ignoring the styling (which is atrocious), this is a bold look that manages to hearken back to more traditional forms in fashion, like hoop skirts and bustles, while being as nontraditional as a dress can get.
Yes, it's a highly unconventional garment and the vast majority of women out there wouldn't even think of wearing such a thing, but aesthetically, we think it's quite beautiful.
And simply gorgeously made. Later in the season, Santino established a reputation for deconstruction, but this is a highly structured work and we come away from it with the impression that every choice was deliberate and came from both a real place inside him as well as a well-developed sense of aesthetics.
That is a masterpiece of construction - and a stroke of genius to forgo the other elements and use the lining of the jacket so extensively. Keeping the color palette completely neutral prevents this garment from going off into eye-bleed territory and calms the whole piece down.
We have a feeling we're going to hear a lot of disagreement in our comment section but we have to stress that this garment needs to be looked at from a conceptual point of view and not a wearability or saleability point of view. Lupe's was for the most part conceptual as well. The difference here is, she didn't really have a concept behind her conceptual garment and Santino did.
[Screencaps: projectrungay.blogspot.com]
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41 comments:
Ooh, the first comment! How dedicated am I?!
Well, I will also be the first naysayer. I see where you're coming from conceptually, but those saddlebags will never look finished to me. Also, icky reshaping of a woman's body going on there. But mostly, the way the saddlebags fold over just looks to me more haphazard than deconstructed.
Oh, my first PRG comment ever! I delurk with pride!
CB
P.S. A newcomer to PR midway through S3, I now get the past seasons on Netflix solely so I can continue to follow your blog. Mwah!!
CB
I think the PRGayboys are bang on, as usual. I quite liked Santino's concept -- xnay on the crazy make-up and hair though. It was quite lovely and well-made.
As for Loope, aside from coming a close second to Zulema in the bitchy stakes, she's one sorry designer. That outfit made me ill as well. I know who I'd like voted out next!
Are you sure you only vomited in your mouth? Because it looks like you got some on Lupe's dress.
I agree with you completely, even about Santino, which surprises me (the part about Santino, that is ). BUT, someone's got some 'splainin to do !! How is it that LoopyLupe survived and Kirsten got Auf'ed?? WTF ?
That, that, that...excreesence that LoopyLupe sent down the runway is an abomination.
It looks like she is pooping a turquoise ribbon out from under that skirt.
I'm not sure I understand why you guys have so much hate for Lupe's dress. It certainly wasn't the best one, but I kind of liked it. The back was quite pretty and the way she even incorporated her shoes in it was pretty innovative. There have been some really, really ugly dresses (I cringe every time I think of Bradley's doggy dress)... I think you've said a lot better about a lot worse...
I loved Santino's dress. That was what sold me on his talent
CP
Maybe Lupe thought the assignment was to turn her existing clothing into a Brazilian carnival costume? Or a Jubilee Jumbles work uniform?
Sometimes judges see a strong POV where others just see garbage.
With Santino's, I think the overall look and silhouette's ok from the front. I'll forgive the saddlebags because he was working with a leather jacket and the sleeves just sort of fell where they fell. The bigger problem, I think, was the butt bustle. Once again, something I hadn't really noticed until I saw your screencaps. Boy just doesn't know when to stop.
But are you sure he got that much usuable fabric out of his jacket lining? Sure it wasn't just a big old pair of satin boxers?
I have looked at Santino's dress long and hard and I'm going to agree with a comment that Tim made about him. Santino never demonstrated that he could S E W not until his final collection.
This dress looks like a creation I made on my Barbie doll but even at 8 years old I knew no one would actually wear such shit.
I always thought Santino's creativity in using his jacket was to be commended. I think with better styling this look would have appealed to more people. I remember saying to my friend as we watched this episode for the first time that if Austin did ever go deconstructed, I could see him designing something like this.
Now for Loopie. Seriously, what the fuck?
This dress was some serious ugly and should have been the one to go home in my opinion.
REL Santino's dress
What are those huge saddlebag thingys around the waist/hip?
That outfits makes Heather's ass look enormously huge.
Extremely unflattering!
Santino has no concept of designing to flatter a woman's figure.
To sewwhat?
I think the reason why Lupe wasn't nixed was that she basically had something to say with her outfit....and Kirsten didn't.
Now don't get me wrong. While Lupe had something to say, I am NOT saying it was at all intelligent or understandable.
I think the judges sometimes will award those who take a chance over those who don't.
Or maybe the judges were drunk.
No, actually I agree with you guys...as usual. I thought that Santino did a fantastic job in this challenge. I was quite impressed with him at this point in the show. And...that's all I'm going to say about the gigantic flamboyant man right now.
Santino's outfit was fugly. As usual, he cannot design for women's bodies. The awkward placement of the bust is ridiculous. The ass on that skirt is enormous. The saddlebag flaps look atrocious.
The entire look is hideous. Heather looks like a flabby SHARPEI in that dress.
That will always be Santino's SHARPEI costume to me. File it right next to his turkey dress.
Santino never demonstrated that he could S E W not until his final collection.
I'm convinced that Santino did not actually sew his final collection. There's no way he could have suddenly developed those sewing skills. It's inconsistent with his work during the entire season.
"Excuse us for a moment, kittens. We just vomited a little in our mouths and we need a breath strip."
Ahhh...if only Britney could learn to be so restrained, limo drivers across the city would rest easier.
--Gotham Tomato
Every time I read anything involving Lupe, I'm filled with this rage that I haven't felt since Season Two first aired. When y'all talk about the reunion special, I'm afraid my walls will have fist-sized holes that will need spackling.
But aside from my nerosis, y'all rock. Love!
I love Santino's outfit here- it may even be one of my favorites from the season.
i LOVE the idea behind santino's garment! love it, love it, love it! i agree that the styling was hideous, but i can see where he was coming from, historically. if his outfit was a deconstructed update of late-victorian fashion, his styling (tragically) fell into line. i love the idea of using the bustle and ruching so accurately, adding curves to his model's svelte frame, but i think he would have benefited from showing some (to use the dreaded season 3 word) restraint. i love the idea of the bustle, but i hate the actual shape of the skirt. being a skinny girl, i'd love a bustled skirt that would give me the illusion of an ass, but i'd hope it would be a bit kinder to the midsection and look a little less like something alexis morrell carrington colby dexter rowan would wear with linebacker shoulder pads and a turban.
Heather is a skinny girl but that outfit makes her look chubby. It looks like she has a fat arse and saddlebag thighs, and teeny tiny boobies. Santino doesn't understand how to design for the actual curves of a real female body.
And the styling? Ick.
Lupe is loopy. That is all.
Ewww.....
Lupe's dress is just a bunch of crayola shreds. Yuck!
Santino's dress looks like a leather jacket that's been spit out by a blender.
I agree that it looks like a chubby wrinkly leather Sharpei dog.
Egad! Why would any woman want saddlebags sewn onto her thighs?
Heather looks like a chicken from the backside.
Two stinkers here.
Oh, and WTF was up with that rat's nest on Heather's head? The styling is disgusting. Santino made her look like she had gnats and head lice.
am i the only one that hates that santino dress?
Dear hearts, I completely agree! While I would never willingly put panniers on my hips, Santino's garment was just fab. And how can you resist a 6-foot-something-outrageous guy who wears custom made 5 inch patent heels to a party???
Mmmmm...I must have missed that part where you raved about Santino's crreation, & I have to disagree. I think it looks demented.
I think that if you saw someone walking down the street wearing that outfit, she (or he) would most likely be pulling a shopping cart full of their possesions.
In fact, I believe that diaper-wearing astronut showed up in Fl wearing the exact same outfit.
--Gotham Tomato
In a strange way, I kinda like Santino's riff on a corset-and-bustle outfit.
I once had a long skirt with pockets that made my hips look wider, but also made my waist look tiny, which is what this concoction does.
Lupe's outfit just looks poopy.
Looks more like a Molotov Cocktail explosion than fashion runway.
It always drove me crazy that Lupe took her skirt...and transformed it into a trashy skirt. She did the same with her top really.
Santino's early work was the best he did in the season. Untli a few pieces in the finale. I see vision, innovation, and style...but I just don't find it as astetically nice as you do.
I thought Santino's was a work of art!
Santino may have had a concept in mind, but his execution was atrocious.
The fit is terrible. Look at the weird bustline - typical of all Santino's dresses. He doesn't know where to fit the boobs on a female form.
The enormous saddlebags? Girl, please!
The wrinkly leather rouching on the stomach area? Oh, hell no!
The gigantic spread-out buttocks? Yuck!
That was one hot mess of fug.
Toria SF said...
WTF? Just because you like Santino, don't get it twitted: these dresses are EQUALLY replete with hideosity.
Is it really so threatening to you that someone might have a different opinion about something than you do? Is it so damn hard to just say that you disagree? They didn't piss on your cat's grave. They just complimented a dress that you hate. Get some perspective - and while you're at it, learn some manners.
I'm sorry but Santino's dress is insanely, outrageously ugly! That model looked like she was trapped in her boyfriend's jacket. It actually looked like he zipped his jacket over her hips. Too bulky. No woman likes to call attention to her hips like that.
Eh, if your design isn't going to look any good on a 19 year old model, then your design isn't any good.
Santino is an ass. His stuff is way too busy and feels derivative and generically "couture." You don't want your designs to cause me to put the word generic next to them. Oh, and take a bath. B-L to the E-H. BLEH.
I can't look at Santino's design without hearing "You were my favorite jacket...Now I'm deSTROYing you..." I loved that!
You guys are spot-on as usual. I am no Santino fan but I LOVE the 18th-century inspired panniers. Making a woman's body look great is obviously never a priority of Santino's. But who cares? If fashion was all about making your butt look small, how boring it would be . . .
Conceptually I agree with your assessment. In addition, Santino wanted the win - could taste the win - that he sacrificed his beloved jacket. Great costume.
But the man can't sew. You see the sloppiness everywhere, especially in the ruching. However, this is definitely one of my favorite designs of the challenge.
"lele said...
...Eh, if your design isn't going to look any good on a 19 year old model, then your design isn't any good."
You can't be serious!
Can I just say I pissed myself laughing at the title of this post
CP
Santino's designs are never woman-friendly. He's incapable of producing any functional or wearable clothes. He has no concept of dressing female bodies.
What I really hated about Santino's dress was that he accessorized it with a giant smug smirk on his face that said "Of course I'm going to win. I won the first challenge and I'm going to steamroll through this one too." HA! Loved the look of shock and awe when he didn't....
That skirt was utterly amazing. I think the main reason he didn't win was that fit in the bust -- NOT flattering. Chloe's was more polished and flattering, even though Santino's skirt was stunning.
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