Jeffrey Sebelia Spring/Summer 2008 Collection

Friday, October 19, 2007 by
Season 3 winner Jeffrey Sebelia showed his Spring/Summer 2008 Cosa Nostra collection last week in L.A. and - you guessed it - we have opinions.

Some background: Jeffrey says he was inspired by Jon Krakauer's book Into the Wild. "It was inspired by Chris McCandless' whole life journey, especially the time he spent in the desert," says Sebelia. "The color palette came from that. And he ended up in Alaska, and that was [fitting] because I wanted everything to be silvery and white."

Okay. If you say so.

We don't exactly dislike the collection, but there's not much there to like either. It's a pretty drab, boring, overly cohesive (to the point where we literally couldn't tell the difference between some of the outfits) collection. And y'know, Jeffrey better come up with something new soon, because that '80s-inspired rocker look has about 5 minutes left before it becomes officially "over." There's nothing terribly wrong about the collection; it's just that it's not really all that interesting.

What is interesting (to us anyway), is that we liked the men's wear far more than the women's. And we're gonna go out on a limb here and predict that spats are never going to make a comeback.











































(Runway Photos: Christine Haynes)
(Jeffrey's Photo: Graham Judson/Vogue)



108 comments:

Suzanne said...

You know I have to say that this is the first time you guys have posted a collection on your blog where I can honestly say I don't like one single thing.

rundeep said...

I don't hate it, but the women's looks seem more inspired by Hairspray than Into the Wild.

You are spot on about the menswear -- here's my theory: it's actually more interesting, fits well, and is a little fresher than the women's wear. I can't believe I'm going to say this but the women's clothing is almost too wearable -- as if it were directed at college students who purchase a lot of pieces at Target, and would like them the teenies bit edgy.

Looks like Amanda Fields in the horrid navy linen sack (and you get a nice view of Santino's puss in the front row on her shot).

Did PR sap the life out of Jeffrey?

The poster formerly known as wannabe.

Goldielox said...

The spats make the girls look like Clydesdales.

DolceLorenzo said...

The women's looks plain, but I love the men's collection. I want everything!

Anonymous said...

I feel as if this has all been done before, and better, by others. It is uninspired, sloppy, and boring. It looks as if even the models hate it.

Anonymous said...

Bleh.

Anonymous said...

I liked the collection. His fashion is very hip and rock-and-roll. Yes, nothing innovative or groundbreaking, but very wearable.

mjude said...

whatevah! it is pretty boring color wise. the shorts "outfit" on the male model look stupid. but i do agree that the men's is more interesting than the women's.
i still have a grudge against jeffrey. just saw the marthon of pr this weekend. i still think laura & uli were robbed.

Anonymous said...

Don't like it the collection at all but the necklaces are to die for. It's cool how he let the preschool from down the street come do the makeup!

Anonymous said...

AWESOME!!! JEFFREY ROCKS!!!

Anonymous said...

I definitely like the menswear collection more than the women's line. The women's line is meh-and some of those bodices don't look particularly well-fitted.

I know that Jeffrey has his niche, but branching out might be a good move if he wants to reach a wider audience.

Anonymous said...

I like the knits and the brightly colored stripe sweaters.

Embeedubya said...

Okay, the guy in the white suit. The pants are obviously sewn to his pubic hair. There's no other explanation for why they are not down around his ankles.

Anonymous said...

All I have to say for something inspired by Into the Wild, it looks very tame.

Not exciting, but nothing to puke at either.

~Maharhar

Anonymous said...

Last picture in the right hand column makes me think "1980's home ec project gone bad". It makes the model look fat!

Sewhat? said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sewhat? said...

ROCK ON DUDE !!!!


In reality I can say that as I type this I cannot recall a single thing in the collection other than the spats (WTF?). More than being an irritation, now I simply find Jeffery and his 'work' irrelevent.

"Ding", Jeffery that was the timer on your 15 minutes.

Anonymous said...

What a disapointment I really though he was teh best last year and then this.
you know the main thing that was just Ick to me?
Those shoe cover things. WTF are those things?
the modles kind of suck too.
where did he find them. Uninterested hoes R us?

Anonymous said...

Even Santino looks bored.

Martinique said...
"I liked the collection. His fashion is very hip and rock-and-roll. Yes, nothing innovative or groundbreaking, but very wearable."

Since when is rock n' roll and hip synonymous with not innovative and wearable? I thought rockers were supposed to be a little edgier. There's nothing edgy about droopy beige t-shirts that look as if you washed them with your darks.

I thought this was just boring.

Alexis

Anonymous said...

I love Jeffrey, but overall I'm not feeling this collection.

Anonymous said...

Hmmmmmmm.

Anonymous said...

Meh. Was Jeffrey inspired by Into the Wild or Blade Runner?

Reminds me of the cheap girls clothing store "Marianne" from the 80s. Where I bought the cheap satin panties that I washed myself so my mom wouldn't know I had them.

Anonymous said...

I give him credit for having a collection. In my opinion, it's very mall-like, just like his Bryant Park collection. I never understood why the PR judges picked him as the winner of S3. But, it's not like the other winners are doing anything anyway.

Anonymous said...

Inspired by "Into the Wild"?! The guy dies. Like badly. How is that inspiring?

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous collection!

Anonymous said...

This collection looks like Gwen Stephani's yard sale.

Anonymous said...

Totally love Jeffrey's collection. It's provocative, creative and way beyond what he showed before.

Anonymous said...

I read somewhere and I agree that the dresses seemed out of place, as if they didn't belong to the collection.

gacm said...

Oh, I hate the men's shorts!

Anonymous said...

" agnes gooch said...
Inspired by "Into the Wild"?! The guy dies. Like badly. How is that inspiring?"

LMAO!

Nothing catches my eye in this collection, probably because he's about 25 years too late for the party.

Brooklyn Bomber said...

I think what's interesting is that despite the distressed pants and the eye make-up, this is a much more conservative and commercial collection than his PR collection. There are a few pieces reminiscent of the PR collection, but I think it's less "edgy." More pretty dresses, and more off-the-rack-ish stuff. Can't blame a guy for wanting to expand his business.

Anonymous said...

There's nothing wrong with the shorts. That's the look for Spring 2008. Read a fashion magazine, folks!

GothamTomato said...

Omigod, this collection is abszolutely HIDEOUS!!! (And I'm not just saying that because I think Jeffrey is a disgusting, mysogynist pig.)

But these clothes are truly horrible. Awful. They look like Strawberry Shops, circa 1985. Even the sweaters on the men look like women's sweaters from the 80's.

There really is nothing there with him. He lasted on PR only because they wanted his obnoxious personality to mix things up. But like all other reality show creatures, there is nothing there there after you peel away those external layers of 'Iwannabeontv' narcisistic bull.

He is the proverbial tale told by an idiot - full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Buh-bye.

--Gotham Tomato

Anonymous said...

Anyone else see the irony of basing your fashion collection on a guy who dropped out of society because it was too plastic and commercial?

That and he was nuts. OK, connection made.

Anonymous said...

I look at the menswear and think Jeffrey is clearly his own muse (except for the sweaters, which seem out of place). The women's collection doesn't appeal to me. That blue button down dresses (?!?) is awful. Other dresses fit like tents and or are cheap 80s knock-offs. Either way, much of the women's collection is unflattering. I'm still puzzling over the "Into the Wild" inspiration comment.

Anonymous said...

AWESOME COLLECTION!! You don't know what you're talking about, GothamTomato.

Anonymous said...

Jeffrey designs for himself and the hooker du jour.

Anonymous said...

Ugh.

Spats, really? What is this, 1902?

The eyemakeup on all the models was horrendous.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...

" Anonymous said...

Ugh.

Spats, really? What is this, 1902?

The eyemakeup on all the models was horrendous."


It's runway makeup, not makeup for a wedding or a prom night.

Anonymous said...

Santino, are you among us?

Not loving it at all. They all look the same to me. The pants are hot though.

Saskia said...

Oddly enough, I think these clothes might look better on the average person than on professional models. The models just end up looking like poseurs, somehow, and that distracts from my ability to appreciate the clothes. Now put those clothes on the young man or woman working the cash register at my local record store, and it might work...

kath said...

I agree with gothamtomato. Bravo kept him on for the drama.
I also agree that the men's sweaters look like women's clothing, although I do like the menswear better than the womenswear. And the spats! Yikes! They were really distracting.
I'm really puzzled about his inspirations. I don't ever seem to see the connection between the collections and his inspirations. I don't see how "Into the Wild" fits into the collection or how his PR collection had a Japanese story connection. When Michael Kors says he was inspired by Slim Keith or Doris Duke, you can actually imagine them wearing items from his collections. I don't see anything like that with Jeffrey's work. There was nothing Japanese about his PR collection and there is nothing dropping out of society/finding yourself/back to nature-like about this one.
And yes, macasism, I did immediately see the irony of him basing his collection (in an industry built on superficiality)on the story of a guy who detested all of that. What's his next collection going to be based on, Gandhi? Or maybe the Mother Theresa collection?

Anonymous said...

Could I just jump on my high hourse for a moment? How disgusting is the whole cooptation of Into the Wild for something that is the antithesis of everything Chris Mc. stood for? I love fashion, etc., etc., but honestly, how very crass...it shows a self absorbtion and superficiality that even the fashion world should cring at. gag.

Anonymous said...

I dunno, boys, I could really use some spats. :P

Gorgeous Things said...

It's okay. The mens shirts remind me of Yvesaac's shirts in "The Adventures of Sandee the Supermodel"

Anonymous said...

That is the worse collection of seen in a long time.

donnah said...

If Tim's tv show or WNTW showed up at someone's house and they had these clothes hanging in there . . . who thinks there wouldn't be some major eye rolling, head shaking, and a politely worded snarky remark?

Anonymous said...

some of the pics (especially of the guys) make them look like zombies. I guess they just caught them in the middle of their stride or something. That and the clothes they are wearing make me think of thriller.

Anonymous said...

if he is going to put men in shorts, he needs to choose male models who have legs instead of walking sticks. are there any muscles or fat on those legs? Makes the shorts ensembles look laughable. (OK maybe they are laughable even with better legs...)

Anonymous said...

okay...the collection was not that great, but after all Jeffrey is based in LA and I can picture those clothes on LA streets (clubs, eateries, backs of limos...) some people dig the "Mad Max goes to LA hotspot" look, and now at least they have something to wear. The spats keep me mesmerized like I'm watching a train wreck.

Unknown said...

Well, at least you can say one thing about the spats-- it's something that, most likely, nobody else is doing, so at least he's attempting to be original in that sense! ;-)

MissRoyalTurkey said...

Two of the dresses in the collection looked like Uli dresses, and Uli did them better. Then again, everything in that collection I had seen before, executed in a more interesting way, or at least with brighter colors.

Anonymous said...

There are a few pieces I do like: the 3 sort of washed-out-old-housedress dresses and the striped men's sweaters.

But, overall there's something a little too thought-out going on. A bit tired (and not in a good way).

Could've used some Angry Little Peanut mojo!

Anonymous said...

Oh! 5:26 was me -- desertwind

PS -- The spats are sorta "fun", but how do they fit into the story? And, why aren't the guys wearing them, too?

Anonymous said...

oh my god. are like 200 pieces in that collection. i'm scrolling, scrolling, scrolling. it never ends!

snore.

Anonymous said...

Oh, my god, is that horrible! The models look like they need to go to a battered women's shelter! And he still doesn't know what a woman's body is like.

What is with that blue "dress" with the buttons? It looks like it shrunk in the dryer.

Anonymous said...

TOM & LORENZO . . .,

Your secret is out(ed)!

It wasn't the Men's Collection you lusted after -- it was the collection of men.

Unknown said...

Totally unappealing. Wouldn't wear the women's clothes and wouldn't date a guy who wore the men's clothes. You can see those plaid pants every Monday night on "Big Bang Theory" all the physics geeks wear them.

Anonymous said...

Saskia said...
Now put those clothes on the young man or woman working the cash register at my local record store, and it might work...



LOL. It's true. Big disappointment!

Anonymous said...

Way too morbid source of inspiration for me. I read the Wikipedia info and do not see any of that in his collection.

Anonymous said...

why are the men wearing espadrilles?
marisha

Anonymous said...

Based on the book Into the Wild+ I don't see it and I read the book. Silvery colors representing Chriss McCandless in Alaska? WTF?

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry but the man designs for a homeless person.

Anonymous said...

The thing with this collection is that any group of two or three garments could have been spun off into its own collection. That’s great commercially but it doesn’t fit well together as a single statement of his vision.

Anonymous said...

I attended the event and was really not impressed with the collection. The program featured a photo of a woman bent over with her hands bound. What else can I say?

SUS said...

Looks like Target clothing to me.

GothamTomato said...

"Anonymous said...
AWESOME COLLECTION!! You don't know what you're talking about, GothamTomato."



LOL. What flavor is that Kool-Aid you're drinking?

--Gotham Tomato

GothamTomato said...

"Jennifer said...
The program featured a photo of a woman bent over with her hands bound. What else can I say?"



That mysogynistic type of imagery is very Japanese. If you look at Japanese photography, you see a lot of that. As of a few years ago they even had a comic book there called 'RapeMan'. It is ingrained in the culture.

--Gotham Tomato

GothamTomato said...

"Saskia said...
Oddly enough, I think these clothes might look better on the average person than on professional models."



YIKES! Those skinny jeans, with the tight ankles, definitely do not look better on average people. Skinny jeans are the one style that, universally, should be burned.

The average woman (ie; anyone with a normal, curvy figure) in those skinny jeans, looks like an ass-ickle.

--Gotham Tomato

Gorgeous Things said...

GothamTomato said...
"The average woman (ie; anyone with a normal, curvy figure) in those skinny jeans, looks like an ass-ickle"

Or like an unattractive light bulb.

Anonymous said...

UUUUUUGGLY!

delilahboyd said...

Does Jeffrey really believe that no one will notice...?

1. The tight pants designed by the guy who was kicked off PR for cheating

2. The skirt that looks like the PR coffee filter dress

3. Uli's triangle-boob dresses

4. The constant remake of Jeffrey's "Jet Setter" outfit

5. Santino's Madras pants redux

And my personal favorite Jeffrey disaster:

6. Angela's elastic-bunched cropped pants

Into The Wild?

More like clothing for the Socially Inept 1980's teenage boy and his dream girl.

Those looks are easily recreated at Goodwill.

Except for the spats, which you can order from Oriental Trading Co. (on their costume pages).

Truly heavy sigh.

Brandenburg3rd said...

I wouldn't mind the striped sweaters from the mens' side of the show. And there were one or two dresses that, with a lot of tweaking, I could make work.

But otherwise, this is the weirdest collaboration between butt-ugly and boring I have ever seen. And the makeup harks back to Santino's lingerie collection (I can hear Tim's podcast in my head as I type, "He had them made up as DEER!").

On the plus side, this is making me like his PR finale collection more. I'm up to about a 3.5 - 4.

Mary said...

There's nothing wrong with the shorts. That's the look for Spring 2008. Read a fashion magazine, folks!

They may be the new look for spring, but that doesn't make them any less ugly.

Anonymous said...

Holly shit, somebody posted this on Jezebel.com:

"BY CUTTING MAKES YOU SEXY AT 10/19/07 10:01 PM

Yeah... this mother fucker owes me $400 for helping him put the finishing touches on his last show... that's out of pocket expenses that I covered for everything from film to flowers... and not counting the 30 hours I worked for him basically straight up until his show back in March.

The lack of versitility doesn't surprise me, because everything he does is last minute and usually garnered through manipulation, and his ideas unfortunatly have fallen into tunnel-vision.

He's an asshole; and I salute him with my middle finger."

Anonymous said...

I don't understand what's even slightly interesting about the men's stuff. It looks like clothes you could buy at Target, except the guys forgot to put on shirts.

Maybe that's it. The guys do look good without shirts.

Anonymous said...

Jeffrey is one smart guy. He must have realized that his women's wear is unbelievably fuuugly so styled his models in such a way that no one would even see the clothes. With every women's wear picture, I noticed the eye makeup first and went "Ewwww" then noticed the spats and went "Ewwww." By the time I'd finished doing that, the clothes didn't even register. Like I said, he's one smart guy.

-- rain brain

TheQuietOne said...

why are the men wearing espadrilles?
marisha

8:24 PM


Actually, I believe those are TOMS shoes, based on Argentinian peasant shoes. https://www.tomsshoes.com/
If they are, then I am happy Jeffrey bought some to use in his show, as it would be helping a good cause. And if not, they look a LOT like them.

As far as the rest of the collection - meh.

Anonymous said...

" TheQuietOne said...

why are the men wearing espadrilles?
marisha

8:24 PM

Actually, I believe those are TOMS shoes, based on Argentinian peasant shoes. https://www.tomsshoes.com/
If they are, then I am happy Jeffrey bought some to use in his show, as it would be helping a good cause. And if not, they look a LOT like them.

As far as the rest of the collection - meh."

Very interesting site. Thank you for the link.

Anonymous said...

Jeffrey Sebelia is a brilliant and talented guy. He didn’t get where he's now by being lazy. He works hard and his collections are beautiful.

Anonymous said...

Pretty dull. Maybe if he sewed a few rosettes into the designs...

;-)

Tundrababe said...

I can see how this collection was inspired by "Into the Wild"...it looks like it went out into the wilderness unprepared and died.

Anonymous said...

I thought the jeans were great with very few exceptions. A few of the dresses were soft and feminine. Jeffrey definitely has a romantic side. Which reminds me, I completely disagreed with the judges's criticism of Jeffrey's soft, romantic dress. "Milk maid" indeed. Marie Antoinette certainly found pastoral romantic.

Anonymous said...

I think the whole thing looks like it belongs in a cemetary - runway walk of the dead - ISH. The only thing I did like was the spats for God's sake and that was pushing it. The eye makeup was more like zombe's avon starter kit. ish.

Heidi

Anonymous said...

I lived in the desert for 25 years..where are the colors of the desert? The subtle greens, rich red/orange/yellow hues of the sunsets and gentle tones of blue skys? This doesn't look like the desert, this looks like someone with a 3 color palate...beige, beige and more beige.

Alaska? Rich greens, dark chocolate browns, glistening whites and blues of every hue....what did we get? More beige.

Yuck on the colors.

As for the design....again....blah and beige. Nothing inspired and all quite ready to wear from a Macy's catalogue.

All in all, "I am underwhelmed".

Anonymous said...

OH wait, I FOUND the colors of Alaska and the Desert--in the models eye makeup!

On second review---again--blah.

And is it just me but aren't skinny jeans supposed to be straight, not scrunched up at the bottom like that?

Anonymous said...

"I feel as if this has all been done before, and better, by others."

That's Jeffrey's shtick. Copying designs from everyone else. The plaid evening gown on PR3 was McQueen. The striped blazer and skinny jeans was done by several others.

Presumably his execution is good but his stuff is hardly original.

Anonymous said...

Quote (from Susan): 'I can see how this collection was inspired by "Into the Wild"...it looks like it went out into the wilderness unprepared and died.'

Damn you! I was just getting ready to type that same sentiment myself! Great minds and all that. (Still, it's a terrific line.)

Anonymous said...

His collections (I've seen three so far)always make me want to soak in a tub and scrub with a loofah sponge.

Anonymous said...

WTF?! I... *sigh* Ok, I've actually been a big supporter of Jeffrey, and I think a lot of his clothes have been beautiful, unique AND wearable (that green and white striped dress from the finale? Undeniably beautiful and I'd wear it in a second.)
But this is just... *sigh* ugly and unoriginal and lacking edge. Unexpected in all the wrong ways. Yeah, his other stuff had obvious origins, but it had his own twist to it... this is the first time I've ever looked and been able play spot the direct rip-off.
And personally, on the spats, cane me if you must but I knid of like them... AT LEAST IT'S SOMETHING DIFFERENT FOR CHRISTS SAKE *head desk*

*~JENEL

nusbaum said...

I must say, it grew on me. I love spats and his are good. However, the makeup did not help, and some of the models still looked quite reedy and tenuous....maybe better in motion though, I hope? Their expressions and posture were unsatisfying to me at least. I think that Jeffrey would benefit from a production manager....his ideas are wonderful, it is just a matter of pulling them off.

Anonymous said...

So over it. It's street as done by... about a million other people... for many years now. Too bad. I fear Jeffrey's demons are defeating his creativity.

Anonymous said...

Imitation of Imitation of Christ.

lisasabatier said...

Good Lord.

Vic said...

Well, he just proved my point: His designs are predictable. And fugly to say the least.

Uggh.

Anonymous said...

Jeff... I never liked you, but.

Ew. This is worse than bad.

Anonymous said...

My eyes, my eyes... what a disappointing waste of time and perfectly good material.

Jenn said...

Does this kind of stuff even sell?

Thombeau said...

Yawnerz.

Anonymous said...

i agree w/ kara lang

Anonymous said...

I STILL don't think Jeffrey should have won that season! That blue mini dress is horrid. Uli should have won - speaking of which, do you know what's she's doing these days? Has she shown a collection?

mumblesalot (Laura A) said...

I think you could quickly assemble those outfits breezing through the Salvation Army at top speed.

Anonymous said...

i think jeffrey is a great designer and deserved to win PR3... but dude, this is horrible!

the clothes look cheap and not-innovating.

Anonymous said...

Givemeabreak, the size of China. This guy was allegdely "wearing more eyeliner..." as noted in a fab NY Mag. Never liked him, he cheated. (Why do u think the mother of his child left him?, no intergrity)
Would you want your impressionable child to be raised by a liar and a cheat?

I'm a Michael fan, and I am mature enuff to accept and admit he dropped the ball w/his collection.

Laura should have won. One note Uli, (saw her recently online, she was obviously wearing one of her 1-note designs)has done nothing.

This collection was not only hideous, it was insulting to the fashion industry.

Has anyone noticed that none of the top three designers from each season have "made it".

Jay is crying broke, Kara Saun is back to costume designing, Chloe went back to her boutique. Santino (another arse, birds of a feather, blah, blah)has done nothing! Nick and Ashley are the only two that may make it in high end fashion.
Uli, well maybe she's on the beach talking to herself in the 3rd person again. Oh BTW who cares about Wendy Pepper, what a be-otch
She saw Kara Saun in her rear view mirror alright, when she was the first eliminated!!! Loved it!

Jeffrey's collection caused my eyes to bleed. Horrid!

As a previous poster stated, Ding! Jeffrey, that's your 15 minute timer. It's over! Good Riddance.

Anonymous said...

Definitely looks like someone found a box of 1980's clothes in the back of the Fashion Bug warehouse... and didn't even bother to iron them before putting them on the runway. I have two words: drab and uninspired

Anonymous said...

oooooooooh I love Jeffrey!!

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Women Leather halter said...

I don't hate it, but the women's looks seem more inspired by Hairspray than Into the Wild.