Judging the Judges: Zac Posen Fall 2008 Collection

Darlings, enough with these previous contestants (for now). Let's get ripping on the judges! Zac Posen's Fall 2008 collection was described thusly by Style.com:

"The models wore pompoms on either side of their tight chignons, and many of the dresses were sheer enough to reveal spangled underwear and black garter belts. After-dark options edged out daywear by a wide margin, which was too bad, because the most elegant piece here was, hands down, a herringbone-tweed sheath, and it would have been great if the focus had been more of the same. That isn't to say eveningwear is a bad thing, but crinolines—which he showed under a robe à la française and a mini-parachute dress—are quite another story.

Posen cut all of the sugar and spice with great tailoring, some of it in a soft-quilted cloque that his program notes dubbed "bubble wrap." On the harder side, a Prince of Wales schoolboy suit looked signature—it was curvy and fit like a glove—but it didn't have quite the sex appeal of a plunging Le Smoking jumpsuit."

"[S]o much of this collection looked designed not for grown-up women (ones with jobs) but for living dolls."

It's that last sentence that nails it. Look, we're all for exuberance and whimsy in fashion, which too often takes itself far too seriously. But looking at this collection, one word repeats itself to us: "silly." We have no idea what got into him, but he decided to put out a collection that looks like a joke. Oh sure, some women somewhere will plunk down the cash to wear these things, but for the most part, it comes across almost ... disrespectful. Like he's daring women to go out in these ridiculous outfits.

Granted, it's not all bad. We like the colors (when they appear), and one or two pieces are nice on their own, but all that bright, shiny tackiness or overly frilly foundation garments rendered in silhouettes that make the wearers look more like items than women just left us flat.

Et vous?

[Photos: WireImage/Getty Images]