Off Proportions And The Lack Of Design Skills on Project Runway

·         I like fashion, no I love it. And I love makeup too.  I often wish that I could wear some of the fashions I see designed for skinnier women. Some of those fashions are now being made by designers because they do see that there is a market for these clothes.   ·         So last night while watching the ‘real woman’ design challenge on Project Runway, I was once again saddened to see a talented designer ‘struggle’ to put his aesthetic on a woman who’s not the size of a pipe cleaner.  While talking with Tim Gunn, designer Ven says that his client has no style, no shape. He actually says the following: "Her proportions are off." She's a woman with curves, Really Ven?  The challenge was to take them, and give them a make-over really. Change their hair and give them a style that will make them feel confident, beautiful, sexy. And every damned year, we get a self-absorbed dickhead of a designer that STRUGGLES with this challenge. It’s the same annoying behavior when Top Chef has the kids challenge, or they have to make a gourmet meal out of vienna sausage, corn flakes and cheese whiz. 

Ven (at left) and his client Terri and the unfortunate dress.
As you can see he's quite svelte himself.

 ·         “THIS IS NOT WHAT I DO.”            Actually, you jackhole it’s EXACTLY what you do. ·        Now, I understand this is a show. It’s been on for ten seasons. So you would naturally think that the designers that tryout and go on this show know the deal and what they’ve signed up for. They know that the challenges don’t differ much from year to year, so there really should be no surprises. So I really shouldn’t be shocked that there’s always one designer who has a complete and total conniption when they have to design a dress for someone who’s – GASP AND PEARL CLUTCH – a size 14. While watching the exchange when Tim comes in to see the designers progress, I could actually see how Tim was trying to get Ven to see that no one else was really having these same challenges, and wasn’t being a mean and selfish ass about it. I did want him to ask “Did you read my book? No, well here it is.” And then whack him up side the back of his head with it.I really wish the woman that had the courage and strength to let him know that he was basically being rude as hell to what was basically his customer. I mean the woman was in tears. So was her friend. And then when they were at panel, her friend tells everyone that this woman drives to work fours hours every day. She goes without so that she can support her family and her father and she wanted her to have something for her, so that she could feel special, if only for a day. That she could have a dress that she would love to wear. All he saw was that she wasn’t a model, and he could drape the way he wants to, the way he’s used to. And then had the nerve to say that the other designers didn’t have his challenge because all the ‘clients’ were close to their original model’s sizes. So when you see the show, NONE of these clients was a model size. I mean NONE. Not even the thinest one. For example, Gunnar, who I normally can’t stand because he’s just so over the top with his critiques of other designers and is just a little to snarky, even for me, says that he’s embracing the challenge because his client has this energy and vitality. His dress for her was wonderful, and I would wear it. It had movement, structure and it was feminine. Ven’s design looked worse than sad. It looked like all those horrible clothes that plus sized women have had to endure for years. Lane Bryant doesn’t even carry clothes that ugly. AND, he put her in FLATS. WTF? 

The offending garment. The skirt is okay,
but she said she wanted color, and he gives her
THAT top?

 I personally scour fashion magazines, Glamour being my all time favorite. I like Vogue, Elle, and this months Marie Claire was actually quite good. I love the colors, the textures, and I usually can find something similar, and in my size, that I can make look similar in styling to what I see in a magazine. I would love to be able to wear some of it. Would I like to have a designer make a dress for me that makes me feel like a million bucks. HELL YES. I wish I had better luck looking for a wedding dress 10 years ago. I settled for a purple velvet dress, not what I wanted, but it was all the store had. And I remember vividly being told by the sales lady, that you can always order on line, because we don’t carry your size here. Now this is my WEDDING DRESS. A dress that you normally have to get fitted for anyway. It’s sad that we are treated as not deserving of the same respect really that a skinny model gets. All women want to feel beautiful. Well, the women that I know. My mother, who was a model in her youth and a former Mardi Gras Queen in Seattle was stunning. She always carried herself regally. Even in jeans and a sweater. Her clothes meticulously cared for. And she would have been considered plus size in today’s world. It really is shame that for many of us ‘real women’ that there are still designers out there, young and upcoming designers who want to break into the business, that are still of the mindset that fat does not equal fashionable, beautiful and sexy. Oh, sure Ven tried to clean it up at the end, but by then his client was already defeated, and she knew his words were hollow and devoid of any sincerity. Just like his sad pathetic attempt of a dress for her showed. I’m glad her friend stood up for her. Even the Heidi, Michael, and the usually cruelly verbose Nina called him on his dishonesty. People laugh and joke about makeup and fashion, how people look like clowns when they were too much, or the colors are too bright for them. But the confidence that person feels when they are well put together, it can’t be measured. It’s TRANSFORMATIVE. It gives confidence to someone who sometimes feels like they have none. You walk taller, smile more you feel good.
Is a fat, overweight, so called regular woman NOT entitled to feel the same way you make that model feel every week? Yes, she is. As a matter of fact you should fawn over her. Why? Because we have buying power. Your clients experience, even if it’s not documented on an Emmy Award winning show, is something that she will talk about.
Ven could design a stunning ensemble for FLOTUS Michelle Obama now, it doesn’t matter, he’d probably say her hips are too wide and he can’t get the chiffon to match his draping and style aesthetic.  He’s pathetic and a waste of flesh. 
I may be finished with PR after this season, primarily because I'm finding that the designers get more and more self absorbed with each season.
Let's hope that a truly TALENTED designer wins this season.