One of my hip, European friends lent me Marc Jacobs & Louis Vuitton, a documentary by Loic Prigent. She said, “If you like documentaries, you have to check this one out.” She was absolutely right. This documentary is fabulous. I’ve always been a fan of Marc Jacobs.  I own just a few pieces of his clothing, and  I was pretty sure one of his gazillion of employees designed the pieces I have. I was wrong.  Through the Marc Jacobs & Louis Vuitton documentary, I learned that Mr. Jacobs  had a huge hand in designing  the vintage inspired pieces I own.

This documentary is amazing. It takes you behind the scenes of creation. Never before, has anyone captured Jacobs in action like this.  Not only do we see him coming up with concepts and designs for his own line in NYC, we see him Paris, working with the team at Louis Vuitton. We see all the incredible work that goes into making his shows happen. ( Just like the designers on Project Runway, Jacobs’ clothing is worked on right up until the final moments before a show).

My favorite part of the documentary was the inspiration and creative sessions.  We see Jacobs create these amazing purses with circular pieces of leather. The team takes hours to come up with final design. It’s like watching a piece of art being made. In another part of the documentary, we see Jacobs’ team destroying and deconstructing cloth flowers to go on an outfit.  One of his employees admitted they keep destroying items until everyone thinks they are beautiful. I love that. It totally reminds me of the type of photos I like to take. I love capturing  decay and destruction, but in such a way that it’s beautiful. I usually achieve this by creating some sort of organized chaos in the work. For instance, there is a pattern, or repetition of some element. Jacobs does the same exact thing through his design.

*NY Magazine

While watching this documentary, I wanted to get up and start creating. I wanted to empty out my art locker and start making things.  Working for Marc Jacobs looks like so much fun. It’s all about art….and perfection.  His employees don’t sleep for a whole week before the show, because there are so many changes to be made and last minute design touch-ups.

The documentary also shows the wonderful French artisans who make the Vuitton details. What talent?!?

This documentary brings you so close to the action, you feel like you know Marc Jacobs personally by the end of the film. You love him. He’s an artist.  He’s a vitamin/health nut (except for the excessive amount of smoking).  And, he’s extremely hard on himself like many of the great artistic talents in the world. Speaking of artists, Sophia Coppola, Murakami,  Yayoi Susama and Elizabeth Peyton appear in the film.   Jacobs doesn’t own a house, or car, but just tons and tons of art. He’s one of the most “aggressive” art collectors out there.  Watching him buy art is almost as fascinating as watching him create it.

You can watch the entire documentary on Youtube. Here’s the first 10 minutes or so.

The film was produced for French TV. It was shown on The Sundance channel, and you can purchase it here on Amazon.

Seriously, even if you don’t love fashion, or Marc Jacobs, this documentary is fascinating and inspiring.

Either you’re in, or out again!

Dear Lifetime,
I am writing to you with only the best intentions.Upon the receipt of a super-cool gift yesterday from my super-cool cousin, I was drawn to your web site and learned that you have a new season of Project Runway starting very soon. I tried Season 6, but NeNe and Kim were there waiting for me. They’re like family. So are Heidi and Tim, but something was missing. There was no Santino spark or Christian charm, no gritty NYC. Even the Mood was different. But that brings me back to why I am writing. The super-cool present my super-cool cousin got me was a Mood shopping bag. A nice & sturdy one that is certain to turn heads even here in the blusteriest of upstate New York. So here’s a suggestion. Why don’t you give away some Mood bags? It made me look forward to the new season. It’s just an idea.

Sincerely,

SweetDeSignRelief

Dear Lifetime,

Please join us here in the 21st century and upgrade to an HD format. I was saddened when I had to watch a blurry Project Runway this past season while Bravo added HD to their lineup. A girl needs to watch her Project Runway in beautiful, crisp clarity. It satisfies my inner fashionista. Pls&tks! <3

The first decade of the 21st Century was a dynamic, traumatic time of cultural, political and social change. The year 2000 approached amid fears of massive computer meltdowns and Armageddon.

The world however, did not come to an end, and not only did computers continue to function, they continued to transform our lives. But in times of great change, new and creative uses of language seem to flourish. 

From pop culture to politics, memorable quotes were uttered and new phrases were coined, from the ironic to the iconic. So here, in no particular order, are some of the best quotes of the 21st Century, many of which sprang from worlds of film and television.

“Yer a wizard, Harry!” — Hagrid to Harry Potter

“I wish I knew how to quit you.” — Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) in Brokeback Mountain

“My precioussss…” — Gollum in Lord of the Rings

“He’s just not that into you.” — Jack Berger (Ron Livingston) on Sex and the City

“They’re called boobs, Ed.” — Julia Roberts as Erin Brockovich

“I’m dishonest, and a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly. It’s the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they’re going to do something incredibly… stupid.” — Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) in Pirates of the Caribbean

Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow

“Do I really look like a guy with a plan?” — The Joker (Heath Ledger) in The Dark Knight

“Are you not entertained?” — Maximus (Russell Crowe) in Gladiator

“French people eat French food every day!”  — Julia Child (Meryl Streep) in Julie & Julia

“Sweet!” — Jon Heder as Napoleon Dynamite

Reality bites

The new Century was not good to those who once wrote for scripted television shows, as the reality TV craze swept through the industry like a Malibu wildfire. The characters are allegedly “real people,” and the dialogue is supposedly “un-scripted,” but reality TV seems to be driven by the lust to create the next water cooler catch-phrase.

“This… is American Idol!” — Ryan Seacrest of American Idol

“Is this chicken, what I have, or is this fish? I know it’s tuna, but it says ‘Chicken by the Sea.’” — Jessica Simpson on Newlyweds

“Fierce!” — Christian Siriano of Project Runway

“Prostitution whore!” — Teresa Giudice in the table-flipping finale of The Real Housewives of New Jersey

Teresa Guidice flips a table

Some reality show stars are veritable catch-phrase machines:

Whitney Houston of Being Bobby Brown:

“Crack is whack.” 

“Hell to the no!” 

“Bobbbaaaayyy!” 

Rachel Zoe of The Rachel Zoe Project:

“I die!”

“That is bananas!”

“You are shutting it down!”

The phrases you least want to hear as a reality show contestant:

“The tribe has spoken.” — Jeff Probst on Survivor

“You’re out.” — Heidi Klum on Project Runway

“You’re fired.” — Donald Trump on The Apprentice

“It’s time to lip-synch for your life!” — RuPaul on RuPaul’s Drag Race

“You are the Weakest Link. Goodbye.” — Anne Robinson on The Weakest Link

The phrase you least want to see online:

“You have been tagged in a photo.” — Facebook

“Oh no you di’uhn!”

In the era of cell phones, Twitter and YouTube, no comment is off the record.

“You said something I didn’t say. Now shove it.” — Teresa Heinz Kerry, to a reporter she claimed misquoted her.

“We’re ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas.” — Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks on the eve of the Iraq War,  triggering protests and boycotts of the group’s music.

“Shut the f**k up!” — Barbra Streisand to a pro-Bush concert heckler.

Barbra tells 'em off

“Go f**k yourself.” — Vice President Dick Cheney to Sen. Patrick Leahy on the Senate floor.

“He’s a jackass.” — Barack Obama on Kanye West interrupting Taylor Swift’s acceptance of her VMA Award.

Beauty queen wisdom

The one great pitfall of beauty pageants is that they occasionally let the contestants speak:

“We live in a land that you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage and, you know what, in my country and my family I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anyone out there but that’s how I was raised and that’s how I think it should be between a man and a woman.”  — Miss USA contestant Carrie Prejean

Miss Teen USA contestant Aimee Teegarden of South Carolina was asked: “Recent polls have shown that a fifth of Americans can’t locate the U.S. on a world map. Why do you think that is?” Her reply:

“I personally believe, that U.S. Americans, are unable to do so, because uh, some, people out there, in our nation don’t have maps. and uh… I believe that our education like such as in South Africa, and the Iraq, everywhere like such as… and, I believe they should uh, our education over here, in the U.S. should help the U.S. or should help South Africa, and should help the Iraq and Asian countries so we will be able to build up our future, for us.” 

Foreign policy expert Miss South Carolina

Even former beauty contestants had trouble expressing themselves:

“They are also building schools for the Afghan children so that there is hope and opportunity in our neighboring country of Afghanistan.” — Sarah Palin

“As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where– where do they go? It’s Alaska. It’s just right over the border.” — Sarah Palin, explaining why Alaska’s proximity to Russia gives her foreign policy experience

“I can see Russia from my house!” — Tina Fey as Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live

Political theatre

The lines between politics, news and entertainment didn’t blur this decade, they disappeared.

“Just tell them that their wildest dreams will come true if they vote for you.” — Jon Heder as Napoleon Dynamite

“Stop, stop, stop, stop hurting America. Right now, you’re helping the politicians and the corporations. You’re part of their strategies. You are partisan, what do you call it, hacks.” — John Stewart to Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala on Crossfire.

“I have a wide stance.” — Sen. Larry Craig, after being arrested for soliciting an undercover policeman in a men’s bathroom stall.

“My Social Security number is 8.” — John McCain

“Stand up, Chuck, let ‘em see ya.” — Joe Biden, to Missouri state Sen. Chuck Graham, who is in a wheelchair.

“Yes we can!” — Barack Obama

Most dubious phrases of the Century:

“Hanging chads” 

“Weapons of mass destruction”

“Shock and awe”

“Mission accomplished” 

“Patriot Act” 

“Swiftboating”

“Teabaggers”

“Stimulus package”

George W. Bush contributed so many memorable quotes to the new Century that they inspired a new word — “Bushisms:”

Dubya

“I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family.”

“I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully.”

“Too many OB-GYNs aren’t able to practice their love with women all across this country.” 

“They misunderestimated me.”

“Rarely is the questioned asked: Is our children learning?”

“Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.”

“Fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again.”

Pop goes the culture

Some song titles and lyrics simply said it all:

“Oops!…I Did It Again” — Britney Spears

“They try to make me go to rehab and I say ‘no, no, no…!’” — Amy Winehouse

“Don’tcha wish your girlfriend was hot like me?” — Pussycat Dolls

“I kissed a girl and I liked it.” — Katy Perry

“The Internet is For Porn” — Broadway’s puppet musical Avenue Q

Best catch-phrases — and new words — of the Century:

“Wardrobe malfunction” (Justin Timberlake’s description of Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl boob-flash)

Janet and Justin

“That’s hot” — Paris Hilton

“D-List” (noun or adjective: thank you Kathy Griffin)

“Hot mess” (Someone or something that is such a mess that it’s beyond pathetic)

“I’m just sayin…”

“Hella”  (is the new “Super”)

“Ginormous” (gigantic meets enormous)

“Ridonkulous” (beyond ridiculous)

“Bromance” (a non-sexual love affair between two straight males)

“Texting” (you must know this one by now)

“Sexting” (texting of a sexual nature)

“Fist bump” (the new high five; do not attempt while running for President)

Obama fist bump

“Cougar” (an older woman on the prowl for a much younger man)

“Staycation” (we don’t have enough money to take a real vacation)

And one of my own:

“Verbing:” The art of transforming what was formerly a noun, such as the word party (a festive gathering) into a verb (“I party,” “She parties,” “Let’s party!”). Several nouns have already been verbed this Century, including:

“Google” (former noun) A popular online search engine; (now a verb) To investigate a person, place or thing by using Google: “I Googled you.”

“Twitter” (former noun) A social networking website; (now a verb) To send messages of either an urgent or trivial nature to thousands of people: “I Twittered that I was having my car washed” (see “Tweet”)

“Friend” (former noun) A person for whom one feels affection; (now a verb) To add someone whom you either know, or don’t know, as a social contact on Facebook: “I just friended an 18 year old girl from Malaysia.”

Although it’s technically been just a decade, I’m sure that I’ve left out some of the best quotes and phrases of the Century. What were some of your favorites?

A couple of weeks ago, I met Pete Fain and Jai Fain who have taken the bold (but smart) move to open a new fashion boutique for ’Modern Men’  in the Rice Village area of Houston, right around the corner from Project Runway Fashion Goddess Chloe Dao and her store  Lot 8.

The boutique, called P*jai’s opened in November; and offers customers a wide range of urban fashion wear for the ultra chic.  While these guys have got their work cut out for them, (which is magnified by the current economic climate) they’re being super smart by leveraging Facebook with their Fan-page…and within a matter of weeks they have several hundred fans – who are actively promoting the store. 

In addition, they are working on several other creative ways to market the boutique, including planning events with other newly opened stores in the area to cross market/sell products.  Brilliant!

I stopped by the boutique last weekend to get the first hand P*Jai’s experience – and it was so re-freshing – Pete and Jai are so focused on stocking a unique blend of apparel, and is met with their undeniable personal service. 

Will the store survive..?  You bet!  They have the right mix of modern urban fashion, knowledge, and of course, building their fan base through online marketing.

Will Project Runway be in or out this season?

Apparently in an attempt to shake off the cloud hanging over the mediocre at best season 6, Lifetime will air a new season of Project Runway beginning January 14.

In addition, Lifetime reports that the show will return to New York (where it belongs) and judges Michael Kors and Nina Garcia will be around to share their criticisms for the entirety of the season (YES!)  And of course, there will be Heidi and Tim.

The new bunch of designers is even more diverse, with many designers coming from overseas.  China, The Philippines, Cote d’Ivoire, and Mexico are all represented.   Also, not a single designer hails from New York, New York.  Check out their bios here.  You can also check out our new designers’ old work here.

I’ll be watching.  I’m willing to give Lifetime and Project Runway a second chance this year.  But this time is for real.  We’ll find out if Project Runway on Lifetime is in or out.

Season 7 premieres January 14, 2010 at 9 PM.

There has been so much buzz about the Nintendo Wii. My parents are proud owners of this interactive system as well as tons of people throughout the world. What makes this game so unique? According to Nintendo,

Wii is not just a gaming console, it’s a reason to get together with your friends and family and play today’s hottest games. Wii offers legendary Nintendo franchises like Mario, Zelda and Metroid, as well as all new classics like Wii Sports and Wii Play. Create your own Mii character to star in Wii games. Play friends online over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection or use the Internet Channel to surf the net from your sofa. You can even download classic Nintendo games using the Wii Shop Channel. Take a look around and see why your TV is not complete without Wii.

So how would a Nintendo Wii fit into the life of a fashionista? Well, for starters, Ubisoft offers Imagine Fashion Party, a game based on the concept of the show Project Runway that allows the users to actually cut, sew, and design garments that are judged at the end. And for all of the busy women that can not fit a workout into their everyday ritual, there is Wii Fit Plus, a great game that allows you to do yoga, strength training, aerobics, balance games and many more.

Check out Ninentdo for more information about Nintendo Wii. -Gabrielle

Everybody LOVES Planet Bride and adore show hosts Henry and Michelle. This extraordinary duo invite Holli Ehrlich to be their guest on this special video podcast taped in NYC. This program is dedicated to identifying an important issue in a different light and providing down to earth advice.

Planet Bride is all about the realization of a celebration. The bride has pressure and stress and wonders: Do I want my man involved in the wedding planning? Do I want him interested? Does he want to be directed? What are a couples’ expectations and are they being met? Each combination of two individuals is unique, but the dilemma remains to be seen on how much involvement there should be.

Henry, Michelle and Henry have an enthusiastic conversation about the groom’s role and how to develop an appropriate balance while planning a wedding. Learn about communication and negotiation while planning your wedding and most importantly learn how to have a meaningful partnership, marriage and life together.

Be educated. Be enlightened. Enjoy watching!

Michelle’s website
Henry’s website
Project Runway Australia on YouTube

Check out the blog scene on the WPN links page
Find great resources in The Marketplace
To subscribe to our podcasts click here

Thanks
for making us the most popular wedding podcast on iTunes with the the
most wedding podcasts in the top 100 in the fashion and beauty
category. Subscribe in iTunes right here

Recently voted “Best New Wedding Resource” by a survey of brides.

Wedding
Podcast Network has the largest, most comprehensive selection of
wedding planning podcasts. We are wedding talk radio at its best.
Proud to be the number one resource for wedding planning podcasts. We
love your feedback. Send us an email or call our listener hotline 800.882.1259.

Another great wedding planning podcast from Wedding Podcast Network

Thanks for listening.

There are some EXCITING THINGS coming in January 2010.

Chuck

Two-hour Season 3 Premiere, Sunday January 10th at 8pm on NBC
Time-slot premiere, Monday January 11th at 8pm on NBC

This is probably the premiere I am most excited for. If you want a sneak peek at what’s coming up this season, check out this interview with Zachary Levy and series creators Chris Fedak, and Josh Schwartz. If you just want to catch up and get excited, episodes from Season 2 are available at nbc.com or on Hulu.

Southland

Network premiere, Tuesday January 12th at 10pm on TNT

If you’re like me and you missed out on this show during its brief run on NBC, I definitely you check it out when it moves to TNT. It may not have done well on a major network, but I hear it’s actually a pretty good cop drama.

Leverage

Midseason premiere, Wednesday January 13th at 10pm on TNT

The midseason finale was something of a disappointment, and I’m feeling some trepidation about the addition of Jeri Ryan to the cast (not because I don’t love her, but because I’m worried she’s being set up to replace Gina Bellman). But goddamn if I’m not ready for some new episodes.

Project Runway

Season 7 Premiere, Thursday January 14th at 10pm on Lifetime

With any luck, Season 7 will be significatly less completely retarded than most of Season 6 was.

Human Target

Pilot, Sunday January 17th at 8pm on FOX
Time-slot premiere, Wednesday January 20th at 9pm on FOX

I don’t know about this one. The premise seems interesting, but limited. I have no real idea how it’s going to get stretched out into a full show. But, the cast is fairly impressive, and it will have a ratings lead-in from American Idol.

24

Two-night (two hours each) Season 8 premiere, January 17th and 18th on FOX at 9pm and 8pm respectively.
Time-slot premiere, Monday January 25th at 9pm.

If there is anything I am as excited for as Chuck, it is Season 8 of 24. And most of the reason for that is the cast – Katee Sackhoff, Freddie Prinze Jr., Mykelti Williamson, Anil Kapoor, and David Anders are among the additions. Besides, Jack Bauer in New York can only be epic.

Caprica

Series Pilot, Friday January 22nd at 9pm on SyFy

The pilot for this series, which is a prequel to Battlestar Galactica, is already on Hulu. Watch it. Get excited.

Other Return Dates:

Monday January 11th:
10pm – Castle on ABC

Wednesday January 27th:
10pm – Psych on USA

Thursday January 28th:
9pm – Burn Notice on USA
10pm – White Collar on USA

This list does not, of course, encompass all the new/returning shows for January 2010. Just the ones that I care about. If you’re interested in seeing what else is coming up, I recommend SideReel’s Midseason Calendar. As for the new/returning shows for February, March, and April, look for another post from me in upcoming weeks. My original plan was to put it all into one mega post, but this ended up more than mega enough for my tastes with only the first month of next year.

Perhaps wanton promises of enticingly straight-banged contestants can distract steadfast fans of Project Runway from the awful display that was Season 6.  Sure, we all fell head-over-heels for the adorable Carol Hannah, but our dreams were dashed when that miserable wretch Meana Irina pulled that well-deserved title out from under her feet.  And while the statuesque Althea also piqued the likable radar, we all seemed to lose her as soon as she opened her mouth.  Sadly, Ms. Harper was in good company, as the first-all female finale boasted a disappointing lot of inarticulate maladroids.

Enter a new batch of fresh-faced designers a la Season 7 (complete with a jet-ride back to the true fashion district in the Big Apple) and now we’re listening to what you’re spewing, oh lousy Lifetime.  Perhaps it’ll take a season or two to smoothly transition into the golden age of Kara Saun and Chloe Dao, to the hallowed halls of the original Mood, to the days when Nina Garcia happily plugged Elle. But if we do have to suffer through one more season of L-Lo rasping through a nonsensical critique or a judge straight out of There’s Something About Mary, consider this viewership’s loyalty sew over.  At least this season, there will be no overly-earnest nausea-inducing Christopher (“This is my dream!”), but merely another batch of crazies and someone named “Ping.”

Season 7 premieres January 14th on Lifetime.

(Janeane Marie Ceccanti)

The season 7 cast members of Project Runway were announced last week and I am so excited! Luckily the epic snowstorm that hit DC has relieved me of some obligations, so I’ve has some time to google stalk them beyond the sample portfolios on the Lifetime site. Seriously, I’m so pumped. Project Runway was the original source of my Bravo reality TV addiction, and even though it’s changed networks it hasn’t lost the most important character (Tim Gunn of course) and I will religiously watch until designers cease to “make it work.” My early favorites for season 7? Check these out…

(Amy Sarabi)

(Maya Luz)

]]> http://chickchic.wordpress.com/2009/12/20/project-runway-season-7-starts-on-jan-14-2010-us/ Sun, 20 Dec 2009 03:23:52 +0000 chickchic http://chickchic.wordpress.com/2009/12/20/project-runway-season-7-starts-on-jan-14-2010-us/

Lifetime Television and The Weinstein Company heat up winter with the return of 2009’s highest rated cable reality program among Women 18+ and in Households, Project Runway, as the series heads back to New York for an all-new season. Premiering on Thursday, January 14, 2010, at 10PM ET/PT, host Heidi Klum, mentor Tim Gunn, judges Michael Kors (leading designer) and Nina Garcia (fashion director for Marie Claire magazine) will be joined by 16 new designers vying for a shot to make their way to Bryant Park and show their collection in front of top industry insiders during New York Fashion Week.

For more updates, check out LifeTimeTV

Gawjus Darlin,

We take a break from our regularly scheduled Christmas Countdown for this special announcement:

If you are still interested in watching the new season of Project Runway after the abomination that was last cycle, they have just announced the new cast of designers.  I am still on the fence.  If it weren’t for Tim Gunn they would have lost me at “One day you’re in, the next, you’re out.”  Oh yes, I am out.  But Tim is still plugging away.  So I have to stay too.

Again they have decided to give people in the bowels of fashion a chance at the big time, instead of taking people working in their basements on their grandmother’s sewing machine.  I often wonder if it was just that when the show started, people who were actually in the business weren’t about to risk getting fired to take three months off and compete in a show that might be a monumental flop.  So they had to settle for the Austin Scarlets and Wendy Peppers.  But I have to say with a hint of nostalgia, I liked it better back then.

Lifetime has the full skinny on this group on their website.  It includes the audition interviews.  Once upon a season they showed the auditions as the first show.   It’s still the best part of Idol, so I’m not sure why Runway decided to dump it.  It would help them by helping us invest in the designers earlier.  But, tragically, no one consults me about these things.

Quite an international group this time around.  Maybe we can look forward to some sexy accents.  There are designers from Cote d’Ivoire, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, China and one designer who said he was simply from “The Philippines”.  How deliciously vague.  Perhaps he isn’t sure which part he is from.  Or perhaps he has never been to the Philippines but remembers his parents always yelling at him about how they “didn’t have Nintendo Game Cubes growing up in the Philippines, so quit your bitching…”  so he has taken that on.

There is a girl inspired by mushrooms, an anorexic girl from Wisconsin, a costume designer (you have big shoes to fill, Chris March was one of my favorites), an actor who lives in Orlando (which translates into Disney cast member), a designer that makes purses that look like cartoon bombs, one whose favorite designer is God (oh yeah, she said God), and someone from Chicago (well, she’s from China, but she lives in Chicago, dammit!).

If I could have stomached another rendition of the Cotton song (apparently it is the fabric of our lives), I would have gone further in depth.  As it was, I give them all props:  no one said that Michael Kors is their favorite designer.

My sister and I did the Happy Dance when we realized we are less then a month away from the new cycle.  But then I worry.  I was so excited about the last cycle, and they gave me beige pumps.  I don’t trust them to come through for me.  This is the first time I wade hesitantly into a season of the Runway.

So bring it on, Lifetime.  Bring it.

Whitney was a “very special guest” at the Tacori 18k925 Launch in New York City.  Whitney proudly hosted the event, praising the designer for making an affordable collection that kept its expensive look.  The Tacori jewelry was placed on some pieces in Whitney’s  own line, which she said added the perfect compliment to her clothes.

Whitney wasn’t the only reality show designer in the house.  Project Runway designers Carol Hannah Whitfield and Logan Neitzel were also taking a look at the collections.

More on the Tacori collection:  The new collection, full of colorful gemstones, takes iconic glamour and adds a modern twist. The 18K925 name represents 18K gold and 925 silver metal, a special mix of platinum and palladium. The Tacori 18K925 Collection offers full jewelry suites of stunning rings, necklaces, pendant enhancers, bracelets, earrings, and more.

When I moved to my house, I decided that I wasn’t going to lug along my bulky Zenith TV, which I’d had for about 13 years.  It worked well enough, but I had been browsing the electronics aisles for more than a year ladmiring the flat screens.  Anyway, there was a small set with a built-in DVD player in my bedroom that I could take along and use for a while.

But when I had most of the furniture in place,  a desperate corner in the living room just longed for a big-screen TV, so I made excuses to myself about why I didn’t have to wait and could shell out the money for another expense to add to all those others that came from moving into a new place.  The Sears near my old neighborhood had an even-better-than-online price on a Sony that I had been reading up on.  And result is obvious.  They didn’t have one in stock, but would have by the following Saturday, so  I’d have to wait a few more days with the internet and a small radio made to be used in the shower, which had been given to me as a Christmas gift a couple of years ago and that I had stumbled upon hidden in some drawer during the move.  My God! More than a week without TV!  Had Hurricane Ike returned?  And what about the small TV?  No luck there either because I hadn’t yet ordered any type of cable service.

There were a number of choices, but finally I decided on satellite with DirecTV, which I ordered through AT&T.  I was trying to bundle up with my cell, internet, and regular phone services.  Also the house already had the DirecTV dish in place with all the wiring.  The price was right for the Choice Xtra:  $29.99 per month, and with all those HD channels.  I like as many ESPNs as I can get and I wanted Logo (the gay channel), and the Choice Xtra gave me those.

I scheduled the DirecTV installers for Saturday, so that I would be off from work; it was one of those “they’ll be there between 1 and 5″ deals.  The problem was the new TV wouldn’t arrive at the Sears store until some time that same afternoon, so I wouldn’t be able to pick it up until after the installers had been there.  Of course, like many of those situations where you have a time slot to wait for service people, these didn’t come until between 4 and 5.  It didn’t take them long to get everything hooked up and the little non-digital TV was tossing out the various channels.

Not long after they had left, Sears called and told me that my Sony had arrived, so I hopped into car and went to pick it up.  When I got to the store, it seemed like everyone was picking up something, so I had a wait for my TV to come out.  I was a bit surprised by the size of the box, but it fit into back of the hatchback.  Even though the screen size is larger than my old TV, it must weigh about half as much, so while I had to maneuver a bit because of the size, it wasn’t long until I had it out of the box, in place in the corner which had been waiting for it, and finally hooked up to the satellite dish cables.

When I first started flipping the channels, I thought the picture looked a little fuzzy, but I decided that it probably was because I had been watching the smaller TV earlier.  I was so enthralled with the new TV and involved with figuring out the channel line-up that I really didn’t pay that much attention.  I thought the image should be better with an HD TV but because I hadn’t had one before and because satellite reception was also new to me, I figured everything was the way it was supposed to be.

Then about a week later, I was visiting someone who also has a Sony HD, and I thought “Wow, this picture is so much better than mine.”  They said to me, “Are you watching the HD channels?”  “I think I am,” I replied doubtfully.

When I got back home, I started looking at the manual the installers had left me and found “need HD equipment for HD channels”.  I thought that’s what I had.  I looked at the box but couldn’t see any indication.  Then I went back online to the DirecTV site that had the offer for the various service choices and, of course, at the bottom in special notation it says this:

††To access DIRECTV® HD programming, HD Access fee ($10/mo.), a DIRECTV® Slimline dish, DIRECTV® HD receiver and HD television equipment are required. Number of HD channels varies by package selection.

No mention of that option had been made when I talked to the salesperson when I ordered the service.  I’m really surprised because she had tried to get me to buy other services.  I definitely want the HD but I haven’t ordered it yet.  I’ll need time to be at home, and, I’m sure, to wait another four hours for the service people, and there will be charges for the installation for that Slimline dish, I bet, and for the HD receiver box.  If the picture is a little fuzzy until there’s time in January to do that, no big deal.

There’s another charge to watch out for on the DirecTV special offers.  When I got my first bill, I checked for all the specific charges.  One item was for Equipment Protection Plan.  I even got another letter from DirecTV telling me that I had signed up for the Protection Plan @ $5.99 a month.  I knew that I hadn’t signed anything, since I had ordered over the phone and no mention had been made about any such Protection Plan.  There was a number to call if I didn’t want this plan, and they told me if the dish or the receiver had a problem if I didn’t have this plan, it would cost $49.  It seems to me this protection plan is no different than those the stores like Sears and Best Buy try to sell you when you buy some type of electronics; it’s just another way to get extra money out of a customer.

Anyway, for the most part, I like my new TV.  The channel line-up isn’t much different that what I had with TVMax (read my post about TVMax) at my old apartment.  TVMax also had several ESPN channels and Logo.

Even though Logo has a lot of re-runs and also shows I don’t watch, I like having the option of watching gay-themed TV shows and movies when I want rather than waiting for “a glimpse of gay” on other channels.  One of the hits of last season on Logo was a reality show called “RuPaul’s Drag Race”–sort of a transvestite  “American Idol” a la “Project Runway”.  The host of the show is RuPaul, singer/drag queen, most known for his/her hit song “Supermodel (You Better Work)”.  It’s similar to “Project Runway” because not only do the contestants perform, and ultimately, there is a winner, but they share living space, so we see also how they interact when they off the stage and out of drag.

I’ve never been one to really get into watching drag performances (lip-synching) in clubs, but the contestants on this show have been well-selected both for their talent and their personalities, so it’s not difficult to be lured into watching the show week after week, pulling for one favorite or another.  The second season is coming up in February.  Check out some teasers here.  I couldn’t stop laughing at this promo for the show which takes a jab at Sarah Palin’s book cover.  There are drag queens and there are airheads, and RuPaul is certainly not the latter.

Janet Mayer/PR Photos

Project Runway season 4 winner Christian Siriano is back with a new maternity collection, and it’s his fiercest yet. Siriano’s Spring 2010 Fierce Mamas line, his third for the Moody Mamas brand, features playful party frocks, feminine details, eye-catching patterns, and ultra-wearable jersey Ts and dresses. “It’s about making it really, really wearable, accessible and still really comfortable,” says the designer, who also has his own namesake ready-to-wear label and a shoe line for Payless. His must-haves for great pregnancy style? “A great T-shirt and a signature party dress,” Siriano tells PEOPLE. “When you’re pregnant you still do the same things that you would normally do — go to events, baby showers and weddings. Not every brand does sweet, fun party dresses like this.” While his celeb fans already include new moms Ashlee Simpson-Wentz, Heidi Klum and Jessica Alba, Siriano says he hopes to some day design for his dream client: “Drew Barrymore, because she’s so chic and fun and so interesting fashion-wise.” Fierce Mamas for Moody Mamas by Christian Siriano ranges from $50 to $250 and will be available this spring at moodymamas.com. Check out Christian’s entire Q&A at celebrity-babies.com. –Nina Tyler

The full cast is:

* Amy Sarabi, 26 – Plano, TX
* Anna Lynett, 23 – Whitefish Bay, WI
* Anthony L. Williams, 28 – Birmingham, AL
* Ben Chmura, 30 – South Meriden, CT
* Christiane King, 30 – Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
* Emilio Sosa, 43 – Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic
* Jay Nicolas Sario, 31 – Philippines
* Janeane Marie Ceccanti, 28 – Willows, CA
* Jesse LeNoir, 25 – Painesville, OH
* Jesus Estrada, 21 – Mazatlan, Mexico
* Jonathan Peters, 29 – Woonsocket, RI
* Maya Luz, 22 – Santa Fe, NM
* Mila Hermanovski, 40 – Dallas, TX
* Pamela Ptak, 47 – Pittsfield, MA
* Ping Wu, 33 – Chendu, Sichuan Province, China
* Seth Aaron Henderson, 38 – San Diego, CA

Project Runway premieres January 14 on Lifetime.

“Reality Doesn’t Bite”

December 16th, 2009

[This is Part Four of a six-part series chronicling the shows which most influenced my relationship with television over the past decade - for more information and an index of all currently posted items, click here.]

In Part One, I suggested that I had no real vivid memories of television before 2001, and while this is effectively true I do have a memory about reality television that predates that time. I was watching Entertainment Tonight (I swear, at one point this was a perfectly logical thing to do), and they had a short news blurb about how a Scandinavian reality show concept was coming to television amidst controversy. The show was, in fact, Survivor, and when they talked about the premise (people stranded on a pacific island left to fight it out for a million dollars) I thought it was one of the stupidest things I had ever heard.

And then I watched 19 seasons of it.

What I quickly discovered was that I love what we’ve now come to call the Reality Competition genre, shows which capture the thrill of, you know, competition with the added dose of, well, reality. To use other words is convenient to help justify watching the shows, equating them to a social experiment or a chance to live vicariously through others, but there is something about seeing people you come to know and care about compete against one another for a cash prize that continues to see me tuning in week in and week out.

Now, when analyzing the decade as a whole it may seem strange – more than strange, it’s probably a bit misrepresentative – to limit the limitless reality genre to only its competition format, but for me the competition format has been the far more important and positive television force. While there is, in fact, something borderline exploitative about some elements of the reality genre, competitive reality is the unique mix of casting and a cleverly designed structure, shows which utilize various narrative tools (especially editing) in order to welcome viewers into experiences that are not their own in a way that empowers us to, in a limited form, psychoanalyze our social interactions, race around the world, or care about something about which we know extremely little.

And while it isn’t in fact for everyone, it’s definitely something that has been an important part of my television experience over the past decade.

My love for reality, which I guess had grown into more of a dependence for some shows as the seasons had gone on, comes from my love for one of Mark Burnett’s other projects, the Eco-Challenge. At its core a combination of Survivor and The Amazing Race, without the hand-holding and with a lot more legitimate danger, the show chronicled a series of adventure racing teams traveling by foot, by kayak, and by bicycle (amongst other forms of transportation) over a lengthy and challenging course. I found it fascinating because it was very exciting, yes, but also because Burnett’s production team focused on rivalries between teams, and on individual people (in one year, even Star Wars star Hayden Christensen) who represented a unique personality within the various groups. It was a show that emphasized the competition inherent within the race’s reality: as much as some teams were in it to prove something to themselves, and as much as the teams rarely if ever actually saw one another (taking various different routes through jungles or mountains to try to gain an edge), they were eventually fighting against other teams, and Burnett managed to find those rivalries without having those rivalries define the entire experience.

And Survivor was the perfect pulpy alternative to this sort of appeal, limiting the challenges to carefully orchestrated tasks designed to pit two teams or individuals against one another and heightening the psychological focus of the series. It worked better as mainstream television, and demonstrated Burnett’s deft hand at orchestrating the kind of human interaction which would lead to something as stunning as that first season’s final Tribal Council, when Sue Hawk completely ignores the “question” part of question period to deliver a hilarious diatribe against both remaining players. The show has never quite felt as eventful as it did in that first season, but this year has shown that the game itself and the genre it belongs to are as strong as ever: there has perhaps been no more interesting stretch since that first season than this year, when a series of blind sides showed how tempestuous human agency can truly be. The show has often tried to use twists in order to shake things up, creating three different tribes or introducing “Exile Island” to introduce the act of banishment, and yet the nineteenth season has worked because existing elements of the game (immunity idols, medical evacuations) all converged with one group of survivors both shockingly quick-witted and shockingly incompetent. While the producers have tweaked the game to allow for these changes, it makes you realize that this is not an exact science, and its appeal is dependent on things feeling just “right.”

Of course, even with this season’s strong performance, there are times where watching Survivor is little more than a habit, returning to familiar ground every week in an effort to recapture those romantic days at the start of the decade when the show was legitimately fresh. And yet, its influence on my own television viewing habits demonstrates how much the genre itself has become part of my existence. Shows like Top Chef and So You Think You Can Dance are about subjects I know nothing about (as I’m picky to the point of psychological trauma and do not, in fact, think I can dance), and yet I watch them because the thrill of competition and the results of that competition fascinate me. A show like Project Runway captured me not because of some sort of hidden interest in fashion design but because its combination of reality and competition welcomed the audience into its world as both viewer and critic. These are shows that empower the audience, more than something like Survivor even, to judge the chefs/dancers/designers themselves, and I’m so attracted to that sort of viewer experience that I managed to go through five seasons of Top Chef (which, as noted, is a show about two things (cooking and eating fancy food) that I have no experience with) in about a month without once feeling disconnected from the series.

Admittedly, this analysis can’t help but bring to your attention that I tend to watch the “good” reality shows, and that if we were to view reality television as a whole its impact on the decade is far more negative than this would indicate. However, for me personally, reality competition has become an important part of my television viewing experience, and would argue that the reality genre’s greatest contribution to the decade is its sheer diversity: the decade saw shows like Trading Spaces and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition just as it saw shows like The Osbournes and The Real Housewives of [Insert City], and the result is that there really is something for everyone (even if there’s also something for everyone to despise with every fiber of their being).

And, if you made me choose just one reality show to champion from the decade, it would be The Amazing Race, a show that because of its early ratings struggles and eventual resurgence has felt like “my” reality show. Through 15 seasons, the show has almost always (hello, black sheep Family edition) had this unique charm that isn’t as dependent on casting or cheap thrills as other shows. There is simply a unique energy about watching teams of two, all the better for realistic stress/exhaustion-driven conflict, travel to exotic destinations and do things that we, as the audience, desperately want to do ourselves. We might say we want to be on Survivor to prove that we understand the game, but none of us really want to starve ourselves or go without water for days in the jungle and be verbally assaulted by Jeff Probst every three days. However, every single one of us (barring the agoraphobic) wants to jump on an airplane (okay, and those afraid of flying) with a giant backpack wearing matching clothes (okay, scratch the matching clothes) and jet off to some foreign location to race to the next clue box. The teams could be the most loveable or despicable teams you could imagine, but that inherent desire for the audience to travel with these camera crews and meet up with Phil Keoghan at the end of every day will always be there.

And for me, reality television has sort of become my Aughts equivalent to the soap opera: shows that rarely change, are always familiar or comfortable, and that in some way I’m ashamed to watch as often as I do. However, knowing that they’re there each week, and that I still care so strongly when I can’t watch an episode live and risk being spoiled before getting to the end of each episode, has remained a part of my television identity even while more complex or engaging shows emerge. And while I don’t think I could ever only watch reality television, I don’t entirely know if I could watch television and not have at least a little bit of reality competition programming in my life.

Your Turn: Feel free to share your own memories with reality competition or reality television programming in general, but more specifically I’m curious which show (or, if that’s not much of a challenge, which season of that particular show) has felt most influential in your relationship with reality in the decade (for good or bad).