Ah, Poetist, I was just coming to start a topic. So, how many episodes have you watched since they are all available? My wife and I have seen two and are just starting on the third.

Want to make sure I don't accidentally post any spoilers.

I've watched 3 episodes, so you're welcome to talk about those. Personally, I'm no fan of the teams, because it eliminates too many contestants. I like the competition to drag on a bit more.

Challenge: Prints

Hmmm... I don't know about the winner.

@Costumers said:

Ah, Poetist, I was just coming to start a topic.

You should have just started it, because it was a bit cumbersome to start now with this new layout.

Weird, I did start one for Making the Cut and it was straightforward. Of course, I've seen sites that are easy on one system and difficult on another.

We did like the print winner. The loser, however, really illustrates an issue. (at the moment I don't recall their names.) One regularly worked with prints and the other never did. So, what do they do? They pick the most drab, restrained prints available to design their looks.

We've seen it time after time on these types of shows. (and not just fashion; cooking, makeup and others.) A contestant "doesn't like" the challenge parameters, so instead of embracing the challenge they do everything they can to hide the "offending" item; prints, cooking ingredient, etc. And inevitably they lose the challenge. Why they don't seem to be aware that avoiding or hiding the thing they dislike will not endear them to the judges we cannot imagine. We understand the difficulty. We've had to work on challenges that we didn't like. But the correct strategy is to embrace the challenge and put something together that features it. It won't always work. But it will, more often than not, at least avoid elimination.

@Costumers said:

We did like the print winner. The loser, however, really illustrates an issue. (at the moment I don't recall their names.) One regularly worked with prints and the other never did. So, what do they do? They pick the most drab, restrained prints available to design their looks.

Not only that, the one known for prints didn't take the lead. He allowed the fearful one to choose the print, and they were the only ones who didn't create their own print design. They went with what was in stock and still managed to find the drabbest fabric. Seriously, I wasn't mad that they went with what was in stock, but they could have at least embraced the challenge.

Costumers, I have now watched 5 episodes.

4 Streetwear

5 Lingerie

Let me know if you're caught up to that point.

Hi, Poetist.

My wife and I have actually made it all the way through the season. And since I can't find identified photos on line I'm going to have to dredge through my memory on the looks.

The streetwear challenge was obviously contentious. We're of two minds. We were impressed that Kiki has been so influential in the streetwear movement. How, given that she and Farai seemed a bit to certain they should win the challenge. We can't say we liked or disliked their looks. Streetwear fashion isn't our thing and we can't say we were really in love with any of the looks.

The dramatic issue, of course, is the one judge, Jean Raymond walked off the stage and, eventually, they decided to keep everyone.

We will admit, we didn't understand the other judge's issue with t he deliberately unfinished edges on the looks. That doesn't seem unusual for streetwear. And it was obviously not an excuse they made up to explain a "mistake." They had talked about through the episode and Tan and Alexa knew it.

Also, while we love Angel and Min Ju we're not sure their looks deserved the win.

Regarding episode 5, the lingerie episode;

This challenge really focused our issues with the runway. Earlier we mentioned that the show must have a lower budget since they were using the same space for the runway as the workroom. We have adjusted that view. From the highly technical effects used on the runway we'd say the budget was impressive. However, we really have an issue with it. All the special effects on the runway distract from the looks themselves. And this episode was really bad with all the fire pots constantly going off. I don't think we got a good look at any of the designs.

This is something we have an issue with on a lot of these types of shows. They don't seem to want to devote screen time to the actual looks.

This happened at one of our Costume-Cons thirty years ago. (yeah, a long time, I know) One of the official photographers was showing his photos of the contestants in the various competitions. Probably 75% of his photos were portraits; concentrating on the face. Some entries which had large, elaborate headdresses didn't have a single photo showing the entire headdress. When we asked him why he didn't have more full body photos his answer was that nobody wants those; they want portraits of their faces.

This is false. A lot of people complained about not being able to get good photos of their costumes. The archivists (full disclosure, I'm one of them) didn't have as many images to post as we would like and, as I mentioned, some don't have any images showing everything.

Yeah, that was a rant. Its one of our pet peeves.

@Costumers said:

Hi, Poetist.

My wife and I have actually made it all the way through the season. And since I can't find identified photos on line I'm going to have to dredge through my memory on the looks.

The streetwear challenge was obviously contentious. We're of two minds. We were impressed that Kiki has been so influential in the streetwear movement. How, given that she and Farai seemed a bit to certain they should win the challenge. We can't say we liked or disliked their looks. Streetwear fashion isn't our thing and we can't say we were really in love with any of the looks.

The dramatic issue, of course, is the one judge, Jean Raymond walked off the stage and, eventually, they decided to keep everyone.

We will admit, we didn't understand the other judge's issue with t he deliberately unfinished edges on the looks. That doesn't seem unusual for streetwear. And it was obviously not an excuse they made up to explain a "mistake." They had talked about through the episode and Tan and Alexa knew it.

Also, while we love Angel and Min Ju we're not sure their looks deserved the win.

Thank you! This post explains my feeling as well. There was one duo that I liked, and it was the beige high end street wear. I thought for sure they were going to win. Color me surprised when Angel and Min Ju won.

@Costumers said:

Regarding episode 5, the lingerie episode;

This challenge really focused our issues with the runway. Earlier we mentioned that the show must have a lower budget since they were using the same space for the runway as the workroom. We have adjusted that view. From the highly technical effects used on the runway we'd say the budget was impressive. However, we really have an issue with it. All the special effects on the runway distract from the looks themselves. And this episode was really bad with all the fire pots constantly going off. I don't think we got a good look at any of the designs.

This is something we have an issue with on a lot of these types of shows. They don't seem to want to devote screen time to the actual looks.

I agree. I mean we really don't get a chance to see the looks until they are walking down the runway on this show. I didn't have a problem with the fire balls. It was more of the darkness of the stage.

With that said, I don't like lingerie challenges.

I didn't think Kiki was the worst, but I understand they had to go. To me, the worst was Angel and Min. I wasn't in love with the winner or any of the pieces to be honest.

We agree, we don't like lingerie challenges. Even more than most fashion it is far too subjective a subject to be fair to any designer. In addition, since the basic purpose of the garment doesn't require much the tendency is to overdue. Sure, there are companies that thrive on lingerie; but if you go into the stores 90% is simply slight variants of a half dozen designs executed in different colors and laces.

Okay, I watched three episodes.

Rock: They shouldn't have sent home Clair and her partner. The bottom look was, of course, Angel and her partner.

Activewear: They sent home the right people, but I really liked Charles' boxer getup.

Military: I was sorry to see Charles go. His look wasn't bad. I think if he had his model wear the white jumpsuit instead of topping it off with that shawl that wouldn't have looked so mumsy.

Is it me or are the hosts poorly dressed for this show? I have to roll my eyes when they try to critique someone and they are dressed like paupers.

I can tell some of the designers have to stop their eyes from rolling when they get their first look at the hosts: Alexa and co-host.

Okay, I've watched all of the episodes and I believe they picked the right winner.