Last Night On Project Runway…
So I was over at a friend’s house watching Project Runway last night, and I immediately knew I’d have to come home and write a quick post about it. So, they did their “real woman” challenge again where, instead of models, they have regular women to design for. In this case, it was women wearing hideous bridesmaids dresses, which the contestants had to “transform” into fashion.
I always cringe a little when the designers get to choose their models for these types of challenges, because often it’s the largest woman left standing. And indeed, the first designer to pick chose a woman mostly because she was skinny, and said something to that effect. And yes, the largest woman was the last one picked. (And I think the second largest was the second-to-last one picked. Sigh.)
Then this poor girl (who was super cute) ended up in a horrible, unflattering, hideous dress, with a horrid hairdo, which made me embarrassed for all fat girls everywhere. (You can’t see the full horror of the dress in this shot because off the little shrug. It actually doesn’t look so bad here. But if you saw the episode, you know: it was tragic.) The public got to vote on the designs, and this dress got one sole pity vote, from another plus-sized woman. That’s right, fat sisterhood, represent! A very interesting moment. Anyway, the whole thing was insane.
Then I got home and found an email waiting for me in my inbox from a BFD tipster who wishes to remain anonymous. Here’s what she had to say about the episode:
We all know the fashion industry is fat-phobic, but “Project Runway” was particularly vile tonight. They had a full-figured gal on one of the challenges as a model (she was like, maybe a size 16!) and the designers all behaved as though she was impossible to design for. The guy who created a dress for her…vacillated between total contempt, self-pity and then faux enthusiasm for having to make a dress for a normal-sized woman. The whole thing was vomitrocious.
Hee. “Vomitrocious.” And that’s not even getting into how needlessly nasty people are being to the very sweet Michael C. So did any of you guys see the episode? What did you think?
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Filed under: Fashion, Project Runway, TV
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I don’t watch the show, but that is quite an unfortunate situation.
Tim Gunn was cool–he told the designer it was an honor to design for someone who wasn’t a size 6. The dress was gross but truthfully didn’t look all that different from a lot of the stuff marketed for plus size women.
I cringe each time a plus sized model is put up for slaughter on your show. Sadly, I feel that the designers attitudes is reflextive of the industry as a whole, The show brought all the times I was shamed because of my weight. the shows attempts at showing the designer are unbiased toward plus sized have backfired and only emphasis the problems that us plus sized people are faced with in our lives, Cong. to Tim for putting Gretchen in her plus, but why did the wrong person get sent home
Heh, I often find that most “plus size” stuff is absurd. I read a previous blog post with Tim Gunn saying that he was horrified and “who wants to look like a couch?” And I agree. I too am horrified when I go into Sears, or Kohls, or Boston Store or JC Penny (not that I can afford any of that stuff, but my thin friend can) and browse the plus size section, just to see.
What the hell? How many glittery, tweed pant suits does the world really need? Giant, bright, obnoxious patterns that I KNOW I will see at Savers later in the year really repulse me. And when they try to “mimic” current fashions, they fail miserably. Shockingly miserably. I am stunned at how badly they fail to make pretty plus size clothing. I don’t want to “flaunt” my body with corsets and skinny jeans or taffeta skirts and lime green tees. I want dark wash jeans with a little stretch, bright buttons and pretty pocket patterns. Swirly A-line skirts NOT made of jersey, hodies without a Disney character on them or that make me look like a grandma and cardigans that aren’t gross. Ug!
I’m 25, want to dress decently and can’t because all that’s available is stuff to hide me. Like I said, I don’t want to stand out, but I don’t want to be invisible either. I should have more options that wanna-be “fashion” tops with glittery prints.
I think it’s a little… well not funny, but I guess ironic that designers never want to design for bigger women. And by bigger I mean not sample size so basically size 3 and up. But that’s where the market is! They’re basically shooting themselves in the foot.
This is the same show that castigated Allison Kelly for not designing for her “plus size” model who was MAYBE a size six.
The worst part last night was when the designer came close to tears and said something like “I didn’t have enough material for all this…size. I’m trying to be kind.” Oh really? Bastard.
Yeah, if what Shinobi says below is true, then he could have worded it like, “The construction of the dress didn’t leave me very much material to work with” or something.
Being a plus size women, I often wonder what goes through designers heads, just because I am plus size dose not mean I don’t have taste. I like to look good when I go out, and I have very expensive taste. I love well made clothes and good matrieals. The desingers should speack to pluse size women and get a clue.
Well, Her dress was pretty form fitting so it didn’t really give him a ton of extra material to work with, I don’t think that was so much the plus size model as it was the dress. (having recently constructed a skirt for myself out of recycled clothes it took 2 pair of my jeans to make 1 skirt)
HOWEVER, size 16 is like barely plus. I thought there was another plus ish looking model, the one who dropped out? she probably just didn’t want to go through the same thing. (Or maybe she was just very tall… i don’t recall.)
One year I think they should have a bunch of FA chicks on PR and we can show them how this shit should be done.
“One year I think they should have a bunch of FA chicks on PR and we can show them how this shit should be done.”
Word. Where do I sign up? I’m already in New York, so they wouldn’t have to pay for travel or housing for me.
He went shopping in the UPHOLSTERY FABRIC section. Because clearly a large woman is the same as a SOFA.
In his defense, upholstery fabric is wider so he’s getting more material for 2 yards than he would from a regular bolt of fabric. That’s all for his defense, that dress was dreadful, and he didn’t really transform the dress, he just covered it with cheap gauze. He also made his poor model look larger in the hips, which is never the point of fashion.
They should have made the challenge all plus-size models so that there could have been no excuse. Of course you can make beautiful clothes for bigger women–Michael Drummond’s nightmare would have looked equally crappy on a thin woman and Mondo’s creation would have looked great on the bigger model.
Why DO they have it in from Michael C? (There’s so much that doesn’t make it in the show) And do I hate that Gretchen. But overall, it’s a damn entertaining show.
Did anyone hear what the woman said who gave the plus-sized outfit its one, sad, pity button? I think we were chatting and missed it.
@mo pie-
She said something along the lines of him having the best model, if I remember correctly. I probably would have done the same thing, even though that doesn’t really work towards voting for the best dress. xD
Secret FA agents on TV FTW.
Ha! That’s awesome, Missa, I had a feeling it was something like that.
i didn’t see this episode, but i’ve seen the same episode they did in other seasons. it’s just fucking sickening. also, you’d think that, after this many seasons of the show, some of this commentary would have made it back to the designers and new contestants would at least know to keep their mouths shut and fake happiness, rather than showing, season after season, that they’re really horrible bigots who want to alienate everyone who can’t fit into a runway size.
I didn’t watch this (I don’t even have a TV to begin with, so…) but I do have a couple friends who are currently doing Fashion Design as a major.
I’ve had discussions with one of them, that he should not exclude larger women from his fashions. He said that “after a certain size, it’s enough, it’s gross and unhealthy” and I got pretty mad, and told him all the reasons why he should be all inclusive in his designs. I’ve always wondered if high-street haute couture is what most fashion students expect to be doing after graduation; rich clientele, snazzy parties, rubbing elbows with the famous (who would “have the money to be in shape” whatever the hell that means)… not designing a blouse for Lane Bryant or a skirt for Old Navy.
Just because we’re larger doesn’t mean we’re interested in wearing only potato sacks and muumuus. I don’t know if I’ve changed his mind, but I wish people realised beauty and style doesn’t stop at a certain size, height, hair type, skin tone, etc.
Offtrack here, but I’m reminded that my boyfriend has told me that even if I *was* wearing a potato sack, I would still look sexy and rock the hell out of it. I’m lucky to have a man like him <3
I did see the episode last night, and I was anxious to hop on the computer today and see how it was recieved.
I was horrified, basically. The reason was not necessarily because of how this woman was treated (although my stomach turned with each condescending, contrived comment her designer made in regards to her figure), but rather that this show insists on incorporating these “normal women” challanges in the first place. This show is clearly to highlight, nurture, and give exposure to designers who design for…wait for the shocker…the RUNWAY. HIGH FASHION. Let me point to a comment Tim Gunn made on a previous episode when one designer’s creation was bordering on a horrific country club number from the nineties: “This is close to becoming the furthest thing away from fashion that there is…this is clothes” (paraphrased). My point is, high fashion is not clothes. That is like comparing music, painting, or poetry to clothes. Clothes are what we wear. High fashion is what certain artists create. It is created to hang on a skeleton. An easel. A peice of paper. I realize that this might be an insult to the size 16 woman who can’t slink down the street in a jersey knit, transparent racerback tank and tights, but that’s simply because THEY ARE NOT DESIGNED FOR HER. But guess what? They are not designed for me, or you, or even the models. High fashion is fluff, high fashion is the expression of an artist, high fashion is textile. High fashion is not clothes.
The woman who was so subtly mocked on the show for simply being a normal human and not a skeleton (okay, model) is equivilant to mocking a woman for not being a suitable surface to pen a poem, for not being the correct texture on which to paint a landscape, for not producing appendages equivalent to keys or strings to create a melody.
Guess what, high fashion? Keep the “normal” humans the hell out of your show. I don’t need the condescention, I don’t need the pity, I don’t need the UNTRUTH that there is something incorrect, unfashionable, or even “honorable” in being a member of the human race who happens to have just your typical amount of adipose stuck to her frame.
No, I think they should ALL have to do a plus sized challenge at least once. They aren’t just art designers, they constantly talk to them about wearability and marketability, being able to see the outfit on an everyday woman, etc. Their collections at the end (at least the winner’s) often get translated into a commercial line.
I think if they can’t design for a variety of bodies, they shouldn’t be designing. If I were an artist and couldn’t paint with anything except watercolors, I wouldn’t get into art school. If I could only cook with chicken, I wouldn’t make it as a chef. To make it in any industry you need to be able to handle more than one facet of it. If not, you deserve a big fat Auf.
If you were an artist and could only paint watercolors, then you would be a watercolor painter. One who may or may not get into art school based upon your talent, not your ability to excel in every artistic medium available.
My basic point is that for the vast majority of this specific show, the designers flaunt their abilities to design high fashion, and they are encouraged to do so. High fashion is a small faceat of the general “fashion” world, and the primary aim is not to clothe the everyday woman. Though I personally believe the aim is to make as much money as humanly possibly cloaked with the lofty excuse of “making art,” the designers do not claim their goal to be “making clothes.” Some fashion designers do want to create beautiful, wearable fashions for every body type, but this is not the aim of the show. Having a random “fat girl” challange incorporated in the show is simply to ward off the body-positive naysayers, so there is something to point to and say “See! See! We design for every woman!”
Believe me, I support designing for every woman. However, that has no place on this show, and simply serves to humiliate and disrespect with a guise of practicing “marketing and wearability.”
I concur.
I still remember the episode in.. Season 3 I think, and I remember Robert Best picking Vincent’s sister- and if I recall, she didn’t get picked last. I think Angela’s mom got picked last that season- anyway, I remember just.. Well, I thought Robert was just so fucking sweet. He gave her what she wanted (even if it did get him booted) and he was so gracious and he didn’t badmouth her or anything even though she was the largest woman there.
That was also the season that Michael Knight actually designed a nice-looking plus size outfit for Kayne’s mom. I know they’re probably staying away from the family challenges but I really think it added a sort of desire for people to be more human and not be total bitches the whole time.
Of course if I recall, the skinny outfit did win the day.. still, it didn’t leave the bad taste in my mouth that these things usually do.
Actually it was Uli who designed the outfit for Kayne’s mom, and she was totally robbed of the win. It was fabulous, and so was Kayne’s mom. I loved watching her do her model strut down the runway. And then across the room Jeffrey (who got ‘stuck’ with Angela’s mom because his button was the last one pulled) should have been aufed. He made a hideous, shapeless, sack of fugly and made her cry he treated her so horribly. Michael designed a cute wrap dress for Robert’s slim sister.
Why yes, I do obsess about this show.
Crap you’re right, I misspoke due to Michael’s mom being another one of the plus ladies- I think Kayne did her outfit.
ANYWAY though, yes, what you said.
I remember that episode. The problem wasn’t with Jeffrey or his design, it was the fact that Angela’s mom was deliberately being difficult and a royal psychopath because she knew her daughter didn’t like him.
I’m going to be in the minority here, but I didn’t think Michael D’s basic idea was bad at all. And at least he kept his ambivalence mostly to himself when his model was in the room. I think the lack of material comment referred more to the fact that he was trying to do a much fuller skirt than he started out with.
I thought the silhouette of the reworked dress was actually more flattering. The original didn’t make her look bigger… but it left her kind of shapeless to me. This version at least showed her to have a figure. Give me shape over ‘slimming’ any day of the week. That woman had a great bustline and a terrific waist. Michael’s design allowed her to flaunt both.
Where Michael went so damn wrong was picking that hideous, stiff, ugly fabric out of the upholstery department. And yes, he did that because the two yard limit would have left him without enough fabric to do his intended design. Upholstery fabric is typically woven in 54 – 60″ widths, as opposed to the usual 45″ width of fabrics designed for clothing creation. The result is Michael got an extra 9 – 15″ of fabric per yard by buying upholstery fabric. With the fullness of the skirt he was creating, every inch counted.
Would it have been better to have reworked his concept and used better fabric? Absolutely. Did I think the concept was bad? No. I just think it wasn’t possible to accomplish well within the parameters of the challenge with – yes, I’m going there because this does actually affect his ability to make it happen with the two extra yards of fabric – a larger model. Had the limit been three yards, he could have bought a much nicer clothing weight fabric and it would have worked out fine.
As for which design got the boot, I’m sorry, but no matter how badly this turned out (and I absolutely agree the result was crappy due to the horrible, stiff, ugly fabric that was never going to make a pretty anything and Micahel D absolutely deserved to be called out on the carpet for it), it cannot compare to the monstrosity Peach created last night. I adored Peach and will miss her dreadfully (especially every time I look at Ivy and Gretchen who give me stabby feelings), but seriously, that dress was a mess from start to finish with nary a single good idea lurking at the bottom. It was fussy and overworked and unflattering and just plain made of revolting.
Micahel screwed up big time, but I’m glad he’s still there. I think his base idea had merit, but it oughtn’t to have been attempted with the constraints he had to work with.
As for how horribly people are treating Michael C, I think Ivy started her own nasty rumor.
And if Ivy didn’t start her own rumor, then I feel pretty certain that it was Gretchen who started said rumor.
So there.
Ageism is rampant on that show as well. The older designer is always picked last and last season I could not stand Heidi Klum’s addiction to the word “matronly”.
I agree with @Twistie. I just blogged about this very issue and I thought Michael D actually treated his model well. The material was horrible, but the cut accentuated her figure rather than trying to hide it under a tent.
Also, I want to go on record that I love the word volumptuous and prefer that to any other euphemism I’ve ever heard for fat.
Although it is ridiculous that women who aren’t stick figures get the shaft on this show, from a contestant standpoint, I think it boils down to what they’re used to designing for more than size itself. If you’re accustomed to designing for tiny girls with slim hips and small breasts, it’s going to be very difficult to adapt your skills to a different body type. It’s a shame that they don’t have more experience with larger women, but if I were a contestant who had only ever designed for actual models, I would have picked the tallest, thinnest girl as well.
As someone who sews, I have to agree with you. If all your training is based on designing for a certain body type, and you have limited time and materials, picking the slim tall woman is just good strategy.
Well, it’s not “just” good strategy. There’s size-ism there too, but I think it was more a practical decision than a decision based in acute anti-fat bias.
Regarding the fabric limitation: and if they’re going to use the non-model models, i.e. women of varying sizes, why couldn’t PR have scaled the yardage allowed to the size of the woman? It’s as if they’re insisting that dressing large women must be a “problem.”
Yeah, I’ve liked Michael D. so far, but the way he talked about that woman was really disappointing.
@sophie: Must you refer to thin women as “stick figures?”
I totally agree with kwa. I didn’t understand why they all had the same yardage limit. Obviously a larger person needs more fabric to cover them. It pissed me off because they set it up to be all drama.
Didn’t he say that he wanted to use a nicer fabric but that he couldn’t afford it???
If that’s the case then his decision makes sense. The upholstery was the closet thing he could find. I liked it when I first saw it and was surprised to find out that he was in the bottom. It’s a pretty dress with or without the shrug (though a lot of women probably would’ve worn it with a shrug anyway) and if he had been able to use normal black chiffon that he wanted, I think we’d all be praising this episode instead of shaking our heads.
I didn’t even think of that but a thinner model would lead you to have more fabric to work with per dollar. Yes, I don’t think that’s very fair, especially considering her dress was tea length to begin with and a lot of the dresses were floor length. But I disagree wildly that the after dress was worse than the beginning dress. The beginning dress was ill cut around her boob area, not enough room for her boobs so it cut them in the middle affecting the whole cut and hang of the rest of the dress. The after wasn’t my favorite dress by a long shot but it did give her curves. You can probably find a dress like this on Torrid right now. And I think this is part of the problem with plus sized clothes, he tried to design the dress as if she was size 6, it was too full in the skirt, and didn’t take into consideration what is flattering on her body type. I’d love to be able to pull off a full skirt and maybe I’d do it anyway because I like the babydoll cuteness of it (and what plus sized options are there really?) but geez if someone with some talent could design for the plus size woman and then do a budget line at Target so I could afford it. Personally, though I hate the catty personalities of Gretchen and Ivy, I really don’t like the work of Michael C. I thought his dress was really really bad and the last time he won I didn’t like it either. The sleeves were awful, really bad, dated and dare I say MATRONLY. Stupid giant pocket, too short, too much going on. I thought some of the outfits were really good. My favorites usually aren’t the worse or the favorite but the safe people. I guess I like safe clothing.
Ugh, when I saw that, I was like, “here we go. 50 bucks the fat chick’s last.” Of course she was~
I just hated how everyone was like, “he’s taking this challenge so well!” Um…All he’s doing is building for a larger woman. It not like he’s making a dress for walrus. I would think that a designer would think of their clothes on ALL body types, not just the sample models they use. All bodies buy clothes, not just the small ones.
Some designers market to all body types – I remember flamboyant Anthony last year said he learned to sew by making clothes for his (not thin) mom and sister and was honestly thrilled at the real woman challenge.
But other designers probably honestly don’t know how to sew for a curvy figure and don’t know the best ways to flatter a size 16 figure (see Tom & Lorenzo’s post http://tomandlorenzo2.blogspot.com/2010/09/pr-top-and-bottom.html on this topic). Because that is not their job. Their job is conceptualize, design and sew fashion for a runway model.
Having said all that, Michael D as a designer is an awkward damp towel of a guy. His “attempts to be sensitive” made it all worse. He’s handled himself without grace.
uhm, i actually *liked* the retro dress? of course, i love the whole ’50s party dress idea. i thought it looked great on her. although i agree with mo about the hair — awful. (then again, liked the pebbles hairstyle on mondo’s model – see what i mean about retro?).
you know what’s sad? remember korto from season 5, was it? i saw recently that she’s now designing jewelry and bags. that’s cool — but she was the only female plus-size designer on the show! and i loved her clothes!
A designer who cannot create dresses for women of any size is no designer in my book.
Ok, so, I love this show. I love it hard. I hate watching the designers STRUGGLE to design for “real women” (big eyeroll) but I really love when they are exposed for the big babies that they are. I think it shows just how hard fatties like me have it, when you see people that are supposed to be FASHION DESIGNERS and yet they apparently only want to design for the runway, since thats where the size 2 stops.
I heart Michael C, I hate Gretchen, and I hate how almost everyone just chose to believe the rumor about him last episode. I really love how transparent it all is to the judges. They love Michael C. and they can totally see what whiny brats the other designers are being.
I don’t understand why they all hate him. He seems really sweet, at least from what we’re allowed to see. Are they threatened? He’s won twice now, and the first time it was with a dress he pulled out of his arse at the last minute.
And do they honestly think that, with a bunch of TV cameras in a relatively small space, no one would have caught him at least once if he were conspiring against Ivy? And do they honestly think they wouldn’t have put it on TV if he were?
I thought that Chris also chose a larger woman, who then backed out? And I don’t think he was the second last to pick either…
Personally, I thought the dress looked a bit too much like a Hefty Hideaway reject(love “Hairspray”). So, 2 yards equals 6 feet — how is that not enough to make, say, a pencil skirt for a size 16? Perhaps in a dove gray or other neutral? Not black, though, because black and raspberry satin would be a bit much. Then, he could have done a pretty blouse with the raspberry fabric. Add a skinny belt, a statement necklace and heels and voila — instant outfit that is not hideous.
Props to the judges for calling the designer out. If he was going to go for something retro, he should have created an actual waist on that outfit. Plus size DOES NOT EQUAL empire waist. And the client would have looked fab.
I think that one of the biggest problems these designers have is that they do not have a point of reference for plus size clothing. It’s not like high-end designers send plus-size models down the runway. If they do make plus sizes, they’re primarily for department stores (cough, Michael Kors, cough). I wish that Michael D had just once looked at the photos of singer Adele when Vogue’s Anna Wintour styled her for the Grammys. (Or pretty much any of Adele’s outfits).
Oh, btw, go Michael C! That dress was Rihanna-at-the-Grammys gorgeous.
I can’t wait until Gretchen’s hipster Robin Hood clothes get her sent home. Yeah, they’re well made, but they’re really unoriginal. Go to Brooklyn and walk down Bedford Ave and you’ll see everything she’s made pass you five times.
brilliant point.
I actually don’t think the challenge was designing for a larger body – the designer pretty clearly points out that his problem with the challenge isn’t dressing a larger form, but doing so with the limitations he has placed on him as to how much fabric he can buy. He thought the pink fabric the dress was made of was ugly (I don’t disagree), but he couldn’t buy enough fabric to build a new dress form like many of the other designers could do.
I didn’t think the dress was all that ugly, and I certainly wouldn’t give it a pity vote. I think the styling was all wrong – the shrug was not flattering and the hair was ALL wrong.
I think your post is on the verge of shoving words in people’s mouths, which I say hesitantly because I normally agree with this blog.
“Volumptuous.” LOL!! Oh my God, that prison-matron hair. What a horrid episode.
Late to the conversation, but just had to add… what pissed me off the most (okay, beyond all the condescention and “trying to be kind”) was when the two largest ladies were the last ones picked, and Heidi Klum said something like, “I wonder why you two are last?” and they were all forced to be cheery and say, “I don’t know!” When of course we all knew.
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I don’t like how they treated Michael C. either although I was glad this week to see the turnaround with Mondo where he suddenly realized (and vocalized) that he had been a jerk to Michael C. and now they seem like best buds.
Ok, I haven’t read all the comments and so often there are commenters way more eloquent than I…but I was pretty pissed that night after watching the show. I even ranted about it to a friend the next day. I was especially disgusted by Michael Drummond heading straight for the upholstery fabric aisle, because that was the only fabric “wide enough” for his model. Asshole. And in response to the defense that he could get extra width that way…most upholstery fabric is typically 54″ wide (although we don’t know the width of that crap he bought) and MOST high end dress fabrics are 60″ wide. So that “more width” argument doesn’t fly with me. Besides, a good designer should be able to design for ANY figure. He knew his fabric limitations before he went to sketch. So, design something that works within your parameters, moron.
The other part that pissed me off I had to turn it off and catch the end later online…when they stuck the women on pedestals for people to “vote” on the best dress(ed). How humiliating to be the largest girl, on a pedestal, and forced to wait for someone, anyone, to vote for you. That was the absolute worst moment of the show. And completely unnecessary.
If size six is plus size, I must be Jupiter. I’m three times that size.
I think that the plus size models generally seem like more fun people. Rather than obsessing about a pound or two as if it was going to cause the Earth to spiral into a sun, they genuinely enjoy modeling the clothes. I have a Facebook friend who sometimes works as a fashion photographer and he says that the plus size models are always a joy to work with.
I can’t see where it’s any more difficult to design beautiful clothes for big women than for skinny ones. I think the fashion designers are narrow minded gits if this is the way they think.
I just watched a rerun of this show and agree. Michael D’s comments showed him to be ungracious, rude and inauthentic. And a jerk.