Okay, confession time…after last night’s return of the long-awaited Project Runway ‘lost season 6′ on Lifetime, I’m ready to do the ‘Meaty Cheesy Happy Dance‘ *(see end of article).

I even missed my normal Thursday night date with USA’networks ‘Royal Pains‘ to satisfy my long-delayed Project Runway craving.

Was it worth it?

Yup.

I admit it, in the recent Project Runway TV void, I tried to like Bravo’s ‘The Fashion Show’ - a weak attempted to recapture the success (and audience) of Project Runway. But, even an episode of ‘The Fashion Show’ that was dedicated to shoe-themed challenges could not get me past my loathing for the overly-catty confessional-style emphasis of this show.  It was “Project Runway meets The Surreal Life” ……**Shudders**

I just could not enjoy the orchestrated drama and juvenile name-calling, let alone bring myself to actually care about the contestants or judges enough to come back and watch it week after week.   Plus, no amount of cheesy catch phrases like “You’re hanging by a thread”, and “Sorry, but we’re just not buying it” could replace the warmly mentoring personality of Tim Gunn or the occasionally harsh but generally informative critiques of Heidi Klum and Michael Kors. The whole dynamic was a no-go for me.

I want talent. I want creativity. I want to see the contestants’ creative processes and maybe get some idea of who these people are both as artists and designers.

Let’s hope last night’s premiere was the start of a whole new Project Runway love-fest: A whole new crop of designers. A new city (Los Angeles). New sponsors (Macy’s Accessories wall, anybody?)…and a gang’s all here reunion of Heidi Klum, Tim Gunn and Michael Kors.

Too much good stuff:

• A past-contestant reunion competition - the “All-Star Challenge” - featuring eight former runway alums competing for another shot at seed money.
• The season 6 premier episode - a red-carpet challenge!
• A behind the scenes aftershow ‘Models of the Runway’. (Not really my thing, but I’ll reserve judgement for now.

This season 6 premiere episode was a ratings monster. It was seen in 3.78 million households.

Wow.

Did you miss it?

No worries, Lifetime is replaying episodes tonight.

For your daily listings, check the schedule here.

Now, back to the happy dance:

* Just substitute ‘When I say Tim, you say Gunn’  for ‘When I say Meat, you say Cheese’ in the lyrics…..Woo Hoo. It’s dancin’ time:

Okay, so I am that excited.

1 Comment »

I had the luck to be working backstage at the Christian Siriano show at NY Fashion Week. What a madhouse! In addition to the regular melee of cameras, models, makeup/hair folk, and stylists, many of Christian’s friends and family were backstage helping the man himself prepare for the show. Among them were Jack Mackenroth and Sweet Pea (who seems to have picked up a gig reporting for MTV news) from Season 4 of Project Runway.

So let’s talk shoes:

Each of Christian’s models wore a pair of 4-inch stiletto heels in gray, acid green, or neon orange. Several had charming flower-like fabric appliques at the front or the back. These high fashion shoes bore no name, so this girl did a bit of detective work. Want to know how to make high fashion runway footwear?

Step 1: Go to Aldo. Purchase 30 pairs of  heels in a light color.

Step 2: Go to an Art Supply store and purchase some heavy duty paint.

Step 3: Whip out the hot glue gun and some bits of leftover fabric.

Step 4: Mix well.

Here are the before pictures in Taupe ($69.98) and Black ($84.98):

And Voila! Here are the the end results:

Pretty cool, no? That right there is a true PR innovation challenge.

Here are some photos of the backstage ruckus just for fun:

Christian makes some adjustments

A Model waits to go on.

10 Comments »

Well, after episode two’s rather bland shoe offerings, last week’s episode three was a definite improvement. 

I have been drooling over the Gucci “Eva” wingtip platform pump and booties since I first saw them at the Gucci website last fall.  Unfortunately, even at Bluefly’s best sale prices, these have yet to drop below the $450-500 range. This is just too rich for my blood - and my bank account.

So, I was happy recently to find several reasonable and affordable alternatives to satisfy my attraction to the basic style of the Gucci originals.

• Guess by Marciano’s “Egeria” $129 at Zappos.com/$125 at Shoes.com. In black or brown:

• Report “Ellis” $189 at Zappos.com/$185 at Shoes.com.  In black, grey, or nude:

• Bongo “Square Dance” $46.00 at Zappos.com:

And, for those of you attracted to the green Cavalli sandal already seen on several episodes, Chinese Laundry has this affordable copy. Which, interestingly enough, seems to come in just about any color except for green.

• Chinese Laundry “Mika”, $63 at Zappos. In black, red, royal blue, and white:

I love the challenge of finding affordable styles for those of us who are on a budget or who live in small towns where we see very little variety. I hope these help you to look like you just walked off of a fashion runway.

And as for tonight’s show? I’m hoping to start seeing stronger designs tonight, both in footwear and in fashion.

8 Comments »

It is probably safe to say that I am not alone in my obsessive anticipation of tomorrow’s season premier for Project Runway Season 5.  I can hardly bear the wait.

As an enthusiastic (if occasional) seamstress, I am inspired by the design challenges as well as the fantastic footwear. And what footwear it was last season. My personal favorite, the “Marie Antoinette” by Christian Dior is still available at Bluefly; today only it is $440.99, an additional 10% off the normal $489.99.

And that they have it available in a 7.5 is tempting. But I have already purchased a lower-end beaded slide by Naughty Monkey while it was on clearance earlier this year:

And, while I have been unable to find anyone still selling the Naughty Monkey shoe, you can still grab the similar “Diana” by Beverly Feldman care of Zappos for $152.10 in Black Crepe (below) or  Python/Silver (not pictured):

As for me, It looks like I’m probably covered on swaggy beaded sandals for awhile.

So, the real Shoeblog question:  What new shoe will replace last season’s “Patron Shoe” of Project Runway?

And now, in anticipation of tomorrow’s season premier, I took a sneak peak at this season’s hopefuls.

I find myself particularly excited because 3 of these designers hail from towns that I have at various times called “Home”.

It could be interesting to see what these folks from agricultural towns and small-town Americal have to offer.

Hope it’s at least as fun as last season.

3 Comments »

As loyal Shoeblog readers know, I’m a die-hard fan of Project Runway. And of all the PR final collections we’ve seen, my very favorite is still Season 1’s winner, Jay McCarroll. So you’ll forgive me if looking at the shoes in the Marni Fall 08 RTW show in Milan put me immediately in mind of the fabulous Jay.

It’s true, colorblocking is popping up everywhere this season. Toe caps, heel caps, patchwork patterns. It’s certainly something we’ll be seeing a lot of come fall. I like it. It has an organic quality that’s right in step with Jay’s stylish brand of eclectic sass. Look at these outfits of his (first from his Project Runway winning collection and second from his Spring 07 show):

Even though this pieced-together look is showing up on a lot of the Fall 08 runways, Marni’s take on the trend has offered up a lot of pieces that look like they’d have been right at home on Jay’s runway. You’ve got your mix of natural and machine-age materials (wood, metallics, rubber, snakeskin, wool). You’ve got your quilt-inspired patchworks. You’ve got your contrasting textures (shiny/matte). And you’ve got the playful use of all of those to make for some excellent shoes. Take a peek.

3 Comments »