Friday, December 2, 2011

Project Mockery, I mean Accessory

Even though I love to shop, and get new clothes, shoes, tights etc, I would never say I am on the up and up when it comes to fashion. Or I guess I should say even if I know what a trend is, I am often slow to try it out. Luckily I live in Utah which is often quite behind on picking up trends as a whole so on the occasion that I decide to get brave and try something new I can pretend that I know what I'm doing even if no one around me understands it! There have been quite a few times that I have vowed never to pick up on a trend and then a few months later I just can't resist!

Anyhow I love the TV show Project Runway even though I rarely understand what the judges like or don't like. So when they announced there would be a spin-off called Project Accessory I was intrigued and excited! My Aunt Cindy designs amazing jewelry for her Tallulahs line and my sister Katie makes beautiful jewelry also. So I was excited to see more about the creative process and gain some insight about the "ins" and "outs" of the accessory world.

Unfortunately I have to say I have been extremely under-whelmed and greatly uninspired. The Host and Judge Molly Sims is anything but clever but perhaps she could grow on me. When Project Runway first started Heidi Kluhm would irk me to no end but now I quite appreciate her accent and find her charming. I also don't care for the Tim Gunn character played by Eva Jeanbart-Lorenzotti. I think what I don't like is that it sounds like a lot of what they say sounds rehearsed and unnatural. I think instead of trying to make this show it's own, they are too hung up on re-creating characters.

As a whole I think the show suffers because none of the designers make hats AND shoes AND bags AND jewelry. They each have a specialty and an aesthetic and rightly so. Kenneth Cole, who is also a judge on the show, may be an "Accessory Designer", but I doubt he started out making everything. And now he has people that design for him. He likely has a team for each type of accessory rather than a "jack of all trades" designing everything. I don't know, I haven't looked him up in detail so maybe I'm wrong...

So when they send Rich Sandomeno, the diesel mechanic "who's aesthetic was formed by his love for machines and the decaying urban cityscape" to the beach on Coney Island to find inspiration, it's no wonder they can't see "him" in the pieces he created. I suppose you could say Project Runway poses the same challenge to their contestants. However as my sister put it, anyone could go on this show and be a contestant because week to week at least a few of them have never attempted to create the accessory they are being asked to make. While Project Runway might require a contestant to create a men's-wear look when all they have ever done is women's-wear, they are still using the same skills to complete the challenge. But asking someone to create a pair of shoes when their talent is jewelry is quite different.

How else could they do the show? I don't know, maybe that's why no one has tried before now...