Project Runway

The Other Side of Ven and A Sexy Shades of Grey Outfit

Posted on August 27, 2012 - 11:38:46 by

Let’s just go ahead and address the drama that everyone must be thinking about. Anyone who watched the latest episode of "Project Runway" knows exactly what I’m referring to…

When the designers were told that their challenge would be to dress a woman who had been entered by her friend as someone whose style needed a makeover, I don’t think anyone had any idea just how derogatory things were going to get.

Most of the designers seemed pretty excited about the challenge as many of them see their future clients as real women. One designer did not have this outlook. Ven whined from the get go about having a “plus-sized” client who was “at least a size 14.” Could he have been any more offensive? I felt so sorry for his poor client. You could feel her discomfort and it was heart wrenching. You would think that in this day and age Ven would be more enlightened about body image.

He was one of my favorites after the first episode. After this past episode…not so much. He didn’t attempt to obtain any information from his client about what she was looking for and instead designed a look that she clearly did not like. The fact that his client was miserable didn’t seem to phase him. He appeared only to be concerned with how “unfair” it was that not everyone had to dress a plus-sized client. Cry me a river.

As unflattering as his look was, I really thought the judges were going to send him packing. Instead, Nathan was given the boot. Although, I didn’t love his creation, his client did…and wasn’t client satisfaction a main component of the challenge?

When I had the chance to speak with Nathan he proved to me just how important his clients are to him. The garment that he designed was quite different from what he’d sent down the runway previously and when I asked him whether he felt like his design was true to his aesthetic, he responded, “I felt that it had a portion of me in it. The challenge for me was to be true to me and to please the client.” He also added, “When I design I always have a client or customer in mind. I always have to remain true to that customer.” If only all the designers had that attitude…

When I asked him what he thought of how Ven treated his client, he said, “I would have never treated my client in that manner, especially since I do plus sized clothing. I don’t even call it plus size clothing, I call it upsized clothing. I thought it was a bit disrespectful to approach the challenge that way.”

Like me, Nathan thought Ven was going places at the beginning of the season, but his opinion has changed. “When I went into the competition I thought Ven would be one of the ones who could win the competition, but seeing his progression, I think that Chris is going to be the one. I think he has all the qualities to win. He has a great personality. He has a strong point of view. I think that at this point in time, Chris is my choice,” he said. Christopher does certainly seem to be the judges darling! It will be interesting to see what future episodes bring. Do you have any predictions about the winner lovelies?

For this week’s challenge inspired outfit, I looked to Fabio’s use of grey. Grey is one of my favorite neutrals and I had a blast styling it with one of fall’s “it” colors, burgundy! What a sexy combination!