A Review of this Past Week’s Fashionista-Savvy Television

Fired Assistants, D.C.’s Socialites, and Billboard Design Catastrophes

By: Chelsea Weintraub (Quinnipiac University)

Follow Chelsea on Twitter

On Tuesday night, the third season of The Rachel Zoe Project premiered on Bravo. No time was wasted as they jumped right into Taylor Jacobson’s, Rachel’s ex-assistant, dismissal. Taylor is best known for her bitchy outbursts, impoliteness, and jealousy towards the loveable Brad. I will not miss her annoying, standard awful LA voice (sorry, but ever notice how girls from LA have a tendency to drag out every word? At least the ones on reality TV. Please see Kourtney Kardashian) or her sunglasses. No need to worry, because this storyline will play out over the course of the season. I was loving Rachel and Brad style the stunning Demi Moore for her Harper’s Bazaar cover shoot. Rachel couldn’t manage to walk herself down to the beach in her six-pound day boots to watch as Demi posed alongside a giraffe while donning the infamous Alexander McQueen armadillo platforms (one of the underlying messages of this episode was that no respectable woman owns flats because she has a wide array of “day heels.”). I look forward to the rest of the stolen showroom samples to return disheveled from Ms. Jacobson herself, to see how Rachel carries on without her unworthy assistant, and most of all, how the stars turn out at the Golden Globes. I’m even more excited to see Rachel’s own outfits (she wore some of the BEST Marc Jacobs pieces in the first episode) and did anyone see her cute bed pillows?!

Also on Bravo this week was the anticipated premier of The Real Housewives of Washington D.C. The latest installment brought in over 1.6 million total viewers nationally. For those of you who missed it, you didn’t miss much. I like to think of it as an hour of my life that I will never get back. The women are all drab and all too impressed with themselves. One of the women, Mary, grew up with the Kennedy’s and has fond memories of playing at their home. Today, she lives outside of DC with her picturesque family and has a fabulous closet which requires her fingerprint to even open. Stacie is impressed that she can throw a dinner party at her home prepared by Janet Jackson’s personal chef. Stacie also has 2 adorable children, an MBA from Harvard, and a successful real estate business (I’m talking multi-million dollar homes). My favorite cast-mate is a British woman, Catherine, whose husband is a photographer and does shoots with Mr. President himself. She is outspoken and underwhelmed by the other woman. My other favorite is the bitter old cougar, Lynda, who owns a high profile modeling agency in DC (somewhat of an oxymoron if you ask me. Who knew fashion outweighed politics in the capitol?). Last but not least, we have fame-hungry Michaele Salahi who is infamous for crashing the White House State Dinner back in the fall with her husband. She is accused of having an eating disorder and lives out of hotel suites with her obnoxious husband, Tareq. It’s a waste of a time slot if you ask me. The group is dull and they all live in Virginia. It’s like filming The Real Housewives of NYC but using women from Long Island and Westchester. Whatever. I was glad I caught their appearance on The View this week. Not because they did a good job of promoting, but because Whoopi “bitch-slapped” Salahi herself. In case you missed it, see here.

Last but not least, the second episode of Project Runway aired on Lifetime on Thursday night. I’m still adjusting to this new channel and timeslot, but I’m thankful the series continues. This week’s challenge required the designers to come up with a look that would be photographed for a billboard in Time Square promoting Nina Garcia’s magazine, Marie Claire. The twenty-eight year old Gretchen won this challenge, stabilizing her ranking in the competition (for those of you who missed last week, she won that one too). We were all a little disappointed to see Valerie’s modern take on a trench dress take second place, but there are plenty more challenges to come. I was pleased that they eliminated TWO designers this week (talk about a dramatic elimination). Nicholas and Jason were both given the boot for their poor execution and hideous garments. Nicholas’s outfit was just plain ugly and Jason really thought that the magnified image of his model with her belly showing would sell magazines. Other highlights? Spanish-speaking Casanova declare Gretchen his “hip buddy” since he did not understand her proclamation of them being “bosom buddies;” A.J. the gossip queen having a meltdown for being safe this week; and Tim praising Mondo in the workroom during one of his regularly scheduled check-ins (note: I love Mondo and would be honored to be his friend in real life. Not only because he shares his name with my favorite childhood drink but because his aesthetic is one of the best compared to his competition this season). I’m excited to see Ivy carried off in a stretcher next week and hope that over-usage of the Piperlime accessories wall does not persist (it’s definitely becoming a distraction).