Disappointment

With all the respect she is due, Chloe Dao should not have won Project Runway.

I found her collection, to quote the warped syntax of judge Nina Garcia, "aesthetically not pleasing." It looked like moving curtains, or, in the words of my man Santino, "a couch coming at you."

To be fair, my main problem was her choice of prints and fabrics. I don't know too much about fashion ('cept what I like), so I didn't notice the seams on Chloe's collection until the judges pointed them out. They were well-placed. Also, as the judges said, Chloe probably does know a woman's body. But to drape the woman's body you know so well in a curtain is just appalling.

Oh, I'm probably being too harsh. The judges, again, were sending Santino mixed signals. When he went away and tried to play sophisticated and refined, they criticized him for being too safe. I thought, all things considered, Santino kept it amazingly cool on the runway. If I was him, I would be screaming, "When I go all out, you criticize me. When I restrain myself, you criticize me. What the hell is it that you want!?!"

I didn't expect Santino to win, though it would've rocked my world. After Santino was aufed (to use the verb coined by fans of the show), I was thinking, attaboy Daniel. The judges went on about how they didn't see Daniel's theme of "Asian influence meets military" at all in his collection. Not only could I see it, but I was appalled at the literal mindedness of the judges. I mean, artists speak in rainbows of words, and are often extremely abstract when it comes to describing inspiration, not to mention receiving inspiration. I was really peeved with the judges. If Daniel says it's Asian influence meets military, then that's what it is. It doesn't have to be literally present in the collection.

Darling Sister Sarah queried with exasperation that she didn't understand what makes a good fashion collection, or somthing to that effect. I think, as with all things, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and it's all arbitrary. One of the reasons I like Santino is that he knows this, and he shares my impatience with it. Whereas some would think that because the judges have more real world experience, their taste is somehow correct, Santino knows it's just another person's opinion.

I can't make up my mind whether it was cool or inappropriate that Kors offered Daniel V. a job as he exited the runway. I just want Santino to succeed and do great things. When Chloe, tiny thing, bless her, climbed into her 2007 Saturn, I was just shaking my head in disbelief. I think the judges rewarded seams, fit, and mediocrity above creativity. No collection was perfect, and none compared with Jay's collection from Season One. But Chloe? I just didn't see it.