I got a text from my beloved friend Laura the other day saying that season 3 of *Making the Cut* had started on Amazon. Hell to the yes! Very excited for that. Richard and I started watching the first episode and I went back and forth about whether or not I wanted to blog about it. I wrote about season 1 but skipped writing about season 2 - - I wanted to just enjoy it, I wanted to be an audience member and not a member of the press. But I had so many insightful and amusing thoughts watching the show this time that I decided it would be wrong to only share them with my husband. So MWAH, you are the lucky recipients of my insights and musings.
This is one talented group of designers, and their aesthetics are so different from each other. What a job for the producers, putting together the perfect line-up. It has to be racially diverse, international, many different styles, younger and older, and a splash of menswear.
They got their first assignment 10 days before they arrived. They had to show two pieces of evening wear, one of them more wearable, the other more high-end. Tim did a critique in the workroom and they had a little time to make changes if they wanted to.
RAFAEL
I'm so cynical. I could totally hear the producers talking about this guy: "Love him. He's adorable, his stuff is exuberant and unique, the accent is so cute, and wow, his mother is dying of cancer? We hit the jackpot with this guy. I see agonizing, I see tears, I see an Emmy!"
I thought the high-end piece was much more successful than the accessible look. The accessible look was rather flat in comparison. And judge Jeremy Scott was right, the juxtaposition of the sequins with the burlap was fascinating. Both pieces spoke strongly to his Brazilian roots. Jeremy put it perfectly in the critique: he said a designer has to create the fantasy but then sell the reality.
YANNIK
Definitely unusual. Not sold on the man in a dress.
CIARA
The high-end look was gorgeous. I'm glad she stuck to her guns and decided not to use the paillettes. The accessible look didn't deliver, I think the problem was the color. The lavender and brown just went THUD. All of the judges felt that the two looks weren't cohesive. Jeremy called out the construction issues in the satin. A most unforgiving fabric.
CURTIS
Oh wow, that first look was the highlight of the show, for me. And the second look was a stunner. He's one to watch. Of course they all are but I have my eye on him. Impeccable construction and a unique vision.
GABRIELLA
As Heidi said, "Corset over blazer, why not." The judges weren't wowed by the accessible look but I thought it was elevated by the stitching down the front.
JEANETTE
I love that the judges were puzzled by the fabric. I was excited to see their reaction when they heard that it was flour paste that had been crackled on the fabric. I have a few questions, though: does it crackle off when you sit down and leave pieces on your chair and a trail across the floor when you go to the loo? Does it smell?
ANDREA
It was cute but Nicole Richie didn't feel like it was evening enough and yes, that satin elastic waistband was a mic drop moment. Totally Joann Fabrics Butterick Pattern #352, 1989.
GEORGIA
The fabric was so stunning and the silhouettes were lovely. Tim called the dresses "light and buoyant."
MARKANTOINE
The puffer coat gown was super cool. The accessible look was dull as hell, total snoresville.
SIENNA
Not innovative but so lovely, so priceless, so stunning. She described her aesthetic in the critique as "gentle but not weak."
* * *
I was crazy for Heidi's 1960s Star Trek hottie dress for the critique. What the hell did Jeremy Scott have on. More than a little clownish. Nicole Riche looked elegant and all business.
I was surprised that they chose Sienna as the winner. I would have given it to Curtis. I think the judges were swayed by talking with her and hearing about the balance of femininity and strength.
As expected, the judges were gobsmacked about the use of flour paste in Jeanette's looks. And no discussion about the practical side of things, so I guess that's just me being a pain.
Oo Ciara, bad idea saying that your line is aimed at women 28 to 42! Heidi Klum does not want to feel like she's too old to wear your clothes! You might have just signed your own pink slip, girl!
Emily was told she was not making the cut. It was well-mannered of the judges not to mention the horrific waistband. Emily was shook and said she "didn't want to embarrass" herself and "beg to stay." But she was still sent home.
* * *
The highlight reel of the season to come was very enticing! Jeremy Scott looks like he's going to throw some major tantrums. Beautiful looks, drama in the workroom, color, flair, and a fair amount of what the hell was that. Looking forward to it all!
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The challenge for episode 2: a collaboration with Champion - - a high-end interpretation of activewear and a companion wearable look. Champion was furnishing them with branded trims and other Champion gewgaws. Making the Cut was giving them a fabric printer, so they could print their own fabrics.
The winning look would be sold on the Amazon Making the Cut website and the winning designer would also create a capsule collection to be sold on the Making the Cut site and the Champion site. Big time, honey.
The designers went around LA getting inspiration. It seemed like each designer felt like he or she had this challenge in the bag and would of course be the winner. Markantoine made the good point that for an activewear challenge there was very little activewear going on in the room.
We saw a little video profile of Curtis. Did he invent the term "themwear"? I love this quote: "I want that queer kid in Nebraska to wear my dress to the prom."
And a little video profile of Markantoine. Ugh, he was gay bashed in 2019 which resulted in multiple fractures and concussions. Unbelievable.
It seems so grown up and real world that the designers cut their pieces and give them to professional seamstresses to construct. I wonder if that makes their jobs easier or harder? I'm sure it's something you have to learn, like anything else. I'm such a control freak (major news flash), I would find it difficult to hand my work over to someone else.
The space for the runway show was super cool. The guest judge was Champion's chief design officer for North America, Ned Munroe.
RAFAEL
The runway look was high drama but not activewear at all. The judges didn't see that as a problem. LOVED the wearable look. So fantastic. Tim said, "I love to see an accessible look that has drama."
MARKANTOINE
He wore a lot of Champion as a kid. In the 90s. Bless. The runway look was cool and unexpected. The judges felt like the color palette was too washed out.
GABRIELLA
The runway look looked nothing like Champion - - the colors, the silhouette, all wrong. And Nicole Richie called out the fit on the accessible look. She'll definitely be on the chopping block. It's not easy to recover from a bad critique on both looks that you show.
SIENNA
I loved the runway look, I loved the playfulness of it. Heidi and Nicole both thought their daughters would love the accessible look, it was totally something they would wear.
YANNIK
Ned Munroe said it was innovative but not Champion. Nicole Richie said that the accessible look was like something you would wear for "a hot mud wrestling competition." Ha! Best quote of the season, so far.
CIARA
The judges felt that both looks were too ordinary. Munroe thought the accessible look was something you'd wear to the office. Ouch.
JEANETTE
The runway look was not flattering. I liked the accessible coat but Richie said, "This is literally giving me...nothing."
GEORGIA
The judges loved the accessible look, they weren't so sold on the runway look.
CURTIS
The runway look was super sexy but is it activewear? Munroe said the activewear would "absolutely" sell and that Curtis "nailed it."
* * *
Rafael was the winner. I was crazy for his accessible look but wasn't as sold on the runway look. I would have given the win to Curtis, I thought both his looks were stunning and innovative. But surprise, Munroe announced that they'd produce his accessible look. So woo hoo!
The judges had very little good to say about Jeanette's looks but they kept her. Of course Ciara was sent home. Her stuff was way too dull and ordinary. They had called her out for construction in the previous challenge so to have that same problem again was a deal breaker. Her exit was gracious.
I immediately had to watch both episodes of Making the Cut! Aaaagh! The suspense! When’s the third show?