I had a middle school teacher who loved to talk about nuclear war and the effects of such on the skin of people.

Same here. We actually had a school-wide assembly about the whole subject, with films shown and so on. I freaked big time, and had nightmares for years afterwards. I think the teacher who organized the thing got some sort of reprimand, actually, since the parents of the kids were unaware of just how horriffic the A/V portion of the assembly was.

Sumi, I'm pretty much with you on all of that. And despite the unpleasantness, I thnk Laura might have won it for Jeffrey by forcing him to lose the OMGWTFLeatherBubbleShorts. I also think that if Uli had been a little more attentive to color transitions from one outfit to the next (in the latter half anyway, the early pieces she did it beautifully) she'd have made it a tougher decision.

The two pieces of Jeffrey's that the judges called out as not working - that was interesting. It looked to me like he was trying to do an Uli piece and a Laura piece - I need to look at the collection again and see if there's something in there that might have been a Michael. If so, interesting strategy, to sort to take them on directly.

Overall, pretty satisfying.

::chafes at the PR talk because it is waiting for me at HOME::

Errr. . .I think might have the aforementioned internet addiction as I am posting/reading posts when in fact I should be taking an exam so that I can make it into work ontime. Instead, I'm trying to remember if I ever had a teacher/professor who ever discussed nuclear fallout, and I'm blank. Though, living in the South, I've heard my fair share of "You're going to burn in the fiery pits of hell!" Does that count?

Okay. Seriously. Gotta take this test.

Happy birthdays, Burrell and Calli!!

PR: Even though I didn't look at the collections beforehand, I saw enough commentary that I figured Jeffrey had won, but I wasn't that psyched with his collection. I didn't think the zippery dress looked that good from afar, even though it was cool close up. Eh. I do think Tim Gunn was right when he said they're all winners -- I think the show will give them all a bump in their careers, especially Laura. She can definitely have a career making clothes now. The others are all already doing it for a living, no? It's kind of annoying, because I don't get the impression that Jeffrey needs much help, career-wise.

Happy Birthday Burrell!
Happy Birthday Calli!

I just went to upload the pictures I took yesterday at the Bronx Zoo with Lee, but Flickr is broken this morning. Damn.

I was really absurdly happy that Jeffrey won. I know he's an ass, but I can't help liking him. The whole recovered addict / cute mohawked girlfriend / adorable toddler thing gets me.

I was disappointed in Michael's collection, but I hate gold, so that turned me off right away. And I don't think it was cohesive enough. Uli's collection was lovely, but I think the judges were possibly swayed against her by the fact that it was clear so many people were interested in, winner or not, buying her clothes. And Laura's collection was lovely, but I agree that she's not necessarily an innovator -- she's a fabulous dressmaker. Still, I think she'll do really well. I thought her collection was beautiful.

Jeffrey's didn't include a whole lot of things I would wear, personally, but I thought he did have the strongest point of view, and the collection as a whole just worked. Aside from that horrible, energy-sucking music he chose for the runway. What the hell was that about?

I kind of liked his music. Laura's, OTOH, played right in to the judges' issues with her skewing too old/classic and not bringing anything fresh to the table.

I felt like Michael got too caught up in the idea of his theme, actually. It made me wonder if, after all the weeks of the competition, he was having trouble coming up with ideas without being handed a hook. IIRC, he had some trouble earlier in the competition on challenges that didn't provide much direction. That said, I don't think he executed it particularly well either. A disappointment on several levels.

Happy Birthday, Calli and Burrell!

but Flickr is broken this morning. Damn.

I know! I was going to link to some pictures from the west coast, but it's broke like a broke thing.