despite the rational explanations above, I think we need to have serious discussion of quester's question:

is Nina on drugs?

I don't understand why they chose the dress that won.

I have serious doubts about Nina's taste level. Yes.

TBC = Toothy Blonde Cheerleader which is how I thought of Lauren for most of the early part of last season before she forced me to concede that she was, in fact, fabulous by turning in stellar performances week after week. I think maybe the hip hop to My Chick Bad where she rode Twitch like a bronco was what may have really turned me around on her because damn! I still refer to her as TBC, but it's said with much affection.

I haven't watched PR yet, but if we're questioning Nina's taste level, that cannot be good.

kat,

it isn't good.

It's not that I didn't like the winning dress, it's that I liked the runner up more. I think that Nina liked the winning dress and used the short bit as an excuse. Otherwise, there was nothing wrong with it. Of course, it may also have been a producer decision.

Vortex is right and I'm being a drama queen.

I do think that Nina's justification is a little wacky - especially because she dug her feet in. WTF was that about.

Bad deja vu from last year's finale, I'm telling you.

I'm used to disagreeing with Nina, really, but usually when she explains her preferences I can at least understand why she likes something better. With this decision, I don't know why she'd think Olivier's dress was more elegant than what's-his-name-that-didn't-win (you see how invested I am?) - looking at them side by side Olivier's looked slouchy and boxy and not really flattering.

It occurred to me while I was watching that Gretchen's win got a lot of press and maybe somebody decided that that was a good thing, so maybe that is colouring my reaction. In addition to the deja vu le nubian mentions, which is definitely part of it.

Honestly, I was not thrilled with any of the outfits last night. Everything was just a matter of decoration, which is fine, some of it was pretty cool, but nothing that was as interesting as the corn husk bodice from the first season, or most of the hardware store designs. Too bad the cone skirt got abandoned.

With this decision, I don't know why she'd think Olivier's dress was more elegant than what's-his-name-that-didn't-win (you see how invested I am?) - looking at them side by side Olivier's looked slouchy and boxy and not really flattering.

It made the model look dumpy with saggy breasts. Also? A dog bed is made of FABRIC and that skirt wasn't ombre.

Grrrrrrr.

cone skirt

If she'd had just a couple more of them, there wouldn't have been a length issue. I thought it was a pretty good idea.

Bad deja vu from last year's finale, I'm telling you.

My daughter and I are on the fence about watching this season because of the Gretchen/Mondo issue. Last night made me worry because I thought the bird seed dress was much better. Oliver didn't get dinged about using the dog bed lining but Josh gets auf'd for using an umbrella? We may have to abandon PR for good.

Also, what in the world is Oliver's accent? He said he grew up in Ohio, but he's got a strange clipped Euro/English accent. Seems a bit pretentious.

Dawn,

I swore up and down I wasn't going to watch this year because I was so angry about how badly they did Mondo. But I didn't have anything else to watch! Like you, I am regretting this decision.

Maybe I'll read TLo and see if I feel better about this.

Oliver has lived all over the world for years, so his accent is a bit affected.