Keeping Us In Stitches, part 2

To continue from yesterday, here are the remaining designers, who showed collections that I mostly liked.

Before we get to that though, I just have to ask: why does every dang model have her hair pulled back (except Marie, because she has short hair)? Were ALL ofthe TRESemme hairstylists busy with Fashion Week? Could they not spare a couple of them for a few hours? Some of the designs in both posts may have resonated better with me had the hair not been so severe.

Today's installment:
Old Sew-and-Sews

Marion: Lotta black going on here. But he did some interesting things with it. #1's bodice looks ragged, like her puppy chewed it up (but that's kind of Marion's asthetic). The top is a little boxy, the skirt is skating right on the edge of bubble-ness, and without the fluff at the neck the dress might have looked more flattering overall. Speaking of necks, I'm not too sure about that netting on #2. It does need some kind of interest there, because otherwise it's just a halter top, but the stiffness of the netting is starting to venture into clownish territory. It does go along with the palm-leaf motif on the bodice, though, so I'm not sure what else he could have done. I still kind of like it anyway. I really like the "flapper at the speakeasy" vibe of #3, and the way he paired the feathery print with actual feathers.

Elisa: She describes this collection as being characters for her puppet designs. #1 must be her "Uma Thurman at the Oscars" character. It's a bit too costumey. And she picked the wrong shoes to go with it. (Didn't they have any Dutch wooden clogs?) #2 is supposed to be a "healer" character. While I'm glad she used a color, I wish it could have been something other than orange. I hate orange. But the dress itself has a lovely silhouette and it's done in her "one seam" technique, which impresses the heck out of me. The hood is an interesting addition. #3 is a "star maiden" in an elegant crystal-studded dress, very tasteful and red-carpet ready.

Kit: More black! While I'm not crazy about the brown shoes or the plastic-tarp skirt of #1, I do like the off-white shirt with the button details. (I just hope those are separate gloves and not built into the bottom of the sleeves, because that would be stupid.) #2 is a nice little black dress, which every woman needs, and the ruffly details are very Kit. The coat in #3 seems to have a bit of an Oliver Twist influence, and I can't tell if that's a skirt or culottes (do they still call them that? Probably should say skort instead, but when I was little they were culottes). But this look is one of my favorites of any collection.

Rami: Color! Thank goodness. Having been a big fan of purple for a good chunk of my adolescence, I'm happy that he chose it. The grape popsicle color of #1's skirt is great (can't say the same for where he chose to start the gathering, at the widest part of the hip) and the corset part really accentuates the waist. Not a fan of the giant fleurchon on the shirt. Without that, it would have been a perfectly elegant shirt that could be worn to work and then right out for cocktails afterwards. #2 is my favorite. The curves in the jacket are really interesting, the color is divine, and pairing the jacket with plain black pants really works. #3 is where he falls a little bit, in my opinion - the dusty lilac color is pretty, but the rest of it looks like a toddler's dress and the neckline is too high. If he'd cut it a bit lower, it would have been a much less childlike dress. The waistband is also just a teeny bit too wide - it's probably supposed to be empire but instead it just looks like he sewed the waist too high - it throws the proportions off.

Kevin: I think he used the black and white plaid-ish print very well, and without making the models wearing it look huge. #1 is super-cute (even with the wee gloves) and very chic. I like how he changed the direction of the pattern on the sides. I'm not sure where one would wear #2. It's a bit "dominatrix-schoolgirl-gangster" - and there aren't too many women that could pull THAT off. And fingerless gloves are only to be used by open-hole flute players in marching bands. Period. The pants on #3 have a nice button detail below the knee that you can't really see here, and you have to be skinny to wear them, but putting the pattern at an angle like that keeps the thighs from looking too fat. Not fond of the vest, but it worked for him in the Sarah Jessica Parker challenge, so maybe he thought he'd try it again. The shirt is a basic, plain white dress shirt, which Tim Gunn would approve for his list of ten essential items a woman should have.

Steven: This is obviously a very fifties' inspired collection. I love fifties' dresses! One of my favorite movies of all time is Peggy Sue Got Married, and she's wearing these big skirts all over that movie. So naturally I'm drawn to the first two dresses, especially. Not that they're fashion-forward or even very innovative, but they're classic. #3 is another nice, elegant little black dress, and I'm glad he put the lace overlay on the one shoulder because otherwise it would have been exceedingly plain. But elegant.

There you have it. I still can't decide whose collection I like best, since even in the good ones there were parts I didn't quite get. So instead, I will just pick my three favorite looks, in no particular order.
Yes, I know, this is only two, but my third is Ricky's red number and I couldn't figure out how to get the hat off the model. And chopping her head off would have just been rude! It's not her fault she has a dumb hat on.