The Fashion Show Finale & Andy Cohen's New Gig

Part 1 of The Fashion Show's finale aired this past Thursday night. After having followed the show for nearly three months, I was excited for the runway collections of the four finalists. Of course, I ended up being hugely dissapointed by the boring results. The whole season had been rather ho-hum, but I thought the final four were actually deserving, and given no limitations would create some exciting collections. Nope. My favorite designer from the season was Anne, having loved her detail work and use of patterns. Her final runway collection, however, wasn't an actual collection, but rather a hodge-podge of well made garments, and she recycled styles and techniques she used in previous challenges. Reco had proven to be alternately stylish and tacky throughout the season, but his tacky side seemed to win out with regards to his final collection. The outfits lacked cohesion and some were just plain ugly (the black dress with the upside-down v). Daniella's previous efforts were often worthy of appreciation - I thought her grey evening gown with the Swarovski crystals was gorgeous - and her final collection was actually a collection. I liked the idea behind her garments, but I thought most of the oufits seemed poorly made and rather cheap looking. The one collection I actually had some excitement for was James-Paul's, which is surprising, considering I thought he was the least of the four finalists. It was by no means a great collection, as he needs to learn how to edit his designs, use color and better cut and drape to fit the body, but there was thought behind his designs, some interesting use of fabrics, and enough theatricality to make me smile. The four finalists was cut down to three to be voted on by the public. Reco was the one eliminated, which I'm happy about, as he didn't deserve to win but would have just out of popularity.

If you stuck with Bravo later into Thursday night, you got to watch the hot mess that is What What Happens, Live, a chat/promo show hosted by Bravo executive Andy Cohen. I find humor in the fact Cohen wants to be a celebrity in his own right, rather than just a man behind the scenes. It's one thing for him to write a blog on the network's website and act as moderator for various cast reunions, but hosting his own talk show puts him right out in front. Mr. Cohen is definitely nice to look at, so I really can't complain about it too much. The show itself was an odd mess, containing an interview with habitual liar Danielle from The Real Housewives of New Jersey, a brief chat with Fashion Show castoff Reco via satellite, and a phone call from Sarah Jessica Parker, which was essentially a plug for her upcoming Bravo competition series. Cohen himself was the most interesting aspect of the show, as he seemed to get more inebriated as it went on and gayer than he usually comes across in the reunion shows. The topper was him gushing over how hot 19 year-old Levi Johnston is. While I hate to admit it, I actually agree with Cohen, especially after seeing the photospread Levi did for GQ, but there was still that moment where I was thinking, "Oh my God. Is he actually saying this." Even though it's completely accepted for an older guy (ie Leno, Letterman, O'Brien) to objectify 18/19-year-old (sometimes even younger) girls, it's still a huge taboo to objectify a younger guy. There was something refreshing about Cohen's gushing, if still a little creepy.