35 replies to this topic

[ThatPoshGirl]

Michelle's tattoos have been really bugging me. I like tattoos normally, but hers are just big black disks. I don't see the point of that. I makes me think they must be cover-ups, but then what did she have all over her body that was so bad it had to be covered up with solid black disks?

[Putch]

I was wondering if the tattoos had some type of meaning. They are so distracting. I want her to be out just so I don't have to see them anymore.

[Sayaka]

I'm not a big fan of tattoes in general, but better something individual than a stupid butterfly.

[geeweeze]

I'm not a big fan of tattoes in general, but better something individual than a stupid butterfly.

LOL - I have a stupid butterfly! Well mine is in flight, so I argue it's a little different (maybe.....).

I don't know that I would get Michelle's tattoos for myself, but they don't really bug me. I actually don't have any reaction to them.

Edited by geeweeze, Mar 17, 2013 @ 10:37 PM.

[Sayaka]

In the end of the day, I don't really care how the designers dress. They can turn up in a potato sack dress for all I care, as long as they don't put one on the runway.

Edited by Sayaka, Mar 17, 2013 @ 8:06 AM.

[Zemiar]

I haven't even noticed she had tattoos.

[dialyn]

I imagine the tattoos are not to cover anything since they are the same on each arm and she has others on other parts, but rather have some significance to her. I don't really care. She is beginning to look like one of the few smart designers on this season as far as organizing her time and creating something that will appeal to the judges (which is not the same as designing something I like but that's neither here nor there since I'm not giving out the points). In the last disastrous challenge, she nearly pulled out a win (even though she rather sabotaged Stanley by using a hot glue gun on his Velcro) while most of the other designers looked inept. She rather blew a hole in the theory that no one could meet the constraints of the challenge because she actually thought about what she could, and could not do, in the time allotted. She is not my favorite designer, but I give her full marks for having intelligence, which is more important to me than any decor she chooses to have on her body.

Of course she could prove me wrong (it's okay, I'm used to being wrong) and she could mess up the next challenge, but it would really surprise me if she did.

[Sayaka]

She can design something she (and the audience) likes for her collection. Until then, it's better not to try anything too fancy and time consuming.

[mk26]

I'm starting to have really complicated feelings about Michelle. I like her designs, I like how she keeps healthy boundaries with people, I like how she can clearly express how it feels to be judged. I should love her but I dont because of the swarmy cuts on the other designers. Intellectually I know theres a producer asking her questions like "What do you think of working with Patricia?" "What do you think of Daniel as a designer?/" I'm sure they pepper everyone with questions like that. Michelle is getting burned for her clarity of thought because they show so many of her criticisms but I can't forgive her for it. Her arrogance seems insecure, if that makes any sense, and that neediness is a turn off.

[Sayaka]

I don't mind it at all simply because she is usually right...like you are not paranoid if they are really after you, you are not arrogant if you simply tell the truth. As long as a designer sticks to the work of the other designers and doesn't attack them on a personal level (for example her problem with Patricia had nothing to do with her personally and everything with her designs and the way she works), and keeps his problems out of the workroom (Michelle only comments on other people works there when the designer asks for her opinion, and she always tried to work as well as possible with everyone) I have no problem with them being opiniated. Especially not if their remarks are spot on.
Never mind that all the designers talk about the work of the others, not just Michelle. She is just the one who gots shown the most. I guess because a lot of her remarks are really funny. I especially loved when she was self-aware enough to remark that the print she designed is one you either love or hate...paired with her spot on Nina-imitation.
I also wouldn't call Michelle needy or insecure. Everyone deals different with pressure. Michelle is one of the people who vents her feeling - but apparently not one who keeps a grudge. I think it's a healthy approach. And she seems to find her own balance in her designs. She feels overhelmed - she creates a screaming face. She feels down because she has to stay in New York - as soon as she starts designing, she immediatly starts to feel better. It's more or less the opposite of what most of the other designers do when they are frustrated, they just fall apart and it shows in their designs. Michelle just takes those fellings and creates with them, not against them. I like that. I really, really like that.

[Bad Thoughts]

I don't mind it at all simply because she is usually right...like you are not paranoid if they are really after you, you are not arrogant if you simply tell the truth.

I think she's a little arrogant, though she comes nowhere near Christian Siriano levels. Obviously, she's opinionated. I don't see any hostility, inward or outward, toward her fellow designers, and she always seems willing to lend advice. Stanley, on the other hand, was shown several times praising the work of his fellow designers to their faces, but was dismissive in the talking heads.

[Kromm]

The "don't touch me" stuff shows some real odd boundries issues with her.

[geeweeze]

She doesn't need to make herself emotionally available and be huggy if she doesn't want to be. Michelle doesn't owe that to anyone. Could she be less standoffish about it? Sure. She is definitely prickly. But I don't think that's any major indictment against her.

Edited by geeweeze, Apr 15, 2013 @ 3:46 PM.

[Sayaka]

I actually think that how well you are able to judge the work of someone else is a good indication for the taste level of a person.

[dialyn]

When I was watching the last episode, I was thinking how often the circle motif is something Michelle returns to. I'm not just talking about the tattoos, but her funky little hat (which I actually rather liked on her because she had some fun with it), but also polka dots/swiss dots on the fabrics she wore. I found myself starting to look for the repeat of her theme. Doesn't mean anything for Project Runway, of course. I just rather liked the fact that she holds a theme close to her.

[Sayaka]

I had the same though...perhaps it's a "everything comes full circle" thing? Though she does seem to like geometric shapes in general...there were also a lot of triangle shapes in her design, and then the gown...if not for the steampunk vibe I would have thought that her design was inspired by math.

[dialyn]

But she has mathematics in her background. I think she is drawn to geometric shapes and math calculations, and that her process is more complicated than she is given credit for. Patricia rather promotes the visionary aspects of her designs, but Michele hasn't, really, but doesn't she have an equally valid approach that is as creative? I think one could look for the fractals in her designs...and fractals can be both natural and manufactured. That's a good fit for Michele kind of artistry.

Edited by dialyn, Apr 27, 2013 @ 2:50 PM.

[Sayaka]

All I know about fractals is what I gathered from Numb3rs and White Collar, but I think you are right. I believe she also uses, perhaps even unconscious, the golden ratio. It would explain why her clothes work so well, despite being so bulky...what she adds at one place, she normally balances out somewhere else. And I think she would be a great print designer, she has an eye for the right measures.

[dialyn]

I know fractals from digital art and have seen some shows about how they appear in nature, so I can see how Michele would be likely to take advantage of them. I think you are probably right about the golden ratio...she does seem to know, whether by instinct or education, how to balance her garments so they look right. I think it is easy to take what she does for granted because she seems to do it so effortlessly, but I tend to believe she puts a lot of thought into her dimensions.

It will be interesting to see if she lightens up on her material choices and colors over time.

[hatchetgirl]

My husband always averts his eyes over her circles. LOL. They are just awful and distracting, but they are her choice. I think she is way up her own ass and wish they had sent her home for designing a simple outfit for the editorial.

[iguessnot]

I don't like tattoos, but her's have never bothered me and I find them intriguing. Grey circles, like marking on an animal, but she's not trying to copy any animal look. They are noticeable and different but at the same time strangely discreet.

[nicenessness]

I saw a pic of a guy with those same tattoos down his back. I still have no idea what they mean, though.

[Kromm]

Its a good thing this came down to fashion and not personality. You could just TELL how fake Michelle is as a person. This "wolf" stuff was such a self-conscious and blunt point of view, and the passive-aggressive veering she did between back-biting talking heads and sicky-sweet to people's faces also gave her away.

But it was long obvious she had the winners' edit, even with all the negative stuff they allowed to show on air from her. She got 4 or 5 times the talking head time, in total, of anyone else--not only having MORE, but also complete thoughts versus little fragments. She always went first, and usually last, in any sequence of talking heads--having both the first and last word in other words.

Her clothes were interesting though, so I guess that's what it comes down to. Stupid wolf imagery put aside, I mean.

[Sayaka]

I liked the "lone Wolf" story, because it wasn't about "I was alone from the start"...it was the other way around. Michelle said she started in a pack with 15 other people, and she lost her pack during the competition...Michelle is actually still friends with a lot of designers, like Amanda, Tu, Stanley Joe. For example, she apparently was never as close to Layana as the editing suggested, because she is not on the list of designers Michelle still has contact with. I guess there apparent closeness was mostly based on them rooming together.

The idea that she went through the competition, and now had to go for the final kill, was simply a description of her feeling, put in a powerful image.

[geeweeze]

You could just TELL how fake Michelle is as a person.

How can one tell this? I posted about this in the finale show thread so I don't want to repeat myself, but fake is really the last thing I think of with Michelle. Blunt and prickly maybe, but not fake. I will end there.

Stupid wolf imagery put aside, I mean.

I thought the wolf imagery was beautiful. That knitted sweater was gorgeous - I thought the wolf pattern there was subtle actually. I've had to point out where there were wolves in that design to some viewers. There was a wolf on the handbag for the final dress, but other than that I didn't see too much blatant wolf imagery. I thought Michelle did a beautiful job of abstracting her inspiration in her pieces, and then going a little more literal - but even the literal wasn't that obvious.

Edited by geeweeze, Apr 29, 2013 @ 5:55 AM.

[Bad Thoughts]

I liked the "lone Wolf" story, because it wasn't about "I was alone from the start"...it was the other way around. Michelle said she started in a pack with 15 other people, and she lost her pack during the competition.

I find that the narratives that designers make up for collection are contrived. There's no way I would ever buy a novel written by them. However, after 11 seasons, I recognize that it's a useful exercise that can help someone win. As stupid as the wolf idea sounds, the clothes represent a utilitarian and engaged outlook. The clothes feel like they belong to a woman of action rather than a woman of leisure. Beyond the obvious use in the sweater, I don't see lone wolves so much as women who need tools and who demand respect.

ETA: I find it interesting that all the models' legs were covered in her collection.

[Sayaka]

It's less a novel and more a poem - like Michelle so astutely observed. I think hers mostly worked because it was not really about a wolf, but, as always, about Michelle's feelings. The wolf was just a symbol, kind of like a poet who writes about nature to convey certain feelings.
I think that it's noticeable if a designer really thought about the collection and actually used a narrative or at least a symbol to hold it together, or if they just did what they liked. Sometimes the collections come together nevertheless, but then it works mostly because the designer keeps attention to colour palette, fabric and stylistic elements.

[Bebecat]

In my view, Michelle would do well to open a little custom (costume?) shop,where she can make and sell her looks to those of similar tastes. I don't know where one would wear most of her designs but I am sure there are places where people gather simply to see and be seen in her type of armor, I mean clothing. I just doubt we will be reading about her as an important fashion designer in the years ahead.

[geeweeze]

It's a fashion show - it's meant to be dramatic and the collection something that can translate to ready-to-wear looks, but that itself doesn't need to be RTW right off the runway. That is my opinion anyway. I don't know that I would have worn anything Christian Siriano showed. But he put on a good show and my goodness those clothes were beautiful. The individual pieces could be bought, and some of the more over-the-top looks could be tamed to meet the needs of department stores, etc. I saw that potential in all of Michelle's looks. I really loved them mainly because I do like to look at beautiful fashion and imagine myself as a girl wearing those clothes. Fashion to me is at least partially (well, more than partially) about fantasy and transcendence. Michelle achieved that for me petty much all season.

Edited by geeweeze, Apr 30, 2013 @ 8:09 AM.

[Sayaka]

It's not just your opinion, it's what Kors, Zac and Nina said too - and they should know. I think it was Kors who said that he would do the same thing, and that the most important question for a customer is "can I wear this with jeans?". The pencil skirt over the top which peaked out a little bit under it, that's an example for what Michelle clothes will look like when she is asked to design for a more specific customer. I can see a lot of woman, who like to stand out a little bit, wearing it to work...and if they are a little bit less adventurous, they might buy only the top or only the skirt and part it with something a little bit more settled.

But I also see a very big market for Michelle's "unrestrained" work. For one, she naturally could team up with Joe again and make a killing with a line of sweaters - or she could start to design prints. Because, Imho, if there was a really talented print designer in the show, it was Michelle, with her eye for patterns and proportions. I can see designer who want a print which is a little bit more unusual to consult with Michelle. And even for her more "out there" stuff I see a market. A lot of younger people like to dress a little bit more "fantasy" nowadays, especially those, who can actually afford designer clothes tend to like something a little bit more unusual, which makes them stand out from the masses.