PA: Some Mighty Forgettable Accessories

Posted on Nov 7, 2011 in Fashion

Yikes. There’s no way to do this but rapid-fire style, you guys. The reason? Because we barely remember any of these pieces and none of them inspire more than a couple phrases. Feel free to yell at your own. Ready? GO.

Christina

The shoes aren’t bad – one of the more modern designs this week, in fact – but they’re nothing to write home about. That necklace is ridiculous.

Diego

Another unsurprisingly tasteful and well-executed effort from Diego. The pieces are far too matchy, but we really like the design of the necklace.

Nina

The ring is just okay, the shoes look outrageously uncomfortable and too complicated for their own good.

Rich

A bad attempt at a classic shoe, but the necklace is great.

Shea

Alternately, a decent attempt at a classic shoe but the necklace is ridiculous.

We’re seriously hoping guest judge Kelly Osborne can bring some much-needed bitchery to the judges’ panel this week.

Tags:

Project Runway Accessory Season 1

Anonymous

I am now thoroughly convinced that I made the right decision in not watching PA. Not only do I need the sleep, but I’m still suffering post-traumatic PRS9 syndrome. Some of these necklaces are nice enough and would look almost fabulous with the right dress. However, the shoes are absolutely abysmal.
- Anonymous
  
  There with you. Much more expedient to just read the recap. One hopes the actual burden of watching isn’t too much for T and Lo.
  - Anonymous
    
    Anyone who can burden themselves with recapping The A-List can handle anything ;=)
- http://www.GiftedCollector.com Nancy Abrams
  
  TLo, for those who have deleted PA from our record list, can you please tell us what the challenge is at the beginning of the recap?
  
  Thank you very much for continuing to recap shows about which we are mildly interested but don’t want to spend the time watching.
Anonymous

Of all these, I liked only Diego’s. Again I ask, since when is a Xena, Warrior Princess cuff a piece of jewelry?
- Anonymous
  
  When you are Xena.
MilaXX

My favs are the purple/red combo. I also sort of like the ribbon flat. These designers at least manged to show a bit more restraint than the other designers.
Anonymous

I don’t get this show at all. How does the runway show translate on TV? Can you even see the details in these items? It just looks like an enormous snooze fest to me.
- Anonymous
  
  What you said.
  
  I’ve refrained from commenting on this show b/c I haven’t seen it. For the very reasons you stated.
- BuffaloBarbara
  
  As the models walk, they put up still photos beside them of the accessories. Yeah.
- http://profiles.google.com/shannonlstewart Shannon Stewart
  
  I really think they should have gone with a presentation-style show rather than a runway. More like a buyer meeting. It would have allowed the judges to really get close to the pieces and see the details in person (because some materials will never look as good in photos as in person). Plus the designers could have done far more delicate and less crafty items if the judges were going to be seeing the items up close. I know that the brand is Project RUNWAY, but it just doesn’t seem like the best option, and it doesn’t expand the format and concept.
http://profiles.google.com/misslauraschultz Laura Schultz

Ooh, ok, Diego’s necklace and shoe are the only interesting thing I’ve seen in any of these recaps. It just looked terrible with that black dress, especially with that neckline. It would look REALLY cool with something else. At LEAST a white button down shirt, and many other possibilities.
- Anonymous
  
  All the models are wearing the same dress. Are the contestants supposed to design for that dress? Or is it meant to be just a backdrop for the jewelry? Like the black velvet liners of jewelry store cases.
  
  When are they going to do hats? I want to see the church hat guy’s church hat!
  - Anonymous
    
    yep–the challenge was to design for a little black dress.
    - Anonymous
      
      Oh! I was thinking it was the latter–and now you know why I am not a reality TV show producer!
      
      If that’s the case, three of those necklaces are ‘way too heavy and clunky to go with that little dress! Wow! What were they thinking???
Anonymous

Christina’s necklace would be a lot more impressive if one of the gems hadn’t FALLEN OFF.
- Anonymous
  
  OMG, I didn’t even notice that until you pointed it out. Hilarious!
- Anonymous
  
  Yeah — clearly Lifetime doesn’t care much about this show, either. Looks like the gem fell off after the runway show and before the close up publicity shot.
- http://profiles.google.com/sara.e.munoz Sara Munoz
  
  That glue smudge gave me a good chuckle.
- Now I am The Bee
  
  That’s funny–I thought it was a design element so the thing wasn’t too symmetrical. I guess I gave the designer too much credit!
- Anonymous
  
  Yeah, I noticed that!
Anonymous

I’m glad you guys are taking one for the team, because the more I read about this, the less I want to see it (not that there was any great desire in the first place).
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_CZKHVAF7VHVT2UI4H5XSNZTQ44 Barbara

As a jewelry designer of over 45 years (and a university level teacher of such) my jaw has dropped to the floor at the tackiness and poor design of the items these people presented. Holy crap! As a lover of shoes (not a maker) they sucked too. The swarofski pieces themselves were also trite and poorly designed. Sparkle alone does not denote good design. So I guess that might be an excuse for the bad responses to being “inspired” by the pieces from this commercially driven drivel. I will watch the next episode but if it doesn’t improve (on ANY level- the judges are worthless in their critiques) I too have better uses for my time
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1344922354 Eric Scheirer Stott
  
  I agree- the pieces they were “Inspired” by are often pieces of crap. For all the hype Swarovski “Crystals” are just fake gems made from glass.
  - Pam Winters
    
    I heard someone, in front of the store, say “rhinestones,” and I wonder whether that term is verboten around Swarovski! I would have trouble being inspired by most of those pieces as well, although I could be inspired to put David Shoe-designer-guy’s Swarovski necklace in my window as a suncatcher.
    - http://twitter.com/urban_gypsy Urban Gypsy aka Tess
      
      My god but was that thing awful. A suncatcher is the only possible good use for it. Thanks for the laugh.
  - Now I am The Bee
    
    Now, I am merely a “beader.” I make jewelry by stringing, and I don’t call myself a jewelry desgner–but Swarovski crystals are by far the best out there; I use them in every piece I make because they actually sparkle. I can make an eye-catching piece without spending a huge amount of money. And yeah–they’re glass–that’s what crystal is–leaded glass. They don’t pretend to be synthetic gems–they are what they are.
    - Anonymous
      
      Aren’t there natural crystals? I’m thinking like, salt…and gems grow … like Sapphires and tourmaline.
      - Now I am The Bee
        
        Yeah–you are right. But when talking about gemstones–does one think of crystals right away? I guess when I hear crystal in context of jewelry, I’m thinking glass. But that’s just me.
      - http://profiles.google.com/shannonlstewart Shannon Stewart
        
        Crystal is actually just a geology/chemistry term — it refers to anything with a crystalline structure which includes both gems and table salt.
        
        I don’t necessarily think of glass. I usually think of geodes, honestly, but that could have something to do with my intense fascination with them as child. If you ask a jeweler for “crystal”, though, you will NEVER be shown gemstones — they’re a different class in jewelry. Most often the crystal pieces you find in jewelry will be glass or something like geode crystal.
      - Anonymous
        
        “Crystal” isn’t a technical term – it’s leaded glass (which is not crystalline) – optical glass, really. Jewelry-wise, it’s “leaded crystal.” Non-leaded glass is not considered crystal (though you will see lots of it called such).
        
        The deal with Swarovski is that they patented a cutting process that produces the sharpest, most consistent facets and brightest sparkle of any leaded crystal beads out there. They’re pretty extraordinary – though it’s easy to make godawful-gaudy things with them because they’re *so* faceted and sparkly.
    - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1344922354 Eric Scheirer Stott
      
      I’m not saying they aren’t good quality, but Swarovski puts an air over them that suggests they’re worked over like diamond craftsmen in Amsterdam. The fact that they’re letting these guys do anything they like with them indicates they’re expendable.
- muzan-e
  
  Thank you. I haven’t brought myself to watch the show yet, just because the pictures are so awful: I’ve friends who make bracelets and earrings as hobbyists, and I know teenagers who design ‘virtual’ jewelry for online games. The hobbyists are making dainty, cunning little creations; the teenagers are showing some genuine innovation; I’m not seeing any of these three features from these professionals. I don’t understand.
http://profiles.google.com/sara.e.munoz Sara Munoz

I really like Diego’s, they seem like something I haven’t seen before. At least more so than the others (including what I remember from the other posts). I would wear them in a heartbeat.
Anonymous

What I’d really like to see on this show is shoes made well. Can they not make shoes? Were they not given the right equipment? The jewelry is awful so far and nothing that I couldn’t make but have too much taste to wear.
- http://twitter.com/urban_gypsy Urban Gypsy aka Tess
  
  I can’t imagine how being proficient with designing jewelry or hats translates to making shoes. Shoes have got to be really difficult when you don’t have that range of skills. Hence, why most of them look so crappy.
Anonymous

I’m just wondering: How did they make shoes? I mean, don’t you have to know how to make shoes in order to make them? I mean, it’s not like stringing beads or wiring pieces of Lucite together. How’d they do it?
- Anonymous
  
  I’ve wondered that as well. They look so poorly made. Maybe it’s the time crunch-? I haven’t watched the show because the ads for the show stating that the most important accessory is Attitude was a real turnoff. I guess talent took a back seat in selecting the participants -?
  - Pam Winters
    
    I liked the ideas behind a lot of the shoes. That said, if they don’t have time to do a good job on something as specialized (I guess) as shoes, why have them do them at all? I was afraid for those models having to walk in the things.
  - Anonymous
    
    I haven’t watched it, either, and I’m guessing if you do watch maybe you understand how non-shoe-makers are making shoes. Maybe they have helpers?
- http://twitter.com/urban_gypsy Urban Gypsy aka Tess
  
  They gave them lasts to form the shoes on and ready made heels. But I agree, it is a major skill that I can’t imagine your average jeweler has. The shoe designer guy was really nice and helpful to the others. That he won, even with an ugly ass shoe, was not a shock.
  - Anonymous
    
    Thanks for explaining.
Anonymous

I love Diego’s necklace. The shoes are great, too, and I don’t have any problem with them matching. I honestly don’t get the obsessive dislike of matching pieces.

I like Rich’s necklace, too, but he should have left off that long dangly bit and the clear crystals around the square one. They cheapen the look.
- Anonymous
  
  When I was a little girl I loved watching my mother get dressed to go out (I can still smell the Shalimar). All her accessories were organized, and the matching shoes & handbag, chosen to go with whatever she was wearing, seemed the height of grown up lady style to me. It’s still a nice memory.
Anonymous

Yikes. That first necklace looks like a prop for some styrofoam alien from Lost in Space. And that last one is like she was strangled with a chandelier. Take that, Kors-a-tron 3000!
- Pam Winters
  
  “It’s a Disco Garrotte!”
- Anonymous
  
  Well done on the Kors-a-tron imitation, SD!
  
  Pam Winters, same to you!
  
  Thanks for the laughs!
Anonymous

Call me kooky, but looking at ALL the necklaces, I’m thinking that Lifetime has been streaming Golden Girls into their apartments every night.

–GothamTomato
http://tigergray.blogspot.com/ Tiger Gray

That red leather necklace is the only thing I’ve actually wanted to wear.
- Now I am The Bee
  
  Absolutely! It’s an interesting design and I love the soft leather with the hard shiny crystal drop.
Anonymous

It looks to me as if many were trying to acquire some Louboutin cachet for their shoes by making the insole or lining red.
http://twitter.com/hpenfield Hannah Penfield

I liked the episode because it was cool to watch them make a shoe from that mold. But the rest was pretty bleh. Too bad because I adore Swarovski. Sparkle sparkle love. I’m giving this show one more episode and then I’ll just skip it and read your recaps. I can’t even remember any designers’ names. How sad is that? They are so forgettable I can’t remember one single name.
Anonymous

Diego’s necklace is the only thing I really liked. The show is kind of dull overall. And the verbatim Project Runway script is a little off putting.
https://profiles.google.com/104791269167429064986 Judy S

Wasn’t it the week before they were all making necklaces from bits of a dumpster-find chandelier? Is there a difference here?
- Anonymous
  
  No. ONE person made a necklace from a trashed chandelier.
  - muzan-e
    
    The difference? Indiscernible.
    
    Sigh.
Anonymous

Dear Swarovski,

Thank you for sponsoring this challenge. I now know that I can safely bypass your store in the mall in the future. Please don’t be offended but I truly had no idea that your jewelry is so tacky, flashy, ostentatious, elaborate, oversized, ugly, and over-the-top ornamentally sparkly.

Opting out of conspicuous consumption.
Sincerely yours,
FACWBPTWMC**

PS
Our national cultural linguistic lexicon is indebted to you for continuing to popularize the concepts of *bling* *bling-bling* *blingy* and my personal favorite *blinged out*. American entertainment and fashion ought to bow down and kiss your badonkadonk.

PPS
You really ought to consider a sponsorship for Donna Decorates Dallas.

**Female American Consumer With Better Places To Waste My Currency
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_OSYAJATXUH3QX7ZDDF52GXG4PU Janie R
  
  Oh my gosh! Donna Decorates Dallas! TLo needs to write about that one! I’m so ashamed to live in the dallas area. I hope the public doesn’t think we all like that “stuff”
  - Anonymous
    
    Who knew HGTV has a sense of humor? That show cracks me up.
Anonymous

I feel like I have seen, and not bought, everything here. I would have liked Diego’s necklace if he had used half as much of the red leather strips.
- Anonymous
  
  Agreed on the leather strips. No one is editing themselves on this show.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_BMEASIKJSVE6YP3DE2VLJA5CUU JulieJ

I feel the need to defend this show a bit. It certainly does not have the kinks worked out, but all in all it is pretty interesting. As a special added bonus no one seems to be doing it for a dead relative.
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1344922354 Eric Scheirer Stott
  
  This is only the second episode- there could be plenty of corpses in the closet
- M N
  
  Agreed. I really liked seeing all the different techniques used in this episode. Metal working! Molding! Woodworking! It was a lot of fun.
Anonymous

Have not watched the show, but I must say that I love the necklace by the Diego person, and I also like his shoes, although they look a bit wide. (Still, I am astounded that anyone other than a shoemaker could make a pair of shoes in…how many hours do they give them for these tasks? So I forgive.)

Two of the shoe pairs look as if they might have crystals glued to the heels, but it’s hard to tell. Do we really want to go there? Especially on a plain black croc pump?…

Don’t know who Cristina is, but I really, really do not like either her necklace or her cuff. They’re both on the vulgar side.
Anonymous

Did one of the crystals fall of of Christina’s necklace? There is a shadowed square of an glue spot like a picture taken off a wall but it looks like it’s there on the runway picture.

If so, great advertisement for Swaroski, there.

Also, I know these are artsy craftsy shoes and not made to factory standards, but all the shoes look amazingly uncomfortable and the models had a hard time walking in them. Perhaps they didn’t have their shoe sizes? I kept expecting one of them to take a header off the runway or trip going up or down the stairs.
http://profiles.google.com/shannonlstewart Shannon Stewart

I really hate Diego’s necklace, sorry guys! If it weren’t so red, maybe… but the shape and the color reminds me of the plastic cording that comes in the kid jewelry kits with the giant beads.

Love Rich’s necklace and ring. The ring I would actually buy — the necklace is a bit much.

Nina’s shoe actually looks like it COULD be comfortable to me — it’s all ribbon and on a flat. The beading could be miserable, but if done correctly, it wouldn’t have to be. I don’t like it with the LBD, though.
Now I am The Bee

While I love me a sparkly Swarovski crystal here and there, I started watching this episode and almost immediately turned it off. I got as far as the desgners running around that store just grabbin’ shit–and I said that is enough!
I guess I’m just burned out on all the stupid convolutions they make the contestants go through. This would have been great had they just said–make two accessories for a LBD using crystals–and that’s it. The stupid running for materials and the time restraints–I weary of it. And having them make shoes??!? Just nuts.
I am also sad because I’ve loved Swarovski crystal since a trip to Eastern Austria/Czech Republic where the stuff is made–not just jewelry but exquisite serving pieces and art glass. *sigh* I may have to write them a letter expressing my disapproval of their sponsorship of this drek of a TV show.
- http://profiles.google.com/shannonlstewart Shannon Stewart
  
  Yeah, I like the artwork-type stuff, but I hate the jewelry and the tacky shit they glue the crystals onto as a form of expanding the brand.
  - Now I am The Bee
    
    I belong to an art-quilter’s group, and we sometimes laugh about the tendency for some to over-embellish their quilts with tons of crystals and crap. I do use crystals when making jewelry and in some quilts–but as others in my group, I try and use “an appropriate amount of bling!” LOL…
    - http://profiles.google.com/shannonlstewart Shannon Stewart
      
      I had a friend in high school whose mother was the QVC queen. Everyone knows the type — make-up with a putty knife, loud shiny clothes out of materials that screamed “flammable”, hair crying out for a conditioner that cost more than $1.50 to repair the bleach damage… she was where I first heard of “Swarovski crystals”. For years I always thought of their awful branded shit.
      
      Last year a friend of mine bought her mother-in-law a set of Swarovski bedazzled iPod headphones for Christmas because “It’s the tackiest thing I could find in the mall”:)
      - http://profiles.google.com/trashilove { edi } ilovetrash
        
        life was so much better when we just called them rhinestones.
Anonymous

Rich’s necklace is fabulous!

(Just wanted to say…I only watched the first ep to figure out who everyone was, and am now depending on uncles T and Lo for the rundown. Can’t see this shit very well on the stupid runway anyway. Shouldn’t judges really EXAMINE accessories???)
Anonymous

I’m not really latching on to this one. I think my personal taste comes too heavily into play, given my lack of standards for ‘good design’ in this arena. Which is then conflated with my tendency to dislike that which looks to me to be poorly made – and really, how fair is it to criticize how cleanly something is finished or how rag-tag things look in this venue?

Of this batch, liked Diego’s shoe best and thought his necklace was good, though the violet chandelier pendant struck me as tacky. Nina’s overwrought shoes appealed, at least from a distance. Rich’s necklace struck me very unfavorably, except that it was a good size for impact against the model’s black dress.

And I feel silly listing what I thought was good or poor, I feel as though my reactions are so subjective as to be meaningless.
Anonymous

Excuse me, all of a sudden “the shoes look uncomfortable” is a valid complaint from you two? And about a flat no less? If that’s a valid critique you have a million posts about 5 inch stilettos to go back and update!
Anonymous

I’m so glad I don’t watch this crap.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1378141705 Gretchen Jacobsen

all I can say is really? these people are professionals? I could have done as well if not better.
http://profiles.google.com/bratling2 Laura Davies

Hm. (Please remember I have young children, or I wouldn’t say this) The hexagon necklace looks like something straight out of Sesame Street… There was an episode last season with “Terrific Telly and the Triangle of Destiny” or something like that that had a similarly bedazzled hexagon… only the Sesame Street one looked better!
http://profiles.google.com/trashilove { edi } ilovetrash

i keep trying to watch this show but something about it is terribly off-putting. it’s not the glittery set. maybe the hosts are just unintentionally uninviting? & for sure the intro is really horrible. & it’s too much like project runway lite. but i will try again. the only thing that bothers me about the work is that all of the pieces are startlingly similar to one another, no matter who made them. i have no idea how they pick the winner vs the person they let go every week.
- LocMama
  
  I’m having the same problem. Something just seems off about the show. I thought it was because I was PR sour, then wondered if it’s because everyone is wearing so much jewelry all the time. Now I think it’s because Crazy Eyes is always crying about something & the assumption that the people watching the show are so into PR that they don’t have to invite us into this world of “craftmanship”. That’s what it is! They got too familiar with me too fast. It’s like they put their hands up my skirt before I was ready!
  - http://profiles.google.com/shannonlstewart Shannon Stewart
    
    The work is too “crafty” — it’d be interesting if it was like the old PR: actual talented, creative people who are doing incredible work that I would love to find in a store. But instead, the pieces look like craft fair items. Which would be fine if not for the fact that I know crafters and don’t have to spend time watching TV to see it.
http://twitter.com/onetimeko maybe more

Diego’s necklace was nice, but it needed to be smaller. It looked ridiculous at that size and all I could think of was the dog from Pocahontas.

I want to like PA, but it’s not really doing it for me and I really don’t think I can stomach watching Kelly Osbourne next week after her recent transphobic comments. I think I’ll just read the recaps for now.
Anonymous

Whoever designed these challenges seems to have missed the whole “take the last thing off” concept.
Anonymous

If your shoe looks like it needs a three week correspondence course to actually learn how to put it on, it is a bad shoe, Nina.
Anonymous

I like Diego’s stuff. The wicked witch of the west’s emerald trimmed pumps need to go.
Anonymous

still glad I skipped this show.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_66KPZ36LMHMRQOX3HIJGHRNNUA MandyM

I stopped watching after the first episode. I still have it on my DVR but I chose to watch Sister Wives over this. Now THAT’S saying something. The highlights here are more interesting than the damn show anyway.
Anonymous

I’m going to start watching this show and playing “What’s Wrong With Tanya?”, because that will make it MUCH more interesting.

I screamed “NO” at half of these.
Tee Mmm Zee

The lazy and stupid producers of this turd of a show should be hot glue gunned - if you can’t do it right – don’t do it. Poor designers – not all exposure is good exposure.

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PA: Some Mighty Forgettable Accessories

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