Episode Report Card Jeff Long: A | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Vision
By Jeff Long | Season 1 | Episode 2 | Aired on 12.07.2004
With four hours left in the workday, Mario takes off. We see a scan of his dress. It's cute, but looks incredibly simple. It's a white tube dress, with a large black pin-striped sash. The interest of the sash is on the side, where it's bunched and pinned with a jeweled pendant. There are splashes of red beading on the front of the dress, which are kind of pretty. Looks like blood. I kind of think that whole trend of clothing with gunshots, bleeding models, and bruised street urchins is kind of tired. It's been happening for a few years now. In fact, I think that Hedi Slimane made a jacket with red beading that resembled blood in, like, 2002 or something. Seriously, I think it was the same idea. Nora says in an interview that Mario's dress is one of the first things that they teach you in fashion school. That's pretty damning. With a massive scarf tied around her head, Nora adds in her interview that she doesn't think Mario is going to be in the competition much longer if he doesn't "pump it up."
Tim Gunn enters. He talks with Kara Saun. Her design is inspired by military gear. She mentions in an interview that her father was in the Air Force. The idea behind her garment is that envy is one of the causes of war. That's pretty good, only it seems like she wanted to make this military dress and shoehorned it into the envy idea. It works, though. The dress is very sexy. V-shaped front that looks like it extends to the navel. Light green color. She has added a gold cross necklace and an military-like hat that matches the dress. Tim repeats to everyone the length of time they have. Every time they are told, the designers moan and gnash their teeth like it's brand-new information.
Everyone seems to be having problems with their sewing machines. Austin says in an interview that the problem was everyone's nerves, but maybe cotton jersey just isn't that great a fabric. Nora is kind of spazzing; Kevin mumbles something about negative energy, and Nora snaps, "I cannot chill." Yeah, Kevin. He's got his iPod earphones in anyway, so I don't know why he cares what she's saying. Maybe he could tell Wendy her options in the MP3 player market. Suddenly, Austin sews over his finger. Poor guy. The needle even broke. He handles it like a champ.
We see scenes of everyone working frantically. At one point, Starr screams. Everyone's hands are black from dye. Except for Mario, who's probably onto his third mojito by now.
Later, at the apartment, Wendy is hand-sewing in the laundry room. Vanessa enters, looking really beat. She says in a voice-over that the competition is really getting to her. She makes vague references to the show's being televised. I think she is uncomfortable being filmed all the time. She says to Wendy that she is not having a good time. Wendy asks, "Are you sorry you came on?" Now, my intuition tells me that I'm not going to love Vanessa throughout this entire show, but I really love this next moment. She just calmly looks at Wendy, and then says with a faint smile, "Wendy, don't interview me for the camera, please." I'm sure Wendy was probably playing to the cameras, but Vanessa also seemed a little paranoid. I like her for the right and the wrong of it. Not to let this moment be Vanessa's, Wendy Pepper freaks out. First, though, we hear diabolical Wendy say in her interview that she has hatched a plan to lure the other contestants into her web and then end their days. The plan is so despicable, so outrageous, that only a mind festering with disease could be behind it. The plan is as such: she will be nice to them. Evil! She asks Vanessa why she is being mean to Wendy. She escalates, saying that she is always nice and caring to Vanessa: "You say, 'Don't interview me.'" By the way, Wendy said the last part with a British accent, and just like we the television viewing audience did when it aired, Vanessa laughs. Wendy huffs and leaves the laundry room, while Vanessa hides a smirk and looks at the camera like, "Get a load of that?" Vanessa says in her interview that Wendy Pepper considers this her only shot at success in the fashion world. She adds, "If you can't be strong, you cannot be a fashion designer." Oh, really? Wait until Wendy is nice to you. We'll see who's strong then.