Episode Report Card Jeff Long: A | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Innovation
By Jeff Long | Season 1 | Episode 1 | Aired on 11.30.2004
Starr is twenty-seven and from Charlotte, North Carolina. Apparently, she doesn't want anyone to know her last name. Maybe it is because she is a lawyer in a "prominent" law firm and doesn't want to risk future employment in case she doesn't win. Maybe she plans on getting crazy. She doesn't seem very crazy, though, and neither do her designs. She is wearing them in several photos. They are kind of cute -- jumpers and dresses with kind of an electrified 1940s look. Navy influences and full skirts. They actually look more like costumes than Kara Saun's work does. Starr tells us that she is, in fact, worried about what she has to lose in terms of her job at home. The mannequins don't seem to care much about her. Too skinny.
Vanessa Riley is thirty-four, British, and living in Houston. She complains about being the fattest girl in the group. She is. As well, she looks older than Kara Saun. (The mannequins are inches away from her.) She has been working at creating a line for ten years. We see that she has a boutique in Houston with "Vanessa Riley LONDON" on the door. Then, in voice-over, she tells us that the company in based in Houston. During the voice-over, we see a video of a fashion show of her work. On the stage is a banner that reads, "Vanessa Riley LONDON." So, what is it, Vanessa? London or Houston? Granted, a lot of Americans have an innate respect for all things British (i.e. actors, writers, etc.), so it may just be smart marketing. It seems snobby though. You're from Houston, Vanessa Riley. Deal.
Here's the cry-laugher. She is in the apartment, looking at a pile of building blocks. "I could have brought my daughter," she says to herself. Nora kind of looks at her like she is an alien as she says this. Cry-Laugher's name is Wendy Pepper. She is thirty-nine, from Middleburg, Virginia, and a close second in the best name game. She tells us that she is married with a five-year-old daughter. She has a small dress shop in Virginia, so this is an opportunity to access areas of the fashion industry that otherwise would be closed to her. Her dresses are pretty, but kind of boring. They look like the dresses that Southern state senators or state senators' wives have made for Mardi Gras balls. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but...I can't even finish that sentence. They're just kind of boring. (The mannequins even look bored.)
Wendy is in the kitchen with Nora, Austin, and Robert the Tan Guy. She explains that, as a mother, she knows kitchens. Tell that to my mom, Wendy. (Actually, my mom is an amazing cook, but not every mom is.) Wendy adds that if they don't eat well, they won't produce their best work. She suggests that they look out for each other: "You can't care about eleven other people, but you can care about three." Damn! Bitch works fast! This program has been on for all of seven minutes and already we are getting a blasted alliance. If you want to win, Wendy, why not try designing some dresses that don't look like rejects from the Jessica McClintock collection?