Episode Report Card Jeff Long: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Clothes Off Your Back
By Jeff Long | Season 2 | Episode 2 | Aired on 12.06.2005
Emmett is staring at his clothes when Santino bellows, "Emmett, get to work. Stop effing around." Nick advises Emmett to just start cutting. Emmett hears no one. Like a robot, Emmett explains that he spent two hours conceptualizing because, without a good concept, all else would be "futile."
As Zulema is cutting a gold sweater that is on her dress form, she says, "I like it. I mean, if I didn't like it, it wouldn't be on the mannequin. I wouldn't be cutting. I would never cut if didn't like something. I cut when I'm certain." I hate when people talk about themselves in absolutes. She then interviews that you should "just do it." Don't conceptualize. Those two philosophies don't really jive together. Don't cut until you're sure vs. don't overthink, just cut. Seems like being the oldest of seven children made Zulema a little too used to an audience for her bullshit. She also laughs off the idea of missing her deadline. Because -- yeah, you guessed it -- Zulema NEVER misses deadlines. She also never shuts up.
Kirsten interviews that she is not using the scarf. Instead, she is making a skirt with the gold jacket and jeans that she wore. With the Porsche printed t-shirt that she was wearing, she will make a…shirt. The lore of the scarf gets larger as we hear that it was given to Kirsten's mother by her grandmother around the time of Kirsten's birth. Later, we'll find out that it was used to smuggle refugees out of Communist Cuba. Kirsten models her top (which seems to be a smaller version of the t-shirt it was earlier) for Andrae and he asks her what her "intentions" are. Is she going to bring the shirt in before curfew? Will there be any drinking at the party? Adult supervision? Andrae interviews that bad design is design without intention.
Raymundo flatly interviews that Kirsten's top is like a bra "with a napkin on top of that." That's really funny. Andrae tells Kirsten that her design should look like she "really mean[s] it."
We see Kara floating around the workshop asking for thread as Zulema starts interviewing that Kara gets flustered easily. Kara's having a problem with the sewing machines. She asks for help, and Santino refuses. Wow. These guys are hardcore. Kara seems to understand, though. She interviews that as the challenges go on, there will be less time for assistance from the other designers.
At one point, Santino jokingly asks Lupe if she will finish his design for him. "Sure," she replies, "don't expect to win, though." Laughs all around.