Under The Gunn - Anyone Watching??

Dee4707 · Jan 17, 2014

Show started last night. I think I'm going to like it. The only part I didn't like was Natalia Fedner's crying....then to get picked. :disapp: :disapp:

http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/under-the-gunn/season-1/designers

Your thoughts, please.

Olympia · Jan 17, 2014

I am especially fond of Mondo, Nick, and Anya for their articulate commentary and their temperaments, so I'm happy with the choice of mentors. It's also fun to see Tim Gunn have so much involvement (at least, so I hope). So I'm looking forward to this interesting new format. And we backseat stitchers might actually learn a thing or two!

WeakAnkles · Jan 18, 2014

I watched it and I am not sure what I think. I may be one of 11 PR fans who does not like Mondo at all--he screams attention 'ho to me (and while I think he's a good designer, I found it rather telling that he has gone into primarily designing accessories--you just know there's a story behind that). Natalia and the Cuban GlamaChaCha Queen are definite Producer's Picks. Too bad Uncle Nick got stuck with 'em--I hope he's getting extra combat pay!

Oh, speaking of Uncle Nick...do you read his blog? He evaluates ALL of the skating costumes for the Grand Prix series, US Nationals and (probably) the Olympics. I don't always agree with him, but a fun read. He's also blogging his take on the show:
http://nickverrreos.blogspot.com/

So I'll give it a few weeks and see what I think.

Dee4707 · Jan 18, 2014

WeakAnkles said:
I watched it and I am not sure what I think.

WeakAnkles, you have to hang in there with us...I love your commentary and honesty. Please, please don't leave me here alone with Olympia she beats me up all the time. She has been extremely mean to me and I need someone here to fend her off of me. :laugh:

WeakAnkles said:
I may be one of 11 PR fans who does not like Mondo at all--he screams attention 'ho to me (and while I think he's a good designer, I found it rather telling that he has gone into primarily designing accessories--you just know there's a story behind that).

I think Mondo can be a little on the drama side. I like some of his stuff, not all. Didn't he reveal on PR that he's HIV positive? Health reasons may be the reason he does things on a smaller scale.

WeakAnkles said:
Natalia and the Cuban GlamaChaCha Queen are definite Producer's Picks. Too bad Uncle Nick got stuck with 'em--I hope he's getting extra combat pay!

I think one of the reasons people weren't choosing Nick is they may have just gotten out of school and felt Nick would be more like teacher instead of mentor. I like to think they are synonymous but you might have a different view.

WeakAnkles said:
Oh, speaking of Uncle Nick...do you read his blog? He evaluates ALL of the skating costumes for the Grand Prix series, US Nationals and (probably) the Olympics. I don't always agree with him, but a fun read. He's also blogging his take on the show:
http://nickverrreos.blogspot.com/

So I'll give it a few weeks and see what I think.

I didn't know that Nick was doing all of that. I also didn't know he was teaching as well. I live in a cave. :laugh:

I have seen him on E but that's the extent of what I know about him.

Olympia · Jan 18, 2014

Say what, Dee?

>giggle<

I have to say, I haven't gotten that attention-grabber vibe from Mondo. He was always a bit cantankerous as a contestant, but not in any large-scale offensive way the way Jeffrey or Santino could be. But where I really started liking him was when he was brought back as a guest judge in various episodes. I found him very restrained and unusually precise, never going for the witty insult just so he could look good. He's not warm and fuzzy like Nick or charming like Anya, but he seems fair and certainly knowledgeable.

I don't revere his fashion sense the way a lot of PR fans do, though I admire it, but I am tantalized by his whimsical shoes. And he makes flats!

heyang · Jan 18, 2014

I liked the show, although it did remind of NBC's The Fashion Show. (just as Food Network's The Kitchen is reminding me of ABC's The Chew.)

I wasn't really watching PR during Nick's seasons, but Anya and Mondo's are favorites of mine. I guess they all have something different to offer.

It was interesting how some of the contestants chose their mentor. THe 1st lady chose Monday, but their aesthetic is different as she doesn't work with prints/color as Mondo does, but she said she wanted to stretch herself. Others seemed to go with a mentor with a similar style to their own.

I kinda guessed the last girl would get put with a mentor because it would've meant that only 1 person would've gotten eliminated from the 2nd batch. Mondo can pick 2 more, Anya 1 and Nick 2 and there are 7 left.

WeakAnkles · Jan 19, 2014

Heyang--yup, I think you're pretty much on target there. The whole set up to me smells of Producer Manipulation. Sigh. I miss the Bravo days. There was just as much drama but it didn't feel so manufactured.

Dee, I'd hide in a cave too if Olympia was beating me up all time! Of course in Manhattan we don't have real caves...we have Staten Island! (Just kidding...)

High heels alone are enough to make me thank the heavens I'm a guy.

I think Nick can be very good for taming the kitschier impulses of our Cuban GlamaChaCha Queen. We should start a pool about how long it takes a judge to mention the dreaded phrase "taste issues" when his stuff is evaluated. I'd say about 12 seconds...

Olympia · Jan 19, 2014

Do any of you realize how shrimpy my muscles are?

I do hope that Nick can get through to the costume designer (whose name escapes me) and can induce him to use a bit less froufrou.

It's going to be interesting to see what Anya will contribute in terms of advising on technique. Her gifts are so unique, and her actual sewing skills so self-taught (unless she's done more studying since winning her season), that I suspect she's not going to be able to give precise guidance in that aspect of things. Whether that kind of advice will be needed by designers or not I can't say at the moment. Whereas both Nick and Mondo seem to be very well versed in matters of technique.

louisa05 · Jan 22, 2014

I watched. Really late. Thursdays are generally bad for me.

I don't understand why they did the initial choosing in two groups. I assume that the mentors got to look extensively at all the designers' portfolios, but we will see some drama about Anya wishing she didn't have three already anyway.

I wondered if they all weren't rushing to Anya because they think she'll have very little criticism of technique and they'll get to do it on their own.

Olympia · Jan 22, 2014

That's a thought, Louisa. I can't imagine Anya being very detailed about technique, whereas both Mondo and Nick seem to be thoroughly grounded in it. I remember that when Anya competed, she said that she had just learned to sew several months before the show. She's tremendously gifted in terms of an eye for line, shape, color, pattern, and so on, but she's not, as far as I know, well versed in the nuts and bolts of design. Maybe she's studied some more since her win, though. Does anyone know?

Dee4707 · Jan 22, 2014

Olympia, I don't know about Anya's sewing but I remember a comment from Christian Sirano (sp?)...I'm a designer, not a dressmaker. I do think it's worthwhile knowing as you say the nuts and bolts.

Olympia · Jan 22, 2014

Dee4707 said:
Olympia, I don't know about Anya's sewing but I remember a comment from Christian Sirano (sp?)...I'm a designer, not a dressmaker. I do think it's worthwhile knowing as you say the nuts and bolts.

And I think Christian Siriano did know the nuts and bolts, so both your points are very apt. I would assume that as with skating, the more technique you know, the freer you can be. Also, in this context, the faster you can figure out what to design in a high-stress situation. But lack of this knowledge did not seem to hamper Anya in her season. Who knows how the judges will call things this time around?

WeakAnkles · Jan 25, 2014

Anyone watch ep2 or are you bored already? On the one hand, I thought this group was, for the most part, more interesting design/talent-wise than the first group, but stretching the team selection process out to two episodes was teeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeedious. If I had to hear one more "fake" compliment to a designer the mentor was obviously NOT going to pick or hear Tim remind us (for the 2397843434th time) how many designers each mentor had left to pick, I was going to start throwing soft cushy things at my screen.

Poor Nick. We might as well call him Mr. Dregs, 'cause that's what he got. Cha-cha Glama Queen. Ms Brazilian Skateboarder who can't manage her time. Ms Emotional Basket Case. And Denver Hometown Gal (who actually does seem to have more talent than her teammates). It's so obvious to me that the teams were, let's say, heavily 'influenced' by the Producer's Pick Phenomenon. Of course they want the final mentors to come down between Anya and Mondo. I'm calling it now.

It's going to be a battle of the petulant princesses between this season's "sustainable designer" and "classics updated designer." (Sorry, it's too soon to remember their names yet, though mr sustainable at least seems to have a sense of humor.) I fear we're in for another season of mucho Trauma Drama at the expense of, you know, actual design on a design show.

louisa05 · Jan 25, 2014

The second group's finished products were more interesting, but I wondered how much the difference in fabric choice made. The first group all had to work with the same fabrics while the second had a variety to choose from.

I really didn't get the reasoning behind putting them in two groups. PR does challenges with 15 designers every season.

I disagree about a Mondo/Anya finale being set, though. Reality producers like to play with the underdog plot line. Nick has been set up in that role while Anya has been set up as the favorite.

Dee4707 · Jan 25, 2014

WeakAnkles said:
Ms Brazilian Skateboarder who can't manage her time.

She should have been disqualified. I mean it....I think Tim was so wrong for letting her show. The nerve, she asks Tim....can I have 2 more minutes.

WeakAnkles said:
I fear we're in for another season of mucho Trauma Drama at the expense of, you know, actual design on a design show.

I know, I'm beginning to feel the same way. I love the design shows but not this.

heyang · Jan 25, 2014

louisa05 said:
The second group's finished products were more interesting, but I wondered how much the difference in fabric choice made. The first group all had to work with the same fabrics while the second had a variety to choose from.

I really didn't get the reasoning behind putting them in two groups. PR does challenges with 15 designers every season.

I disagree about a Mondo/Anya finale being set, though. Reality producers like to play with the underdog plot line. Nick has been set up in that role while Anya has been set up as the favorite.

I thought the 2nd group should've had the same challenge as the 1st for a really fair comparison.

THe only reasoning I could come up with for the 2groups is to allow time for the mentoring component of the competition. the various discussions between Mondo, Anya and Nick took up time, as did the selection process take longer than a regular judging. 2 90 minute episodes. However, the next is only 1 hr.

WeakAnkles · Feb 1, 2014

Oh dear.

Oh my my.

So Mondo, what "certain red carpet event" is your winning designer's look ready for? Well I suppose if you are a cross-dressing construction worker, we now have a red carpet look for you. Can't wait to see which 'celebrity' they force...I mean convince to wear that.

Two words kept running through my head during the runway show: Hideous. Boring. And in some cases Hideously Boring. Though I did like Chan's pantsuit (just keep it away from Janet Jackson...).

On a positive note, it's fun to watch Tim have a conniption fit.

Olympia · Feb 1, 2014

I didn't like any of the designs either. Any at all. I like that guy Shan (?), because he makes beautifully detailed clothes so quickly, but that cleavage was so offputting. I remember years ago one of the judges saying to Michael Knight that a "teaspoon" of cleavage was enough in such circumstances.

Nick really isn't getting the concept of a mentor. Mondo and Anya are both very quick on the uptake, and I can see how they will both be helpful, but their lack of mainstream experience might keep them from being really useful to their teams in terms of technical advice.

Dee4707 · Feb 1, 2014

I try to remove all the Nick is a bad mentor and Tim's conniption fits...I liked this design.

http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/under-the-gunn/season-1/rate-the-runway/episode-3#id=10

....and Blake's ragged look

http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/under-the-gunn/season-1/rate-the-runway/episode-3#id=2

Didn't understand why this look was sent home

http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/under-the-gunn/season-1/rate-the-runway/episode-3#id=4

I didn't like any of Nick's designs at all.

WeakAnkles · Feb 1, 2014

I think it was sent home because of all the looks it would photograph the worst. And the construction did look rather slapped together.

I want a recording of Tim shouting "No! No! No! NO!" I think it could come in handy.

What do y'all think of the judges? The curly haired one is trying too hard to be The New Duchess, but I always thought Rachel Roy was a good judge with interesting things to say.

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