On Excellence

Project Runway, the Bravo "reality" show that features young fashion designers competing for the right to feature their designs at Fashion Week, threw us a curve.

I can't really say why I enjoy the show. I don't really care about women's clothing design. I mean it's nice and all, but it doesn't hold a candle to understanding military strategy in 16th-century Anatolia, the subject of my present reading. I definitely like all the gay guys ... and the one straight guy this year was really annoying. But this year there are three compelling women with very different viewpoints. The one remaining gay guy is a wiry stud who flashes a lot of skin. I like his stuff because it is edgy, but he never seems to get it all done.

So what's the curve ... they couldn't decide who to let go, so they asked the four remaining competitors to prepare lines for Fashion Week, and they will kick one of them out just before the show begins.

Now, before Project Runway, I had never heard of Fashion Week ... I admit it. Still seems like a silly title. But there it is. A bunch of overpaid types look at a bunch of stuff that nobody ever seems to wear. But what do I know.

The curve they threw us made me think of the slender tolerances that separate the vast amount of good from the tiny bit of great. I think about this a lot in terms of baseball, but that is easy ... as they say, the difference between a .250 hitter and a .300 hitter is one hit a week ... and a couple of million a year.

But I don't have a set of tools to judge fashion, so I fall back on impressions. And I couldn't pick either. I rooted for Korto, the woman of Nigerian extraction whose fashion have the scent of Africa without the overwhelming and overly specific taste of those fabulous fabrics from West Africa. And I couldn't stand the pushy personality of Kenlee and her formulaic if not predictable designs. But I really could not pick which should go.

And neither could they. I think they were admitting that the tolerances between good and great are so infinitesimal that they did not want to make the call ... they punted. And they made some good TV, because I really gotta watch next week.

(I have to crash ... two posts in one night, both on elections, if you will. I'll try to find a photo for this tomorrow. BTW, I managed to kill my "belt camera", the compact Canon Elph that I wear on my belt wherever I go. I am thinking of a 50% larger model, a Lumix with a 10x zoom, but I am conflicted. I'll let you know what happens.)