Twenty minute walks to work each day can get boring very quickly. I am thankful that I can walk to work, that aspect is nice, sure, but it gets dull. I say this because I feel I may need to justify my penchant for downloading cycle 18 of Americas Next Top Model onto my phone to watch on the way to work. I used to watch it a few years back, trust me, that program got me through break-ups, poverty, moving back in with my parents and insomnia. Watching it again through ITunes a few years later, I must admit I see it from a slightly different angle. It is in all fairness more like watching "Americas Next Average Teenager/TV Personality Takes Photo's, Moan and Get Booted Off" that being said, it's entertainment and I still enjoy watching because there is still some content that relates to the Fashion Industry.
As watchers and fans know, Americas Next Top Model is a reality tv program in which 20 odd girls compete to win said title. In each episode, they have to complete challenges and photoshoots and at the end they are judged by the four judges on panel and one will be sent home. This season (The British Invasion - oh please) one of the judges is Kelly Cutrone, a successful American Fashion Publicist who pulls a lot of strings and has a huge influence on the potential future careers of these "models".
There have however been a couple of things that Cutrone has said that I think undermines her apparent expert position. She has in one sense made a comparison which I believe was pretty far from the truth and in one of the final episodes made an era error (doesn't that have a nice ring to it?).
First of all, one of the British contestants is Sophie - snap! Now Sophie is like a puppy on a day out, comes across as a nice girl, takes alright to good photos, but to me, she's fairly ordinary looking.
Again, Sophie, nice girl, not model to me. But that is JUST my opinion. However, at the end of one of the episodes Kelly Cutrone uttered words to this affect "She's like Warhols Muse" not once, no, I could forgive her for comparing such ordinary-ness to an enigma like Edie once, but then she said it again, only this time re-inforced it with "she looks like Edie Sedgwick, if Sedgwick was around today, this is what she would want to look like"....................What?
Are you actually kidding me? I don't think so. Edie Sedgwick was Edie Sedgwick if not for the fact that she met Warhol and he made her his "It Girl" but definately for the fact that Edie didn't to look like anyone but Edie. That's what made her so special, that's why people to this day copy HER look. Secondly, I find it very hard to see any similarity between Sophie and Edie, except for the fact that they both sport short blonde hair - to which I'll point out further, Sophie's hair is actually dyed pink. Let's look at the similarities together shall we? Sophie, tall, reasonably slim, sane, composed, average features, hair cut into short bob, pretty standard looking and lets not forget, dressed by stylists in what they want her to wear for that shoot. Edie, small, waif, enigmatic fireball of disaster, stunning features, amazing personal style copied by hundreds, beehive or parted and created whole new looks.
What I find even more bizarre about this comparison is that Cutrone herself actually was married to Andy Warhol's protege, artist Ronnie Cutrone. Surely she would know how unfounded her comment was? You'd think so wouldn't you? Maybe not.
The second of my issues with Kelly Cutrone's strange comparisons (for someone who should know better) was her comments about the photoshoot in episode nine. For the photo shoot, the girls posed wearing amazing silk gowns by Barney Cheng accessorized with silkworms.
Here is one of the contestants photographs, this is Ebony:
Short bob wig? Check, Empire Line dress? Check, Film Noir setting? Check? What does Kelly Cutrone say? "I love it, you look like a World War II postcard" ....A World War two Postcard? Really? For your information Kelly Cutrone Fashion Publiscist, The Second World War happened between the years of 1939 and 1945. Not the 1920's. this is was a World War II post card would look like from the FORTIES:
Here is one from the 1920's:
Hmmmm, one does wonder how a woman not just working in the Fashion Industry, but also with a high powered job in the industry can make such silly mistakes? This is a person who has the power to decide the fate over other people's careers. You may ask how did this happen? I would like to know how a unknown blogger like little ole' me can spot these mistakes and others don't. I suspect people are just too scared to tell her she's wrong!
Moan over.
