PR: Ripping the Collections: Jesse - Part 1

Now that he's gone from the show, let's take a look at his decoy collection, kittens.

Jesse came out looking quite spiffy we have to say, and after informing us all in the tent of his intention to marry his girlfriend, he told us that his collection was military-inspired, which sounded to us like a good fit for his aesthetic. Unfortunately, it only took about a minute for us (and probably the rest of the crowd) to figure out that he was a decoy simply because the collection wasn't up to Bryant Park standards.

Let's start the show.



This is pretty clearly a re-do of this dress from the competition. It makes sense. It was the one look from the competition that the judges praised most. If he was a finalist, we would have cried foul over re-hashing a look that you already know the judges like, but since he's a decoy, why not? He got positive feedback on it already, so why not put something out there that you're pretty sure is going to make you look good to the masses?

Having said that, we actually liked the competition version better.



Here's where we start running into the problems that plagued this collection. First, the colors are kind of ugly. That's not a very fabulous green and it's made even more drab paired with that gray. We realize that it kinda sorta fits with his military theme but there are better version of those colors to choose. Second, this dress is far too complicated for its own good. Too many elements. And finally, despite Jesse constantly telling us about his superior tailoring skills, we never saw evidence of them on the show and we sure as hell don't see them here. To be blunt: this dress is a mess.



Um...ditto? Ugly colors, overly complicated, poorly rendered. Although we will say that from a design perspective, this isn't bad.



This is a pretty chic look, but it's not without its issues. Look, we love a military themed collection. Sure it's been done plenty of times before but like menswear-inspired women's wear, it's a perennial and one that can be re-interpreted again and again. The thing is, we're just not that crazy about his interpretation. He either went off on flights of fancy that you'd never know were military-inspired without him telling you, or he went to the other extreme and made looks that were too literal.

Having said that, we like the bag and the collar and the enclosures on the front.



Not a bad design, all things considered. The puke green ascot doesn't help the look at all and we doubt there are many women out there that want to strap their purse to their thigh, but it does have a bit of style and some nice details. Love the triple zipper idea.


[Photos: firstVIEW.com]


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Labels: Jesse LeNoir, Project Runway, Project Runway Season 7, Project Runway Season 7 Finale