Fashion Star, Episode 2

Catch Fashion Star on Tuesday nights from 9-10pm on NBC!

HOUSTON – So here's the thing I keep noticing about Fashion Star. Perhaps it's in an attempt to stay business-oriented, or maybe it's because the show was clearly taped for a two-hour slot and has to cram it all into one hour, but I find this show to be… rather abrupt. We don't really know who the contestants are, the action jumps around very haphazardly and I find it very confusing to see some designers present their showcases while other are relegated to a crunched-up five minute recap.  That said, I think I might actually like this program. It's all the goods provided in shows like Project Runway with an eighth of the personal back-story crap, not to mention I almost bought one of the dresses I saw on the show online at Saks. I joke a lot about interactive television, but this really is a very cool, innovative, forward-thinking concept.

So this week there were only four designers that got bids from the buyers, the most notable of which was Kara Laricks, who last week was in the bottom three for sending a collar and tie down the runway as opposed to a full outfit. Her design this week was a draped tie dress, and I was immediately obsessed with it. It was very geometric, and read modern while also hearkening back to a Jackie O-esque retro style. H&M (starting bid of $50,000) and Saks Fifth Avenue (starting bid of $80,000) got into a bidding war over this dress that ended with Saks taking the dress for $110,000, the highest bid of the season by FAR. I would pay top dollar for that dress, so I'm hoping this pays off both for Saks and for Kara. Job well done!

This dress. I love. I want.

The other winning designs were ok, nothing I got too excited about. So let's get to the good stuff: the bottom three.

Ross Bennett found himself in the bottom three after showcasing what I thought was a beautifully tailored bolero jacket. The main problem both the mentors and the buyers had with it was the fabric—too thick for a spring collection. Nicole Richie tried to warn him during her mentoring session, but Ross stuck to his guns and paid the price. First of all, I didn't think this design deserved to be in the bottom three even a little bit, even if the fabric was a little heavy. It's a jacket! Whatever! Buy it in spring and save it for winter! But the best part of all of this was Nicole Richie's tweet about it: "ugh it's so hard being right." I do love me some cyber-sass. Things ended just fine for Ross, as the mentors used their save to keep him in the competition.

Lizzie Parker was also in the bottom three this week, but for very good reason. She sent three blouses with bat sleeves down the runway, which are supposedly "on trend" according to Jessica Simpson (insert scoff here), but my god were they heinous. I'm talking like Wet Seal, Clothestime type trashy. Throw some loose glitter on there a la what you wore in middle school to the school dance/Bar Mitzvah parties and you have the world's cheapest-looking garment, midriff exposure included! For reasons beyond my comprehension, the buyers decided to save her.  I can only imagine this was because the alternative would have been saving Oscar, and that was simply not an option.

Oscar Fierro, bless his tiny, top-hat-wearing, Ecuadorian little heart, is an absolute disaster of a designer. Last week, he gave us a hint as to his poor taste level with that weird butterfly dress, but it was NOTHING compared to the cape dress he sent down this episode. If we thought Lizzie's bat sleeve top was cheap and trashy, it looks like haute couture compared to this number. We're talkin' polyester blend, latex lookin' stuff, people. I'm not sure even Wet Seal or Clothestime would carry this dress. But I really think John Varvatos put it best: "those dresses are 4am and they're hoochie." Like. F'real, John Varvatos. Fuh. Real. Adios, Oscar. May your future be filled with neon fabrics and stockpiles of one-shade-too-dark matte foundation.

Did anyone get to purchase Kara Laricks draped tie dress from Saks, perchance? Tell us about your experience in the comments section!

Thanks for reading, and as always, thanks for watching KPRC Local 2!