Fashion Star Preview-Interview

Who is ready for Fashion Star Season 2?  I am!

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For those who didn’t watch last year, Fashion Star is an innovative program bringing together the worlds of realty TV, fashion, and game shows.  Contestant designers put looks together with the help of celebrity mentors (Nicole Ritchie, Jessica Simpson, John Varvatos) and try to convince buyers from 3 department stores (this season: Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy’s, Express) to place orders. Stores that order have the looks available for purchase the next day. (You guessed it – the show definitely isn’t live!).  While Season 1 was entertaining, there is definitely room for improvement, and I am excited to see how the changes they made to the format and personnel play out.

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Season 2 starts Friday night on NBC at 8 PM.  To get all of the Josie Girls excited, we sat down with Terron Schaefer, Saks Chief Creative Officer (and the Saks buyer on the show) for a preview of Season 2.  Terron is also the owner of the coolest voice ever!

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Fashion Star Week 3 Recap

Week 3! We are into the flow now with the new fashion-based reality show on NBC. Week 1 got everybody introduced to the format. Week 2 got everyone over the inherent Week 1 awkwardness of a new reality TV show (and ratings improved, which is good for certain unnamed bloggers who committed to recapping every episode of the season for a show that starts an hour past their bedtime).

My hope was that Week 3 would feature more character development, which has been a little lacking so far compared to other reality shows.  Most shows keep their most controversial characters on longer than they should to maintain viewer interest.  Not the case here, where the two most controversial and identifiable contestants are bye-bye.  Nicholas (the sexist Australian) left Week 1 after telling the mostly female judges and buyers that he couldn’t respect a woman’s criticism, and Oscar (the flamboyant I want to say midget but can’t because it’s not PC and he’s not really a midget he’s just really short) left Week 2 after creating “hoochie-outfits” for the second straight week.  Without further ado, here are the Josie Girl’s Top 10 takeaways of Week 3 of….

Nicole Richie: OK, so I know I have spent time in the first two recaps praising Elle MacPherson (still amazingly hot, although I didn’t love her dress last night) and Jessica Simpson (seems like a real person and has developed a billion dollar fashion business), so now it’s Nicole Richie’s turn in the spotlight.

Much like Jessica Simpson after The Newlyweds, Nicole Richie didn’t necessarily look like she was off to great things when she was most known as Paris Hilton’s BFF and looked like a spoiled brat on The Simple Life.  But like Simpson, she has really made moves that have done wonders for her reputation (read: sever ties with Paris Hilton).  Her fashion sense is amazing, and I think she is doing a great job on the show.  Also, did you know that Lionel Richie isn’t actually her biological father?  I didn’t. Her Wikipedia page is here.

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Fashion Star Week 2 Recap

So, thanks to everyone who read last week’s recap of Fashion Star, the new fashion-based reality show on NBC. Based on the great feedback and traffic (umm.. thanks Macy’s Facebook page!), the Fashion Star recap is going to become a weekly feature.  Reality Steve, (actually, make that Lost Angeles) here we come!

I was really excited for Week 2.  The first week of a new reality show is like an awkward 7th grade slow dance.  The boy (the show) is trying to be cool and make a good impression, but occasionally gets way too excited and does something out of control (i.e., the opening with the rock music and the models strutting out in Elle MacPherson Intimates).  The girl (me.. and um, my husband) is trying to feign disinterest, and downplay any attraction. She pretends like she “isn’t into it” and “doesn’t have time” to commit.  But in the end, she knows she is in it for the long haul, and needs to rearrange the priorities on her DVR.  Peter Gabriel, anyone?

Without further ado, here are the Josie Girl’s Top 10 Takeaways from Week 2 of… Fashion Star!

1.  Favorite 1: After not being in it to win it to in it last week when she put a tie-based accessory over other people’s clothes, Kara put out some rocking looks this week.

Her boxy dresses were chic, modern, wearable, and flattering. And, like the Josie Girl, she’s a teacher!  Kara took a huge step up. FAR AND AWAY my favorite looks this week.  Available at Saks!

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