Reality Bites
Cesar Galindo isn't dye-ing to stay on The Fashion Show
Cesar Galindo created an off-the-shoulder gown with a bird's nest muffPhoto by Heidi Gutman/Bravo
Cesar Galindo, left, receives a brooch from Simon Doonan. The competitioninvolved using an accessory to inspire an eccentric collectionPhoto by Heidi Gutman/Bravo
Final Five:Cesar Galindo, from left, Dominique David, Calvin Tran, Eduardo de laCasas, Jeffrey WilliamsPhoto by Heidi Gutman/Bravo
To dye or not to dye, that is the question.
Or at least it was the one facing Houston native Cesar Galindo, who made it to the final four of the Bravo reality series, The Fashion Show: The Ultimate Collection, by ultimately choosing not to dye the ivory fabric that he and teammate Jeffrey Williams picked out for their collection.
The way Tuesday night's episode was edited, Galindo seemed hell bent on adding splotches of blue paint to the fabric, even though the show's judge and fashion mentor Isaac Mizrahi warned him against it.
"I'm very scared about dye-ing," Mizrahi said.
(Aren't we all.)
"I love to paint and dye. That's who I am," Galindo responded, while ominous music played in the background. It looked like he was a goner.
This week's challenge was to create an eccentric collection inspired by accessories chosen by the very eccentric Simon Doonan, the former Barneys New York creative director who just this week was kicked upstairs as the retailer's creative ambassador-at-large. Sounds like a U.N position, no?
Doonan gave Galindo a lovely jeweled brooch and a knit coffee cup with a felt bird perched above the rim. Galindo made a fab-but-not-very-eccentric-looking one-shoulder matte jersey gown in an ivory shade and pinned the jeweled brooch on it. But a fur bird's nest muff that Galindo added at the last minute was eccentrically spectacular.
His other outfit — a pedestrian ivory dress and jacket, worn with the knit coffee mug as a hat — was a yawner. But by this portion of the show, it was clear that Galindo would move on because he finally took everyone's advice and resisted the urge to dye.
"Isaac was right. If something looks beautiful, after a certain point, keep it that way," he explained.
Dominique Pearl David produced the evening's worst piece of clothing: A horrendous swing coat in the likeness of a pig's face, with a button at the midsection as a snout. She modeled it after a Judith Leiber pink jeweled handbag that Doonan had given her. But David is talented, young (only 21), and the sole remaining woman, so she was saved, even though she was in the bottom three.
Calvin Tran, who regularly says really nasty things about his competitors (with subtitles because his accent is so thick), also made it to the next round. For the first time this season, producers strived to show his human side as he promised to give all of his winnings to the Gay Men's Health Crisis. His black dresses were chic if unmemorable.
That left Eduardo de la Casas, who was sent back to Miami because he made one too many ruffled cocktail dresses. Once a favorite to win it all, de la Casas proved to be a one-trick pony who repeated the same, extremely well made dress every episode.
That's what successful designers do in the real world, however, so de la Casas may be the show's ultimate winner.
