Emily Brandle Fall 2008 Collection

Before we bid a final auf Wiedersehen to Emily, let's take a look at her Smoke & Mirrors collection. Her website tells us:

"Smoke & Mirrors manufactures clothes that creative and edgy women want to wear. Whether their customer is a fashionista, entrepreneur, actress or mom, Smoke & Mirror's goal is to make a woman feel beautiful, sexy and powerful. With a focus on luxury fabrics, funky details and trims, women will shine while making a statement."

We have to say, if it's statement-making clothes, then these are barely whispering. Take each piece on its own and there's nothing really wrong with them. Some are quite nice. Looking at the whole collection, though, and it all looks very one-note and simplistic. It's all inoffensive, but there's no excitement or even interest generated by silhouette, fabric, embellishments or color.
















[Photos: Courtesy of smokeandmirrorsclothing.com]

Jillian Lewis Fall 2008 Collection

Let's take a breather from S5 madness and check in with one of our favorites from S4.

Jillian Lewis is unveiling her Fall 2008 collection. Here's what she had to say to us about it:

"Both my runway collection (from the show) and my current ready to wear collection were inspired by the beautiful embellishments and functionality of the combatant costumes of the past... more specifically 15th century armor. I am often inspired by history, though it is important that my designs reflect the culture and the technological advancements of our time."

"The fit and construction are the most important elements. I have never been the type of designer who embellishes with extraneous details. The details exist within the form."

What else is Baby working on? Well, she's also preparing a Spring 2009 ready-to-wear line; she's working on several private client orders and she's designing 6 dance costumes for the Guggenheim museum for a performance in September. We're so pleased that she's so busy. She was somewhat overshadowed by her fellow finalists, Rami and Christian and we felt all along that the girl had the chops to have an incredibly successful career.

As for her collection, we love it. You'll find some of her more memorable looks from her BP show, like her signature ruffled coat and knits, but there are some new pieces in there as well. We think she has a fresh and unique style and we wish her well. We're not bitches ALL the time, y'know.

Jillian Lewis Fall 2008 is expected to hit stores at the end of August. We'll keep you posted as to where you can find it.


[Photos: Courtesy of Jillian Lewis/WireImage]

Judging the Judges: Fall 2008 Bridal Collections

Darlings, it's that time of year again, when young women get to realize their lifelong dream of arguing with their mothers over flower arrangements and caterers. Yes, it's bridal season and what better way to observe it than to listen to two queens rip the gowns?

Three of Project Runway's former guest judges have recently shown their bridal collections and we've got the goods.

Badgley Mischka





Feh. There's a sort of plain-jane sameness going on here. We're definitely of the camp that says that the less frippery and Disney-princess embellishments, the better, but aside from the third dress, we're not sold on this collection.



Monique Lhuillier





These, we like. There are a range of silhouettes and styles here. We especially like dresses one and two. Four and five are just a little too doily-like for our tastes. Three looks a little too Harlow and the bodice on six looks like a foundation garment.



Vera Wang









Number four is a harlot!

We've criticized Vera for things in the past, but one area where she simply can't be ripped is the bridal dress. She does it better than just about anybody else.

That's not to say we love all of these. Number two is outrageously unflattering. We like the touches of black on five and six. Also like the coat version on seven. We've seen eight plenty of times before and nine looks like the aforementioned Disney princess. Ten has just a little too much going on.

And you bitches? What do you all think? A girl in a bridal gown is practically an invitation to be judgmental, so let's hear it.

[Photos: Getty Images - Videos: Courtesy of brides.com - Slideshow: Project RunGay]