Dirty gutter water!? Of all the beautiful, interesting images one could find in the heart of Manhattan to inspire a new design, Andrae Gonzalo chose to look down. What most people would shun, Andrae chose to celebrate.
The Los Angeles native entered the second season of PR at a turning point in his life. He had just closed his boutique back home and his casting on the show offered him an opportunity for redemption. This was all laid bare for the world to see earlier in the season with his emotional runway meltdown. We didn't quite know what to make of him back then, but he began to win us over with his expressive facial reactions, ever-changing accents and ebullient nature. He ultimately won us over with his talent.
In Inspiration, the seven remaining designers were given 1 hour to take photos of images in the city and to choose one to use as the inspiration for their design. Andrae's choice seemed shocking. He went on to say: "I always like to take something that's humble or low or ugly and apply the big charm gun to it and make it pretty." Did he ever.
His bias cut dress with a braided sash had beads placed in a way that mimicked the stones and pebbles from the gutter. When his model Danyelle walked this gown down the runway it shimmered, and we all gasped. He had done it! He really took something ugly and made it beautiful. And don't we all need a little of that in our lives from time to time?
In the end, it was no contest. More than 60% of you put this dress on your Top 5 lists. This design didn't win the challenge, but it was certainly #1 in our eyes. Congratulations Andrae - you designed the BPR Top Look for Season 2!
Thanks again to Rich at FourFour for his screen caps.
17 comments:
I had almost forgotten how beautiful the hem of this dress was. It's great that the "BPR Top 5" were from five different designers. What a talented group! Also interesting is that our top two designs did not win the challenges. This is a gorgeous dress - I miss Andrae. Thanks for the great write-up, TBone, and thanks to Madpawn for sharing this idea with BPR.
Gorgeous, gorgeous dress Andrae!! Just further proof that you should be in the final 3 instead of SR....
Excellent writing, Tbone!
Laura, I, too, had forgotten how beautiful this dress was from the back. And now I recall Danyelle walking this garment like she was a regal queen.
Andrae, this dress is a winner ... just like you won our hearts.
I can't stop saying how much I love Andrae!
From his demeanor, to his sense of humor and especially his designs...he's just fabulous.
I remember, literally, gasping when Danyelle came out in this dress. It was just so stunning and really perfect for the challenge. Congrats Andrae! You should have made the top three...
and tbone, I agree...you outdid yourself with the summaries on the designs. Good job!
I kinda feel like an idiot for asking, but would someone please explain the appeal of this dress? I think I'm the only person that doesn't get it, and I feel like I'm on the outside of a party looking in. Kara's dress in this challenge was criticized for being too literal, but isn't this dress also a literal re-creation of that gutter picture?
TBone, your write ups were wonderful-they really recaptured for me that *feeling* surrounding each garment and the challenge! Wonderful!
I know I sound like a broken record, but I would love to have seen Daniel, Chloe and Andrae as the final 3. From his initial meltdown to the way he presented himself in the reunion, he totally put himself out there and seems like such a wonderful person which shows in his designs-there is an insight and a playfullness that exists. And you would never have thought that from the beginning would you? This dress and all it represents deserves to be #1, I think.
I just want to throw a quick note in about the voting. This dress was far and away the winner, it wasn't even close. Of the 176 responses received between the two boards, 108 of them had this one somewhere in their Top 5.
DV's second place Social Scene dress, for comparison, had 63 mentions. I'm going to do a separate post listing the 6th through 10th place finishers, any of which could have been on the Top 5 as the voting was very bunched up after the Top 3.
THis dress is so unbelievably unique and beautiful!!
I am happy that this dress won BPR's Top 5.
For those who don't see the appeal, fashion is, and has always been, a "to each his own" kind of industry.
For me, Andrae's dress in this challenge was so beautiful because it came from something ugly. It was perfect for the challenge in the sense that he was really inspired by his photo to make a gorgeous gown shine through dirty gutter water. I thought it worked beautifully and really captured the essence of the challenge.
To me, the dress was really beautiful to look at as well. But it's true that everyone's opinions on fashion are different. I think that Chloe's COYB dress is a bit overrated. But that's just me...
It really all depends on your taste...
I am soooo glad this dress made number one. It was/is one of the most beautiful dresses I have ever seen. VERY compareable to designers who have been designing for years.
Wow - This really gives me increased faith in all of you mutts! I am amazed so many fellow-fans loved this dress. This was the most beautiful to be sure, in concept and design and implementation.
Why all the backlash? It's fashion and subjective opinion, lighten up!
This dress was like a fairytale to me...a magical transformation. It was cool to see the colors and materials Andrae used to interpret it, to find so many interesting shades in the water, like an Impressionist painter.
Kara did not have warning tape wrapped around her dress. She had fabric that was made to look like warning tape wrapped around her dress.
yea for gutter water! i can't look in down in the gutter the same way.
Re: Warning Tape v. Gutter Watter, 2006
The weird thing about Kara's dress was that it looked like a street with the yellow dashed line through the middle, like a city street - I'm sorry peoples, but that's the *opposite* of "No Trespassing".
No Dress Passing.
Once again, re: Andrae ... just magical...
The only problem I have with this dress is the sash. It's too bulky for this dress.
The representation of everything in that picture is superb. With the gems being the little pebbles within the cement to the shiny and matte fabric of the dress.
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