Under the Gunn

I was very, very disappointed with the winner of Under the Gunn. I do not think Oscar was worthy of the title winner. My vote was for Shane his designs were, very innovative and very, very wearable and chic. Very disappointed with the judge. They had it all wrong when it came to Shane's designs. Asha's designs were also great. Oscar's designs were to repetitive of his past designs, especially that cape. I did not like it at all. The purple evening dress was the only item that I thought was chic. The judges were on point with the other male designer. He was all over the placement, but the last dress was very nice. As for the judges, I don't think you should have persons that no absolutely nothing about fashion. The guy from "How I Met Your Mother" should never be a judge on a fashion show panel. He has no sense of style, which is evident by how he dresses !!!

Under The Gunn is a nice change from the original Project Runway with the trashy Heidi Klum. In saying that I feel that Tim Gunn does not shine on this show. He is surrounded by a bunch of amateurs and quite a few weak designers. Nobody is giving Tim the respect he deserves and the rules have been thrown out the window. Everything is absolute chaos. I'm also not sold on the mentors. Nick needs to step back and stop micro-managing, Anya needs to take that i'm better than you scowl off her face and Mondo needs to put the short-shorts to rest; although he is the best out of the three.

I find the challenges to be exciting yet classic. It makes it easier to envisage the looks in real life and to evaluate them. But that is probably the reason why you would want to keep watching this show. Through all the craziness this is the one thing that stays consistent. No matter what issues this show has it is still enjoyable to watch. I think the second season will give it a chance to find its way and I look forward to Tim Gunn shining in the spotlight.

The show takes a lot of the best of Project Runway with the added benefit of additional support from a mentor. It's interesting to see the dynamics between the mentors and the designers and to see how it affects the outcome of the design. The judges take on a more supportive role than the judges in Project Runway do, I can see that it might not be what some people are looking for but to me, we already have a lot of critical shows of this kind and I think it's a nice change. Since this is a show focused on mentoring I feel that the supportive approach with the judges makes a lot of sense.

My only complaint is that the models are even thinner than the ones used on Project Runway and I catch myself feeling really disturbed at times. There are two models in particular who are so thin that I can see their hip and pelvic bones through the actual clothing. I know that the purpose of a model is to be a moving "hanger" to display clothing but I feel like this is taking it way too far. Not to mention I catch myself feeling bad/ worrying for the models and not seeing the designs. Considering what a supporter Tim Gunn is of normal women being represented in fashion I was actually pretty shocked to see that the models on his show were the thinnest I have seen. Not that I would expect the models on any fashion show to be anything but slender but this takes it to an extreme.

I am a big Tim Gunn fan but feel he is underutilized on this show. First off the mentors are a major downfall of the show. How they ever chose Nick Verreos to be a mentor. His taste level was always being questioned when he was a contestant on Project Runway, he is very annoying and always tries to design the garments for his whole team rather than guide them on their own creativity. Mondo and Anya seemed like good choices but they are both poor mentors and ineffective. I am really baffled how a respected, intelligent man like Tim allowed Jen Rade to be a judge. She is rude, inappropriate, annoying, brass and "thinks" she is a comedian. For anyone who "claims" to be a stylist, she looks disgusting and has no taste. She ruins the show in my opinion. Lastly the part that really looses any credibility for this show is the constant times when the judges cannot make a decision and leave the decision up to the mentor. What a lame turn, they were put in the judges position to critique and determine who was the winner and who should go home. If the cannot do that...fire them all! Tim should intervene and make them come up with the decision. I say fire them all except Tim, revamp the show and try again.

I enjoy any show with Tim Gunn in it, but what holds this show back is the quality of the mentors. Couldn't this show have found more seasoned and mature mentors than Hysteria Nick, Peevish Mondo, and Haughty Anya? It's painful for me to watch these three work through their developmental baby steps while learning how to mentor. All three of them should have an arms-length professional relationship with their charges as well as with the judges, but, alas, they do not, although Nick fares better than Mondo and Anya. I wish we could see less of the mentoring process and more of the contestants' designing process. And, yes, we need more participation from Tim Gunn! Always!