Project Runway Season 9--Episode 4 "It's All About Nina" --Nick Verreos MyLifetime.com Recap!

What Would Nina Wear?



Last night, on Season 9 Project Runway, the remaining designers had to create a look for Miss Nina Garcia, Style Diva, eyebrow-arching judge of the show, and of course, Fashion Director of Marie Claire. The results were, well, a bit Not Nina, but before I give you an Amuse Bouche of my MyLifetime.com Weekly Recap, I have some thoughts:



Would You Like Some Mustard with That Pencil Skirt: One of the contestants, Just-Learned-How-To-Sew Anya bought some mustard-colored silk fabric to make Nina her design. She was chastised for her color-choice by Nina--who asked "Do You Have a Plan B?" and Michael Kors who confidently stated "Probably the LAAAST color on the PLAAANET, that she would say ohhhh, give me that!"



So, Anya decided to change it and well kiddies, I went back into the "Nina Photo Vault" and found a little proof that Nina does wear mustard/yellow hues...and looks quite good in them.



The Top:

Anya: Speaking of Anya (who dyed her mustard fabrication into this olive/mud-looking color). Her design ended up in the Top 3 mainly because I think Nina was impressed with her ability to find a solution to her mustard dilemma. Sorry, but I really don't understand how this was in the Top. Really? Nina is going to wear this to the office and then to a cocktail party?! With that belt? This is better for a Jr. Marie Claire Assistant who's 23.



Viktor: Very nice dress. I give him props for really thinking about his client (seems as if most of the others DID NOT) but as Michael Kors said "It's a little now and Nina is about what is the next thing". It also looks VERY Kim Kardashian...



Kimberly: She definitely deserved the win. Totally Nina. She LOVES pants. She loves BLACK pants and the gold directional top is great for a billboard and editorial.



The Middle of the Pack:



Olivier: Sooooo Olivier. And so Nina (if you changed the pants to black). But it looks like one of the suits he brought to his Casting. But DUDE (did I just type "Dude"?): Add some color why don't you? Step out of your comfort zone, just once.



Anthony Ryan: He could have been in the top for me. If he had done black pants (here we go again!), I think he would have nailed it. Also, interesting how he self-analyzed and realized in his commentary that he hadn't pushed it quite far enough. This boy is going to the Finale ferrrr suuuuure!



Becky: Actually a very cute dress. Not totally "Nina" but it is well designed and well contructed. Safe.



Bert: Chic and impeccably made. It was just kinda BORING. Yes, this would be at a Macy's Dresses Dept, like tomorrow! BUT: Hello, this is a DESIGN competition! Bert needs to stop phoning it in. This will be his dismiss for sure.



Joshua: Really girl?! On Nina Garcia?! Since when is Nina going to see Lady Bunny DJ'ing at Club 57 in NYC? Clearly someone who has a hard time combining the UBER chic aesthetic of their client with their own style. Once again, this will do him in.



Laura Kathleen: Oh huney. This is SO Laura. Not Nina. I can see this at the St. Louis Magazine's Annual "A-List" party but not in Manhattan's Hearst Offices and then to a Fashion Party at the new Dream Downtown NYC. Nope.



The Bottom:

Danielle: Boy, she really got it wrong this week. This is Nina, after popping one too many prescription pills for depression. Yes, the green color is very IN this season, but well, not in this style of a blouse. And the wide hip-slung waistband pant. I think I did a pant like that for my NIKOLAKI line back in 2003. Just sayin'



Bryce vs. Cecilia: Bryce's Wonky-hemmed dress (and what's up with those really BAD armholes?) vs. Cecilia's one-shoulder cocktail look. Both are NOT Nina, and not so well made (Bryce's is WORSE!). I'm still perplexed at how Bryce didn't end up in the bottom--other than at least his somehow could be (a little) more appropriate for "business". I guess.



Bye Bye, and Thank You For Flying "Julie Airways":



A Coat-Dress. Yes. It's the LATEST thing! Didn't you hear? She looks like she's about to serve my warm nuts and Bloody Mary as I sink into my Business Class pod seat on a plane!



The color combination is so easyJet (right) and the styling is so Richard Tyler for Delta Airlines (left). Go figure.



And now: This Week's Recap:







Do You Have A Plan C?



Designing for a client: a rite of passage every fashion designer — amateur or established — must go through. The circus is gone (thank goodness), and this week it's all about designing for a REAL client: Nina Garcia. The Legend. The Diva. Born in Colombia to a wealthy importer (Wikipedia!). Attended an exclusive boarding school for girls in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Holds TWO bachelor's degrees, from Boston University and FIT, and (if that's not enough), she also attended the Ecole Supérieure de la Mode in Paris. Oh, and did I mention the woman has enough style and class to fill two football fields in Texas? ....



Click HERE to continue reading my myLifetime.com blog

Project Runway Season 9 Spotlight--Nina Garcia: A Style Diva!!

La Diva Nina:

Lots-a-Judges: The Panel on tonight's Project Runway Season 9, Episode 4 "It's All About Nina"

In honor of tonight's Project Runway Season 9 4th Episode, entitled: "It's All About Nina", I thought I would review some of her outfits over the last year or so, starting with the one she will be wearing tonight:



Aquilano.Rimondi Fall 2011 by Italian Designers Tommaso Aquilano and Roberto Rimondi. These are two very talented designers and I just LOVE their clothes (and they obviously have some nice backing from someone with deep pockets--look at that show!) and of course, Nina Garcia is the perfect person to promote them.



Effortless Nina: Nina in Michael Kors for Good Morning America Appearance: Clean, chic, love how she brought back the black (that is on the waist and neckline of the dress) to those stacked strappy heels. Two Words: "Focused" & "Balanced".



Miss Barranquilla Nina: At the 2011 A&E Upfronts: Oh Dear...Nina goes Chiquita Banana!!! Who knew? This is very "Miss Colombia National Parade of Nations".



Nina in Black: Nina attends the CHANEL Tribeca Film Festival Artists Dinner in April 2011. Nina loves a pant ensemble and she knows how to make statements with STATEMENT MAKING accessories! And she clearly LOVES a pair of Black Strappy Heels.



Mommy Nina: Nina and her eldest son, 4-year-old Lucas Alexander at The Society Of MSKCC Hosts The 20th Annual Bunny Hop, March 2011. Here, she wore an elegant silver dress with poufy cap sleeves, black leggings and black stacked heels. The brooch on the waist is so genteel!



Don't Mess With Nina: Everyone: THIS is how you dress for NY Fashion Week!!! Nina Garcia dons yet another black pantsuit ensemble--this time, black tailored straight leg trousers-- perfectly hitting the floor and covering the shoes (Take a Lesson Ladies!!)--and a fur shrug, at Fall 2011 Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. Her only accessory (besides a thin bracelet): Her Blackberry, naturally.



Pockets Nina: Nina Garcia in a navy-blue printed scooped-neck dress from Oscar De La Renta Resort 2010 at the 13th Annual Rising Star Awards in January 2010. Those "Darth Vader"-looking bootie-heels are out-of-control!



J.Lo Nina: Nina goes uncharacteristically "Latina" and Sassy in this one shoulder (Nina rarely does the one-shoulder!) silver asymmetrical-hemmed dress with strappy heels and a big metallic bangle/cuff. This was in June 2010 at the CFDA Fashion Awards. BTW: Nina is disguising her new baby bump at the time (in November 2010, she gave birth to her second son, Alexander Davis Conrad).



Kooky Nina: Well, at least we have some examples of how Nina does wear--or like-color! (and not just head-to-toe black). Here she is in May 2010 at the A&E Upfronts wearing a multi-colored, multi-printed striped tank dress. Something tells me that if a Project Runway designer/contestant had created this for her, she might not have worn it...Love the black wedge heels though. Love.



Don't Miss TONIGHT'S new Project Runway Season 9 Episode 9/8c on Lifetime..and make sure to go HERE TOMORROW to read my Recap!!!!

Project Runway Season 9--Guess Who Is Blogging the Recaps for MyLifetime.com?

Yep, me...

Returning Blogger: Nick Verreos, to blog Project Runway Season 9

I'm so excited to be joining designers Mychael Knight, Johnathan Kayne Gillespie (both from Season 3) and "Momma Peach" , Peach Carr (from Season 8) as a Recap Blogger for Lifetime's Website--MyLifetime.com. I am honored (sorry, I know, I sound as if I am receiving an award!!) to be a "returning Blogger" for Project Runway.

I will--as always--try to put my "Uncle Nick" twist on things, and see the episodes both as a Designer who owns a company for ten years, a Fashion College Instructor, as well as someone who has "been there/done that", oh and yes, be a little funny and sassy at the same time :) Just a little bit. I can't wait!!!

Click HERE for my BLOG on MyLifetime.com.

Project Runway Season 9 Begins Next Week--Contestants from LA Castings I judged!

Project Runway is BAAACK!!!!

Next week, Project Runway Season 9 will debut on Thursday July 28th!! As you may know from reading my little ol' blog here--back in May, I was asked to be one of the LA Casting Judges for Season 9 which took place at Hollywood's Roosevelt Hotel.

I, along with Zanna Roberts Rassi, Senior Fashion Editor at Marie Claire Magazine, and Season 7 Winner Seth Aaron Henderson (who had flown in that morning and got back on a flight that same night!) took a look at lots of contestants that day and said "yes" and "maybe" and "uh, nope" to them...My job was done months ago--so I waited until now, to see if anyone from our LA Castings had made it through!

And they did. Two of the very LARGE 20 person ensemble were from the LA Casting--First up:


Joshua Christensen, 29, is from Washington but lives in LA (or at least I think so since that's where we saw him). I recognized him the minute he walked into the castings because not too long ago (in March), I had presented him with an FIDM Scholarship to be part of the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising Advanced Fashion Design Program, otherwise known as "Debut". He just graduated this year from FIDM and was to begin his "Advanced Fashion Design" Debut Year this Summer. Hopefully the filming of the Season ended just in time for him to get right back into class (or maybe he's taking a year off and that's being postponed--who knows??). He was never a student of mine and therefore, I really did not know him--so I was able to judge him without any "conflict of interest" as they say. I remember LOVING his menswear designs...

Below is Joshua Christensen's LA Casting Video:

And the other contestant we saw was a man by the name of Bert Keeter:


Bert is 57 years old and attended Parsons back "in the day" (before any of y'all were probably born!)--1975-1977. He has a very solid Resume, working with some of the top American Designers like Bill Blass, Holly Harp, Arnold Scassi and even Halston! I remember him because his story took my breath--and heart away. And the fact that his industry experience was far and beyond anyone else and, to our surprise, his designs were NOT dated and in fact, chic and of-the-moment...well, to me he was a "sure thing". It will be interesting how he handles himself with the young kids vying for the coveted Project Runway Season 9 Winner title...

Below is Bert Keeder's LA Casting Video:

Click HERE to meet the rest of the Designers/Contestants.

Project Runway Season 9 Begins Filming in New York's Battery Park!

DEEEEEsignersssss...

The Black Fashion Brigade: Heidi Klum, Kim Kardashian, Michael Kors and Nina Garcia: photo from Kim Kardashian's Twitter page

Today we got a glimpse of the taping of the new season (Season 9) of Project Runway in a outdoor runway show. It looks to be the taping of the premiere episode in which an unprecedented 20 contestants are vying for the coveted title of America's Next Top Fashion Designer and the $100,000 prize. What a brilliant way to reveal to everyone the 20 contestants selected to participate in this new season.

The taping took place in New York's Battery Park...

La Heidi: Miss Heidi, looked every bit of a Femme Fatale DIVA...in a black one-shoulder princess-seamed Alexander Wang dress, Wolford tights, Jimmy Choo peep-toe pumps and a Barneys NY Belt. LOVING the entire look of "Dominatrix Couture" and I especially love the slicked-back gelled "Robert Palmer Girl" hair. WUNDERBAR!!!

Kim Kardashian was the Guest Celebrity Judge and she was all serious in a black very fitted (of course!) mini dress with flange shoulders (look it up kiddies!) and white side panels; she accessorized with hoop earrings (of course, Part Two). And naturally, her hair and make-up are FLAWLESS...

Nina Garcia was wearing...

Giambatista Valli Fall 2011. Well, of course she is!!!! Leave it to Miss Nina to give it to them!!! She added her own "stamp" on it by adding a skinny belt and cinched in it--LOVE IT!

The Scene at Battery Park, on the "set" of the new season of Project Runway!!

And what would a blog post on Project Runway be without...

TIM GUNN!!! Looking so dapper in his blue window pane plaid suit, gingham tie and pattern pocket square. Tim is really stepping up the style quotient already this season. Love the "hints" of color. Keep it up!!
And...do I spot contestants behind him?! I wonder...

And as always Blogging Project Runway has the ultimate Field Report with tons of photos!

Nick Verreos Judges Los Angeles Castings of Season 9 Project Runway: A Snapshot!!

Did we find the Next Project Runway Winner in LA??

Judging Ensemble: Nick Verreos judging the LA Castings of Season 9 Project Runway

One week ago--last Monday to be exact--I had the honor and privilege of being asked to take part in the LA Castings of Season 9 Project Runway and be a Judge! This was my 7th season being part of the casting panel and of course, I was happy to be part of it again. I donned my newest ASOS jacket, one of my vintage Hermes ties and my bubblegum pink Adidas watch (I'm dropping labels left and right!), took my notepad and pen, and I was READY!

As you may already know--those of you who might in the "up and up" on all things Project Runway---the producers of the show have begun the Pre-Casting process, and have held Casting Sessions to find the next season's cast of designers in places like NYC, Chicago and Seattle. This time , it was up to Los Angeles to "bring it"! I had a great time seeing a very diverse (!) group--from just-out-of-design-school "kids" to very seasoned veterans of the fashion industry--from San Francisco, LA, San Diego and everywhere else in between!

I'll be very curious to see if any of the "Very Best" from LA made it through... Stay tuned and make sure to watch lifetime Network and the next season of Project Runway airing this summer!!!

Today Show Exclusive! Nick Verreos Wedding Gown Design for Kate Middleton!! Video + Photos and Sketch!!!

Fit for a Royal Bride...

Blushing Princess Bride: Model Kasie in my "Kate Middleton Wedding Gown" design, Today Show

This morning, on NBC's "Today Show", in the run-up to the upcoming Prince William and Kate Middleton Royal Wedding, the show had a fun & fabulous segment featuring original one-of-a-kind wedding gown designs by Project Runway designers.

As I noted in the previous posting, I was asked a week ago--along with four other Project Runway alumni, to create our "vision" for Kate Middleton's Wedding Gown. The segment--hosted by Anchor Natalie Morales and Today Show Fashion Editor Bobbie Thomas--showed each of our designs as well as our corresponding fashion illustrations.

Wedding Sketch: Nick Verreos "Kate Middleton Wedding Gown" original fashion illustration

Here, I have added some screen-cap photos from this morning's segment, of the wedding gown I designed and created (with the AMAZING help of my NIKOLAKI partner-in-design-crime David Paul--and my INVALUABLE seamstress. I am also including the entire video of the segment at the end of this post, in case you missed it...

Le Pockets: Model Kasie in my "Kate Middleton Wedding Gown" design, Today Show

The gown is an ivory silk ziberline column gown with a "Mermaid" silhouette featuring a pleated high-neck, strong shoulders, cap sleeves, side-front pockets (a girl's gotta have her pockets!) and a full pleated back train. It features a waist detail with hand-sewn Swarovski crystal beading for a "dash" of sparkle.

Couture Torso: Close-Up of beaded waist trim and pleated Bateau neckline of my "Kate Middleton Wedding Gown" design, Today Show

Hint Of Back: View of back of my "Kate Middleton Wedding Gown" design, Today Show

I was inspired by Architecture and wanted to design a gown that was structured yet elegant. I also considered Kate Middleton's penchant for showing her great figure (it was fitted, and had an open back) but still remained "Future Queen of England" appropriate (covering the shoulders and part of the arms).

To finish off the entire look, I added a full tulle veil (above photo) to go with the gown. Of course, I also needed a proper crown/tiara. I found the perfect one with crystals-and-pearls at Berger Beads in Downtown Los Angeles (They were so helpful!). It was wonderful seeing the gown on my model, Kasie (Love you Kasie!), on the Today Show and so happy how it all turned out!

And by the way: Visit myLifetime.com for information on "The Royal Private Sale" to win my original "Nick Verreos for Kate Middleton Wedding Gown"--as well as the other 4 Project Runway designers' one-of-a-kind dresses. Proceeds will go to charity.

And don't forget, WATCH TONIGHT'S Premiere of the Lifetime TV Movie "William & Kate: Let Love Rule" 9pm e/p.

Watch Today Show Project Runway Kate Middleton Wedding Gown Segment Below: