It's Just Not Aesthetically Pleasing!

When Heidi Klum tells you that the dress you created looks like the latest purchase in a prostitute's closet, you cower in fear. When Michael Kors exclaims that the dress you created makes your model look like Barefoot Appalachian Barbie, you run out of the room sobbing. And when NinaGarciaFashionDirectorofElleMagazine states that the dress you created is just not aesthetically pleasing, you know immediately that your career as a designer is over. Indefinitely. Herein lies the day-to-day life of a Project Runway contestant.

And we, as viewers of what seems to be one of the most veritable reality shows on television today (if such a thing even exists), take these opinions at face value. When Nina Garcia tells us that something is not aesthetically pleasing, we know for a fact that it is true. The opinion of this ill-tempered latina woman (who has never designed a thing in her life) holds tons more weight than ours do when it comes to the ins and outs of fashion design. The same goes for Heidi, queen of the short and shiny prostitute dress, and Michael, constant snorefest of the fashion week tents. So why have these three people been put in charge of making or breaking the careers of young designers across the country?

Someone, somewhere along the line, decided they had "good taste". That they know the difference between a good and bad design and that they can recognize quality construction over garbage. Sure, us viewers may sometimes agree with them that a dress looks like ass, but we often do not. And unfortunately, they're the judges sitting in front of the cameras. This higher class informs the rest of the country about what type of design is worthy.

Of course, you could argue that this is a reality show and producers have a heavy hand in who wins and who loses. But I'd like to take the high road and pretend the decisions are all up to our famous friends. The ones who have "great taste" and whose aesthetic tastes are of higher quality than our own. The ones that let little Christian Siriano loose on the rest of the world.

Fierce.