1
/ 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
- Next
The
next day the girls are taken to Beverly Hills
for their challenge. A bald man in an orange polka-dotted
clown dress skips out to greet them. He is “James
St. James, Club Kid Extraordinaire, Fashion Provocateur,
and definition of Personal Style.” The girls eye
his size 12 orange pumps. They’re not convinced
of his credentials.
He
gives the girls each $500 and an hour to buy an outfit
on Rodeo Drive that reflects their personal (as defined
by Evil Jay) style. No one mentions that in this zip code
$500 will only get a girl a copy of the LA Weekly to be
fashioned into a paper tunic.
Cassandra
is stumped by this challenge because she still doesn’t
know what Mod means. She tags along after Ebony, holding
up a gray business suit and asking earnestly, “Do
you think it’s Mod?” After a long beat, Ebony
says, “No.”
Ebony
let’s us in on a little secret. “Cassandra?
Her look? She can’t handle it.”
The
girls race through the streets of Beverly Hills while
the bald orange clown runs after them, bellowing from
a bullhorn, “Stragglers will be penalized!”
Once back to the hotel rooftop, the clown begins their
evaluation. Cassandra tells him, “Jay told me to
look Mod and hipster.” She is wearing a crisp blue
blazer with pinstriped slacks. She looks like she is on
her way to an interview for a bank job. The clown is gentle
with her, he tells her to try to be more bold.
Kim
struts up wearing a pair of knee-length shorts, mules,
and a striped shirt with a white jacket. She looks like
a drag-king Elvis in the “Jailhouse Rock”
video. She proudly states that she was not told to change
her style. The clown is not having it. Shorts? “I
still think you could embrace a little bit more femininity.”
Kim isn’t having that. “okay,” she mumbles,
slouching back over to the group.
Lisa
Evangelista looks fabulous in her turquoise halter mini-dress.
She is the only one who seems to have understood the assignment.
(Or maybe she is just the only one who could relate to
her newly assigned “personal style”.) The
clown loves her.
Ebony
tells us that she was assigned to be “edgy sophisticated.”
She is wearing a tank top, which is neither. Clown: “Two
words: Umm. Eww.” He hates it.
Diane
is supposed to look “dressy casual.” This
is hardly a personal style. It’s more like an irritating
oxymoron. I think Evil Jay was being lazy with her theme
because she is a plus-size model and he does not like
the big girls.
The
clown selects Lisa as the challenge winner. Kim thinks
she was robbed, “I have better style than most of
these girls…all these girls.” (She says this
from within the confines of her white, Members Only-style
windbreaker.)
Kim’s
fiancée, Sarah rightly notices that the win has
gone to Lisa’s head. Back at Chez Supermodel, Lisa
starts doling out a lot of unsolicited advice about modeling.
Lest you think this an altruistic act, Lisa tells us,
“I want to win this knowing that these girls were
trying their best. Even if it is with my help.”
This is the supermodel version of, “Go ahead, you
take the first swing at me. I can still kick your ass!”
The
next morning, the girls go for their next challenge—a
photo shoot in the country. They are invited to partner
up, then discover that their partner is also their competitor
in a modeling duel. Both will strike the same poses, in
the same clothes, and be judged against one another.
Kim
assesses her situation. “Unfortunately, I’ve
chosen the prettiest girl in the entire competition. Kyle.”
I think this so-called admission is all part of Kim’s
“One down, eleven to go” Plan. Maybe Kim should
use the “You’re a beautiful girl” line
on Kyle too.
1
/ 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
- Next
