Fashion reality TV

I'm so excited - Project Runway 7 is starting up in Canada this coming weekend!!! The last season was such a huge disappointment but I'm hearing that this latest season is going to be much better.

They're back in New York this season, which means that their regular judges will be there all the time instead of appearing sporadically in LA. I know that Lifetime wanted to change Project Runway once they got the franchise from Bravo, but moving it to LA was the wrong change. Hopefully the show will stay in NYC from now on.

You might be happy to read that even if Project Runway turns out to be a dud from now on, there's a replacement in the wings. After losing Project Runway, Bravo went ahead and created a new show called Launch My Line that's been airing in the US and started airing in Canada on TVTropolis about a month ago.

Like Project Runway, Launch My Line is a fashion competittion reality series. Each contestant (called a "designer") is successful in a non-fashion field and wants to be a fashion designer. Each one is paired with an actual fashion designer (called an "expert") who will help them construct their clothes and give them advice or whatever.

One key feature about Launch My Line is that each contestant is actually making a runway collection one garment at a time. So each week they're adding a piece to their collection that not only is a part of their vision, but that also meets that week's challenge. As we get further along, each contestant's garments are considered both as part of the challenge and as part of their collection.

Since they're creating for a whole collection, the designers had to buy half of their fabric at the beginning of the series. They also have a different model every week, which makes sense because when you show a collection, you have different models show the clothes. It would be a really long show otherwise, yes? :)

Of course there's drama what with the wacky contestants (like the one who is really designing for herself) and the wacky experts (like the camera hogging drama queen), and the relationship between the two. Oh, and Dean and Dan from DSquared2 are the hosts. They're such cuties.

So if you're a Project Runway fan, I hope you're watching the show (or will be, when it starts this week). And if you do love fashion and competition, check out Launch My Line. It's well worth the hour each week. :)