Clothes on TV

A dress you won't see on "Say Yes to the Dress"

Christian Lacroix couture, Fall 2008

This is an exciting week for TV-addicted clothesaholics (oh, those dual dependencies!). The second season of TLC's Say Yes to the Dress premiers Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at 8:00 p.m. and the fifth season of Project Runway (and its last season on Bravo, if the Weinsteins get their way) premiers Wednesday, July 16 at 9:00 p.m. But, as they say, check your local listings.

Notice, I say these premiers mean joy to clothesaholics, not fashionistas. I don't regard the parade of white, strapless, puffy dresses on SYttD as fashion. The show is fascinating because it gives the audience the opportunity to watch brides pick out what many regard as the most important single article of clothing in a woman's life -- her wedding dress. (We'll ignore for the moment that for some of the shoppers this might be the second or third most important dress). I'm also transfixed by how often women from completely different backgrounds and of completely different sizes choose the same dress as "the one." Shopping for a wedding gown is like having sex in the head; reality is superfluous.

A dress you won't see on Project Runway V

Elie Saab couture, Fall 2008

Well, at least I sincerely hope that this season of Project Runway is exciting. Last season turned out, ultimately, to be a bore. There were no big personalities like Jay McCarroll (I'm not counting the caricature that is Christian Siriano), no real villain, and hence none of the drama that made previous seasons such good TV. Even the garments were mostly boring.

PR is in transition; its producers, the Weinsteins, want to move the show to the Lifetime channel and relocate the designers to Los Angeles. Both of those proposed changes make me shudder: How will Lifetime, home of the weepy-woman Movie of the Week, treat the bawdy and gay-friendly PR? And why film a fashion program so far from America's undisputed fashion capital, New York? One of the producers explained the move by claiming that it provided "more context for our challenges involving celebrity culture." Given how celebrities often dress (i.e., badly) a concentration on celebrity culture does not bode well.

For vintage lovers, the second season of Mad Men premiers July 27, 2008. I think that series got off track with the unbelievable Dan Draper plotline (don't waste the Draper, people!) but dayum, the costumers get the look right.