It's really not that hard

Tonight's Top Chef involved needing to cook for a vegetarian. This was a twist on what looked like an otherwise straightforward dinner party, so I do understand the chefs being thrown for a loop at first, but they got to go straight into looking through the non-meat products (fresh ones from a Farmer's market, Tom Collichio says in his blog, so probably plenty of good choices even aside from anything they normally had on hand). But the dishes were not, really, all that great. Many of them looked a lot more like appetizers or sides than entrees, and almost none of them included a protein.

Massive Eyerolling

Dear Designers,

You were asked to do a Bob Mackie-style outfit for a singer. Bob Mackie-style stage outfit! I know most of you would not normally do something like his costumes, but you'd think one of you might've realized that he rather likes colour. Black, white, grey, black, white, black and white, white, grey... I think I saw a hint of blue somewhere, but it was pretty subtle. 'Subtle' is not on the list of words I think of when I think of Bob Mackie's stagewear.

In fact, while we're on the topic: just what do so many of you have against colour this season? I've seen more black, white, and grey than I can take. And I like grey (and black, but everyone likes some black I think). Even when you were supposed to make something blue I saw grey! Yeesh.

That having been said, I'm glad to see Carol Hannah finally win one, even if it was with a black dress. She's not my favorite designer (sorry, but I like Gordana more!), but I think she got ignored for good outfits more than once, so it's nice to see her get some kudos for her skill.

Anyhow. Colour, people. Don't be afraid of it.

Hugs and Kisses (except to Irina)!

I may have to buy the November Playboy

Cuz, like, um... this is their cover (work safe unless risque and the word 'Playboy' count as non-work safe where you work):

I know I said I wasn't likely to watch...

...but I've been watching Top Chef regularly this season again.

I think it's obvious at this point who the front-runners are, the probable top four. Granted one of them might screw up (anyone can have an off day, or succumb to the pressure of time), but really it's been pretty clear for a couple weeks that Kevin, Jen, and the Voltaggio brothers are the likeliest top four. If one of them screws up badly enough, I suppose that Mike I. might be in instead, but I don't think he's as talented or creative as that group. Plus I can't stand him, so I hope he doesn't make it. Laurine also might have a shot, but again, I think it would take one of the others screwing up.

No offense to Robin or Ash, but I don't think either of them likely to make it to the top. I kinda like both of them and I don't think they're incompetent, but I don't think either of them work well with the time pressure or in front of the cameras, and they haven't shown a lot of flair. Eli, well, I don't like him, and he's not any more likely than either of them to make it, for similar reasons plus a general blindness to his own faults.

I'm torn on who I want to be the winner. As far as skill goes, I think the four best are all on par with each other overall, so I wouldn't be disappointed at any of them. I'm inclined to root for Kevin, who sort of slid into being my favorite personality-wise, but I kinda want to root for Jen's quiet competence as well. If it comes down to those two I think I'd be pretty happy either way (the loser might not get the money but the publicity can't hurt).

Now to be fair...

I have noticed a trend lately in U.S. fashion shows to use a) more women who look like they're naturally lean rather than starving themselves, and b) models who actually are a bit larger, albeit still not anything like average size. I've even noticed some of the shapes of clothing looking more adaptable to different body sizes (fewer microbodices, looser construction, etc.).

But I'm not going to stop thinking model size choices are odd just yet.

Some Statistics

Average height of women in the U.S.: Approximately 5'4"[1]
Average dress size of women in the U.S.: 14^[1,2]
Size "plus size" begins at: 12-18, depending on the store.

Typical height for models: 5'8" and above
Typical dress size for "normal" size models in the U.S.: 0-4^[2,3]
Typical dress size for "plus" size models in the U.S.: 8-12^[2,4]

[1] Height based on 2002 CDC report, the latest available. Dress size is from fashion media reports; CDC reports 36" average waist, which depending on source may be anything from 14-20.
[2] Standard U.S. dress sizes. Where "standard" means "not really".
[3] Some firms and designers may go slightly higher.
[4] Some firms and designers start or go higher.