Stylista: “Hidden Gems”

I’m jumping on the “Stylista” bandwagon a little late (ok, just a week) and my first impressions are “SERIOUSLY?” 

First thoughts after the first 10 minutes:

• Most of these people have horrible personal style– why on earth would they be able to style for a magazine or someone else if they can’t even dress themselves? Those that do have some sense of style appear to be over-processed and “over-glossied.” Fashion is about adding your own personal flavor to your clothes– essentially wearing your personality on your sleeve; clearly no one filled these “stylistas” in. 
• Fashion vocab– seriously, how do you NOT know what a “dart” is and you’re in the fashion world. Just wow. 
• Dressing a mannequin is hard, but leaving one armless? Never an option. 
• Elle closet? Yes please. I’d love if someone (who actually knows their stuff) would come to my house and fill my closet with all of those glorious goodies. 
• This guy who is an “aspiring fashion designer” (Jason)– how do you not know ANY of the fashion elements? ANY? What have they taught you (or not taught you) in fashion school? Ugh. 

Megan is obviously the person who we’re supposed to “love to hate,” but to be honest, right now she can afford to be a little cocky since she seems to be the only person who knows anything about fashion at this point. 

Honestly, where did they find these people? When they hyped the show and said it was from the creators of Project Runway and America’s Next Top Model, it seemed like a shoe-in. Sadly, the casting agents seem to be clueless about fashion themselves. 

I will admit, I did enjoy learning about the “criteria” for an Elle Interiors Story– it’s always great to see the method behind the madness concerning the fashion world, and to know that everything has some sort of formula or inherent value. As far as the rest of the show goes? Slow, boring, and just blah. I found myself getting up and wandering around my house instead of paying attention to what was going on on screen. 

For pete’s sake, there wasn’t even a series of catchy phrases or overly dramatic catfights to really lure me in. The “diva” fight? So lame. “She’s the devil’s spawn. She’s Rosemary’s Baby.” Seriously? How can “reality” TV not get that right and find a way to COMPLETELY over-do the one thing you’re allowed to moderately over-do? It’s hard to believe that a show can be more forced and processed than ANTM, but somehow, Stylista takes the cake. Snooze. 

The only high “drama” point was when Jason (who later is visited by the EMT’s– not a high point– I’m not that mean– I sincerely hoped it was just a panic attack/anxiety attack, I digress,) was complaining about his rash and how he feels uncomfortable, and Ashlie says “you know, they love it when you persevere through that stuff.” Someone has watched her fair share of reality TV. On the bright side, Jason pulled through and sure enough, it was just an anxiety attack.

Moral of the story– I wish I had taken NY Mag’s advice and steered clear of Stylista as it’s definitely a fashion no-no– unless, of course, you’re home sick and have nothing else to watch on your TiVo.