On Tuesday night the second season of The City premiered on MTV. I’ve been stewing over the new episode since it aired, and I’m not sure why I still watch a show that never fails to frustrate me.
I’m a recent college grad and current industry intern, who has spent hours sending in dozens of internship applications only to get one response. I know what it’s like to spend an entire day in the fashion closet of a major publication, and how grueling it is to write up entire racks of clothes and then wheel them around town. Conveniently, none of the unpleasant aspects of fashion internships are ever depicted on the show.
By now it’s no secret that much of the action on The City is staged, but its classification as a “reality show” blurs the line between the real and the fake. Younger girls who are in the target demographic might not realize that breaking into the fashion industry isn’t so simple, and doesn’t provide instant perks. To be perfectly honest, growing up in Virginia and going to school at Tulane, I didn’t know the full scope of what a lot of jobs in the industry required until I had one. And I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in that fact.
Whitney Port, of The Hills and The City, has apparently “designed” a lipstick for Cargo. Of course, I recognize that there is PR value and it’s very lovely that a portion of the profits go to St. Jude’s. But really, I’ve always found these collaborations, if you can even call them that, rather dumb.
I love what Lancôme does in their Pout-à-Porter series with designers like Peter Som and Thakoon. And I can’t wait to see the new Chris Benz shade and find out who won the naming contest! These are literally tied to the runway looks of these designers. In fact, they’re actually used on the models in the show. There’s a context and a point behind the shades.
But I personally could care less when someone like Whitney or Tinsley (that Dior Beauty Ambassador thing still boggles my mind) point at a shade of pink and throws her name on it.
Bravo picked up Kelly Cutrone’s reality show in February and now, they’ve given it a name: Kell on Earth.
Here’s what they say about the series:
Kelly Cutrone has been called one of the “coolest, scariest and New York-iest people ever” and, judging from her frank demeanor and fashion world credibility, it’s easy to see why. Bravo takes a no-holds-barred look into the life of one of America’s most legitimate tastemakers as she balances running her wildly successful fashion PR company, People’s Revolution, with being a single mother and one of New York’s most notable women about town.
We’re wondering, logistically, how this will work. Now that Whitney’s Kelly’s ‘employee’ and Whitney’s followed everywhere by her own MTV camera crews, who decides who gets to film what? What if there’s major drama at People’s Revolution and MTV wants it for The City but Bravo’s determined to get it for Kell on Earth? You can’t just share dramatic tension.
Clearly, the only solution is to give the dueling camera crews their own reality show - name suggestions?
The Boyfriend’s Back: Suzy Menkes says the 80’s are back in the shape of boyfriend suits. Does your boyfriend dress like this? {The New York Times}
Boys for Boys: Henry Holland, Philip Lim & Richard Chai make the perfect white tees for Topshop. We pout because they are for boys but realize we’ll probably buy them anyway {Refinery29}
Pretty Hair: If this is the season we finally relent and embrace pretty hair accessories, we will choose these, please. {Starworks}
The City Breaks: Whitney left DVF to go back to work for Kelly because Olivia got promoted/sent to London and she didn’t so now Joe Zee gets a bigger role on The City? Is it too much to hope it just ends? {New York Post}
Topless in Topshop: Someone got so excited to get to Topshop she forgot to put on her shirt! {Imaginary Socialite}
We’re endlessly fascinated with the meeting of “real,” “reality” and “fashion” on television these days, and the way it endlessly fascinates us despite our constant stream of questions and concerns. Like:
1. Doesn’t Diane von Furstenberg (as in, the real DVF, not some character of herself she plays on MTV) care that the entire world has now watched her discuss Whitney Port’s love life on prime time?
2. Doesn’t Whitney Port care that the only time she actually got to talk to the real DVF (who, let’s face it, is always present with her on-screen self) was during a work party where she spewed about her boyfriend instead of about wanting to do more with her job?
3. Also, don’t the producers care that DVF just repeated the same advice we’ve heard her give several times?
Please, discuss this moment in true tele-reality. Because when Diane started playing with her hair and asking legitimate questions about Jay, we lost too many brain cells to think on this any further.
In case anyone else sort of came around on The City after Olivia shut down Whitney over talking about her friends’ hook up situation in the DVF offices (“Whitney, you’re an adult. You’re what, 23 years old? You’re not in high school”), take note:
MTV’s picked up the show for a second season, which could mean more fun quotes from Olivia, but definitely more cameras at Fashion Week.
Not exactly win-win, but maybe Diane will show up on camera again?
If you happen to know Kate Bartle, Starworks’ Director of Accessories, then you may or may not already know this:
Kate’s left her PR job at Starworks as of yesterday.
Her mega destination? Working in the PR department of DVF.
Which, I’m sure you’ve all put together by now, means she’s Whitney Port’s newest co-worker (and confidante?) and our favorite new pick for reality show cast member.
Us: “No, but I think Whitney actually does work there. People saw her at he DVF show in September, like organizing models backstage with a clipboard.”
Girl: “Hm, weird, because she kind of doesn’t.”
Us: “Hm?”
Girl: “Well, she just goes into the office to shoot scenes like she works there, like what they did on The Hills. Actually, it’s kind of sad. When they film her spots, they make the girls that actually work there move from their desks and into some cubicles in another part of the floor, because they’re actually working, but the camera people want Whitney and her on-screen work friend to look like they have real desks.”
Us: “They make the people who really work there give up their desks in the middle of the day so The City can shoot?”
Girl: “Yeah. And when the scenes are done, Whitney leaves. She doesn’t really work there.”
At this point, we had a pretty shocked look on our face. Though looking back, we have no idea why…
Here’s the first clip from it, The City, which debuts December 29th, conveniently placed in the time continuum that is Winter Break for so much of MTV’s bread and butter, just a few days after those new Christmas toys lose their shine - not a bad effort on DVF’s part either, to try and brand themselves with the younger set who have yet to actually buy their first wrap dress. Perhaps there really is a television-related reason for having positioned Lauren’s clothes in the midst of Diane’s at Bloomingdale’s - to show young girls on camera perusing not just Laurent’s duds, but Diane’s, too?
Anyway, here’s our early verdict - This looks exactly like The Hills, except now, you could potentially make a game of spotting where the cameras take her on the grid. On the upside, maybe Diane will make an appearance.
“She’s a model! They’re like cockroaches! Stamp one out and a hundred look-alikes show up in her place!” - Shauna (Debi Mazar) to Vince (Adrian Grenier) on Entourage… ps, did you see Whitney Port make a cameo?!
We don’t go to Bloomingdale’s that often. Department stores are semi-overwhelming and it’s about two blocks too far down Broadway.
But we did go right before Paris because we needed bras and we did go yesterday because we needed Marc. And while there, we noticed a change.
Diane von Furstenberg has had her own space on the third floor since the first time we went to Bloomingdale’s. It’s the same size and scope as the Marc by Marc area on the fourth floor. And it’s all Diane, all the time.
Or it was, until they plopped a rack of Lauren Conrad’s dresses in the middle.
We, or I, worked in retail long enough to know how much thought goes into merchandising. In the public eye, DVF now means Whitney Port which means someone at Bloomingdale’s is getting their giggles from imagining some sort of third floor fashion-reality-show fight.
The sad thing is, we actually care about this stuff…
So we hear from a source at Epic Records that Audrina’s “work friend,” Chiara, will start having a bigger presence on the show. That seems to be good news, as the source claims Chiara is “smart,” “hard working,” and “rad.” Look out for her towards the end of this season.
Meanwhile, Jessica from People’s Revolution recently sent out an email saying she’d resigned to freelance for other companies. We hope at least one of those brands has an eyeshadow or mascara, because she has the coolest eyes we’ve ever seen.
But Jessica’s new absence leaves more questions:
1. How will Whitney triumph at work if someone else isn’t around to ignore the Pussycat Dolls?
2. Does this mean there’s a permanent spot open for Lauren?
Don’t worry. He’s not designing his own clothing line.
But he is employed, which is a big improvement from last we saw him.
According to The New York Times’ The Moment, “the longhaired hipster who took toothy Audrina Patridge on countless thong-exposing motorcycle rides” has booked a job posing in Orthodox’s look book.
The Los Angeles men’s line “synthesizes street with civility” and is represented by People’s Revolution - what a Hollywood surprise.
The clothes are a little bit awkward and we’re pretty sure Whitney would have styled them better, but we’re thrilled Justin Bobby’s back on the scene and we hope he keeps booking jobs.
After all, his burps might have been the last real thing we saw on The Hills.
But we weren’t interested in her clothes as much as we were interested in her title at People’s Revolution.
The story states that she is officially an intern for Kelly Cutrone.
Intern?
We’re pretty sure she’s supposed to be an actual employee on the show, some sort of assistant, something, especially since she had a supposedly paid position at Teen Vogue before she moved over to PR.
Is even Whitney’s position made up for the show? We can’t imagine one of the busiest PR companies putting up with cameras and crew just to have an extra person cataloguing clothes as “work.” We understood with Teen Vogue - it was a fake set in their LA offices, after all.
I was reading Deluxe: How Luxury Lost its Luster (by Dana Thomas), and came upon this quote.
I couldn’t get over the irony…
“‘No matter how beautiful actresses are, they don’t know how to dress,’ says Kelly Cutrone, founder of the fashion public relations firm People’s Revolution. ‘They need to be told how to say the designer’s name— it’s Jeee-van-she, not Ga-vin-chee.’”
Well I guess beautiful actresses can pronounce the names…
But what about your girl Whitney? Wait, isn’t she an actress too?
Kimball: “Because I didn’t feel like at the shoot, when you were taking down all the notes [deubutantes’ names and ages], it didn’t seem quite…natural, to me. … So, where would you see yourself?”
Thought Lauren Conrad’s line would be the first and last fashion venture related to The Hills?
Think again, because it looks like closet pal Whitney Port is now getting in on the trend.
WWD reports that Whitney is launching her own line, to be called Eve & A (not to be confused with Adam Lippes’ first line, Adam + Eve,) a collection that will consist of seventeen pieces, mostly partywear.
The line premieres in LA this weekend, but we don’t doubt we’ll see it on Whitney herself when The Hills comes back to life later this month.
Not that Whitney has any actual experience in design, though we have to admit - we always thought she looked really cute whenever we saw her trying to keep up conversations with LC.
Would a short, pink tiered dress look funny while interning for Kelly Cutrone?
WWD just confirmed that Teen Vogue and The Hills are, in fact, divorcing.
We can’t imagine how they’ll keep Whitney on the show without the closet - and does this mean that we’ll start seeing Lauren, like, going to class?
Better yet: How will the relationship end on the show? Will Lauren (and Whitney?) be fired? Or will she leave on her own, citing “personal reasons,” like turning 22?
And will they try the same formula, but with another magazine? People have been saying that the split has partly to do with the girls’ behavior off-hours. Does Cosmo have an LA office?
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On Tuesday night the second season of The City premiered on MTV. I’ve been stewing over the new episode since it aired, and I’m not sure why I still watch a show that never fails to frustrate me.
