Mischa Barton: PR: Ripping the Collections: Seth Aaron

Hit it, Seth A!

We had a somewhat unusual reaction to Seth Aaron's collection. We went on a little journey with it. In February, when we saw it for the first time in the tent, we were excited by it. It was obvious to anyone with decent observational skills that the finalists were almost certainly Seth A, Emilio, Mila and/or Jay. To us, it was obvious that Seth Aaron's collection placed high on that short list, but we weren't sure how high. We thought it was a visually exciting collection, but we were afraid that its references may have been a little outdated. In the weeks since, we'd check out the pictures from the collection and, with a sinking feeling (because we always were total Seth A supporters from Day One), came to the conclusion that yes, it probably was a little too '80s/early '90s to escape criticism from Nina. Then we saw the collection on the screen in motion and what do you know? We loved it all over again. The one thing that remained consistent throughout our fickle-ry? We never forgot a single look. Each one was seared into our brain in full detail. That alone told us how strong this collection really is. It's sneaky that way.

Let's start the show.

Nothing could illustrate our point better than this look. It's memorable and a fantastic way to open a show, but at first glance, it looked a little clumsy to us. With every viewing, we loved this dress a little more because it's one of those garments that has so many little details that reveal themselves to you a little more each time you look. The combination of red wool and black leather is striking. We love the texture on the leather, which we didn't even notice until we saw the collection in hi-def. We love the little pins and gathers that form minor drapes but still leave the piece looking tailored. We love that he styled it for top impact (the styling on a whole was the best out of the collections), yet it's a deceptively wearable dress. Love the tights, but loved the judges pointing out that it would look great with just a simple pair of shoes and the right bag.

This would be one of those looks that made us fear the dreaded "dated" critique. After all, a fitted houndstooth suit could easily go a little '80s. The leather trim up and down the bodice is probably a bit much - it elongates her torso and makes it a little insect-like, but it DOES take it out of looking retro. In addition, the flare on the pants detracts a little. This is one instance where he should have stayed with his patented skinny pant.

J'ADORE.

What a uniquely beautiful shape. It moved beautifully and it had both Heidi and Faith salivating at the prospect of wearing it, which kinda proves the point about how he styled the show to look so edgy but showed pieces that could very easily be interpreted and worn. We're not sure how one could interpret this look because it's so short it clearly needs tights of some sort and why wouldn't you go with the shiny pleather-y looking ones here? We love the contrasting trim.

We adore this dress too but we have to admit, it sticks out a bit for being so simple. Granted, a shot of simplicity was needed every now and then for this collection just to show he can edit himself. We love the way the lines meet up in the back. Also love the styling on this one.

This would be the "needle scratching the record" moment. It's a good thing that last dress was so simple and classic, because this one was cracktastic. We get it. He wanted to deliberately throw in a couple completely out-there pieces. He said as much in interviews. Who are we to criticize that tactic? It obviously worked. The judges made a point of complimenting him for putting on a show and that's a big part of getting your worked noticed. So no, we did not like this look, but yes, we can see why he put it in there.