{"id":711,"date":"2025-01-30T16:27:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-30T17:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ihousecolor.com\/?p=711"},"modified":"2025-04-13T06:34:10","modified_gmt":"2025-04-13T06:34:10","slug":"so-chic-very-chic-trauma-dumping-in-bottega-veneta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.ihousecolor.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/30\/so-chic-very-chic-trauma-dumping-in-bottega-veneta\/","title":{"rendered":"So Chic, Very Chic: Trauma Dumping in Bottega Veneta"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

This is So Chic, Very Chic, <\/em>PAPER\u2019s examination of Bravo\u2019s sprawling cohort of fashion obsessives. From haute couture to TJ Maxx, they\u2019ve literally worn it all. Sometimes they stunt, sometimes they turn the look, and sometimes they burn holes in retinas my ophthalmologist says might never heal.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

When did everybody stop being friends? When did everybody become influencers? This used to be the most exciting city in the world. Now it\u2019s nothing but smoking near a fucking open window and listening to middle class rich aspirants argue about the price of an Uber. New York is over. Over! No one\u2019s fun anymore. Whatever happened to fun? God, I\u2019m so bored I could die.<\/p>\n

I said all this and more to myself while watching the reunion of The Real Housewives of New York City<\/em><\/em>\u2019s abysmal 15th season. Whatever it was they apparently talked about, I couldn\u2019t tell you, except the bits I somehow retained while in a blackout state on my couch. I remember there being drama about Jessel\u2019s new teeth and a rumor about Jenna Lyons being too broke to pay for an Uber. I also remember an extended bit of craven digging into Brynn\u2019s obviously damaged psyche post-sexual assault, herself about as craven as they come on these shows. Erin smiled to conceal the rage and utter loathing she feels for her castmates, while Sai refused to apologize for calling Jessel\u2019s husband a sex tourist, and Jenna doubled down on refusing to film the reality show she\u2019s currently on. Andy, meanwhile, seemed desperate to salvage what he could from the proceedings.<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

I\u2019d say cancel it, but that\u2019d be giving the worst Bravo fans alive a satisfaction I think we should continue to deny them. Still, there is something unspeakably dark afoot, in between the conversations about a horrific sexual assault and Brynn\u2019s dumbfounding lies about her castmates \u2014 something that denies anyone involved healing or absolution, and the audience either entertainment or absolution ourselves. It’s an evil born of grievous miscasting and unethical producing habits, exacerbated by a show in a perpetual state of crisis since its original stars staged a Mar-a-Lago sponsored revolt against each other and the rest of us. Where do things go from here? I have no say. By the looks of it, Bravo will do what it does best and beat the metaphorical horse until its corpse has been picked clean by carrion vultures.<\/p>\n

But shall we talk about the fashion?<\/p>\n

The Real Housewives of New York City<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Real Housewives of New York City<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

The Cast of The Real Housewives of New York City<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Generally speaking, the cast has never looked better. It\u2019s worth noting Brynn is the obvious outlier visually and metaphorically. It\u2019s unclear how produced their fits are at these things, and the exact story I\u2019ve been told changes from cast to cast. (But it\u2019s a nice visual quirk that mirrors Angie K and Lisa showing up in purple while everyone else is in red.) She’s ostentatious to the point of tackiness, which circles around camp and desperation before doubling back to tacky, which is how Brynn wishes to be seen \u2014 like Miss Piggy, which I pointed out in our interview last year ahead of the new season. <\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Brynn Whitfield<\/strong><\/p>\n

The dress is Taller Marmo, a designer I\u2019d never heard of before. I like the Zsa Zsa Gabor effect, a description I stole right from her mouth. The champagne color is gorgeous, as are the ostrich feathers and high collar. Even her hair is perfectly executed, which I take no pleasure in admitting here. One almost wishes it was a trainwreck, considering her actions, but its excellence is the point. She\u2019s a seasoned PR professional and knows that if she\u2019s going down like the Titanic, she might as well be fabulous. <\/p>\n

She reads these things, probably, because she\u2019s the sort to read everything. If she\u2019s here with us now, I implore her to pause everything, seek treatment and leave this show forever. From a purely cynical perspective, the freeze would help her salvage whatever hate-read memoir deal there is left for her out in the big wide world. <\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Jenna Lyons<\/strong><\/p>\n

The impenetrable Jenna Lyons wore a Balenciaga bathrobe to the reunion, absurd in its own mundanity. Like her general demeanor on the show itself, the bathrobe symbolizes her apathy towards the proceedings all around her. Apathetic is one way to describe it, should I look only at the surface. Beyond the smoke and mirrors, I find her sartorial chops laughably ironic, because she uses it to obscure the actual desperation lurking just beneath the lining of her pantsuits and frocks and mesh bras. Jenna Lyons is desperate to prove she is above this, and she is desperate to seem cooler than the people she gets paid to hang out with for few months each calendar year. <\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Racquel Chevremont<\/strong><\/p>\n

On to more earnest fashion choices! Here\u2019s Racquel in Carolina Herrera, looking like a marble bust come to life and immediately draped in couture. Trend alert! That necklace is just like Angie\u2019s from the RHOSLC<\/em> reunion, albeit gold. I also love the sculptural hair and asymmetrical neckline, which gives the dress a painterly effect that I quite enjoy. Besides her fabulous beat, I\u2019d also like to commend her appropriate use of 47 chunky bangles. Despite some missteps (no more little black dresses in the confessional), I hope to see more of her Rick Owens stuffed closet in the future. <\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Ubah Hassan<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ubah\u2019s stylist, Arnold Milfort, tore this severely. The black dress is perhaps one of my favorites of all time in this color for the reunion couch, as it\u2019s most often reserved for one season wonders without stylists, or Bethenny Frankel, who never quite figured it out anyway. I couldn\u2019t get a good full body shot of it, so I\u2019ve included Bravo\u2019s official press photo below. <\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Look at the way it cuts her figure! And the gloves, with those sheer black tights? Sexy in ways I don\u2019t usually see represented on the reunion couch \u2014 itself an inherently unsexy thing. Also, those Wolf & Badger stilettos only make it sexier, as do the correctly placed chunky bangles. Stylists, take note: Sometimes, to maximize the scale of them, as well as give the effect you want, stop perpetually weighing down your clients with symmetrical bangle placement! Make it lopsided for drama, just because! Make it weird! They\u2019re basically as big as a human head, for Christ\u2019s sake. <\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Erin Lichy<\/strong><\/p>\n

Erin wore Bottega Veneta. Erin is also pregnant. I feel weird discussing fit on a pregnant woman (it fits beautifully, by the way), so let\u2019s talk function. Functionally, I can\u2019t believe it\u2019s not a maternity dress. She seems able to move around in it, and the high neckline helps with the proportions of a sequin gown. That said, I beg hair stylists the world over: Stop letting your clients with long hair (or extensions!) wear it down when wearing sequin fabric. It destroys the hair and builds up frizz that reads badly on camera. When they have a personality to match, it really does them no favors.<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Sai De Silva<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another Christopher John Rogers sighting on Bravo! I enjoy that the brand has become synonymous with the younger aspirants in the Real Housewives canon \u2014 new luxury for the newly luxurious generation. Now, a deconstructed suit dress is tough. It was tough when Billy Porter wore one, it\u2019s tougher every time Dior does it, and it\u2019s definitely tough here. Next to the Bottega and the Carolina Herrera, it also feels safe in ways that run counter to Sai\u2019s own styling throughout the season. From a woman bold enough to wear a molded bust and headwrap in 90% of her confessionals, I expected more from her!<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Jessel Taank<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s Jessel in Maticevski, which I saved for the end because I don’t have much to say about it. She has a bob and a black dress on, and makeup that\u2019s competent but not very exciting. The square neckline totally cuts her off, and the large black ruffle on the breast swallows her. It\u2019s one of those dangers of black fabric I talked about earlier in the column. It\u2019s why they warn against it on RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race<\/em>, and it\u2019s why I warn against it here. Sure, in real life, we\u2019d gag. But this is television, seen on screens. It\u2019s a different sort of gaze to dress for. (And different sorts of gays too, really.)<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

Photos courtesy of Bravo\/NBCUniversal<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is So Chic, Very Chic, PAPER\u2019s examination of Bravo\u2019s sprawling cohort of fashion obsessives….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":708,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ihousecolor.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ihousecolor.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ihousecolor.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ihousecolor.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ihousecolor.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=711"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.ihousecolor.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":734,"href":"http:\/\/www.ihousecolor.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711\/revisions\/734"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ihousecolor.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ihousecolor.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ihousecolor.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ihousecolor.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}