I've been watching the The Fashion Show on Bravo TV, and I like it. The show has a more educational slant than Project Runway.
Each week the designers take part in two challenges, a mini challenge, and the elimination challenge. The Mini Challenge is very short, and is usually educational from a TV viewers point of view. In the the elimination challenge, the designers are assigned a theme when creating clothing that is not only functional but also attractive. A variation of the winning outfit each week is offered for sale on Bravo TV's website.
I have to say that I've been sewing for 35+ years (that makes me sound old but I'm not), and I almost always learn something during the mini challenge. I also enjoy watching the designers create their clothing for the elimination challenge each week, seeing it as the models wear it on the runway, and listen to the critiques at the end. The canned lines like "you're hanging by a thread," and "we're just not buying it" are goofy, but otherwise I'm enjoying the show.
Isaac Mizrahi is the biggest reason to watch The Fashion Show. His fashion/design/sewing knowledge is worth its weight in gold. I've also been learning a lot from the comments of the guest judges.
My friend Elizabeth Barton wrote a post about The Fashion show that is a good read called An Interesting Exercise. Check it out.
The Fashion Show is on Bravo on Thursday nights at 10 pm ET/PT. If you aren't watching it, Bravo repeats each episode often, so it's not too late to catch up.
Project Runway used to be on Bravo. Check out past seasons. It's moving to Lifetime TV next season, which I'm looking forward to watching when it starts on August 20th at 10pm ET.
