fashion

According to People, Tim Gunn may not return for the fourth season of Project Runway. Please, allow me to repeat myself: Tim Gunn -- the only voice of reason among a sea of poorly-dressed crazies -- may not return for the fourth season of Project Runway. See, the show has always filmed at the end of the academic semester, so Tim, an instructor at Parsons, would not have any schedule conflicts. This may not be the case any more.

With the exception of Santino's homemade soundtrack in Season Two, I always wondered whether or not we were hearing the music the Project Runway designers actually chose for their Fashion Week outings.

I just don't believe that punk rocker Jeff Sebelia or hip-hop head Michael Knight would willingly send their models down the runway to the innocuous, down-tempo soundscape we heard on Bravo.

I figured copyright issues got in the way of us figuring out whether Sebelia would drop a Stooges track on us.

If you're from New England (or the past few years a football fan in general), you know that New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick isn't exactly a fashion plate. He always seems to wear the same thing, and looks kinda frumpy (no offense). But he really doesn't seem to mind it. He's not really the kind of guy who cares about looks.

That might change this Monday, October 30, on ESPN. That's when the cast of ABC's Ugly Betty will make an appearance on Monday Night Football and give Belichick a makeover. The people from the fictional Mode magazine on the show will do some Photoshop work on Belichick and turn him into Tom Brady.

I have no idea what this mean. Are they just going to take a picture of Belichick, click here and there and change him into Brady, or is it more involved than that, with Belichick and Brady actually involved? I guess we'll have to tune in to find out. The segment will air at 7pm.

(S03E14) After minimal drama (drama that totally didn't live up to the previews), Jeffrey's outsourcing scandal was over and he was let off the hook. However, he was slightly over-budget, so he had to cut the blonde wigs out of his collection. I honestly thought the wigs would have negatively impacted his presentation, so it was probably lucky for him that he had to take away a couple hundred from his budget.

ABC has given a full season order to Ugly Betty, the highest-rated new show on television so far this fall. And it's about time. The comedy has consistently been a close second to CBS' Survivor during the 8 pm time slot on Thursday nights, averaging 15.3 million viewers.

Last year, ABC had all sorts of stuff including Alias, Dancing with the Stars, and American Inventor in the 8 pm time slot and they averaged only 7 million viewers for the season. The press release announcing the pick-up of Ugly Betty says the show has increased ratings in that time period by 92% in key demographics.

(S03E13) Damn it. Why must they tease us? This episode had nothing. Nothing. They should have just made tonight a two-hour special, declared the winner, and put us out of our anxious, hand-wringing misery.

But no. We have to wait until next week to find out the Season Three winner.

We didn't even get to the bottom of the Laura/Jeffrey scandal (which wasn't as exciting as I hoped)! It's a double-cliffhanger, folks, the very worst kind of cliffhanger.

(S03E12) Another season, another reunion episode that attempts to re-ignite flames from drowned embers. Could they have been any more desperate to start shit again? Seriously. Heidi and Tim were practically begging for Keith to have an embarrassing freak-out... for Angela and Jeffrey to throttle each other's throats... for Malan to get really self-conscious about his funny little laugh and shoot somebody in the face. (Un)Fortunately, none of that happened. There was a wee bit of heated discussion, but I didn't think it really lived up to the drama the previews promised.

ABC's Ugly Betty is the most-watched new series so far this season. Nielsen Media Research says about 16.1 million people watched the series premiere last Thursday, almost beating Survivor, which had 16.6 millon viewers. The viewership for Betty really is amazing considering it didn't even have a lead-in since it aired in the 8 pm hour. Nielsen says ABC hasn't seen ratings this big for a scripted show at 8 pm since Matlock in 1995. Evidently, America is in the mood to see a regular girl stick it to the beautiful people in the fashion industry.

What's your favorite new show so far this fall?

Remember flash mobs? ABC has made a marketing tool out off the short-lived phenomenon. To promote Ugly Betty, which premieres tonight at 8 pm, the network sent actresses dressed as 'Betty' to New York's hottest tourist spots today. They showed up in groups of 100 so they wouldn't be missed by busy New Yorkers and would be gawked at by tourists. The actresses wore brown wigs, ponchos and thick, black glasses... in the style of the main character on Ugly Betty. ABC pulled the same marketing stunt during fashion week when a mob of Betty look-a-likes showed up at fashion shows.

(S03E11) Final challenge before Fashion Week, kids. The heat is on!

The designers met with a very orange Nina Garcia at ELLE to talk about their final challenge. She introduced them to ELLE's feature "First Look" and instructed the final four to create an outfit to convey their point of view as designers. They were also told to choose three words to describe and accompany their imaginary collections. Later, there was a not-so-surprising "twist" when Tim told the designers that the winning outfit would be featured in "First Look". O RLY? The designers were given a shortened deadline (six hours short!) and the task of photographing their models to go with their three words. Goodness.

I've watched a couple episodes of Rachael Ray's new show this week. And I'm surprised I have the energy to type these words.

The woman is exhausting. She's running around the stage like a nut showing a cool feature that the stage has, high fiving people in the audience, opening doors to grab more spices, etc, etc. You get exhaused and just a bit nervous watching her, even from the comfort of your living room. I have this overwhelming feeling that sometime next week, men in white coats are going to burst into the studio and grab her and take her away after injecting her with a sedative. They'll be dragging her out the door and she'll be screaming, "No, no!!! I've got to put more parmesan on my sandwiches!!! I've got to put my parmesan on my sandwiches!!"

Today at NY Fashion Week, the top four designers of Project Runway (the real top three and a decoy to throw off the press) presented their collections. Quite a few interesting things to mention... Of course, if you want to wait until next month to see the collections, do not read any further! However, if you want to be really naughty and take a sneak peek, come along.

You have been warned!

(S03E10) Damn those Project Runway producers. Damn. Them. To. Hell. How dare they bring back Vincent and Angela?... In the same episode?! I almost threw up on myself, I was so furious. I thought my Runway-related anger was ready to retire, but I guess it was too soon. No. The producers just had to make my blood boil one more time and now I've learned not to trust them. I'm ready for absolutely anything now... Go on, producers. Do your worst. Bring Wendy Pepper back and stick her in the final challenge.

I take that back. Please, please, please, for the love of everything that is good and holy, do not bring Wendy Pepper back.

Why sit around listlessly waiting for a new episode of Project Runway tonight? PR viewers, fashionistas, and celebrity watchers can now check out all thing style-related with the launch of our sister-site StyleDash, where the team of bloggers includes TV Squad's own beloved Annie Wu, Deidre Woollard, and others. Good luck guys, looking good!

Right now, StyleDash has some juicy stories about Kate Moss, Heidi Klum, and the answer to the question, "What is size 0X?" All this and the ten best bras ever. When you're done here, head on over to say hello, make some new friends, and see what you can do to spruce yourself up a bit.

(S03E09) To finish up their stay in France, the designers were challenged to create a dress employing various couture methods, including hand-sewing, beading, and embroidery (learn more about haute couture here). Although their budget was considerably higher ($375 American), their time limit of two days left everyone in crunch-time from the get-go.