I stumbled onto episode 2 of Project Runway Malaysia quite by accident and had been hooked since. It is, I believe, modelled after the American reality TV show focussing on fashion designing where 15 contestants competed to the best designer with restrictions imposed such as time, materials and themes/tasks. The contestants were given some money and up to half an hour to purchase their materials; there was one episode where the contestants had to scour Giant supermarket – because fashion designers are supposed to be creative and hence should be able to construct an outfit from whatever resources they have at their disposal (the winner in that episode designed a jacket made of baby diapers and I have to admit it did look good) - and another where they had to dig through and buy used clothes from the Red Crescent shop. One contestant would be eliminated each week and sometimes the winner of any one week was granted immunity from elimination in the following week.
There is just something about the way the whole process takes place that had me looking forward to the past few Friday evenings and staying glued to the tube, from visualisation by each contestant of the end product to the purchase of materials to the sketch/design that forms the basis of the end output and eventually the transformation of the materials into outfits that fit the task/theme. Not that I aspire to be a designer myself; I did learn domestic science at boarding school - it was a compulsory exam subject for all until a couple of years after my year when the juniors were allowed to take up Commerce subject - and simply hated all the sewing and cooking classes. We were tasked to sew an apron a cap during our first year, some housecoat and other stuff later on (which I doubt I even completed). I disliked it so much that once I even fell asleep in bed with all the needles and the unfinished material on me. Oh, I can do a ‘Lie Low & Stitch’ and sew up buttons and stitch up undone shirts and trousers but I can’t design, sketch, cut and create an outfit from scratch. And while I could visualise how my outfit should turn out to be, I had problems communicating it to my late tailor (and like I said, I couldn’t sketch what I could visualise and show it to her). By the way, I somehow managed to get an A1 for that subject, much to the amazement of my parents, my sister and even myself(!). But you know what, I know quite a few mates who also got an A1 and who are now equally bad in the kitchen (I’m not sure how good they are still at sewing).
So I have to resort to buying ready-made clothes (of course it would be much better and ideal and kinder on my wallet if I can buy materials, cut and sew my own outfit). And while I do follow the latest fashion and trends, I’m not a fashion victim or a slave to fashion. Although there were a few times when my mates asked back when we were in Form 4 if I was planning to be a model; funny, I won’t ever make it to the runway, not when I lack the prerequisite height among other things!
Anyway, I’ll leave you with some model behaviour.
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