May 2012

ANTM: Westerners in Hong Kong

After last week’s surprise double elimination—baby-faced Ebony and supermodel-in-training Alisha, the final three contestants seemed beside themselves with happy surprise.

 

The final three contestants this season weren’t, for the most part, very predictable. There’s hypersexual American Laura who wooed the judges with her bendy-curvy pictures and rock-‘n-roll chick persona. Annaliese is short and pretty and seems more like a presenter—to the judges and the viewers—than a model. Blonde Brit Sophie is starting to annoy everyone with her constant talk about sacrifice and waitressing, but she looks quite a bit like Twiggy.

This week, we find out if the inevitable battle of the blondes is avoidable.

To begin, new evil bitch judge Kelly Catrone tells the contestants that they have to go on bookings in Hong Kong. Although it seems like a difficult task at the outset, it’s soon made lamer by the insertion of Chinese male models who take the girls around. The pot is thickened by the incentive of $500 that the contestants can win if they book four go-sees. $500? Thanks so much, ANTM!

Going Retro

Just how old do you feel when your elementary fashion comes back in style?

Wedging my face away from the grasp of my palm, I peek up again to see the sight yet again—little girls, ages seven and up, sporting the same side ponytail that I used to wear when I was a pre-teen. The scrunchies have been replaced with thinner, trendier hair ties, sometimes adorned with little plastic doodads, but otherwise it is the same—a ponytail on one side of the head, much like a pigtail missing a mate.

When did this happen? I feel so old all of a sudden, I suppose as old as my mother felt when her 70s pants and peasant tops came back into style when I was in high school and I really wanted my own set. It turned out that she still had a couple of such items in her closet, though they didn’t exactly fit me. Nevertheless, this odd flashback is unsettling because it’s today’s youth, not your own peers, wearing these styles—and I am sure if I went out with a side ponytail it would be considered a pretty laughable matter.