'The City': You should be stressed

Watching this week’s episode of “The City,” I was sure someone was going to get clipped. Thankfully, the only casualties were one of Whitney’s dresses and an Elle intern’s innocence.

As we all know, Whitney Port’s fashion line Whitney Eve has been out for a while. In September, she showed her line at New York Fashion Week. Nevertheless, I find it fascinating to watch her as she finally completes her journey from serial intern on “The Hills” to a full-fledged fashion designer in “The City.”

So if Whitney, Kelly Cutrone and we the viewers know that realizing her fashion line is a big deal, then how’s it possible that Roxy Olin doesn’t? I give Whitney a lot of credit for giving her friend the chance to take part in this important event, but at what point will she realize that it could be at the expense of her own career?

This week, Whitney’s designs have come to life. They’re actually sitting on a rack at People’s Revolution, and even the typically critical Kelly believes they’re ready to go out into the world. The next step is Whitney’s “look book.” From what I understand, “look books” are sent to the fashion media and retailers, who are either too far or too busy to come see the actual samples themselves. A good one can get your designs in editorial shoots or actually get your clothes in stores. With all that riding on Whitney’s book, it was crazy how Roxy handled the model casting and behaved during the photo shoot. Whitney is so lucky to have a bulldog like Kelly in her corner. While Whitney sat speechless at her friend’s behavior, Kelly put Roxy in her place.

After Fackelmayer-gate...

Roxy won me over with her defense of Whitney in that situation. That goes to show, as I’ve experienced a few times in my own career, great friends don’t always make great coworkers.

It was Roxy’s first time organizing a model casting. The shoot was supposed to be light and airy. Sure, she brought in models who resembled zombies instead of fairies, but I thought the stakes weren’t that high yet. I could forgive her for that.

At the photo shoot, though, I swear Roxy done lost her mind. It was like she couldn’t handle that she wasn’t in charge, and her direction of the models was just as manic as she was. Um, Roxy, did you forget what Kelly said in the model casting? Whitney’s theme was “fairy tea party” not “gothic nightmare.” Even after Kelly pulled her aside and did her version of a whisper (which is only slightly lower than a typical person’s yell), Roxy continued to throw her two cents in. It wasn’t until the last shot of the night -- when she pushed the models into popping a Champagne bottle open, against Kelly’s warnings -- that Roxy realized she had gone too far. The frail model lost control of the bottle, ruining the shot and Whitney’s one-of-a-kind dress. Thankfully, Kelly was hungry and let it go or she’d currently be serving time for snapping Roxy’s head off.

At Elle, Olivia Palermo was up to her old tricks. I’m getting kind of tired of the comments I've read claiming Olivia is misunderstood. Understand this: Olivia chronically refuses to go the extra mile in her Elle assignments. Plain and simple.

I’ll give you that Erin Kaplan has a very short fuse when it comes to her. It’s clear she can barely stand Olivia’s voice. It also wasn’t very kosher to criticize Olivia behind her back in front of that poor, wide-eyed intern, Brynn. At times, I even feel for Olivia when she’s trying to be chummy with Erin and all she gets in return is a stern look.

I also get why Olivia is attractive to young women: She’s rich, pretty and makes working look fabulously easy. That’s the problem with her. While she’s schmoozing, primping, talking trash about the size 14 model she’s pulling for and trying her best to do the bare minimum, Erin has to pick up the slack.

So, most people who look up to Olivia (for things that really have more to do with who her parents are) and claim Erin is jealous and mean need a reality check: Most of you have more in common with Erin than you’ll ever have with Olivia. And though it may not have been cool for Erin to discuss Olivia’s professional shortcomings with that intern, she and most of us eventually have to learn we're not all born with a free pass.

– Jethro Nededog (follow me on Twitter @TheRealJethro)

Related:
‘The City’s’ Kelly Cutrone: Deprogramming girls one intern at a time

'The City': You have to know your tribe

Complete Show Tracker coverage of ‘The City’

Photos, from top: Roxy Olin takes over at Whitney Port’s “look book” shoot on ‘The City”; Olivia Palermo contributes to the miseducation of an intern on “The City.” Credit: MTV

Comments

[Alli]

Okay. While I haven't watched this episode yet I have to say that the dumbing down of Whitney continues. When did she become so dumb? I use to like the fact that in the vacuous world of The Hills she was one of the few with any commonsense and took her job seriously. Yet now we see her gossiping at People's Revolution when she should be working, listening to Roxy who doesn't really know what she's doing. Wake up girl.

[Carina MacKenzie]

"Olivia chronically refuses to go the extra mile in her Elle assignments." THANK YOU. She does the bare minimum every. single. time. She's got a job that a ton of women with years of experience would kill for, but she always looks more concerned with batting her lashes and playing dumb than she is with her job.

[Gene Foreman]

Well said buddy. I think Roxy is getting quite jealous and wants to BE Whitney and be right in there. She was so mad when Kelly wanted to look at the "look book" alone and without Roxy. I too had to figure out what a look book was, and in the beginning, due to improper diction, I thought they were saying "lit book."

Over on the Elle side of things I've been in Erin's shoes at work. Olivia does things her way and does not put up with authority which will cost her in the long run. As far as Erin talking about Olivia to intern Bryn, with one N I believe? It only makes things more real, everyone in the workplace talks about people. But if anyone should look up to someone, young girls be it, it should be up to Erin. Not only is she just as attractive, if not more, than Olivia, she's an independent woman that shows what hard work can achieve rather than just having things handed to you on a silver platter. In the long run too, Erin is Olivias boss!

[Ivy V.]

On regards to this comment: "I also get why Olivia is attractive to young women: She’s rich, pretty and makes working look fabulously easy" I don't think that this is entirely true, perhaps to some extent and to certain girls who lack any real world experiences or maturity.

On the other hand take a look a Lauren Conrad; she came from a pretty wealthy family too, worked her way up to be a fashion designer and set a great example. She showed how a rich girl can have all the best qualities; class, beauty, power, and humility. Of all these, humility is the quality that makes her more attractive to women who envision to be like her. A real person is more genuine when she shows real concern for others, unfortunately for Olivia this makes her seem very sinister.

Olivia Palermo is a talentless girl, who is too premature to realize what a real life job entitles. She may have an affluent upbringing, however this are not qualities that are required for a job or is it?. Showing this girls’ atrocious manner is really what is wrong with TV this days, feeding girls into think that it is okay to do a mediocre job, be beautiful and demand respect is very upsetting.

There are so many girls out there, willing and able to be brilliant for ELLE. Erin is absolutely right to think of Olivia the way that she does, although I don't agree with her manner, Olivia is simply showing the shallow side of ELLE and unfortunately for the magazine this is bad word of mouth. If Elle thinks that her publicity will sell the magazine, I suggest think again!! most of the public who actually buy Elle are nothing but disheartened by the way a mediocre working girl can earn a job at a prestigious publication that is suppose to empower women to work hard and thrive to the challenge...so disappointing really.

[mayle]

we don't need a reality check. it doesn't have anything to do with who you relate to/ have things more in common with: erin or olivia.

the 2 last paragraphs puzzled me. it's very closeminded to like a person just because she's more like you or not. just because olivia's rich, pretty & has rich parents, doesn't mean you have to dislike her.