Advertisement

‘The City’: Please, don’t try this at work

Share

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

This week’s episode proves that it doesn’t take much to make it in “The City.” Having lived and worked in the real NYC myself, I know there’s no way anyone can get by on the halfhearted work of Olivia at Elle or Roxy’s brazen approach to her entry-level gig at People’s Revolution. But on “The City,” these girls are gainfully employed.

Granted, I didn’t work in fashion, which seems here to be more about how well you walk in heels than how well you actually complete an assignment. That basically describes Olivia’s qualifications. After last week’s debacle with the “Today Show” assignment, Olivia was asked to pull accessories for another TV segment comparing fake versus real designer accessories. I must give her credit for her gusto in hitting the streets to find the fake accessories in the first place – she walked down that Elle hallway with a fire lit. On the streets, she found a guy selling imitation designer bags and approached him as if she were buying drugs. Is the imitation-bag trade really that dangerous? I’ve never met him in person, but buying bags from a guy with an uncanny resemblance to Flavor-Flav doesn’t seem like a scary predicament. Am I wrong?

Advertisement

The problem with Olivia is, she doesn’t go past the bare minimum. God forbid she actually has to work hard. She’s so comfortable in her ignorance (or is it her pedigree?) that she can’t entertain the idea that she doesn’t know everything, or anything, and could stand to learn something. It’s horrible that Erin, Elle’s PR director, has to conform to Olivia’s blasé attitude toward work and her criticism falls on the deaf ears of creative director Joe Zee. Erin deserves more respect.

Joe is a prime example of a manager who has lost touch with everyday people. I’m pretty sure he sees a lot of himself in Olivia, which is why he overlooks her faults and brings her on in the first place. When he started referring to the imitation-designer-accessory trade as this egregious crime against the consumer as if this segment would just break that crime wide open, I wanted to scream. Newsflash, Joe: No one who’s buying a Fendi bag for $20 thinks it’s real! Don’t get me wrong. I hate designer knock-offs just as much as any other style-conscious person, but it’s not exactly something I want President Obama working on.
On the subject of fake things...

Roxy started her gig over at People’s Revolution. Again, there’s much talk about Kelly Cutrone seeing something of herself in Roxy. The problem is Roxy suffers from the same thing Olivia does: Roxy thinks she knows everything already. I’m pretty sure Kelly broke something as she watched Roxy make fun of the culture and employees at People’s Revolution on this week’s episode. They were doing this strange thing … called work. According to Roxy, “They’re. Like. Robots.” Really special.

At a photo shoot for Genetic Denim, Whitney and Roxy forgot to bring clips that would help fit the jeans on the model. After a brief tongue-lashing from Kelly, the shoot went well until Roxy decided to approach the client with the idea of shooting the model topless to highlight the jeans. Kelly kept her cool while Whitney went into strange facial ticks and the client thought it was a good idea.

Back at the office, Kelly made sure Roxy knew that although shooting the model topless worked well, she’s “Mama Wolf” and nothing goes to the client before it goes through Kelly. Whitney’s eyes went vacant. And all Roxy took away from it? The part where Kelly liked her idea. That girl ain’t right.
-- Jethro Nededog (follow me on Twitter @TheRealJethro)

Advertisement