‘The City’: You should be stressed

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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