Bravo - Social and Concious

More and more, we're seeing reality shows address current issues. "America's Next Top Model" has done photo shoots against smoking, for an Aids charity and promoting recycling. "Celebrity Apprentice" not only gave the competitors the opportunity to give to their favorite charities, but also a chance for that charity to be highlighted.

Bravo's "Top Chef" has tackled low calorie recipes for kids at a weight loss camp and economical foods for families on a tight budget. Wednesday's Bravo shows, "Sheer Design" and "Project Runway" both continued these trends.

On "Shear Genius", the short cut involved giving haircuts to surfers at the beach. The main struggle was that the stylists had to work with unwashed hair. It was in the elimination challenge that the public awareness aspect appeared. Their clients were women with alopecia, a condition that causes hair loss. The women were all bald and wore wigs. For the challenge, the stylists chose new wigs for their clients then cut and styled them.

Paolo was so moved by the challenge that he cried during the introduction. Many of the contestants were touched by their clients and strove to really please them. Nicole took a big risk by giving her client a very short cut, but it was what had been requested and the woman was ecstatic with her new look. Paolo ended up winning and Gail, whose work lacked imagination, was sent home.

On "Project Runway", their social experiment was designing cocktail dresses made out of environmentally responsible 'green' fabrics. The twist was that the models were the ones who chose the material. There were several drawbacks to using the green fabrics. There were few color choices and much of it was shiny. The designers who seemed to have the most trouble were the ones who ended up with shiny brown material.

Korto was in the bottom three with a dress where the darts were on the outside. It was intended to be clever but turned out to be very unflattering. She managed to avoid elimination due to Wesley's construction of his dress being so poor.

Suede won with a dress that stood out because he took the chance of weaving one of the drab off-white materials with strips of red fabric. There were several other nice designs and I am starting to get to know the designers now. I don't have a favorite yet.