Project Runway's Brandon Kee Helped Me Design Some Blogger Couture

Ever since Tim Gunn uttered his first “Hmm” on Project Runway, I’ve dreamed of being a contestant on the show. Not only am I a capable sketcher (when I put my mind to it), I’m also a lover of design of all kinds, be it interior, urban, fashion, etc. I also have an innovative mind.

“I can do that…” is what I’ve said to myself multiple times while watching Project Runway designers far more gifted than I whip together clothing from nothing but fabric and threads. To make it as a designer, all I had to do was learn how to sew and sketch outfit concepts and possibly enroll in fashion school. There was no time for that.

So when a Lifetime publicist offered interviews with the Season 16 cast, I realized it was my chance to fulfill a dream that would otherwise never ever happen. The plan was to have finalist Brandon Kee visit our office and guide me through a makeshift unconventional challenge using difficult resources. I was to design a blogger’s outfit with materials around the office, including mouse pads and ribbons. Since we didn’t have a sewing machine or a well-sponsored “Brothers Sewing Room,” I found myself at a disadvantage, with a glue gun as my sole manufacturing tool. In the spirit of an unconventional challenge, we improvised.

Brandon was among the four designers who made it to New York Fashion Week this season and thus the perfect person to help me through a process that’s as hard as it looks on TV. Using a Snuggie as the foundation of my design, I came up with what some might call a cool, draped daytime/nighttime look (more nighttime, I would say) that’s certainly worthy of wearing while blogging. As Nina Garcia might say, it’s got DRA-ma.

Some might describe it as ugly. But as far as whether my look counts as fashion forward, well, take a look at the bloggers in your life and all around you and tell me they wouldn’t look better in this than what they typically wear. It’s fashion.

Correction: An earlier version of this post stated that a Bravo publicist reached out for interviews. The network is Lifetime.