TV News and Reviews

Keasha drew the short straw of brides again on tonight’s episode of Say Yes to the Dress, getting stuck with Nicole and all her sorority sisters for “Playing Dress Up.” You know, I understand having a fun day to try on a few pretty dresses at an upscale bridal salon, but to sit there and be complete jerks about it, saying every dress is ugly and stupid and ridiculing the bride for “fun”? It reminded me of a recent episode of The New Adventures of Old Christine, where the two evil blonde mothers from Christine’s school tell her she’s their best friend. She says something like “But you always ridicule me, make fun of my clothes, belittle me–” and the women go, “Yeah–friends!” Obviously these sorority sisters and many other girls on Say Yes to the Dress have the same skewed idea of friendship. I’m wondering if a few years down the road the bride will discover she’s no longer friends with most of these catty jerks.

Both the new episode “Playing Dress Up” and the rerun “It’s Always Something” had brides who brought the groom along. It just never seems to be a good idea. It takes all the magic out of it for the bride. The first bride would get all excited about a dress, only to come out to her fiance who’d make this critical face and evaluate her like some photographer doing a spread in a bridal magazine. Even when he said all the right words about her being beautiful in anything, I didn’t buy it. He fell into the “controlling” category of fiance that I hate to see.

I have to give him credit for at least saying the right words, though, because the groom on the rerun episode was absolutely horrific. I’ll be kind and merely say that the guy was no George Clooney–yet he critiqued every dress and how the bride looked in it and made crass remarks. My favorite was a mermaid style dress that she looked awesome in, yet he made a disgusted face and said “I can see your ass muscles”. All I could think was “At least she has muscles.” This man should be thanking his lucky stars to get such a lovely woman and yet the end result was him saying “We’ll have to look at other dresses and I’ll just have to try not to be judgemental.” Once again, controlling groom. I could never be a bridal consultant because it would be so hard not to tell the bride to run! (And to be fair, in some cases on Say Yes to the Dress, I’d tell the husband to run!)

Tune in for more bridal madness on Say Yes to the Dress, Friday nights on TLC at 10/9c.

PHOTO: Kleinfeld bridal consultant Keasha helps a bride with her gown on Say Yes to the Dress, c2007 TLC.

The Kleinfeld bridal salon had a special Say Yes to the Dress episode this week, entitled the “Ultimate Wedding Edition”. I got the impression that they were footing the bill for these two brides, who each had a story of sacrifice along with their wedding plans.

First up on Say Yes to the Dress was April and her fiance Elijah, who had planned their wedding for this spring until they discovered they were both going to be deployed to Iraq. Military regulations allow married couples to live together, so they decided to tie the knot before their deployment. This left April five weeks to get a dress, which of course put the Kleinfeld bridal consultants into shock. Having planned a wedding in under four months myself, I dealt with a lot of resistance from bridal salons, florists, etc. for not booking two years in advance. We managed to get it all done, however, and so did April.

With the short time span, April needed an off-the-rack gown. She also wanted something with a more simple style, with no lace. This narrowed the choices down considerably. It ended up being a choice between two gowns–one she really liked, and one the majority of her entourage and the consultants liked. Contrary to usual Say Yes to the Dress convention, April went with the dress she wanted. Once she made her choice, everyone was supportive, which was also a nice change from the usual Say Yes to the Dress episodes.

I think I might have gone with a completely different dress than the two choices, but between those two, I have to say I agreed with the bride. The consultant-chosen dress was too simple, the kind that shows every wrinkle and forces you to stand perfectly straight and hold your breath for the entire night to keep it looking pristine. One drop of wine on that dress and you’d see it from 80 miles away. So I could see why she liked her final choice, with the added texture, and the cinching at the waist, and the little extra details to draw the eye.

The second bridal couple were Hope and Darren, who had saved money for a dream wedding until Hurricane Ike hit. Hope took in family members and used her wedding budget to help care for them. Darren surprised her with the rip to Kleinfeld’s to pick out her dream gown. Hope was so stunned that it was a while before she fully grasped what was going on. It was so nice to see a couple so happy together; Hope seemed even more in love with Darren after the surprise event.

With some bickering between her sister and friend, Hope had a bit of a struggle with finding the perfect gown. It was like they read my mind from last week, as they had Randy run in to save the day. He even ended up in the dressing room this time. Though honestly it looked like they were originally trying on mid-range dresses, and then Randy brought in the several-thousand-dollar dress. That’ll win over anyone.

Hope was thrilled with her chosen dress, and looked gorgeous. The scene at the Kleinfeld bridal salon was complete when they brought out her little daughter in a gorgeous flower girl dress.

We also got to see a little bit of both weddings at the end of Say Yes to the Dress, and the couples really seemed happy and the brides were glowing. I thought this episode was a nice change from the usual crop of daddy’s girls spending $30,000 on a dress and then whining about it. Here were two girls who deserved recognition and had nice husbands who loved them, and Kleinfeld helped make their wedding day that much more special. And sparkly.

Watch Say Yes to the Dress Friday nights on TLC at 10/9c, usually with a repeat at 12am/11pm central. Check your local listings!

PHOTO: Kleinfeld bridal salon gowns, c2009 Discovery Travel and Living.

Tonight’s double episode of Say Yes to the Dress, “Bridal Wave” and “Double the Trouble”, once again hammered home the concept of bringing the right person with you when selecting your bridal gown. I think when you’re caught up in the moment, you might not realize how destructive some of your friends and family can be to your self esteem. I’m sure when some of the brides see these tapings later, they’ll be startled to find how little their own opinion was being respected.

That’s where the Kleinfeld consultants come in. They often act as mediators between arguing entourage members, and halt the madness long enough to find out what the bride actually wants. They get to know her style, and try to find dresses that will please her, no matter what the naysayers do. It’s her job to make the bride look beautiful and be happy with her choice.

Which leads me to the question, can a male consultant do that for a bride? Kleinfeld’s has Randy on staff, a fashion director with long term experience in dress-making and the fashion industry. He knows the styles, the fabrics, the details, but can he know what’s best for a woman? In tonight’s new episode of Say Yes to the Dress, Randy and consultant Audrey had a friendly competition to see who could find the best dress for the client. Randy greeted the bride first, but of course he couldn’t enter into the dressing room with her, so Audrey took over that aspect. They both selected dresses they thought she would like, and then let the bride choose.

Randy seemed skeptical of Audrey’s choice, but faltered when she said she was confident because she’d tried on the dress herself. “I try them all on,” she said. She was certain that the bride would like the shape and support of the dress she had chosen. Since it was a beach wedding, Randy had chosen an appropriately lightweight dress for the occasion. It was, however, not right for the bride’s shape or style. He admitted defeat when he saw how much the bride loved the dress, but still seemed a bit surprised at how good it looked. Well, he hadn’t tried on all the dresses, had he?

This issue arose on Say Yes to the Dress with another bride, who brought along a male friend. When asked if he was the fiance, he quickly said “No, I’m the gay.” A dress designer himself, he was ready to be the expert consultant for the bride. As he evaluated each and every dress the bride tried, the Kleinfeld consultant made an astute observation: he was always commenting on the dress, not how the bride looked. “She needs to be told how beautiful she is,” the consultant added. The friend’s most personal comment was: “It makes your boobs look fantastic.”

The friend also added that gay or straight, the bride always needs a man’s opinion. But is that true? It seemed to me that the female consultants had far more insight into what would fit a bride, look good on her, and make her happy–after all, they’re women, too, and many have been brides themselves. Obviously the two men on the show had expertise in the dresses themselves, the quality, the latest styles, etc. Perhaps the answer is to have a team, as Randy and Audrey were. Two different sides of the issue, both professionals, both with the bride’s best interests at heart. The best of both worlds.

Watch Say Yes to the Dress on TLC, Friday nights at 10/9c.

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PHOTOS: Top: Randy, Kleinfeld’s fashion director on Say Yes to the Dress, Season 3 screencap, c2009 TLC.

Right: Audrey, Kleinfeld dress consultant, Say Yes to the Dress, c2007 Todd Pitt, TLC.

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