Making the Cut: Heidi and Tim are Back

March 27, 2020 12:26 PM - Season 1, Episode 1

Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn welcome 12 designers to New York City and tell them to pack their bags because their first fashion show will be in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. In their first assignment, the designers must create a two-look brand snapshot. One designer lets self-doubt get in her way, while another has to make a new dress from scratch with only a few hours remaining.

Amazon show listing

Making the Cut at imdb

Good Housekeeping article
Perhaps the most unique part of the new Amazon show, however, is the "shoppable experience" that comes with it: According to ET, the winning look from each episode will be directly available for viewers to purchase (for $100 or less!) on Amazon.

ET article NOTE: contains spoilers for episode 1 and episode 2

The episodes drop two at a time but I don't think there is an option for a 2-ep post.

posted by Glinn (11 comments total)

Yes, I think there is a majority of Americans. I felt terrible for the designer who went. I was surprised they are not all sewers considering how much success most of them have already had, but from the two items she made she did not seem ready for this show.

I would really like to see the seamstresses working through the night, trying to decipher the handwriting and directions. They should do a spinoff like they did with the models from Project Runway.
posted by Glinn at 4:12 PM on March 27, 2020

Watching it right now, so happy to see Tim Gunn and his tiny suits again.

(next in line? I'm bad at names)
Next in Fashion, and I agree from what I'm seeing so far.
posted by the webmistress at 6:47 PM on March 27, 2020

Tiny suits are one thing, but Tim's suits have gone way over into that territory of ill-fitting or less -than-ideal for his current body type. That terrible pulling that starts level with his top button is embarrassing, especially in that first suit he was wearing while leaning up against the bar. He really should know how bad the suits look on him.

Speaking of Tim, I was hoping that in this new show he would have felt freer to offer up more advice and opinions but apparently not. He feels more like a cheerleader than a mentor. I actually prefer Christian's approach to Tim's.

Since I'm still on Tim, I'd be very happy doing without the Tim and Heidi vignettes. Sure it's nice to see stuff from the shooting locations, but these feel so forced and phony, that I just want to skip through them.

I'm really happy Martha (was that the name of the sequins and bow designer?) is gone. She was sucking up so much oxygen in the show that things should be much better and more balanced without her.

I like the fact that the challenge explicitly includes designing something for quick sale, unlike Project Runway which has been throwing in that aspect as twist after the clothes are pretty much made.

There definitely needs to be a seamstress episode. When German Esther(?) was asking how to relay the instruction about sewing in the shade of the seam to the seamstress in a way that would be understandable, I kept thinking the stitch in the ditch instruction was too American English to be perfectly clear to a seamstress whose first language likely isn't English.
posted by sardonyx at 7:07 PM on March 27, 2020

Is the seamstress thing realistic? Would a designer send notes to a sewist? It seems odd to make them communicate via notes when they could...ya know. Talk to each other. The forced lack of face to face seems silly.

Tim's worn three suits so far and all three have pulled at the top button so I can only surmise that it's an actual choice.
posted by the webmistress at 7:38 PM on March 27, 2020

It was lovely to see Tim but, oh gosh, this was bad compared with how very good Project Runway has been since Karlie and Christian took the helm. I hate the judges, particularly Naomi Campbell who had no business criticising what the designers had made in the second episode when she herself was wearing such a hideous garment. We also didn't get to see enough of the clothes.

I'll still watch it though.
posted by essexjan at 4:51 AM on March 28, 2020

Oof, I am looking forward to watching Martha-less episodes. It is not clear to me how she got there.
posted by Anonymous at 6:27 AM on March 28, 2020

So, finished watching both epispodes, and....ack. This is bad. I cringed at the whole Moulin Rouge thing. It was just.....no thank you. I cannot even really. Completely unnecessary. And Heidi learning the word titillating. "What is this word"? as if every nanosecond wasn't scripted. Make it stop. This show makes Project Runway look like appointment television. And comparing the three, Next in Fashion is light years ahead of both. It is very well done .

Also dislike how fake hyped up Heidi acted about everything.
DESIGNERS ARE YOU EXCITED??!!!
A MILLION DOLLARS!!???!?!?!?!?!
I don't like this Heidi and I don't like this Tim.

You would think I would just stop watching but you would be wrong. So wrong.
posted by the webmistress at 8:04 AM on March 28, 2020 [7 favorites]

Hate-watching for sure ;) Hoping it gets better but will probably watch even if it doesn't!

So far I am very much in love with the designs of the German woman. Apologies for only knowing the names Martha and Will so far. Speaking of Will, his taste level is pretty much subterranean and I am not sure how he made it through the first episode. For anyone interested, this is the Making the Cut store on Amazon, and you can purchase episode winner outfits via that Reveal Weekly Winners / #spoilers link. The clothes are very affordable.

Oh yah her name is Esther....d'oh.
posted by the webmistress at 8:49 AM on March 28, 2020

Wait -- is it impossible to watch this without "joining" Amazon Prime? Gah.
posted by amtho at 6:58 PM on March 28, 2020

Okay, calling it now, top three: Ji Won/Sandor/Esther and between the two women for the title. Strong finishers: Sabato and maybe Troy. Middling: Megan and Rinat. Next to go: Will and Joshua. Not sure where Jonny goes, middling I guess, unless he kicks it up a notch from that hair dresser's cape kimono. Is there some website posting all the final looks? I know TLo said they can't.

I was sorry to see Martha out so soon, simply because she was the only one whose default was color. (note: I was a big fan of Hester and Erin on PR too) and her personal wardrobe was much more fun that what she did on the show. She is a very limited for a designer, not just because she couldn't sew, I don't think she has much experience unlike the other contestants. If she'd kept the gingham top and paired it with the pink fringe fabric, that would've been A Look. There was nothing to be done with that brown fringe though, bizarre choice.

I do LOVE!!! that there's no drama about the amount of time at the fabric store or the cost of the fabric and that they're able to go back and buy more. Making shit in two days is drama enough.

I'm less convinced re the seamstresses. Writing extensive notes that are left with the pattern pieces vs face to face communication? Also it's not "Project Seamstress" but it is "Project Pattern Maker"? Not sure I see much of a difference. Designers don't draft their own patterns either.

Tim's tiny suits, YES. That was the first thing I noticed as the show began. I kept thinking, surely someone in production noticed this and I dunno, got him to unbutton his jacket or tug it down at least. It was so glaring, I felt bad for him. But it's been two whole shows and no improvement, I am concerned.

I enjoy hearing the judges comments as they see the runway (like Next in Fashion) and as harsh as some are, it's better than hearing mediocre garments praised like on PR Lifetime when the format "required" three top and three bottom finishers.

I like the concept of having them produce two pieces, one runway and one mass market but even with the overnight seamstresses, they still have to crank them out in two days.

I'll keep watching but Next in Fashion is now the gold standard.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 12:44 PM on March 29, 2020 [1 favorite]

Interview with Heidi and Tim about the new show.
posted by sardonyx at 1:34 PM on April 1, 2020