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Rachel Zoe Project Recap: Rachel Is the Only Person Who Likes Maxi Skirts

On Week 2 of the new season of The Rachel Zoe Project, we found Rach and Rog enjoying a rare, relaxing moment on their balcony at the end of NYFW. They read a glorious review of her new spring collection in InStyle before Roger immediately killed the moment by saying the line really has to sell. Then Rachel went and put on an even bigger, floppier hat.

Then we cut to Rachel and Roger checking out her 16th new business endeavor, DreamDry, which is the biggest hair salon I have ever seen. It is far from done but Rachel thinks it should open in three days. Too bad you can’t just put a giant pair of sunglasses and a Balenciaga bag on it! That usually solves all of Rachel’s problem.

We then go back to L.A. where we see Mandana, the woman behind Rachel’s au couture fringe curtain, actually trying to get stores to buy Rachel’s new line. This is when we start to see the revolt against maxi skirts that are apparently Rachel’s kryptonite. Clearly, if the fashion savvy people at Neiman Marcus don’t want your formal pajamas and maxi skirts then something is wrong.

Then Rachel has a breakdown about her bangs and claims to never look in mirrors. Mandana, desperately wanting to roll her eyes and get her boss out of there so she can do real work, says “I would never let you have bad bangs,”

But Rachel perserveres and keeps walking up and down the stairs of her new company in 6-inch stilettos while carrying her new purse son Skylar who is dressed like Javert in Les Misèrables (if he had lived until the summer.) When he started whining I thought she was going to fire him. I would like to just bring up the point that I find it interesting that Marissa Mayer was treated like she had put her baby in charge of running products at Yahoo! when people find out she was building a nursery, but nobody makes a peep about Rachel Zoe’s son using Chanel dresses as drool bibs. Just interesting.

Then we see Rachel actually walking outdoors with a new stylist at her company. Sadly we didn’t get to see her shoes but I assume, because she is always so sensible when it comes to fashion that they were high heeled gladiator sandals, Rachel’s outdoorsy shoes.

Then after an important meeting in her closet that is the size of my apartment with Rog, she finally got down to some styling work for the singing duo Karmin (Amy Heidemann and Nick Noonan.) There are some jackets and great hats and then on the day of the actual music video shoot there is a crisis: One of the brown sweaters is missing. A poor intern is forced to look through 40 boxes while everyone else stands around unbuttoning and buttoning things. But don’t worry. Somehow the day is saved and the sweater isn’t even needed. Oh fashion!

The real crux of the episode though was when all of Rachel’s assistants and associate stylists have to give her some tough love about long dresses. Rachel cannot physically comprehend this. “Can someone explain to me the risk of the maxi? This is fashion bullshit!” She frantically starts pulling floor-skimming dresses off a rack and holding them up, shouting, “To me, this is the way to look good!” She argued that a maxi skirt was so much more practical than wearing something short. I mean you can wear a maxie skirt to a lunch of mungbeans with Gwyneth Paltrow or baby pilates class or to the opening of a Real Housewives candle shop!

It was confusing and upsetting for everyone involved. For Rachel Zoe, a world without maxi dresses is like a world without fur vests and floppy hats. It’s just wrong.

But alas we know Rachel will persevere, until next week when she goes to Paris Fashion Week and actually “dies.” Again.

TAGS: fashion | Rachel Zoe | television

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