top design: the party + the dirt
ac and i just got home from the top design finale party at the w hotel. what an evening. we spent a good chunk of the night with the carpenters (the most underrated lot of the show) and trying to calm me down every time goil or todd oldham walked by. i thought i'd share as much dirt as possible (no, no spoilers, i promise) so i've arranged it by category below- it was quite the gossip fest. but hey, it's a design show- what did you expect? [click here for pictures of the evening]- favorite highlight of the evening: meeting todd oldham and having him say "oh i know design*sponge!". seriously. highlight of the whole darn evening. maybe my entire life. he's incredible.
- season two? probably not: the vibe was that season two was a long shot. todd mentioned that he liked doing "onesies" and pretty much everyone was like "um, we're not sure about a second season yet...". we'll see...
- odd moment of the evening: jane seymour (aka- dr. quinn medicine woman) being shown around by what must have been her agent to promote her pillow designs that were printed on her purse. seriously- on her purse. we listened to her talk to matt and say "actually, these are my pillow designs right here...". eesh.
- carpenters: the most underrated bunch. these guys didn't even get their travel paid for to come to the event. they actually had the most interesting things to say, too. THEY should get their own show. sarah, blair and ed were incredibly nice.
- the contestants: rumor has it that felicia was once the scientology asst. to nicole kidman. matt- not wearing a wedding ring. isn't he married? michael- actually quite nice in person. most people agreed he was edited to look a lot crankier than he was. carisa: quite nice in person. i keep forgetting she was the only student on the show. andrea- she is the tallest women in the world with the world's tallest heels. apparently ac and i aren't the only ones who refer to lisa as "storm". affectionately, of course.
- judges: jonathan and kelly were a no-show as of 8:30. margaret was there and was incredibly nice. she's also incredibly tiny (and beautiful). the woman can wear red. todd? not a judge but he should be. he was so friendly and so sweet.
- ok, goil: mission accomplished. i met him and the evening was complete. he's even cuter and perkier in person. you just want to squeeze him he's so cute. i can't wait to see what he does after the show.
- random celeb attendees: ted allen from queer eye running up the stairs, dr. quinn medicine woman and the bald fashion guy from E!- blanking on his name.
Labels: design shows, miscellaneous
posted by design*sponge @ 11.4.07
33 Comments:
Wow, Such a wonderful validation to be acknowledged as you were by Todd Oldham. I get goosebumps just thinking about cool that must have been. Congrats Grace, k
WOW! you look gorgeous!
of course Todd knows design*sponge!
he should feature you in a show!
aww that looks soo fun! i love goil too!! the bald guy from E! - robert verdi? and btw you look gorgeous, especially in the pic with goil ;)
ps i love your blog =) keep up the good work!
wow!! sounds like an amazing night!
lookin wonderful as usual grace .. thanks for sharing such a fabulous, exciting evening!
Jonathan Adler is out of town for 2 weeks.
Wow Grace, what a wonderfull night. Congratulations. I also love Goil. His personality is just refreshing...
Can I 2nd how great Todd is? A few years ago I worked with Mr. Oldham for a few days on a collaborative project with Target. I was pleasantly surprised at how genuine and friendly he was. Not at all an act. 100% class.
Love the behind the scenes peek. Made me feel like I was there!
Ok, there is NO WAY Matt is straight. NO WAY.
Was Carisa bitchy?
Christine ;-)
I'm glad they paid the carpenter who won- it was about time they recognized the hard labor they did.
Even if it is Top Design and not Top Carpenter. They did so much of the work, people!
Tara
Ooh, sounds like you had a lot of fun. I caught onto this show a little late, but I'd love to see a second season. It's disappointing that it probably won't happen.
Margaret sort of is hot...
Thanks for this!! Love love love Todd Oldham!
*Stacey*
margaret can wear red, but maybe she shouldn't...
IS GOIL SINGLE? PLEASE SAY HE IS.
Chris
*and please say he plays for my team.
Grace, you are so awesome! Thanks for the interview and the coverage of the event. I feel like you and Margaret look alike and I'm sure you will be as successful as her.
To chime in about how sweet Todd Oldham is... he picked up some prints once when I was working at printed matter, and he was totally humble and was like "I think there is a print reserved for Todd." I think he was riding a bike.
Loved the pics. Fab!
Whoa - that Felicia/Scientology/Kidman gossip is juicy!
Although I missed several episodes of the show I watched the finale. I liked the challenge of designing a large loft for yourself. What a dream challenge - and those lofts were killer.
I think Matt's looked the most pulled-together and I was glad he won although I thought Carisa did a great job on her loft as well. Excellent examples of two very different styles. It was cute seeing Margaret Russell crawl down into the bed-in-the-floor thing.
As for Matt not wearing a wedding band at the finale party, I don't wear mine all the time and know other married people who don't wear them. I'm just not into wearing jewelry and also do many things with my hands and don't want to damage my band. I don't think you can speculate whether he's divorced or separated now just because he didn't have a ring on.
Whether or not Matt's straight, that's another can of worms. I think he is effeminate, but I've met effeminate men who aren't gay so who knows for sure. Kind of funny that Trudy said his bedroom in the final challenge needed to be sexier. The look on his face when she said that was very awkward. He did seem a bit too excited to be doing a Marie Antoinette Hall of Mirrors inspired room for his daughter. That room was awesome though. I kind of wanted it for myself and I'm 30.
I'm definitely glad I watched the finale. I agree the carpenters were awesome and deserved more recognition and screen time besides Carisa bitching at Carl non-stop.
Chris - yes Goil plays for your team.
longtime reader, first time writer -- I'm so glad someone else mentioned this... off topic but, boy, you and Margaret sure do look alike! Uncanny. And I love your blog! It's been very inspiring both in content and in seeing it expand and flourish along the way. Great work!
So then I'm not the only one who thinks all white people look alike??
-me
Margaret's makeup is spot-on.
She's a princess in red.
They look nothing alike, the only similarity is that they both have no lips.
So what color were Goil's glasses? Midnight blue? He's like a doll.
D- Show us your lips, baby. If you think you can do better than Margaret and Grace we'd love to see those luscious kissers....
Darcy ;)
No picture of Matt- what was he like?? Is he divorced?? Is he gay?? Maybe he's married to a MAN.
He WAS awfully into the pink girl's room. Maybe even more than a girl would have been.
Kristina
Relax darcy, it's an opinion you act as if you are margaret or something, no one is talking to you and I have great lips and butt so there, if I didn't have any lips I would have said the same thing. lol
thanks for sharing the pictures and gossip. love it! you look great, too.
too bad you didn't have a picture of the jane seymour bag-o-pillow designs. it sounds like one big design and fashion fug. ;)
it's too bad that the show's not coming back for a 2nd season. i'm sure they could make season 2 so much better with all the feedback they've gotten.
and margaret russell always looks so sophisticated and well put together. she must have a closet full of cocktail dresses.
looking forward to your next party pics! :)
just a note- it's not a definite that there's no season 2 yet. that was just the vibe at the party. margaret mentioned that project runway hadn't been picked up for a second season yet at this point either.
that said, i think that most people at the party (contestants included) didn't feel like it would happen...
we'll see!
d*s
Sounds like a great night and here here for the carpenters. I went out to eat Thai food at Sriphapai in Woodside on Tuesday night after spending the day watching the Top Design marathon (while I did 4 months worth of bookeeping). When I sat down, I turned to my left, and there was Goil! He was by far my favorite designer and person on the show. Tuesday was my lucky day! He was so nice and down to earth and his fabulous boyfriend was there as well. We talked until they were done and I thought, "This is the best Tuesday ever". I must admit, i was a bit starstruck which he found funny.
oh these pics are wonderful. i just got finished watching the finale and i'm a little disappointed that carisa didn't win. i felt most comfortable with her loft design - loved that BED! matt's design was a little too much for a loft i think. to me, the whole point of having a loft is to enjoy the open free space you have.
I'm so happy tosee that Goil had such fan support. He seemed like such a sweet guy and a dedicated designer. I love seeing (reading) real people who loved himon the show.
Congrats on the celebrity encounters by the way! keep up the inside scoop. We love it.
grace, i was just thinking "has anyone ever mentioned that you look like you could be margaret's daughter?" and then read through the comments and saw i was not alone. there is a similarity, and that is a compliment. she's lovely.
i'm going to check in with my anonymous friend, who's good friend's with Todd, see if it's okay to spill beans now that the show has come to an end. he had some good dirt. he'll probably say i have to wait until the show is definitely not on for season 2.
and he, todd and kelly wearstler went to the rose bowl flea market together! i was so jealous. i'll miss kelly's outfits and hair the most. they should bring back the show for that alone.
the evening sounds like a blast!
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