Deconstructing the RZP

Episode 1, Season 2

The first thing I thought of when I watched the Rachel Zoe Project the other night was how all the people on her "team" are caricatures in a comic or maybe a bad Cathy-type workplace cartoon. (Yeah, it wasn't the clothes, which didn't make their appearance until the end of the episode.)

Tay is that typical passive aggressive underminer that we've all worked with (or that maybe we are?). You hate her because she gets everything done, but has no people skills and complains and whines all the time. She also has no friends because she complains and whines all the time, and because she's better than you - and doesn't hesitate to remind you of it all the time. She's also paranoid that you will come in and do what she does - but better and without whining - and so she's constantly undermining everyone she works with to enforce her own superiority (like not properly explaining the job duties). That way the boss will continue to think she is "indispensable" and thus will keep her on, despite her attitude. Here, Tay wonders where else she can go in the company since she's been working for Rach for three years and her job duties haven't changed. (Hint: Maybe because you won't let anyone else do them.)

Brad is the total opposite. Brad is the personality pet at the office. He's the one chatting you up at the coffee maker, and you are having so much fun you don't realize it's been 30 minutes and you should have been back at your desk 20 minutes ago. He's not that bright and he's so. slow., but he has somehow ingratiated himself into the boss' good graces - so much so that he can do no wrong. I mean, the boss will ask Brad to lunch while you're still there, plugging away on the project. You hate him because you know you are clearly a better employee than him, but WHY CAN'T THE BOSS SEE PAST THE CUTE BOW TIES?

And Rach? She's the typical ditzy boss that doesn't know where to draw the line between "boss" and "friend" so she has a hard time keeping her employees in check.

But! On to the substance of the episode. It starts off with a bang and Rach and the team are dressing five stars for the Golden Globes - Deb Messing, Eva Mendez, Cammie Diaz, Demi Moore, and Anne Hathaway. Drama ensues because there are no good dress options out there and this is the first award show of the season and Eva wants to make a statement and Deb is like a tall drink of water and CD is fashion forward and Annie is nominated and hasn't had a "navy moment" yet, and yeah.

Deb and Demi are dealt with quickly:

Deb is in a navy Vera Wang with green earrings. Rach muses a bit about the green earrings and calls her a "tall drink of water" on the red carpet, but that's about all that's said about that. And I agree. The dress is nice, but...yawn. Also, I don't like the poofy hair. It looks like mine when I just wake up.



Even less is said about Demi. We just know that Brad was dispatched to get her jewelry and that she's dripping in Cartier diamonds.



Again, kinda yawn. It is Christian Dior, and it looked better on the runway. The color choice is fun, but I think it makes Demi look more muscular than necessary. But, you gotta hand it to Demi, she looks GOOD for her age.

Next, is Anne. Rach finds the navy and black Armani Prive and claims it is perfect for her since she is a nominee.


I think it is sort of plain and also too "old" for Anne. Especially with that hair. But Rach said that they thought Anne looked like "Cinderella", so what do I know?

Cammie D's dress was a nail biter because it showed on the runways with one cap sleeve that Rach asked Karl (Lagerfeld, you know) to take off for the Globes because she didn't think the American public was ready for a one-shouldered cap sleeve dress. Karl agreed, but couldn't promise when the dress alterations would be done. But, it was all finished in time, and Tay picked out the perfect silver shoe (I guess CD doesn't really need a 7 inch platform since she's so tall already) and the outfit all came together.



This I like. It's fun and age appropriate and highlights all of Cammie's best assets. The silver shoes and clutch and ring are perfect, and the hair works. (Better than Demi's.) Karl liked it too because he sent Rach a handwritten note afterwards congratulating her and basically saying that he harbored no hard feelings against her for changing La Lagerfeld's design (to suit the less avant garde American public).

Last, was Eva Mendez. Who hadn't been the the Globes in a couple years so really wanted to make a statement. Rach envisioned her in this all white Christian Dior gown that screamed for some vintage, archival, Van Clef turquoise around the neck. (When you're Rach Zoe, you have access to "archival-quality pieces." But the Dior was accidentally shipped to Chanel and Tay had to make sure it got to the studio! And then right before Eva left her house, she found a small spot on the dress behind a pleat! And Rach thinks that a really simple, messy chignon would be the best hair to go with the dress!



I like this one too. I like the architecture of the dress and I like the pop of the necklace, and I remember that it definitely made a statement at the Globes. Even the hair worked. (Though it looked more like a messy french twist instead of a messy chignon.)

All in all, a job well done for the team. (Unlike last year, when Brad didn't leave Rach with a kit. The horror!) However, a rift is developing because it is tradition for everyone on the team to have a viewing party of the red carpet moments of Rach's clients. Brad and the interns show up, but Tay is no where to be found, and has told Rach that she's "worn out" so she's just going home. Is Tay going to quit and open up a competing stylist business? Or maybe she'll go postal and take out Brad and the other interns one by one until it is just her and Rach again? What will happen to Brad? So many things promise to unfold this season....

(All pictures courtesy of Harper's Bazaar.)