Paul Drinkwater/BRAVOEd and Lisa's clothing line: Closet Freak.
Hey, I'm all for any reality star using the opportunity to promote their business, but I tell everyone the same thing: It better be authentic, from their soul and not just something they grabbed and pulled together before the cameras start rolling.
Experienced, well-backed designers with enormous talent and reputations fail every day. Look at Christian Lacroix. I'm just skeptical that these girls are inauthentically branding something that they pulled out of thin air. I don't like the name Closet Freak unless it is for some teenybopper, trendy Von Dutch-type line...
Lisa needs to pick a lane. Fame and success is like a pyramid scam. You better make it out through the top quickly before the bottom starts falling out.
Once the season stops, the ladies, like all of us Housewives, move into obscurity for almost a year until we are hopefully asked back. Plus, I think the networks are getting smart and don't want the talent to be shilling their wares the whole show. I know they won't want me doing it next season, so I have to rely on my real talents and business acumen to make a living.
As for Nene, she makes good points about Brice, and unfortunately she's right: Most women don't want a man without any money. Regardless, it is better to teach your children to have options. I also think she is trying to instill the right values in him. To me, he seems like a nice, respectful young man, as does his father. I've received so many comments that I'm being too soft on Nene and that she is so judgmental and thinks she's better than everyone. Here's the deal: She was a huge hit in season one, she's taking herself very seriously (which none of us should do), and she is believing the hype.
I know Nene. She is cool, she wants her piece of the success pie, and she is hustling to make herself a relevant diva. That's what a lot of this reality TV is: hype. We are all lucky, somewhat ordinary (I use this term lightly) girls put in extraordinary circumstances. Like with The Apprentice, Real World, Survivor, etc., most of us will get five minutes of fame and will vanish into the graveyard of reality obscurity. That's a fact and backed up with hundreds of reality veterans whose shows were fool's gold.
Kim goes shopping with Aryanna and keeps saying everything is "off the chain." Those boobs of hers are evidently off the chain that was holding them up in that tight satin strapless dress. Reel 'em in. I didn't know how right I was when I said "Jessica Rabbit on crack." I posed nude for PETA and showed less. Aryanna is quite a spoiled little lady who is evidently going to die in Juicy Couture, and a little peach that doesn't fall far from the tree. Here is where I am disturbed: Be a gold-digging opportunist and go for yours all you want, but give your seemingly bright daughter a shot at using her brain instead of using her you-know-what to pay the bills.
If you believe there is no big papa, I'll tell you another one. That sister runs around these days with a driver and bling to match P. Diddy's. She shops never thinking of a bill because there isn't one. If it ain't big papa then it's large daddy. I work my ass off day and night (fairly successfully), and I can't afford her lifestyle, and ain't no wig gonna pay for those bangles. Don't play a player. No one is buying her bag of bulls--t (quoting Kathy Griffin, please give her credit). I could write her book. It really is sad, because neither Dolce nor Gabbana will keep her warm at night, and her poor daughters don't have a shot. She says she wants to find a job. There is one kind of job she is good at, and we all know what that "job" is.
I get lost in all of the Lisa designer nonsense because that seems to be what it is. At least Sheree's No. 1 passion is fashion, shopping and designer clothes. That gives her a slight leg up. It's just hard to tolerate these storylines, since fashion is such a cutthroat business, and these two nondesigners are living in a city that's not a fashion capital and trying to launch lines there. Go figure. I buy my clothes online, on sale and at sample sales, so a fashionista I am not. Make no mistake though. I am a businesswoman, and fashion is first and foremost a business, not an extension of an addictive, new-money shopping habit.
Kandi seems sweet, and I can hardly rip her. She is the only one who is authentically true to the business, talent and passion that have been her career for years before the show. I agree that a good music producer can make anyone hot. She was right when she said that there is a reason why the girls with sweet gospel church voices are still in church. I think the idiotic song "Tardy for the Party" was as good an idea as most below-average pop songs, but I don't think it will be a hit. Whether a book or an album: People won't buy it just because you're on TV. In fact, if the content isn't authentic, the audience will resent you more. Bravo's audience is very smart and educated. Nobody fools them.
As far as Kim saying that it is odd that Lisa has a fashion line, well, duh. The best thing that happened to both of them was each other's lines, because it created drama, thus making it worthy of airtime. Kim saying Lisa has no taste: Well, taste is subjective. That's a moronic statement.
As for Lisa getting together her line in a month, well, if that doesn't scream, "I need to get it on the show," then I don't know what does. They should thank each other for making their lines relevant.
Kandi's wedding is coming. I don't want this wedding to happen. I think she deserves better, but I don't walk in her shoes. I'll just pray for her.
OK, a wig party. Need I say more: Truthfully, wig parties are a better business in this economy than her actual wig line. Very few people can afford that expensive hair, yet with hairnets on (for sanitary reasons) wig parties instead of Tupperware would be a hoot. What the hell, combine the two: People could store their wigs in Tupperware, LOL.
When Nene put the wig on Kim's daughter, it was cute. When Nene imitated Kim, it was beyond a passive-aggressive dig. That was just aggressive and went too far. The egg was on Nene's face, and she is bordering unlikable. Kim had every right to be irritated. Kim looked very pretty in this scene and I loved that sassy short wig. I bet if everything was stripped down, she might be a decent human being. That would take a lot of turpentine.
As far as Nene having a plate and eating, she is an Amazon. She looks good the way she is and she works it. Let's just all establish the fact that Nene is right: Kim isn't a businessperson. Kandi is the only full-fledged businessperson on this cast. The others have a sprinkle of business acumen, but Kandi can really take it all the way.
I love that Nene used the word werewolf—ha. I don't think Brice needed a beauty makeover, however. A clean shave will suffice. A woman may not want to marry a poor man, but she doesn't want to marry Dwight either.
Here we go with Me by Sheree. I'm surprised she didn't ask for it to be called Mercedes by Shere-des. She is such a fantastic, delusional narcissist. A Maybach? Tiffany jewels? Sharon Stone wouldn't have the balls to ask for a $200,000 car. Wow! I'm sure it was the event planner's fault. Haha. The definition of insanity is repeating the same behavior and expecting different results.
I'm not sure that Dwight is the guru of anything, but he is right that a fashion show should showcase the clothes and not look like garage sale.
Of course the garments need to be impeccable and finished on a runway. Nene was being kind to her friend, but this isn't a third-grade recital. This was supposed to be the showcasing of a fashion line. Doesn't anyone understand that this does more damage to a business than not showing it at all?
Sheree is such a badass this year that it makes me smile. I'm sure her son had a concert, I'm sure she didn't rush to Lisa's show. They're not close friends and in competition with each other.
At least it wasn't saccharine-sweet and, no, Sheree didn't miss a thing.
________
Bethenny Frankel is the inventor of the Skinnygirl Margarita and author of the New York Times best-seller Naturally Thin. The Skinnygirl Margarita is available in stores nationwide or at SkinnygirlCocktails.com. For more, please visit bethenny.com and follow Bethenny on Twitter: twitter.com/bethenny. Bethenny is blogging exclusively for E! Online every week, dishing about the craziness that goes down on the new season of The Real Housewives of Atlanta.
Agree with Bethenny? Disagree? What did you think of last night's eps? Comment below!
Missed a blog? No worries, click here.