No introduction required.
Hey Peach, how are you, doll?
Oh my gosh, I’m starstruck! I’m so thrilled to be talking to you. I’m such a fan.
You’re so sweet. We were thrilled when we read in your bio that our blog was one of your favorite websites.
I check it every single day and I have for quite some time.
No one can say you have a taste issue. You said you had been waiting a long time for an opportunity like Project Runway. How so?
Well, I did ch
ildren’s clothing for special occasions for about 10 or 12 years, you know, butting your head against every door you come to, so when this opportunity came up I thought I’d give it a try. I was hoping that it would open some doors. I mean, we all know I’m 50 and my opportunity came later than others, but I felt that someday something would happen with my business.You said you had the time of your life. Did you really enjoy it?
I had more fun than anybody should be allowed to have, I really did, I loved every minute of it.
You felt like 22 for 6 episodes?
[Laughs] I did. These kids treated me like one of them. Sometimes they would call me ‘mama’ and I was their fairy drag mother because I painted their nails, fixed their hair, tweaked their wardrobe a little bit. They treated me like I was 22.
It seems like you bonded with April. It was nice to see you guys getting along so well.
We immediately hit it off, the minute we got to the Atlas apartment, we chatted a little bit about family, who we are, and what makes us tick and instantly April and I realized we were probably the same person separated by about 30 years. She remains so dear to me as does Mondo. I clicked with him from second one; I said to him, “You’re real and I know it.” I love that guy.
April even said on the show that despite the age difference you were her anchor on the show.
April and I were very straight shooters. I think to everyone, and especially to each other. When April was in the bottom for the first challenge and we went to Atlas that night and I said to her, “You have something there.” You could never make what she made in a few hours, plus she was making facing, doing all the things she was technically trained to do and didn’t know how to cut corners.
I always believed in what she was doing even when she made the “diaper,” I saw where she was going. Even when things weren’t going her way I was standing there believing in her and she was believing in me. The two of us together just really made a dynamic team.
Do you think that a contestant over the age of 45 will ever win this competition? Do you think the show has a preference for younger designers?
I DO believe that a 50 year old could win Project Ruway. Seth Aaron could have won it at any age because he is so very talented. I also believe that Korto could have won it on a different season, especially at 50 because her designs just seem to get better every year. I don't think age has anything to do with winning if the 50 yr old designer is much talented and in tune with what is fashion forward. Like April....she could take this whole thing at 50!
Now how is it to go from fan of the show to actual contestant? To find yourself standing on the very same runway you watched so many times on TV.
It was pretty surreal my first few moments on the show. I kept saying to myself, “Wow, I’ve been watching this, reading the blogs and enjoying this for so long.” Well, here I am being blogged about, being filmed and having the challenges thrown at me.
I said it a couple of times, but it’s true, all the blood drained from my upper torso into my left ankle and the first couple of days I was hoping I wouldn’t faint. It was so wild to be there and see myself on TV. It takes a while, and you know, I think I’m 5’8” and I look on that TV show and I’m not.
We thought you looked fabulous, young and energized. We know how draining it is.
I run on empty all the time anyway, like this morning I was up at 4 o’clock. I’m an early riser and my friends just shake their heads and want to know where the key is that winds up in my back. I always operate on that path anyway, plus I was so thrilled to be there.
How did it feel to be one of the oldest contestants on the show? Did you h
ave that hanging over your head the whole time?No, there was no pressure. There were a couple of contestants who loved to mention it all the time. I mentioned it a lot in kind of a positive ha-ha light, but there were some contestants who did like to poke around with that a little bit and that was the only time it ever occurred to me. When I was there I saw myself as a 5’8” brunette who happened to be 23 years old. It never occurred to me I was 50.
What do you think of the judges this season? They seem to be all over the place.
Yes, they are all over the place. I think just a general consensus; anybody you ask will say that we never knew from one minute to the next where they were going to be, so they were quite surprising this year and that kept everybody really on their toes because you never knew if you were going to get a rock thrown at you or a marshmallow.
Many people said, including us and the judges, that your designs are for ladies who lunch
. How do you feel about that?It’s fine. It’s the world of art. When I went on this show and got this opportunity, we had a little family powwow because I have a sixteen-year-old who goes to high school. I told her that she was going to hear wonderful things, but also terrible things.
People were going to love what I do, detest what I do and we had to take it all with a grain of salt and understand that it’s all in the good spirit of the TV show and what this is. Some of it did ring true; my designs were pretty tame for pretty ladies who lunch; I do not deny that. You will never hear me say, “Oh, they’re crazy, I was cutting-edge.” I wasn’t.
But one thing that we need to point out is that not everybody goes for cutting-edge when it comes to their choices of clothing.
I always said that there should be beautiful things out there for someone who’s between Cameron Diaz and Driving Miss Daisy. There’s a whole demographic out there.
And you fit right in.
Oh, sure, I do have a clientele. I live in an area where I’m designing exactly what I should be.
Alright, enough of that, let’s gossip. What is going on with this group this season? A.J. last night tweeted that Michael Costello was a "massive d-bag" and that he was acting for the cameras. Everyone hates him but he comes across as this little wounded lamb to us. What’s the deal with Michael Costello, Peach?
[Laughs] Michael Costello came onto the show, he even said this to us, because he wants his own reality show and he’s creating this character that you see. There were two sides of Michael Costello and one of them did not have the nicest language; not just curse words, subject matter too. I don’t know how to put it, but he is not the victim that they’re painting him to be.
We guess
the producers decided to pick someone else as the villain, namely Gretchen.Well, there were a couple of other villains and God bless them, go for it. They do have a couple of villains they get to have fun with because they did really set themselves up for what they’ve been portrayed as, but Michael Costello should not be pitied.
We didn’t understand why everybody was so nasty to him when he won last night.
Right. Well, he was someone who would be one way until he won and then he was not a gracious winner and that did not help.
You were so much fun to watch, Peach. You always had some funny line or reaction when Tim or the judges would say something about your designs. “Show the good china” is definitely part of our vocabulary now. If you read our blog, most people admit that it wasn’t a great design, but they were so sad to see you go. Did you expect that much love?
No, I’m so surprised about all the wonderful comments I’m hearing. I thought I was going to be unnoticed in the competition. I thought nobody would ever remember me no matter how long I stayed. I’m so pleasantly surprised and of course I read your blog this morning and you guys and everyone else were so kind and I appreciate it.
You know, I knew that dress was ugly. There were no delusions of grandeur, it was a bunch of bad decisions, the dress was like an ugly dog, the more you looked at it, the less ugly it got. And then you would walk away from it and come back and realize it was an ugly dress.
I’m pleasantly amused that these people have been so kind and so positive about my appearance on the show. It’s overwhelming and I’m so grateful.
Do you think you got what you wanted out of this show?
Absolutely, I’ve been thrilled with how much time they gave me, how I was edited, although I will tell you one time Michael Drummond came over to me and he tapped me on the shoulder and said, “I think I heard you say S-H-I-T und
er your breath," and everybody started laughing. I really tried to hold back on the language. I think the outcome is more than I could possibly had ever hoped for.It was a pleasure watching you and we wish you the best. And thank you for supporting our blog!
Of course, you guys are awesome. I actually laugh out loud and I’m not kidding. "The Thirty-three Faces of Gretchen" post had me on the floor. Even when it’s about me, I’m laughing because you guys can see from the get-go what the spirit of this whole thing is. It’s to have fun, poke fun, it’s entertaining, it’s not mean-spirited in anyway whatsoever.
My family laughs, I got my friends all reading it… I think it’s kind of cool to see yourself as a parody [laughs]. I’m excited to meet you guys in person. My sixteen-year-old daughter, Molly, is coming to the finale and she’s out of her mind at the thought of possibly meeting Tom and Lorenzo.
We can’t wait to meet you both. Thank you, Peach. The Bitter Kittens all love you!
UPDATE:
Reason nobody wanted to work with Ify:
The reason no one wanted to work with Ify was because, although she has a great walk, when she stands on the runway, she stands like a tired old woman waiting for a bus in the rain; slouched over and appears to be over the whole runway thing!
Heidi scolded her heavily when I was in the bottom for the Barbie challenge. She stood there during the entire critique staring at her fingernails and picking the polish off them. Heidi was very angry! Christopher said he was going to steal my model until he saw her standing on the runway.
Ify was also unprepared as a professional model. Black underwear, she didn't like to get undressed in front of anyone, blue acrylic toe polish on for the Betsey Johnson challenge. It took three makeup people to scrape it off for the open toe shoes. She also told me that she did not intend to listen to the professional fashion photographer in the Marie Claire challenge, because NO ONE tells her how to pose! YIKES! She was very sweet and GORGEOUS but not easy to work with; but I would hire her to walk a runway in a minute, just not to stand and pose.
Her sweater on the show:
My sweater is old, I mean vintage. St. John Sport from about 1999 or so. Laura Bennett suggested I never wear it again! She kills me!! LOVE HER! Was quite star-struck meeting you two, Laura, Uli, Chloe... am I nuts, or what? Anyway, they only made the sweater one season...hmmmmmm...maybe Laura was right!
[Photo Credit: myLifetime.com]
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Labels: Peach Carr, Project Runway, Project Runway Season 8, Project Runway Season 8 Episode 6, Project Runway T Lo Interviews, T Lo Interviews
