‘The City’: Olivia Palermo, you’re out

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In this episode of “The City,” Olivia Palermo and Erin Kaplan attend a party for Guess, but Olivia doesn’t wear the designer. Roxy Olin gets a chance to break out on her own, and Whitney Port gets a harsh wake-up call.

Olivia doesn’t wear Guess for anyone
There are certain things one does for their job, because that’s what you’re paid to do. Erin knows this, but Olivia continues to act as if she answers to no one. It’s clear that Erin’s and Olivia’s relationship is reaching a boiling point. Anyone remember their truce over tea earlier in the season? Well, that’s about as done as the tea.

There were so many tense (read: fun) moments between Erin and Olivia -- my favorite being the conversation they had while pulling clothes at Guess while their cute PR person, Alina, watched. Erin asked Olivia whether she wore Guess growing up. Olivia replied that she wore lots of designers. Then she asked Erin condescendingly if that’s what they wore in California growing up. I have to say that I (and probably Erin too) understand where Olivia is coming from. The last time Guess was cool to wear was in high school. Regardless, it seems the Guess by Marciano line hopes to move beyond that. Erin got that, and knowing Elle was sponsoring the party, she gave the brand the respect it wanted. Olivia, though, doesn’t know how to play nice. I loved that Joe Zee was hoping that Olivia was getting interviews at the Guess event when instead she was being interviewed. She has proved over and over that she’s not a team player. And thank God, Joe has finally noticed!
In the meeting in which he was reprimanding Olivia for not wearing Guess, she laughed and said, “Oh, Joe.” The look in his eyes when she dismissed him like that spoke volumes. He was about to take off his earrings and scrap. But Joe is a professional. Needless to say, Olivia’s lack of professionalism and inability to deliver is making it very easy for Erin’s coup attempt in the next episode. She’s bringing in Louise, who Erin hopes will replace Olivia as Elle.com’s fashion reporter. I can’t wait to see how Erin pulls this off.

Roxy’s moment to shine. Fail.
As I wrote in my last review, Roxy is in dire need of her own thing. Kelly Cutrone can see that. And what better way to get her away from Whitney’s line than by giving Roxy her own gig. Kelly is killing two birds with one stone. She assigned Roxy to some media appointments with two People’s Revolution clients: Henry Holland and Felder & Felder. On the whole, Roxy did a good job of selling the clients to the media. But when Glamour’s representatives came in and recognized her as the woman who wanted them to put a “ballerina hooker” outfit in their magazine, Roxy suggested that they check out Whitney’s new collection. She gets friend points for that, but afterward Kelly told her that she should never mention another designer in front of a client. Roxy outsmarted her on the next appointment when she waited for the designer to walk away and them mentioned Whitney’s line to the writer from Paper magazine.

I’m pretty sure Kelly wasn’t happy about that for two reasons. One, she told Roxy that Whitney’s line was not to be part of these meetings. And two, these clients are paying good money for People’s Revolution to place their designs in the media. If I were one of those designers, I wouldn’t be happy to see that part of my tab went to placing Whitney’s line instead of mine.

Whitney’s harsh critique
At the Guess party, Joe asked Whitney to come by and preview the new collection for him. She was excited because it’s a great opportunity, but also because she’ll get to walk by Olivia with the line she had tried to keep away from Elle. Revenge is fun! Joe surprised Whitney by bringing in their fashion news editor, Anne Slowey. That woman doesn’t pull any punches. She basically told Whitney she wasn’t a real designer and that her line wasn’t fashion with a capital “F.” Ouch. It was a fair assessment in my opinion. Of course, Whitney was terribly depressed about it, but Kelly reminded her that it was an opportunity to get on Anne’s radar that many young designers don’t get. If being a high-fashion designer is Whitney’s goal, I hope she listens.
What do you think of Erin’s plan to replace Olivia?

-- Jethro Nededog

twitter.com/TheRealJethro

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Upper photo: Olivia Palermo announces to the world that she’s at a party for Guess and she doesn’t have any of it on. Credit: MTV

Lower photo: Whitney Port gets a harsh critique from Elle’s Anne Slowey and Joe Zee. Credit: MTV