Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Padma Lakshmi: Amuse-Biatch Knows When You've Been Bad or Good















And before we start handing out the lumps of coal, we are only too willing to acknowledge when Padma's been good.

We were so taken aback two weeks ago by Padma's beachside bikini-and-Ugg-boots combo during the episode that Bravo entitled "The Raw and the Cooked" (ooh, how Lévi-Strauss of them!), but which we dubbed "Brahs Before Bras," if not "Bros Before Hos," that we forgot to discuss her outfit during the Quickfire Challenge.

It's a shame, really, because, contrary to what the stalwart Anon47 and others would have you believe, we do believe Padma is capable of looking good. It's just that she so often chooses not to.


We admit, we had reservations when she first appeared on camera during this Quickfire Challenge. When we saw the beginnings of the pink top, we thought, Oh no, not one of those damned, unflattering pink tops again (see our earlier posts on The Good, the Bad, and the Fugly).

But as the camera panned down, our fears were alleviated. The top fit well and was sexy without being vulgar. She paired it with a long skirt that while not shout-it-from-the-rooftops chic was at least unobjectionable. Best of all, and what made the outfit, was the "ethnic" belt (we didn't get enough of a close-up to determine with any certainty whether it was more Masai than masala, but whatever its provenance, it worked). So, well done, Padma!

(We choked a little, as on a hairball, but Miss XaXa patted us on the back, "There, there, darling, it'll be alright, you can say something nice from time to time. Now try saying one more nice thing; I'll hold your hand.")

We blanched, but gritted our teeth. Alright, here goes nothing.

On the same episode, during the Quickfire Challenge, Padma smiled, and she was animated, and pretty. Was it finally wearing a proper bra, as Oprah and the Today Show would have you believe? Was it standing next to Chef Raphael Lunetta, as a purring Miss XaXa would have you believe? Was it that she is finding her stride, as the Bravo producers would have you believe? Well, whatever it was, it was welcome, and charming.

(There, are you happy now, Miss XaXa?)

4 comments:

Big Shamu said...

Speaking of Ms. O and her zeal for the women of America to wear the proper fitting bra - is that current rant on the road, squeezing saggy chests across this great land of ours? Is Gail with her? Who is she kidding? And why didn't I think of it first?

Vic said...

Padma is coming into her own. I actually noticed an original opinion or two (apart from the cue cards.)

Bless our darling, she may yet make a good TC hostess with the mostess.

eric3000 said...

You are right about the flattering fit and proportions and the pieces themselves were fine. My objection was with the color combination. If the first thing you think when you see someone is, "You look like a watermelon," then the outfit is bad.

Laz said...

It was a skirt? I thought it was ruffled bell-bottom pants which is what triggered my gag reflex. Looked like something you'd see getting auf'd on a Project Runway Cinqo De Mayo challenge...