The Watch What Happens Live host likened some of the stars' early reunion outfits to "what they might wear to a PTA meeting"
Published on January 7, 2022 11:25AM EST
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(763x0:765x2)/andy-cohen-1-d920b51f877e404a842e47bbc5fd0477.jpg "Andy Cohen Says Real Housewives Fashion 'Has Really Amped Up, Jokes About 'Terrible' Early Days (1)")
Andy Cohen has one word for early Real Housewives fashion: "terrible."
The Watch What Happens Live host, 53, recently chatted with Vanity Fair about the cast's style in the early days of the famous franchise, ahead of his guest appearance Thursday on Project Runway's crossover episode with Real Housewives.
"If you look at the first few years of reunions, Orange County, Atlanta and New York, they were basically wearing – I don't even think what they would wear to a co*cktail party," said Cohen, 53, who served as an executive producer on Project Runway's first few seasons. "I think it was more what they might wear to a PTA meeting."
Now, fashion at the Housewives reunion shows "has really amped up."
"I think people have loved seeing what they wear now," Cohen told Vanity Fair. "They were meant to be aspirational, and that's what they are," he said of the stars.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(586x348:588x350)/andy-cohen-9a56db43a562483f99934233ca230bd0.jpg "Andy Cohen Says Real Housewives Fashion 'Has Really Amped Up, Jokes About 'Terrible' Early Days (2)")
The Radio Andy host then likened the Housewives' preparations for a reunion show to selecting a dress for the high school prom. "So in that same way, I think it makes for a logical challenge," he said of the Housewives-Project Runway crossover.
On worlds colliding, he continued, "I love the dynamics that play out when you have a Housewife as a client to a designer, and seeing the interaction between the Housewives and the designer who wants to win the challenge."
Cohen served as a guest judge on Thursday's episode of Project Runway while seven Real Housewives stars took the stage as models: Shannon Beador and Gina Kirschenheiter from Orange County; Gizelle Bryant, Karen Huger, and Wendy Osefo from Potomac; and Luann de Lesseps and Leah McSweeney from New York City.
Project Runway host and mentor Christian Siriano told Vanity Fair that intense energy of the episode was "hilarious to watch" behind the scenes.
"Having the Housewives, designers, and myself in a room was probably one of the most intense groupings of personalities ever in the show's history," said Siriano, 36. "The fittings were chaos. Even the strongest designers backed down to the power of the Housewives."
Project Runway airsThursdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo.
