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I really enjoyed "Donna Decorates Dallas." I was so sorry to find that the show had been canceled. I truly hope it wasn't due to some negative comments I had read on your message board. As it seemd these posts were persoanl attacks. I would like to say, it is or was the best show you had to date. Creative top of the line ideas that I and my clients adore. Glamour,beauty and elegance coupled with fresh ideas and not cookie cutter! Please, please, bring the show back! | |||
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Say it isn't so!!!!! We were having so much fun ridiculing DDD. It's the only show I ever watched because of how awful it was!!! | ||||
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Personal taste aside, Donna's style really doesn't represent current trends in decorating. Her look is also very regional, better suited to parts of the country with Spanish/ Mediterranean style architecture. When we consider that the programming is paid for by national advertisers such as Home Depot,or Raymour & Flannigan it makes sense to have more homogenous designers like Candace and Sarah. They may be too tame for some, but their classic appeal is better suited to HGTV's sponsors. | ||||
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Dawn, "elegant" is not the same as "gaudy". Bling is gaudy. Look it up. True elegance is understated, and understatement is a concept foreign to Donna. Criticizing her work is not a personal attack. She put her work on nationwide television and has to expect commentary. Likewise, commenting on the gawdawful jewelry she wears, the idiotic shoes that no professional would wear on the job, etc, is not a personal attack. She invites all that by choosing to appear on television. | ||||
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WHAT, SMS?? I thought the attacks were all personal!! LOLOL Seriously, I will miss the weekly train wrecks! | ||||
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Okay, Sal, I tried. All the attacks were personal nnd I will miss the opportunity to make them! Oh, Donna, we hardly knew you.  | ||||
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Hard to understand why some people thought the comments were a personal attack on either Donna or their own taste (or lack of same).  Well - it was fun while it lasted so now I'm eager for this next season of DS to start. We need new blood. Off the topic a bit - those of you who live in the NYC area, what's the best time of year for an out of towner to come visit? | ||||
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Doodles, I would say late April-May or September/October would be the best times to visit the City. | ||||
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Christmas in NYC (right after Thanksgiving)is always a great time to visit, especially Rockefeller Center when the tree is lighted and everything is beautifully decorated. Not to mention Radio City Music Hall. And, holiday shopping in NY is AWESOME. It will be nippy, though. (Probably will not snow.) But, you can always take a horse drawn carriage through Central Park and wind up at The Plaza where you can warm your hands over Afternoon Tea at The Palm Court. Come to think of it, you just may have to visit NYC several times -- once is definitely not enough. There are cheap direct non-stop flights everyday from Austin to LaGuardia or JFK -- so get going, Doodles.This message has been edited. Last edited by: aychihuahua, | |||
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Thanks, Sal and AY - I was sort of thinking of mid to late September. I want to make sure it's not cold but past the hot stuff. LOL - yes, I want it perfect. I'll probably be going alone and plan to do a lot of walking. My grandmother was raised there after the age of about 5 and I grew up listening to her talk about it. It will be my first trip there. Any places I should not miss? I don't necessarily need to see a Broadway show, or go to Ground Zero. Naturally I want to do a lot of shopping. | ||||
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You gotta walk the HighLine: the magnificient mile-long park in the sky, created from the upper level of the defunct West Side Highway. And, spend an afternoon recuperating from all the shopping by taking the Circle Line cruise, which sails around entire island of Manhattan, north on the East River and around the bend, heading going south on the Hudson. It will give you the best views of the skylines on both the west and east sides, and it's cool and refreshing. | |||
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aychi, I saw a segment about the Highline on Charlie Rose. It looks wonderful. And the cruise sounds like a great one. Too bad I probably won't ever get to NYC. Doodles, I hope you get to go! | ||||
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Thanks again, AY! Sounds good. Is there a hop on and hop off bus tour thingy like they have in Honolulu and London? | ||||
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Have fun. I haven't done a girls' trip to NYC for several years and really feel the need to see the sights. I'm talking to my sister about a trip - but with her leg injury - it will be quite sometime before she will be up to it and a friend who is also turning 60 this year. We've gone in late spring, early summer, fall and winter. Love all the seasons. We usually stay near Broadway, but the hotel we like has about priced itself out of our market. What is great fun is to take in a show that is in tryouts. Great entertainment and good ticket prices. Also if you sign up - Playbill Club will keep you up to date on what is coming and what is available at a discount without having to stand in the ticket booth line. Also there is off Broadway and Off Off Broadway for more adventurous shows, then Lincoln Center frequently has plays and special presentations in addition to opera and concerts. Can you tell I LOVE NYC??? | |||
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Oh, heavens yes, and some are double-deckers!! Here's some more information on just one guided tour bus service available in NYC: http://www.onboardnewyorktours...S_vK4CFQhgTAodbBVEPAThis message has been edited. Last edited by: aychihuahua, | |||
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Thanks, AY - I saved that. | ||||
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Doodles, as a decades-long resident of Manhattan, I have some thoughts about your questions. Much depends on how many days you will have in the City. I couldn't agree more with Aychi about the Circle Line cruise. It's an enjoyable boat ride in itself, and the captain gives a running commentary on everything you see. At the end of three hours, you will know more about New York City and its history than 90% of New Yorkers! What I would caution you about is wasting time trying to find your way about the City. If you are here for a three-day weekend, I would pack an extra $100+ in my wallet for cabs. Public transportation is superb, but spending 2 hours figuring out how to get from A to B on the bus or subway is not how you want to spend your time! There are somewhere between 15 and 20,000 taxicabs in Manhattan, depending on the statistics you read. You literally walk out into the street and hail one. You'll never wait more than 3 or 4 minutes, if that, unless there's a typhoon! The fare, while not cheap, is worth its weight in gold. As for lodging, it's a killer. You'll have to work with a travel agent or do your on-line homework. All that said, New York City is magic. From my perspective, I would be perfectly happy to stay here and never leave (other than a twice-yearly trip to Paris or London!).  And yes, DO take in a Broadway show !!! | ||||
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The absolute best advice yet. | |||
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To those of you missing this show- on DIY The Vanilla Ice Project is working on a whole house and its done in Donna's style. I call it "Bordello Chic". He is having these awful "murals" painted in every room and calling it rock star glamourous- (only if the rock star has no taste). | ||||
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Thanks so much, Sal - I really do appreciate it and will take your advice. I'm a walker so do plan to do a lot of walking but realize that even I cannot walk all over all the time. I'm hoping to be there for 4-5 days during the week coming in on a Monday and leaving probably Friday or Saturday. I have a friend who has a small travel business focusing on women over 40 and she's working on accomodations. I asked in here because, IMO, even the best traveled friend is not as good as people who actually live in a place. | ||||
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Bordello Chic is an apt description. | ||||
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I am so disappointed Donna Decorates Dallas has been cancelled! My mother and I are both avid DDD fans as she has ideas and deorates sith such a beautiful lsir ehich is so ifferent thsn ll he other decorators out there. I find it discuting that those haters ranting and raving below think that just because her style is "their" style that means it is wrong. Who the **** are you people who think you have the right to judge and persecute another persons creativity!? Who cares she wears fabulous shoes and looks great decorating? You are just filled with jealousy obviously. Insted of bashing someone else and trying to change who they are, what they wear or how they decorate, why don't you take a good, long look in the mirror and try changing your "Gawdawful" attitude. | ||||
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I find it discusting to those of you who bash Donna Decorates Dallas just because her decorating style isn't the same as yours. Who the **** do you think you are?! So what she wears fabulous heels, big jewelry and always looks gorgeous while decorating? Your jealousy is piiful but also downright laughable! Instead of critisizing someone else because their not like you, why don't you take a good, long look in the mirror and instead try changing your pathetic attitude instead of other people. Last time I checked, we we were all created equal with the freedom to express ourselves however we want. DDD fan for life <3 | ||||
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Niki k, I'm going to agree that attacking Donna because of her personal appearance isn't fair play. How she looks shouldn't affect her ability to decorate. However, how she looks is an expression of her personal style which is pretty specific. I think with HGTV showing less and less design related programming Donna's personal style seems too regional/style specific to appeal to the large national audience the station should be focussing on. As a man, I have a hard time taking her seriously as a business person because her style seems too young and too flashy for a woman of her age. More like one of those Bravo TV's Housewives of...types similar to Dina. Of course that's just my opinion. And believe me as talented as the guys from Nashville on Design Inc. are, the owner of Pierce & Co. looks a little silly with his Ryan Seacrest cockatoo hairdo at his age as well. | ||||
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Thanks, Charles, for the once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity to feel a nice, oaky Kendall Jackson '10 Chard coming through my nose the OTHER way... As I wipe off my computer screen here, I'm reflecting on your generous notion of regional/specific style. A lot of us are aware of those influences of heritage and region as "themes" (think Tuscan, coastal, industrial), and I think that's been the typical HGTV approach. But as you say, it may be more truly, deeply cultural. If HGTV has any hope of future interesting DESIGN shows, maybe it's time to highlight designers capable of investigating and explaining such specific cultural sources and concepts... In the event HGTV wants to do a design show... | ||||
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If only! | ||||
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OK, I'm really laughing here. Donna looks amazing for her age. That said, none of us who actually do any work when turning our clients' houses into their dream homes would be caught dead climbing a ladder in heels, or taking a chance of scratching something with all the jewelry she wears. Even tho I no longer do ladder work I never wear heels to even a consultation because you honestly never know what you'll be doing. It may seem like a straight forward consult but you may in fact end up in a construction zone picking your way up a half finished staircase because the client just has to show you something. And nobody who values their feet are going to wear heels to shop all day - not when you're apt to be running from one end of a showroom to another, sometimes lifting and/or carrying a piece of furniture to see if it really will go with that piece you saw on the other side. If you see someone in heels up at Market they're either a newbie or they work in one of the showrooms. As far as jealousy? Honey, you're barking up the wrong tree. I have about as much business as I can handle, and have absolutely NO desire to be on t.v. Although I cannot speak for Charles, I'm pretty confident that he has quite a good, fulfilling career of his own and is SO not jealous of Donna. Hands down, if I were incapacitated and had to have someone else do my own home, it would be Charles WAY before Donna - I wouldn't let her and her glue gun anywhere near my home. | ||||
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I'm ambivilent about criticising design TV. I want HGTV to offer everyone, esp. those on a budget ideas, options, solutions, etc. that will elevate the average to the gorgeous. I am fully aware that the average viewer would "plotz" at the thought of $350 per yard fabric, so I'd never assume to see what I do on T.V. (these days even my clients are giving me the beady eye when I show anything over $250.) With all that said, my biggest issue with Donna, is not her hair, her clothes, or her Joan Collins makeup. It is that HGTV could be showing their audience how to do affordable versions of Jan Showers, or Barbara Barry, or even Bunny Williams for that matter. Making their budget look like they have spent four times what they did, ending up with decor they will be proud of for years. Donna's look (to me, anyway) looks very temporary, utilizing trend instead of chic for its wow factor. It's kind of like the original Chanel before Karl Lagerfeld got a hold of the directorship. You could see an elderly lady sipping straight vodka at the bar in the Russian Tea room, wearing a 30 year old suit. You'd know the suit wasn't new but you'd still be impressed and appreciative of the classic appeal. Then the 80's come around and Lagerfeld adds shiny patent quilting and oversized chains and now the look is only fresh for as long as it takes T.J.Maxx to knock it off. Donna may spend alot of her clients money, but the bling looks cheap, and cheap usually gets replaced so often it winds up being more expensive than truly chic understated elegance. I would love to see any design related TV educate its viewers to appreciate form, line, proportion, ect, so they can develop their eye and see design like a professional does. Wouldn't it really be doing someone a service if they could learn what it takes to discern good design from hype? | ||||
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Wow... Whats with the unfriendly tone! I agree with the pro-donna comment, in that these negative comments just reek of pure jealousy and envy. Every designer has his/her own artistic style - their 'thing'... it's how they see the world and it's what makes them feel alive! Ridiculing Donna's design style and even Donna herself?? Criticizing what she looks like, how she dresses, the jewelry she wears, etc. -- Sounds to me like Donna's glamorous appearance, confidence, passion, talent and success are intimidating to those that are lacking. It's a bummer Donnas show got cancelled - The HGTV lineup is disappointing, repetitious and full of reruns. Donnas show was one to look forward to, and every episode i saw was unique, inspiring, fun to watch, and i always came away with some new and affordable ideas. She is a joy to watch because she is full of genuine positive energy, she's creative and innovative, and has a vibrant personality that is 'real' instead of put-on -- how refreshing! Is her design style for everyone? No, probably not. But it IS for a lot of us! Donna's clients and viewers know what she has to offer - something special and unique that traditional designers just don't have. She creates a functional design with her client's needs in mind, and then sprinkles her custom-made magic all over the top - leaving them ooh-ing and ahh-ing with glee! Romance, glamour, luxury, beauty, 'bling', fun & whimsey...trendy aspects of design? I don't think so, it all adds up to extraordinary, and everyone knows that's timeless! Bring back Donna Moss! | ||||
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Hmmm...if I were to describe Donna's work the last words that would come to mind are 'special' and 'unique'. I almost spit my iced tea when I read that. Did I watch DDD? Yes, but I also rubber neck at a car crash too. Look, I think Donna is a beautiful woman and I like her voice and speech pattern. It's kind of like when Martha Stewart would work with parchment paper, it just puts me in a trans like state. But I don't find anything about her style to be special or unique. What's special about a glue gun or feathers or Tuscan style or faux paint techniques? I've seen all of those for years (I used to watch Trading Spaces). For the most part every single episode of DDD had the same color scheme & design theory (if you can even call it that). I think her show should be on Bravo instead of HGTV. She'd fit in great with the New Jersey Housewives!! ..lol.. All that said, I would rather have DDD than House Hunters any day (but I'd rather have anything over House Hunters).This message has been edited. Last edited by: LolaLalaBean, | ||||
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