Well, it's over. Finally. I feel like this show has been on the air for six months. It has been a slog, I'll tell you that. I don't think "The Fashion Show" is fundamentally bad - it can be saved, and improved (see my thoughts on the matter below). But this first season failed to generate the level of excitement any good reality competition needs to flourish. By last night's announcement of the winner I was already over it; I just wanted the show to wrap up so we could all move on with our lives.

The announcement of the winner --- voted on by the viewing audience after last week's final fashion show --- was done at the end of the reunion show. Bravo reunion shows are tricky. When they're good - the "Project Runway" Season 1 reunion, with drunk Vanessa and the trials of Wendy Pepper; the most recent "Real Housewives of Orange County" sitdown with Tamra vs. Gretchen - they're amazing. When they're bad they're the worst. This reunion was pretty tame, with the snippiness mostly kept to a minimum and everyone generally seemed to get along. That...doesn't make for an exciting hour of television. Almost all of the 15 designers got to say something, but of course most of the attention was saved for the top six.

That includes the show's breakout star, Reco, who came in fourth and was clearly not happy about it. He was VERY dismissive when talking about his last-minute elimination, even making some reference to how he "knows what makes good television." I'm not sure how he thought an 11th hour cut made for better television in the producers' minds than him actually competing in the finals, but whatever. He didn't take any responsibility for his collection looking a) cheap, b) unflattering, and c) poorly constructed. His model could not walk in that bridal dress! And I read on Project Rungay that what we saw on the episode wasn't even a fraction of how fucked up that portion of his show was. But I can't say I'm surprised. Reco was never exactly sheepish about his assessment of his talent, and there's nothing wrong with that. In the fashion business if you don't believe in yourself, who will?

Taking that maxim to extremes is Daniella, who maybe believes in herself a touch too much. I loved her reaction when the contestants were asked who they thought would win, and only three of them raised their hands for her. She was pissed. The panel also brought up the fact that bloggers across the nation (including yours truly) found her to be an insufferable, stuck-up bitch. Haven said that we don't know what we're talking about, and Daniella is a lovely human being. That may be true. I've never met Daniella, I have no idea what she's like in real life. But as a reality TV character, she was a 22-year-old kid just out of fashion school who really did think she knew better than everyone else, and I'm sure the fact that she made it to the F3 did nothing but cement her high opinion of herself. All I'm saying is, a little humility is good, and Daniella could use a lot of it.

Then we got to see the decoy collections designed by Merlin and Johnny to help throw off the internet spoilers. Merlin's was deliriously cracked out, with these ridiculous shapes and fabrications, but it was definitely interesting. Not a wearable look in the bunch. It was basically clothing for drag queens, which is fitting, since Merlin himself is a drag queen trapped in the body of a tiny man. Johnny's was 90's inspired, and most of the women looked like hookers -- in some cases, hookers from the future. But I guess that's appropriate too, since women in the 90's generally DID look like hookers. So...job well done?

And then the moment I'd been waiting for: the grilling of Johnny, about his blatant knocking off of the Maggie Gyllenhaal dress during the evening gown challenge. He took a half-assed level of responsibility, but said that it was not his original intent. The footage from that episode clearly shows him in the fabric store explicitly stating his intention to replicate the dress in question. So it was the intention pretty early on, at the very least. Whatever. Of all the irritating designers that were part of this show - and there were a LOT of them - Johnny stands out as the least likable of the bunch. The fact that he went as far as he did had a big impact on my overall dislike of the series.

Then we got Anna's segment, and when the other designers were asked to comment on her final collection, Merlin bitchily referred to it as a knock-off of Anna's previous looks from the competition. Merlin is an asshole. It's not that he's wrong - Anna openly admitted that she deliberately incorporated elements from her successful looks throughout the show into her collection - but the way he said it was obviously meant to be a slam. Even though seven of the other designers thought Anna's collection would win, almost all the comments that were shown were backhanded compliments in which she was essentially called old and her clothes were labeled as simple and pretty. Wow, how awful: a designer who creates lovely, interesting work that people would actually want to buy and wear. I think some of these designers missed the point of the show they were on: real fashion for real people. And real people don't wear leggings with long fringe attached to them, Johnny.

There was a segment with Kristin in which they discussed her walking out at the beginning of episode 2. Who really cares? However, Isaac really came after her, calling her out on her inability to handle competition and pressure, and he made an interesting comment that one blogger said that after the "hot chick" walked out he had no reason to watch, and Isaac was annoyed that "an entire demographic just quit watching our show." I wonder if Isaac feels personally hurt by America's indifference to "The Fashion Show"? You'd think he would be above it, but I get the sense that he takes this all very seriously. Hmm...

James-Paul segment. I...don't know what to say about James-Paul. He is clearly a smart guy and his stuff is unquestionably interesting. Like five of the designers thought he'd win. But it's so out there, I just can't imagine the average viewer at home - or customer in a store - being able to see beyond his big-idea concepts and embracing his looks as, you know, wearable clothing they would like to buy. But that goes to show you how clueless I am: his cube dress from the first episode was the most successful of the "TFS" garments sold on BravoTV.com. It sold out. I loved that dress (to me it was his best look of the entire series), but I'd be interested to find out exactly how many of those dresses were bought. I'd also be curious to know if James-Paul saw a penny of the profits. Bravo is exceptionally shrewd when it comes to nontraditional revenue. (The "Real Housewives of New Jersey" were recently squawking to the media about how the network is demanding 10 percent of any appearance fees they generate for up to several years after the show; I personally think it's totally acceptable, because who would hire those obnoxious bitches if they'd never been on the show in first place? Bravo is essentially their agent. Or their pimp. And sometimes, you've got to trunk a bitch.)

Then finally, the results. Judges' Choice for favorite collection took home a $10,000 prize. Based on their comments, and the fact that they thought their favorite designer was "in the moment," I figured it was going to be Daniella, and I was right. Isaac basically got down and kissed her feet while saying that what's great about her is her youth, and that she has that "youthful edge." I remain perplexed as to why teens and 20something are looked to as the tastemakers for our civilization. I was an idiot when I was in my 20s, and looking at the generation currently out there screwing up their lives in the most boring, predictable ways, they're even worse. (Two words: Jonas Brothers.) At Warped Tour my music writer saw a teenage girl wearing a pair of booty shorts with the words "Fuck Me" sewn into the back. These are the people we want driving pop culture? *Shudder*

The real winner, as decided by Bravo viewers: James-Paul got 19 percent of the votes for third place, leaving Daniella and Anna for the win. I called that weeks ago. When Isaac read the viewer comment cards, I pegged Anna. The winner got 56 percent of the vote. And it was Anna! YAY! I'm so pleased. That's exactly who I wanted. Every piece in that goddamn show was wearable and interesting. She took home $125,000, so now hopefully she's not broke anymore, and can quit with the crying.

So ultimately the right designer won. But "The Fashion Show" itself needs some major revisions should it come back for a second season (and I fully expect that it will; they brought that atrocious "Top Design" back for Round 2, and this show is much more promising). Here are this blogger's helpful tips to the good folks at Bravo on how they can make it work (oooh, sorry; bad choice of words):

-Start with fewer designers: Fifteen is simply too much. Try 12, maybe 13. This season felt like it went on forever, and part of the reason was there were SO many contestants to eliminate one by one. I don't think they did any multiple boots (although I suspect they were initially supposed to, but after Kristin walked that became moot), and several of those designers way overstayed their welcome.

-Start with better designers: This is the same criticism I had with "Make Me a Supermodel" Season 2. Every reality show needs chaff to ensure that the ringers make it far enough into the competition. I get that; this isn't my first time at the reality rodeo. But this and "Supermodel" were stocked with so many contestants who clearly had no chance at the title that by halfway through we knew who was going to be in the finals (Reco, Daniella, and Anna were practically shoe-ins by episode four or five), and the rest of it was just biding time. If the looks sent down the runway throughout the season were better, it may have been more palatable. But most of the stuff was fair to middling.

-Cast more likable designers: Let's flash back to the finals of "Project Runway" 3. We had Michael, Uli, Laura, and Jeffrey up for the win, and I was totally riveted. You know why? Because I liked those designers. I was invested in them, and actually cared about which one of them would win. This time? I liked Anna all right, and I certainly liked her clothes the best, but I didn't care about her. I just didn't dislike her the way I disliked Daniella, or feel as creeped out by her the way I was by James-Paul. So many of the "Fashion Show" designers were obnoxious shits. Markus was a chump. Andrew was a crybaby. Keith was completely delusional about his design abilities. Merlin was a misogynist. Reco was...Reco. I won't get into Daniella's bullshit again. And of course, there was Johnny, high on my list for least likable reality contestant of the year. And most of the rest of the designers were as dull as melba toast. I didn't care about this show because I didn't care about the characters. That's a pretty basic reality show rule.

-Revamp the panel: Isaac Mizrahi is great - as a judge. He fills the Michael Kors slot to perfection. His comments are witty and bitchy, but still insightful, and the guy knows what he's talking about. However, as a mentor/guide, he offered nothing. I can't remember a single exchange he had with the designers in the workroom in which he offered any useful advice prior to some poor shmuck sending something terrible down the runway (which he would then rip apart beautifully, but still). Save the Miz for panel only. Maybe they don't need a mentor? Maybe the host should just do the mid-challenge check in? Regardless, Kelly Rowland needs to go. Beautiful woman. Clearly has a sense of style. Has no business being a judge on this show. As far as I can tell, her only fashion credentials are that she wears nice clothing. There are so many beautiful women intimately involved in the fashion industry who could offer much more useful criticism. Former model Veronica Webb was a fabulous guest judge; bring her back. And finally, I adore Fern Mallis. She is clearly an important figure in the fashion world. But unless she can become a little more vocal on the panel, I feel as though she's wasting a space. That's the Nina Garcia seat. "Project Runway" designers were terrified of Nina. Who's scared of Fern Mallis? And her last name is Mallis! She should be a force to be reckoned with, and instead she seemed totally detached from the proceedings.

-Don't take yourself so seriously: My, this show was gloomy. From the austere color schemes to the ominous music to the overall sour attitudes of everyone involved, there was absolutely nothing fun about "The Fashion Show." There was none of the charm or whimsy of "Project Runway," and I understand wanting it to have its own identity and not be a knock-off (the ultimate sin in fashion, we're told). But must it be so unrelentingly business-minded? I don't think so. More color, a better theme song (I actually preferred the harder techno original to the candy-ass version they replaced it with), just more fun in general would add a much-needed lightness to what was a very heavy show in its first season.