NEW YORK, Wednesday, February 6, 2008 - I have seen maybe ten minutes of a Project Runway episode (blame it on me not having cable television), so I wasn't that familiar with Alexandra Vidal, a finalist on season one, before meeting her yesterday while she took appointments at the Bryant Park Hotel.

As someone with complete Runway naiveté, I have to say that her collection of long evening dresses and cocktail frocks, loosely based on Elizabethan and Edwardian styles, shows real promise. Vidal already has a fan base with New York's social ladies, which makes sense, as her pieces remind me a bit of other society favorites - Carolina, Oscar, Vera.