Bravo Fashion: ‘The Real Housewives of Atlanta’ Should Start From Scratch

This is So Chic, Very Chic, PAPER’s examination of Bravo’s sprawling cohort of fashion obsessives. From haute couture to TJ Maxx, they’ve literally worn it all. Sometimes they stunt, sometimes they turn the look, and sometimes they burn holes in retinas my ophthalmologist says might never heal.

I’m at a loss when confronted with what has become of The Real Housewives of Atlanta. It is, alongside The Real Housewives of Orange County, the show that built Bravo. This isn’t hyperbole or flattery. Season after season, the tangible effect of The Real Housewives of Atlanta in its heyday cannot be understated.

The very first reunion saw a face-off between Kim Zolciak and Nene Leakes that both defined the format and laid the foundation Bravo would continue to build on for 17 years. “Close your legs to married men!” are words that still reverberate through the halls of NBC Universal’s offices. This is not to leave out other phrases that entered the cultural lexicon over the decades, like “Who gon’ check me boo?” or “Not a white refrigerator!” and even “bloop,” “don’t be tardy for the party” and “fix it, Jesus.” There’s also “Don’t come for me unless I send for you!” and “I said what I said,” besides the million others everyone’s screaming at me for leaving out.

The show also gave the network its very first four-part reunion, alongside elevating Nene Leakes to actual celebrity status, one of the only Bravo stars at the time to ever achieve that alongside Bethenny Frankel. It also birthed one of Bravo’s most successful, if controversial, spin-off shows: Don’t Be Tardy. Despite the precarious reputation of its oft-villainous lead Kim Zolciak, the show ran for eight seasons. It’s the only other The Real Housewives spin-off to achieve or surpass that is Vanderpump Rules, which is a testament to the strength of The Real Housewives of Atlanta brand.

But those were the glory days. In hindsight, they feel sepia-toned; they were the years that old people talk about on creaking armchairs, drunk on martinis and nostalgia. Times have changed, and the power rankings of the various Bravo franchises has shifted significantly. The spotlight has shifted to the network’s millennial cadre, like The Valley and Summer House, while The Real Housewives as a whole have struggled through the ensuing identity crisis.

On none of the currently airing franchises is this more apparent than The Real Housewives of Atlanta, which has struggled to find its footing amongst fans and audiences since Leakes’ exit in Season 12. For half a decade now, the show has experienced near-constant turnover and turmoil, with scandals raging in the media, cast members hurling lawsuits and blogs running wild with leaks and allegations. Ratings have experienced a significant dip, and the near-universal consensus amongst fans is a deepening sense of frustration and unrest. It was the gold standard of reality television, an institution that took for granted the very best parts of itself while clinging to the past.

The very first season, and those that came after, felt like something audiences had never seen before. The same sentiment is what put The Real Housewives of Orange County, its only predecessor, on the map. But 16 seasons later, the show has not continued to innovate. It has clung to cast feuds from decades prior, bringing on increasingly desperate women to line the shooting galleries around the seasoned players. Producers, from just offscreen, seem to encourage the all-out war, meddling to the point of seeming outrageousness. It’s a tired gamble, and a dangerous one, seeing as the strategy saw producers served with a $20 million lawsuit from current castmate Brit Eady, who says they weaponized a fake “revenge porn” storyline against her.

It’s not that something has to change. It’s that everything has to change, first of all their fashions at the reunion. Shall we talk about them?

The Real Housewives of Atlanta

The Real Housewives of Atlanta

The Cast of The Real Housewives of Atlanta

I had a faint feeling of queasiness this reunion. It only intensified the more I watched, until I realized how harsh the lighting and filtering was on these poor women. It’s harder to read in the wide shots, but the closeups are nearly impossible to look at for longer than a few moments. Come on, Bravo! I expect much better of these things.

That said, the theme here seems to be a war between canary yellow and gold, two colors that technically work, but only technically. As a whole, it reads like Phaedra and Porsha are elevated over the others, clad in golden armor draped in silk. Their subjects, meanwhile, are subjected to sequins and ostrich feathers. It’s a vibe that persisted throughout the season, with Porsha clearly coming back to something she sees as “her show,” as does Phaedra, with the rest of these women being mere window dressing. And boy, what colorfully feathered window dressing they make!

Phaedra Parks

This look has been clowned on repeatedly for weeks on social media. I won’t contribute to the hate train because I’ve said my fair share of critical opinions on Phaedra these last few months. But it is quite shocking how many different shades of gold we’re working with here, between the hair, the illusion lace, the appliqué over the bust, the earrings, the train and the headband. She’s dressed like a background actor onstage at a resort on one of The White Lotus’ worse seasons, which is about as close to a compliment as I can get.

Porsha Williams

The armor motif just does not work for Bravo, or The Real Housewives. We live in an age where RuPaul’s Drag Race is both very successful and very visible in the cultural petri dish. I have already seen this outfit done far better, and even far worse, by drag queens with a mere fraction of Phaedra’s wealth. So what gives? I miss when these women pulled actual clothes for these reunions. Where’s Schiaparelli and Loewe and Marc Jacobs? Hell, where’s Christopher John Rogers and Laquan Smith and Wales Bonner? Get out of the pageant store and into an actual stylist’s office!

Shamea Morton

Speaking of pageantry, here’s Shamea in another pageant gown from Filipino designer Rian Fernandez. It’s a beautiful color that just looks terrible against the set they’ve designed for these women. I wish there was more to say! That said, I love her short hair and glam, which is always so soft and beautiful. Should she get a second season, I have high hopes for the fashion theatrics she might pull. As it stands, she certainly gave me the most to write about this season.

Angela Oakley and Kelli Ferrell

Again, here’s two beautiful women weighed down by pageantry and styling. Kelli looks radiant in yellow, while I think a softer color was the smart choice for Angela. But both dresses just read like something The Real Housewives would wear to a daytime charity auction, or a failed Miss America would wear as fifth runner up. There’s very little fashion on display here and far too much pomp and circumstance.

Drew Sidora

Earlier, when I mentioned the lighting, my mind was stuck on Drew’s closeups over the course of the reunion. These shadows are just so heavy across her face and bust, sharpening the lines of her makeup and adding far-too-much gloss to her skin and hair. This glam is beautiful, and I actually love this color of hair for Drew! But it’s dragged down by whatever has happened to the lighting, which is a damn shame. At least I managed to find everything else to talk about instead of this dress.

Photos courtesy of Bravo/NBCUniversal