It was between Orla and Caz in the final. I loved Yasmin’s M2M dress but after the first two challengers it was going to be one of the others. I’m really glad it was Caz. I agree with others that her dress didn’t strike me as a trompe l’oeil but the judges seemed to think it was. I liked how happy the other two were for Caz. It’s been the same in many previous series. I guess that’s a big benefit of not offering a cash prize as I’m not sure people would be quite as happy to see someone else win.
I liked how happy the other two were for Caz
One of the great things about the Bee for me, is how generous the contestants are to each other - helping each other out with complicated patterns, sharing threads, scraps, techniques etc, bolstering each others' confidence and so on - which is why it's very hard for me to accept when I see someone coming across as being selfish or begrudging of someone else's success.
I think it is difficult for a very gifted sewer, who wins challenges frequently, to NOT come across as being a bit pleased with themselves - how are you supposed to react when you are top of the class near every week, without looking false in some way*? I can make allowances for occasional "smugness" , but I don't like to see a flash of meanness or resentment - that's a different thing. Others have pointed out that they all seemed to like each other a lot, so maybe I've misread a couple of expressions, I don't know.
I did prefer it in the early days, though, where it was all about the sewing, and times were tight but not ridiculously so, and the emphasis was on producing a beautiful garment - not on designing a piece of unwearable crap out of perfectly good and re-useable material.
I was thrilled Caz won - she, Dan and Gaynor were my favourites
*If it were me I'd be both delighted and embarrassed - hard not to seem smug, I suppose.