S01:E14 - Suited For Success

[Harpuia 68]

Review Time!

 

I really wasn't expecting myself to like this one as much as I did. I don't dislike Rarity, but she's pretty low on my favorite character list. This episode does a great job at further fleshing out who Rarity is and adds a lot of well-needed depth to her character. The rest of the mane six are in top-form here as well with plenty of entertaining and comedic character interaction. I'd say it's about as funny as Ticket Master, which has generally been my standard for funniest season 1 episode. If there's one criticism I have, it's Hoity Toity. It's not that I dislike or find him annoying; I felt like he was added only as some kind of extra or external validation of the episode's moral, which it really didn't need since it stands so well on it's own. That's another thing this episode does extremely well: the moral. Basically it's "What you want isn't always what's best/don't be too critical of free shit" and it's apparent throughout the episode in a subtle way rather than being introduced at the last minute. The song is pretty catchy too.

 

Grade: B+

[-:Fluttershy:- 90]

Still watching season 1, because I'm a complete N00B. This is the best yet, really showed off Rarity's character.

[TheJLeeTeam 914]

This was a good episode. It involves Rarity making dresses for the Grand Galloping Gala. Rarity had some great ideas for costumes but her friends wanted them to be different. The song Art of the Dress was good too, not as memorable as Winter Wrap Up but still a good song. And yeah, I'm glad Rarity stuck with her original designs because they look better. 

These dresses look too gimmicky and overdone and just lack style:

Any why is Applejack wearing rainboots?

 

The highlight for this episode was well:

 

And thus an internet meme was born

 

Edited September 26, 2014 by TheJLeeTeam

[Fawkes The Phoenix 737]

This is the episode when Rarity starts being Rarity, now she's not just another girl into fashion, she's an independent woman who works very professionally in what she likes, even though where she lives her business wouldn't work as well as it would in Canterlot or Manehattan, she chooses to stay there, why? Cause making dresses is not just her work, is her passion and her art, and that's very inspiring.

 

About the episode, it was awesome, it really showed how generous is Rarity and how much she cares about her friends, i still don't understand how after this (and almost every Rarity) episode, there's some people who call her "selfish". The moral was great, the pacing was nice, the humor was awesome (I lobed when Rarity had that "mental breakdown"), and you can really feel the emotions of the characters, i didn't like Rarity when i first watched it but i felt sorry for her.

 

Now this episode's art was brilliant, the song was awesome, Kazumi Evan's voice is simply divine, the transitions during the song were great, the lyrics were great too, the dresses looked actually awesome, and the fashion show in the end was pretty well done (what's up with the transitions being so great in this episode?). Never thought i'd ever like a song about making dresses or a fashion show of ponies, when i was watching the episode i was thinking "MLP staff, what the hell have you done to me?"

 

This episode gets a 9.8/10

[Rohinar 72]

I love this episode!  Up until I saw this one, I really disliked Rarity, but having done a lot of art for other people before, I can relate to it so much.  Plus, the song is fantastic and one of my favs.  Rarity has really grown on me over time, and it started here.  Plus, the redesigned outfits--    So bad!

[DrReprise 172]

Rewatched this one today and noticed that Rarity says Feathershy instead of Fluttershy at 3:35. Anyone else hear it too?

[Pastel 7,630]

I just rewatched this episode and it was a lot better than I remember.

Now it's one of my favorite episode from the season 1 , I loved the fashion show at the end.

Edited December 23, 2014 by Blobulle

[Dark Horse 12,961]

This was the episode that really got me interested in Rarity as a character, at first I kinda saw her as a bit of an uppity snob, but here you can see just how generous she is and how much work she's willing to put into something for her friends. Anyone I know would've told the other ponies to deal with how they thought the first dress' looked, but Rarity goes well out of her way just to make sure her friends are completely 100% satisfied.. even at the cost of her own better judgement and, ultimately, her career. That kind of selflessness really made me look at Rarity a different way from then on.

 

Art of the Dress was also a surprisingly good song, probably the best since Winter Wrap Up imho. And of course its undertones about executive and consumer meddling against the creators.

 

Overall a really strong episode, one I'd watch again, and not just for Rainbow's breakout line.

[livdharris 4]

I really enjoyed watching this episode. It is so interesting to see Rarity's beautiful fashions turned down, then see the other people's ideas look so horrid. It really teaches you that you cannot please everyone.

[Eternity Ending 86]

I like Rarity so much because I wanna be a fashion designer some day cuz I would be amazing at it.

[RainbowTashie 378]

Also Dashie nickname was born here

[papergun1000 7]

i think its good that the epasode was like this it just shows how people are like irl

 

i still think all of the other ponys where a bit pushy but look at the bright side

 

    _______          _________

                  |         |                  |            /

                  |         |                  |     0    /

    _______|         |                  |          /

    |                       |                  |         /

    |                       |                  |        /      0

    |_______         |_________|       /                    cooler

[Dulset Tarn 441]

The writers really had fin with this one, as each of the criticizing ponies represents the kind of executive mandates that plague any creator

 

Twilight demands that Rarity make something perfectly accurate, even when it gets in the way of the quality.

Applejack doesn't care about the quality either, only worrying about how marketable hers is.

Rainbow Dash has an "I'll know it when I see it" mentality, with no knowledge of what she's looking at or asking for.

Pinkie wants to be involved and give ideas, but doesn't know the good from the bad, just forcing everything she can think of into it.

And Fluttershy wants hers to look like something else she likes, but doesn't understand what it is about that which makes it good.

 

All artists of every sort have to deal with people like this, and undoubtedly Lauren and the other writers faced this a lot while working on the show.

[Kat_Blazeclaws 73]

I like all the dresses, the final one's of course, especially Rainbow Dash's, but her first one wasn't so bad.

[Wicked Funky 2,955]

I liked this episode, Nice song and story. We got to see more Rarity And it put up a pretty good conflict that was entertaining to watch

[JonasDarkmane 19,785]

I thought the dresses she made in the end were fantastic, the song when she was showing it was fantastic, I think that episode was fantastic

[Lexamena 391]

This was the first episode I ever watched, just a few months ago. After watching a few more episodes I got hooked and then started to read more about the show, and discovered the 20% cooler phenomenon. I had no idea which episode it came from! Lol. Well curiosity about all the memes got me motivated to watch the entire series so I watched them all skipping over the ones I'd already caught on tv. I watched all four seasons and never found the 20% cooler remark. I'd skipped it at the very beginning because I'd already seen it and didn't realize it. I had to look up what episode it was in. And it was the first one I ever watched. I looked for it for FOUR. WHOLE. SEASONS. Every time I think about it I give myself serious side eye. 

[Mesme Rize 15,683]

Oh god, i am going to make myself so many enemies with this. While i thought this was also a very good episode, i never saw it as one of my all time favorites.

 

The problem with this episode isn't necessarily the episode and has mostly to do with me. I never was interested in fashion, because i don't really give a damn what i am wearing. Sadly, that's the subject of most Rarity Episodes.

 

The song was also great, eventhough i found it was a tad too long and covered too much of the episode. I think if it would have the length of Winter Wrap up, it would've been okay with me.

 

I have to say though, Raritys breakdown was hilarious to me. I don't know if it was the writers intention to make you laugh, but i certainly did.

 

This is also one of those supposed "girly" episodes. Again, embrace the girliness of the show.

 

The Moral is one of the best though. Don't be too overly critical, especially when it's made by a friend with the best intentions, because that's not cool towards your friend.

 

Overall, great episode, just not as good as people make it out to be.

[ChB 18,550]

This is one of my favorite episodes, so far. The fashion show is so well done, I could watch it over and over again. The music is catchy, and the animated transitions between each Pony's dress is so cool!   

[powerpuff-tsubasa 448]

interesting to see rarity trying to make booty-ful gowns for her friends. too bad her friends pushed her too hard and its sad to see rary going through an emotional breakdown

[Jeric 46,851]

How did I not cast a vote for this episode? D:

 

Until Crusaders of the Lost Mark this was my favorite episode. It certainly didn't hurt that I got a personal one on one with Fullerton last year and picked her brain over it.

[twiia 1,843]

Haha Mane '5' learn fashion. Rarity don't need to suffer cuz of you... O.o

[cmarston1 5,959]

I really appreciate this episode for giving us Art of the Dress.

[Guest]

This one made me love rarity so much, it truly showed how much she loves her friends and her job.  A pretty good episode imo.

[Thrond 3,263]

So part of the moral of this episode is that the customer isn't always right, correct? Relatively adult theme for this show, isn't it? 

 

Anyway, Rarity always shines better in her own episodes than in supporting roles, and this is an early high point for her. It largely benefits from some of season 1's best humour, but a good chunk of it also relies on that fantastic song. A couple lines are slightly on the nose, but the combination of hearing Rarity's thought process and the song's utter disdain for the mane six's unprofessional opinions is absolute magic. And, for real, this is one of the season's funniest. Fluttershy's freakish knowledge of sewing, anyone? I mean, this is the episode which spawned the immortal "20% cooler" line. It caught on for a reason. Good stuff. 

 

Score

Entertainment: 10/10

Characters: 8/10

Themes: 9/10

Story: 9/10

Overall: 90/100