Blame It On The Alcohol - Part 1 of 2: The Ladies

Episode Synopsis: McKinley High has a drinking problem (on top of the bullying/harassment, homophobia, sexism and other issues they have) and Figgins thinks the best way to deal with it is to A) have an assembly and B) get the Glee club to perform. GREAT IDEA. Will and Bieste are besties and go out to the honky tonk bar to work off some stress, and then Will drunk dials Emma (or so he thinks). The Glee kids do some "research" by partying at Rachel's place - Quinn is bruised after losing Sam to Santana, Finn isn't sure where he stands except that Rachel still wants him, but then Rachel kisses Blaine during Ye Olde Spin The Bottle and feels a spark, which makes Kurt jealous... Needless to say it rekindled a great many memories of my not-so-distant days at certain theatre department parties in college... Aaaaaand that's what you missed on GLEE!

Let's start with the glorious Miss Emma Pillsbury (or Mrs. Karl whateverhislastnameis, Mrs. John Stamos, basically).

Colors: perfect. So great with her hair and complexion. And she is like, the cutest, no? This dress is TOTES from Anthropologie by the way... I will obsess because I totally want it. How does Emma afford full outfits from Anthro on a guidance counselor's salary in THIS day and age!? The world may never know.

Later on she dons another delicious number from Anthro... also a silhouette she could totally rock at a Mad Men party. So springy, so adorbs!

I'll mention Sue briefly because she also looks kind of springy in purple and pink... that is to say, that pink stripe is the color known as 'honeysuckle' which is alllll over the runway for S/S 2011, mmmmkay? Sue gets it. Sort of.

And a shout-out to Coach Bieste, who FINALLY appears wearing something other than a men's polo by Ralph Lauren. I quote the Bieste directly: "You ain't lived till you seen me wearin' a COWBOY HAAAAT! Ba-dernk-a-dernk!"

Rachel shows some serious growth with a cute Scottie dog dress early in the episode, even if Finn looks kinda bland. Blah.

HOWEVER. The cute doggy dress is sniped down by the dress she chooses to wear while hosting the Glee Drink-A-Thon: a mint green, possibly vintage (I'm thinking 1970's Gunne Sax Jessica McClintock prom piece?) nightgown-ish monstrosity that belongs in the Goodwill donation box, not at your first drinking event. Yikes. Just... yikes.

Later, things go from worse to WORSE when she drunk dials Blaine (#1: is that André in that glass? #2: are you in your pajamas!? #3: remember that Blaine is gay???) and sports an interesting... um... thermal?

After the party, however, during clean-up with Kurt, Rachel looks really pretty and kind of mature in a black turtleneck, slim plaid skirt and dark tights.

Quinn, like the fabulous Emma Pillsbury, also shops at Anthro and also has gorgeous hair. Other than that, they're really nothing alike.

Granted, she's got her drink on in this pic, so her hair's a bit crazy, but the denim jacket is cute and the dress is faaaab. (Also, PLEASE note Puck wearing Lauren's glasses. Boom.) I really REALLY wanna talk about Quinn's ensemble in "Blame It On The Alcohol" (the song, not the whole episode, duh). Everyone seems to be sporting black sequins and shimmery stuff, which is great and everyone looks fly...

...but Miss Q made me stop and rewind. She looks AMAHZING. With a capitol MAH. The hat and ornate necklace/feather-collar paired with a little black dress are so vintage inspired and so Fosse that she instantly captured my attention.

Add some red lipstick, matching nail polish, and some wrist cuffs, and you're in business. It's so unusual and so fierce on her.

Here's the aftermath, with the girls sporting their Hangover Couture. Santana looks like she's ready for the beach. Tina looks.... well. You know. And Mercedes is surprising in pastel pink. She is exhibiting the classic "If I Wear Bright Colors, I Will Feel Better About My Life" syndrome. Good luck, girl.

Brittany's Hangover Couture look is 100% bonkers... in the best possible way. She continues her hat obsession with a furry animal-inspired chapeau and mixes ankle booties with knee-high socks... what. Also a ruffled mini and a teensy-weensy sweater. She is INSANE.

Speaking of insane... Brittany. Does. Ke$ha (aka Key-dollar-sign-Ha). Commence celebratory dancing NOW!

The other girls are less garbage-y but still in the same spirit... the drunk spirit, that is.

Brittany basically rules this episode, though, as far as fashion goes. Her hair consistently looks amahzing, her outfits are unique and flattering, and she DOES A KE$HA SOLO. Boom. Instant win.

Great hair.

The hat and tie and bolero and... just... yeah.

At the end of the ep, everybody ends up wearing a lot of red for some reason... alcohol awareness week school spirit???

Blame It On The Alcohol - Part 2 of 2: The Fellas

Let's start with Mr. Schue, also known as the Man Who Inherited Mr. Rogers' Wardrobe. Seriously he does own a lot of the same stuff.

But it's okay though, because he branches out with different ties and patterned shirts now and then. Also his hair is always immaculate. Obvs.

Here's the vest that Rachel later calls "cute" and "all kinds of awesome," but I will take this opportunity to say that I think it looks kind of big on him. It's boring and it looks kinda boxy. But I like the tie and the checked shirt. Yay, red!

Later, when Will is recovering from his wild outing with bestie, Bieste, he dons some seriously non-hetero shades and a darker palette of clothes. I dig the brown and blue, and he looks really good for being hungover, but those shades have GOT to GO. Let's get you some Ray Bans, Will, mmkay?

So I wanted to give Mike Cheng a little love... but he hasn't gotten over the Bieber/American Apparel product placement with his blue hoodie. However, the blue is great and I am a huge fan of those hoodies -- they're so friggin comfy!

Happy couple. Gag.

And later in the ep, Mike is exquisitely deadpan and totally fly in black and red and severely cool aviators. So fierce.

Our boy Artie continues to break out an extensive collection of interesting windbreakers... are those horses? Or is it weird duck-hunting camouflage? I vote horses in keeping with last week's carousel theme.

Also a really fascinating Navajo print sweatervest...

But mostly I wanted to talk about this absolutely priceless moment at the party where Brittany becomes a stripper (was anyone surprised?) and suddenly Artie is wearing most of her clothes AND throwing dollar bills in the air.

Oh yes, friends. This is what alcohol does to you.

Puckerman is pretty standard in this episode, as is Finn... but I do really enjoy Puck's jacket here. It's standard Midwestern wear, but he looks good.

Now... let's talk about Kurt and Blaine! Kurt's reveal as he removes his dark winter coat at Rachel's party literally made me gasp. It's so Skingraft. It's so McQueen. It's so Lady Gaga's "Alejandro" video. Also I'm pretty sure his black pants are fuzzy.

Meanwhile, Blaine keeps it relatively Gap -- I mean... relatively relaxed... with a striped henley under a red sweater. His gray coat has nice detail on the lapels though. Later on, Kurt goes monochromatic in grays, but always with an interesting combo of textures and fabrics.

The sweater is long and a little chunky (in a good way) and the white Doc Martens add a touch of interest. Atta boy, Kurt!

Mini-Recap: Blame it on the Alcohol

McKinley High has a teenage drinking problem and Figgins wants Glee to solve it. Rachel needs to live in order to write soulful songs, so teenage drinking is the answer. Some people hated this episode, but I quite liked it for a change. Even if it did get a little After School Special on us. The Brittany solo makes up for everything.

Song of the Night: I have to pick just one? It'll be a tie between "Blame it on the alcohol" and the Rachel/Blaine duet of Human League's "Don't you Want Me"

Brittany Bon Mots: "Ke$ha's been a cultural icon for weeks and I want to do her music justice"

Melodramatic Rachel Solo of the Week: actually, no melodrama. Just an awesome ode to her hairbands.

How Sue Sees It: Will should preemptively check into a rehab as he's a future alcoholic.

Best Outfit: Rachel and her adorable scotty dog dress (completely negated by her party dress).

Number of Track Suits: 3

Alyson will have a full recap for you on Friday. Rachel's party dress alone should make this a fun one.