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Name: Zuleyka Rivera -Country: Puerto Rico -Pageant Joined: Miss Universe 2006 -Photo Credits: All photos are copyright to its rightful owners.
JANUARY: I returned to designing my line, Nikolaki, in Los Angeles as well as teaching at FIDM, just as it was before I did the show. My season was in full swing and featured my favorite episode, "All Dolled Up". Much to the delight of my unsuspecting friends and family, I win this challenge which concludes with having a "My Scene Barbie" with my name, sold at Toys 'R' Us across the nation as well as on EBay! My second favorite episode, the "Nicky Hilton Challenge", also was shown during this time, and soon afterwards, I am designing a red carpet gown for "Desperate Housewives" actress, Brenda Strong for the Screen Actor's Guild Awards (SAG). The violet-colored bias-cut silk charmeuese gown subsequently ends up in several "Best Dresses of 2006 Awards Season", much to my delight..jpg)
FEBRUARY: A sad, yet exciting month for me. I was "Auf'ed" from Season Two of "Project Runway". I remember it as if it was yesterday: I was actually filming the "Reunion Episode" in New York the night my final episode aired. My cell phone was vibrating non-stop as I sat patiently answering questions from the unflappable Tim Gunn and the gorgeous Heidi Klum. All I wanted to do was hide under a Manhattan rock and go hibernate.
All that changed when I received a phone call from NBC and Bravo executives, asking me if I would like to fly to Torino, Italy to do a "fashion segment" on the Olympic Figure Skating Costumes. Needless to say, after I hung up, I ran around my studio like a "chicken with its head cut off", from the excitement. I flew to Italy and spent two weeks filming 2 seperate segments for NBC and USA Networks as well as enjoyed some "down time" visiting cities such as Milan for some shopping, of course.
Towards the latter part of this month, I was also asked to participate in the Chicago Casting/Judging for Season 3 of "Project Runway". From that casting, we picked Kayne Gillespie, who went on to become a "fan favorite".
MARCH: The highlight of this month was when I was asked to design the "Awareness Green Ribbon/Pin" for the Latin Billboard Awards , and its sponsor, Heineken for the Celia Cruz Foundation. And I got a trip to Miami and South Beach, to boot. Last year, Cuban-American designer, Narciso Rodriguez designed the ribbons . 
I designed two separate ribbons: A "Bling-Bling" one, featuring a sterling silver pin, with emerald-colored Swarovski crystals, which was worn by Latin-fusion band, Ozomatli. The simpler one, which was worn by all the artists attending the award show, was made of green satin with a red star, simulating the Heineken logo.
JUNE: Frontier's Magazine, a Southern California publication geared to the LGBT community signed me on as their "Style Guy". I began writing bi-monthly articles "for the gay guy", on everything from "Femme Is In", to "Why You Should Not Wear Black To A Commitment Ceremony". I would soon be writing a lot more.
JULY: Season 3 of "Project Runway" had just debuted and I got a call from People Magazine to write a weekly blog for their sister website, People.com. I began giving my funny yet insightful take on each week's episodes in a blog titled, "The Inside Dish With Nick Verreos". Soon afterward, Bravotv.com asked me to have these recaps be featured in their site as well. They were so well received that I consequently signed on to do a bi-monthly blog on their "Fashion Forward" section. I was glad to discover that I loved writing but at the same time, was surprised at the amount of time (HOURS!) a seemingly simple 500-word article can take. Needless to say, I have newfound respect for writers and bloggers alike.
July was also "Pageant Month" for me. I designed the gown that "Access Hollywood's" Nancy O'Dell wore to host the "Miss Universe Pageant" in Los Angeles. The gown was a black paillete-embroidered lace over baby-blue silk, in a "High-low" silhouette, featuring that one detail everyone makes fun of me for: The Fishtail Hem. I also designed the canary-yellow silk charmeuse dress that Tamiko Nash, "Miss California" and Tara Conner's ("Miss USA") First Runner Up, as well as a navy-and-white flower print gown for Brook Lee who was "Miss Universe 1997". I dubbed it my "Miss Universe" coup of dresses.
To cap this busy month, I debuted my line, Nikolaki, at Emmett McCarthy's fabulous Nolita boutique, EMc2, along with Season 2 alumni designers, winner Chloe Dao and Kara Janx and made a trip to Seattle, Washington to attend and host the Student Finale Show for that city's International Academy of Design and Technology(IADT).
Soon afterwards, I flew to San Francisco to actually present the "Outstanding Spanish-Language Newspaper Article" Award at that city's GLAAD Media Awards, hosted by Meghan Mullally and Carson Kressley. I also flew to Chicago to host a wonderful and successful fundraiser and fashion show for the ALMA Foundation. Since then, I have also made appearances and presentations for various other worthwhile foundations such as the Trevor Project and the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center, hopefully bringing attention and showcasing the positive work they do.
In September, I went back to New York City for NY Olympus Fashion Week, to attend the "Project Runway" Finale Fashion Show as well as Jay McCarroll's debut at the tents. I took advantage of my time in NY by joining Emmett, Chloe, Tim and other "Project Runway" designers in another successful Trunk Show and shopping event at Nolita's EMc2.
October was also the month of Los Angeles Fashion Week and in lieu of showing my line(I had previously three years ago had my fashion show at the Smashbox Fashion Week tents), I co-hosted(along with actress Garcelle Beauvais) the "GenArt Fresh Faces In Fashion" at the Santa Monica Airport's Barker Hanger. I also received the honor to present the West Coast Director of GenArt an award for excellence at the second annual Los Angeles Fashion Awards.
Finally, I thought, every 16-18 year-old girl all over the country can get a piece of "Uncle Nick" at a fraction of my typical $2000 Red Carpet Gown price. The exclusive collection will be launched in early 2007 and sold in all their 50+ stores as well as on their windsorstore.com website.
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HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!
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Along with the rest of the nation, I was absolutely enthralled by all the recent drama involving the rumored de-throning of the beautiful Tara Conner, "Miss USA 2006". All those fabulous TMZ.com articles and the headlines "MESS USA" and "Tara: The new Paris Hilton" had me and my pageant-loving friends hanging by the last rhinestone-studded thread! Remembering how pretty she looked in Kayne Gillespie's "Project Runway"-winning gown in the "Miss Universe" contest earlier this year, made me think if somehow if she was stripped of her title, would they take Kayne's gown too? Or would Kayne get to keep it and have it in a glass-encased window in his boutique. 
It was also nail-biting for another reason. It just happens to be that my sister, Rita Verreos, (on the left, in a red top) herself a former "Miss Venezuela" contestant, is a pageant coach, who actually trained Tamiko Nash, "Miss California " to prepare for the "Miss USA" contest. Tamiko went on to become First Runner Up, and two days ago was awaiting word of whether or not she would have to get on a plane to New York City..JPG)
I met Tamiko through my sister, when we were all invited to attend the "Miss Universe" contest , held at the Shrine Auditorium here in Los Angeles. Here is a photo of myself and Tamiko, wearing one of my original designs, a canary yellow silk asymmetrical dress. Tamiko was an absolute dream when she came to my studio and tried on all these gowns and dresses, finally choosing this one. She already has starred in some programs and was one of the models in "Deal or No Deal" . It looks like Tamiko is doing great things despite the fact that she is not on a plane to New York to finish out the year as "Miss USA".
I remembered that I had not done my recap for my November visit to the University of Kansas "Project Runway"-themed contest. It's the least I could do, especially since I promised the wonderfully talented students that I would put up some of their photos on my blog as a "Thank You" for the invitation and allowing to enjoy the great show in a cold Kansas Autumn night.
I spoke about my experience in fashion, how I got into it as well as what inspired me. I also spoke at length about subjects ranging from what classes to take, what to study, as well as reminded the students to take business courses, since after all, the fashion industry is a business. A Q & A session followed with many students asking me about the show. In fact if my memory serves me correctly, the first question involved Santino and whether or not he was "a nice guy" and if we"re still friends. I laughed since I just spoke for about an hour about fashion and how to get into it and about what kind of education one should pursue, yet all these kids wanted to know was dish on "Project Runway". I treated them to some "Inside Dish" (as much as my contract allows) and then the contest fashion show began showcasing designs from the 8 student finalists.
The contest involved putting the eight contestants through three seperate rounds to create outfits from scratch on budgets of $40 or less. There was a "Muslin Challenge" like our first challenge in Season Two, a "Make an outfit from what you find in a Thrift Store with $25", and finally a "Make an evening gown with just $40 for fabric". I did double-duty, not only as the "featured speaker" but I was also one of the esteemed judges who would decide the fate of these finalists. I was surprised to see such amazing talent and refined fashion, especially from a non-fashion school. After all ,KU does not really have a Fashion Design program. I have judged other "Final Shows" in actual fashion design schools and what I saw at KU was even better than those at times!
The overall winner was the pretty Julee Kessinger, a senior and a dead-ringer for being the next "Miss Kansas". Her designs were contemporary, beautifully sewn and most of all, I could see her pieces in a store anywhere across the US. Sometimes, student designers forget about the customer and that, eventually, someone has to wear it and not look like a fool. 
Students sometimes get overtly creative and end up with a costume and not an actual wearable garment. However, these students hit all the right marks. I had a great time and I commend the students and the Student Activities Union for inviting into their wonderful campus and making me feel at home. 
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On December 1st, I was honored to be asked to participate in the First Annual Bow Wow Beverly Hills Event. Two Rodeo and Tiffany & Co launched this event to promote and help support pet adoption during the Holiday Season in Beverly Hills.
Besides myself, I was excited to be joined by other runway doggie-walkers Jane Wiedlin, from The Go-Go's. I just kept thinking to myself that I couldn't believe that I was in a doggie fashion show with one of my favorite musicians of all time! I embarassed myself by telling her what a big fan of hers I was and how The Go-Go's were one of the first bands I ever jumped up and down for at a High School dance to. She then expressed to me what a huge fan of "Project Runway" she was and how she was excited to meet me as well! Jane's puppy was this large excited dog that kept trying to cause trouble with all the other puppies. 
Before we all could even take our final bow, I got word that MY Brusier had already found a home, and a new Daddy. The handsome and equally stylish, Craig Donahue, director of PR for the event fell in love with Bruiser just as quickly as I did, but he put his money where his heart was! Craig has now asked David and I to be his Godparents. Uh oh, does that mean I have to buy him some Zegna silk bow ties every year on his Birthday?
Name: Tatana Kucharova -Country: Czech Republic -Pageant Joined: Miss World 2006- Winner -Photo Credit: All photos are copyright to its rightful owners.
Continuing on with the Victoria's Secret theme, I was ready to call it a night and tuned in to watch Jimmy Kimmel Live after the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show and was surprised to see myself! Jimmy's funny "parking security guard" was, I guess also backstage and doing his own "pink carpet" coverage and well, you guys will see...I thought it was cute and funny. Thank God they compared me to Cleto and not Guillermo!
In the spirit of tonight's airing of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, I thought I would do a little catch up and give my "Behind the Scenes" Blog to accompany my video that was posted on bravotv.com and now here.
I showed up, in my pink polo shirt ready for my assignment. I was to ask the girls just one question: “What is in your lingerie drawer?” Before, I could say “Joe Boxer”; I was whisked to a private room in back of the Renaissance Hotel, next to the Kodak Theater where the models were preparing for the show. Immediately, I run into Karolina Kurkova. I just love pronouncing her name. I feel like a Russian ballet instructor every time I say it. I had met Karolina at another Victoria’s Secret event and she recognized me. We chatted and even did some “dirty dancing” while singing “Sexy Back”.
Once inside the hallowed chambers of the make-up and hair room, I almost felt numb. It was a fantasy come true. From my participation on Season 2 of Project Runway, it was obvious that I adore models. They are, as I said, my muses. Imagine, for me, not just being in a room with models, but with Supermodels. Gisele Bundchen, fellow Brazilian, Adriana Lima, exotic Oluchi Onweagba, they were all there getting ready. I didn’t know what to do other than to want to do a “model walk off” with them. I could not, of course for obvious reasons, notwithstanding the fact that they were busy getting their rollers, hair extensions, and fake eyelashes on,but more importantly, I am certain that there are public decency laws in California that prevent me from wearing Victoria's Secret Pink Panties.
The show began with a hot performance by Justin Timberlake. Now, I must admit that I liked Justin’s music but was not always a “fan”. I have always been more of a Jay Kay of Jamiroquai fan. He has been MY Justin when Justin was still in High School! However, after seeing Mr. Timberlake in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show performing several of his songs live and dancing his little booty off, well, I was ready to get my “Justin” membership card. I became a 14 year old girl in an instant, screaming and yelling. While seeing the Godesses of Ubermodels work the Swarovski crystal runway, one quickly figures out why these divine creatures make the money they make. They are worth every Euro, or Brazilian Real.
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