Project Runway Judge Ken Downing: "It's All Been Done Before"

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Comedy writer Bonnie Datt once bought a chainmail vest "for clubbing"—a purchase she later came to lament, once she realized that chainmail wasn't particularly slimming. Inspired by this, she now spends her spare time asking famous people to dish about purchases which they initially loved—but ended up regretting, for Buyer's Remorse.

If you watched Project Runway All Stars, then you know special guest judge, Neiman Marcus Buyer and Fashion Director, Ken Downing. The Fashion Week front row denizen is so tall and striking that when we first spotted him at a show, we thought he should be walking the runway instead of just watching it. We were curious to know what America's most famous buyer could possibly have Buyer's Remorse about. For Ken it wasn't actually about something he bought.

Racked: Ken what have you had Buyer's Remorse about?

Ken Downing: I'm a Virgo, so I'm very methodical and I generally like to pride myself on the idea that I make the right decisions about what I bought and what I led my team to buy. I have the eyes of an editor so it's easy to remove things I don't want to remember in my mind. So I'm always moving forward. Personally, I can't think of anything I've ever bought that I didn't love the moment I bought it. Otherwise I wouldn't have bought it.

Racked: What about when you were young?

Ken Downing: Well, maybe the purple hair that I had after doing a hair show. I might have been a little remorseful about that. I was modeling and I got a hair modeling job and half of my head went purple while the other half went platinum blonde.

I was probably nineteen years old. And growing up in Seattle with half a purple head and half a platinum head was probably not as well received as it would have been today. So anyone who has colored hair who thinks that they're like super cool and on the edge, it's all been done before. Yes, my purple hair is probably what I'm most remorseful of. This wasn't temporary color either. It was permanent and there a long time.

(Bonus: For Project Runway All Stars winner Mondo Guerra's Buyer's Remorse, go here.)

· All Buyer's Remorse Posts [Racked]