History Recap / MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E14SuitedForSuccess

* [[EveryGirlIsCuterWithHairDecs Every Filly is Cuter with Hair Decs]]: Each one of the dresses includes some sort of NiceHat, hair clip, or crown. The reject dresses have their own hair decs, but they're ''not'' so cute.

* DamnedByFaintPraise: Rarity's friends' reaction to the original designs is... tepid. "They sure are.. um.. something." "..it's.. nice."

** Although they do mention "decent budget" for their dresses, so it probably was not the case.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Hoity Toity is an impression of Karl Lagerfeld, down to Lagerfelds signature fan as his cutie mark.
** But with the voice of [[ProjectRunway Tim Gunn]] and the snarkiness of [[ProjectRunway Michael Kors.]]
* [[NewspaperComicEffects Plewds]]: Rarity emits these (flying sweat drops from the head) when noticing Opalescence stranded in a tree.

Her friends are initially grateful and excited... [[HypeBacklash too excited]], as it turns out, for when they see the dresses Rarity's made for them, they're not quite satisfied with them. Rarity, ever the giving sort, tries to give her friends exactly the dresses they want, ever though their tacky, overly-critical, or vague suggestions result in ridiculous creations that strain her artistic sensibilities. To make matters worse, Spike informs Rarity that the famous fashion critic Hoity Toity will be coming in from Canterlot to attend the fashion show.

Needless to say, the show is a disaster, and Hoity Toity's scathing criticism of the redone dresses leaves Rarity utterly humiliated, driving her to lock herself in her room for days and wallow in "whatever it is ponies are supposed to wallow in." Feeling guilty, Rarity's friends manage to cook up a scheme to cheer her up: first, they put Fluttershy's knowledge of sewing to use putting the finishing touches on Rarity's Gala dress, then trick her out of her room long enough to show it to her.

At least Rarity's learned that you can't please everypony, and her friends have learned not to look a gift horse (or [[JustForPun a horse's gift]]) in the mouth.

** In their defense, it worked.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: The groups' attempt to get the dresses made exactly how they want them nearly ''destroy Rarity's career!''

-->'''Twilight Sparkle:''' Now what do we do?
-->'''Fluttershy:''' Uh...Panic?
-->'''Rainbow Dash:''' That's your answer for everything!

[[caption-width-right:350:The customares are ''not'' always right.]]

* WorkingTitle: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=felKK7Es6c0 According to one of the animators]], [[WhatCouldHaveBeen the episode was originally titled "Dress for Failure]]", which was deemed too pessimistic.

* [[{{Ptitle1b1m5fiycpie}} Chekov's Skill]]: Rarity forcing Fluttershy to tell her honest feelings about her dress sets up Fluttershy to have a surprising well of technical sewing knowledge that comes in handy later.

-->'''Twilight Sparkle''': She only has ''one'' cat.\\
'''Pinkie Pie''': Give her time...

-->'''Fluttershy''': All right, since you ''really'' want to know, [''[[MotorMouth deep breath]]''] the armscye's tight, the middy collar doesn't go with the shawl lapel, the hems are clearly ''machine'' stitched, the pleats are uneven, the fabric looks like toile, you used a backstitch here when it clearly called for a topstitch or maybe a traditional blanket stitch, and the overall design is reminiscent of ''prêt-à-porter'' and not true French ''haute couture''.\\
'''Rarity''': [''[[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotHeinous gasp]]'']\\
'''Fluttershy''': But, uh, you know, um, whatever you want to do is fine...\\
'''Rarity''': [''Stunned silence'']

-->'''Applejack''': So... all you have to do is make a different, stunning, original, amazing outfit for (counts) one-two-three-four-five plus yourself... SIX ponies, lickety split?\\
'''Rarity''': (confident laugh) Ohohoho Applejack... you make it sound like as if it's going to be hard.

* WorkingTitle: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=felKK7Es6c0 According to one of the animators]], [[WhatCouldHaveBeen the episode was originally titled "Dress for Failure]]", which was deemed too pessimistic.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Hoity Toity is an impression of Karl Lagerfeld.

* SatireParodyPastiche: A good example about the difference in that this episode seems to be intended as a ''satire'' of ExecutiveMeddling (criticising it with the use of a fictional example) while doing a ''parody'' of fashion shows (imitating them mockingly). And the scene that is parody is also one part of how the satire is realised in practice.

* SatireParodyPastiche: A good example about the difference in that this episode seems to be ''satire'' about ExecutiveMeddling (criticising it with the use of a fictional example) while doing a ''parody'' of fashion shows ("Look at how silly this looks.") And the scene that is parody is also one part of how the satire is realised in practice.

* FashionShow: [=FiM=] is noteworthy for making an episode about a fashion show into a ''satire'' of the fashion industry (also seen in [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E20GreenIsntYourColor "Green Isn't Your Color"]]), instead of having it look like a bunch of children playing dress-up.

* MadnessMakeover: Rarity's mane becomes progressively messier the more stressed-out she gets.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Hoity Toity speaks with a sterotypical WASP tone, and sounds like Jim Backus. He's meant to be an impression of Karl Lagerfeld.