Real Housewives reunions are always known to bring the drama. But this season’s Orange County reunion was dramatic for a different reason than anyone expected.
Production was delayed for the long-awaited reunion because the dress that Shannon Beador commissioned from Project Runway designer Bones Jones ended up being a total fashion faux pas. An insider called the custom gown a “complete mess.”
Members of the Bravo team rushed to get Shannon a dress to wear for the reunion, but the delay, and the process of finding a suitable dress to wear, turned into a massive headache for everyone involved.
What went wrong with Shannon’s dress?
Shannon hired Project Runway designer, Bones Jones, to design her reunion dress after connecting with him as a guest model on the fashion competition series. She and Bones formed a relationship while on the show, and she wanted to support his career and give him a larger platform to showcase his talent.
It has been reported that Shannon paid for Bones’ trip, hotel, and took him to a nice dinner to celebrate. But on reunion day, the designer showed up with an unfinished garment.
An insider told Page Six that the dress Bones designed was an awful color, a “horrific yellow.” The material had no give and showed every imperfection on Shannon’s newly slimmed-down body. The gown draped in a way that would have accentuated Shannon’s midsection, which was an area she openly said she felt very self-conscious about.
“It was one of the ugliest reunion dresses,” the source said. “Nothing was finished, the hem was fraying everywhere.”
Sources told Page Six that Bones did very little to remedy the situation, leaving Shannon out thousands of dollars and nothing to show for it. Producers let Shannon know that the dress made by Bones was a no-go, so the Bravo village scrambled to find an alternative.
A crew member went to Shannon’s home to find some dresses she owned that might work, and another went to a store near the studio where they were filming and ended up with the gorgeous off-the-rack pink Alice + Olivia sequin mini dress Shannon ended up wearing, and she wore it beautifully.
Bones and Shannon both responded to the dress fiasco
In an interview, Shannon expressed her disappointment but stayed classy as usual, saying, “I wanted to support new talent, and I wanted him to succeed, but he tried something new, and unfortunately, it didn’t work.” On Bravo Insider, she was not able to list Bones as a designer, but she did give him styling credit.
Since the story of the incident broke, Bones commented that he only had two days to make the dress and only received three measurements from Shannon to complete the project. He said he did have a vision for his creation but was disappointed that it didn’t turn out as planned. He also expressed how grateful he was to Shannon for the experience of working with her and hoped to team up with her again in the future.
Shannon has not spoken on the incident further, and Bones claimed on Instagram Live Monday night that the two have yet to speak.
The Real Housewives of Orange County airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on Bravo.