I am back from hiatus!  I really have no excuse for not blogging for over two weeks.  True, I was busy at work and traveling a lot, but I don’t want Fashion Ex Parte to go the way of every exercise resolution I’ve ever made … where one busy streak provides a safe cover to throw in the towel and leave the brand new workout clothes, tags and all, shoved in a ball in the back of my closet.

Alas, the hiatus of my favorite TV show Westworld will not be as short.  New episodes don’t start again until 2018!  Whaaat?!?  Fortunately, I got a little pick-me-up last weekend when I attend the Westworld panel at Paleyfest (http://www.paleycenter.org if you want to learn more).  The creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy were there to talk about the show, along with cast members Evan Rachel Wood (Dolores), Thandie Netwon (Maeve), James Marsden (Teddy), Jimmi Simpson (William) and, last but not least, the always amazing Ed Harris (the Man in Black).

Not surprisingly, there were no hints about next season.  I got the sense that Jonathan Nolan would hack Reddit with a monstrous denial-of-service attack if he could to prevent those who are really quick at figuring out the twists and turns from spoiling it for the rest of us.  Of course, some of the chatter should not have been entirely unexpected … this is Jonathan Nolan we’re talking about, who mastered non-sequential storytelling in 2000’s Memento.

But the twist that the cast talked about at length … and the one that I agree is the most intriguing … is when Maeve discovers that she has been programmed to understand her reality and revolt.  It makes us ask … Is it possible for robots to become sentient and have free will?  How do we know what free will is?  Can we think our choices are our own when, in fact, they are not?  These are questions that concern not just artificial intelligence but what it means to be human, and you can bet they’ll be explored more in next season (although there’s a strong chance science will have caught up by the time “next” season comes).

In the meantime, I’ll make due with watching the show over and over to catch all the little things I missed (frankly, it would be awesome if some enterprising Reddit user re-edited the show in sequential order).  And when I do so, it’s inevitable that I’ll be inspired to try out some techno-Western look.  For example, I saw this Preen by Thornton Bregazzi ruched metallic skirt on Net-a-Porter (http://www.net-a-porter.com) that just screamed Maeve (there’s sort of a saloon-like quality to it), which I paired with an Alexander McQueen leather and faux fur jacket I got from Forward by Elyse Walker (http://www.fwrd.com).  All I was missing was the hat.

Yee-haw!!!