Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Around the World in Two Days

This week on Project Runway:

This week the designers meet with Michael Kors (yay MK is back!), who gives the designers 7 places he has been to and loves. The designers than randomly choose a locale and have to base a look around that locale using $150 from Mood and one day to Make It Work.

The designers are getting closer and closer to the end, and the stress levels are through the roof each week. Unfortunately for the boys, it just hasn’t been their season at all! All 3 of the bottom looks (again) are the boys’ looks.

You know, I never really liked Nina Garcia until she was gone. I know Michael and Nina had problems with being in L.A. because they are based in New York, but sheesh, the show just isn’t the same. There just isn’t that consistency that’s needed. (I know, I know I've said it before)

Christopher is scraping by for the last couple of weeks and this one is no different. His look was Santa Fe. Sky blue? Really? Ugh, where’s the warm oranges, the nice browns, the brightness? His look was so drab. Luckily, he snipped off at least 6 inches off the skirt. With that weird, medium length, he would have been dead for sure.












Logan’s was boring again, and yeah, what is going on with always designing pants week after week? Nina called these “clothes” not fashion. Logan, you are not on Best Clothes Maker show, so get it through your skull-capped head! He got to choose last, and got stuck with Hollywood. Touch break, considering at least half the challenges they've done this far have been Hollywood related. The funny thing about Logan is, is that he does little "twists" to be "edgy" in his look, and what that is for him is usually 3 little chains, or zippers on jeans. Zippers on jeans? How original......












Althea was the only middle of the road designer this week with her St. Tropez look that fit the criteria of the challenge just fine.













The judges went gaga over Carol Hannah’s look and I just don’t know why? This Uli dress got you all in a bunch? Maybe they were dreaming of the season when they had interesting designers who went for it. All of these looks were just “all right”.













Gordana has been hit or miss this season. However, the judges were going for her Park Avenue look this week.

I agree that it fits her locale, so kudos to Gordana.













The winner is Irina this week. Yes, she’s the one we all love to hate this season. She’s beautiful and she’s a good designer, so what can we do? I don’t love those pants, nor the color scheme, but I had to admit, when you put it up against all the other looks on the runway, it was the clear winner. (Oh, and it looks like something she would wear herself, or maybe even has worn)













Oh Ice Queen. I hated to see you go. I was just getting to like you and enjoy your presence on PR. Yes you use white every time, but you stick to what you want. What kills me is that even though his look was not “Greece” AT ALL, at least it had some innovation to it. At least it was a little different. Guest judge Milla Jovovich liked the top and said it would have been amazing as a white dress. Can you imagine that with gold strappy sandals? He would have killed it! Unfortunately, this is not Coulda Shoulda Project Runway.












Auf Weidersehen Nicolas!! It won't be the same without you!

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Sequins, Feathers and Fur, Oh My!

This Week

Bob Mackie, aka Sultan of Sequins, and Tim Gunn tell the designers they get to design a look for the stage with Christina Aguilera. Or, This Season's Drag Queen challenge.

The designers get to sketch amongst the sparkling gowns, $300 at Mood and 2 days. This has to be the most exciting challenge for the designers. This challenge they get to Go Big or Go Home. There should be an amazing runway, with sequins, feathers, fur and color color color!!! Right? We shall see....

Nicolas is in his element this challenge. I'm amazed he didn't die of elation being in the room with that much sequins and Bob Mackie all at once. Quote of the episode: "Irina's actually a really good designer, the only problem with her, is that she's a huge bitch." Yes! You tell 'em sister! I don't know, I was liking Nicolas this episode. They showed his vulnerability, his excitement as a designer and his talent.

In the workroom:

Tim tells Christopher to "slut up" his look. Oh Tim, be careful what you wish for.

He then calls out Nicolas on his look that is deja vu of his winning Ice Queen look. That boy can't work with a fabric that's not white. Why is that?

Tim describes Shirin's look as Guinevere meets Vampira. Ouch.

Onto the Runway.....


Oh yeah, why is Christina Aguilera wearing a Lady Gaga wig? Weird...




Althea's dress was hot, but I guess more red carpet than stage, the train of the dress was long.
She mixed the fabrics well and it fit her model amazingly. Definitely a contender FTW.






















Logan's was cute, but just not exciting. He just really should have been sent home last challenge for that shitastic pants outfit he did. Nina was not impressed with his attempt to be "edgy" with 3 chains on the back of the fur shrug.
The lining is a different color, he says. Big woop! As Mackie said, it was too short for a long dress and vice versa. He also added, short dressed can "go up to the crotch and be fine! Put diamonds on the crotch and you're fine!!!" (Christina's eyes lit up at that by the way.....)

I love the styling he did, but this poor guy just doesn't have the fashion sense needed to go further. Lucky for him, there were 2 worse looks this week.






















Christopher's was a hot mess. He was going for The Big Reveal with a plain black overcoat with big buttons and no specialness. The Big Reveal was what you see below, an ill-fitting, non-matching cheaptastic tranny mess. Although, he did have Christina Aguilera on his mind, probably more so than any other designer.




















I think Christopher might have been saved by Christina this week. His look was abhorred by the judges and Christina seemed to think it wasn't THAT bad...... I think she'd rather wear very little clothes, even bad ones, than too much clothes.




Nicolas' was hot. I think the top could have been more interesting.
However, I think his outfit would really work on a curvier model, or Christina for that matter.






















Gordana's was boring and just wrong. Big booty





















Gordana had much needed immunity this week and Heidi let her know it. This was actually the worst outfit, but she will be around for another week for sure.

Irina's was an ice skating outfit. She should not have been safe, her look was just....lame.





















Carol Hannah went for a black gown, but intertwined different textiles to add to the look.
If I could give Carol Hannah advice, I would say she should get a different model. I don't usually notice too much, but this one is just not adding to the look at all.





















Carol Hannah wins! Take that Irina!



Shirin's dress was a lot going on, with not a lot going on
The judges call it an upscale witch Halloween dress. The fabric was cheap looking and gave unneeded heaviness to the garment.





















We're sorry Shirin, but you're Out. Unfortunately, save for Gordana's, your look was the worst this week. Good call for judges.

Overall, the designers could have gone more amazing. There was a lot of black on the runway, and that's not what usually gets noticed on the stage. Bob Mackie goes balls out when designing for Cher, Madonna and the like. Christina Aguilera is not known for shying away from fashion, so they could have taken more of a risk. Can you imagine Carol Hannah's look in a deep red? Ooohhh.... For that matter, it would have been great if Ra'mon and Epperson were still on and we could have seen what they would have created. But that's Fashion. One week you're In and one week, you're Out.

Auf Weidersehen!

Friday, October 16, 2009

A Fashionable New Beginning

Poor Irina, everyone hates her because she's so fabulous!!! What is she to do?

Hold the phone, what is Heidi wearing? Couture scrubs? Heidi is acting very strange in L.A. No wonder they call it LaLaland.

For this challenge, the designers are given $25 and 1 day to transform a divorcee's old wedding dress into a new look for them. The designers take up all the divorcees that have the most fabric in their hideous dresses.

A few of the designers are clearly getting worn down from the stress. Luckily they have their voice of wisdom in Tim. He tells Christopher he doesn't want the divorcee to look like a cougar! rawr Tim! He helps explain the challenge to Epperson, but apparently not to Logan.

Tim coaches Gordana ftw. Oh, so it's because she didn't have a mantra that the judges hated her before? You go girl!

Oh Tim, what would these crying, frazzled designers do without you!?


How great was Nicolas' divorcee? She was 4' 10" of craziness! Let's keep her! She's been divorced 14 years, cuz no man can handle this much sass! She owned that craziness of an outfit!






















Althea normally has more style than this....
All I can say is, yikes. H to the N on this one. Who wear's this? Just no. She should have been called out for this.





















Carol Hannah's dress was pretty fierce, no? Safe for the judges.

























Poor delusional Christopher. Week after week, he just doesn't quite make it.




















Kors is back and he is NOT impressed. At all.



They were lovin' on Shirin's dress that really wasn't changed much, save for the cute stiching. I think they should see what the "before" dress was, side by side. Although kudos to her for editing and controlling her divorcee on the prowl. Honey was wanting feathers and micro minis and the whole shebang! She thought she was auditioning for CougarTown.
























Logan's dress was making Heidi want to reach for her bier right away. It was making me wanting to get to the toilet to hurl this memory from our brains. What in the hell was he thinking? In a word, "tragedy". And, after looking at last week's photos, it's almost the same as the non-blueness he put out last week, but ill-fitting! No, this man needs to be sent home. Now.





















The judges are drooling all over Irina again. Oh Irina you really ARE so amazing and chic!!! (barf). Although, yeah, this week I agree. It is a nice look.





















Gordana poured her heart into this outfit and the judges finally appreciated her. She understood the challenge the best and got a great overall style for her "new beginning".





















Epperson's dress was pretty bad indeed. And Heidi was not impressed with his misinterpretation of the challenge and Oktoberfest dress. What is with the Oktoberfest Heidi?





















This week was very upsetting to me. I don't feel this was the worst design this week. Yes, it's bad. It's not innovative, it's not flattering, it's not even changed all that much from the original. But there were worse garments than this on the runway, and that's what saves people: other designers that failed more. They called him out for not "understanding" the challenge, but can they say that Logan understood it better? No.

Epperson was a great designer. He should have won the film genre challenge, and he should not have been sent home here. I rest my case.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Ok. So, this season I have been so behind on what's going on. Yes, there's a lot going on for me, but really, it comes down to the show.

I'm not inspired at all.

Week #1 Make a pretty dress with fabric

Week #2 Make a pretty dress with fabric

Week #3 Make a pretty dress with fabric.

And so on and on and nothing really interesting. Don't get me wrong, I think these designers have talent, but the challenges are just. so. boring.

It doesn't help that Michael Kors and Nina Garcia are hardly ever there, so the only consistency in judging is Heidi Klum.....I love Heidi but her reasoning sometimes is just out there. "For me, it's the boobs. They need more umph!"

So this week, the twist was team challenges and.............

Make it Blue.

Make it Blue?

And sellable at Macy's for the I.N.C. line.

But Blue.

Sigh.

This was by far, the lamest challenge ever. The garments that walked down the runway were so boring, I didn't care who won or who lost. But someone's got to get that Auf Weidersehen from Heidi, so here they are:

First Team Althea and Logan. Yeah. Althea is the team leader and it's amazing she got any work done around Mr. Takeshisshirtoffalot Logan. So, wtf is up with their first outfit? Is it even blue? And why that top? No wonder Nicolas hates ruffles. And the second outfit? A slutty work suit? Do they not have time to fit the models anymore? Blue Fail.













































Team Shirin and Carol Hannah are just so adorable and what they make is kinda fun. The first one is very flight attendant-ish but I love the shade of blue they used. It also seems to go with the other look. I know MK is not crazy about leggings, but deal with it! The top is very interesting and I feel like the whole look was styled very smartly down to the shoes. Looks sellable and blue to me!
















































Christopher and Epperson. Oh my. This team was real lucky this week not to get auf'd. They were just so impressed with themselves they could explode! Hey Uncle Tim! We can make a shirt that's also a dress!! Can you believe it? We'd better patent this so we can make all the money! Hey, Epps, what would go well with a shirt dress? I know!!! A shiny dress that's also a shirt over leggings!!! Yay!!!!

Wow. And the shirt dress material is shiny too. What the heck is going on? In the words of Michael Kors, "Didya think those two looks went together? They didn't."













































The winners, by default of lameness, are Team Irina and Gordana. This is the team that's winning and homegirl still throws Gordana under the bus! Meow! We have this season's watered down Kenley folks! I just do not understand the judges going gaga-ga over these two looks. Yeah they fit well, but they are nothing special. But they are sellable. And Blue.














































Oh Dear. Team Louise and Nicolas. Yikes. It was doomed from the beginning, and it didn't help at all that Queen Nicolas had immunity and poor Louise who was almost kicked off last challenge had no confidence. And this is what the poor dear came up with.

A simple dress with cumbersome ruffles all over the front and another simple, but shiny, dress with I don't even know what on the front. A boa? Who even cares at this point. Sorry Louise, but you're out. Hey, I loved your maternity look! Good luck and Auf Weidersehen.



























Friday, October 9, 2009

Lights, Camera, Sew

The designers are going to make a design based on a film genre and create a character based on that genre given: Western, Film Noir, Period Piece, Action Adventure and Science Fiction.

Shirin and Epperson get "stuck" with the Western genre, as no one else wants that. Apparently, they remember the outfit that Leanne made for Korto last season....






















Poor Carol Hannah is distracted by the good looks of Logan, focus girl, focus!
Here is Carol Hannah's (Matrix) Action Adventure look:




















Diggin on the coat and choice of boots. Her and Logan compared notes, and it shows....


Here is Logan's Action Adventure look. Looks like Logan likes to hang out in goth clubs:




















It's hard to tell, but he hid swatches of red to show "blood". Clever....


Ok. Enough is enough. This should have been the winner! Epperson was robbed of the win this time:




















Ruffled jean, leatha, gun holster, oh my!! I don't know if this photo gives it justice, but this was by far the best look overall.


Shirin was also "stuck" with Western, but she went for a saloon girl look, which ended up working for her:






















Irina had immunity. Her film noir look was pretty safe, but the dress and styling were gorgeous. I am not getting the poofy shawl around her(?)





















Althea's film noir look was pretty safe. However, I like that she thinks about the whole outfit, and doesn't always make a dress each time.






















Louise's film noir was very disappointing. I had high hopes for Louise, but for some reason she got stuck on this one:




















Christopher's period piece looks strangely disproportioned from the front:



















But I love the back of it, let's bring bustles back!






















Gordana went another route for her period piece. She tried for a 20's/30's look. Apparently, the fabric she worked with was tricky to sew, but the judges were not impressed with how simply styled it was. While this is not what I think of when I hear "period piece", I would think this design is safe, not bottom rung. What do you think?





















Sci-Fi ended up being the risky choice as it produced the winner and loser. A surprise win for Nicolas and his Ice Queen who wants to rule the universe. What baffled me, was that the judges were so excited how this would look on camera, even though it looked slightly cheap in person. I don't remember that being part of the challenge. So, are they making something to be IN a film or a film inspired piece? Nonetheless, here is the Ice Queen in all her bitchy glory:





















Sorry! I couldn't resist....

Here's the design:





















Ra'mon once again makes a bodysuit outfit and once again wants to scrap his outfit at the last moment. I wonder if he was hoping to get a random inspiration again and win the challenge?





















Sadly, Ra'mon was the one auf'd. His outfit really was terrible. It's strange that he was going to try again to make a shiny bodysuit and then scrap it. Lightning just didn't strike twice, but we will miss you Ra'mon!! And Louise should really thank Ra'mon for going worse, or she would have been Out. Her design wasn't original, wasn't film noir and was poorly designed. Watch out Louise!