This is for the birds

At this point in the game, it's like a fashion designer boiling point experiment: How many crazy twists can we put on the designers before they stab each other with their scissors?

It started out birds as inspiration. Good idea to start....

Twist 1: Pairs challenge

Twist 2: Not a pairs challenge, surprise, you're against each other!

Then they added Collier Strong to make it a makeup ad. Not a twist, but duly noted for the designers: styling is going to be a big focal point in the judging. The winning look will actually be in a L'oreal ad AND $20,000! Pretty big deal.

The designers work away on their high fashion look when Twist 3 appears: Not one, but two looks for the runway! Off to sketch and back to Mood they go. Nobody loses their money this time....mmmhmm

As if this wasn't twisty -turny enough, Tim comes BACK again to tell them that Twist 4: "nevermind" they will pick only one look for the runway, and they get to choose which one.

Are you confused yet? sigh. I'm just confused at what came down the runway, but then again they were being jerked around every 2 hours on what they were supposed to be doing!

As for the match ups...

Kimberly vs. Viktor

Kimberly barely made it this round, she had more than a few ups and downs and nervous breakdowns. She also hasn't been on her game for a few weeks, and then getting pitted against Viktor didn't help her self esteem. This week's challenge actually made me sad it wasn't a pairs week, I would have loved to see a collaboration with these two designers! However, this is what we got from the Cockatoo inspiration.

Kimberly's look came at the 11th hour and she ended up snagging the win out of the two. They thought Viktor's was too literal. Perhaps it was, but it did end up being a beautiful gown. I wish all the designers hadn't been so literal with their coloring. I think these were both lovely, but Kim's does have more of the wow factor than Viktor's when you side by side. I know that frustrated Viktor who spent more time on his, but it's really not about how much or how little time was spent. Hopefully this gives Kim the kick in the ass she needs!

Josh vs. Bert

Josh and Bert didn't go super literal with their coloring, but unfortunately they didn't capture any of the joy from their inspiration of the parrot. Josh really does do better when he does a toned down version of his crazy ideas. I wonder if this one went too toned down? It did look better on the runway than in this still. Perhaps he figured if he was going to compete with Bert's simple sophistication he would need to stifle the excess and make something that was a well made current look and hope that Bert continued on his somewhat dated looks he can be known for.

Bert somehow took the fun out of Sweetie the parrot and unfortunately also got the Auf. His look was not current, interesting or had any kind of wow factor. I don't even think it was the coloring that hurt him as the design was a little too prom and just not fun at all.

I think many people were rooting for Bert. Although he seemed to come off as the cranky older man a few times, you could tell deep down he has the know-how to pull off an exquisite runway show, but in the confines of these challenges, he couldn't roll with how fast you have to work and all the twists and turns they kept throwing out. Goodbye Bert, I can't wait to see your decoy runway show.

Anya vs. Laura

Did you see how ecstatic Anya was when she thought she had Laura as a partner and not an enemy? She probably thought she could just come up with the style and Laura would do all the sewing. Luckily for Anya she quickly realized she was going to have to change up her game to compete with someone with more experience than her. These girls had the Raven, which of course would have been my favorite choice. It pains me to admit, but Anya had the better look. Anya went for a more structured look, which is what I would think of with a raven, and it ended up having the feel of a bird, without looking like a bird. I was also very curious about her other look, the fabric was so interesting, I was looking forward to seeing how it was going to turn out.

As for Laura's look, well I don't know if it being too literal was her downfall as just being a bad look. Had this been an amazing jacket or dramatic coat, she could have blown Anya out of the water, but unfortunately the jacket didn't seem the right fit or shape. The feathers around the lapels just looked cheap and with the jacket hitting right there, it makes you focus more on her tight pants. The styling was terrible to boot! Hey Barbie, what the heck are you doing? I thought you were all about sophistication and really well made expensive looking clothes? It just didn't work and she's lucky she didn't get the Auf.

Did anyone watch "After the Runway" I did and wished I hadn't. So I just think Josh is even more of a immature douche and Anya is really just playing the game. Should she have helped Josh when he asked for fabric? It wouldn't be wise to help Josh at all, however isn't it a little hypocritical for her to deny help when she has received so much from others? Or is that everyone else's fault for helping her? I wonder if the other designers knew back then that she would win so many challenges, if they would still help her?