Project Runway: All Stars: Gelato

This week our fearless band of contestants were challenged to make a dress inspired by the taste and color of specific gelato flavors. But wait, there's more! They also had to make said runway-ready dress in SIX hours. That is intense. I can sew quickly, but this time frame is panic-inducing. And if the time contraints weren't enough, Diane von Furstenberg was a guest judge. She's kind of a big deal. All you had to do was look at Michael's face to understand how big a deal. (I about died on behalf of Michael when Diane von Furstenberg told him to call her after the show!)  Frankly I was surprised there wasn't more short-fuses or injuries on this challenge. We only saw one quite deadly evil-eye from Austin when he busted Kara "quickly" sewing one thing on the machine he was using.

Bonus: awesome color coordination.

Speaking of Austin, what in the world was he wearing? I'll tell you what he was wearing: an A top with light-wash 90s jeans. What the what? Fashion-wise I can't think of anything good or lasting that came out the 90s, and bringing it back is like stubbing your toe on the shabby chic dresser you wish you never bought. Yikes. But his dress was lovely enough if not a tad on the "vanilla" side. I mean, he picked Vanilla Madagascar, so that's what we got —vanilla.

The judges top two were my top two as well: Michael with Grapefruit and Mondo with Cantaloupe. I'm still waffling over which one was my favorite.

Michael's dress was so beautifully draped and it looked like a billowy dream coming down the runway, but it lost a bit of it's magic when the model was standing still. The built in mini belt at the front was a genius move to increase the wearability of the dress. I loved the effortlessness of the look. I was utterly confused when Isaac said, "There's something about it that is just too on the nose." What does that even mean? Does he not want the designers to make beautiful things that meet all aspects of the challenge?

Mondo's dress had this non-obvious but literal concept or representing an actual cantaloupe. He's so great with color, and the dress had beautiful movement. Because of the loose nature of the silhouette Mondo's dress had the potential to look baggy and frumpy. But it was surprisingly slenderizing because of the way he cleverly blocked the color. Ok, so Mondo's was my favorite. Additionally Mondo's hair looked particularly great this episode, and his pseudo Daisy Mae outfit was hilarious.

I'm glad that April went home with her Blueberry dres. Her designs in her regular season were always on the edge of being a hot mess and All Stars has been no different. If you can't even make an even hem you probably shouldn't be on Project Runway. Them's the breaks.

I'm surprised Rami wasn't in the bottom three. His Kiwi dress (left) was entirely frightening and overwrought. It looks like overly kneaded dough. I would criticize anyone who wore it in public. In fact, the same goes for Anthony's Green Tea dress (right) as well.

The rest? Kenley made a Passion Fruit dress that looked like all her other dresses. It's sweet, but nothing new and nothing special; Jerell made a Fruits of the Forest dress that, as usual, I didn't understand; and Mila made a Milk with Sour Cherries dress that was styled with a too-heavy belt, but was Isaac's favorite. Meh.

Favorite quotes:
"It's so easy a chimpanzee could do it." Michael talking to Jerell about draping. Jerell's face was priceless.

"She looks like a pregnant cupcake." Jerell about Kara's Chocolate and Cayenne Pepper dress. Indeed, Jerell, indeed.