No matter how many seasons air, when the designers have to show a mini part of the final collection, they never show their best or favorite pieces, and the judges always ream them for it. Have the contestants never seen the show? Do they somehow not realize that one of them is probably going to be eliminated before the final runway show? I'm baffled every time, and this week was no exception.
Let me break down what the designers did show in order of worst to best, with the understanding that they all pretty much came out even for me.
Fabio
What I liked:
I liked his color palette, mostly because he was the only one with color. I thought I would hate the tie-dyeing he did, but somehow the incongruity of the tie-dye in relation to his usual aesthetic made me like it. And, shockingly, I liked his weird plastic, Southwest 80s accessories. They tell more about what he meant his collection to be than his clothes.
What I didn't like:
His craftsmanship is subpar, both in stitching and fit. Even though his clothes are supposed to look slouchy, they shouldn't look sloppy, but they do. To me it looks like he doesn't understand or have a relationship with his fabrics. You have to get to know each fabric to understand how it will react to stitching, easing, unpicking, pressing, and more, in order to make a clean-looking garment. Some people have the gift of fabric-whispering, some people acquire the skill through time and attention, and some people never realize they don't understand their fabrics so their craftsmanship will always look sloppy.
Melissa
What I liked:
Maybe I should have put Melissa as the worst, because there's not much that I liked, but I'll keep her in this spot because her craftsmanship is better.
What I didn't like:
Her tank with the shorts was horrific. I don't even have words to describe my horror. On top of that, I feel like we've seen all these pieces from her before. And just imagine what a joy it would have been if she used color in surprising ways. She could have kept her black and white sensibilities, but added a boldly colored lining here or a peek-a-boo of color there. No fuss, no muss, but high-impact touches. C'est la vie. Also, the wigs she chose made puppies weep. Awful.
Dmitry
What I liked:
I'm always raving about Dmitry's craftsmanship, and this showing was no different. He also showed a nice mix of hard, structural pieces and soft, feminine touches, which he aptly described as "flowing architecture."
What I didn't like:
That being said, I hated his sheer tops. I get it for runway, but they're not good for much else. Also the judges were spot-on about him putting so many "special" pieces together that their specialness gets lost in fussiness. His fringe-sleeved jacked was certainly lost, and I might like it better if it was shown with more simple pieces. Warning! Sweeping generalization to follow. In my experience, Eastern Europeans tend to style themselves and others as wealthy, middle-aged women from the 80s, and Dmitry was no exception with his models.
Christopher
What I liked:
I loved the x-ray fabric. Sure, it was literal on it's own, but in the garments it became an interesting, unique fabric. I also loved the bleach-treated leather, and now I'd like to own a bleach-treated leather something or other.
What I didn't like:
I was thoroughly disappointed that not only did he have two pair of leather short shorts in his 10 looks collection, but he showed both pair in his three looks collection. And on top of that, one of the outfits was put together and styled so poorly, that it was a weird, boring, 90s look.
I hope all the designers take the judges' advice and really change and amp up their styling. If the styling is great, it will certainly create more impact for each collection.
Lastly, I'm so pleased that all these designers get along and are kind to each other. I know it's reality TV, but I just want the fashions (and more Tim Gunn), and amicability lets fashion stay in the forefront.
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