I am going to subtitle this episode "Channel Your Inner Winner," courtesy of the lovely Tim Gunn, because that's what the women designers needed to get through this challenge. All the ladies had emotional breakdowns except Alicia. Yipes. It's got to be so physically and emotionally draining to be on the show. Additionally, I don't know what was going on, but I think the judges were smoking crack in the green room. Some of their comments and opinions were way off as far as I'm concerned, so let's break it down.
The worst design for me came from Alicia. It was truly awful, and it looked like 90s student work, but the judges did not hate it. The fabric looked overworked and under pressed, the silhouette was boring, the neckline was in ill proportion with the dress, and that collar was crumpled and odd. The construction overall was obscene. I just don't know why the judges were all okay with it.
Gunnar's dress was a yawn fest. The judges had this right saying that it's been seen and done.
Only Gunnar and Alicia were in the bottom, but I most certainly would've put Elena in the bottom as well. Much to my dismay the judges put her in the top! When her dress turned the corner, my first reaction was "black garbage bag." The fabric choice for the silhouette was bad, and it looked man-handled and poorly finished. I will admit that the idea of the harness in the back could be rad, but the front didn't work at all. Maybe if it was wasn't floating over the bodice it would be okay, because it wouldn't look like a reverse bra meant to expose rather than support.
For me the top were Christopher, Dmitry, and Sonjia; the judges choices were Christopher, Fabio, Melissa, and Elena.
I didn't put Fabio in the top because I thought his dress was a little boring and I was nonplussed with the proportions of the back halter. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't special.
Melissa didn't make it my top three for three reasons: 1) the asymmetrical bottom of her dress was a hot mess; 2) the dress was incredibly tight; and 3) there's no way that top would stay up for more than a couple of wearings, because the fabric would loosen up and that structure would collapse. That being said, it was a great concept, which I appreciate, but it needed a lot of refining in the detials.
Although Sonjia's dress was not perfect in the finishing area, the rest was great. That peplum detail was an entirely delightful surprise. She got the fullness of the peplum just right so that it added interest, but it didn't overwhelm the dress or add fullness to the figure. The seaming details were also fantastic.
Once again, Dmitry proves himself to be a thoroughly thoughtful designer. It was just too bad that the facet regarding the cost of production was downplayed, because I think that would've made him more of a contender. I don't think Dmitry's dress was perfect, either, but it had some great ideas. The fabric choice didn't lend itself particularly well to the kind of detailing that Dmitry incorporated, and it looked a little tight, but the silhouette and details were great.
But there was no question in my mind or in the judge's minds who the winner should be: my personal front-runner Christopher. I know that he's done that shredding detail before, but the winner of the challenge gets their look produced, and that's his trademark, so he kind of had to go for it. Luckily the dress was gorgeous, so his risk yielded a huge reward. From the color choice, to the silhouette, to the proportions, to the drape of this skirt, I loved this dress. It certainly evoked 40s Hollywood, but in a modern and fresh-looking way. I would buy it.
That leaves Ven out in the cold. He was very nearly in my bottom three, his dress looked matronly and a bit frumpy.
The judges thought there wer "no real implosions" this week, so there were no eliminations. I would have been more than happy to see Alicia or Gunnar go. Maybe double eliminations next week?
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