Project Runway: Finale, Part II

"Finale, Part I" must have been highly edited, because my expectations for the fashions I'd see for "Finale, Part II" were in the subbasement. But I think this was one of the best showings on a Project Runway finale, partly because each designer had a strong showing on some level, and partly because I agreed with the judges' assessments.

I will only post the best of from each collection, not all 40 looks, but you can see all 40 HERE.

Generally speaking no one had a 100% satisfactory collection, but some were more success than others.  As is my wont, I will break it down from worst to best.

Melissa
With Melissa I simply felt like I've seen all of her stuff before. I thought her new "blood orange" dress looked almost exactly like one she did for a challenge. (I think it was brown.) Also her long white dress was horrific. All she had to do was split one of the seams for a slit; it wouldn't have been a perfect fix, but it would have been far less embarrassing. For me her two best pieces were her white asymmetrical dress, and a simple black dress with the surprise of a white halter in the back. I also liked the mohawk chignons.

Christopher
Sadly Christopher just couldn't make it come together. Again, I loved his x-ray print and splattered leather, but the judges spoke truth about the lack of cohesion in Christopher's collection. I think he focused on showing everything in his repertoire instead of editing for cohesion. He had some great pieces though. I liked his odd, shiny leather jacket, the craggy front opening was especially interesting; the blue, slashed fabric jacket, although it didn't fit into the collection; and his finale dress, which isn't shockingly new, but I thought the train had an interesting, structured yet fluid shape.

Fabio
Fabio and Dmitry sized up almost equally, which shocked me. I never connected with Fabio's point of view during the season, and I can't see myself ever wearing any of his pieces, but he made a strong collection. It was cohesive, it was true to Fabio yet unexpected, it was light and fluid, and it felt fresh. And I have to hand it to him, he really listened to the judges and tweaked his collection just enough to make it look sophisticated and expensive. (Most importantly he hid all his bad craftsmanship.) I liked this little white dress the best. It had a slouchy, freehand sort of drape, but it looked easy to wear and flattering.

Dmitry
I'm pleased as punch that Dmitry won. He worked hard, stayed calm, listened to the judges, has enough craftsmanship to choke a horse, kept cohesion, and ultimately made a strong collection. I certainly didn't love all his pieces--I still hate the mesh tops and I kind of hate those fringe sleeves--but overall it was good. My favorite piece was the black origami bodice dress. It was visually interesting and it looked easily wearable. I also liked his fringed geometric dress and the finale gown, even though both were borderline ballroom. I especially loved the top of the ball gown; the neckline is perfection. Congratulations, Dmitry!

A fond farewell to season 10, you were a good one, and a warm welcome to the start of All Stars next week! The contestants I'm most excited about are my beloved Anthony Ryan, Emilio, and Uli. See all the All Stars HERE.

Project Runway: "Starving Artist"

This week's episode of Project Runway was another episode dedicated to reenacting the nightmares of an introvert (me). Meaning the designers had to decorate T-shirts and aggressively sell them or otherwise beg for money on the streets of New York in order to get their Mood spending money for the challenge. If you remember during All Stars, the designers had to ask strangers for the clothes off their backs, which is infinitely worse. At least this time around the designers worked in groups of three and they actually had something to offer in exchange for money.

Here's how the teams and cash stacked up:

Team 1
Christopher
Sonjia
Gunnar
$684

Team 2
Dmitry
Elena
Alicia
$500

Team 3
Ven
Melissa
Fabio
$800.48

The actual challenge (which had nothing to do with the title) was for each team of three to design two fall looks, and at least one look had to include outerwear. Fall is my favorite time of year, season and clothes-wise, so I was excited to see what the designers came up with.

I was also scared of the drama that would inevitably happen around Elena and the potential bearing of fangs between Gunnar and Christopher. Of course Elena was her usual hot mess of roller coaster emotions, but surprisingly Gunnar and Christopher were not only civil, but there was zero drama, and maybe even a little kindness. I was rather proud of Christopher for acknowledging on the runway the great dresses Gunnar made. It's not an easy thing to swallow your pride or your dislike of someone and genuinely compliment and appreciate their work.

It was as clear to me as it was to the judges that Team 1 did the best work in the challenge. Gunnar's dresses were both surprisingly fantastic, excepting that the hem on the longer one was stretched out, poorly finished, and should have been about two inches shorter, hitting at mid-calf.

I thought I would hate Christopher's modified trench, but it turned out good enough. I especially enjoyed the asymmetrical collar, but I would never buy a coat without sleeves no matter how interesting it is on the runway.

The pièce de résistance of the whole evening was Sonjia's green jacket. I loved it and I would buy it in a heartbeat (but only if it had long sleeves, not three-quarter). It was interesting and unique, yet there was nothing impractical about it. I also love asymmetry, so it was an all around win for me, and for Sonjia since she won the challenge!

The judges put both of the other teams on notice for doing a poor job, but since there was the most discord in Team 2, I knew that they would have the worst collection. That's always the way it is, because discord in a team is inevitably reflected in the designs. And as guest judge Anna Sui said, "It's always a team that makes a collection." A designer never does it alone. Ever. I didn't love anything in their collection, but Dmitry's dress was the best piece, if nothing else because it was the most well-made.

Elena's coat was so terribly man-handled. It needed either more or less structure, but instead it sagged in some awful between space. Additionally it could have used a very thorough press. Seriously y'all, pressing is arguably the most important thing when you sew. Press as you go, press and press when you finish. It makes a huge amount of difference in the sharpness and quality of a finished product.

Alicia finally went home for creating yet more snooze-fest garments. It was inevitable, because she never once took any risks or did anything beyond basic. (I do wish Elena would've gone home, but she'll be there soon.) I thought Michael Kors had a rare deep moment when he told Alicia that the detailing she added on her shirt was "intellectual with no purpose." That's a pretty good line for a lot of situations.

Team 3 made a mostly forgettable collection that looked the cheapest even though they raised the most money. I actually liked a lot about the first look. I didn't think the skirt was as matronly or frumpy as the judges suggested. I think the only problem of the skirt was that it was too long for the amount of fullness, so it visually weighed down the outfit. But cut four inches off that bad boy to just below the knee, and it's a fun retro-inspired skirt with a lot of great movement. The skirt also needed to be paired with a shirt and tucked in so that you can see the detail at the top. Melissa's jacket was the best piece in the collection, even if the collar was a little too high for my taste. I also liked the matching socks. I don't know why, but I do.

The knit tees that Fabio made were terrible. It had a lot to do with the fact that the knit fabric choice was terrible. Not only that, but his coat was so poorly made. Who makes a stand collar or front facing with a fall-weight fabric without putting in any sort of interfacing? Answer: No one in their right mind. He didn't necessarily need a stiff interfacing, but he needed something to provide stability and sharpness in the finishing touches. And the buttons were extremely pedestrian and boring. Some big funky buttons or colored buttons could've really worked on that jacket. Maybe in the pink color of the T-shirts? Fabio certainly dodged a bullet this week.

I'm so excited to see Mondo next week! He will always be one of my favorite Project Runway contestants.

Project Runway: "Fix My Friend"

First, I think the title of this episode is terrible. I know they were going for alliteration, but it's a little bit insulting as a makeover theme. I don't think the participants had to be "fixed," they just wanted and needed help and direction with their personal aesthetics. Mini, not-all-that-angry rant done.

There was a lot of great fashion off the runway in this episode. Tim's opening outfit was to die for. Blue gingham, blue pinstripe suit, and a red tie with a matching pocket square. He's always so classy. I also thought Heidi's striped dress that she wore to the runway was an easy, modern nautical look. I don't always love what she wears, but that dress was great. And lastly I thought the guest judge, designer Alice Temperly, wore an amazing dress. The embroidery coupled with the structured style lines of the bodice is a tough combo, but this dress was impeccably balanced.

Now to the main event!

The challenge this week was to design for a non-model body within the parameters of a makeover. The non-model challenge always has one or two whiner-babies that talk about how their client's body is "the worst." Cue Ven. He not only complained about his model, he made many of his complaints in front of his model and made her feel like garbage. Doesn't he know any women? I mean, he must have had a mother or a sister or knew women in school or something. During the first part of the season I thought Ven was just quiet and doing his own thing, now I realize he was quiet because he wanted to keep the fact that he's a huge jerk hidden as long as possible. Just based on his basic lack of decency I wanted him to go home. No such luck. His look was justifiably in the bottom three. He didn't care about his model and it shows. Just look at it and you tell me if you would ever wear that to the office.

The judges put Sonjia in the bottom three, and while her dress was far too short and not quite right for her model, I thought Alicia's dress was certainly worse. How do I put this...Alicia's pink dress looked like it belonged to a sweet-tempered hooker. You know I'm right.

Nathan rounded out the bottom with an over wrought, over designed, and poorly executed dress that involved no taste level. It's really too bad that he didn't design within his aesthetic for his client, because I think Nathan had/has potential. On the plus side, I loved his black shirt with the white rounded collar and wee white suspenders he wore for runway day. Plus what a tender heart, right?

I understand why the judges put Gunnar's dress in the top three; the design was completely appropriate for the client's age, personality, and body type. However the execution was absolutely terrible. I had little conniptions every time they showed a close up of that bodice. It squished his client's boobs, it puckered in some places, and there was too much fabric in the hollow between the shoulder and the boobs.

I might be falling in love with Dmitry a little bit. He's so wry. He's also a spectacularly thoughtful and smart designer. That coupled with his incredible construction skills should make him unstoppable. In theory. That being said, I didn't love his dress. It was nice and well executed, but there just wasn't much that was special about it. I thought his client could have benefited with some shape wear and a little extra length in the skirt. Also I didn't like his client's hair.

But the winner, oh the winner! Fabio's dress was pretty much my dream come true. As soon as I saw it during the fitting on his client, I knew in my bones that it would be fantastic and that it would win. Then when it turned the corner, I emitted squeals of absolute delight. I would buy this. I would wear this. I would try not to wear this every day. I love the pieced graphic he created, the color choice, and the silhouette. I even adored his model's hair enough to contemplate growing out my hipster boy cut. Och. It's the most excited I've been about a design from Project Runway in a long time.

Project Runway: There Is No "I" in Project Runway

This episode stressed me out. A lot. Elena is so abrasive and loud and abusive. I mean, Raul and Gunnar were also terrible, but they looked like wee cherubs compared to Elena. (Well except at the end when Raul told everyone to basically sabotage Elena off the show.) I just want to talk about that fashions and the skills. Is that okay with everyone? Yes? Good. Done.

This week was the two team challenge. The teams were designing capsule (very small) collections for the newest spinoff of Marie Claire called Marie Clair at Work. The clothes had to both work editorially and in the real world. This challenge felt similar to last week's challenge, actually, except that the designers had to attempt to make aesthetics (and personalities) mesh into something cohesive. 

Since two people left the show last week, the number of designers was uneven, so one team had six designers and created six looks, and the other had five designers and created five looks.

Team Five

Team Five included Christopher, Ven, Nathan, Fabio, and Gunnar. In their approach they each designed and created one entire look, yet they consulted and advised each other (kind of) in order to make the collection cohesive. They originally chose an awesome palette of jewel pinks, purples, and turquoises, but they ended up with an odd, matronly version of a pink/purple floral print, black, and white. 

My favorite in Team Five was Fabio's dress. It is perfect in it's simplicity (you can just throw it on and go), yet it makes a lasting impression. It's clean and modern and could be worn my many different types and ages of people. At first I wanted the hips to be a titch looser, but then I realized that it would change the entire silhouette. I want to burn that mini turban and straw-like hair. 

Christopher aslo created a solid outfit. The skirt looked amazing, but it was totally impractical for real wear. That fabric he slashed was fraying all over creation.

Ven's (left) and Nathan's (right) pieces felt more appropriate for 50+ aged professionals, but hey, the oldies need clothes too. I wasn't crazy about either outfit, but I thought the draping across the front of the pant and the skirt was interesting. Maybe needed a little more experimentation or a different fabric.

 

It was an interesting and inevitable correlation that Gunnar was the least willing to cooperate in his group and he got reamed by the judges for his dress. I felt bad for him even though he deserved it. I didn't actually think the top was as terrible as the judges were saying, it just needed less volume, but the rest of the dress was awful in its ill proportions and messy lines. I said it before and I'll say it again, Gunnar's confidence is far greater than his actual talent, and it will catch up with him sooner rather than later.

Team Six

Team six won the challenge overall, and both the individual winner and the auf wiedersehen-er were from this group. Team six included Raul, Alicia, Dmitry, Elena, Melissa, and Sonjia. Their approach to the challenge was to have everyone focus on their best skills. So Elena made jackets, Sonjia made skirts, Alicia made pants, etc. 

Melissa won the challenge with her electric blue dress. I really like this, in fact I designed something very similar when I was in school, but I don't see many people wearing this to the office who aren't in the fashion industry. But I tend to be simplistic and conservative (yet modern) about business wear, because I want it to be easy and unquestionable in appropriateness. You gots enough things to worry about at work.

My favorite, favorite thing in this collection was Sonjia's blue pencil skirt. The style lines, the fit, the color are all perfection. I would buy one in a heartbeat. It was too bad that it was paired with Raul's awkward, ill-proportioned ruffle top. 

I also very much liked Dmitry's color block dress. Again his construction skills are impeccable, especially his finishing skills. Everything looks finished and purposeful and fits like a dream. He's got a sharp eye. I'm also loving him more as a person. He's not mean in any way (yet), but he certainly doesn't pull any punches. He really became endeared to me when he said that Ven was a "one way monkey" instead of "one trick pony." It was delightful. 

Elena's big shoulder jacket was a total mess. I just don't get why a woman would want big or boxy shoulder. And Joanna said she could see an attorney wearing that?! Please. Even though Elena's cardigan-like leather shoulder jacket was great, it looked as though it were designed by Melissa and Elena just tailored it. Alicia made the pants for both these outfits. She just keeps trucking along with her okay designs that aren't special, yet they're not offensive enough for the bottom three. Once the worst people are gone, she will go too unless she starts taking more risks and pushing herself.

 

Raul went home (no argument here) with his two tops: one was awkward, the other was a dud, but they didn't detract from either of Sonjia's great skirts.

P.S. The jacket that Tim was wearing during the critiques was gorgeous. I couldn't find a picture of it, but here's a video of his Team Six critique so you can see it. http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/project-runway/video/tim-gunns-workroom

Project Runway: Women On the Go

Update: 1) I'm back from Portland, and it was awesome. More on that later. 2) I can get into my blog now, but I still can't reply to comments. I feel like a heel about it, but I don't know what to do. 3) Onto my belated Project Runway thoughts, and I know my thoughts about anything and everything are your favorite thoughts ever.

I don't like to dedicate too much space to the drama, but everything got jostled around a bit so I probably should. Both Andrea and Kooan left the competition voluntarily. It makes me mad that they just didn't stick it out and see what they could learn and do, but as Nathan said, they had to do what's best for them. Because two contestants left voluntarily, Raul got to return and continue in the competition. 

This week the contestants got to design for their preferred customer within the paramaters of creating an extremely versatile outfit for a busy woman. This means that the outfit must easily go from day to night, or from work to a night out.

My three favorites were also the judges favorites: Christopher, Sonjia, and Dmitry. I was a little bummed that the three garments were all very similar, but at the same time I understand why. They all chose jersey, which is comfortable and doesn't generally hold wrinkles; the palettes were all dark neutrals, which makes the garments more versatile and easy to add colorful accessories; and they all had either draping or tucking, which helps hide any bulgier body parts a woman may want to disguise. 

Sonjia won the challenge, but I personally liked Christopher's better with Sonjia in a very close second. Sonjia's dress was a wee bit off in proportions (I wish the skirt was a kiss longer), and there's something not quite right with the shape or the volume in the drape at the side. 

On the other hand, I loved Christopher's proportions even though his side drape was far too long. He even did my favorite thing of mixing hard and soft elements in his outfit.

I loved the padded shoulder detail on Dmitry's dress, but I think, as did the judges, that he didn't push his overall design far enough to make a lasting impression. His construction, however, was exquisite. It's hard to make jersey look as sharp as he made it look in the front detail, the hem, and finishing the back. He even put a zipper in beautifully. I'm feeling a little jealous of his skills.

The judges bottom three were also mine: Buffi, Fabio, and the man with the second chance, Raul. I knew Fabio wasn't going home. His outfit wasn't great, and his dress was far too short for all-day comfort, but it wasn't abysmal like Raul's and Buffi's. 

I probably would have booted Raul again. I mean, if that's what he created to redeem himself, he doesn't deserve to continue. Harsh but true. The pants alone were the truly embarrassing and tragic in fit and construction. It's one big messy blah.

And then there's Buffi. I mean, this outfit is truly awful in palette, construction, and silhouette, but I'm going to miss that little kook. I really think her aesthetic can be really fun, but she could never quite make anything come together in the given timeframes. I have a feeling that she's a designer that needs ample time to flesh out her ideas before they begin to click, so of course she wouldn't shine in this time-sensitive competition.

I don't feel the need to mention any of the other designs. They were all solid pieces, but none of them incited any strong like or dislike within my bosom. Oh wait, except for Elena. Her jacket looked like what people in the 80s thought the future would look, and it wasn't pretty. Would any of your or anyone you know wear it? I may have put her in the bottom three instead of Fabio. 

Project Runway: Welcome Back (or not) to the Runway

I’m still having problems with Blogger, but I can email myself posts and post things through my phone. It’s a little laborious, but I don’t have the time to figure out anything new right now. On the plus side it’s forcing me to learn a little more about HTML, which I’ve wanted to do for a while. So I’m going to try and post some images in this post, but it may or may not work. I also don’t know if I’ll be able to edit after I post it, so you might have to suffer through some failed HTML language instead of looking at pretty pictures.

This week in Project Runway was a team challenge mixed with Lexus and the Emmys and All-Star clients. There was a little too much going on in this challenge, and I kept forgetting that Lexus was even a part of it. I both look forward to and dread team challenges. I dread it because there’s always so much unnecessary drama and tension, which I understand most people who watch reality television want, but sometimes it stresses me out. But I look forward to team challenges because it usually forces contestants to be more genuine through a gauntlet of stress. For instance, Elena. She already gave hints of being a diva, but this week she felt so much pressure that she freaked out, she was rude and condescending to Buffi, about halfway through the challenge she started placing blame on everyone/thing but herself, and then she gave some song and dance about how she’s a diva because in Ukraine you have to be tough to get what you want. I’m pretty sure that’s true on some level wherever you go, but there’s a difference between being tenacious and tough and throwing tantrums.

Team Ven & Fabio’s Lexus navy dress for Kenley was nearly flawless in construction, and I’m gussing that is what pushed them into the win. For me it was pretty enough, I mean I love the 50s, but I think the judges were right in saying that it was not quite a red carpet look.

The others that I thought were top two worthy were Team Melissa & Dmitry with April and Team Buffi & Elena with Laura. Although April’s Lexus silver dress was not to my taste at all, it was perfect for April and it spoke to Melissa Dmitry’s aesthetics. Not only that, but they did an amazing job with the stretch charmeuse, which I can attest is one of the most difficult fabrics to work with, especially in a short time frame.

Even though Buffi & Elena didn’t click as a team, in the end the Lexus pink and black dress they made for Laura looked well thought out, well constructed, and polished. I may even have picked this one as the winner.

The judges picked Team Gunnar & Kooan’s Lexus white atrocity for the other top dress. I was appalled and shocked at this dress in the first place, then doubly so when it was in the top two. The fabric choice was awful, the construction was hideous, and their client was completely unsatisfied and embarrassed. Gunnar’s confidence definitely outweighs his talent. By far.

The judges did well in picking the bottom two. Team Christopher & Andrea with Anya and Team Raul & Alicia with Mila both had massive construction and design problems. From the sketch it looked like Anya’s Lexus brown dress was highly constructed on top and moving into a flowing skirt. But that is not what happened. It looked like Christopher put the boning in wrong and the bodice was not puffing but hulking out away from the body. It was almost like there were brown paper bags stuffed into the bodice of the dress. Then of course it wasn’t hemmed and nothing looked polished or finished properly. I’m very surprised one of them didn’t go home for this. Instead, Raul of Raul & Alicia went home for their under-designed (a rare thing on Project Runway) and poorly constructed boring mess. And there’s not much more to say about that.

I’m out of town next week. I don’t know if I’ll be able watch and post about Project Runway on Friday, but I might do little picture posts whilst I’m tooling around it Portland. Wooty-woot!

An Apology and Project Runway

I'm sorry. I never meant to blog about two reality shows at the same time, but there's no way I'm not going to do it unless one of them really starts to bore me. Fat chance.

Last night Project Runway Season 10 started, and I think we may have a winner of a season on our hands. There's already people I love and people I loathe. Last night's episode was all about introducing us to the 16 competing designers. I absolutely love the new format they used. It let us get to know the designers a bit without any drama, we got to see and understand more of each designer's aesthetic, and the Nick and Mondo dynamic was pretty fun. You know I love me some Mondo, and he was especially well-dressed in this episode.

Likes!
This is Christopher Palu. I liked him because he seemed competent and calm. Nothing high-pitched or hyper. He also pulled out these hightop Chucks with stilettos painted on the sides that I kind of loved. It surprised me that I loved them.

This is Dmitry Sholokhov from Belarus. He made what he's wearing, and I especially love that jacket. I'm afraid he might bug me later, but I really like his confidence. He had this little sparkle in his eye when he talks about his designs that is telling of his passion.

This is Elena Slivnyak. She has a lot of dark and twisty ideas that look like the movie Dune, but her construction skills are beyond beyond. 

This is Ven Budhu. He's got mad construction skills. He showed these amazing wide-leg pants that had knife pleats down the front. All his pieces looked gorgeous, but that might turn into monotony if he can't break away from the red he loves so much.

Erm...!

This is Fabio Costa. At first I liked his face and his ideas, but then he said that he only eats out of dumpsters by choice. I guess there's nothing wrong with that, but there is seriously something wrong with that.

This is Buffi Jashanmal. Her aesthetic is 80s club kid meets 90s club kid with a little crack cocaine mixed in. She could end up being crazy fun and fabulous, or obnoxious and gimmicky. 

Dislikes!

This is Andrea Katz. I thought her designes looked like what people in the 80s designed as "futuristic"; it didn't look modern or fresh. Plus she described herself as an "extreme feminist," which I have zero problem with generally, but it usually means misplaced rants and in-you-face arguments. Och, and her shoes in this pic are terrible. 

This is Gunnar Deatherage. Don't let his kick-ass name fool you, because he is shrill and obnoxious. He got booted from Season 9 during the first episode, so I only hope that he is gone as quickly this season. But that is never my luck. And the truth is I didn't hate his designs. Shoot-darn.

That's half the designers, and I just don't think you or I have the stamina to highlight the rest. I'm sure my opinions and ideas will shift and change as the standouts and duds make themselves known through the course of the season. Any thoughts?

P.S. I cannot wait to see my darling Tim Gunn!