It's back! The Project Runway Recap


Starring my BFF Tim Gunn, Heidi Klum and 16 whiny, but talented, designers. Ahhhhhh...TV feels right again!

So, Project Runway is back, hooray! As we all know the airing of Season 6 has been delayed for over six months by legal wrangling between NBC Universal (disclosure: NBCU is an investor in BlogHer) and the Weinstein company that owns Project Runway. Hope all the wrangling was worth it, because the end result seems to be what the the Weinsteins wanted the beginning result to be: Project RUnway is now on LIfetime instead of NBC-owned Bravo.

Could I tell the difference? Have to say the answer is "no."

Project Runway also move from NYC to L.A.

Could I tell the difference? Not really on that either. Especially since one of the first shots was of someone arriving at the designers' loft space in a yellow cab. Where'd they even find one of those in L.A.?

This is the biggest PR ever, with 16 starting contestants, but what I love and have always loved about this show is that they are oh so mindful of my time. 5 minutes in, and we're done with all the designers showing up and introducing themselves to one another and sharing some basic bio info with the cameras. 5 minutes in, and we're at the rooftop toast that kicks off every season. Thank you for respecting my busy schedule, Project Runway...one day, one hour per week. So efficient.

And there's my BFF Tim Gunn. Did I mention I met him at BlogHer '09 this year? I'll have to share tidbits of that story as we go along. Suffice to say he seemed to be exactly how he seems to be. Kind, sincere, and yes, courtly. Lovely.

On to the challenge. It's a pretty straightforward one. Make a red carpet dress that's innovative and shows your point of view. And it can be any red carpet, from the Oscars to the VMAs. They are given 30 minutes to sketch, $200 and another 30 minutes to shop at ErsatzMood (you know Mood doesn't actually have an LA outpost, right? They built a pseudo-shop just for Project Runway!) They'll have two days to work on it, and the winner will get immunity.

So, during this sequence we learn:

a. Who will be the pretentious arty one: That would be Malvin. "I don't watch the red carpet. I don't distinguish between colors of carpet."
b. Who will be the space cadet one: That would be Ari. She's looking to make something that sounded like "tescellation forms" and she doesn't sketch. She waits for the fabric to tell her what it wants to be and for whom.
c. Who will be the one who will cut you if you stand in her way: That would be Qrystyl. And I mean it literally, since she got tired of waiting for an ErsatzMood employee to cut her fabric and went all DIY.

Thank you ErsatzMood!

Back to the workroom and on to Episode #1's Very Special Meltdown, courtesy of Jonny, former meth-head trying to make good. I have to admit I'm intrigued by his assertion that he didn't get chosen for Season 3 and 4 because he was a meth addict. How did they know; what did he do? I'm thinking some kind of dramatic reenactment would be very helpful for us all.

But here on Season 6, Jonny is having a meltdown. He can't decide what to do; he is paralyzed; he doesn't want to fail. Who, of course, pats him on the back and sends him back into the workroom with new-found confidence and self-esteem? Why my BFF Tim of course! He just has that way about him!

Of course, I'm a leeetle concerned about Jonny's decision to "swallow down" his anxiety and fear. Reminds me of that Cheers episode where Woody was saying that's what they all do back where he's from...just stuff bad feelings down, and if they start to bubble up, just stuff them down some more. As Frasier said form his bar stool: "Tick, tick, tick."

Meanwhile Malvin continues blathering on about how unique he is, and how there are not yet labels for what he does, and Ari is making what Tim fears is a "halter diaper". Which, I don't know about you, does not sound appealing at. all. Mitchell is freaking out about his HUGE model. When he says she is 5 inches bigger than her measurement card claimed (which, I should note, becomes "6 inches" when he's in front of the judges) I wonder what on earth the rail-thin would have looked like had the card been correct??!!

On to the show!!

Lindsay Lohan is this episode's guest judge. Later she sounds basically normal and fairly intelligent, so let the image rehabilitation begin!

1. Althea
Althea produced a silver, satin empire-waist long gown. The top is actually what looks like either a white or very pale silver ruffly halter top. Satin is brutal, as I've learned not from practice, but from watching six season of Project Runway. The idea of this dress is great, but we can see lots of little creases and pulls across the front and at the seams. It's not bad enough to be a complete mess, and the design itself is pretty lovely.

2. Gordana produced a blue mini dress with a sheer overlay. The body of the dress, falling form another empire waist, is pretty short, straight and simple. The strapless bodice is made of these constructed, large bow-like things that go all the way around. I would think anyone with a model body, rail thin and flat-chested, would appreciate this, because it gave curves without being unflattering. But the rest of us? Thank you very much, don't think I need to add that much volume around my chestal area.

3. Malvin, after all his talk about how unique and "ineffable" he is, sent down a perfectly ordinary dress. Really, I thought: That's it? It had a bit of a 30s cut on the bias, but knee-length, not floor-length. Sleeveless sheath top, drop waist and A-line skirt. And some nice pleating across the back and at the front hip. All words I've typied (and seen) before. Nice, but not stand-out.

4. Mitchell, after all his model measurement trauma, sent his girl out with a ruched high collar and sheer chiffon draped everywhere else. It was a muumuu. Or maybe a caftan. Or maybe one of those "hostess gowns" our moms wore in the 70s. He had to be in BIG, BAD danger on this one.

5. Louise created a very full and flouncy dress in pewter with a cummerbund and some weird tribble creature growing out of the model's right shoulder. There were also these weird 70s gathered sections pulling up the skirt hem one each side. I thought this was a mish-mash and unflattering. My viewing companion liked it. So, you know, there you go.

6. Christopher created a strapless short gown. The entire bodice and down once side of the skirt was some well-controlled ruffle treatment in dark brown. The underskirt was a sort of beige tiered thing. Despite the volume of all the ruffles, this was surprisingly flattering, mostly because the bodice was pretty reined in, compared to the skirt. The choice of colors was also different. I liked this one, as it did seem to be both original and surprising and well-executed.

7. Ra'Mon created a long plum gown with one spaghetti strap and one pouffy shoulder. I thought there was a little too much going on in this gown, and again the satin was merciless about showing pulling at the seams. I understood why the judges might think it was more interesting than the average gown of a similar nature. I just thought it overshot the mark.

8. Shirin created a champagne colored satin dress reminiscent of a 50s cocktail dress. It came with a cute little dark sparkly stole and incorporated some of the same sparkly fabric into the bow effect at the back. I actually thought this was adorable, wearable, fun.

9. Epperson went for the gusto with a big, brown gown. There was lots going on around the top of this dress, including lots of fabric which I wasn't sure was supposed to be a hood, or a bow, or something constructed that went up and over the shoulder. To me the downfall of this dress was that it was too short and had some ugly tulle around the too-short hem. Hasn't he watched these shows before? Tulle around a hem looks trashy. Like a Victorian hooker.

10. Irina went for champagne, creating something with a drop-waist lacey top and a drapey skirt, with a little black belt. Perhaps this wasn't huge on innovation, but it was very sleek, smooth, well-done and pretty.

11. Ari, ah Ari. Her halter diaper alone may not have been so bad. (Or good old Michael Kors called it a disco soccer ball, which was also appropriate.) But to show that top with some weird shorts that looked like they were made from scraps of the sewing room floor? Wasn't going to convince the judges this was ready for any red carpet, not even the Razzies.

12. Jonny, after all the drama, created a red satin dress with a plunging neckline, an even-more-plunging back and a lot of gathers and fabric in between. I liked the back a lot, but I thought the rest of it was too simple, and not in a good, Calvin Klein kind of way. And yes, it was an interesting cut, but not one most people would probably wear.

13. Carol Hannah created a hot mess with a whole lotta lotta. Think Madonna concert cone boob effect (not the actual cones, but the emphasizing pleats around the chestal area) more pleating around the crotch, some flounces and all in rather prosaic colors. might have been my least favorite, even if other outfits were scary in other ways.

14. Qristyl's dress reminded me of those entertainers who dress up as a lady in a gown on one side of their body, and a man in a tux on the other. Schizophrenic. The right side was a purple satin long sheath, the left side was a floral print with lots of ruching. It was pretty messy looking.

15. Logan created a silver gown with a darker asymmetric panel across the left side of the bodice and around the back. Quite simple, but lovely.

16. Nicolas also came out of the gate strongly with a Little Black Dress with a twist. Or, should I say, with a ribbon. There was a black and silver woven effect down the bodice. Very modern, maybe even gothic.

The judges picked their Top 3 and their Bottom 3, and I have to say I'm not sure I agree with their Top 3 at all.

They chose:
Ra'Mon
Christopher
Jonny

I did like Christopher's a lot, but I would have booted Ra'Mon and Jonny right out of there. I can think of at least four others I liked better, including Shirin, Irina, Logan and Nicolas.

Luckily Christopher's was the winner.

It was hard to argue with the bottom 3:
Qristyl
Mitchell
Ari

Although I hated Carol Hannah's a lot. (And does she really go by Carol Hannah as her first name all the time? And does she do that because it rhymes with Darryl Hannah? I'm just asking.)

Mitchell was saved, and yes, our little spacey "I-don't-sketch-I-do-handstands-during-sketch-time" Ari was sent on her way.

Can't say I'll miss her. Ari, we hardly knew ye.

But Heidi, Tim and the rest of the Project Runway gang? We know you, and we're glad to have you back!!!

What did y'all think?

Posted: Fri - August 21, 2009 at 08:30 AM       EmailFeedback

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