Project Runway Recap: The Top 12 are black and white and inspi[red] all
over
We're finally seeing a spark from a lot of these
designers, let's hope they keep it up.
For the first time this season we had one of the
"found object"-style challenges. In past seasons they've worked with groceries,
plants and flowers, car parts, you get the idea. Often I think such challenges
are kind of stupid. Shouldn't a designer be challenged to create something that
they might actually have to do in the real world? But in this case, I was wrong.
It got these designers to do some of their best work
yet!
This time it was newspapers. Now as my BFF Tim Gunn pointed out, there was a time when paper garments were in vogue...mostly during the mod period of the 60s/70s. So they weren't asking the designers to reinvent the proverbial wheel, really. There were really no other guidelines. They could make anything for any occasion. They could use muslin as infrastructure, but it couldn't show. They could dye or treat or mark up the papers. They had 3 minutes to gather up as much paper as they could at the L.A. Time building (meaning no "Thank you ErsatzMood") and then they were done.
What did we learn this episode:
-That Johnny has a perspective problem, given he said "Being in the bottom 3 last eek was the most empty feeling I've ever had." Really? More empty than when you hit bottom with your meth addiction and before you started the climb back up? That's some serious empty.
-That Nicolas is the cattiest designer...and a poor predictor of talent, given he said that [spoiler alert] Johnny and irina "don't deserve to be here", and was about as wrong as you could be in one case.
-Speaking of Irina, we learned she has a sense of humor lurking in there. While people gathered up garbage bags full of newspaper, she wondered why on Earth they were going crazy together as much as they could. After all, "you're dressing a human, not an elephant."
We also learned that in addition to a perspective problem, Johnny has a bit of a "boy who cried wolf" problem. Meaning he lies. His first attempt at a garment looked a bit like what Carrie would have looked like at the prom, had her prom dress been made of newspaper. It, in fact, made Tim Gunn "woeful". I'm not sure I've heard him use that phrase before. "Your dress makes me woeful." Ouch. So Johnny tore the dress of the form, rolled it up in a ball and tossed it in the garbage, just like that. You'll see the results of his second attempt below, but let me set your expectations correctly by mentioning that he decided to pull out one of the sheets of paper and start doing the crossword puzzle instead of working on his dress. Now, if we were still in New York, and he did that, one could almost understand. I meant he New York Times crossword puzzle is world-famous. But no one ever threw a competition of the L.A. Times crossword puzzle. I mean, that's really being transparent about wanting to be sent home!
All this time they're showing us only snippets of the outfits as they're worked on, but I'm feeling hopeful. Lots of potential cuteness going on.
So, let's get on to the show. MIchael Kors and Nina Garcia are still missing. OMGWTFBBQ, why will no one address this elephant in the room, whether it's dressed in newsprint or not???!!!
At least this week we have someone MK-like to comfort us. I mean Tommy Hilfilger is an American fashion icon himself. I can live with that. Zoe Glassner is back to not be Nina. Plus we've got Eva Longoria Parker, who barely gets to speak ten words...what is the point? At least Rebecca Romijn got to pick the winner a couple of weeks ago.
As always, if you click on the designer's name, you can go to a picture of the garment.
1. Logan
Logan kicked off the show with a very interesting and well done dress. It was a strapless sheath with fanned pleats emerging form the top right of the strapless bodice and at the bottom left of the skirt hem. He used blue paint to create a Japanese brush painting effect of blue and black and white. It was well-fitting and I thought it had a good shot of being Top 3.
2. Nicolas
Nicolas made some noise about wanting to evoke the punk era with this dress. Um. I do not think that word means what he thinks it means. Instead he made a drab, pink candy-striped sundress with a tulip skirt. It was depressing, messy and there wasn't one punk thing about it. So, the cattiest designer sends down one of the worst designs. Perhaps he should stick to criticism but lay off designing.
3. Christopher
Christopher's outfit was one of two of the night that really made my viewing companion and I catch our breath. He was ambitious, and the issue was always that his design looked like it could be great...if he could get it all done. And he did. He created this gray/silver strapless bodice with a princess neckline that really had the feel of being fitted armor. It had a hard, almost metallic feel. Meanwhile the ball gown skirt was obviously newspaper but torn at the edges in a very methodical, symmetrical, even way to create a feathered effect. The skirt was soft and had lots of movement as the model walked the runway. This was meticulous and fabulous!
4. Ra'mon
Ra'mon created a potential Top 3 look with skirt and top separates that used the varying colors in the newspapers to create a beautiful print fabric. The skirt was a straight mini-skirt in green and gray. Meanwhile the top was a sleeveless tunic top with an asymmetrical skirt and an asymmetrical collar treatment. But the edges were soft and it was more of a draping asymmetry than a hard-edge avant-garde statement. I would say the only thing that held this outfit back form Top 3 status was the back. It ended up feeling to puffy in the back, making her hips and backside seem big, and you don't really want droopy pleats coming out of your butt, you know?
5. Epperson
Epperson sent a big old pile of "meh" down the runway, accessorized more like "bleh". I could see where he was going. Maybe he was channeling Yohji Yamamoto, who used to go for those avant garde interpretations of kimonos back in the 80s. But everything about this outfit was stiff, and other than an interesting use of the patterns in the paper to create an obi around the waist, the colors and patterns were drab and didn't seem planned out at all. Then he sends his poor model down the runway with a big, unmatching yellow hobo bag. He did not follow Tim Gunn's advice to "use the Macy's accessory wall thoughtfully". I thought this was Bottom 3 all the way. And it deserved to be there more than at least one that ended up being there.
6. Johnny
Johnny, Johnny, Johnny. This was sad, sad, sad. He basically created Wilma's dress on The Flinstones out of newsletter, complete with jagged edge hem. It was unflattering and made the model teeny tiny model look thick. And then for him to go on and on telling a LIE that a steamer is the reason he had to toss his first effort (not Tim's woeful criticism)? Well, even Tim Gunn himself couldn't help but comment on how RIDICULOUS that was after the auf'ing was done.
7. Gordana
Gordana sent an adorable little outfit down the runway that *I* thought met the challenge of making something real and beautiful out of something never intended to be used as fabric. It was a cute little halter top with a collar, paired with a tiered skirt. There were lots of details, including symmetrical, diagonal pleats across the entire back of the bodice. She used the colors in the paper to create an almost floral print. It reminded me of an impressionist painting. And the outfit fit the model like a glove. I (and my viewing companion) actually thought this was TOP 3 material, not BOTTOM 3. Harrumph.
8. Carol Hannah
Carol Hannah created a ball gown consisting of a beige, red, and brown colored strapless bandeau top and a red corset-style torso and a pretty fantastical folded, pleated full long skirt in crimson. It was pretty impressive. Definitely was more Top 3 material than one that got into the Top 3. I think what may have kept it out was that the color Carol Hannah dyed the papers was bright (which s nice) but perhaps too reminiscent of orange vests on the freeway or some other prosaic use of the color. Also the skirt was almost avant-garde, but could be seen as more haphazard instead.
9. Shirin
Shirin's outfit was a bit of a letdown. She created a pretty plain, stiff strapless bodice, and then did a laughably big Leanne-pleated bubble skirt. She's lucky she didn't hit the Bottom 3 with this one.
10. Irina
This was the other outfit of the night (along with Christopher's) that really thrilled me. It came down the runway, and it was stunning. Basically a trench coat out of newsprint, she did a scrunched up treatment of the paper at the cuffs and to create a big portrait collar that looked soft and beautiful. She had many clever touches on the coat, from pockets, to a belt with a belt loops. It was sleek and clever and flattering, and just cool.
11. Althea
Althea's constructed a complex, patterned strapless column dress that reminded me of the Chrysler Building (which has been used for inspiration on this show before, I should add.) I thought it was intellectually very interesting, obviously well-crafted, and demonstrated a creative use of multiples of the same section to create a colorful pattern. I would not say it was either attractive or flattering. It was so structured that the model seemed to be moving inside it, but the dress itself had no movement. Also, the cleverness of using repeated sections to create a repetitive patterned fabric was clever, but the colors were drab. I could respect the work here, but this one didn't make me catch my breath or make me want to wear it. It was not a Top3 effort, IMHO.
12. Louise
Louis sent Minnie Mouse down the runway. If Minnie Mouse was wearing weird orange curls of newspaper at her collar and neck, and a fitted bodice, with a big Leanne-pleated mini skirt out of newspaper. This was just a costume, made only more so by the styling. She belonged in a graphic novel perhaps, not on the runway.
In the end, the judges likee:
Irina
Christopher
Althea
And Irina won, which I thought was well-deserved. I also would have been happy for Christopher to win. I didn't think Althea belonged there...again...and I really don't get why the judges are liking her work so much.
The judges no likee:
Johnny
Nicolas
Gordana...which was a BIG shock to me. I thought her outfit was Top 3 worthy, not Bottom 3. I would have swapped her out for at least 3 other designs.
Luckily, Gordana was safe, and it was between Johnny and Nicolas for the auf.
Johnny, rightfully, got it.
Great week on Project Runway, don't you think?
This time it was newspapers. Now as my BFF Tim Gunn pointed out, there was a time when paper garments were in vogue...mostly during the mod period of the 60s/70s. So they weren't asking the designers to reinvent the proverbial wheel, really. There were really no other guidelines. They could make anything for any occasion. They could use muslin as infrastructure, but it couldn't show. They could dye or treat or mark up the papers. They had 3 minutes to gather up as much paper as they could at the L.A. Time building (meaning no "Thank you ErsatzMood") and then they were done.
What did we learn this episode:
-That Johnny has a perspective problem, given he said "Being in the bottom 3 last eek was the most empty feeling I've ever had." Really? More empty than when you hit bottom with your meth addiction and before you started the climb back up? That's some serious empty.
-That Nicolas is the cattiest designer...and a poor predictor of talent, given he said that [spoiler alert] Johnny and irina "don't deserve to be here", and was about as wrong as you could be in one case.
-Speaking of Irina, we learned she has a sense of humor lurking in there. While people gathered up garbage bags full of newspaper, she wondered why on Earth they were going crazy together as much as they could. After all, "you're dressing a human, not an elephant."
We also learned that in addition to a perspective problem, Johnny has a bit of a "boy who cried wolf" problem. Meaning he lies. His first attempt at a garment looked a bit like what Carrie would have looked like at the prom, had her prom dress been made of newspaper. It, in fact, made Tim Gunn "woeful". I'm not sure I've heard him use that phrase before. "Your dress makes me woeful." Ouch. So Johnny tore the dress of the form, rolled it up in a ball and tossed it in the garbage, just like that. You'll see the results of his second attempt below, but let me set your expectations correctly by mentioning that he decided to pull out one of the sheets of paper and start doing the crossword puzzle instead of working on his dress. Now, if we were still in New York, and he did that, one could almost understand. I meant he New York Times crossword puzzle is world-famous. But no one ever threw a competition of the L.A. Times crossword puzzle. I mean, that's really being transparent about wanting to be sent home!
All this time they're showing us only snippets of the outfits as they're worked on, but I'm feeling hopeful. Lots of potential cuteness going on.
So, let's get on to the show. MIchael Kors and Nina Garcia are still missing. OMGWTFBBQ, why will no one address this elephant in the room, whether it's dressed in newsprint or not???!!!
At least this week we have someone MK-like to comfort us. I mean Tommy Hilfilger is an American fashion icon himself. I can live with that. Zoe Glassner is back to not be Nina. Plus we've got Eva Longoria Parker, who barely gets to speak ten words...what is the point? At least Rebecca Romijn got to pick the winner a couple of weeks ago.
As always, if you click on the designer's name, you can go to a picture of the garment.
1. Logan
Logan kicked off the show with a very interesting and well done dress. It was a strapless sheath with fanned pleats emerging form the top right of the strapless bodice and at the bottom left of the skirt hem. He used blue paint to create a Japanese brush painting effect of blue and black and white. It was well-fitting and I thought it had a good shot of being Top 3.
2. Nicolas
Nicolas made some noise about wanting to evoke the punk era with this dress. Um. I do not think that word means what he thinks it means. Instead he made a drab, pink candy-striped sundress with a tulip skirt. It was depressing, messy and there wasn't one punk thing about it. So, the cattiest designer sends down one of the worst designs. Perhaps he should stick to criticism but lay off designing.
3. Christopher
Christopher's outfit was one of two of the night that really made my viewing companion and I catch our breath. He was ambitious, and the issue was always that his design looked like it could be great...if he could get it all done. And he did. He created this gray/silver strapless bodice with a princess neckline that really had the feel of being fitted armor. It had a hard, almost metallic feel. Meanwhile the ball gown skirt was obviously newspaper but torn at the edges in a very methodical, symmetrical, even way to create a feathered effect. The skirt was soft and had lots of movement as the model walked the runway. This was meticulous and fabulous!
4. Ra'mon
Ra'mon created a potential Top 3 look with skirt and top separates that used the varying colors in the newspapers to create a beautiful print fabric. The skirt was a straight mini-skirt in green and gray. Meanwhile the top was a sleeveless tunic top with an asymmetrical skirt and an asymmetrical collar treatment. But the edges were soft and it was more of a draping asymmetry than a hard-edge avant-garde statement. I would say the only thing that held this outfit back form Top 3 status was the back. It ended up feeling to puffy in the back, making her hips and backside seem big, and you don't really want droopy pleats coming out of your butt, you know?
5. Epperson
Epperson sent a big old pile of "meh" down the runway, accessorized more like "bleh". I could see where he was going. Maybe he was channeling Yohji Yamamoto, who used to go for those avant garde interpretations of kimonos back in the 80s. But everything about this outfit was stiff, and other than an interesting use of the patterns in the paper to create an obi around the waist, the colors and patterns were drab and didn't seem planned out at all. Then he sends his poor model down the runway with a big, unmatching yellow hobo bag. He did not follow Tim Gunn's advice to "use the Macy's accessory wall thoughtfully". I thought this was Bottom 3 all the way. And it deserved to be there more than at least one that ended up being there.
6. Johnny
Johnny, Johnny, Johnny. This was sad, sad, sad. He basically created Wilma's dress on The Flinstones out of newsletter, complete with jagged edge hem. It was unflattering and made the model teeny tiny model look thick. And then for him to go on and on telling a LIE that a steamer is the reason he had to toss his first effort (not Tim's woeful criticism)? Well, even Tim Gunn himself couldn't help but comment on how RIDICULOUS that was after the auf'ing was done.
7. Gordana
Gordana sent an adorable little outfit down the runway that *I* thought met the challenge of making something real and beautiful out of something never intended to be used as fabric. It was a cute little halter top with a collar, paired with a tiered skirt. There were lots of details, including symmetrical, diagonal pleats across the entire back of the bodice. She used the colors in the paper to create an almost floral print. It reminded me of an impressionist painting. And the outfit fit the model like a glove. I (and my viewing companion) actually thought this was TOP 3 material, not BOTTOM 3. Harrumph.
8. Carol Hannah
Carol Hannah created a ball gown consisting of a beige, red, and brown colored strapless bandeau top and a red corset-style torso and a pretty fantastical folded, pleated full long skirt in crimson. It was pretty impressive. Definitely was more Top 3 material than one that got into the Top 3. I think what may have kept it out was that the color Carol Hannah dyed the papers was bright (which s nice) but perhaps too reminiscent of orange vests on the freeway or some other prosaic use of the color. Also the skirt was almost avant-garde, but could be seen as more haphazard instead.
9. Shirin
Shirin's outfit was a bit of a letdown. She created a pretty plain, stiff strapless bodice, and then did a laughably big Leanne-pleated bubble skirt. She's lucky she didn't hit the Bottom 3 with this one.
10. Irina
This was the other outfit of the night (along with Christopher's) that really thrilled me. It came down the runway, and it was stunning. Basically a trench coat out of newsprint, she did a scrunched up treatment of the paper at the cuffs and to create a big portrait collar that looked soft and beautiful. She had many clever touches on the coat, from pockets, to a belt with a belt loops. It was sleek and clever and flattering, and just cool.
11. Althea
Althea's constructed a complex, patterned strapless column dress that reminded me of the Chrysler Building (which has been used for inspiration on this show before, I should add.) I thought it was intellectually very interesting, obviously well-crafted, and demonstrated a creative use of multiples of the same section to create a colorful pattern. I would not say it was either attractive or flattering. It was so structured that the model seemed to be moving inside it, but the dress itself had no movement. Also, the cleverness of using repeated sections to create a repetitive patterned fabric was clever, but the colors were drab. I could respect the work here, but this one didn't make me catch my breath or make me want to wear it. It was not a Top3 effort, IMHO.
12. Louise
Louis sent Minnie Mouse down the runway. If Minnie Mouse was wearing weird orange curls of newspaper at her collar and neck, and a fitted bodice, with a big Leanne-pleated mini skirt out of newspaper. This was just a costume, made only more so by the styling. She belonged in a graphic novel perhaps, not on the runway.
In the end, the judges likee:
Irina
Christopher
Althea
And Irina won, which I thought was well-deserved. I also would have been happy for Christopher to win. I didn't think Althea belonged there...again...and I really don't get why the judges are liking her work so much.
The judges no likee:
Johnny
Nicolas
Gordana...which was a BIG shock to me. I thought her outfit was Top 3 worthy, not Bottom 3. I would have swapped her out for at least 3 other designs.
Luckily, Gordana was safe, and it was between Johnny and Nicolas for the auf.
Johnny, rightfully, got it.
Great week on Project Runway, don't you think?
Posted: Sat - September 19, 2009 at 10:50 AM EmailFeedback
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Published On: Sep 19, 2009 10:50 AM
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Published On: Sep 19, 2009 10:50 AM
