Project Runway recap: The Top 9 Walk *Up* the Aisle


Side question: Done one really still use the word divorcee?

And to answer my side question: Tim Gunn does, and if Tim Gunn is wrong, I don't wanna be right!

OK, they've done bridal challenges before, but this had a twist. The "models" were nine divorced women (who all still fit in their wedding gowns, I might add) and who wanted to turn those gowns into hot, modern, non-weddingish gowns. Now, for the women who had been divorced 3 months and 6 months etc., I wasn't too surprised they still had their gowns. But really? You've been divorced over 15 years, and your gown is 80's crap...you never wanted to get rid of it before? Hmm.

The designers chose their models based on how much fabric the dress had, since that would give them the most to work with. They learned later they would be able to go to ErsatzMood, but they only had $25 to spend on no more than 2 yards of fabric and additional accessories if they needed them and had money left. For example, because Shirin's model wanted a Cher feather headdress (Say "wha'?), she wasted time and money buying some peacock feathers. Nicolas should have been all up in her grill about trying to steal his title as the Feather Prince of NY, but this cast is about as non-confrontational as they come, so not Feather Rumbles ensued.

Thank you ErsatzMood.

It is also announced that this is the last challenge where winning will gain you immunity, so obviously folks are motivated to get a free pass to the Top 7.

Now, I don't know if anyone else noticed, but Tim seemed a little cranky to me when he was making his rounds. Nobody was making him happy. Or seduced. Or enthralled. Or stunned. Instead he was worried. And concerned. And reminding them they had a lot of work to do.

He did go classic Ninja Comforter on Shirin, though, who was depressed about her model's tiny, cheap wedding gown and big, outlandish (and hideous) concepts for a new outfit. He broke through Shirin's funk and malaise and got her turned right round, baby, right round.

That's the Tim we know and love!!

[Where i digress:]

BTW: Have I mentioned lately, I got to meet Tim at BlogHer '09? No? Let me digress. I was perhaps more excited at the prospect of meeting him than about almost anything else. And I actually had a jaw-drop, stare-with-a-big-smile moment when I saw him greeting people on the exhibit floor. Sort of how I was when I got to meet Grover in '08's Sesame Street Suite. (Seriously, the video from that little SSS encounter is hilarious...I look really really goofy.) Anyway, I bonded with CheatyMonkey over the fact that Tim is a big animal lover like we are, and has done anti-fur and other fashion cruelty work for PETA. I know he was lovely to her when they talked about it, and he was also lovely to me. (Really "lovely" is the best word for him...did I mention that already?)

When I finally met him, I told him "I'm a big fan, and I especially appreciate the work you did for PETA", and he patted my hand, looked warmly into my eyes and said: "The work I *continue* to do!"

Yes, yes, Tim! The work you continue to do, my Reality TV Boyfriend!!!

[Where i get back on track:]

So, with my Reality TV Boyfriend's guidance and mentorship, they all finish their outfits, and we're on to the show.

Note to Lifetime TV: Give Heidi a little better wardrobe budget, m'kay? She has not been looking her usual stellar best. Is it just me?

Note to ninagarcia: Your Marie Claire underlings are not you. When are you coming back? I mean it's *great* having MK back, but we need you too, ninagarcia, we need you too.

1. Irina kicked off with a dress that I'm going to argue long and loud did *not* deserve the kudos it got form the judges. They seem to be buying into the idea that a woman past a certain age (and the model didn't look that old to me, to begin with) should look like a Mother of the Bride if she's going out. OK, the coffee-colored dye job on all that lace was well-done. Nice color. But the styling wasn't just MOB, but 1970s or 80s, Bonfire of the Vanities MOB. I like Irina. I hated this dress.

2. Shirin pulled it out and knocked it out of the park (all thanks to Tim's mentorship, I'm convinced.) Having so little fabric to work with (after cutting the dress to be a mini) she used thread to create patterns in the fabric. Create a dark ribbon around the empire waist, and what you've got it simple, sexy and way better than one could have expected. And the only feathers were a couple in her model's hair.

3. Logan is lucky he didn't get auf'ed for the hot mess he sent down the runway. Ill-fitting wool tweed pants. And then a horribly, I mean horribly-made top. It was kind of an Elizabethan wench undergarment with ruffles, and it was uneven, and unintentionally asymmetric. Has the guy ever made anything (since the first week) that surpassed mediocre? And this was bad.

4. Carol Hannah made a drab, gray strapless cocktail dress with frayed and feathered netting over it. There was a tiny black bolero too.Like the concept of that netting, but it was a bit drab.

5. Althea made a Sailor Moon dress that was horrendous. Saggy navy blue boob patches. Drooping, useless back straps. Tacky gold accessories. Hated it. Lucky she wasn't in the Bottom Two.

6. Nicolas made a matronly, grandma outfit for a sort of adorable pixie woman. It was ill-fitting olive colored pants that creased across the front, some kind of brown top, and then an ivory doily-looking bedjacket. Totally lucky he wasn't Bottom 2.

7. Gordana finally rocked it with a platinum strapless dress with curved asymmetric pleats from hem to hem. The styling also really played to the model's desire to punk it up a bit, so those knee-high black boots made total sense. It was flattering to her figure and I could totally see it out and about as is.

8. Christopher made a silvery alien bubble dress with a black belt for his discarded replicant model. I don't know what has gone wrong with Christopher these last two weeks, but he needs to get it together. The bubble silhouette? Clearly not his thing.

9. Epperson made another sailor dress, this time white with black lacing at the waist. OK, maybe it was a pirate wench dress. Or a Ren Fair dress. Or Oktoberfest dress, as Heidi opined. Whatever it was, it was an unflattering dress. Too much fabric, too long and frumpy. FAIL.

In the end, the judges likee:

Irina
Shirin
Gordana

And Gordana took the win (I think mostly for finally showing she had design sense not just sewing skillz.)

The judges no likee:

Christopher
Logan
Epperson

I was afraid Logan would be the loser, but was happy to see Epperson auf'ed. Logan may not have exactly ever wow'ed me, but Epperson has been way off the mark too many times.

So, what did you think?

Posted: Fri - October 9, 2009 at 08:21 AM       EmailFeedback

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