Project Runway Recap: The Top 7: Determined to go out with a whimper, not a bang?


I'm starting to change my mind about challenges featuring wacky materials.

In past Project Runway seasons I have derided challenges involving wacky materials. Car parts. Groceries. Flowers. Dollar store items. I mean, what did that have to do with the real world of fashion design and the real business of it, more to the point? But I'm beginning to think I am wrong. That making the designers work with unusual materials gets them thinking more creatively and executing more inventively. After all, what would you say was the episode where the designers came through most consistently? I think I'd have to choose the newspaper challenge. The one challenge this year where they worked with non-traditional materials.

They need some more of that, because this whole working-with-fabric thing isn't working out so well. Last night's episode was a collection of designs, each more ho-hum than the last.

What wasn't ho-hum was the ending, which I must say was the most shocking Project Runway auf'ing I've ever seen. But we'll get to that...

This week's challenge was to be all Michael Kors-like and be inspired by a fabulous place in the world...one of his 7 favorite locales. The chose as follows:
Carol Hannah - Palm Beach
Nicolas - Greece
Althea - St. Tropez
Gordana - New York City
Irina - Aspen
Christopher - Santa Fe
Logan - Hollywood

They had 30 minutes to skecth, and then it was off to ErsatzMood to spend $150.

Once again a designer (Irina) chose to work with fur, so I thought, well, maybe I wrong about lifetime editing out the reporter fur discussion last week. Maybe it was going to be this week, with Irina. But no. They made a very specific and particular point of having her say it was faux fur. So, I'm sticking with last week's theory.

Anyway, I'm just going to say it: This season has been deadly dull. There's little interaction between the designers, so all we get is the "confessionals" with each one, where they're always the same:

Carol Hannah doesn't want to be the dumb Southern blonde gal...but they keep finding and using the footage that makes her look like one.
Nicolas is alternately unjustifiably grandiose about his talents...or he's freaking out because he doesn't know what he's doing.
Gordana is very very VERY stressed out and tired...seriously it's like when they show pictures of Presidents at the beginning and end of their terms.
Irina is a nasty backstabber...but actually, she's probably more of a front stabber.
Christopher is beginning to remind me of Kenneth on 30 Rock...with that irrepressible optimism that is totally unwarranted.
Logan is somnambulant...and apparently somnambulant boys are the new bad boys.

On to the show where, for the first time since Episode 1, MK and ninagarcia are on the same judging panel. Together at last!! Along with Heidi and completely randomly, Milla Jovovich. You may know her best form the Resident Evil movies, but I actually have an album of her from the 90s that I like a lot. And apparently, she is also a fashion designer. This I did not know.

As always, click on the link under the designer's name to see the design.

1. Logan goes to Hollywood
And he decides to be "inspired" by young Hollywood, aka Lindsay Lohan and the Olsen twins. Um. OK. But really, this was it? It wasn't even the boho chic the Olsens are known for. This was a pair of white jeans, a tank top, superfluous suspenders and a completely unrelated sweater vest that he had the model take off immediately. Probably because it was butt-ugly as an ensemble.

2. Althea hits St. Tropez
And if anyone could be called a one-trick pony this season, it's Althea. Yet another micro mini skirt/short (this time in bronze), topped with a basic white tank top and a sheer over blouse tied at the wait in a cafe au lait color. So safe that it's no surprise she was safely in the middle, not in the top3, not in the bottom. Sure, this was kinda cute, but not an ounce of anything new in there. Not just not new compared to the real world of existing fashion, but not new compared to her own work.

3. Nicolas visits Greece. Or was it "Grease"
Either way, it was clear he missed the mark on the challenge. But I didn't think he missed the mark on his outfit as much as a couple of other obvious choices. It justw wasn't very Greece-like. Gray nondescript pants. But the top really had some interesting elements to it. Once again, Nicolas likes working in white, but this was sort of a strippy-strappy straitjacket-like blouse with overly long sleeves. I actually liked the top a lot.

4. Carol Hannah relaxes in Palm Beach
By completely copying a former Floridian designer, Uli. I am shocked that not one person said: "Hey, this totally reminds me of Uli." It was a long flowing green palm tree print sundress with twisty straps (and too sheer to be much more than a beach cover-up). Yes, it was Palm Beach-y. But seriously. Scroll through some of the image in this Google search and spot about 4 dresses just like it.

5. Christopher "opened up a restaurant" in Santa Fe (gratuitous Broadway musical reference)
And this was the waitress's uniform. Seriously. This was boring, and about as far from high fashion as I can image. A too-short cinnamon-colored skirt with sheer overlay. Another white tank top (yawn.) A light blue over-shirt, also sheer. And a belt that everyone raved about, but seemed kind of tacky to me. I don't even know what happened to the designer I really like and was rooting for in the first few weeks. Christopher has been in the bottom 3 for four weeks in a row, and in the bottom 2 these last 3 weeks. What's it going to take?

6. Irina skis Aspen
And as far as I can tell, creates a pretty basic (and full-on 1980's Dynasty tribute) outfit. We're talking brown stretch pants, a la ski pants. A big, huge, over-sized cinnamon cowl neck sweater with a bronze piece of fabric tied around the waist. And a faux fur vest with collar. It's all very Quest for Fire. Not sure the unexpected (and impractical) hole in the back of the sweater was worth praise. And pretty sure the whole thing wasn't worth the win.

7. Gordana wakes up in the city that never sleeps, NY, NY
And she's king of the hill with this chic silver cocktail dress featuring a stunning jeweled and fabric necklace that doubles as the halter collar for this dress. The added curved piping was unnecessary, as everyone pointed out. Didn't ruin it, but without it this would have been Clavin Klein or Armani-worthy. Instead it was more DKNY.

In the end, the judges loved them som:
Irina
Gordana
Carol Hannah

And seemed to designate irina the winner because she made her outfit look like it cost way more than $150. Sure, it didn't look cheap. It just looked 80s tacky. I would have picked Gordana.

The judges did not loves them some:
Christopher
Nicolas
Logan

Now, here's the part where you think:

Hmm, Christopher should never have stayed over Shirin last week, so now 's their chance to right that wrong and auf him. Totally justified not just over his 4-week long losing track record, but because this outfit was Bo. Ring.

Or you think:

Hmm, Logan hasn't ever delivered top-rated designs, and he, too, has been in the bottom quite a number of times. his outfit looks like it could have been bought in the Juniors department at Macy's, or worse yet, in Hot Topic. So, that too would be fair, although more surprising than if Christopher was auf'ed.

But NO. It is Nicolas who gets the auf.

I'm no huge Nicolas fan, but he has hit more often than he has missed, and even this week his top was more interesting than Logan and Christopher outfits combined!

Last week was shocking, but this week, being confident Christopher would finally go, was even more shocking. My viewing companion and I were literally speechless.

What did you think?

Posted: Sat - October 24, 2009 at 09:43 AM       EmailFeedback

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