The designers head to the United Nations. For the challenge, they will be designing dresses inspired by, as Angela says, “these flags.” So are they designing based on the actual flags or by the countries they represent? Its a little bit unclear. Kind of a weird challenge. The options are Chile, Greece, India, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea, and The Seychelles. Each designer will pick a flag, and the colors and culture of the country will be the inspiration for the look. So I guess it is kind of both the country and the flag itself? Hm.

Mondo: Jamaica

Michael: Greece

Mila: Papua New Guinea

Jerell: India

Austin: The Seychelles

Kenley: Chile

(All flag images from Wikimedia Commons)

They get $200 to make a look. And that’s pretty much all the direction they get. Not what kind of dress they need to make (daytime? eveningwear? casual? formal?) it’s really quite wide open. So I predict we’ll be seeing a fairly wide variety this episode. But maybe that’s the point.

The Runway

The guest judge this week is Catherine Malandrino. I think she was a guest judge in season 3. Kind of cool that she’s still game to do this show.

All images from myLifetime.com. You can rate your favorites there if you disagreed vehemently with the judges. That’s fun.

Jerell: I think India was the perfect inspiration for Jerell, as it fits his aesthetic to a T. I actually think this dress is okay. The idea had quite a bit of potential, I like the asymmetry of the dress, and I think going short was a good idea. The execution leaves a bit to be desired, though. I think the jade-colored drape isn’t very elegantly done, it feels kind of awkwardly shaped and oddly bulky. The way it is affixed is also quite awkwardly done. It needed a lighter touch and a bit more finesse. The underdress  looks like it has some fit issues in the top–the stiffness of the fabric makes it stick out rather than moving with the model’s body. I do find the accessories a bit too literal. I think this challenge required the designers to carefully tow the line between inspiration and cultural appropriation and stereotype, and I feel as though the styling makes this look fall on the latter.

Kenley: And then this dress falls too far in the other direction–I see almost nothing about Chile in this look. It is the usual silhouette she uses that I harp on over and over again. I don’t hate Kenley, I think she makes really cute, well-made clothes that would sell like hotcakes, but she really does only design within a certain aesthetic and rarely is able to move beyond that. The shape of the dress has been done before, the polka dot print does not fit with the challenge in any way, and the red and white stripe she chose for the ruffle is read as pink, something she should have known had she stepped five feet away from the look. It is a pretty enough dress, but it’s nothing new, and she pretty much disregarded the challenge.

Austin: Oh Austin. This is not good. Not good at all. You cannot send something down the runway that looks painfully unfinished. The unfinished edges on the bodice are just unforgivable. This look is just so amateurish looking. You were already at a bit of a disadvantage with the flag that you chose, but pulling out the blue and yellow as your main fabrics was a huge mistake. It looks childlike and not sophisticated at all. If you were intent to use those colors, that’s fine, but then your construction needed to be impeccable, and you dropped the ball there as well. This is just a huge disappointment all around, it doesn’t even rise to the level of student work. I’m sorry, but this is just not good. I suppose you do get credit for making a look that has a tropical, beach-y feel, but everything else falls flat.

Mondo: I actually love how this look is so basic (but well made) from the front, then she turns around and it all comes together. I think he was really able to pull in the inspiration from the culture and the flag without resorting to a national costume or something that doesn’t fit the challenge at all. I think of the dresses thus far, this is the first one I can see someone actually wearing. The detail on the back is just so cool–so Mondo, yet a restrained version of his designs, which I have to give a lot of credit for, since he has a tendency to go over-the-top. I do wish he had been a bit more sophisticated with the styling, though. I think the headscarf and pseudo-dreadlocks are a step in the wrong direction fro such a sophisticated look.

Mila: I’m normally not a huge fan of these crazy Frankenstein dresses, but this one really isn’t too bad. I think the simplicity of each side keeps it form looking too strange. I also think her esoteric thought process for the look is commendable (I think she talked about the connection between restraint and freedom, the multicultural aspects of the country in terms of indigenous populations and colonist populations) and I really respect that, as I also tend to have an intellectual approach to my work. I think it fits the challenge well, represents the country without falling into stereotype, and looks well made. It’s nothing I would ever choose for myself, but I understand why she made what she did. And there’s no denying this sort of hybrid dress is right on trend.

Michael: Ouch. This is really vulgar. From the slit all the way up (which from the side view is so close to showing everything, I’m a bit scared for the model) to the ultra-plunge back, I just can’t with this look. I try not to use comparisons to other designers, but I will here: Mondo did a bare back and it was surprising and sexy because the rest of the model was so covered. Here the model has bare arms, bare shoulders, bare back, and huge expanses of leg. It’s not good. Beyond that, the dress isn’t that great either. It’s so shapeless, it feels like she wrapped a bedsheet around her, and the blue detail at the shoulder is quite awkward and kind of looks just pinned on. And his inspiration should have been so easy. A well-draped goddess dress probably would have kept him at least safe, but this just makes me fear he’ll be in the bottom. I just don’t understand how he couldn’t see that this was so tasteless.

As we’re down to the last six, I’m just going to rank the designers, with 1 being the one I liked best, and descending from there.

My ranking:

1. Mondo

2. Mila

3. Jerell (Really? I’m surprising myself here. I guess I decided to put the look that fit the challenge here.)

4. Kenley (Well, at least it was well made, even if it didn’t really address the challenge.)

5. Austin

6. Michael

The Judges’ Top 3 Looks

-Kenley

-Mondo

-Michael

The Judges’ Bottom 3 Looks

-Jerell

-Mila

-Austin

The Results

Michael is safe. As Joe says, “Sometimes I just don’t get this show.”

Mondo and Kenley are the top two.

The winning designer is…Mondo. Cool.

That means Kenley is in.

Austin is safe.

The bottom two are Jerell and Mila.

Jerell is…safe.

That means Mila is out. Hm. I haven’t big fan of her work generally, but I actually liked her look this week. I totally knew she was out, though. She got a lot more screen time this week, so it was pretty much a given due to the rules of reality tv. Still, I don’t think her elimination was entirely deserved this week, and that kind of stinks.

So, Project Project Runway. This week our challenge was entitled “Puttin’ on the Glitz” (someone on the production team has way too much fun coming up with corny episode titles for this show!) With a one day time limit, we were to create an over-the-top costume consisting of separates for a wealthy character in the play Godspell. This season’s challenges have been really, really difficult. It makes sense, the season being All Stars, but holy moly am I have to reach outside my comfort zone and usual aesthetics this go-round.

I think the biggest problem that I had with this challenge was that I’ve never seen the play before! And furthermore, costuming is a completely different animal than fashion. I really struggled towing the line between making a costume that fit with the already established aesthetic of the show (of which it was quite difficult to find photographs) and doing my own thing. In the end I decided to more or less take the costume my own direction rather than worrying about it “fitting in” so to speak.

May takes to the runway in separates meant to evoke luxury and ostentation. She wears a top of crimson crushed panne velvet with gold trim at the wrists; a full, brocade skirt featuring a wide red and gold trim at the hem; a deep plum sash with hand-beaded fringe; and the ensemble is topped off with a triple-wrapped gold beaded necklace.

It feels like it wouldn’t be one of my designs without a long, involved explanation of my inspirations. This challenge I went in a couple different directions before settling. Like Austin Scarlett, my first inclination was to do a Marie Antoinette inspired piece (I actually said it out loud right before his was aired) especially since I just watched Sophia Coppola’s movie a week or so ago. But then, I spent a decent amount of time researching Godspell and looking at the few pictures of the current production available online, and as I developed my idea, it just wasn’t fitting with the feel of the show.  My design instincts for the look were too avant-garde and I couldn’t see my ideas meshing at all. So I decided to rethink the direction I was going.

I then started thinking about the feel of the production. It was developed in the early 70′s and seems to luxuriate in its ideals of a DIY, hippie, “bohemian” style. This got me thinking about the origin of the word “Bohemian” as a person from what is now the Czech Republic. So the idea of folk costume was floating around in my brain quite a bit. Then I thought about cultures that use luxurious, often ostentatious clothing to signify wealth (as we were to design this costume for a ostentatiously rich woman.) I came to the conclusion that I should take a bit of inspiration from the Roma (or Romani) people, commonly (and sometimes pejoratively) called Gypsies. I felt that due to the hippie feel of the show, taking inspiration from the Romani would be appropriate, as their culture was romanticized heavily in the era of the play’s creation. I also thought about the historical Sumptuary laws regarding textiles, and decided I needed to use colors that have been used primarily by only the very wealthiest people. I also took a lot of inspiration from Auguste Renoir’s painting Odalisque. That painting just oozes luxury, and I felt it connected quite well with my other inspirations.

Producing this look was a lot of fun, actually. It is so different than my usual aesthetic (which seems to be my ongoing motto this season.) I usually prefer a sleeker and more simple feel to my garments, but in this case, more is more! It was really fun picking out all the trims to apply to the garments and picking out the fanciest fabrics I could find. The panne velvet was a complete given to me, and I knew I wanted a brocade as the skirt. I found this particular brocade with the sari fabric, and believe it or not, this is actually the wrong side of the fabric! I initially didn’t find anything I liked, as none of the colors were fitting what I had in mind. So I started looking at the back sides of the fabric and found “the one.” The right side of this one is actually primarily a bright, clear red and would have clashed terribly with the crimson of the top. I also knew I had to use some sort of purple in the look, as that is the color I think of when it comes to Sumptuary laws, so I found this silky plum-colored lining fabric that would work perfectly.  I had initially also wanted to add a vest to the look as well, but found that it took the outfit too far into folk costume territory and added too much bulk to the look. So I strung my leftover beads into the necklace and called the thing done. I kind of wanted to keep embellishing, but stopped myself (just in time, I think!) Working with the brocade of the skirt was kind of a nightmare, as it frayed and shed like crazy. And not big thick threads, but wispy, stick-to-everything threads. I think I will be finding those floating around for weeks.

In styling this look, I wanted to continue the aesthetic of over-the-top luxury. From the Neiman Marcus Accessory Wall I picked Velvet Ankle-Wrap Strap shoes by Valentino and Karina Feather Earrings by Kendra Scott, which I don’t think could have been more perfect for the aesthetic I was trying to achieve. I think the hair style for this look should be shiny, long, loose waves. The makeup should be fairly simple, but with a striking, metallic gold eye shadow.

I really don’t know if this look would fit with the current production of Godspell, but I really feel proud of this look. It’s nothing I would have designed usually, but that is the best part of Project Project Runway, stepping out of my comfort zone and doing something different.

Don’t forget to see what the other PPR designers have created this week at that Project Project Runway Flickr group!

Since this show is only an hour, they get right to the challenge. Angela comes out with eight different “weekend getaway bags.” Each designer chooses a bag. Inside the bags are luggage tags with one of the four seasons printed on it. The designers will be creating sportswear for a weekend getaway. It will be a “Fashion Faceoff” Each season will have a high scoring designer and a low scoring designer. So the competitors are:

Summer: Mondo vs. Kenley

Winter: Michael vs. Jerell

Autumn: Mila vs. Rami

Spring: Kara vs. Austin

They get a budget of $200 and 1 day to complete their looks. They do not have to use the bags for their designs.

The Runway

The guest judge is designer Cynthia Rowley. Meh. She’s kind of a boring judge on 24 Hour Catwalk. I guess she’s just making the rounds.

All Images from MyLifetime.com Rate The Runway. There are more views, close-ups, workroom photos, and videos there.You can even rate the looks yourself and see how other viewers have scored the look. They really have an excellent website for the show.

Spring

Austin: Not a fan of the pleated pants. I think it is a very dated look, especially in that khaki fabric. Overall, this look is just very mature-looking to me. I don’t think it would look out of place in any number of Florida retirement communities. I do not like the print he picked for the top, it seems like Lily Pulitzer lite, and the cardigan makes it even dowdier (and I’m a cardigan fiend!) I get that he was going for a preppy “ladies who lunch” feel, but I think this is more “Bingo night at the old folks home.”

Kara: It’s kind of boring. I like the ultra-flowy aspect of the pants; I think that is right on-trend. The shirt is a very basic shape, and the jacket is a bit bland. I think this look has potential, but just doesn’t quite make it into “wow” territory. Maybe if she had been a bit braver with her choice of color for the jacket I would feel more excited about this look. A fine look overall.

Summer

Kenley: I have to admit, I’m biased; I think rompers are awful on anyone over age 2-1/2. This is no exception. A great quote from Joe on this topic: ‘Rompers are the Nickelback of fashion. They’re inexplicably popular and successful, but no one you know is actually into them.” I have to give it to Kenley, her craftsmanship is always impeccable, but I still think this is kind of ugly (possibly just on principal–I just cannot do rompers!) I think the color of the look and the neck detail are very juvenile and the scale of the polka dot makes the model look like an Easter egg. She did do a pretty good job of lining up the polka dots.

Mondo: Not my favorite Mondo creation. The shorts are fine, the black detailing adds some interest without being too loud. I am so over that style of top, though, where it kind of comes up at the stomach area to show just that tiniest sliver of skin. It always looks awkward to me, like the shirt got caught in a door or something and got all stretched out of shape. I’m not sure I love that particular print, either. The scale is right, but I think the slightly organic print on the more organically shaped top paired with the tailored shorts featuring a linear print feels out of balance to me. I do like the styling with the yellow belt, though.

Autumn

Rami: I should hate that color combination, but I don’t. The puce and cobalt actually look kind of interesting together. The pants are okay, the center pleat is kind of interesting, though I wish he had stopped there and not added the tuxedo stripe in the cobalt blue. I have some real issues with the top and jacket. Both look like they are just way too much fabric. I think the shirt could have worked with a tailored jacket and the jacket could have worked (maybe) with a more chic shirt, but the pairing makes the whole outfit out of proportion to me. I also think the rope style belt was a big misstep. It exacerbates the already messy-looking top to a point where it kind of feels like yards and yards of fabric just wrapped around the model and tied off.

Mila: The cape is actually pretty cool. I love the trim adding detail and linearity to a garment that otherwise could look like a giant shapeless mass. The pants are fine, though I actually wish they were a bit tighter through the leg. But most of all I love the color combination of the camel, black, gray and tomato red. It feels very modern and looks like something that would sell like hotcakes.

Winter:

Jerell: First off, hate the styling of the model’s hair. She looks like the Cowardly Lion and it is obscuring a sizeable portion of the look. The coat is fine; I do like the combination of textiles he utilized. Beyond that I’m not entirely sure what I’m looking at. I think there are some leggings, which, fine. Then maybe some sort of oversized vest? Very short dress? I don’t really know. It’s fine, if unexciting. I suppose I should be lauding Jerell for finally using some editing in his work. So yay for the fact it isn’t covered in beads, or feathers, or fringe, or whatever other embellishment of the week. But it’s boring.

Michael: I do not like Michael’s fabric choice for the coat. I do like his silhouette. I think the oversized coat works well with the more tight-fitting pants and tailored top. The length of the top is slightly awkward to me; it hits in a strange spot between tunic and mini-skirt that doesn’t quite work. I think an inch longer or an inch shorter would have streamlined it a bit more. I just keep coming back to the fabric choice, though. It looks like a cheap teddy bear pelt or something. Despite all this, the overall look is pretty chic.

My “Fashion Face Off” Results:

Spring: Top-Kara. Bottom-Austin.

Summer: Top-Mondo. Bottom-Kenley.

Autumn: Top-Mila. Bottom-Rami.

Winter: Top-Michael. Bottom-Jerell.

The Judges’ “Fashion Face Off” Results

Spring: Top-Kara. Bottom-Austin.

Summer: Top-Kenley. Bottom-Mondo.

Autumn: Top-Mila. Bottom-Rami.

Winter: Top-Jerell. Bottom-Michael.

The Results

Mila and Kara are safe.

Jerell is the winner. It wasn’t my preference, but it was fine; and it is by far the best look he’s made this season.

Kenley is in.

Michael and Mondo are safe. Yay!

Rami and Austin are in the bottom. Two great designers had a bad week. Sad.

Rami is…out.

Which means Austin is safe.

Aww, bye Rami. He really is a great designer and I am sad to see him leave. This season is just so hard because nobody is dead weight, and almost without exception I have things I really like about all of the designers. It just gets harder and harder every week.

This week’s challenge was entitled Clothes Off Your Back. It entailed finding a muse and refashioning the muse’s garment. For Project Project Runway we were given a couple of options on how to move forward: we could either pick a human-sized muse and use human-sized clothing to refashion a look, or we could choose doll clothing and use that to create our looks.

As I posted earlier this week, I chose to use a doll and her fashion as my muse, as I felt it was a more accurate representation of the show’s challenge. I picked for my muse the wild and bright Nikki:

I was very drawn to her strong sense of style. I loved that everything from her mini-dress, to her sneakers, to her boombox-inspired purse all spoke to the 80′s style revival that has been popular the last few seasons. I also picked up another dress (for free with purchase) in order to have some more fabric to work with, as I knew Nikki’s mini-dress would not yield enough for me to include 50% refashioned fabric in my final look.

My inspiration for my look came from Nikki’s outrageously bright colors and the music-inspired aspects of her accessories. I knew my outfit would have to be skimpy, because the dresses I purchased did not use very much material. I thought it would be fun to create a look totally out of my usual aesthetic, something bright and fun and truly inspired by my muse.

See? Totally crazy! May heads down the runway in a belly-bearing bikini-style top with halter straps (fabric from secondary dress, ribbon from Nikki’s outfit,) a multi-tiered ruffled skirt with glitter accents (fabric from my collection; glitter ribbon and star from Nikki’s dress,) and print leggings (Nikki’s dress fabric.)

Making this outfit really pulled me out of my comfort zone and is much more of a “fantasy” outfit that the kinds of things I usually make. I knew I would have to do something loud and bright when I picked Nikki as my muse, and I think I achieved that.

After I had my photoshoot with Nikki, I began by completely taking apart the garments I had selected. This took a lot longer than I thought it would. Barbie clothes are surprisingly well finished, with double stitched hems and well-affixed trims! (I just realized I should be thanking my lucky stars that nothing was glued!) After I took apart the dresses, I laid all the tiny pieces out in front of me and tried to figure out exactly what I could achieve with the limited material. I actually had thought that Nikki’s dress would make great leggings when I chose her, so I went with that as the majority of my refashioned fabric. Thank goodness there was enough material. I then decided that I should make some sort of skirt to go over it, as that felt more 80′s to me than just leggings (plus I am not a fan of leggings as pants in real life!) The additional dress that I purchased did not yield much fabric at all, as the back of the dress was an awful lavender knit that curled and unraveled like nobody’s business, so I only really had the front panel of the dress to work with. I decided that I could probably make a bandeau top with the limited material I had. The other details I changed quite a bit from my initial conceptualizing of the look. Originally, I planned to make a denim mini-skirt and a bright Letterman style jacket, utilizing trim and details from my muse’s garments. Something kind of inspired by the aesthetic Gwen Stefani used for “Hollaback Girl” or more recently Madonna’s new single “Give Me All Your Luvin’”. But as I was working, it just wasn’t coalescing for me, and the jacket especially seemed like it would ruin the proportion of refashioned material and new material. So I changed my idea and made the ruffly skirt instead out of fabric I already had on-hand from previous Project Project Runway creations. I’m incredibly thrilled with how the skirt turned out. I love how it pulls some of the bright colors from the prints and adds even more intensity to the already over-the-top look. This skirt may be one of my favorite things I’ve ever made for PPR, just because it is so fun and different for me.

To style the look from the Neiman Marcus Accessory Wall, I decided to just “go for it” and continue with the outrageous look. I found the perfect shoes in B Brian Atwood Suede Colorblock Pumps. The colors are spot-on! I also added the Ralph Lauren Suede Wrap Bracelet in Blue, just for fun. Maybe somebody like Katy Perry could wear this out with her signature brightly-colored wigs and makeup; in fact “Katy Perry goes to Rave” is how I have described this look. Being that I am a huge fan of Electronic and Dance music, I have been to shows where this would not look at all out of place. Even though it is so very far away from my usual aesthetic, I am incredibly proud and happy with this look. Wearable? Not for every day, that’s for sure. Classic? Heck no! Chic? Definitely not. But it is certainly fun, and that’s exactly what I was going for and was my muse’s feel. A definite improvement over the mediocrity I felt with last week’s look.

This week for Project Project Runway we have been asked to create a look using the clothes off our “muse’s” back. In the finished look, half of the look must be made from the muse’s own clothing, the other half can be made from material purchased from the fabric store. For this challenge, we have been allowed a couple of options: we can use a real person as our muse and use their human-sized clothing as our material, or we can be inspired by a piece of doll’s clothing and use those tiny clothes as our material.

Well, of course I have decided to do the harder option; that is reworking doll clothes into a complete look. So on Friday I headed down to the Target toy aisle to find my “muse.” (That’s where all the big designers get their inspiration, right?) This girl caught my eye, and I knew I wanted her to be my muse:

She’s Barbie’s friend Nikki, and I loved her over-the-top look, from her oversized yellow sunglasses, to her wild neon dress, even her cute little cassette player purse. This girl had a complete look and point-of-view, so I knew I wanted her, and at $11 I couldn’t refuse. Plus, Target was having a sale that with the purchase of this style of doll, an additional outfit came free. So I picked up this outfit, since it seemed to coordinate quite well:

Plus the designers on the show were able to use more clothes than what their muse provided them, and I knew Nikki’s mini-dress would not yield nearly enough fabric to do an adequate refashion.

I can’t wait until Thursday’s Runway Day! Get ready for something completely different than my usual aesthetic!

The challenge is to find a “muse” to inspire a fashion-forward look. Each designer must also manage to convince his or her muse to give up the clothes that they are wearing to be used in the challenge. They have a $150 budget, which they have to split between bribing the muses and buying fabric. They also have to use half of the muses’ clothes in their finished designs. They do, thankfully, get two days to complete the challenge.

Most of the designers seem to do pretty well finding muses and getting clothes in the park. I do think some of them could have driven a harder bargain, though. This becomes abundantly clear when they get to Mood and their budgets are tight. It is very kind for some designers to give some of their leftover cash to their fellow designers who came up short. I actually really enjoy seeing the camaraderie. See, people getting along can make for good tv!

The Runway

The guest judge this week is Sean Avery, apparently a NHL player and somehow fashion-y person?

All images from “Rate the Runway” at MyLifetime.com As per usual, I recommend checking it out to see more angles of the garments, close ups, and even fabric samples.

Michael: Apparently Michael decided that after last week’s Dynasty-style “come to my boudoir” nightgown, this week he needed to push the envelope and send down an ensemble of granny panties and a poorly-fitting bustier. I hate this so much; I cannot even take it seriously. The idea is bleh, the colors are all shades of faded undergarments, and I just laugh at the styling (leather belt and sunglasses? Come ON!) Though based on how well Michael’s been doing on this show with garments I don’t really like, he’ll probably end up in the top this week.

Austin: Nice idea, not completely sold on the execution. I totally see his muse in this garment, and I think he did a really good job bringing her style to a more upmarket look. I really like the skirt, and love the way he used the striped fabric in panels. I think the overall silhouette works, though I do think he over-embellished the top. I don’t know which element (or elements) he could or should have removed, but I just think it needs a bit of editing. I think the fact that it is otherwise so monochromatic saves it. And I have to say it looks like more than $150.

Kara: It’s not a bad look. I think it has some appeal to it; I think the long oversized vest is kind of neat, and I’m not a vest person at all. I kind of like the idea of the look Kara was going for; I’m just not sure I like the execution. The top looks a bit ill-fitting in some way and it looks a bit cheap. The pants could have been cool and easy, but the fit is off, especially in the crotch, and for such a simple look, it’s kind of inexcusable to me.

Mila: Well, during the broadcast they really did not show this look at all. Very, very annoying. From what I can see, the leggings are pretty awesome. I love the different sections and the blocks; it feels very Mad Max somehow. The shirt is fine, if not that interesting, and the vest thing is okay. A bit boring, overall, aside from the kickass leggings.

Jerell: What? I mean, really, what? This is just terrible in every way. It’s fifty thousand elements thrown together. Stripes, tie-die, “ethnic” fabrics, big necklaces, sunglasses…if Jerell’s got it, it is ending up on that model somehow. Nothing fits together at all to me; there is no cohesiveness at all. And sometimes big designers put a lot of competing elements together, but usually they make some semblance of sense. This makes no sense to me, and furthermore, it’s not even aesthetically pleasing, nor does it look like a lot of work has gone into it. I thought I hated Michael’s look? Well, I hate this one even more.

Rami: Ahh, quite refreshing after that last joke of an outfit. This is chic, hot, and it looks like Rami put some work into this. Those shorts are amazing: they fit beautifully, and I love the little element at the cuff. The shirt is interesting, but not over-the-top, and it looks expensive. The vest is cute enough. This is the third vest on the runway thus far–lots of vests tonight. It works for me–Rami chose a man to be his muse for this challenge, and the vest references menswear. A very put together look.

Kenley: Not bad. I like how she worked with the stripes in different directions. The horizontal stripes at the neckline are really interesting to me. I think she is on-trend with the neon accents (the colors were much more vivid in the broadcast than in the still photographs.) I really don’t like the pockets: not the shape, the contrast fabric, or the placement. They really ruin the shape of the dress for me, which is sad because otherwise I think it could have been quite chic. I really wish Kenley would be a bit more adventurous in her designs, though. Every week she whips up a perfectly serviceable, cute dress, but I’d like to see something more from her. Thus far it seems like everything she’s made has been a minor variation on something already firmly in her wheelhouse and I’m starting to feel she is more of a dressmaker than a designer.

Anthony: Cougarton Abbey. Looks likes granny is out to pick up one of the bartenders on her annual Caribbean cruise. She’s popped on her sassiest jumpsuit and her favorite turban and she’s ready to party. But seriously, this is not a good look. It’s not modern at all; the pants are so dated-looking to me. The color scheme is certainly not doing him any favors. Furthermore, this garment has absolutely nothing to do with his muse at all. I love Anthony’s hilarious one-liners and personality, but this look is a total dud.

Mondo: The shorts are pretty cute; he got the seams to match up perfectly, which is great. The jacket is quite well made, but I do not like the blue (I think it’s denim) combined with the green. If he had used something simpler, like black, I think this jacket would have been jaw-dropping, but as is, it’s kind of bleh. When the model unzips it, it’s actually a lot cooler, it kind of falls open into a neat shape. (You can see this in the side view option Here.) The bra top underneath is okay, and I guess it is something different than the usual tank-top route designers often go with under a jacket. Not my favorite look of all-time, but kind of cool nonetheless.

My Top 3 Designers This Week:

-Rami

-Austin

-Mondo

My Bottom 3 Designers This Week:

-Jerell

-Anthony

-Michael

The Judges’ Top 3 Designers This Week:

-Rami

-Mondo

-Austin

The Judges’ Bottom 3 Designers This Week:

-Michael

-Jerell

-Anthony (whom they liked overall, but who didn’t successfully make a garment using 50% of the muse’s clothes)

Woo hoo! Six for six! This may be the first time ever that this has happened for me!

The Results

Rami is safe

Mondo and Austin are in the top.

The winner is…Mondo! Hurrah! Love that guy! Yay Mondo!

Austin is in.

Jerell is safe. Whatever. I am so ready for him to go.

Anthony and Michael are the bottom.

Anthony is out. I’ll miss his great one-liners and his great attitude, which he maintains even through his elimination. He seemed like a nice guy, and I’m sad to see him eliminated.

That means Michael is in.

Why? Because this week’s challenge, Good Taste Tastes Good, we had only 1 hour to complete our looks! Which for me is absolutely nothing. It probably takes me an hour just to draft my patterns during a normal challenge. So the idea of being runway-ready in only sixty minutes was simply mind-boggling to me.

As on the show, we were able to pick from a variety of gelato flavors to inspire our looks. Our options were: chocolate with cayenne pepper, kiwi, cantaloupe, milk with sour cherries, passion fruit, blueberry, green tea, Madagascar vanilla, grapefruit, and  fruits of the forest (mixed berry.)

I decided to work with the idea of “grapefruit” this week. Which is funny, because in terms of actual gelato, that would be the flavor I would be least-likely to pick, as I kind of hate the flavor of grapefruit. But I chose this flavor because although Michael’s look won the challenge this week, I didn’t actually think it addressed the flavor inspiration all that well. as I said in my recap,

 Grapefruit is a bit tart and sour, with a surprising sweetness, and I don’t see very much of those aspects in this garment.

So I wanted to address my own critique, and make a garment that I thought reflected these qualities of the flavor.

May walks the runway in a two-layer dress; a hot pink strapless under-dress and a one-shouldered yellow over-dress that is ruched at one side.

When I was conceptualizing this dress, I could not get the image of peeling away the yellowish skin of a grapefruit, revealing the pink flesh of the fruit. I felt that I somehow needed to evoke this image, and it spoke to me in terms of the sour/sweet dichotomy of the flavor. I wanted to create my garment in a way showed both the “skin” and “flesh” of the fruit. Thus I decided the dress should be two layers, and that the “skin” layer should somehow be manipulated to give the feeling of it being peeled away. I settled on the idea of attempting to ruche the fabric, so that the pink under-dress would be revealed at the top and bottom of the garment.

My other major concern was creating a look that I could produce within my one-hour time constraint. I knew I would need to do a simple silhouette, and I would need to minimize the amount of finish sewing–I didn’t have time to be finishing my edges or hemming my garments. So I chose thin knit fabrics, as they tend to survive without fraying at least a little while with unfinished edges. Within my hour, I drafted the simple tube-style under-dress (essentially a rectangle) drafted the over-dress (harder than a rectangle,) cut out both pieces, sewed a couple of rows of stitches on the over-dress (on both sides) at the side to be ruched using a very long stitch length, used these to pull and gather the fabric, pinned the two ruffled sides together and stitched them, stitched the ruffled side of the dress to the under-dress, flipped it around to sew the seam of the under-dress, flipped it right-side out again, and popped it on the model, fixing a few little things here or there (such as trimming loose threads and reshaping the over-dress neckline.)

I styled the dress from the Neiman Marcus Accessory Wall. For shoes I picked the crazy-looking Jimmy Choo Neon Zigzag Ankle-Wrap sandals  and the Diane von Furstenberg Lytton Minaudiere Clutch. For hair, I think a sleek ponytail could be cute. For makeup, I think fresh and dewy would be the keywords. Who would wear this dress? Probably someone very young (I really don’t know very many teen or tween stars) and probably only to a very loose event, like the Kid’s Choice Awards or something like that.

This challenge was so exhausting. The hardest part was that there was no room for do-overs, or even time for any real finessing of the look. I knew I needed to be happy just getting something on the model and this was really hard for me to accept. And even worse is putting something I’m not particularly proud of down the runway. When I look at this dress, all I can see are my errors, but I just didn’t have time to fix them. I think I would probably be on the bottom this week because my execution was abysmal. And that makes me sad, because usually I spend a lot of time getting my looks tailored and well-fitting. And I can’t even really stand by my work all that proudly.  I think my concept was a good one, I certainly stand my that; so maybe the judges would keep me in for another week knowing that this week was kind of a fluke and that maybe I just don’t work all that well under such strict time constraints. Hopefully next week’s will be better.

Come see some really great looks at the Project Project Runway Flickr Group. There are some really standout looks this week!

The challenge is to create a tasteful outfit inspired by a flavor of gelato. Oh yum! I’m partial to Frutti di Bosco, or Fruits of the Forest (basically mixed berry.) When I studied abroad in Rome during college, I lived above a gelato shop. Actually, this gelateria. You’d think living above a gelato shop would result in eating a metric ton of gelato, but for me that wasn’t really the case. Anyway, each designer gets to choose the flavor that will be their inspiration.

Michael: grapefruit

Mondo: Cantaloupe

Mila: Milk and Sour Cherries

April: Blueberry

Jerell: Fruits of the forest

Kenley: Passion Fruit

Austin: Vanilla Madagascar

Anthony: Green Tea

Rami: Kiwi

Kara: Chocolate with Cayenne Pepper

The guest judge this week is the amazing Diane Von Furstenberg. That is a pretty dang big name to get on the show! On the downside, the designers only have six hours to create their looks. Uggggh. Some of my tiny little Barbie-sized outfits have taken six hours! I have no clue how the contestants are supposed to create anything decent at all in such a miniscule amount of time. This is producer mandated, no doubt about it, and that’s sad. I have been appreciating the caliber of the work and the minimization of the drama on this show; I hate these pressure-cooker situations created just for the sake of getting the contestants frustrated. It’s just crappy for such a high-quality design competition. I know that in theory these things make “good tv,” but you know what I think makes for good tv? Good designs and good output. And in order to achieve those good things, designers need adequate time. I’m not suggesting that the show give the designers weeks to make their work, but asking them to create full outfits in six hours is actually kind of insulting–these are the all-stars, and giving them so little time doesn’t make me excited to watch, it makes me feel exasperated. I just wish they would stop with these manipulative shenanigans and let the designers do what they do–design!

The Runway

The judges this week are the usuals, Georgina Chapman and Isaac Mizrahi, and they are joined by guest judges Diane Von Furstenberg and model Miranda Kerr. Miranda will be wearing the winning design to and incredibly and probably purposefully vague “industry event.”

All images from MyLifetime.com. The website has a lot more pictures, and even has a neat zoom option if you want to see more of these looks.

Mondo (cantaloupe): I think he did a good job translating the cantaloupe to the garment. The colors he chose are very refreshing, like the fruit. I think it is really smart that he went with a caftan, it really captures a sort of “brunch on the beach” feel. I would never, ever pick that pale orange and light lime green to go together, but they look surprisingly lovely in this outfit. This is a cool, breezy resortwear look, and I really like it. It also moves beautifully on the runway.

Anthony (green tea): Not a bad look. I actually really like the flippy little skirt, it adds a lot of movement to the look, which it sorely needed, as the top is so stiff. At first I didn’t quite “get” the top, but I think he was trying to represent the idea of the tea leaf in the shape of the bodice. I don’t think it was entirely successful, as it just looks a bit overworked. The color of the top is maybe a bit too bright for me. When I think of green tea, I think very calming and serene, and this color is a bit too lime green to reflect that feeling for me.

Kenley (passionfruit): The print is nice, but beyond that I’m not really sure how this dress represents passionfruit. There is very little passion to this dress; aside from the print, it is actually quite structured and maybe a little too straight-laced. Don’t get me wrong, minus the pussy bow, this is something I would totally pick up at the store, I just don’t feel like it reflects the challenge all that well–it seems like a dress Kenley knows how to make, so she picked a bright fabric and called it a day.

Rami (kiwi): Oh no. This is not good to me. I’ve liked so much of what Rami has done this season that this is really a disappointment to me. I really do not like the combination of green tones that he picked, from chartreuse to lime to pistachio. The colors do not work at all for me. And the variety of fabrics, the shiny satin for the skirt, the slightly sheer fabric he draped on the bodice, and the polka dot, they just don’t fit together at all for me. I suppose the silhouette is nice, but otherwise, this is not a good look, and not very kiwi beyond the (poor) color choices. That’s a bad miss.

Mila (milk and sour cherries): Pretty darn cool. I know I so often slam Mila for her predictable designs, but this is actually a very nice look. It is still very much in her aesthetic with the color blocking, but I love that she went out of her comfort zone with the color palette. I’m also not sure how many things we’ve seen her make utilizing more drape-y fabrics or sheers, so this is a fairly big departure. I think the fabric choice was very smart, as the fabrics have almost a creamy feel to them, which makes a lot of sense for a gelato-based challenge. I wish the sleeves were finessed a bit more, but overall a nice look.

Jerell (fruits of the forest): Urgh. I don’t think I’ve liked a single thing Jerell has made, and tonight is no exception. Even Joe felt outraged at this look. In complete truth, he got up from behind the computer, stood by the tv, pointing and shrugging with a confused/disgusted/outraged look on his face that he described as half “no me gusta” and half “no entiendo.” and “I’ve seen much better work at cosplay conventions.” Yes, Project Runway night is fun at our house. So, to get to the nitty-gritty, this is not a good look. Jerell seems obsessed with cutting up the body into weird shapes with his odd seaming choices. The fabrics he picked look ugly and cheap. The neckline is overworked and not well executed, and the skirt is way too short in the front. I’m really ready for him to go home.

Kara (chocolate with cayenne pepper): Well…the model does look kind of ice cream-like. As Kara herself said, the proportions of this look aren’t quite right. There’s something about where the bodice and the skirt come together that is not flattering or attractive. I think Kara had the start of a good idea in her garment, but failed to achieve it. I think she spent most of her time working on the skirt (which is admittedly kind of cute and moves nicely on the runway) and no time working on the ugly bodice. The other problem is that the dress doesn’t really reflect the inspiration all that well.

Michael (grapefruit): Nightgown. Didn’t Gordana go home last week for a nightgown dress? This is a soap opera “come to my boudoir” nightgown dress. Once again, as with Gordana’s last week, it’s all in the color. I just don’t think one can make a floaty or flowy dress out of that pale pink and not have it read sleepwear. Had Michael used a brighter pink, or a pale orange, this could have been a lovely, albeit humongous dress. But as it is, it feels like a robe. Furthermore, I don’t see all that much of the idea of grapefruit in here. Grapefruit is a bit tart and sour, with a surprising sweetness, and I don’t see very much of those aspects in this garment.

April (blueberry): Well, I guess it’s blue. I’m just not responding very much to the dress one way or another. It’s just kind of there to me. It’s very short, so I guess there’s that. And I don’t really like the bodice, the shape reminds me of Batman’s little ear thingies on his cowl. Is it blueberry? Well, it’s blue, but beyond that, I’m not really sure how else it relates to the flavor (although I’m not sure I could do much better conceptualizing a blueberry.) Basically, I find this dress terribly boring, and that’s about all I can say about it. Oh, and when the model turns, she seems to be mere centimeters away from showing her booty. So boring AND short. Hoo-ee.

Austin (Madagascar vanilla): Pretty. It has a creamy feel to it, which is nice. I think working with the idea of vanilla is quite hard. I mean, vanilla has a lot of connotations of blandness, so I think he did a fairly good job of avoiding that. It also is quite limiting when it comes to palette; he pretty much had to stick to white. It’s a nice enough look, maybe a bit boring and a bit “wedding on the beach” bridal, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I don’t love the rouching on the bodice, it feels a bit clichéd to me, but I do think the way he incorporated the strap and the texture he created into the rest of the dress is fairly interesting. It’s a fine enough dress, and it matches his vanilla “flavor” pretty well.

My Top 3 Looks:

Mondo

Mila

Austin

My Bottom 3 Looks:

Rami

Jerell

Kara

The Judges’ Top 3 Looks:

Mila

Michael

Mondo

The Judges’ Bottom 3 Looks:

Kara

Anthony

April

The Results

Mila is safe.

Michael and Mondo are the top two.

And the winner is…Michael. Yep, he is definitely “the chosen one” this season.

So Mondo is safe. In my opinion, he should have won. But then again, I want him to win the whole season, so your mileage may vary.

Anthony is safe.

April and Kara are the bottom two.

Kara is…safe!?

That means April is out. Whaaaa? I mean, I really like Kara, but I’m really shocked by this elimination. I didn’t love April’s look, but I do not think it was the worst by a longshot. But as she herself said in her exit interview, she’s only 22; she still has many good years ahead of her to do well in the business. Best of luck to her in her future endeavors.

This week’s Project Project Runway is entitled “Patterning for Piggy.” We were to design a flamboyant cocktail dress for Miss Piggy to wear during promotion of the new(ish) Muppet Movie. We had 12 hours to complete our designs, and a budget of $15.

May heads down the runway in a bright orange cocktail dress featuring orange and hot pink marabou at the hemline.

In designing this garment, I departed a bit from the kinds of dresses most of the Project Runway designers created. In thinking about how to dress Miss Piggy, I thought of her less as a real woman (as how many of the designers discussed and created for her) and more as a drag queen. And when you get right down to it, that is exactly what Miss Piggy is. She is a female character as acted and voiced by a male performer. She simultaneously embodies a stereotypical femininity, but also takes that caricature and turns it up to 11, exaggerating it for entertainment or comedic purposes. So I came from that standpoint in making this dress. This dress is basically stagewear; as Miss Piggy is a constructed character, she is basically on-stage whenever she is being performed.  So take that as you will.

Beyond the drag aspects of the dress, I knew I wanted to do something in a fun, bright color, something kind of fiery to match Miss Piggy’s over-the-top personality. We saw a lot of pink on the runway, and I knew I wanted to incorporate a bit of hot pink, so orange seemed like the logical choice to compliment the pink well. When it came to materials, I knew immediately that I wanted to work with some sort of feathery trim, and I wanted to use it on the skirt. So I sat down and did my usual weekly sketch.

(Click to enlarge: Croquis from DesignersNexis)

Once again, several details changed between my initial sketch and the finished product. Initially I had thought I was going to do the whole skirt in marabou trim, but clearly that did not end up happening. First off, marabou is the biggest pain to work with ever. I was seriously covered in little bits of fluff. I’m pretty sure I breathed in a fair amount, too. (Plus it was kind of stinky. What’s up with that?) So I was actually pretty darn tired of working with it by the time I called it done. Also, I think I was underestimated how much of the trim I needed to purchase in order to do the whole skirt. I suppose I could have bought more, but I didn’t feel like heading to Joann’s again, and I was actually kind of close with my budget this week. The trim was not cheap. I also decided to nix the rhinestones at the neckline. I liked the idea in theory, but once the dress was otherwise done, I just couldn’t do it. It just seemed to take the garment too far out of my more clean and sleek aesthetic. And I’m not sure it would have added much to the overall look. Another change was the addition of the belt–once I decided the marabou would be only at the hemline, the dress needed some shaping and something to break up the long orange expanse from bust to mid-thigh. Oh, and I did ribbon straps rather than the more tank-like straps in my sketch. Not only was it easier, it also felt somehow more sleek an option.

Then I had to think about styling. In theory, this dress would be worn with hot pink gloves, as Miss Piggy always wears gloves, but as the Neiman Marcus wall didn’t have any for us Project Project Runway-ers (on the plus side, we didn’t have to fight for them like on the show) they didn’t make it to the style board. I actually considered going back out the fabric store and picking up some hot pink stretchy material, but the thought of trying to sew the little thumb at this scale made my head hurt. So imagine them up there, if you’d like. For the shoes, I picked the ridiculously over-the-top Giuseppe Zanotti Bow-Detail Platform Sandals. Yep, these bad boys have a 7-1/2″ heel on them, but Miss Piggy isn’t walking anywhere, so why not? I also added the Jose & Maria Barrera Pave-Crystal Bracelet in Fuchsia (I tried spelling that word two times and got it wrong both times before resorting to spell-check. What a weirdly spelled word!) Hair and makeup don’t really come into play all that much this week, as Miss Piggy rarely departs from her wavy blonde locks and pink eye shadow.

This week was actually pretty fun for me, I liked the inherent silliness of the challenge. Don’t forget to head over to the Project Project Runway Flickr group and see what fabulous looks everyone made this week!