Project Runway Season 8 – Finale

It’s funny, but Laura Bennett wrote this in her blog about the finale:

Fans all over the country are swearing that this is it. This time, really, they are no longer going to watch “Project Runway.” I’ve heard this many times before (I read the comments section), but this time, people may really tune out. Never has such an unpopular contestant won the whole shebang.

I’m sure that Gretchen’s mom loves her. I’m sure she thinks Gretchen is the greatest thing to come along since penicillin — or nicotine gum — but I would be hard-pressed to find more than a few people who agree with that. Not only is the general consensus that Gretchen’s colorless global-hippie look is unappealing, but she doesn’t rate very highly in the personality department either. Her super-high opinion of herself, along with her habit of offering unsolicited advice, didn’t endear her to her fellow designers or the viewing audience. I think the term “Kvetchin’ Gretchen” was used quite freely on the Internet. (I looked up “kvetch” in the Yiddish dictionary, and it means “complainer.”)

Well said.

As some of you may have note — I tuned out weeks ago and haven’t been following the season.

I really expected Mondo to win. Hell, the consensus from people in attendance at the runway show was that Mondo was the clear winner…so what went wrong?

What kind of crazy Kool-aid was Nina and Michael drinking when they seemed to forget every single complimentary thing they said about Mondo throughout the season and opted to award that odious Gretchen the win because it was more “commercial” (i.e. available now at your local Target and Wal-Mart!).

I thought Project Runway was about finding the next big thing in fashion design — someone innovative and unafraid to take chances and allow their creativity to take them to dazzling new heights?

I really have to say, this is probably the last Project Runway I’ll be covering.

Over the last couple of seasons, all I’ve seen are tediously dull, unimaginative, boring designers mixed in with delusional and truly awful people who don’t deserve to win anything because…well, who the hell wants to see a bunch of bitches and jerks win every season, anyway?

And, what’s more is, Nina, Michael and Heidi have seriously begun to disappoint me.

A few weeks back, Jimmy Kimmel had Heidi Klum on as a guest and showed her a series of clips as “evidence” of how mean she had become.

While Klum seemed taken aback, I don’t think that’s going to change going forward.

What’s funny is that I’ve started reading Tim Gunn’s newest book, “Gunn’s Golden Rules” and in it, he writes about this spoiled brat whose mother managed to snag a lunch date with Gunn through a charity auction — and all throughout the lunch, this brat proves to be ill-mannered and poorly raised.

She demands that Gunn get her onto the show as a guest judge.

The reason she thinks she’d make a good judge?

Because she’s mean.

She actually acknowledges this!

And while Tim disagrees that this is what the judges are, I’ll have to respectfully disagree here. In the last couple of seasons, they have become increasingly mean — constructive criticism is now laced with malice and delivered in haughty, imperious tones as though they are the arbiters of taste and style.

I’m sorry, but with each passing season, I can’t help but feel that these three people have made poor decisions and are too tedious and vile to watch any longer.

While Dame Nina and Michael praised Mondo for his vibrant use of colour throughout the season, they proved themselves to be hypocrites when they suddenly changed tactics and criticized him for the very thing they praised him for earlier.

Both of them showed bitchiness that was unflattering and disgusting.

And you know what? I think a lot of people agree with me.

Laura finished her blog post with this:

Gretchen’s win is not good for “Project Runway.” Who would travel to a mall to meet Gretchen? Which is exactly where Nina thinks she should be…Team Mondo is at full capacity. Team Gretchen is now accepting applications.

Particularly telling is what’s littered throughout the rest of the blogosphere about Gretchen’s win. Over at Entertainment Weekly, Missy Schwartz wrote this:

I am aghast. As I sit here at 11:16 p.m., the minutes piling up before I get to go to bed and try to forget the travesty that was tonight’s finale, I am at a loss as to what to say. Other than this: Project Runway has betrayed me. Nina and Michael have betrayed me. No, they’ve betrayed us, we the faithful Runway nuts who have stuck with the show through thick and thin, even when it went off the rails in L.A.
I’m heartbroken. Disillusioned. And no amount of Heidi arguing that “this was the toughest decision in Project Runway history” is going to make me feel any better. Heidi, you should have put on those boxing gloves and knocked some sense into your fellow judges.

Gretchen. Not Mondo. Gretchen. She’s the winner of Project Runway. No matter how many times I say it, it doesn’t sound any less wrong.
I could stew in this mystifying reality for the next three pages, but I’ll probably wake up the neighbors with my ANGRY LOUD YELLING TYPING. So lest I get kicked out of my co-op, let me take a breath, step back, and start at the beginning of this sh** show. If I can.

And so, I cap this all off with…adieu.

I’m finally done with this show.

Instead, I will turn my attentions to Top Chef — even though I think Padma can be quite the bitch, too. (She’s referenced in Tim Gunn’s book. Appalling behavior! Just appalling!)

Project Runway Season 8 – Episode 10 – There’s A Pattern Here

I really can’t go on and write a regular recap this week.

I was in Vegas last week, so that explains the gap in episode recaps, but this week, after watching last night’s episode, I think it’s pretty pointless to do my typical recap.

Mondo came out on top and made Project Runway history as the first designer to win three consecutive challenges.

This week, we had a rehash of a previous season’s challenge: create a textile. The “twist” this season is that the designers had to draw inspiration from a bunch of childhood photos.

Mondo designed a plus-signed pattern in solid black, rimmed with gold against a vibrant purplish-pink background.

While he declined to share the back story with Tim and April, he revealed in the video diary that the plus sign represented his HIV-positive status — something which he’s kept a secret for 10 years from his parents.

While his mother knew he was gay, she asked him not to disclose this to his father — and so, he’s kept a huge part of himself hidden from his parents…but as he admitted on camera, he couldn’t live like this forever because he was a better person than that — he refused to be a coward any longer…and that’s why he was telling the viewers — and his family — now.

God.

I can’t even write that without tearing up a little.

I think, the older I’ve become, the easier it is for me to become totally unglued by empathy; it doesn’t take much for the tears to start welling up and spilling over.

When Tim brought in the designers’ families as “special guests” and allowed them to spend the rest of the day together, more tears started overflowing.

As Mondo and his mother spend some time together around New York, he reflects on his family’s deep Catholic faith and how difficult it would be to tell his mother aobut his HIV status.

You can see his internal struggle as he considers telling her, but ultimately, decides against it because he doesn’t want to ruin the moment.

“I just don’t want to bring her any pain,” he says.

God. Just thinking about that moment makes the tears come back anew — like crazy tears coupled with a half-crazed sob at the back of my throat.

Was it just me or did it seem like Nina and the other judges already knew what Mondo’s print symbolized but was pushing him to provide an explanation on camera because they knew it’d make for great television?

I mean, c’mon! I’m not the only blogger who’s written at length about how this episode had me bawling throughout the whole thing.

I think only a true cynic would believe that Mondo made the revelation about his previously unrevealed HIV-positive status on camera to bag a win — and I’m willing to give the judges the benefit of the doubt and opt to believe that the only reason why Nina was dying to know the story behind Mondo’s print was because that was the nature of the challenge this week.

To Mondo’s credit, he demurred and only said that the design symbolized who he is now and that it was very personal — he didn’t spell it out, but eventually did after Nina pressed, “I wish I knew what the story was.”

By then, the judges’ awe was evident.

“Thank you for sharing that with us, Mondo,” Nina tells him, while Heidi adds, “That was very brave of you.”

To which Mondo replied, “I feel better. I feel free.”

It’s really a no-brainer that Mondo takes the win for this…and if he doesn’t wind up winning the whole she-bang, I’d be very surprised.

He really has emerged from being the underdog to one of the strongest competitors.

Project Runway Season 8 – Episode 8 – A Rough Day On The Runway

*yawn*

That’s how I felt about this week’s episode of Project Runway.

The designers are asked to create an outfit for a modern-day version of Jackie Kennedy with a $150 budget and a day to pull it off.

Is it just me or are fashion icons like Jackie Kennedy and Audrey Hepburn who they are because you could put a potato sack over them and they’d still come across as classy, sophisticated, and elegant?

It’s not so much in what they wear — because, if you really think about it, the whole “classic” look isn’t really particularly fashion forward and doesn’t say anything new or particularly interesting.

The classic look stands the test of time because the women who rock that look are the sort of women most women want to be — refined, respectable, classy dames.

That aside, the other reason this was a yawn-fest of an episode is because the Coven are still flogging the same dead horse.

Michael C. shows some spirit by telling the camera, “If you’re gonna hate on me for that, step up your game and win a fucking challenge.”

I wish he’d had the balls to say it to their bitchy faces — but I know what it’s like wanting to stand up to a coven. I work with one — the Hell Hags of Wisteria Lane.

As a total side note, I’m seriously developing a hate-on for female managers — especially when you’ve got a whole bunch of them working together and acting like they’re the fucking Ya-Ya Sisterhood, when in reality, they’re nothing more than a bunch of corporate psychopaths who feed off of each other and their weird bitch energy.

Okay.

End rant.

Back to the episode.

Michael D. is the only one who sort of comes to Michael C.’s defense, doing a complete flip flop from his trash talking a few weeks earlier.

He reasons, “He may not be as seasoned, but it doesn’t mean he’s not talented.”

Hells, yeah. I mean, dude’s won two challenges. How many challenges has Ivy won? Or Valerie for that matter?

Those two hell hags are just jealous bitches, whining from the bottom, too deluded to realize that they’re both one-trick ponies.

Like, take Valerie for example.

Really? Zippers and pleating? Again?

I’m glad Nina actually called her out on that this time around.

(Though, to be perfectly honest, I didn’t totally hate Valerie’s outfit.)

I just thought it was sort of a bum deal when Tim announced the twist — an additional $150 to create a piece of accompanying outerwear — and it turned out Valerie had already created outerwear…so, what to do except overdesign the beast she’s already got?

What was trotted out on the runway this week was just bad.

There was a clear winner — a no-brainer that even the Judges With No Taste had to agree on: Mondo.

When he got to Mood with no plan, but waited for a piece of fabric to “speak to him” and settled on a purple, black and ivory houndstooth tweed, you knew he could only go somewhere good with this.

It was funny when Michael D. told Mondo that he looked like Jackie Kennedy and Christopher added, “If Jackie came back as a tranny.”

Who knew the Handsome One could also make a funny?

(I posted this picture because it was all sorts of cuteness.)

April, of course, had immunity from the previous week, but if she hadn’t, I think she should have been in the bottom for this monstrosity:

Her model looked like an anorexic tranny whore with fins sprouting out of her twig-like arms.

I didn’t get where she was going with this and it’s certainly not something I could ever see on a modern-day Jackie Kennedy. (Or Michelle Obama, if you really wnat to think of a modern-day Jackie.)

Andy’s, of course, was also several shades of fugly.

You know it’s just a hop, skip, jump to Loserville when Tim swings by your work station and looks horribly concerned as he tries to find some polite way to tell you that you’ve got a disaster of nuclear proportions on your hands.

“Jackie O would not have cameltoe,” he tells Andy.

Project Runway alumn, Laura Bennett, in her blog, begs to differ on the cameltoe assessment and says it’s “actually camel-butt, if we want to be accurate here.”

She goes on to write, “I love me some M.C. Hammer, but I’ve never seen antyhing in his videos, legit or otherwise, that remotely reminds me of any first lady. Or second, or third for that matter.”

When Andy finally attempts to defend himself by saying that he’s not an American sportswear designer, Michael Kors shoots back, “So what? Are you a grand couturier? Did I miss something? I mean, come on.”

Oh, snap!

I love it when the judges are mean to the people who deserve it — I think everybody benefits from being knocked down a peg or two.

It was hilarious when Michael Kors and January Jones sort of ganged up on Andy’s styling.

“Why is she wearing Nicole Kidman’s boots from Cold Mountain?” he asks.

“And her hair from Far and Away?” January Jones adds.

I don’t know why. This struck me as incredibly funny and I couldn’t stop laughing. (Yes, people. I’d be the person in a movie theatre who’d continue laughing way past the point of something being funny.)

Ultimately, it was Michael D. who was sent home because his outfit was dubbed “mall wear.”

I really have to wind this entry down with this gem from Laura Bennett’s blog:
“Michael Drummond has to go because his outfit looks like mall-wear, and Jackie O might have been a bullimic chain-smoker with a cheating husband who married a shipping tycoon for money and then lived with another married man until the end of her life, but she would never be caught dead in a mall.”

Hilarious — but I don’t think she would have been caught dead in M.C. Hammer pants or fins or that awful weirdness that Gretchen sent out.

Like, seriously: ew.

Update: When Is Canada Airing Season 8?

Hi guys — I know a few of you have emailed asking when the Slice network is going to air Project Runway Season 8.

Here’s the email I got back from Slice:

From: “info@slice.ca”
To: Me
Sent: Mon, September 13, 2010 3:49:41 PM
Subject: RE: Program & Schedule Information

Thank you for contacting Slice. We do not have season 8 of Project Runway on our fall schedule, but please check back in a few months for updates. As always, for the most up to date information as well as to see our schedule online, please visit http://www.slice.ca
Sincerely,
Slice Viewer Relations

---

For those of you who are looking for a way to watch Project Runway, I’d suggest trying this site:

http://www.tvduck.com/Project-Runway.html

Project Runway Season 8 – Episode 7 – What’s Mine Is Your’s

Laura Bennet is mean — I actually totally love that about her.

Have you read her blog on Project Runway’s official site?

It’s fabulous.

Here’s her description of the latest challenge:

Heidi is too busy trying to figure out how to belt satin harem fatigues to give the designers a new challenge, so she sends them to Tim, who passes off the job to Michael Kors. Looking bloated and farty, Michael tells the designers that they are to design a resort-wear outfit that expresses their point of view. In order to help them feel the resortness of it all, each designer gets a pair of Michael Kors rip-off Ray-Bans. It seems to work for everyone but Mondo, who thinks his underwear is resort wear. Personally, I think Mondo’s idea of resort wear is pretty much on target, because I would bet that .003 percent of the population actually either a.) spends any time at a resort or b.) shops for it from a special collection, because piling your kids in a minivan and heading for the Jersey shore requires no special wardrobe.

To me, that’s just fabulous writing.

Interesting side note: a number of bloggers have mentioned how the people in Project Runway world have overused the words: throw someone under the bus.

I guess I’ve somehow absorbed that, too, because I found myself uttering the words, “Well, it’s not like I want to throw him under the bus or anything…” yesterday while at lunch with my new boss.

Hmm…must strike that phrase from my vocabulary immediately.

Can I say how much I love Casanova?

As soon as he sees Michael Kors, he expresses his concern and fright — because Michael Kors had been rude to him in the past.

Honey, Michael Kors is rude to almost everyone on the runway. He’s just a bitch that way.

(Which is why I loved Laura Bennett describing him as looking bloated and farty.)

So, the challenge is resort wear.

Ho hum.

“This challenge is very Michael Kors,” Casanova says. Beat of silence and then, “This is not my challenge.”

Of course, there’s a twist.

Tim shows up with a velvet bag and asks the designers to gather around, he announces that each designer will be wearing two hats — they’ll be put into teams of two. They’ll have to design and then have to execute their partner’s design work.

Ouch!

Tim points out that successful designers don’t construct their own work.

Poor Casanova is paired up with holier-than-thou Gretchen who is overly concerned with his grasp of English and tries to remedy their language barrier problem by drawing large sketches.

Casanova points out there’s nothing wrong with his eyes.

He was adorable when he told the camera in genuine disbelief: “Oh my God. She believe that I’m a retard!”

When he stared at his raised hands, it was a bit over-the-top, but I howled.

Mondo is unhappy with the fact that he’s been paired with Michael C. — he even flat out tells the guy to his face that his construction skills suck…which is something I can respect, at least. He had the balls to tell the guy to his face what he thinks instead of bitching behind his back.

It was just sweet when he got to know Michael C. and realized that he was a good guy.

“Michael Costello has caught me off guard,” he says. “I was such a jerk at the beginning.”

How sweet.

Not so sweet is Ivy.

Actually, she’s downright sour

You know who she reminds me of in this picture?

That bratty kid, Maddy, on Kate Plus Eight, who’s always having a meltdown about something or another.

I felt for Michael D. He had to work with the ever-heinous Ivy, who hovered and nagged and bitched and whined.

The poor guy was understandably stressed.

“I could feel her crazy!” he said.

Ivy, take note: going on Project Runway probably wasn’t the best move to make, because now you’ve exposed yourself as an untalented hack who’s a giant cunt, to boot.

Ugh.

Enough with the team challenges already!!

Interesting note for this challenge: Kristen Bell is the guest judge.

I don’t really consider her a fashion icon of any sort, but I guess it’s fun to have Veronica Mars in the house!

April takes the win?

Seriously?! How is this:

better than Andy’s design?

The judges must all be suffering from glaucoma or something.

When Project Runway alumn, Nick Verreos, wrote, “Casanova’s resort: a retirement home” I busted out laughing…but trust me, I wasn’t laughing when the judges showed they were clearly drinking the Crazy Kool-Aid by sending Casanova home over the grossly untalented and hugely cuntish Ivy.

But…again…I have to ask: How is this, Ivy’s design…

better than Casanova’s design?

I know it makes for good TV, but seriously, at least Casanova was entertaining and funny at the least, whereas Ivy is so grating. That shit just gets tiring after awhile…and again, it makes you wonder, when the judges show such poor judgment time and time again, you can’t help but wonder if it’s time to do a revamp of the judging panel just like in American Idol.

Project Runway Season 8 – Episode 6 – You Can Totally Wear It Again

Are you surprised? I’m not coming at this episode several days late.

C’mon — you had to admit, after Tim’s verbal slap at Gretchen, you were wondering what the hell was going to hapen next.

The episode opens up with the designers dissectin what went down on the runway and the general consensus seems to be that, if Michael C. hadn’t had immunity, he should have been sent home.

Interestingly, Project Runway alumn, Nick Verreos, questions the Michael C. hating in his blog.

“What the heck is going on with all the Michael C. hating?” he asks. “It’s not like he’s being a Santino Rice or a Wendy Pepper or he’s going into the workroom, arms outstretched with an “In Your Face” attitude. I just don’t get it. Michael C. seems like a nice guy. I can only blame it on a “hyper clique mentality” where they all start believing one person who starts saying stuff.”

I’m gonna go ahead and point fingers right now and say the culprit is Ivy.

And sure enough, we get a scene of the High Priestess of Judgmental Bitches declaring to Valerie that Michael C. is going to go home today. Fo sho.

Again, I’m going to head over to a Project Runway alumn here for her take on things — mostly because I think she put it pretty brilliantly.

Laura Bennett’s she astutely says in her blog,”I want Ivy to stop deciding the fate of her fellow designers and produce a decent garment. The reality is that Gretchen has won two challenges, and Michael C. has won one (about to be two) and Ivy has given us nothing but capri pants and maxi vests.”

Ouch!

But, ‘fess up, peeps. You’re also thinking the same thing.

Ivy, the gossip whore, asks Gretchen if she wants to chit chat with her and Valerie about what Tim said about her — but Gretchen wants no part of it.

She’s a teensy bit hurt by Tim’s words — which Ivy thinks is a good thing because she thinks this is the smack down to reality that Gretchen needs.

Oh, pot — I wish you could experience the same thing as kettle.

This week’s challenge is the first “non-model” challenge where a slew of women in hideous bridesmaids’ gowns are trotted down the runway.

Their challenge is to reinvent the bridesmaid gown into something wearable.

Again, I’m going to defer to Laura Bennett here, who has a good point in her blog when she writes: “I am just saying — no, begging — the producers to assign the women to the designers and save us all from having to watch this embarrassing process. Models are accustomed to being rejected. It’s their job. These women have been kind enough to participate and should be treated better.”

What’s worse of all is when Heidi turns to the two of the heavier women and asks, “Why are you two the last?”

Oh, come on, Heidi. You can’t seriously be so stupid as to not know.

In the workroom, we see the designers chatting with their clients and there are red flags when April’s client starts laying down the law on what she likes and doesn’t like.

April notes that it’s her ass on the line and wisely puts her foot down.

Ivy’s client, also, wants to show off her shoulders, her back, and her upper torso.

“Make her a thong and call it a day,” Tim tells Ivy.

Yes, you have to please the client, but you also have to keep in mind that you could potentially be sent home for committing to something you can’t stand behind.

Speaking of which, Gretchen (as well all know) didn’t completely stand behind her work last week — in fact, she flip flopped on her assessment of what was created when the judges continually voiced disappointment.

Of course, that’s at the forefront of everybody’s minds and when Tim walks into the workroom to see how everybody’s progressing, the tension is palpable.

But you know what? Tim’s nothing if not classy and professional.

He said his piece and he’s not going to apologize for it or harp on it.

I’m glad that it didn’t devolve into a tired movie-of-the-week where people break down sobbing and they hug it out.

Just fucking get over it and move on.

“A scar can turn into an open wound if you don’t let it heal,” Gretchen wisely notes.

Tim throws them a curveball by telling them the next day isn’t a runway show, but a designer showcase where guests are going to vote on their favourite outfit, which will factor into the judges’ final decision.

Guests give the designers a button if they think their’s is the best out of all the designs in the room.

Mondo’ dress was a fan favourite — the guy was a genius. He flipped the material inside out and transformed a pink gown into a really chic, mod-looking dress.

Meanwhile, Ivy is furious because she’s heard rumours from the guests that Michael C. has been telling them that she’s the bitch of the show.

“I know! I heard the same thing!” Valerie cries.

You know, I sort of liked Valerie at first, but her allegiance to the coven is beginning to wear thin with me.

We get a shot of Ivy’s sad looking fish bowl where she’s only managed to get three buttons.

“Whatever! My work speaks for itself!” she cries, sounding distinctly like sour grapes.

She then says that it was “catty” — again, I want to say, “Pot, meet kettle.”

Michael C. says he didn’t do what Ivy is charging — he actually comes across as a really classy guy when he says that he can be bitchy if he wants to, but he wouldn’t do something like that because he knows how hard everybody is working on their designs.

Ivy claims she’s going to take the high road and not lower herself into the gutter by talking to Michael C. about her allegations.

Uh huh. Right.

Does anybody seriously equate Ivy with high road? (Or class, for that matter?)

When Michael C. approaches her and even offers up proof, she chooses to disregard all of this, claiming she was seen his true character and chooses not to associate with him.

Ugh.

I just feel embarrassed because she’s Asian. I hate it when Asians act so vulgar.

I’m a little disappointed that she’s safe — but then again, she’s never done anything outstanding.

Everybody, of course, suspects Michael C. is in the bottom.

Gretchen rolls her eyes and is dismissive when she lists all of the fashion don’ts that Michael C. has committed to the outfit.

The judges disagree with Gretchen’s assessment.

“You gave her a cocktail dress that looks very expensive,” Michael Kors tells him.

“I love the mix of the satin and the lace and detail of the velvet bow,” Nina adds, knocking apart Gretchen’s belief that he was throwing too many ideas and things into one.

I thought Mondo would take the win because he got the most votes and the judges were universally complimentary.

Unfortunately, I think they wound up awarding Michael C. the win for the wrong reasons — provoking watercooler talk for their decision.

They didn’t like the fact last week, the designers all threw Michael C. under the bus — and maybe that’s why they felt it was okay to pronounce him the winner.

Don’t get me wrong: I liked his outfit, but I thought the lace top was a bit…much.

I hated how the other designers were sour-faced and completely ungracious about his win. Most of them slammed him behind his back, acting super critical of his skills and just behaving like a group of sucks.

As human beings, they disgust me.

LOL.

Peach, unsurprisingly, is booted out of the competition.

“The avocado dinner napkins tucked in at her hips are doing anything for you,” Michael Kors says. “Those hip pieces are crazy…I mean, she’s got an avocado goiter!”

Project Runway Season 8 – Episode 5 – There Is No I in Team

“Michael Costello is such a dumb ass!” April declares at the start of this challenge, when Heidi tells the designers that they must work as a team.

Michael C, being the winner from the previous challenge, gets to pick first and automatically chooses two-time winner, Gretchen.

“Do you want to hire Hitler? Seriously?” April asks.

Interestingly enough, April gets to pick first for the second team and Peach, who’s the last one chosen, observes that the teams are split evenly between the “superstars” versus the “underdogs.” Between the superstar team, they have four wins amongst them, whereas Team Underdog has zero.

Michael C has nothing but confidence and calls his team “the best of the best.”

April begs to differ.

“I think it’s a clusterfuck of team members on the other side,” April opines. “All those egos over there are going to be butting heads.”

Upon meeting Tim in the workroom, he tells them to design a six-piece collection with an $8,000 budget that’s on trend for fall before turning to a board with a few buzz words about trends for fall 2010.

What I find tedious beyond belief is when they’ve got a spokesperson from Garnier talking about how hair is so important. Bah! Product placements — it’s so gauche when it’s in your face.

Speaking of being all in your face, Gretchen doesn’t waste any time getting into her team’s faces, assuming the role of leader.

Michael C can’t help but notice that, when he throws out an idea, nobody cares, but when Gretchen says something, everybody jumps all over it.

“Heidi said there’d be no leader, but Gretchen is our leader,” Michael C says.

Interestingly, over on Team Underdog, Peach feels the reason why they’re so bogged down and not working together cohesively is because nobody’s stepping up to be a leader.

I have to say: I’m a little impatient with people like Peach who whine about nobody taking a leadership role for fear of being sent home if they lose, yet, not doing anything about it.

It’s like, “Oh, someone else should be the leader — but not me.”

Back in the workroom, Valerie observes that Team Luxe, headed up by Gretchen, who’s in full commando mode, is doing everything by pieces — and she thinks it’s like a recipe for disaster.

“Sort of like when you’re vomitting and have diarrhea at the same time,” she observes.

The snipping and bitching from Ivy is nauseating and annoying — she’s really beginning to get on my last nerve. I mean, as annoying as Gretchen is with her holier-than-thou attitude, I think Ivy’s almost worse because she hasn’t even won anything yet.

Michael C takes offense to Ivy’s harping — and while Christopher can observe that Ivy’s being…oh, a tad mean, all Gretchen can take note of is that Michael C seems to be the weakest link.

I think what she’s failing to see is that there should be no ‘weakest link’ and that the team needs to be strong as a whole.

When Tim arrives to give his critique, he insists on talking to them as a team rather than individual competitors.

Team Military & Lace’s outfits look more like “bordello trashy” in Michael C’s opinion.

Casanova is also bracing for bad news because he’s noticed that Tim never has anything good to say about any of his designs.

“I’m going to be blunt: your look looks like the mother of all these other women,” Tim says.

Casanova tells the camera that once again, he’s been told that he’s made a senior citizen garment — he questions what happened to his taste.

Beats me.

He winds up having a major diva moment.

Valerie has to talk him off the ledge from being crazy.

Here, I’m rolling my eyes.

I want to punch him in the face so bad.

I’m done with feeling sorry for him — especially when he claims he’s done with this. Hell! He claims he’s even getting fat!

Valerie sighs and complains, “Enough. Just put your panties back on and get on with it.”

His model gives a crack at calming him down and suddenly, Casanova is okay and says that she’s an angel and that he was probably being a little over-sensitive.

You think?!

Team Lux, on the other hand, has taken on a lot of tasks and when Tim takes a look at everything, he doesn’t seem overly blown away.

“I feel a responsibility to tell you this,” Tim says slowly, “but compared with the other team, this is looking very ho hum.”

Ivy’s quick to dismiss that. She claims she understands where he’s coming from but the reality is, she doesn’t. If she did, they would have addressed those concerns earlier on and Tim wouldn’t have had to bring it up.

I find Ivy’s voice incredibly grating. She’s like Satan’s little minion. Both Ivy and Gretchen are totally delusional and are quickly becoming this season’s most hated people. (In my books, anyway.)

Casanova’s design

What was beyond surprising was when Team Underdog (aka Military and Lace) were handed the win (and with Casanova emerging as the winner) and Gretchen went into a tail spin of disbelief and anguish.

She thought her team’s line had much more “cohesion” than that shown by Team Miltary and Lace.

To be fair — it’s not all pathetic.

I like Christopher’s outfit, at least:

The sob fest that ensued was truly pathetic. When Ivy sobbed that it was like having a baby and being told her child was ugly, I couldn’t help rolling my eyes.

What was even more eye roll inducing was how quickly Gretchen went from declaring that the team was standing united to a vehement declaration that the collection was “crappy.” She even went so far as to say that she couldn’t pick a weak link because “everybody sucked.”

Heidi couldn’t help pointing out how amazing it was that Gretchen’s tune had changed so drastically from the start of the conversation.

Everybody pretty much banded together to name Michael C as the one who should be sent packing — this despite the fact that the guy had immunity.

“I don’t know if it’s laziness or just ignorance,” Ivy declared when naming the many shortcomings of Michael C.

Ultimately, AJ was sent packing for the outfit shown above — but at least Tim got to put in his two cents by expresing his disappointment with Team Luxe.

“I fundamentally do not understand your behavior and demeanor and affect on the runway. I don’t get it. I don’t know why you allowed Gretchen to manipulate, control, and bully you. I don’t understand it,” he tells them.

Amen, brother!

Project Runway Season 8 – Episode 4 – Hats Off To You

We last left Project Runway with Ivy passed out in the hallway and with the designers expressing faux concern while wondering if she was simply not taking care of herself by focusing too much on working.

Dehydration is the diagnosis and Ivy admits she’s a little embarrassed, even though, I can’t really imagine why that would be something you’d get embarrassed over. I mean, you’re in a competition and you’re focused on trying to win — I think everybody knows what it’s like to be so wrapped up in a project that they lose all track of time.

The next challenge seems like it’s all about going way over the top.

“Isn’t this amazing?” Heidi gushes as the models come down the runway sporting crazy looking hats designed by Phillip Treacy.

Honestly, I can’t say I’m a huge fan.

I get it if you’re someone like Lady Gaga and you wear this sort of weirdness all the time, but would the average woman wear a Phillip Treacey hat?

I don’t think so.

This week’s challenge is to create a look inspired by a Phillip Treacy hat.

Interestingly, the designers are encouraged to pick a hat — but the hat goes with the model…and I’m disappointed to see that all of the designers opt to stick with their models instead of going with the hat that intrigues them the most.

Peach’s model, Effie, is labelled the “problem” model because of her attitude problem, but unfortunately, she’s wearing the most interesting hat.

It’s all really a matter of taste, Tim keeps reminding us as he goes around the work room to do his rounds.

Kristin’s having a lot of trouble trying to translate the orchid hat into a real design.

Gretchen opines that Kristin’s work often looks sloppy and like there wasn’t much thought put into it.

The little cry of horror that Tim emits seems to say it all.

Valerie, on the other hand, has given her outfit a lot of thought, but Tim doesn’t really get certain aspects behind it.

I like Tim’s design philosophy: if it doesn’t serve a purpose, why have them?

Valerie argues that the zippers she plans to attach to the outfit is a design detail, but I agree with Tim — I think it’s just clutter and makes a design look messy.

Tim points out that the judges often talk about editing.

When he gets to April’s work station, we’re confronted with a pair of shorts that look a lot like diapers. And really, they look exactly like a diaper — it’s white and it’s got a quilted texture to it…and it’s just…bad.

April still thinks they’re a cool idea and I can’t help but wonder if that’s the faint sound of a death knell in the distance.

My jaw literally dropped when she said that it’s trendy right now — since when was a diaper the next big thing? Why is a diaper “trendy”?

I love the way Tim delivers his critiques. He tells AJ that the sort of woman who’d be able to afford a Phillip Treacey hat would be able to afford a dress like AJ’s where the polka dots actually line up.

Good call.

When he tells designers, “That’s a lot of look” it’s not necessarily a good thing.

Casanova fucking cracks me up when he says he can’t make any more mistakes — after all, he’s not like some cat with nine lives.

When Tim warns him that the dress looks familiar — like it’s been done-to-death.

Casanova doesn’t seem to get it, though.

It’s like Tim says one thing, but he’s either not hearing it or understanding it.

His dress, after all, looks like something you’d pick off the rack at a high end store — something that’s beautifully executed but doesn’t particularly go with the hat.

Someone who is taking Tim’s advice to heart is Michael C., who has concerns over the way his dress is puckering.

Tim tells him to start over — which is the last thing any designer wants to do, but if you can see that what you’re working on isn’t working, then what alternative do you have?

On the runway, it was interesting to see how the designers took inspiration from the hats.

Some were more successful than others.

Gretchen’s dress, for instance, picked up al ot of the same elements from the hat, wehreas Kristin’s dress was one hot mess — odd scraps of fabric haphazardly sewn together.

“It looks like you didn’t have a plan with this dress,” Nina tells her — to which Kristin rolls her eyes.

When Heidi notes that Kristin was very quiet throughout the critique, she flat out says she doesn’t agree with the judges’ assessment.

I couldn’t help but wonder if Heidi expected Kristin to be all meek and grovelling at every crumb of critique that was thrown out.

A good example of that?

When Heidi said that Christopher’s dress was too dark and should have had some sort of colour in it, all he could really do about that slap in the face beyond saying, “Okay”?

I was surprised that the judges were so harsh — I liked his outfit (as did Gretchen, who claimed she’d wear the entire outfit on the street) but the judges felt the dress looked too heavy.

Heidi later expressed incredulity that Christopher could have ever possibly thought the outfit was edgy — instead, she and the other judges would have liked something a little more floaty.

Whatever.

They felt, in comparison, that Michael C. had an outfit that worked in harmony with the hat.

It, again, makes me question all of the judges’ tastes…which I know is a bold thing to say, but I think it’s important to note that opinions vary and differ. Not everybody’s always going to think the same thing looks good.

April’s outfit, however, was universally panned and disliked.

April’s model looked like a Thai prostitute in that God-awful diaper short and hat.

Michael tells her that the model looks like she’s gone for a three day weekend and layered her underpants, each day peeling one off.

“You sold it short — literally,” Nina tells her.

Peach, unbelievably, thinks that April is in the top.

That makes me question her taste level.

Speaking of Peach…her dress didn’t match the hat — it had a fussy looking print that seemed better fitted for a matronly woman’s suit.

You know who created an outfit that worked very well with the hat? Michael D — his outfit looked like it belonged with the hat.

I actually thought he’d take the win and was really shocked when it was the other Michael who won.

The judges felt his outfit was “effortless” and that he managed to pull the whole thing together without it matching.

“It all kind of converged and worked,” Michael said.

I laughed when Ivy’s reaction was, “What the fuck?! There! I said it!”

Amen.

That’s what everyone was thinking.

I sort of felt like, if Phillip Treacy didn’t like Valerie’s outfit, she might have won.

All three permanent judges liked her outfit.

On the other hand, I thought April would be sent home for the “triple panty.”

Instead, Kristin was sent home for a “disappointing” dress that wasn’t complimentary to the “joyful spirit of the hat.”

Project Runway Season 8 – Episode 3 – It’s A Party

It doesn’t really surprise me that Models of the Runway was cancelled — I’m glad that the picking and choosing of the models has been incorporated, once more, back into the show…though, it’s been my complaint time and time again that the designers aren’t forced to change models every week.

This week is crazy, unconventional challenge week — design an outfit using materials from a party design store. Tim meets them at the store — and for a change, tells the designers flat out that they shouldn’t be taking the easy way out by using materials that are too similar to fabric…but Casanova doesn’t seem to understand that and runs to where the table cloths are.

Hilariously enough, we cut to a repeat of the scene where Tim warns them not to use materials that can easily substitute fabric…and it’s labelled as “2 Minutes Earlier…”

He also grabs these stuffed animals and, once in the work room, starts methodically ripping them open like he’s slaughtering an actual animal.

When Valerie tries to explain it to him, he seems to think that the other designers chose to make weird designs by going for odd materials; that it’s part of their “flamboyant” nature.

It makes me wonder: has Casanova ever watched Project Runway?

“Did you not listen to me?” Tim asks carefully.

Casanova says he did, but he didn’t get the point.

So…uh, I guess it wasn’t a matter of listening — it was a matter of understanding.

The one I’m worried about is AJ simply because he’s talking way too much and getting a lot of face time with the camera.

Other people seem to think that this challenge is right up his alley and he sort of runs with this and oversells this notion — but all this blathering just makes you wonder if this is the set-up for a mighty downfall.

Michael C. points out that the only reason everybody thinks that this is AJ’s challenge is because AJ keeps talking about how it’s his type of challenge.

His first attempts look…tacky, cheesy, messy, and gross.

“This looks like disparate parts put together,” Tim warns him.

Gretchen, who has one the previous two challenges and who has already cited Valerie as her biggest competition, is going around the room, offering up advice like she’s the female Tim Gunn or something.

Okay — I get it: you’ve won two challenges and you’re feeling a bit full of yourself…but now’s not the time to be acting like the mentor. Just stay focused and get your own stuff done.

“I feel like it takes the class out of what you’re doing,” she tells Valerie, who just opens her mouth in apparent wordless wonder.

However, a lot of other designers seem to think that Valerie’s got a dress that is accessible to most women.

Andy, who was the other designer that Gretchen pegged as potential competition, is dismissed as having “student” work — plus, he seems really behind schedule. He’s been spending so much time on working with ribbon that he hasn’t had the time to actually get started on the dress.

When Peach and April offered to help Andy, Gretchen was a little irritated and said that it seemed more like a time management issue on his part that he needed to work on.

I see her point, but I also think that the other designers don’t like Gretchen and would rather anybody else win.

That’s my take on it, anyway — I mean, don’t get me wrong. I don’t mind Gretchen, but that slightly smug, superior attitude masquerading under the guise of constructive criticism just makes you a target for others to get their hate on.

When the models arrive with a surprise, the designers are apprehensive. The added challenge is to create an accessory out of what’s in the gift bags only.

Of course, there’s concern from some designers, but when I saw how some of them were creating necklaces and rings, I couldn’t help but think, “So…what’s the problem?”

The guest judge this week is Betsey Johnson, which is the perfect choice for a challenge like this one.

Some highlights of the runway:

The Highlights
– Andy’s dress is amazing — it looked just like how he described it: leather and chains.
– Michael C’s red dress was amazing as well — I don’t even remember what material he used but the overall look was classy and chic

The Low Lights
– Michael D’s dress looked stiff and unwieldy. The skirt looked uncomfortable.
– AJ’s dress was one hot mess — like the sort of awful, frilly concoction that toddlers in pageants wear
– Sarah’s dress looked like a total cop-out. I don’t know what the material is underneath the spray-painted palm trees, but it basically looks like the only thing she took away from the party store were the faux palm tree fronds and that she simply taped them onto a plain dress.

AJ unsurprisingly isn’t winning over most of the judges.

“The dress, to me, looks like you tried to put everything you found in the store,” Heidi says.

Nina agrees and tells him there’s a place for campiness, but it just looks like he went crazy gluing everything he could find in the party store together.

“It looks like a hot mess,” Nina says, to which AJ bizarrely thanks her for.

Heidi pulls out one of her bitch moments by saying, “That was not a compliment.”

It’s crazy, but Betsy seems to actually like AJ’s dress – her only complaint is that he didn’t go crazy enough…though, maybe this was her way of being kind because she was less complimentary after he let the runway.

Andy wins high points by creating what Michael Kors describes an “exciting” dress that he could see both Heidi and Rhianna fighting over it.

In another head-scratching moment, Betsy doesn’t seem to care for it, calling it too beautiful and perfect and not fun enough.

“He really gave it so much dimension,” Michael argues.

Nina agrees that the whole look was very well put together.

She also seems to “love” certain aspects of Casanova’s dress, whereas the other judges were taken aback.

“She looks like a transvestite Flamenco dancer at a funeral,” Michael tells him.

Michael was much more deeply scornful behind his back, by stating Casanova makes himself out to be all about couture when in reality, he doesn’t seem to have any taste.

Sarah also finds herself in the bottom.

“Simple” and “sad” were a couple of the words used to describe her dress.

I think Michael hit the nail on the head when he said that it looked like Sarah tried too hard to make those palm fronds work no matter what. He advised her to take a step back and know when something simply isn’t working.

The main argument here seems to be: do you send home the designer who knew she was sending down a failure or do you send home the designer who was oblivious to the monstrosity that he was creating?

Ultimately, Sarah went home, while Andy took the win.

I’m so glad that Andy won — it was well-deserved and I’m a little relieved that the Gretchen winning streak has finally come to an end.

She’s a good designer, but I think it was getting to the point where the other designers wouldn’t have been able to take it if Gretchen won again.

When the designers initially went backstage, there was some tension when Gretchen started to voice what the judges had to say about Andy’s design, even though nobody wanted to hear her speak.

When AJ pointed this out, there was a look of complete surprise — and that’s the rub, isn’t it? We’re seldom aware of the things we do that annoy others.

At the every end of the episode, we learn that Ivy passed out and fainted and had to be taken to the hospital. There are no scenes of her in the sneak preview for next week’s episode, but hopefully, she’s doing okay.

Project Runway Season 8 – Episode 2 – Larger Than Life

Ooh. Do we already have a front runner?

I don’t really remember if there was any one standout designer in all of the seasons of Project Runway like there was for season two of Project Runway Canada where you knew Sonny Fong was going to take the whole thing from episode two onwards.

But let’s not spoil things and get into the episode.

Previous winner, Gretchen, voices her surprise that McKell was sent home. Another designer — damnit…what is her name? It’s the same chick I blanked on from the previous episode. The really young one…ooh, what’s her name, damnit?

Anyways, she notes that McKell played it safe, so she wasn’t sure why she got sent home with there were a couple of other designers with questionable taste levels.

But — as we’re told — McKell’s departure shouldn’t hurt us too much because she wasn’t officially a part of the competition…which, you know, sort of irks me. You can claim that the first episode was still a part of the audition process, but if it’s on the air and you’re still structuring it like a challenge, then I consider that “official.”

Anyways…

The designers meet Tim and Heidi on the rooftop and they’re introduced to Joanna Coles, editor-in-chief of Marie Claire, who presents the designers with their first “official” challenge: create a look that defines the Marie Claire woman.

What does that even mean?

I’ve never picked up an issue of Marie Claire because the covers never really interest me. It strikes me as a low-grade version of Elle — more in keeping with Good Housekeeping or some other mumsy magazine that tries too hard to be fashionable simply because they’ve got Nina Garcia on their masthead.

The real draw here is that the look will be featured on a billboard in Times Square — that is the real challenge.

The designers eagerly start clapping and they look a bit like dolphins performing at Sea World.

As a total aside, when they cut to Christopher Collins, I have to tilt my head.

Really? This is the guy they’re painting as the hottie for the season?

I guess he’s okay.

Jason’s little pitch to the camera of his design is…bizarre. He talks about the infinity symbol and the number ‘8’ for this season…it was the garbled, airhead mumbo jumbo that always disturbs me. What planet is this guy from, anyway? He’s too weird for words.

“So it’s two sides of an 8 wrapped around each other?” Tim asks.

He steps back and his brows furrow as he tries to figure out the weirdness that’s flowing from Jason’s mouth.

Michael cracked me up when he described Jason as “really creepy” and explained he was only super nice to him so that he wouldn’t come up from behind him and stab him with a pair of scissors.

What enrages me, though, is when Jason offers up nothing but excuses, and even says the judges shouldn’t expect perfection from him.

WTF?

Casanova, as we know, was in the bottom for the first challenge, and when he seems to be asking AJ for help, I’m a little taken aback. He seems to let things roll off his back when AJ flat out refuses and reminds him that this is a competition, but what surprises me most is that there’s an undercurrent of holier-than-thou irritation coming from Casanova over this.

Why do people always forget they’re in a competition?

Casanova is constantly asking Gretchen for her opinion and it makes me want to scream. It’s like, “Stop being so afraid. Think for yourself!”

Tim is completely baffled when he looks at Casanova’s design — and he even admits that he’s going from the prostitute to the nun.

“It’s so matronly,” Tim complains.

That seems to be the watch word.

When Michael C. starts talking smack to the camera about how he’s got the win in the bag, but as soon as Tim sees it, he tells him that “fashion forward” is the last thing he’s thinking.

“Blanche Devereux” from the Golden Girls is what comes to Tim’s mind, eliciting a scream of horror from Michael.

Valerie also bugs me. Is it just me or does she look like Parker Posey?

When Tim comes into the workroom, she explains she’s making a trench dress, which Tim approves of.

Gretchen tells the camera that she thinks Valerie is her biggest competition — which surprises me. I don’t even remember Valerie’s design from the last challenge and I just saw the episode yesterday! (Maybe it’s because all the bad ones come popping up in my head when I think about the last episode.)

Mondo, who seems…odd (just like he said people would find him!) tells Tim that he doesn’t have a sketch because it’s all just in his head, winds up stunning Tim…though, Tim seems to expect good things from Mondo, seeing as he takes the time out to tell him he was impressed with how he took a matronly garment and turn it around so quickly.

“You blew me away,” he tells Mondo, who admits he was thinking of giving up.

Was he? I can’t tell with that guy.

Even the other designers note that, while others are forming bonds and friendships, Mondo’s just on his own — totally focused on his work.

Is that so wrong, though?

When the designers are back in their living space, they talk about it, I feel my heart break a little when Mondo tells the camera that he’s really lonely and that he’s failed to make a connection with anybody.

I started tearing up when he started crying and saying, “I don’t feel like I’ve ever been loved for who I am and what I can give back.”

='(

(Yes. I know that was lame, but I’m a sap who tends to cry as soon as I see someone else crying. Damnit, I can’t help it if I have feelings!)

I was concerned yesterday when Tim seemed to be telling Peach what to do, but when he comes around to her work bench, he’s back to being the Tim I know. He doesn’t tell her what to do, but only advises her to stay true to who she is.

I like Peach — I do…but I can’t help but wonder if she’s right: that she tends to stick to what’s safe.

When Tim advises the designers that they’re also going to have their look photographed so they can get a feel of what it would look like editorial-wise.

You know who surprised me at the Marie Clare photo shoot?

Mondo.

He was the only one who really provided direction for his model — and his photos were actually interesting.

Some highlights and lowlights from the runway:

Highlights

– Michael C’s dress had more to do with styling for me. I liked the necklace and I liked the fabric. The dress was chic.
– Seriously, when Michael D flat out refuses to meet Nina’s incredulous look and does his “poker face” I couldn’t stop laughing. Sure, the dress was too short and might have belonged in a “rap video” as he says, but you know what? I actually really like it. The look he had when he learned he was safe was priceless. It was like, “Oh, thank the sweet merciful Jesus!”
– Okay, so Andy’s top was sort of gaudy, but I think I’d actually wear this because it’s interesting.

– OMG. I actually love Casanova’s jacket — it looks so elegant. I’d wear that to work.

Low lights:
– Jason’s disastrous “infinity” dress. The safety pins looked sloppy and unfinished…but hey, as he said, you can’t expect perfection from him. It blew my mind that he said, “It was impeccable, the way it was sewn.” Are. You. Kidding. Me??
– Peach’s dress was so boring — something you’d expect from a housewife who occasionally dabbles in dress making.
– I hated Sarah’s dress — it looks like something a kid would make using felt on a paper doll dress…just pile on all the scraps.

The judges were brutally honest, but I also sort of think they were kidding themselves about the sort of woman Marie Clare represents.

Nina found Valerie’s red dress “sexy and sophisticated” — is that really representative of the Marie Clare woman?

They were less kind about Jason’s dress.

Michael described it as either a walk-of-shame dress or a satin bed spread.

“How could he ever think it was sexy? Has he even talked to a woman?” Joanna asked.

Similarly, they felt Nicholas’ design was too complicated and too detailed — which I agree with.

“It’s supposed to be arresting and simple,” Nina protests and tells him he wasn’t thinking about the bigger picture.

They liked Mondo’s outfit better.

“I love you said that Mary Tyler Moore inspired you,” Joanna tells him.

Nina commends him on the “great spirit” exuding from the whole look.

Gretchen, of course, takes the win.

I have to admit that I liked her outfit more than Valerie’s, even though the other designers thought Valerie would win.

Valerie’s look

“She’s a modern girl from head to toe,” Michael says of Gretchen’s outfit.

Nina goes on to say, “The Marie Clare woman is smart, confident and modern.”

Uh huh.

I’m sure the smart woman likes to fill her time reading thought provoking articles like “5 Things You Should Know Before Kissing Anyone” or “I Fell In Love With A Terrorist.”

I thought for sure that it would be Jason who would leave — what surprised me was the fact that Nicholas was also given the boot.

It was a little sad how Nicholas’ face crumpled when he was told he was out as well.

While Jason bolted, refusing to stay, Nicholas totally broke down.

It irritated me when Valerie tried to console him because it sounded insincere (even though it might not have been) and like the sort of trite thing one would say to fill a void.

On the next episode, it looks like one of the female designers is taken to the hospital.