First of all, so sorry dear 'Runway' blog readers! Today was insane, so I didn't have time until now to write about last night's show, which, by the way, was the first challenge where I felt like, "OK, this is the 'Project Runway' I know and love.'"
I've always had a soft spot for the "weird store" challenge, when they've had to go into grocery stores and other unlikely retailers and put a dress together using cabbage and plastic cups and such. Last night, the crew headed into a party supply store. How fun! Think of all the wonderful things in those stores -- streamers and pinatas and inflatable palm trees, oh my!
I must say, the vast majority of the designers totally rose to the challenge. How awesome was Valerie's black and white napkin dress? That would have been a chic silhouette had she made it out of fabric, let alone paper napkins. I also loved Ivy's silver/gray dress. I think those were folded napkins, too. 600 of them!
For once, the person who should have won did. Andy's black and silver braded cocktail dress was so awesome. It really looked like leather!
And once again, for the third time in a row, Gretchen was in the top 2. I liked her outfit. But I liked others better. I also liked other personalities better. What kind of a know-it-all is she? She went around telling everybody what they were doing wrong, and then told A.J. he was only acting pissy to her because he was in the bottom. Noooo, he was pissy at her because she's straight-up annoying and overbaring.
Speaking of A.J., he's supposed to be the expert on working with found materials. But his ridiculous Debbie Gibson-esque party mess-dress was an explosion of suck. I couldn't look at it without squinting. And yet, they let him through to ruin another ensemble on another day.
I couldn't believe they picked Sarah to go home over A.J. or Casanova, who turned in another insane mess. His outfit, first of all, was made out of tablecloths, and they were all discouraged from using materials that could be seen as fabric-esque. And then he goes crazy with it! It was a disco, mermaid, 80s prom nightmare. (It's funny sometimes to think his name is Casanova. He's the least charming designer in the room!)
Sarah's dress, on the other hand, was just boring. And she at least knew it. Give her some credit for self-awareness, wouldya?
The person I thought should have gone home didn't even make it into the bottom three. He just got passed through without a critque to the next round. Michael's dress was like this upside-down blue plastic toulip skirt that didn't fit. And on the top was a cheap, silvery, plastic top that also didn't fit. The moment I saw it, I said, "He's going home tonight." And then I remembered ... oh yeah, a bunch of drama queens are running this show, so they'd never make a decision that made so much sense.
Until next week ...
(Pictured above is Andy's dress.)
I love polka-dots! A.J.'s dress Thursday night was absolutely BEAUTIFUL. It was a navy and white polka-dotted fabric. Very Audrey Hepburn. Loved the cowl neck and the black bow around the waste. By far my favorite dress.
You have to check out this blog by an AWESOME and resourceful young woman who is in the midst of buying 365 dresses, with $365, and transforming them into modern, wearable clothes in 365 days. It's amazing! It all started last October when she lost her job and wanted daily inspiration akin to "Julie & Julia" to lift her spirits.
Nancy Botwin has wormed her way out of many difficult situations during five seasons of "Weeds." But let's face it, she's backed herself into quite a corner this time. She's married to the Mexican mafia head/governor, and her son just murdered said mafia's PR representative. The Botwins are going to have to move to Alaska and change their names!
SHADY! That was just plain shady business last night. Did I miss the part where they explained to the designers that on each episode there was a chance for more than one person to go home? Rude. Very rude. That cute little elf-looking guy... ummm ... still learning names ... Nicholas! There he had just watched Mr. Jason Bowler Hat get booted, and surely he thought that meant he was safe. And then Heidi unleashes her suppressed angry German roots: I said Auf Wiedersehen, damn it! ...OK, she said something to the effect of "I'm sorry, you are out, too." But still.