PR Finale Part 1

I almost entitled this post "PR finale- WTF??" But I can't say I'm surprised in any way. If there was ever any doubt that the producers are pulling the strings on everything and the judges' critiques are basically meaningless, well, that doubt is gone.

I know Anya became a bit of a fan favorite and it's inspiring how fast she learned and blah blah, but she definitely should have gone home. Despite his ass-iness issues, everything Joshua said at the end of the episode was completely justified and I would have felt the same way. Someone should have gone home today. How are the other three supposed to feel that they've accomplished anything?

And the fact that they showed that whole scripted part at the end with the judges saying anybody could win? Please. They might as well have said, "Well, we can't send Anya home because we have already picked her as the winner."


Let's have a look-see at the fashion in this completely pointless episode.

I thought Viktor's showing was far and away the best. Each piece was striking, different, well-made and very him. The only thing he really got critiqued for was putting pieces together that were each too strong. But to be fair, Tim told him that the leather zipper skirt made that dress and Tim also advised him to put a "wow" gown under that jacket. It must be frustrating to the designers when they listen to Tim and are then criticized over it. I just love what he does with those large prints and how everything looks completely professional. I wish that gown was long all the way around instead of a mullet, but that's probably all I would change. I want that black tuxedo jacket. 

(Sorry about these bad screen-grabs. I got lazy.)

So this is Anya's.... Completely agreed with everything the judges said. That bathing suit outfit looked silly and unflattering and the gown is AWFUL. She really did everything wrong with the satin. Even if she had chose a better fabric, it would still just be a basic one-shoulder goddess gown. The first dress on the left was cute. But it was helped greatly by the fact that her other two looks were so disappointing. On it's own, it's nothing that special. She was easily the worst today. I honestly don't know how she made it past last week without the judges noticing that everything looked like her assistant Bert and not her. Anyway, we really don't even have to watch next week because at this point it's clear they will do anything to make her the winner. Don't get me wrong, I think she's a lovely person and not a terrible designer, but it really hasn't been a fair game.

I really don't get him. All season they have been calling him a good designer but at the same time saying he has terrible taste. I would guess that a person would have to have some pretty good taste to design clothing, but what do I know. I have no idea what kind of woman would wear his clothes. Who would buy a neoprene LBD? And for the love, stop putting pieces of plastic on everything! I just feel like he should find his niche in designing for men like himself. (Or Stefon.) I mean, the guy wore a half-vest with leather bound books printed all over it in this episode. To me, that automatically disqualifies you from winning Project Runway. But they love him. Or more likely, they love his TV personality. Whatever.

They were right that Kimberley had some styling issues. But I'm really glad she's going to fashion week and I think she deserves it. Her clothes are not my style at all, but I think they are great for her audience and it really is a voice that is missing in high fashion. I could easily see stylish urban girls working these looks in downtown Cincinnati. You can't really tell here, but the backs of each of these were interesting and pretty. I don't think her collection will be win-worthy, but her point of view is unique enough that making it to the top three will at least jumpstart her career. 

Well, at least we got lots of Tim time this week...

You guys, I don't want to be one of those people who complains about the quality of PR going to the dogs and threatening to never watch again.... but I'm so disappointed with this season I might never watch again. I don't even care who wins next week. That's not true, I really hope it's Viktor. But it will be Anya. That other thing I said isn't true either, I will watch next season. I'm mostly just full of it  :) 

PR, Episode 9: V for Vendetta

I'm going to do a bit of an abbreviated Runway post this week, because the looks were all pretty standard mall stuff because they were sewing for real women. (Although, I will say that it was thoroughly entertaining to watch Olivier get his paper-doll panties in a wad over sewing for someone real. "These boobs, to me, they are trouble." It was kind of like watching him trip and fall all over again... I just realized I'm a horrible person.)

Anyway, there is really only one point to make this week. Why do the judges/ producers hate Viktor?


Exhibit A:

For the avant garde challenge, Viktor made this (kind of really fantastic) and wasn't even top three...

 while Josh made this (throw up in my mouth a little) and got wildly praised.

Exhibit B:

Last week, Viktor made this (gasp-worthy)...

But this dress by Anya (cute, but whatever) took the win.

Exhibit C:

This week, Viktor made this (so cute and perfect for her)...

 but Josh made this dress (zzzzz...) and won again.

Oh Viktor, you are so naive. Did you think you would win Project Runway with talent? If only you were beautiful and exotic like Anya, or maybe a huge turd sandwich like Josh.

PR, Episode 7: A new favorite villain

The past few weeks have been all about hating Bert. Now it's much more fun to hate Joshua. They should just have an arm wrestling match or something for who will be this season's most hated.

So this was, I believe, the third team challenge of the season. They were in two teams of 5 and each team had to put on a fashion show complete with custom printed fabric, a runway video, music and whatever tone and direction they wanted to take. Literally, they could have done anything.

 

... and this team chose to go with clocks. They approached their fashion show like they were planning a baby's first birthday party. Pick a theme and everything matches the theme in the most literal sense. I realize it is hard to get 5 people in a group to agree on one idea and all be excited about it, but it is also very hard to believe that none of them could come up with something better. Or that none of them at least said, hey, clocks aren't really an idea, they are just objects. Why don't we make it about time? 

I'm not sure exactly whose idea the clock thing was, but at least it was better than Josh's girly village people idea. Even if it wasn't his original idea, he sure did carry it in the wrong direction. Besides the fact that he absolutely ruined any good vibes the group could have had with his big tantrum in the beginning, he followed that with a slew of really bad ideas and he was obviously the non-leader leader of this group. His video ideas were awful, his print was awful, and his whole outfit was awful. He seemed really proud of that cog jacket (top photo) but I don't see anyone really wanting to wear something that fits like puzzle pieces over your boobs. And the pants are wildly unflattering. 

I say all that, but I'm going to have to agree that Becky was the right choice to go home this week. Josh ruined this group's whole show and collection, but that was because he had three girls on his team that thought it was better to keep their perspectives to themselves rather than add fuel to his fire. Even Bert seemed to do his best to stay out of Josh's way (even though it's still a bad attitude if it's under your breath.) My point is, Becky may have interesting things to put out there as a designer, but she's spent most of this competition keeping those things to herself in an effort to please everyone and keep the peace. Her outfit (lower left) was boring. If your team's going down in flames, don't try to please the jerk doing it, just make the one kick-ass outfit that stands out from the rest. Laura and Kimberly also rolled over to Josh, but they at least made decent and interesting outfits with their own perspectives. Although, I kind of hate Kimberly's (middle right), but it's not sad and boring. 

And one more thing about Josh. The show is really good this season about showcasing the villain of the moment's sad story as if it's an excuse for ass-clown behavior. But it isn't. Ever. I'm not saying I don't feel for Josh. I'm sure he has deep and genuine pain about the death of his mother. I won't pretend to know what that's like, but I think it's a good excuse to have bad, sad, and depressed days. It's a good excuse to get a little emotional. But it's never a good excuse to treat other people so poorly. I hope I don't sound insensitive to someone who truly has reasons to be upset. I'm just saying he should probably figure out better ways to deal with it or life will be very difficult for him. Either way, the producers are playing those sad stories like fiddles, aren't they?

This was the winning team. Obviously. I really loved that little bit of editing where they showed the team laughing and smiling together in slow-motion while the other team looked on, so forlorn. That was kind of hilarious. The getting along really helped them and it shows up in their collection. I can't think of much I don't like about these looks. The one thing that I thought was pretty cliche was their footage of people moving in the city. It's been done a gazillion times and it seemed a little obvious for their chaos idea. I think it might have been much cooler if they had carried the ink blot idea into the video and made it moving and kaleidoscpopic (not a word.)

I'm not sure I agree that Anya should have won though. I love her dress (bottom right) and her style obviously shows through all of those prints. But Anthony probably should have gotten more credit for the direction and idea of the collection. And I thought his look was pretty adorable too (middle right.) But Viktor's gown? COME ON. Tell me it wasn't gorgeous and I will fight you. Making a rorschach test look that chic is impressive and downright cool.


It finally became clear to me this week that Anya, Anthony, and Viktor should go to fashion week. It was a little murky until this episode, but I'm calling it now, here in stone, on the interwebs. Do you agree? Who do you think are top three?

PR Episode 5: Klumzilla and the Crackheads

This episode was so full of BS it was ridiculous.

First of all Ms. Klum, didn't we just have this challenge last season? (I think, if not last season, it was a very recent one. Designers had to make looks for her sportswear line, and I believe they even did it in teams like this.) Apparently this show just has to bow to building your brand name empire now. It's a bit obnoxious.

Also, the judging in general, seemingly led by the Klumzilla, was just so wildly all over the place and mostly wrong about everything.



The Top 2 or 3:

Viktor: This was the only thing they got right. Viktor's look won and was clearly the best. Let's all just admit that jacket is badass. And the fact that he made it look so good with a drapey jersey dress like that and it still looked perfect with the sneakers is impressive. I'd wear that dress, although if I attempted to wear a jacket like that my friends would probably do laughing spit takes. I need a neck tattoo, obviously.

Anya: This is the other winning look that will be sold on amazon. It's a great dress, I like the sporty stripes and racerback and love that print. It is just another dress that is completely designed for Anya herself, but that seems to be working for her. We'll see if that carries her to the end, as it does seem that she is the only one that the judges like consistently. But this is where the episode turns into Dumbo's drunken circus dream and you have no idea what is happening... Why was there a second winning look at all? I don't know. Pointless. And why didn't the designer of that winning look actually win for it? I don't know. Pointless. Klumzilla on a rampage.

Joshua: Instead, this guy won for Anya's look. I guess the judges were very taken with his team leadership. What? In the beginning, his team was one of the two called out for having getting-along issues within the team. In this case, that was purely his fault. Even if it was his plan to just use Becky for her skills and not let her actually design, you don't come out and tell her that. A good leader would have found a way to get her on their side and do what they wanted, all while making her think it was at least somewhat her idea. He was really dickish to her, but at least he did apologize. If he had realized that she needed a little coddling, he could have saved a lot of strife and time. And anyway, I don't know where he gets his idea that she's dowdy. Her dress from last week was very young looking and actually looked a bit like his style. 

As for his look, the detail on the side of the shorts was cool, but that vest was ridiculous. I can't believe that Nina of all people liked it. 

Some mediocre stuff:

 

Josh C: I was actually pretty happy to see him come back. Hopefully he's gotten a little tougher and we don't have to watch him wet his pants on stage the next time he gets cut. I really liked this look a lot. Those pants look perfect with the sneakers and I love the black suede pockets. Even the holster business looks good here. I wish he had made the t-shirt a bit more fitted, especially in the sleeves, but that's my only quibble. 

Becky: Hello nips. This look is pretty boring and the shirt is unfortunate. But mostly I just want to talk about Becky. She had a bit of a pity-party, but really you can't blame the designers for that sort of thing with the kind of pressure and schedule they maintain. (Plus, who of us girls haven't done that?) Besides, Joshua was really unnecessarily mean to her. BUT, what impressed me about her this week was that she was genuinely happy and rejoicing for his win, even after all that. The girl's got character and integrity. Unlike someone else...

 

Bert: It's almost becoming laughable. He finds new ways each week to make you hate him just a little more. He acts above the whole reality show competition thing, but maybe he is really the one milking it for all it's worth and making himself this season's most memorable character. I mean, how did Anthony Ryan not just turn and punch him on the stage? He was literally jumping for joy and laughing when the judges criticized his teammates. How can you be that old and still be that immature and generally crappy as a person? 

AND WHY WON'T THE JUDGES SEE IT? Really, you can't remember the last time a team had this much trouble getting along? Well, It was two weeks ago, and the one common factor was Bert. His look didn't go with the sneakers at all, he was obviously a huge troublemaker in the team, and yet he got a pass. He should have been in the bottom with the other two. 

Olivier: Should have listened to his teammates about farmgirl here, but mostly I just wanted to remind you of this:

        "I wanted to be a team leader, but instead I had to fall like a bitch."

That line alone may have been worth all the crazytown in this episode. HILarious.

The Bottom 2:

Danielle: Oh Danielle. She lost this week, but at least now she is free to continue her torrid love affair with chiffon and maybe elope with it to Jamaica or something. This is not sporty at all. Why didn't she use jersey and make something similar to her first week's look? That type of top would have been perfect in this challenge.

Anthony Ryan: To be fair, he should have lost this week. This was one of the saddest things to ever go down the runway. Just another example of the judges following arbitrary whims and ideas about how much past challenges can carry a designer. But I am glad he didn't lose, because I still like him, and besides that he had to deal with the Abominable Bertman. He did seem like he was trying his best, but I don't think Bert would let himself be under the leadership of anyone. I wish he would get back to some of that pattern mixing he does so well.




Really, this week was much more about the personalities than about the looks. Oh, and about Heidi. And about inconsistent judging and agism.

And what the hell was Cecilia's problem? Why did she even go on the show? Some people have integrity, some people don't. A lot of people's true colors came out this week.


What did you guys think? The Bert thing is getting a bit puzzling. Do you think he's playing a part, or is he really just that crappy of a person? Do you think the producers are keeping him out of the judges' line of fire for entertainment value? I guess we'll see what variety of crazy the judges choose to reward next week...

PR Episode 3: Designing for Mantis Girls

I think if we learned anything valuable from this episode, it's that stilt-walkers are creepy.

But I really liked this challenge. After eleventeen seasons or whatever, I'm sure it's getting harder to come up with good challenges that aren't just making a cute little dress. Designing for a weird client is always a fun challenge.

Too bad the results of a good challenge were a little disappointing. There were really only two looks I even liked at all. Let's get to it.



Top 3:

Anthony and Laura: This was the winning look, which Anthony let Laura have the win for. I'm not quite sure why he did that, but it was nice to see a team getting along nicely and... wait, no it's better to see teams fighting. Every single team should have been scratching and pulling hair by the end. Only half kidding. 

Anyway, yes this was beautiful and striking and dramatic and had nothing wrong with it. My problem with it was that it didn't really have a hint of weirdness in it. Kors loved it because it could have been a normal-sized beautiful dress, but if that's what they wanted, why didn't they have them just dress normal-height girls? Yes the feathery shoulders add interest, but that's so trendy right now that it doesn't really come off as weird or even whimsical. Nina did mention that it was referential to a famous designer, but I wish she had said who. Apparently his bird seed dress last week was too similar to an Alexander McQueen look. 

Kimberly and Becky:  So this was my favorite because it was beautiful and stylish and a little freakish. Not a costume, but something that a stilt walker should wear. I didn't even mind the half-collar like the judges did. I love the way they designed it to the style of this particular girl, showing off her shoulder tattoo and all that. I don't even usually like asymmetrical sleeves, but it all looked perfect for her.

Cecilia and Danielle: Ew. Eeeewwww. This was top 3. Apparently chiffon gives the judges wet dreams or something. Who cares if they did a great job with chiffon? Who wears chiffon anymore? The only good thing about this was the color of the top. I chose to show a picture from the back because I thought those "dramatic" huge sleeves just made her look like she had ginormous old-lady-arm-fat-flaps. The front was just button-up (all the way up) with a bejeweled collar. This is stylish? I'm confused. Even if I picture it without her awful hairdo, I choke on the imaginary smell of old lady perfume.



Stuck in the Middle: 

Olivier and Anya: As soon as they started calling this the dream team, I was hoping for a complete and utter disaster from these two. Instead we just got dead-center mediocre. That blue-ish material does look a lot prettier here than it did on tv. And the top just seemed like a lame idea poorly executed. Maybe if they had chosen a more contrasting material on top? This was a snooze and they are lucky so many other teams sucked this week. 

Bottom 3:

Bert and Viktor: I'm actually quite impressed at how quickly and completely Bert has transformed himself from the sympathetic favorite to this season's villain. Maybe it's part of his strategy. I was really worried Viktor was going to take the heat for this and go home. Not that I love Viktor or anything. He had his bratty moments but Bert was basically a much huger dick. I would have hated for Viktor to lose just because Heidi assumed that the older Bert would be more truthful and trustworthy. Isn't that like reverse agism or something?

As for the dress, there's nothing else to say besides baaaaaaad curtains. I couldn't believe this was the fabric they chose on their first trip to Mood. How unfortunate.

Joshua and Julie: Joshua is really not turning out to be as annoying as I thought he would. He kind of cracks me up-

        "Julie, anything in life can be pleated."

        "Julie and I could basically swap genders."

I was excited when I saw the fabric they chose for the pants. They really could have had a great Mondo-ish moment with those pants right? But the top was a disaster. It wasn't a bad idea to have a matador reference, but this wasn't just a reference. This was some little girl from Toddlers and Tiaras dressing up as a matador for the talent portion of the pageant. Those fabrics are so tacky looking, and then of course they over-embellished. Julie seems lost and might be expiring soon...

Bryce and Fallene: Hey, you guys remember when I said that Fallene wasn't that talented and would be going home soon? K, just making sure. I feel like this was an aufing we can all feel good about, even her. She knew she had come about as far as she could. Honestly, I would have been mad if that little fascinator business had saved her. Not that it wasn't a good idea, but those kind of things are for selling on Etsy, not winning Project Runway. (If you missed it, she was in charge of the bodice and they had to scrap it because she didn't know how to cut on the grain and it looked really bad. So Bryce had an hour or so to make a tube top and belt just so it could be enough to send down the runway. Of the whole look, she only made the headpiece.) I wish she had said something in her little exit interview about going home and getting some serious sewing training. If designing was your dream and sewing was your weakness, wouldn't you do what you could to remedy that? I hope she does. 

As for Bryce, I'm not sure why, but I really think he might have something interesting going on in his head. I hope he shows us soon, or he will be on the short list of near-aufing. 

Oh, and Kim Kardashian as a judge? It just took me a really long time to even remember who the guest judge was, so I guess she didn't make much impact. She probably should have brought a little more crazy to the show, right? I would have thought. 

So what did you guys think? 

PR Episode 2: Dresses to Go Wee-Wee On

Ok, that title sounds a little critical. I actually thought that the designs were great overall this week. Not that there weren't major problems, but it gives me more hope for some of the designers than last week. I love the unconventional challenges and the creativity they require. The designers that embraced that idea really did the best.

First the top three:

Anthony- This dress definitely had my vote for winner this week. Hello, it's all bird seed and it's gorgeous. I did agree that it was a skosh short, (not surprising that Heidi liked it) but in runway fantasy world, we all have the legs to pull that off. I was excited to see something much more creative and pretty from Anthony than last week's merkin outfit. (By the way, do you read TLO? They totally called it a merkin too. Love it. I love reading their PR posts, which they do several of each week. But I'm not reading theirs before I write these posts so as to give my own pure unadulterated judgments, which of course I have no qualifications for.)

Joshua- Pretty much agreed with the judges up and down on this one. I wouldn't wear that top or anything, but it was genius the way he arranged aquarium beads to look like that. Then he ruined it with a bunch of distracting crap. 

Olivier- The little Brit-Asian Paper Doll won this week. I can see why the judges liked it. It's very high-fashion and editorial looking. And the skirt texture is very pretty. But I just don't think the shape is that flattering. However, my biggest problem with this is the judges complete double standard. They ripped the other Josh for making his top out of umbrella fabric, which was too conventional of a material. But they said NOTHING about Olivier using doggie bed fabric on his top. Isn't that just as conventional as umbrella fabric? Don't get me wrong, this design was much more interesting and pretty than Josh's, but I really thought that should have given Anthony enough of an edge to win over this. 

Oh, and who picks up an accent that thick when they are 16 and have lived in Columbus, OH their whole life? I'm just sayin. 

Moving on, the bottom three:

Bryce- I like Bryce. However, this was not good, for obvious reasons. And those might be the ugliest shoes I've seen in a long time. But I'm glad he wasn't cut, because I think he has some interesting ideas and I want to see more. It's got to sting when Heidi Klum says she wants to pee on your dress. (Which just reminded me of this very inappropriate but hilarious Chappelle Show sketch.)

Fallene- Kors summed it up so accurately when he said she should have candy corn teeth with this dress. Yikes. I know a lot of people think Fallene is all cute and quirky and artsy. But I don't think she's going to get by on that much longer. To me, she just seems like a girl who really likes Anthropologie and can bring to mind their style... but not as good.

Josh- Oh Josh. You are so nice but truly so uninteresting as a designer. I'll miss him, but I'm glad the judges ripped the band-aid off early with this one. He was just so fragile and emotional all the time, I felt like he could collapse into a nervous breakdown at any moment. It was getting hard to watch.



Some other designs of note:

Anya- Love how she did this top and how she styled this girl to be such a bad-ass. Anya has some definite style.

Becky- I have mixed feelings here. She was worried about it being too colorful, but that's the part I liked. It just comes off too costumey over all. And I don't know why she chose those shoes if she was worried about too many colors. They are awful.

Bert! You need a lecture on your attitude young man! I mean old man. I thought he was going to break the old-and-set-in-your-ways stereotype, but he just fulfilled it instead. Don't phone it in just because you have immunity, embrace the fun of the challenge. Also, don't make a dress with a boob tutu. Ever.

Danielle- I have a feeling she is not turning out to be that bitchy tv character that they tried to make her out to be last week. No superior attitude from her this week, or any personality at all for that matter. But both of her designs so far have been really chic and ready to wear. The fact that she made that skirt from the same wee-wee pads just shows how awful Bryce's skirt was. I'd wear this skirt in a minute... if I wore mini skirts that is. The styling is great too.

Laura- She's really milking that privileged glam-girl thing isn't she? While I don't like the strappy top, it is pretty cool that the skirt is just corrugated cardboard. Glad she scrapped her first skirt idea. It was, um, drafty to say the least. 

So pretty encouraging overall, considering all of this was made from pet-store materials. What did you guys think?