Kaleidoscopic Curiosities

Project Runway: The Art of Fashion

I just realized I never commented on the last Project Runway challenge, which is ironic since it took artwork as its direct inspiration. I thought all the garments were well done (even Sweet P's losing dress had an interesting shape and construction, although it was the most subdued peacock I've ever seen). I guess I got a little ticked off at the judges' criticism of Chris March's elegant mushroom-colored gown as being too similar to the haute couture dress he constructed a few weeks prior... Meanwhile, Christian has been trotting the same skinny-bottom/puffy-top silhouette down the runway all season and they do not call him out for it.

My favorite garment this week was Jillian's outfit, inspired by Master of the Argonauts. The detailing on the jacket is reminiscent of an armored breastplate, and when the model flung open the jacket to reveal the gold dress beneath it, Heidi Klum wasn't the only girl whose breath was taken away.

So, tonight we get the first part of the finale. I read a lot of PR related press and I believe the cat is out of the bag regarding whether Rami or Chris will be the third contestant in the finals, but I won't spoil it for you in case you haven't yet heard. I'll just say that, based on the photos of their runway shows (one "real" and the other a decoy), I agree with the judges' decision. Take the best three pieces from each show and I think you'll agree, no matter what you think of Rami's work or Chris' work in general.

I wonder (and kind of dread) what this season's last minute drama will entail. Last year, of course, it was the Jeffrey/outsourcing controversy, and in season 1 it was the Kara Saun shoe incident as well as everyone's general distaste for Wendy. In season 2, I guess it was just Daniel turning out to be a spoiled obnoxious brat. This time around, though, it seems like everyone likes each other a lot so who knows where the tension will come from... Personally I'd rather watch them working on their garments for an hour, making choices and addressing issues. Wouldn't that be refreshing?

 

Project Runway: wrestling divas (!)

Wow, this episode took me on a roller coaster ride.

At first I thought, "Sheesh, another gimmicky challenge that has nothing to do with fashion," but I must admit that the cheerful charisma of the "divas" won me over, and I swooooon over the winning outfit!

You know me, I'd wear leopard print (and bell sleeves!) every day of the week if I thought I could get away with it, so that woman is living my dream (probably in more ways than one). That is one hot look that Chris put together -- green leopard print, by the way -- it tells her story without being too costumey, and it has some really nice tailoring touches like the surprise sparkly lining. Yay for Chris!

The other outfit I liked was Jillian's blue and white all-American-girl look (except the shoes -- I guess they don't have much wrestling-diva-appropriate footwear at Bluefly.com). Sporty and classic and a little flirty, and it shares with Chris' creation the advantage that the top will probably manage to control enough boobage to keep it safe for prime time (some of the other outfits, not so much).

As for the other designers, Christian's look was hot and worked for that diva's archetype, but I am a little tired of Christian's poofy jackets with skinny legs (I saw it referred to today as the "Puss in Boots look"). Sweet P was saddled with a tacky, tacky client with tacky, tacky taste (remember, ladies -- if you are going to be a sexpot, be "a classy sexpot, not a whore sexpot" -- um, and star-shaped cutouts on your bum are classy??) and she just didn't have enough courage to do her own thing. Ricky is auf, and rightfully so. Am I the only one who saw echoes of the first incarnation of Wendy Pepper's Big Bird Grammy dress? And poor Rami was trying to make spandex do things that spandex just isn't meant to do. Dreadful.

I was a little bummed out by Tim's disparaging remarks about Eva Gabor's wardrobe on Green Acres, since that is my favorite television show of all time. There, I said it. That is my deepest darkest secret, and I just wrote it for the whole world to discover. Good thing nobody reads this blog.

In related news, I spent all day at work stealing furtive glances at the pix from the final PR runway show, which was held in the big tent this morning. All five remaining designers showed, so does that mean one decoy and four finalists, or...? I have a definite favorite but I won't say more until it airs. And I don't think my favorite is the winner, unfortunately, but we shall see. Last year I had a much better understanding of why Jeffrey won when I saw all the collections in motion. If you can't wait and want to see stills from all five shows, go to gettyimages.com and search on "project runway 4".

PR: Even Designers Get the Blues

 

Loved this episode, if for no other reason than that it marks the departure of sour-faced Victorya. That really was an awful outfit and didn't look very altered (third from the right). She's obviously got  designer chops but I lost  respect for her when photos emerged online showing that her winning dress in the prom challenge was a straightforward ripoff of a dress a former PR designer (Michael Knight) created for a tv show. Now I'm reading that Victorya somehow scored her own show at Fashion Week, so that'll be interesting to see. Fashion Week is in about two weeks, and images of the PR shows will be available at Getty Images nearly instantaneously for us PR junkies to obsess over until the finale finally airs...

Anyway, back to this week's episode, in which the designers were to create an original iconic look using only Levi's 501 jeans, jean jackets and white cotton (presumably the stuff they make pockets out of). They were given lots of additional Levi's notions like huge cones of ochre thread, fly buttons and those little red Levi's flags.

I was happy for Ricky, the winner, but I didn't think his dress was the best one (third from the left, in the photo above). It was definitely Ricky's best work, though, and in closeups you can see all the great seaming in the bodice.

I thought Rami's dress (left) was really sharp. He did the exposed zipper thing like Jeffrey did on that green striped dress in his runway collection last season, and I thought the whole thing had nice lines. It was different from everything else Rami has constructed this season, too, so that was refreshing.

I also loved Sweet P's smart patchwork dress (below). Michael Kors said it has "the voodoo," meaning the placement of the dark fabrics provides instant visual slimming, that most desired and most elusive quality! P was smart to hack off the bottom of her planned gown to make it a short dress. My only quibble is that the whole 501 jeans thing is about the button fly, am I right? And her dress doesn't have any buttons on it, so while I think it is the most wearable and the cutest, it does not fulfill the challenge brief as well as some others do (Rami and Christian -- the only look with pants, above -- both knocked it out of the park in that sense).

Sweet P has done great work several weeks in a row and I would love to see her at Fashion Week, but for some reason I don't get a sense from the editing that she is going all the way... We'll see.

Michael Kors made some really good points this week. Along with the "voodoo" comment about P's dress, he commented on the slightly frayed touches on Chris' dress, saying he should have pushed it and done it all over. That's something that all visual artists could learn from. Whatever quirky thing you decide to leave in, make it look intentional and make it look like it belongs there. Don't leave the viewer any opportunity to think of your quirky touch as an oversight or a mistake. Own it!

So we're down to six designers, which was the point at which they made a field trip to Paris last season. I wonder what is in store for us this time? 

finally in agreement

 

For the first time all season, I am in total agreement with the Project Runway judges. I do not care for Christian's personality or most of his designs, but this confection is jaw-droppingly gorgeous (and frankly, I don't think Christian would have been able to execute its cantilevered wing without Chris' crazy costume-building skills, so there). The ready-to-wear version went back to the typical 80s fug that seems to be Christian's thing, but to a lesser degree than usual. (Trust me, I pined for that blouse in the ninth grade.) It was nice to see teammates working well together; the other teams put the "fun" back in "dysfunctional."

I've changed my mind about Christian -- I'd like to see him go all the way to Bryant Park because I would like to see a complete collection of his work. I probably won't like it, but I want to see it. I'd also like to see Chris make it to the end, partly because he has amazing talent and partly because he seems like an all-around good guy. Rami seemed like a lock for a runway show but in recent weeks his star has dimmed -- it's the same stuff over and over, and he does not seem to want to learn from the judges' critiques, not even to make it to the end (he probably doesn't need a Project Runway-backed runway show as much as the others do, he'll make it to Fashion Week on his own if he hasn't already). So for my third choice for the finals, I guess I'd like to see what Jillian can do with plenty of time and resources.

But oh, my, back to Christian and Chris' creations last night (that dress on the left required 45 yards of organza, by the way -- no wonder the model is stooping, ha ha):

Am I the only one who sees "Winged Victory" here?

 

For me, Jillian and Victorya's punk trench coat did not catch my attention on my tv screen, but in this photo I think it rocks. Gosh, is Victorya just the biggest pain in the neck or what?

Still, personalities being what they are, I am so in awe of everyone on shows like these, where the participants have to serve up creative work on demand, day after day, or be sent home. Grueling hours, ridiculous creative constraints, personality conflicts, lack of sleep -- ugh! I would not last through one episode (even if I had the skill set!).