Just a Simple Girl with a Dream

Normally, I’m not very big on the team challenges on Project Runway.  I get that design is frequently a collaborative process and working in groups can bring out the worst in people (thus more drama!) but I like to see the designers working on individual outfits.  Although this “turn an outdated look into something edgy” challenge was technically a team challenge, each designer got to make their own outfit and I was happy.  Of course, I was sad when Chris March was eliminated but what can you do?

I’ll be honest: the shoulder pads/dance-wear/sweater dress collection wasn’t the best, but did anyone see Ricky’s neon/cut-out/lingerie monstrosity?  Horrible!  I think the drab color palette really did Chris and his team in.  Seriously, it was boring and uninspired.  I also wasn’t sold on Steven’s “dance-wear”.  What the hell was that?  It looked like something Shaolin Barbie would wear (Season 3 Robert–if you’re out there, take note!). Even though Steven’s was the worst outfit of the three, I think Chris was eliminated because he was the leader and he made his puffed-up bolero jacket out of the curtains at Tara. 

Moving on, I didn’t get that Victorya’s dress was supposed to be underwear as outerwear.  Apparently it was a bustier, but I was too caught up watching Victorya with my mouth wide open in awe at her passive/aggressiveness that I may have missed this point.  Ricky’s dress was unfortunate and the mesh wasn’t helping matters either.  Do you know how figure skaters piles on the mesh on their costumes in an effort to look more demure?  Well Ricky somehow managed to make his garment look worse than something Tonya Harding would have worn in her prime.  Congratulations, Ricky!  As for Elisa, her dress was really cute, but I didn’t get “cut-outs” in it.  I know that she had the geometric shapes on the dress, but I thought cut-out dresses were supposed to have huge chunks of fabric missing.  Whatever, it was still the cutest of the three, if a tad wrinkled.  By the way, she’s still nuttier than a fruitcake, but I love Elisa!  She just seems so sweet and ernest, spit marks be damned! I’m going to be sad when she’s eliminated (not a spoiler, but all the nice ones leave too early, which means that Victorya will probably end up in the Final 3).

In other news, Christian continues to love Christian.  And really why wouldn’t he?  Because he’s fierce and he’s Captain of Team Star!  Good night!  The boy makes Paris Hilton look like a Rhodes Scholar.  Seriously Christian, you don’t see Ralph Lauren giving interviews overusing phrases and talking about how he can sew better than Calvin Klein.  For my money, I think Christian’s going to go down the Mizrahi path wherein he takes the fashion world by storm, stars in a documentary, falls on hard times, rebounds with a talk show and now designs for Target.  Target’s fierce, y’all.

 Some lingering thoughts:

• I think that no one should be allowed to imitate Tim Gunn but Santino.  Not only did Steven’s ensemble leave me at a loss for words, but his Tim Gunn could use A LOT of work.  Also, I liked him at first but the way he talks kind of freaks me out.  I think it’s because he talks so slowly and squints a lot.
• Jillian–I’m sure there’s a personality in there…I just don’t see it.
• What is up with Michael Kors and Mothers of the Brides?  Is there a phobia for MOBs?  If not, I think we should coin it Korsphobia: be wary of pastel dresses, large flowers and dyed to match shoes.