Make It Work

CUT THAT HAIR AND GET A JOB

This week on PR, Heidi came out with her usual mini-dress and "Hello", then told the designers that their next challenge revolved around the "special ladies" they were about to meet. The designers were presented with a group of middle aged women, which made Leanne ill.

Turns out they weren't designing for these women, THANK GAWD!!!, but for their 20-something daughters who had just graduated from college and were about to emerge as professionals into the work place. They needed a new look for work and the designers were not only responsible for giving them a new outfit, but for their hair as well.


Leanne was visibly relieved that they were designing for the daughters. She said, "None of us want to design an old lady outfit, to be honest." Kind of fitting that she got the mother from Hell, who was hoping that Leanne would make something for her daughter, Holly, with animal prints.

Kenley got Anna, an assistant buyer for women's accessories. In her, Kenley found a "Mini Me" and went to work making a vintage dress for her. Big surprise there. Kenley was particularly annoying in this episode saying she wasn't going to take Tim's advice to cut the tule hanging below the hemline because she "never really change(s) anything for Tim."

Kenley and her Mimi Me.

Koto decided she was now the "Queen of Lethah" now that Stella's gone. Her client, Megan, is a 21-year-old student who works in her school's lab so Koto designs her a very Kotoesque wrap dress. It was interesting to see photos of her cute little girl who she's designed a couple outfits for.


Jarrell got a print maker named Catlyn who wanted an androgynous look which he enterpreted into a high-waist skirt, blousy top and jacket in brown.

Suede wound up with the Russian mother/daughter team. The daughter, Avital, was a photographer and wanted pants for obvious reasons. But Suede took it upon himself to make her a dress because Suede wasn't comfortable with the pants route. Unfortunately, he bought a very 90s print (very Pucciesque print in purple according to Suede) for the dress and overdid the jacket that went with purple details and ornate draping.

Joe got Laura, a graphic designer, and desicded he wanted to make her look like she was 65 years old by choosing pinstripes and suit material. Unfortunatley Suede ended up in the bottom two with Joe, but Joe was sent packing (phew!) for his aging, cliche-idea-of-a-business-suit business suit. It was pretty bad. So was Suede's, but Jenn hearts Suede and so glad he's still in the mix. So wakidoodle!


Jarrell won the challenge with his gorgeous interpretiation of an into-the-workplace otufit for his client, Catlyn. I wouldn't be surprised at all if he took the whole thing in the end. Go Jarrell!


Oh yeah, and Cynthia Rowley was the guest judge this week.


Next week: Tim rips Kenley a new one!!

Fuck you, Tim. I love me!!

Make It Work

WHAT'S YOUR SIGN?

This week's PR was all about the zodiac. The designers were surprised with "guests" that happened to be all their former auffed competitors, which they were to be paired up with. Together they were to create an avante gard look based on the zodiac.

To chose the teams, Tim went in order of the surviving designers' astrological signs and then he chose an auffed designer's name out of a bag to pair them up with. They then had to chose one of their zodiac signs to go with. The resulting teams looked like this:

Koto and Kelly - Aquarius
Kenley and Wesley - Aquarius
Joe and Daniel - Aries
Leanne and Emily - Scorpio
Blayne and Stella - Libra
Terri and Keith - Leo
Jarell and Jennifer - Sagitarius
Suede and Jerry - Libra


Terri was completely put out by having to work with Keith and pretty much ignored everything he suggested. Blayen and Stella were in "love your face / I'll hammar your face" heaven together. Kenley was a complete pain in the ass, bossing Wesley all over Mood, even saying that he "takes direction well."


After visiting getting their fabrics, the real work began.During the construction, Leanne and Emily started talking about Kenley's overconfidence, which I understand, but it just made them look like jealous betties. As Tim came around to give his 2 cents, he worried about Jarrell's choice of fabric for the skirt of his outfit. "It's like you took a school marm's old winter coat and tried to make it into a couture dress."

When Tim approached Kenley and Wesley about the ugly-ass mess she was making and said it looked like "Glenda the Good Witch of the North" she got incredibly defensive and said, "She would never be this fabulous!" To which, Tim said, "Don't listen to me" in a really peeved tone. Tim had every reason to be concerned as Kenley's dress looked like two completely different dresses in one, with two entirely different print for the skirt and the top.


Tim then told Terri to listen to Keith because he's innovative and it became clear they just weren't meshing. Tim just looked at them like "you're fucked" and said, "You have to make it work."

The next day the designers were srurpised in the workroom with a note from Heidi that stated they were to show their desgins at a party at the American Space Museum of Natural History that evening and that TWO of the designers would be auffed.

At the party, the designers were in for even more surprises when they were met with past winners and contenders of Project Runway, including Daniel, Carmen, Christian, Jay, etc. . The past designers were there to critique the outfits and give the current designers some pointers. They were also there to cast ballots of who they thought should win the challenge.


When Heidi looked at Kenley's mess of a dress, she asked "Why are the boobs down here?" Kenley huffed and puffed and said, "Look where yours are and where mine are."Kenley told the camera, "If Heidi is talking nonsense, I'm going to step in and set her straight." Uh huh.

She found herself in the bottom four alongside Blayne (who was the second designer in 2 seasons of PR to be described as having a model pooping fabric), Suede, and Terri. Blayne was sent packing. I was sad for him and for me since I started to really warm up to him. I also loved him and Stella as a team, despite the weird getup they made.


Terri deserved her boot in the butt for not listening to anyone. Michael Kors said it best when he said her dress looked like, "Voodoo Princess in Hell." Suede was allowed to stay (yay!) despite his boring, safe design. Kenley was also allowed to stay, which surprised me because she's been so outright bitchy and stubborn. And she made such an atrocity.


The winner of the this challenge? Jarrell. His Leo look took the prize. Very nice outfit, but I thought Joe's should have been the winner. .His and Daniel's interpretation of Aries was stunning.


Next week? Sexy teacher dresses

Make It Work

THE SPY WHO DRESSED ME

During this week's episode of PR the challenge was to design something for Diane Von Furstenburg's fall collection. Her collection, inspired by A Foreign Affair, is "the 30s and 40s and Berlin and Shanghai." Naturally the designers were freaking out because the winning design would have Diane's name on it and somehow be mixed in with American Express and The CFDA Foundation.

Marlene Dietrich in A Foreign Affair

Kenley, in particular, was muy emotional about the challenge and cried on and off during the whole episode. She said that she's designed for Walmart and Kmart before, but never for a fashion power house like DVF.

Kenley daydreams about leaving the world of Walmart fashion

On a side note, can I just say how beautiful Diane VF is? She is the embodiment of glamour!

After the designers got to look pick some of DVF's fabric for themselves, they got a look book of her fall collection and went to work. Most of the designs were layered peices so all of the designers made more than one item of clothing. All except Kenley who made a dress and nothing else. BUT her dress was gorgeous and I want to get my hot little hands on that frock! Wow! She didn't win the challenge, but she came very close.

It was Leanne who won the challenge with her incredible cobalt gown. The photo below does the gown no justice and I think the jacket just got in the way. Stella was the one sent packing for her pantssuit and cape that the judges likened to Dracula's. The fact that she got the boot and Joe, who made a half-finished costumey getup, got to stay was total bullshit. In any case, Stella is a memorable designer and I'm sure "Zotis and Bones" will get off the ground flying.

Joe's model tries to hide his shoddy craftmanship

Make It Work

BABY, YOU CAN WEAR MY CAR

Last night on PR, the designers were challenged to make outfits from car parts. After being directed to the rooftop of a random parking garage, they were given four minutes to grab whatever raw materials they could from the inside of five Saturn Hybrids. The favorite material? Seat belts, of course. At least it was the most obvious thing to make a dress out of.


Everyone was perplexed, but managed to get their stuff together in their four minutes and make it back to Parson's. As Stella made her outfit out of car seats, she said, "This is kinda gonna look like Planet of the Apes, I think." She made something different by constructing a high-waisted skirt and vest.

Later, she got to talk to her boyfriend "Ratbones" who said to her, "Are you being bad-assed or what?" She says they're going to create a fashion line together called "Zotis and Bones." Whether she wins or not, I have no doubt that Stella will get her line off the ground and be a hit. I can already see celebs like Paris Hilton or Linsay Lohan trying to be edgy on the red carpet wearing some leathah corset by "Zotis and Bones."


Meanwhile, Keith was getting defensive about having been in the bottom three and being criticized for being sloppy. He got nasty with everyone and started acting like a brat. Later when his model sat down in the skirt he made, he got pissed off and said in a very condescending manner: "I've given a small task to a model and I would hope that she could follow direction. I know it's a competition for her too, but there's so much more at stake for me than there is for her."


Terri laughed at Koto's design, which was a swing coat made out of seat belts woven together, saying that it looked like a scarecrow from Jeepers Creepers. She actually ended up on the floor, laughing. "Everyone better run for cover when this thing comes attacking you."


About Terri, Jarrell said: "She's got two faces and four patterns. That's it. Don't trust the bitch."



On the runway, Season Three finalist, Laura, took Nina's place on the panel and the celebrity judge was stylist, Rachel Zoe. Rachel loved Koto's scarecrow coat (which turned out very high fashion). "I would walk out the door in that," she gushed. They also loved Jarrell's futuristic cocktail dress.

The winner this week? Leanne. They loved her car seat dress, which looked like something Posh Spice would wear. The proportion was interesting, but the only woman who could wear the dress is a woman with no hips. Rachel Zoe said she could see it on a catwalk in Paris.


The looks they didn't like? They thought Blayne's dress fit oddly and Heidi pointed out it was "seven years no sex" for breaking the mirror that decorated the top. They didn't like Stella's look, which I thought was boring for Stella. And they really didn't like Keith's yawn of a dress, which was unfinished in the back.

He blamed the model and then blamed the judges for insulting his past looks. Michael Kors appropriately blasted him for it and the combo of the bad dress and his bad attitude got him sent home. No shock there.


On the menu for next week: Diane Von Furstenburg and a crotch that's "every woman's nightmare."

Make It Work

PUT THE BOOBIES ON!

Since I was "away" for last Wednesday's episode of PR, I'll recap it now. The designers were presented with Chris from last season who announced that the next challenge was to design a look for a drag queen. Each designer got to choose a model who was a professional drag queen and work it.

Tim and Chris in the workroom

The whole "licious" issue was finally addressed in the workroom after Blayne threw some pink neon fabric over his head and said, "If I were a drag queen, my name would be "Neonlicious." He then pointed at Stella and said, "She would be leathah-licious."

Stella told the camera: "Blayne is really cute but he knows nothing. He just knows girlie-licious. What is THAT?" As Blayne prodded the other designers for their drag-licious names, someone off camera said, "Annoyed-licious." Then Leanne called it when she said: "Everything's licious. Even licious is licious. I think if I hear that word one more time, I'm going to barf. And that would be barf-licious, I guess."

Soon after, Tim made the comment about Blayne's dress: "It looks like a pterodactyl in a gay Jurassic Park." Blayne, of course, took it as a compliment. I thought the look was fantastic as well.

Big gay pterodactyl

There was drag drama when Suede, who was inspired by his grandfather's love of gardening, made gloves decorated with baby lettuces. "Hedda Lettuce," who he was designing for, accused Suede for being lazy for not making sleeves (!). As Tim came around to look at everyone's work, Suede explained his situation. Tim's reply?:

"Make her wear the gloves. You can tell her you've been to a different rodeo and don't you you-know-what with me, sister."

Bitchy lettuce

One of my favorite scenes of the whole episode was when Stella was fitting her model. As he tried on her top, he said, "I can pull the corset in tighter."
"You can?" she said, amazed.
"I can crack a rib overnight," he offered.
"We don't want you to suffer," she said, horrified.
This is when he sucked his teeth and said in a raspy voice, "Come ON, Stella."
I think my husband and I re-wound that scene about eight times.

"Come ON, Stella."

RuPaul was the guest judge and as Heidi asked the designers to say hello to him, I cringed. They sounded about as excited as kids about to get cavities filled. "Hi, RuPaul," they said flatly in unison.

RuPaul and Heidi

There had been a scene early on in the workroom, which foreshadowed the challenge's outcome: Blayne called out to Joe, who held a very large bra: "Put the boobies on!" To which Joe said: "Alright I'll put the boobies on."

After he strapped on the over-the-boulder-shoulder-holder, he said: "Varla has actually left me her boobs in her bra, which I thank her very much for because we have to make men's maniquenns into drag queens in order to design an outfit for a drag queen." Daniel then begged Kenley for her bra: "Honey, can you take your bra off so I can put it on this, puleeze?" But Kenley turned him down.

The outcome of all this boobie business? Joe won the challenge and Daniel was sent packing for his bad flourescent flamenco gown.

The result of Joe wearing the boobies

The result of Kenley denying Daniel her bra

Make It Work

BROOKE OF THE JUNGLE

I didn't think it was possible, but Project Runway pretty much bored the hell out of me last night. For this reason, I'm going to skim over the uninteresting stuff and just write about the things that were attention-grabbing enough to mention.


Blah blah blah. .. . lovely Brook Shields is the guest-judge and the designers have to make a look for her character on Lipstick Jungle. . . blah blah blah. . . The designers have to work in pairs and people are pissed. . .blah blah blah. . . Blayne is annoying me less. . . blah blah blah. . .I love Jarrell and Stella, and they make a great team, almost winning the challenge (and they use leathah). . . blah blah blah. . . bitchy Kenley is really starting to chap my hide and her taste is proving to be really BAD. . . blah blah blah. . .Is there anything greater than Michael Kors's laugh? . . .blah blah blah. . .


. . . blah blah blah. . . What the hell is that thing Leanne is wearing around her neck? It looks like some sort of enormous fungal growth. . .blah blah blah. . .Tim thinks Koto's outfit looks like a "giant sweet potato". . . blah blah blah. . .Koto tells to man up and take charge. . .blah blah blah. . . Suede is being cautious with the fabric and Terri is a nightmare to work with but their outfit ROCKS. . .blah blah blah. . .

. . . blah blah blah. . .Poor Daniel looks like he's going to pass out when he's up on the chopping block. . . blah blah blah. . . Someone slap Kenley for laughing at him. . .blah blah blah. . . Brooke Shield's accuses Tanlicious Blayne of being "bratty". . . blah blah blah. . .Keith's watercolor, kinda-pretty-in-a-weird way dress wins. . .blah blah blah. . . Kelli's dress is criticized by the judges, particularly Michael Kors who calls it "slutty, slutty, slutty" . . . blah blah blah . . . Kelli is sent packing for her slinky whore-wear. . .blah blah blah . . .Next week: drag queen pterodactyls in gay Jurassic Park. . . blah blah blah . . .

sluttaaay, according to M.K.

Make It Work

GOING FOR THE SARTORIAL GOLD

Before I start the recap, has anyone else noticed that at the beginning of each episode, they've been showing the Elle Magazine featuring Mary Kate Olsen on the cover? I believe this is the third week in a row that they've shown a shot of it on the newsstands. Okay, I just had to mention that.

On last night's episode of PR, the designers were taken on a surprise "field trip" and wound up at the the Armory Track and Field Training Center in Washington Heights. Not only that, they ended up face-to-face with speed skating champion, Apolo Ohno who gave them their next runway challenge: To design a women's outfit for the opening ceremony at the summer Olympics.


There were mixed reactions among the designers. Manly man, Joe was psyched since he played football as a teen and has a background in sportswear (He ended up making a *gag* skort). Joe then threw a big manly temper tantrum in the workroom, accusing Daniel of using his machine. This happened in a room filled with unused sewing machines, mind you. He then went on to make a nasty comment about how nothing could get done because there were too many "queens" around. Uh huh.
Poor Daniel. Not only was he on the receiving end of Joe's hissy fit, he was severely perplexed by the challenge, saying he hadn't a clue what he was going to do and that everything he does is high-end glamour and not at all sporty.

He came up with a cute, 60s style cocktail dress that the judges tore apart, so to speak. While the judges ripped him a new one, he looked as if he might have a nervous breakdown. Michael Korrs said that it would be a great dress if "the sport was drinking." Poor Daniel. So serious. The only time he let his guard up was goofing around with Kenley in the workroom. He made her giggle repeatedly, but this really pissed off the other designers.

Meanwhile, Tanorexic Blayne was having a meltdown about not being able to tan. Jarrel (who I'm loving more each episode) was concerned. He noticed that Blayne was getting weaker and weaker but his perky blonde highlights were keeping him alive. When Tim came around to give his assesments, he commented that Blayne's outfit was looking a little "Seargent Pepper." Blayne was glassy-eyed saying he didn't know what that meant. When Tim explained that it referred to a Beatles song, Blayne shrugged and said that he'd seen "All Across the Universe" and that was as Beatles as he got.

As far as the licious behavior goes, he backed off a bit. He did write something on the chalkboard of their room that said "Team Sexylicious." I'm sure Joe loved that. Maybe he got mad and crushed some Coors Lite beer cans against his forehead.

Stella decided to go "cave woman" and design something with her leathah that came out really nice despite Leanne saying it looked like it belonged in a "goth nightclub." Leanne's obviously never gone to a goth night club.

Jarrell made something so outrageous and un-Olympics-like that I LOVED it. Talk about fucked up. It looked like the Olympics if Aunty Em from the Wizard of Oz was running track to a croquet party. Fabulous. Of course he ended up in the bottom three, but he slid by. Yay!

Jennifer was the one sent packing this week for her plain-Jane yellow-striped dress and sweater. It was about as Olympics as grandma's knitting circle.

The winner this week was Korto, who used a lot of white and even some white leather (maybe inspired by Stella?). I didn't like the end look all that much. I thought it made her model look a little too square, but I like Korto and was glad to see her win and SMILE.

Make It Work

MAKE IT WORK, CARRY ON, HOLLA AT CHA BOY

This week the designers were taken atop a double decker tour bus for a tour of The Big Apple. They each were given a camera and an hour to capture a bit of inspiration from the city for a "night out on the town" look.

What they came up with was interesting to say the least. A lot of surprises in the mix, including the winning dress by Kenley. To me, it looked like a retarded tulip. The judges (which including very-bored looking Sandra Bernhardt) said that it reminded them of an 80s Dynasty Joan Collins look. Big shoulder pads and a weird puff of tulle popping out of the right hip. The judges said it would be great to hide a ... It was a surprise because Kenley says she's so inspired by the 40s and 50s but this was straight out of the 80s. In a bad way. The print on the fabric was absolutely hideous, and I don't think anyone but a model could pull off the look. As Joe so aptly put it, it was a bit "Fort Lauderdale lawn cushiony."

Tanlicious Blayne came up with a neon getup that I thought was the worst of the bunch. The fact that he picked flourescent colors was not a surprise considering his hot pink dress last week and the neon pink sweatshirt he had on during this episode. He taught Tim a new catch phrase: "Holla at cha, boy." It was funny watching Tim try to say it. He said, "Hollar at your boy? Hollar? Hello?" Classic Tim.

No surprise that Blayne had to make his presence known to the camera by visually stalking Kenley while she was working on her dress. He kept saying to her, "I'm gonna eeeat you" and giving her a look like he was a demented bobble head. He's probably hoping Bravo will start selling a Blayne bobble head on their website. Organic Leanne decided to scale back her hyper-creativity and organic-ness and wound up making a gorgeous black layered skirt. I didn't like the finished look all that much because I wasn't crazy about the top, but the skirt was so pretty. Heidi loved it and said she'd wear it in a heartbeat.

We now come to Stella. Oh, Stella. You make me laugh the way Christian made me laugh. Your comments are quickly becoming classics. This week as you banged grommets into your leathah with a hammah, annoying the other desingers, you said, "What a gay little grommet" to the uncooperative remnant and I nearly spit out my dinner. You then followed up with a warning to the other nearly-deaf designers, "If you don't like it, get the fuck outta heeya." But not before you said, "I am rock and roll and I'm gonna die rock and roll." Your finished look was impressive. As someone who knows a little about sewing, I know how hard it is to make a pair of pants, especially ones out of leathah.

I absolutely loved Terri's outfit. She was inspired by graffitti and stret culture, and made a gorgeous open-back dress with black pants underneath. I wasn't crazy about the print of the dress, but overall the look worked beautifuly.

Keith was inspired by a delapitated magazine he found on the ground and made something that Michael Korrs referred to as looking like "toilet paper caught in a wind storm." If it had been more fitted and accentuated his model's shape, I believe he could have made something really pretty. Emily's dress got her awffed. She said she was inspired by "the movement and energy" of New York but she made, as Tim put it, "a black dress with a great big oversized corsage." Tim warned her, but she didn't listen and let her big rainbow-brite prom dress go down the runway. She kept saying how underground she is, but this is something that could be easily sold as a prom dress in JCPenny circa 1989. I also thought it looked a lot like Blayne's blinding dress.


As far as everyone else goes, I loved Daniel's dress (again), and Suede "rocked it" as usual.

Next week we get to see the designers go on a big field trip that will cause what looks like fabric stealing, Beatles-inspired fashion, and slurs against the gay community. Carry on. . .