Previously on Project Runway: Everyone was divided into teams of two and then tasked to make either a performance outfit or a red carpet look for Miranda Lambert. But they never talked to her, which was weird. Richard made a good performance outfit, which was kind of edgy but at least it was interesting. Matt completely bombed and made something boring so he was eliminated. Even with the pairings there wasn’t very much drama since the only collaboration that had to happen was each pair agreeing on who was doing the performance look and who was making the red carpet look. (click for more)
The boys discuss how Matt is gone and it’s weird. Daniel is all frustrated because he doesn’t want to be on the bottom anymore. All of a sudden he has a weird Southern twang. Ben is ready to rock it. Michelle complains that she’s been in the bottom every time. She also thinks it’s luck, instead of lack of skill. Then she reminds us, which I had forgotten, that since Matt went home Michelle no longer has a partner. Also she still hates Patricia, in case you forgot. I don’t get Patricia either, but I don’t have the raw hatred Michelle seems to have.
Heidi has the velvet bag again, and she’s going to draw a name and Michelle will join that team. She pulls Patricia’s name, because OF COURSE. I bet all the buttons in that bag say “Patricia”. Patricia, for her part, is completely clueless and says she’s excited to work with Michelle. Heidi says “fashion is timeless” and Tim has the details. As it should be.
On the field trip everyone ends up in a senior dance class. Hee. They’re pretty good. The designers mill around in the back and pretend to dance. Amanda wonders if they’re making costumes, which would be an excellent challenge. Tim welcomes them and tells them the challenge involves these seniors. Incidentally I bought Tim’s Fashion Bible and as I read it it’s in his voice. Awesome. These are their clients and models. Kate says her thing is mature. Everyone gets a random woman, although it looks like each team has been assigned two people, and within the team they can divide up who gets which client. Again the looks don’t have to be cohesive, so why are there teams again? Is it just to screw people if their partner sucks, so no matter how good they are they can’t win? Is it to save otherwise sucky people by putting them with really good partners? Sigh. One day, of course.
The pairing is not super exciting, although Ben gets a sassy one who blows him a kiss. Yeah, Ben got the sassy one. Patricia promises her client she’s on the top all the time so don’t worry. Stanley is thinking jumpsuit but with tailored pants and not harem pants. Samantha’s client has a tattoo and loves leopard so Samantha is thrilled. She tells Samantha to make sure to tell her if she has to wear Spanx. Heh. Kate’s client tells her, and this is a quote, “Don’t believe it’s the golden years. Be a slut, do whatever you want.” Maybe KATE got the sassy one. Shopping is shopping, although Tu changes his design totally and Samantha promises good leopard print.
Amanda finds she designed a structured dress but bought a flowy fabric because she was so fixated on the print. She’s freaking out again. Daniel is asking Samantha a ton of questions, and she is like, “He’s my partner…but…*sigh*” Ben is constantly checking in with Amanda to make sure she doesn’t self-destruct. Layana and Michelle whisper about Patricia. Michelle is dubious but does acknowledge she’s in the top a lot.
Tim time! Tim thinks Richard’s trim is too wide to do what he wants with it. Stanley hasn’t cut anything yet, and Tim looks concerned, but before he can even say anything Stanley is like “I got this, I’m fine, no problem”. Kate has a black top and a print that is mostly white with small black and pink spots. Tim says she’ll be cut in half but Kate worries her design is too boring without the print. Tu has a coat dress, with ambitious tailoring. Tu takes this as a complement but Tim was warning him about time. Tim tells Daniel to make sure it’s special enough, as he’s making a black suit. Tim loves the leopard Samantha has. “So, how’s Team Threesome?” Oh Tim. I don’t know about Michelle’s print. It’s green and pink, but like, all little squares. It looks like a close-up of a butterfly wing. Tim didn’t like the top but he likes the top and skirt together. Layana gets an OK, and Patricia is making a poncho. A “ponchastraganza”, says Tim. Patricia smugs in confessional that nothing ever looks like what she started with when she’s done. Plus there is a lot of fabric under this poncho, and Patricia is just looking at Tim like she cannot fathom why this is a bad idea. Ben really wants to keep it modern. Amanda has made her dress, and she thinks now it looks like a vintage housecoat. Tim agrees, and he and Ben discuss how Amanda can fix it. Amanda always gets a lot of advice on what to do, doesn’t she? She didn’t last week though.
Layana and Michelle try to talk to Patricia, with Layana saying she’s going to look like a potato sack. She says it nicely though. Patricia responds with “She’ll be OK with it.” Not “She’ll be OK”. Her mouth keeps working. Michelle thinks if her team ends up in the bottom, her teammates are always praised. She also says “Layona” very distinctly which is pretty rude. Ben worries about being saddled with Amanda, who is still complaining and being lost.
Model fitting. Amanda doesn’t have anything to try on her model, which is a problem. Stanley’s client pats him on the butt, and then says she had to do it. Hee! Patricia…oh Patricia. To make matters worse she has a bigger client and it looks terrible. The woman has a chest on her. AND the print underneath looks like stripes or something. The poncho thing hangs horribly and she looks huge. Patricia realizes her team was right and this is bad. Her client asks to leave it loose which is maybe not a good idea. Tu only has fabrics and pins. Kate interviews that if Tu fails, she has to be perfect or their team is in trouble.
I think there is maybe an hour left, or maybe no time left, and Amanda is STILL talking to Ben about what she can do and how she’s screwed up. Just do something! Patricia still appears to have a poncho. She says she’s going to have to take the chance and start over tomorrow. She shouldn’t have listened to her client. Ugh.
Day of the show. Lots of frantic working. Amanda’s still in the weeds because she doesn’t like the sleeves she’s made. Patricia is now making an A-line cape. Instead of a poncho. I don’t know. Hot makeup guy Scott. Ben’s client flirts with him which is cute. Don’t lie, you would too. I would. Tu’s dress does not fit. It’s too big and his client wants it tighter. They’re going to wrap it somehow, and Kate has to try to help sew her in. Patricia…has taken some fabric and made a shawl? With raw edges? Not great. Ben’s dress has shrunk somehow and the sleeves are too small. He says it fit perfectly yesterday. Stanley works until the last minute again. Amanda is ashamed of her dress.
OK, Zac, who is a replacement himself, has been replaced today by Rachel Roy. Also guest judges are Joan and Melissa Rivers. Michelle: green and red dress, a V neck, and a fuller skirt. There is a sparkly belt. It looks really cute, although I think it’s a mullet hem. And the back is crooked. Layana: short dress in a dark red and black print. She’s sewn the waistline is such a way that it makes her torso look longer. It is above the knee though and looks too short. I like the little cap sleeves. Patricia: dark blue skirt, that looks shiny and appears to be really full. Not like, A-line full, but that it’s a straight skirt that is at least a size too big, or at least it looks it. The top is a shapeless wrap thing, with brown on the bottom and turquoise on top, with raw fringed edges. The two colors meet in a line across her boobs. It is terrible and this woman looks really huge as a result. Terrible. Stanley: slim dark jumpsuit, with a sweetheart neckline, and a matching jacket. It’s cut very tight, but she looks fantastic. The pants are cropped a tiny bit. Richard: green dress with dolman sleeves and a fuller skirt, and what looks like an elastic waistband sewn in. Down on side is one black stripe, and the whole back is black. It’s not bad, and I do like her hair.
Tu: dark green wrap dress with a collar. From the front it looks fine, but you can tell from the back that there’s too much fabric. It’s OK. Kate: dark blue long sleeved top with a crew neck, and a full skirt in that white and pink and black print. Eh. Samantha: leopard pencil skirt, a wide chocolate belt with a bow, and a chartreuse top with cap sleeves. I actually kind of like it for how shiny it is. Her client works it. Daniel: black suit with a turquoise shell. Blah. I’m not sure how it’s special, but at least she looks fine. Amanda: the dress appears to have a handkerchief hem, but you can tell the fabric is not fitted properly and it’s sagging. Then she turns around and for some reason the back of the skirt is sewn together. Like, if you took two folds of the skirt from close to the sides and tacked them together in the center. I have no idea. Ben: shiny bright blue dress with elbow length sleeves. The hem looks jacked up and there’s like, a box pleat and the top is really tight. This is bad.
Heidi tells Patricia, Layana, and Michelle they’re safe, and just as I start to yell about it, Heidi tells them that she gave Michelle and Layana the highest scores out of anyone today. But Patricia’s crap outfit pulled them down. Patricia at least apologizes. Michelle tries to argue that this always happens to her, but I distinctly remember her sucking last week. Whatever. Richard, Stanley, Samantha, and Daniel are the top. That makes sense. Daniel’s client wanted a sexy black suit. She loves it. The jacket actually has one lapel only on one side, which makes it unique I guess. I think it’s weird. They like the look, and Joan says she looks “like a first wife”, which is kind of nonsensical but funny. When they show a close-up on the details, it does look kind of raggedy. Not like they’ll say anything. Samantha’s client loves her outfit, and she just lost a bunch of weight which is why she wanted something tight. Heidi says she doesn’t like it though, from a fashion point of view, but this is coming from a woman who wore thisjust this past weekend. They appear to hate on the slightly puffy sleeves, but whatever. She’s safe. Stanley’s client says she would totally buy this outfit. The pants are a little too short, and the crotch is a little weird. Joan loves it. Richard wanted something easy, and he and Joan discuss his client’s legs and how it’s nice. Heidi loves it, which, see the above picture, but Nina thinks she’s drowning in it because it’s got a high neckline and big wide sleeves. Yeah, I can see that. Rachel thinks it’s young.
Amanda tries to defend her “flirty shape” and “interesting neckline”. Her client likes it, and while the print is good, it’s all wrong. Too flowy. Also they bust her for the weird sewing the skirt together in the back. Nina says it looks like it’s for a child. Ben made a party dress. His client feels like “an elegant young person”. It’s very tight. She says it moves really well, though, but Heidi is insistent that it looks tight and Ben really messed up. The fabric looks tortured and the hem is jacked up, as I thought. There’s a little bit of tulle so it looks stiff. She refuses to blame Ben. Cute. For some reason, Heidi asks Ben and Amanda how they worked together, and Ben says they had to focus on themselves. Amanda admits she could have used Ben’s help more. Not a good thing. Tu admits his dress had problems and he can’t sew, and he says he’s sorry to let his client down. That’s nice. She does admit that she’s let down a little bit. There is too much fabric. They’re all horrified that her belt is holding her dress closed. Joan goes to town and says it’s an old lady dress and Tu is eleven years old. He tries to protest he’s never made a dress for a non-model before (jeez) and Joan is like “you haven’t got a fucking clue in hell”. Nice. Kate says she sort of helped him but she had to do her stuff first. Kate’s dress has some boning somewhere. They do like it, and Heidi says Kate wouldn’t be in the bottom if not for Tu. Kate says she doesn’t mind because Tu respects her and her previous team didn’t. Aww.
Stanley’s client was elegant and he captured that. It’s a pantsuit, which is very hard to do well. They like Richard’s dress, which is fine but that pantsuit is fantastic. They don’t like Samantha’s but whatever, that woman was excited. Everyone raves about Daniel’s jacket, which, I couldn’t see the details until the close ups. And the one lapel thing bugs me. Ben’s dress was too tight. They really do not like it. Amanda’s dress is too young and hippie and has too many things going on. Everyone’s fine with Kate but they do not like Tu’s failure. At all.
Stanley is the winner! Good, that’s good. He and Richard are in. Daniel and Samantha are in. Kate and Tu are in. Ben is out. Aww. Amanda starts crying and getting hugs back in the Scrap Bin. He doesn’t think the right thing happened but he has to be graceful. Tim makes him sit down for a minute, and he tells everyone they’re just not going to know what will happen. He’s not OK with this.
Next week: duct tape. I am serious. To be judged by high school students. I am serious about that too.
