Project Runway: S15 E1 "An Unconventional Launch Party"

And so here we are again, another year, another season of Project Runway. At this point, if someone asked you what it is that you expect from a new season of Project Runway, what would you say? Some fashion, weird challenges, a little drama, Tim and Heidi being, if not themselves, then certainly the personas they've crafted for themselves over the last 15 seasons. Perhaps that's why we keep coming back: Project Runway is not the kind of show to ever really change.

And that fact is no different here. We start off with 16 designers, and by the end of the first challenge there will be 15. Everyone arrives to a nice swanky welcome party. It's all decked out because, as Tim and Heidi inform them when they finally join, the decorations for the party are to be their materials for the challenge. First challenge for the season is also the first unconventional materials challenge. We've done this before (I'd swear) but it seemed fresh and unexpected. What wasn't unexpected were the number of people swearing they'd never worked with an unconventional material before and had no idea how they would blah blah blah.

You signed up for Project Runway, surely you know by now that this is a natural part of the show's DNA. I'm not saying that in your spare time you have to teach yourself to make fashion out of anything, but don't act so surprised when you get on the show and they tell you to make fashion out of anything.

Anyway, there's a mad dash to grab the most striking elements of the room and the most fabric-based materials. There's a rather serious scuffle between two contestants (Cornelius and Mah-Jing I believe but to be honest I  won't start remembering names for a few weeks), but it's not a huge deal. It might be one if it comes up again, but for now I don't care.

In the workroom, everyone pretty much gets along fine since no one knows each other well enough to love or hate anyone else just yet. There are those two people who went to school together and have a little history, but it didn't seem to be the juicy kind of history no matter what the producers wanted us to think, so we'll gloss over that as well.

There are three main takeaways from Tim's visit:

1. He likes Brik's look. Or maybe the bigger deal is that there's someone on the show named Brik. Or even bigger, there's someone on the show named Brik, but he's from the South, looks Norwegian, and has the affectation of a Cali Surfer Dude. So Norwegian Surfer Dude (NSD) is in the process of throwing glitter all over a pair of pants. It's somewhere between fashion and a grade school art project. But Tim likes it. He has a few pointers for him, but it basically boils down to keep it up, kid. 
2. Tim does not like what the little gay with the ginger beard is doing. As I'm sure you guys could have guessed, as soon as Ian stepped on the scene with his little gay voice and his ginger beard, I was pretty smitten. But when he started working on his look, I fell out of love quick. It's too simple, too boring, not innovative, and completely at odds with the challenge. Tim tells him as much, and he doubles down. He's not going to listen to Tim Gunn because he really loves his look and it speaks to who he is as a designer. We all know how this story ends 99.9% of the time, so the writing's on the wall here. 
3. Tim also doesn't like Tasha's look, but unlike the gay ginger beard, she's changing it up. Starting from scratch actually and making everything over from the ground up. I don't mind telling you that Tasha's my early favorite. She's got this laid back vibe that clearly masks a lot of insecurities about her talent level. She's a plus sized woman who designs read-to-wear for normal women, and on some level she's still surprised that she was chosen for the show to begin with. In other words, she's kind of my kryptonite. So she takes Tim's advice, and I sit on pins and needles hoping it works out for her in the long run. 

The Runway:

Mah-Jing Wong: More yes than no, but only slightly. She looks like someone balled up a lot of paper and threw it at her. It’s thought out instead of haphazard, which I appreciate, but it’s not very special. 

Jenni: I’ll give her credit for the hand painting and the creation of separates, but the feather boa wings made me think of Big Bird, so no. 

Sarah: I like that I don’t know what the material is, but the top does look a bit like cut up muslin to me. Or, more specifically, cut up plain fabric. Which is bad, but not horrible. I’ve seen worse. 

Nathalia: More feathery arms, but I mostly like it. I don’t know if it says lux so much as (improbably) expensive hooker, but hey. You know, like a hooker who would call herself a call girl but you’d look at her and say, No you’re just a hooker. Like that. 

Dexter: No!

Rik: Boring and safe but not bad.

Ian: Ok, I’ve been doing this long enough that you guys know how partial I am to the cute gay ginger. Which is my way of saying I want to like Ian so bad, but this dress is fucking hideous. Give me a break, it’s like he didn’t even try. Bullshit cut up photos stuck to a muslin dress? Get the fuck out of here. 

Tasha: Stop! Hamma Time! So here’s the thing, Tasha made her model look wider in the hips than is usually acceptable on this show, but I must say, I actually like this look. It’s cute and quirky, and somehow ends up being unique. I don’t think it’s a top look, but I’m certainly impressed enough to want to see more from her. 

Erin: I’m mixed about this. It turns the corner and I immediately say NO, but then I watch it more, and I guess it grows on me a bit. The feathery motif of the night isn’t doing anyone any favors, but there’s something about this outfit that I can’t bring myself to fully hate. 

Linda: Linda’s look is nice. I think it’s classy and unobtrusive. It’s classic without being too simple. It’s paired down but still holds onto some element of the unconventional materials. However, it also looks like a woman her age made it. So while I like this look, nothing about it is surprising or makes me feel like I want more. 

Kimber: I hate the back, but the rest is ok.

Laurence: There’s a cut and a shape to this that I certainly like. But it doesn’t look like she pushed herself at all to use the materials. She’s got the ability to be a stand out designer, but this doesn’t feel like it’s within the parameters of the challenge. 

Brik: I want to hate it, but I can’t. It’s just flashy, crazy, and unique enough to make me smile. The back, the corset top, the shoulders, I love all of it. And he fully committed himself to that crazy glitter, so I’m happy for him. 

Cornelius: I love it. The color, the placement of the plates and the flowers, just all of it. This is a yes for me. I’m less sure about the back and the trail of flowers down it, but hey. 

Roberi: This made me smile. I love it in spite of how short it is. It doesn’t look like any of her is peaking out of it, so that’s good, but maybe like an extra 1/4 of an inch would be nice. But still, it’s well thought out and well executed, so I like it. 

Alex: I like this, but some part of me thinks there’s one color too many somewhere in there. Towards the midsection, I feel like something could have been paired down a bit, but it’s also cool as is. 

Judgement:

Tasha, Erin, and Dexter (really?) are in the top. Brik and Ian are in the bottom. Roberi is in the bottom, but given they're comments, he's actually more in the middle, so whatever. 

So Tasha takes Tim's advice and ends up in the top three. Ian ignores it and ends up in the bottom. Show of hands of people who are surprised by this outcome. 

The actual surprise, for me at least, is that they really liked Dexter's look. I've gotta tell you, Runaways, I watched this thing walk the catwalk, I listened to the comments, I looked at it during the closeup inspection, and I simply don't get it. Heidi and Nina both seem to think it's fit for a real runway right now. This might be true, but I've never been a fan of that kind of fashion personally. They all seem to like the volume and the tribal feel of it. Zac calls it an Eskimo poodle, but he means it affectionately and not like the rebuke I think it should have been. Every year the judges make a call or two that I simply don't understand and this is one of them. 

As I listened to them talking about Roberi's look, I was less surprised than I expected to be when I found out he was in the bottom. They're pretty much split down the middle on this one. Nina feels like she's seen this look on PR multiple times before and she's bored with it. The guest judge thinks it's too short. But Heidi loves it and has no problem with the length (no surprise there), and Zac feels like we've seen it before but never quite like this, so it's a good a thing. I'm left thinking he could have been safe and they could have talked to someone else instead, but whatever. 

In the end, Erin wins with what Zac referred to as his favorite look of many seasons. That's much higher praise than I'd give it, but I'm happier with her win than I would have been with Dexter's. Tasha's look doesn't stand up to the closer inspection, which is too bad. But she got enough of her personality in it to make them appreciative. 

The obvious choice for loser is between Brik and Ian. As we've seen at this stage 100 times before, it's a choice between Brik's poor taste level and Ian's sheer lack of creativity. One of these days I (or someone who actually cares more than I'm pretending to at the moment) will have to look back over all of the seasons of this show and calculate how many times this has been the dilemma and just what the percentage is for choosing poor taste over lack of creativity. My guess is that poor taste will get a pass over creativity way more often than not, but I could be wrong. I wasn't wrong here, and Ian is rightfully sent on his cute little way. 

To his credit, he's not upset about it. I mean he sheds a few tears, so maybe he is upset but he's sticking with the stiff upper lip reaction. But he certainly stands behind his design. He loves the dress he created and sent down the runway. To do something else would have been to lose himself in someone else's vision and he's not ok with that. So I tip my hat to him for standing true, but I also know that he had to go home. Because if this is the caliber of what we can expect from you all season long, then you have no place here. 

And so ends another by the books first episode of Project Runway. I want to complain about that. I want to hold my viewership and this show to a higher standard and demand something more. But the practical side of me says no. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If there's one thing we know about PR it's that change is very rarely for the better. The show has gotten back into some of its more positive ways as of late, so I'd hate to see them lose momentum now. It's shaping up to be a rather typical season for the show, and that oddly means I'm excited to keep watching. 

Loose Threads:

• One possible explanation for why I'm so happy PR isn't rocking the boat with a major change this season is because So You Think You Can Dance, my other summer staple, did make a big change this season. It worked out for the better, but SYTYCD is a show that's clearly grasping at straws in a bid to stay on TV and it feels sad to me. It wasn't broke no matter what the viewership numbers may have indicated to the contrary, and I wish they hadn't tried to fix it. 
• Is it just me or are there more black people on the show this year? Kudos to PR if that is the case. 
• Speaking of the increase in POC, should we even mention the fact that there's a black contestant named Mah-Jing Wong, or do we just let that go?
• What, if anything, are thinking for nicknames this season? I'm probably sticking with NSD for Brik, and I was thinking of going with Mamma Bear for Tasha because she gives me a mamma vibe, but that's all I got really. Here for suggestions. 
• Generally each season there's a contestant that I develop a bit of a crush on. In the best years, that person is also really talented and my love of them is enhanced by my love of their clothes, or vice versa. But now with Ian gone, that doesn't seem to be on the plate this season. Brik is kind of attractive, but there's something about him that I simply can't get past. So he's not my fav. His Southern charm is nice though. But I think this year I'm heaping all my love on Mamma Bear and all my lust on Zac. Though I've also kind of cooled on him lately too...

Project Runway Junior: S1 E1 "Welcome to New York"

I have not watched a single PR spinoff since the very first All Stars. If I'm remembering correctly, it wasn't a season, but like a one-off episode where some of the previous loser got to come on and try to get a kind of gratis win? The only thing I remember is that Korto was on it and I really wanted her to win because I thought she got shafted in her own season (the fifth) and I wanted her to finally get her due. She didn't, and I never watched another PR Spin-off again. Mostly, this is because I don't feel like the shows ever really justify their existence. I'm not a big fan of people coming back and competing again on a reality show. Contestants getting a second chance at Survivor has always been a pet peeve of mine. And I think that the judges, Heidi as the host, and Tim Gunn are seriously important elements to the show. Clearly, these things can change for the better (getting rid of Michael Kors in favor of Zac has proven to be a massive upgrade for the show), but the consistency is important to me. After watching the first episode of Project Runway Junior however, I'm a bit on the fence but leaning way more over into the plus side than the negative.

There's a fairly straight forward and simple reason for that: These kids are way more talented than they have any right to be! But let's get to that later. I want to start with the first thing about this episode that leaves me feeling more ambivalent than I thought it would. PR JR is working with an hour long runtime. If you guys have been following us for awhile, you know I tend to lament PR's current 90 minute timeframe, and I always hate it when the show crosses into the two hour mark. I've written ad nauseam about how well and poorly the producers have used their ever fluctuating, but generally increasing, runtimes over the years. So the assumption would be that I'd unreservedly  praise the shorter time here. But I'm not so sure. On the one hand, the episode is clipped and sparse and taken down to its bare essentials in storytelling. We get brief introductions to some of, not all of, the designers. This works in part because PR grownups has worked to introduce these kids to us a bit during commercial breaks in the last couple episodes of its previous season. But even if you hadn't been paying attention to those, it's fine because you get everything you need to know in this episode and the rest will come later. When PR edits a first episode to only showcase a handful of designers, namely the ones likely to be in the top or bottom of that particular episode, it stands heads and shoulders above an episode trying to introduce you to everyone.

But then there's Tim's mentoring, the runway, and the final judging which crack through at a breakneck pace. I was taking notes, so it makes sense that I had to pause and rewind multiple times just to get an impression of the looks coming down the runway, and I didn't even try to remember what all the judges were saying about the top and bottom looks. I can't imagine if you watched it in real time that you got the ability to have a lot of that portion of the show stick to your bones. I don't want to blame the hour long runtime for this because bad editing is bad editing, but the producers have to find a better place to shave time than in the final moments of the show. We didn't even get to the see the backs of most of the dresses because the catwalk was edited so it was one look walking towards the camera and then a jump cut to the next look walking towards us. At least give us a quick glimpse of the turn around, guys!

This blends in with another problem I had (the execution of the first challenge) to make me wonder how invested the PR producers are into this show and, by extension, how invested they want us to be. So the first challenge is a simple introductory challenge. The kids are brought up onto a roof top in Manhattan(?) and told to get inspired by New York to create a look that tells the judges who they are as a designer. It's fine, and it's not the first time PR has pulled out this kind of challenge, but they don't actually give the kids an opportunity to get inspired by New York city so much as being inspired by this one particular skyline view of this one particular place in New York city. And if you rewatch the episode, please don't take a shot for every time one of the kids says the skyline because you'll die of alcohol poisoning in no time flat. Don't get me wrong, the skyline is a very important and iconic aspect of NYC, but if the title of the episode is "Welcome to New York" and the point of the challenge is to be inspired by New York, then maybe (just maybe) you should take them around to actually see New York? To her credit, Sami looks down instead of up or just out and she sees the taxi's all in a row and is inspired by that, but pretty much everyone else just sees the tops of buildings, and makes a go of it.

But that's enough about the bad or the uncertain. The majority of the episode was fun and enjoyable so I'd rather talk about that. They're given one day and $200 to spend at Mood, and seeing these kids be overwhelmed by Mood, which again is a freaking warehouse of fabrics, is so touching. I think I've gotten so jaded by seeing designers just kind of in Mood like they own the place that there was something refreshing about this shopping trip. Zach remarks that $200 sounds like a lot of money, but at the end of the day it really isn't. Which as anyone who has bills to pay can tell you, is totally true, but ultimately not everything in Mood is $50 a yard like the fabric we saw him looking at, and the truth is it would be easy to find something more or less equivalent to it but at a lower price.

Jaxson, who is just cute as a fucking button, goes straight for the neoprene and I cringed. It's a great fabric as it has a very specific weight and texture to it, but I had no faith at all that he'd be able to work it into the flattering shapes he'd need it to be. It's not the only time I doubted these kids abilities given their ages and I doubt it'll be the last time this season, but I think these potentially low expectations are something the show has going in its favor. It'll allow us, or at least me, to be blown away more regularly each episode.

Tim's visit shoots by in a blur, but I was really happy to see he wasn't pulling his punches with these kids. His critique of Victoria's look isn't as mean and ugly as we've seen him get in the past, but neither is it the sugar coated gentle letdown I was worried it might be. He tells her in no uncertain terms that the leather strips are too much, need to be paired down or at least look way more purposeful, and then leaves her to her devices. Personally, I'd like to trade in the multitude of checkins we see here for just a handful of more in depth meetings with Tim, but again the editing is something they'll have to figure out as the season rolls on, or not at all, what do I know?

There's a cute moment the morning of the runway where Tim tell Zach who's scrambling around to get his dress finished that the look would give him a lot less trouble is the dress were shorter. I think whether or not this feels like favoritism is a point that will be uniquely subjective, but it was fine for me. It felt like a kind moment where a mentor simply provides the small push and a shift in perspective that someone would need to get their look over the hump. Not that it would make the look either better or worse, just that it would ensure something finished went down the runway. I loved it.

The Runway:

Bridget, 15: Ok, it’s simple, and maybe a bit boring, but I think it works for here. I’d make it safe. 

Peytie, 15: She made that print work a lot better than I expected it to. I’m impressed. It’s still a fairly simple dress though. 

Zach, 15: Making the dress shorter took this out of being elegant and into being cute. But with that being said, I think it’s cute. The free-standing top is nice, but I think it could be sexier. The whole thing, except the belt which I hate, is cute to me, and I can’t tell if that’s good or bad.

Victoria, 17: This is the first solid miss for me. The strips on the bottom never really were incorporated into the design as a whole. The fact that they don’t even go all the way around the skirt is a problem and looks tacky. And there’s something about the zipper in the back that I find horribly distracting. The top is at least OK, but I’m worried about the proportion here. I feel like the skirt comes up too high and the top doesn’t come down low enough so it makes her midriff look all wrong. 

Ysabel, 17: That top is to die for really. Those darts look good, but there’s some puckering on the right side that I don’t think is purposeful. The back took my breath away. I love this. I think the skirt is a bit more simple and paired down, though her fabric choice adds a lot to it all. But yeah, this is all wonderful to me. 

Matt, 17: The movement of the gold chain in the back sells this for me a lot more than anything else. I don’t think the velvet adds much to the overall look, though I can understand it adding a lux element to the design. And the gold on the front is something I find tacked on and distracting. The black velvet doesn’t photograph well so I can’t see anything special in the cut of the dress itself, which makes me think the selling point is the fabric and the gold chain, which isn’t enough for me. I like it, but I can’t love it. 

Samantha, 16: YES! A million times yes! Esp when you take into consideration the fact that she had to remake the pants in the 11th hour. The tie in the front is a very unique and innovative detail, the neckline on the top is just fascinating, I can’t stop looking at it, and there’s something wonderful about the baggy fit of the pants that I love. And she kept the color scheme simple in a way that makes this feel elegant to me. This is the most innovative and well thought out design so far, I think. There are some fly-aways on the waistline of both the top and the skirt, sadly, but that can be forgiven. 

Jesse, 16: The first thing I notice is how clean his lines are. I respect that. And the little details at the neck are a nice touch to set this just to the right of “simple little black dress.” I also like the slit in the skirt which is tasteful. But this whole thing isn’t wowing me. 

Sami, 16: Hm…. I like the fabric. The simple truth here is I like the top, and I respect what she went for with the back, but I don’t like the skirt. I think the skirt is both poorly constructed and conceived, but I’d need to see an example of that kind of skirt done well to know for sure. 

Maya, 13: I think the color, the movement, and the back are all fabulous on this one. I don’t like the detail on the belt. I think it would stand out more if it was only done on the back instead of on both. The belt just looks messy to me. But other than that I love this. 

Jaxson, 15: This is the other really smartly designed look out there. I was worried about him working with that fabric, but clearly he knew what he was doing. It’s got a weight to it that works, and the flatness of the color is really remarkable. And I think the cutouts on the bottom, both in front and back, are striking. I’m impressed. 

Zachary, 16: This is great too. I like the two fabrics and the transition from the heavier one into the lighter more flowing fabric on the bottom. I also think the amount of skin showing is perfect. it’s not a sexy look, but the cutouts go a long way towards making it one of the sexier things we’ve seen. 

Ok so Sami, Zach, and Victoria are on the bottom, while Jaxson, Samantha, and Maya are on the top. I don't recall the judging as clearly as I should because, like I said, it went by way too quickly. After all the pausing and rewinding I had to do just to get something to write down about each look on the runway, I was too tired to keep up the trend for the judging. But from what I remember the judges chastise Zach for poofiness of his skirt making his model's butt and hips look big. They say the same thing to Sami while also pointing out that her look is poorly constructed, but they don't hate the taxicab influence. Victoria is told that the strips are tacked on and lazy since they don't go all the way around the skirt. 

For the top looks, they compliment Maya on the color and the movement and the guts it took to make a jumpsuit like that. The truth is I had forgotten she'd made pants when I watched it on the runway; the fabric moved so well that I thought it was a dress. They do call Samantha out on her poor finishing of the hemlines on her garments (though I think Christian mentioned liking those elements), but ultimately can't limit the amount of good things they have to say. Kelly hits on the intended androgyny behind the whole thing, and there was something refreshing about it being noticed. Christian's points about the belt being big but not functional, and great because of all that were also really nice to hear as I loved that belt. They also all love Jaxson's look and the amount of thought that went into it. Someone points out that he didn't really intend to use the grey fabric on the front until he saw the back of the colored neoprene he bought and realized how well it would work, and how you can still see some of the color just peaking out on the front adds dimension to it all, and it pointed out just how much this kid was thinking in the moment to be able to create that look. 

In the end, Samantha wins and Sami goes home. Personally, I would have sent Zach home this week because I think Sami's look at least told us a bit more about who she is as a designer and I tend to think that the holding of ideas is better than no ideas, and that's the difference to me between these two looks. But I think Tim might have saved Zach with his comments to the judges that he whipped out that skirt in like an hour. It wasn't a good skirt, but he was at least capable of doing it quickly, so maybe that was worth keeping him around for another week. But either way, my main impression of PR JR is that it stands to be able to justify it's existence in a way that no other PR spin off has. Certainly, it's still Lifetime trying to squeeze every dime out of this series that it can. But these kids are all adorable and talented. They're personalities are bigger than the contestants we just spent the last couple of months watching, and the show has kept enough of the strong PR elements that the transition shouldn't be jarring. In short, I'm watching this until it gives me a reason to stop, and I'd love it if you guys watched along with me. 

Loose Threads:

--Let's get this out of the way early: Hannah Davis does not have Heidi's stage presence at all. She's beautiful, and she at least delivers her line as well as can be expected, but she's not charismatic or compelling. I don't remember having a problem with her criticisms at least, so she might make a better judge than host. But still, she might be the weakest link of the show. 

--I'm curious to see what the biggest flaw and drop off is between this show and the regular PR. My early guess is in construction issues. The number of darts that were off center and Samantha's messy hemlines were some of the early warning signs, but we'll see. 

--What I don't expect these kids to have a problem with is a lack of ideas and creativity, but we'll see about that too. A lot of these first looks were fairly simple and straight forward dresses and silhouettes we've seen before. I'm hoping that has more to do with first challenge jitters than anything else.

--If this isn't just jitters though, I think there's a big gulf between the talent levels here. Seeing how Jaxson and Samantha seriously thought out their designs and executed them well compared to just about everyone else's simple dresses was striking. 

--The winner will get a full scholarship to FIDM and $25k! Not to mention a spread in Seventeen magizine and some sewing stuff. It's a great prize since it's age appropriate, has the ability to seriously change these kid's lives, and shouldn't lead to nearly as much stupid product placement. 

--Samantha spent like $40 on her entire look! I'm seriously impressed by that. I said it looked elegant to me, and I stand by that even though I wish she had cleaned up the hems. 

Project Runway: S14 E1: "Mad Dash Mayhem"

Happy birthday to me! In honor of my 30th (good God it sounds horrible saying that), Project Runway has decided to start their 14th season a bit later than usual it seems. But oh well, here we are at season 14, and here we are at another year spent with the best Runaways on the planet! I hope everyone's having a great 2015, and I hope no one's too burnt out on PR and all it's (pointless) spinoffs to come and join us for another season of the program that started it all! Because if this first episode is any indication, we could be in for one of the better seasons we've seen in quiet some time! So buckle up, Runaways, and away we go.

The first thing I noticed about this season of PR is just how racially diverse the contestants seem to be. It's not that PR has had a huge problem with racial diversity in the past. Indeed, with a healthy helping of women and LGBT peoples, it's long been one of the more richly diverse shows on Reality TV. But it feels like even a bigger effort has been made this season to vary out the racial makeup of the show. Or maybe the stars just aligned and the talent that went out for this season just so happened to be more racially diverse than usual? Either way, a big thumbs up from me!

While everyone looks right on the outside, this first episode left me wondering about whether or not we have a really diverse group of characters in the mix? Early on, Lindsey seems to want to paint herself as a kind of a villain. She did the typical "Not here to make friends" thing we've all heard a million times, but her cute-blonde-hipster styling didn't make it very believable, and the outfit she ended up sending down the runway makes me think she won't be around long enough for any of it to come to fruition. Blake is likewise a bit full of himself in a stereotypical young (white) gay boy fashion, but it's also obvious that he thinks he's better than he actually is, so I don't know how much weight to give that either. Both of these contestants could end up being an example of people on a reality show trying to write their own narrative and define how the world sees them only to fail in the face of the strong editing that comes along. Merline is one of the more interesting contests to be spotlit in this episode, and she seems to be the one most poised to fall into the Reality TV trope of someone who, just by being her most authentic self, ends up looking a bit like a caricature of someone else. There's still some question about how much of her constant talking, singing, and speaking in Twitter-ese is real and not just a show for the cameras, but if we take it at face value, the shows can pretty much edit themselves around her being her and everyone being annoyed by it. Far more interesting than her loud, constantly-open mouth, is the work she sends down the runway, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

The episode opens with the contestants walking around New York and heading towards Madison Square Garden. There's no "last minute plea" to be on the show like last year. The team is assembled already, there's no manufactured drama to it, just a small amount of time to get a quick primer on most on them before the challenge starts. Before I go too far, allow me to say that in a pre-birthday excitement, I totally forgot to watch the episode on Lifetime last night, and the version I found on Lifetime's site was only an hour long. So if I got a different version than the rest of you, sorry about that, and please let me know in the comments what I missed. But if this was the version that they aired last night allow me to say THANK GOD! It's almost as if they're learning and have finally figured out that 90 minutes is too long. Or at the very least they've remembered how to make a great one hour long episode, and I couldn't be more grateful!

On the way to the arena, Blake makes a statement about thinking some kind of sport takes place in The Garden, like baseball or something. And I decided definitively to hate him. Look, Sports don't have to be your thing, if you don't like watching hot and sweaty men run around playing with balls and patting each other on the ass, then fine. But as a gay man who loves sports, I tend to take umbrage with gay men who disrespect sports just because that's what they're supposed to do as gay people. In the same manner that I would hate any straight guy who didn't like fashion because it was too gay, I can't help but to hate a gay man who hates sports because it's too straight. But there, I hate him, he sucks, I hope he's gone soon, rant over.

When they arrive, they meet Heidi and Tim and are told that the seats in the arena are all draped with fabric (provided by Mood of course) and everyone has three minutes to run around, grab four textiles, and then take them back to design a dress that tells the judges who you are. It's a simple and straight forward challenge to kick things off; complete with a situation for the possibility of drama as people fight over the best fabrics. To their credit, none of the fabric offered was horribly hideous to the point where the only thing that could work would be to burn it and salt the earth. So it's basically a one day challenge where you make whatever kind of dress you want just without the millions of options Mood generally has to offer. I respect it.

Surprisingly, there isn't nearly as much fighting over fabric as I imagined there would be. People, for the most part, seem to be cordial and if someone else gets their hands on a piece they wanted first, they just let them have it and move on to the next spot. It's the first piece of evidence that this season won't be filled with big and aggressive personalities like we've seen in the past, and I for one found it a welcome breath of fresh air.

Everyone goes back to the workroom, introduces themselves to one another, is told by Tim that they have until nine that night, and gets to work. Merline's chatterboxiness annoys everyone, but other than that everyone seems to get along great. it's during these moments that we get our first tears of the season though, and I don't know if I'm getting soft in my advanced age, or if the stories just worked for me, but I didn't find the crying nearly as annoying as I usually do. Candice relays the story of having her daughter and is moved by a very fitting amount of motherly emotion over how her kid saved her life. It's not an original story, but it's something I can support 100%. They're happy tears instead of sad, and I think that goes a long way towards gaining my sympathy. Either way, she's now an early favorite of mine...damnit, I'm totally turning into a big softy. Our other cryer is Ashley, who I have to admit is also an early favorite of mine. Ashley starts out the show by pointing out her weight and drawing attention to why fashion is both important to her and why it's been hard for her. While working, she has a moment where she's a bit overwhelmed by the pressure of the moment as well as lingering feelings of not deserving to be there born of (I assume) a life time of being told or at least feeling as though she's worthless or not deserving because of her weight. I don't know if it was just the outsider in me (grew up gay and black, so that's always hard) that connected with her, or what, but I felt what she was feeling in that moment and I just wanted to wrap her up in a big hug and tell her it would all be ok, she's beautiful (because she is just totally fucking adorable!), and she's going to rock it. And rock it she does, but more on that in a minute. Her fellow contestants make those points well and inform her that she's one of 16 people here out of the world of people they could have chosen; she's more than worthy!

But all of that is just a run up to my personal favorite of the episode, Duncan. From the moment the camera cut to him while they were heading to The Garden, I was in love. And then he opened his mouth and showed off that accent, and I was even more in love. Duncan was put on this show just for me. He's ginger (my own personal favorite), bear-ish, with a killer beard and an Aussie (he's from New Zealand) accent. When I go to the Build-A-Bear, he's exactly what I'd want to walk out with. And then he starts designing what (and Tim Gunn, I might add) think is a beautiful dress, and I found myself imagining our long future together. You know, at least for the rest of the season where I'd write reviews each week gushing over how beautiful and perfect he and his designs are in the same way I did with Sean last year. In fact, given that they're both from the same region, I think Project Runway is trying to tell me I need to move to New Zealand.... But still, it was a wonderful fantasy, and I can't see how anything could possibly get in the way of it. So onwards!

Tim visits and it's about what you'd expect at this point. he has positive things to say for some of the designers, gives a great piece of advice to Ashley about her dress, and has less than positive things to say about others. His correcting Merline on how to pronounce "muslin" was a nice moment of "Jesus woman, if you butcher this word one more fucking time, I'll kill you!" but in Tim Gunn's sweet and measured and always polite way. He leaves saying he's really disappointed, but that surprised me; I didn't expect anything better or worse than what we got for the first episode. It's probably just his way of trying to push them to go a bit harder.

Edmond and Kelly are two contestants with very unflattering critiques from Tim and both of them scramble to come up with new designs in the last four hours or so until the day ends. To his credit, Edmond at least just tries to edit his existing look. Kelly goes for the "Scrap it and start all over" technique we've seen work a million times before. Or, wait, no, not work, I meant to say fail miserably. I always get those two confused. More power to her since we all know how horribly embarrassing it is to go home first, right? I mean whoever goes home first must just be the biggest loser of all losers. I'd never want to be in that position...... So yeah, Runway, it's a long runway, so I'll try to be brief where possible!

The Runway:

Blake: One the runway, before the camera pulls in for a close up, I don't hate it. The color pops, the dress moves well, it looks vibrant and exciting. Then the camera pulls in and I hate it as much as I did in the workroom. It's overwrought, over designed, and contains just everything it possibly can. Less is more, kid. Though it maybe plunges a little too deep, I honestly don't mind the plunging neckline.

Amanda: Cute. Good, but not great by any means.

Laurie: I honestly loved this. The color was simple, but the dress was still elegant in a lot of ways, but damn was the split high. I don't think it's a big detractor from the rest of the dress, but anyone feeling a bit put off by it wouldn't surprise me.

Hanmiao: No! Just No! A million times No!

Swapnil: I love this look! I think there's a simplicity to the design, or maybe just the construction, of the skirt that either pairs perfectly with or totally detracts from the well crafted and beautifully designed top. I personally liked the two, but I think both ways of looking at it could work.

Duncan: YES! I love him! I mean I love his dress. I'm a sucker for beautiful draping. I love how elegant but effortless it looks. I don't like the color on his model, but I don't think he chose to have a ginger model (though it's fitting, gingers of the world unite and make more gingers, damnit!). That color on a black woman's skin would be perfect though. I do think maybe a bit more skin in the back would be a way to go, but I love this dress!

Edmond: I like this a lot. Though I'm not sure if I like it on its own merits, or because I know he had to scramble to get it to do what he wanted. So maybe I like the work he put into it more than I like the dress itself, but I like it nonetheless.

Merline: This is one where I know I like it because of how much work and how quickly she got it together. To think that by Tim's visit she didn't have a skirt at all, and then she put this down the runway? I love that! The outfit itself is nice, not great or perfect, but certainly strong and unique in a way I like and want to see more of.

Lindsey: No!

David: NO!

Joseph: Cute. Safe. But not great by any means.

Kelly: Remember she scraped her first look and went with a whole new dress in the time after Tim left? Well this is the dress, and holy shit is it great!!! I love a designer who maybe just needs a little push or a fire lit under her ass to get it in gear and then can turn out something of this caliber. I love it a lot!

Jake: Ok, I guess? Mostly boring.

Gabrielle: I think the design is good, but construction and execution are lacking. She's harder on it than I am, mostly because I love the back! But I think if she'd taken her time and cleaned up some of the lines and seams it would have been a lot better.

Candice: YES!

Ashley: WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK?!?! This girl thought she didn't deserve to be here? Are you fucking kidding me! This is breathtaking! The top is bold and young and sexy, the skirt is just to die for. I can see who she is and I can see a lot of people who would love to wear that outfit. Yes, more of this please, and thank you!

So ours tops for the evening are Edmond, Merline, and Ashley (of course), and our bottoms are Blake, Han, and Duncan....wait, what? Yup, my ginger love bear is an endangered species. And I'm shocked. The judges remark on looks. They seem to be fairly split on Edmond's look with some of them liking it and some liking it just a bit less. Guest judge Hanna Who-Ever-The-Fuck doesn't like the pop of neon green from the train, which happens to be my favorite part of the dress and the only element that probably puts him in the top instead of the bottom for creating a boring black dress. They ask Han who she thinks would wear her outfit and whe she says someone young and in her 20s, they all look like she just declared World War Three. And rightfully so, I don't know a single person in their 20s who's want to wear that. When they do finally get to Duncan, they commend his draping, but also deride the dress for being simple, directionless, and seriously unsexy. I think Heidi makes the point that an open back would have meant the difference between being safe and being in the bottom, and I can't disagree with that, but still. I think Zac complained about the color, but fuck him what does he know? All around they mention that they can't get a clear idea of who he is as a designer from this dress, and he admits that being fresh out of design school, he's not even sure himself. Immediately, my fantasy about the two of us features us going on a journey as I allow him to get in touch with who he really is deep down inside. It's a journey of love and self discovery, the voice over guy from every movie trailer would say; the feel good movie of the year, obviously. But I digress.

As soon as the designers make it to the greenroom, everyone is shocked to find out that Duncan is in the bottom and rush to assure him that he's not really going home. Their surprise I share, their assurances that his time isn't over yet I'm more dubious on. Because here's the thing, I love Duncan's dress, I really do, but even I have to admit that you get a clearer picture of who Han and Blake are from their shitty looks than you do about who Duncan is from his beautiful look. On the one hand, this show is about finding the best new designer, but on the other hand this challenge specifically is about making your mark and telling the judges who you are. Did Duncan do that? In a way, he did; he told them he's not sure, but he's capable of producing strong work while he finds out. In the end, Nina points out that too many ideas (as is the case with Blake) are better than no ideas (as she thinks is the case with Duncan), and Zac and Heidi point out that Duncan's work still feels like school work and Project Runway isn't school time. So Duncan's out and Ashely racks up her first win. I don't agree with the decision in the scheme of the entire season, but I don't disagree with it in the scheme of just this one episode. My heart breaks that we won't get to see his handsome bearded face and hear that sexy voice for the rest of the season, but it also soars over a strong victory for Ashley. I love her, I loved her look this week, and I can't wait to see what's left to come. All in all, my broken heart aside, this was a really strong episode of a new season of a show I think we all were kind of counting out for awhile there. Maybe we should start out season 14 with a big bold statement that Project Runway is back, baby!

Loose Threads:

--Welcome back to Project Runaways, again. I haven't heard anything from Julius (if you read this, fearless leader, chime in a let me know how you want to tackle this season), so until further notice, I think I might cap each episode? I feel like I've taken over the blog, and that's not fair because Julius is great and this was all his brilliant idea. But we also do need a space to talk about this show each season. Along those lines, someone should probably pimp us out to AV Club in case anyone looking to watch this season wants a place to chat it up....

--Over on my own personal blog, this summer I'm also reviewing So You Think You Can Dance each week. So feel free to check that out if you like. But more importantly, on that show I've talked a lot about what makes a good reality show good, and long lasting. This is because I think SYTYCD is on it's way out in the midst of its 10th, and weakest, season. Meanwhile, PR is in its 14th season and seem to be resurging. How long do we think we've got with this show? Is it the sort of thing that could just be on the air until Tim and Heidi get bored with doing it?

--Anyone else think Merline's statements to Swapnil were kind of racist? Or am I being overly sensative? Either way, shut it down, Merline, shut it down.

--Duncan being ousted also means we lose someone with a background in Menswear. Which is always bothersome to me because I always think the show could use more Menswear challenges and I like to see how designers with the background tend to work in women's clothes. But that's just one more thing that I'll have to miss with him gone.

--Personally, I'm hoping that Ashley sticks around long enough to be here for a "Regular women" challenge and I hope she calls this show and it's past contestants out for their inabilities to work on normal (read plus) sized women. Carry the torch, girl!

--Who are you guy's early favorites? Also I never quiet got around to making nicknames for everyone, so I figured I'd let you guys do that. I was going to go with Ginger Bear for Duncan if he'd stuck around, and I think I'm sticking with Han for Hanmiao, but that's all I got.

Project Runway All Stars S4 E1: "Made in Manhattan"

"This competition is the Hunger Games of fashion." - Alexandria, Season 12

I'm going to stop right there, because I just want to say how this statement is completely true. Well, minus the popularity. Though, I'm sure if the producers had their way, they would be forcing us to watch Project Runway all year long.

While watching the reunion special, I couldn't help but flash back to the shallowness of the post-Games interview with Caesar Fleckman, and the year-long humiliation/victory tour of the winners that also functions as both self-promotion and suppression. Which brings us to the end of The Hunger Games part 1.

As we all know, the beginning of The Hunger Games is all about training the youth using winners of the past. See also Project Runway: Threads, where Christian Siriano is judging/"training" the future youth in order to have a pool to cull from in Season 22. With Project Runway All Stars, we get Chasing Fire, with the special 75th anniversary games that that trots out all of these previous winners (and other competitors) as fodder for the games.

The Hunger Games is ultimately not about what it is. Much like The Hunger Games is more about suppression than actually feeding the poor, Project Runway is really about numbing the audience rather than about fashion. Evidence for this: the regression of the accessory wall all the way back to QVC, and sponsors to Red Robin and Samsung.

With the most insanely accurate opening statement, so begins Project Runway All Stars Season 4! Actually, this year's All Stars aren't terrible, and their characters were entertainingly quirky.

• Alexandria von Bromsson - Season 12, 2nd Place - Timid respite from the rageholic season
• Justin LeBlanc - Season 12, 3rd Place - Sweet deaf guy who was first runner-up in my eyes. Though, he better not use the "I'm deaf" ploy this time around...
• Helen Castillo - Season 12, E13 - Drama Who?
• Kate Pankoke - Season 11, E7 and Season 12, E11 - Bubbly Dark Princess. Again. 
• Michelle Lesniak - Season 11, Winner - Portland. *glower*
• Samantha Black - Season 11, E9 - Who? What is it about Samanthas and being forgettable?
• Benjamin Mach - Season 11, E6 - This was the guy who made a loom one episode, and made a great outfit with it. He also had severely bad taste otherwise.
• Patricia Michaels - Season 11, 2nd place - CRAZY EYES!!!
• Dmitry Sholokhov - Season 10, Winner - Meh
• Fabio Costa - Season 10, 2nd Place - FREEGAN! He also had that fabulous apartment in New York, but nobody knew how or why...and we didn't want to ask.
• Gunnar Deatherage - Season 10, E9 - Remember when his Neck Beard was totally macking on Christopher?
• Sonja Williams - Season 10, E12 - This girl could design, she stumbled hardest when everybody in her season stumbled
• Jay Sario - Season 7, E13 - I don't even remember this guy...he was competing with Anthony, Emilio, Mila, and Seth Aaron for screen time, so don't judge me.
• Chris March - Season 4, ROBBED, and All Stars Original episode - OMG, I've been waiting for him to come back! Wasn't he the first to get kicked off in the episode before Fashion Week? He had made a kick ass collection but was ejected because the judges got squicked out by the human hair.

And, that's our roster. A pleasant mix of talent and personalities. Sure, Alexandria and Helen could have not come back, and I could use a year off from Kate (SERIOUSLY?!  THREE YEARS IN A ROW?? Are you an elementary school teacher trying to fill in your summer?!). But, this already seems more fun than the whole of the regular season we just finished. Especially with Chris Fucking Marsh, who helped design one of the series' most memorable looks with Siriano (judge of Threads).

"One Day...One...Day" - Chris March

The challenge is to design an outfit that is either uptown or downtown (depending on your "team") in a day. With one sentence, Chris March reminds us that one day challenges are recockulous and were not always the normal. They used to let the designers breathe. But, you have to pay the crew and the hotel, and the rental fees. Red Robin doesn't pay that much I guess.

The Hunger Games theme continues with the class warfare that also begins moving the goalposts of what rich and poor actually is. The girls get the uptown, and describe their girl as "Class, Rich, Sophisticated." and "champagne drinking" "New York socialite" "party girl" who "doesn't work." The downtown gets marked as the post-college working party girl. 

Benjamin doesn't want to design for the downtown girl, but his description is all about gentrification and/or slumming. His girl is "the uptown girl who has moved downtown." Which means that the rent is being driving up, and that she wants to be seen as edgy and frugal, though she has the money to sustain elsewhere.

What's amazing about PRAS is that, although it is 60 minutes, the editors get both design and drama. After visiting Mood, Freegan discovers that the fabric he bought is not around. He has to redesign around other people's looks. Freegan wants to make a jump suit, and ultimately shares fabrics with Benjamin, making their looks feel cohesive. 

RUNWAY

Uptown

• Portland - She makes a Portland dress that I don't understand. She uses a perforated suede that seems like it would be used for trade show walls and that our pregnant hostess calls Car Seat Fabric. Her outfit is edgy, but then it has a keyhole above the belly but below the breasts, making the skirt seem super high waisted? Then the back is a weird three tone open back with white, green and brown. It's a mess. But, it's a mess that almost works.
• Crazy Eyes - She made a Rosemary's Baby pregnancy dress. It almost looks Audrey Hepburn in its sleek sophistication, but the breasts are crumpled and weird. Plus, she ran out of time with her textile, so it's just a plain white dress with weird boobs. She loses, justifiably. 
• Sonjia - I was really loving it until the back. The cut open back with no shirt underneath reminded me of a cadaver, where they cut open the clothes to put the body in, and sew it up at the neck. Plus, the double slit with the skirt is weird. The pointiness of the back slits really contrast with the boxy modest front next line and exposed midriff. I'm confused. And it does nothing flattering for the boobs.
• Samantha - WHAT!? This is a joke, right? It's like a running outfit with a green leather breast plate on one boob and a knot that totally is a third misshapen chest area. Plus the giant running stripe?! 
• Alexandria - Bohemian girl with a slutty top.
• Drama Who? - I love this look. It's the first look I unabashedly love. It's kind of a rip-off of the style that started with Mondo's show stopper finale look with the elastic-ish front panel defined by the curves, but that look still works for a reason. This is the off-the-somewhat-expensive-rack version of that boutique look.
• Princess - Oh god. Isn't that bonkers? Crazy Eyes went with a 1960s A-Line that is cut all wrong. Kate, here, does a weird take on a Bond girl with sea shell breasts (the first to accentuate the boobage, mind you). And, it's totally retro...but it's not sophisticated.

Downtown

• Chris March - He saw a crazy guy on the street with a trash kilt, and came up with the idea of doing an outfit like a flannel shirt that was wrapped around the waist. This was also the winning look of Episode 5 of Under the Gunn, when Asha designed for Zandaya. 90s are back baby!
• Alexander - Um...what? Those shorts (or skirt) are hoochie, that top is insane. What the hell is this? I don't even know where to begin. Too many ideas, not enough execution.
• Jay - Tank Girl. Very 90s. 
• Neck Beard - I like this. It's simply, rack ready clothing that's rather stylish. I like that the strip down the center was transposed, and the width is quite nice. 
• Benjamin - Gentrification in a dress. It's an uptown look that decided to go downtown. I really love it, but I find myself wanting to hate it. It feels like a great outfit for slumming.
• Freegan - It's a nice pantsuit, but it continues his flowing ethereal nature, which he started in his last runway show. I kind of really like it. It's easy and yet it isn't. It is so Freegan.
• Dmitry - It's a Eurotrashy suit. The plunging neck line would be best seen in a Joe Eszterhas fim, and that accessory...oy vey.

The judging, with hostess Alyssa Milano, Isaac Mizrahi, Georgina Chapman, and special guest Ivanka Trump, is actually sane. Even though they disagree, the judges actually make arguments that feel like they're looking at the outfits and taking their job seriously. Unlike the early episodes of regular flavor Project Runway, the judging doesn't seem like it has been maximized for most social media internet outrage.

When they pick apart the outfits, they have good arguments, but I do wonder why Portland was there, but Samantha wasn't. But, then, Egg is the one we all forget about. 

The winning design will be given to Ivanka Trump to wear, and Fabio wins. So, Ivanka Trump, a princess from Uptown, has elected to wear a look designed for Downtown by a dumpster-diving hippy Freegan. The economic story of the Hunger Games writes itself. Fabio won't win any money. He just gets his outfit to be worn for free by the 1%. Thus, the story of Hunger Games is complete.

The loser is Crazy Eyes, which makes me sad. She was eliminated on an outfit that totally wasn't her at all. I wanted to see some of her intricate and incomplete work, but she wasn't given the chance to fully display it. I consider her the Michael Winterbottom of Project Runway in that she used to create compelling work even if it wasn't fully satisfying. 

Stray Observations

• Alyssa Milano is very pregnant, and I can't help but ponder her past comments about hoods in the bedroom.
• The cry that Patricia gives out after losing is magnificent. No shade. I love this woman.
• I'm really happy they're keeping Alyssa. She's fallen into her role wonderfully. Remember when she was stilted? I'm glad she lost that tension.
• Zanna Roberts Rossi is fabulous as always, but she had no room this week. I promise to have more Zanna since there is less origin story next week.
• Swatch snoozes