Project Runway: S13 E11: "The Highest Bidder"

GGGAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!! What in the ever loving fuck was that? First they.....and then it was......but then there was...... GGGAAAAAAHHHHHHH! Um..... OK, here's what I think we have to do, I'm scraping the first 1/2 of this episode because literally nothing happens! There's Storage Wars, and unconventional materials, and a lot of people happy with their teams. It's boring as shit. And then it's the runway. So give me a minute to go through a quick rundown and then it's off to the runway guys, because holy fucking shit!

This week, the designers are placed into three teams of 2, given money, and asked to bid on Storage Units containing stuff and things and make 2 cohesive looks out of the stuff and things. And then there's a "twist" that I think we all saw coming from a mile away about going to buy fabric for another look. Got it? 3 teams of 2 making 3 looks each of unconventional materials and regular fabric, and they all have to be cohesive. Moving on to the runway were Christian Siriano is back as a guest judge and making me oh so happy to see him.

The Runway:

Amanda: I see why Tim said Teen Hooker. The print is loud (surprise), and it looks young in a way that’s odd. Like a teenager picking out her own clothes for the first time and trying really hard to make a statement. And also telling the boys to look at her tummy! I don’t like it. 

Kini: I really like this. It’s clearly not fabric, I think the construction of the soccer ball pieces is clear and interesting, and the fur gives it an interesting elegance you wouldn’t suspect otherwise. I like this a lot.

A & K third look: This one I think is an interesting blending of their two aesthetics. The top is so Amanda, but the bottom feels more like Kini. I like it. I don’t get much in the way of Cohesion from the three looks together, so I’ll be interested to hear how they play that one. 

Sean: I’m worried by how many times I’ve had to say this about my Aussie baby, but boring. I love the jacket, and I think it’s well constructed—the lamp shade contour is very interesting indeed, but I feel like he relied a lot on the fabric itself to do the heavy lifting of the look. The mesh dress underneath is overpowered so as to not really matter much. It’s pretty, but boring. And I’m starting to think “Pretty, but Boring” will have to be the title of Sean’s autobiography. 

Char: Same problem here, but you add to it the fact that the model can’t really walk in the dress. To her credit, I think she pulls it off nicely, which is good since that’s her job, but yeah there’s no real practicality to the look. And the rest of it is just kind of straight forward and boring. 

C & S third look: At the end of the runway, the model can be seen holding up the dress a little bit more so that she can walk. OK deep breath, I love this dress, I love that they took a chance with something, I love that they clearly incorporated their unconventional materials into the dress while still using fabric, and I love that the cut of the dress is very pretty and the blue razor back is just beautiful and eye poping, and I wish she could actually walk in it! Come on guys, the idea is just ½ of it, you have to have some kind of practicality too. I like this a lot, but if it’s in the bottom, I won’t be surprised or upset. Also, color cohesion might be a simple kind of way to go, but I appreciate it when I can look at a collection and easily see why the pieces all go together. 

K & E third look: I like it. I don’t know what to really say about it, but I like it. 

Emily: I literally laughed out loud when the camera panned up to the shoulders. Give me a break! Over designed is the feeling I get from this and the feeling I think we all get from Emily very often. 

Korina: I hate capes, but I don’t hate this look. I think there’s a lot going on in it, but I also think that generally wherever your eye lands, it’s something pretty pleasing to look at. So it’s a lot to look at but instead of shifting your gaze and feeling overwhelmed, I think it makes you feel like “Oh man, that’s cool too!” So good on her. I think there’s also a lot of color coheshion here, but there’s also the general fact that all of their looks are clearly Fall/Winter looks. So it works. 

OK first things first, the judges and I don't see eye to eye on a couple things here. They proclaim Kini and Amanda as the clear winners of this week (Kini gets the win, his third), and give a lot of praise for their innovation and their story. In the team's defense, I think their story is actually a good one, and it certainly gave me a greater appreciation of the collection. I also think the story adds the cohesion I thought the collection was missing at first. But the fact still remains that the judges like the looks a little bit more than I do. 

They're predictably split on Sean and Char's looks. They like Sean's contributions more than they do Char's. But they do cite Sean's model's inability to walk in her lampshade look. To Heidi's credit, she points out that she'd be more than capable of walking in it and the model needs to get over herself and get her model game more on point. It's a funny exchange, but the outcome is the same: they appreciate Sean's idea even if they don't love the execution.  Christian points out that Sean's aesthetic can be found in just about any store anywhere, and I agree with that. It all goes back to what I've been saying which is that Sean has to kick things up a notch or two and innovate his designs a bit more. Even Heidi says that their looks are a bit too safe for this point in the season, and I have to agree. If Sean's actually going to make it to the end like I expect him to, it'll have to be in the wake of him pushing himself a little bit harder in the upcoming weeks. 

And the judges don't like Korina and Emily's looks very much. Or more over, they like Emily's looks and don't like Korina's. They actually commend Emily's shoulder pad thing, which I didn't expect at all. Nina edits Korina's cape look down and improves it greatly, which doesn't surprise me as I hate capes, as stated earlier. She also hates the fabric Korina chose from Mood, which also doesn't surprise me; I think we know Nina's aesthetic enough to know she wouldn't care for this collection. And then the nails come out. As their complaining about Korina's looks and finding small things to praise, Korina snidely mentions that her looks are at least wearable, and there's no turning back. 

Considering their comments, it's clear they think Korina and Emily are the losing team on the day, I think. It might also have been editing. But they're the only group we see get the "Who should go home?" question, and Korina is clear on this point: If it has to be one of them, then it should be her going home on a look she loves and is confident in, but it shouldn't be either of them as Sean and Char's looks are unwearable and thusly should be sent home. But that wasn't the question. The judges didn't ask who on the runway needs to be sent home, they asked who out of your team should go home, so why the rush to throw another contestant under the bus?

Back in the greenroom, the contestants continue to wonder why Korina needs to be such a bitch about this. Sean has a little more gentle humor about it, commenting on how it hurts to pull those knives out of his chest, but everyone else seems to be a little more off put by the entire display than he is. It might have just been him putting on a bit of a brave face, or a little more confidence than Char has after his couple wins, but still, he placed himself in a position to be the bigger person. Or so it seemed to me at least. 

Meanwhile, the judges are still trying to decide who should go home. While they liked Sean's design, they didn't like Char's. While they liked Emily's they didn't like Korina's, so that means it's between Korina and Char on who goes home this week. And Heidi's ominous "I have an idea" doesn't bode very well at all. 

Heidi's big idea? Give both Korina and Char an hour to go back into the workroom with helpers and create a new look from scratch that proves why you deserve to stick around. They're allowed to use any fabric they find laying around the workroom, and there's no stipulation other than it take an hour. Their teammates from this challenge are allowed to help but aren't required to from what I understood. But of course both Emily and Sean agree and it's off to the workroom for frantic scrambling. 

Sean says it's odd to be asked to help your competition stay around, “But if I carry her through to the top 5, then it’s an easy sheep to the slaughter later.” Oh bitchy Sean, I love it! And this is clearly the stronger pairing. Char starts off saying she wants to go short and sexy, and Sean quickly points out that she was just criticized for going too short and tight, so they agree that long and flowy is the way to go. Sean also helps decide on the asymmetrical cut of the bodice which I think really makes the look come together beautifully. 

Meanwhile Korina decides that she wants to spend her hour complaining about the injustice of it all. You see, the thing is, she's just so very very good. She's better than everyone else, and the fact that she has to be here proving herself is just absurd really. Don't the judges know that she's the best and she deserves to stick around and show at NYFW? Don't they know that Char was already sent home once and, therefore, everything she ever does from this point forward for the rest of her life is just tainted and useless because she's unworthy to even breath the same air as the rest of us? And also, even though Nina pointed out she's seen the same aesthetic from Korina 4 times, she's actually only used it once, and she won for it, so clearly Nina is just a useless crazy bitch too and should STFU once and for all! Literally, this is all that Korina's hour consists of. And it's so bad that even Emily mentions how uncomfortable she is and regrets agreeing to help her. 

Korina's bitchiness has been a subject for the entirety of the season thus far, but I think we can all agree that this was some next level shit. It's one thing to throw shade, and make a few snide under the breath comments over the course of the season, but to so bluntly assert that this is ridiculous and that there's just no reason whatsoever for her to be expected to do this, while also throwing a fellow designer under the bus and then backing the bus back over her limp corpse is just too much. Everything found here tells us that it's time for Korina to go. But before we can be sure of that, it's back to the runway for two more looks:

Korina’s Keep Me: Yeah no. It looks like she only had an hour, and I think that that could be the worst thing about it. If you deserve to be here, you should at least be able to throw something together that looks like it took longer than an hour to make. 

Char’s Keep Me: There’s just no competition here. Look at how beautiful and elegant that is. It looks expensive and well thought out and well put together. I think we can give Sean a lot of the credit as it looks a lot like something he’d put down the runway anyway, but this is heads and shoulders above what Korina did.

The judges point out that Char's look is just breathtakingly beautiful. Christian mentions that he wishes it had been part of their original collection, and I'm wondering if Char just shouldn't be given an hour for every challenge from this point forward. This is important though: all of the comments are about how beautiful the dress is. All of the comments they give Korina are about how nice it is for having been given only an hour. The writing is on the wall on this one and no amount of Korina crying and shaking her head in disagreement about what the judges say about Char's look can change it. And sure enough, the judges make the only decision they can given these two looks: Char stays, and Korina goes home. 

Back in the green room again, Char breaks down about how hard that was and I think it's another glimpse into just how stressful this competition is. The looks on everyone's faces in the greenroom also showcase the stress here. They all felt it and they all feel for Char having to go through it. And then Korina comes in, and Sean is the only person to stand up and hug her. She continues to go off on how unfair this is, and how Char should be going home, or more importantly about how Char should never have been saved in the first place. "Who saw this coming? It's funny right?" she says while choking back tears. And I can't think of a more awkward greenroom experience off the top of my head. 

Char tries to defend herself, and I think she does a fine job of it. She points out, in response to Korina's point about her having been eliminated before, that Tim saved her, and now here we are 5 challenges later, and she's still here. To which Korina basically tells her to shut up, "it's not about you." But if it's not about the person you've been so mercilessly attacking for the past couple of hours, then who is it about, Korina? There's a level of disconnect and ridiculousness from Korina that just borders on insanity if you ask me. 

Tim sends her to the workroom to clean up her space and says they'll all miss her, but no one rushes to agree with him on this point. No one stands up and says "Like hell we will, fuck that stuck up bitch!" like I was hoping they would, or like I did, out loud, sitting at my desk, at work, and getting stares from the people around me (HR meeting set for Monday, so thanks for that Project Runway), but no one agrees with him either. 

I'm still buzzing about this, guys. Because I think Korina fully deserved to go home for the way she acted and for the last minute look she put down the runway, but I don't think that she deserved to be sent home for the look she sent down for the challenge in question. And if people are being sent home not for what they did in the challenges, then what are we even doing anymore? What's the structure of the show going forward if it isn't about being safe or aufed based on the design's adherence to or deviation from the challenge? What kind of precedence does this twist set? And what's honestly behind the decision to have Korina and Char face off? Are their two looks from the challenge really equally bad? Because I honestly don't think so. I know I liked Korina's look more than the judges did, and I didn't like Char's look at all, but even outside of that, can we really say that the two of these looks are honestly equally bad? Or was the decision made more out of a sense of drama than on the merits of the designs in question? I'm more inclined to believe the latter, and if that's the case....I think I have a problem with this. I understand the balance between finding drama to create the best TV and the competition aspect of the show / finding the best designer. But I don't know how we go about honestly claiming to be looking for the best designer when we make moves that are designed to create the most drama and end up sending the better designer home. 

Or do we make the case that since Char was capable of pulling the better look together over the course of the hour, she actually is a better designer than Korina for this show? I don't think that that's the case, but I also don't know for sure. I guess at the end we can only rest assured that Korina, given the way she acted if nothing else, deserved to go home finally, and we can relax not having to see her again...right?

Please Keep Me Thoughts:

--I really do think there are just a bunch of different ways to attack this episode, guys. I don't know what I think or how I feel about it all. If anyone has other thoughts that I didn't explore here, please share them. 

--I know a lot of you don't watch the next time on segments but if you did, then say it with me: Holy fucking shit!

--The look on Tim’s face when he talks to Amanda and Kini is just priceless. It’s the way I look at all of Amanda’s looks. 

--Is it just me or does Sean use a lot of that Royal Blue?

--Sean worries about being paired with Char because she doesn't really know how to sew. And he spends a lot of his time with her babysitting her and checking up on her. I was left thinking, Wow, Tim, you saved someone who doesn't know how to sew or doesn't get basic construction things? Really?

--I was also really bothered by the fact that they had the designers bid on units and then only gave them 30 minutes to pick what they wanted from those units. That seemed a bit odd to me. I say you give them a truck, load up the entire unit, and they get to use anything and everything they just paid for. I was thinking what if someone remembered something small from the unit that that could use on the second day and wanted to go back for it? Clearly the design a third look "twist" wouldn't have allowed for that anyway, so it's a moot point, but still.

--In case it isn't clear, I really loved this episode. I thought it was indeed another good one in a string of good episodes. So let's keep up the good work, Runway.

Project Runway: S13 E9: "American Girl Doll"

When you watch Reality TV, you should inevitably grow to like or hate some of the contestants. It's down to the editing, to who they are as people, to how talented they are or aren't, and any number of other nebulous factors. I think this can bring out the best and worst in us as people, which is the point. It's the same way those of us who are sports fans engage with sports. You develop attachments to teams and a deep passionate hatred of other teams; generally teams that tend to beat your team. All of that is just my long drawn out way of saying that Sandy going home this week made me indecently happy. I almost feel bad about this fact, but not quite. And if that makes me a bad person (and I fully recognize that it does), then oh well.

Before we get into the episode, allow me to say that Sandy is by no means the worst person we've seen on Project Runway. After all of the anger and yelling we had last season, I actually welcome her particular brand of annoyance. I found the way I hated her to be rather soothing to be honest. But with that being said, I still hated her. And after 9 episodes, I finally put my finger on the main reason why: It isn't just about the fact that I don't like her aesthetic and don't think she deserved the wins the judges gave her early on, it's mostly that I find her to be ridiculously entitled in a fashion that I will always find problematic. Specific examples to follow, but first let's get down to business.

This week, the designers are taken to an American Girl Doll store where they all fall into panic attacks over how creepy dolls are. Or maybe that was just me... But dolls are freaking creepy. And the fact that these dolls (which I had never even heard about prior to this challenge) all have elaborate and often depressing back stories didn't help my unease at all. I was just waiting to hear about the little Native American doll who had to watch her mother be brutalized by the White Man and who's father died of small pox. But the creepy surrogate children only serve as inspiration for the real challenge which is to design a modern look for a real live girl. And I like that because my favorite PR challenges always are Real Women, or Menswear, or just something that isn't about standard "design something for your model to wear" challenges, and "design for kids" is right up that alley.

The designers are also randomly assigned dolls (inspiration) and children (models) this week, which is great since it eliminates the possible sadness of a kid being left out. I think that that's the hardest part of any of their real women challenges: Schoolyard pick just isn't the way to go for these types of things, and I'm happy to think that after 13 seasons, the producers have finally learned that.

After a little chat, some background on their doll's depressing stories, and getting their new models' measurements, it's off to Mood. This is where we get the first glimpse of Sandy's overblown sense of entitlement. Korina is getting fabric cut by one of the peasants that work at Mood when Sandy walks up and puts in her own fabric order. Korina points out that she was in the middle of telling the young lady what she wanted to get cut and Sandy just shrugs it off with an "I know, I just want to tell her what I want and go off to get more things" kind of reasoning. I find this problematic on multiple levels. First off, you don't interrupt someone else. Sandy could have just as easily taken her fabric with her and come back to have it cut at a moment when no one was busy engaging the young lady in her services. She could have gotten in line behind Korina, or anything other than jump ahead of her. I'm also bothered by the manner in which her actions reduce this employee to nothing more than a servant who has to take her order and have it done by the time she returns. It's a part of the lady's job, but anyone who's worked retail knows that that can feel dehumanizing in a lot of ways. And all of it speaks to Sandy's general sense of "What I want or feel as though I deserve is paramount." She says something in a confessional about Korina just never liking her from the start, and I'm left thinking that that might have something to do with the fact that she's a selfish and entitled little brat. But who knows.

Back in the workroom, everyone gets to work, and Kini is of course super fast with everything. If/when he makes it to the finale, I'm assuming he'll be one of those annoying designers who has his entire collection finished before Tim shows up for his visit. Tim pops in and starts dishing advice like its no one's business. He tells Sean that he likes his look but he should probably kill the idea for the fringe on the back of the vest. Sean heeds his advice. He also tells Char he's not a fan of the fringe on her dress. Char doesn't listen. Project Runway history tells us that the contestant who listens to Tim is safe or in the top 3 and the contestant who doesn't is in the bottom. So we'll get back to that.

Tim also tells Sandy what we've all been thinking for weeks and weeks now: He doesn't understand her aesthetic and doesn't understand why the judges like it so damn much. Sandy, with a blank look on her face that might rival Alexander's, basically shrugs it off as nonsense and keeps doing what she wants because she believes in herself. And when you believe in yourself, no one else's opinion matters, right guys? .....Guys?.....

I also want to take the time out to mention that Tim tells Korina he thinks her look might be a bit too grown up and Korina responds with a kind of "But you know how kids are these days, Tim!" statement. I found this hilarious because earlier in the episode she admitted she wouldn't know the difference between a 5 year old and a 15 year old. So clearly she's grown a lot in her understanding of children over the course of a few hours. Good on you, Korina.

The day ends and everyone goes to bed. The producers do a lot of fancy cutting here. A lot of the designers appear to be talking smack about Sandy and her response to the critique she got from Tim. Meanwhile, in her own room with Emily, Sandy is having a breakdown about how mean people are to her. But here's the thing, if anyone had been mean to her during this challenge, I didn't see it. Did I miss it? Did the producers edit it out? Or is it just another false freakout by Sandy? The second of the season I might remind you. I'm inclined to believe the latter. The designers don't like Sandy, that much is certainly obvious in a number of ways, but I don't think anyone in the workroom is actively mean to her. And while she's freaking out, she mentions over and over again how much she feels like the designers don't give her the respect and kindness she "deserves." So again we go back to this point about her somehow feeling entitled to some ridiculous level of respect and going to pieces when she feels like she isn't getting it. I'm over it. When someone yells at you and insults your mama, then you can cry and be a baby on screen. You can't go to pieces because a designer pointed out that it's rude of you to try and jump in front of her in line at Mood.

Next day! After waking up feeling reset and back to herself (not sure that's a good thing, but whatever), Sandy and everyone else head back to the workroom. Sean decides that what's missing from his look is a peace sign on the back and he quickly adds one...kind of. It's a peace sign that's missing one of the little legs on the bottom. But I'll give him a pass because he's handsome. You don't have to be smart, honey, just pretty.

Off to the runway. Elizabeth Moss is guest judging and since I want to be Peggy Olsen when I grow up, that makes me so happy! She's cute as a button! And smart! And she actually isn't afraid to give a less than positive critique which I always love in a guest judge.

Korina: Cute if a little boring. It’s a kid’s dress so I don’t want to be too critical, but I do think the silhouette is a little simple and boring. But I appreciate the amount of work I know went into it, so I give it a thumbs up.

Sean: This is way more boring than Korina’s. I think it’s well constructed, but wow, I’m falling asleep over here. I expect more from him.

Amanda: Ok here’s the deal, the textile on the dress hurts my eyes a little bit, but I do agree with her that the dress and the jacket match perfectly and I think this is really cute. I love it in spite of myself.

Alexander: I like it more than I expected. I don’t think there’s much Design to it, but I feel that way about much of what we’re seeing today. I like his prints together, and I think it’s cute.

Char: This is the look, so far, that I think has the most “Design” to it. And I like it for that reason. I also think there’s something about it that reads as being a little costumey, but that’s just me.

Sandy: Ugliest thing we’ve ever seen on the runway? Because that’s what I’m going with. That was just a no. God I hate it so much!

Kini: His point that the dress looks like an American Girl dress is spot on. It’s what I like the most about it. It’s well made and designed to be sure. It might be too “grown up” but I honestly didn’t have a problem with that. I like it a lot. 

Emily: I think I want to like this more than I actually do. I like her aesthetic a lot, and I love the dress, but the crocheted top looks off to me. It looks backwards for some reason, and the two pieces don't really appear to go together. 

 Korina, Kini, and Char are in the top; Sandy, Sean, and Emily are in the bottom. So Sean followed Tim's advice and found himself in the bottom while Char did her own thing and was finally in the top. I'm just going to leave that observation there for you guys. As expected, the judging skews a lot towards how fun and youthful the looks are or aren't. One thing I really loved about the judging this week, aside from the fact that I actually agreed with all of it, was when the judges got to Korina; you could really tell that she put a lot of thought into the dress. The peaks of yellow under the squares, and why it was yellow and why she put it there was really ingenious when you hear her explain it. Also, someone, I think it was Zac, points out that Char's dress is a costume that translates into real life very well. Like it could be worn in the same spirit as the kid who wears a superman cape to school, and I agree with that fully. 

A lot of people point out that Sandy's look isn't age appropriate at all, and she says over and over again that she hears them but doesn't agree. Here's the thing, I think there's a fine line between not taking criticism well and believing in your design. I don't know where that line is, but I feel like Sandy crossed over it this go around. I don't know if that isn't just because I hate her, but either way I left this critique feeling like she simply wasn't willing to admit that a viewpoint other than her's is capable of also being valid. I think this also has to do with her response to Tim's critique and her statements last week about not wanting to be compared to another designer. As established in the comments of the last recap, I didn't hear those comments when they were made in the last episode, so I'd love to hear how some of you guys felt about Sandy's responses in this week's episode when viewed through the lens of her comments last week. 

Kini gets his second win, and this time its a win that can be free of the stigma of having to share it with anyone else, so good on him. He's also inducted into the double win club, which might not mean much this season as Korina's the only designer with only one win. This brings up something I was thinking about a few days ago: over the course of 9 episodes, we've only had 5 different designers pick up wins. I haven't complained about the judging lately because I do feel like it's finally evened out to the point we were expecting earlier on in the season. But do we feel like the lack of distribution of the wins this season is due to bad judging or due to a lack of evenly distributed talent? While I can admit that I don't think Amanda or Sandy deserved either of the wins they got, I also don't think any of the designers who've gone home thus far deserved wins either. Maybe Fade, but I'd have to go back and look at all of his designs to be sure. And as we get closer to the end, the gulf between the designers talent wise seems to be growing. At this point, I think we can all recognize that Char, Alexander, and Emily are just hanging around and waiting to be sent packing. And none of those eliminations will feel shocking when they come. My point being, maybe it's time to look back and re-categorize our opinions on those early episodes? Maybe the judges weren't trolling so much as seeing something the rest of us were just missing until now?  I don't have the answers to that one, but in the mean time I'll just be happy that my least favorite designer has been sent packing. Smooth sailing from here on out, guys. 

Thought Facsimiles:

--At some point during Tim's visit to the workroom, Alexander gives us another blank deer in the headlights look. Never change, Alexander. Never change. 

--There was a lot of focus on Sean this episode that made me really worried he'd be going home. I was so ready to just have an entire writeup that read "Fuck this shit!" but luckily didn't have to resort to that. He reminds me a lot of my handsome British husband from last season: He's not really capable of being safe. He's either winning or he's in the bottom. So hopefully there's less being in the bottom from him going forward. 

--I think it was Char who said that there weren't many curves on a child's body and that made designing for children difficult. I was left thinking, "As opposed to your full figured and curvacious models?"

--News Flash: Amanda, queen of fringe, loves Char’s fringe vest. Show of hands who’s surprised by that?

--Has anyone seen our erstwhile leader around lately? Julius, where are ya, buddy?  I don't have a problem writing up every week (really I'm having the time of my life and not at all interested in giving up the task), but I certainly miss you in the comments.

Project Runway: S13 E8: "The Rainway"

Ok, I have to start by apologizing for the lateness of getting this up for you guys. I came to work on Friday trying to remember what I had to watch that day and I couldn't remember to save my life. And then I went away for an amazing weekend to a beach house that didn't have internet, so I couldn't watch the episode until this morning. So for my horrible forgetfulness, I apologize.

Secondly, I watched this episode on Hulu, so I got the shortened hour long version instead of the longer version I'm used to. I loved the episode, so we'll get to that soon, but first I have a serious bone to pick with Project Runway editors: I honestly think they've forgotten how to create a good episode of reality TV in the course of one hour. I've lamented the show's poor use of it's extended run time a lot over the years. I've said many times that the show was better and less full of superfluous crap back when it was only an hour long. But here we are and the days of the show being only an hour are behind us so we have to make the best of what we've got. And yet, wait, there's an hour long version of each episode out there. The suggestion then is that maybe there's a better version of each episode available, right? Well no because the manner in which the editors seem to make the typically 90 minute episode last for 60 minutes it to rush through the best parts of the show. Tim's visit to the workroom flies by at a breakneck speed and I didn't see him talk to everyone. The judges critiques are so fast and empty that I honestly couldn't tell you what they really thought about each of the top and bottom looks beyond the most basic impressions. In the middle of the episode, in an effort to celebrate their first 2 day challenge, the designers head up to the roof to have drinks. What happened or didn't happen, what was said or unsaid, while up there? I have no clue because all I saw was the party train heading up to the roof with alcohol and then the episode cut back to the workroom. I haven't watched the longer version of the episode yet (and I may not do so, I can't decide), so it's possible that not much is different between the two versions. I'll need you guys to tell me what I missed due to editing in the comments. But the overall effect is the same: this episode felt breathless in a way I haven't felt Project Runway has been breathless in a long time, and I didn't like it. So it feels like there is no longer any great version of this show; either the longer episodes spend more time on useless filler (like the extended scene of Kini and Fade pimping out a fridge, which still somehow found its way into the shortened version of the episode), or the shorter episodes keep the filler and lose the heart of the best parts of the show. But allow me to say once and for all that if these are the two versions of the show I have to choose from, I'm throwing my lot in with the longer cut of the episodes, and I never thought the day would come when that would be said, but I think Project Runway has finally wore me down and broken me.

Ok, deep breath, shake it off, and let's move on because I honestly did think that this was an amazing episode in a lot of ways. First there's the Avant Garde challenge, which is another of my favorite PR staples. While I agree with most people that PR doesn't really know what Avant Garde means or looks like, I still love it when this challenge comes around because it's the perfect excuse for the designers to go big. I would also posit that Avant Garde for PR has been redefined to simply mean artistic and not necessarily wearable. So this is the one challenge a season where if I can't reasonably see a woman wanting to wear the looks on the runway, that's more than fine.

And this year's Avant Garde challenge is taking place on a "Rainway." I did a quick Google search for the term Rainway and for all I can see, Project Runway is the only place where it shows up, so I'm guessing this isn't a consistent thing in the fashion industry. But even if it isn't, I think it should be. The Rainway added an interesting element to the way the designers thought about what to make, and it added a fun element of drama to the runway itself, but we'll get to that. I also really agree with Amanda's point that the innovative runway style matches well to the Avant Garde nature of the challenge itself, but I would also say this could be an interesting element for the show to use on a regular challenge about making clothes for someone in like the Pacific Northwest where it's raining so often and fabric that holds up when it gets wet might be a bigger concern. Or even someone who lives here in Florida where it rains for a couple hours everyday in the summer and our daily rainstorms tend to look like the world is ending. Either way, I say thumbs up to this development.

As a result of the Rainway, the designers are left trying to figure out ways to either embrace or avoid the rain on the runway. Do you make a regular dress and cover it in a kind of raincoat? Do you make something waterproof? It's an Avant Garde challenge, so if there's ever a moment to take a big risk and hope it pays off, it's now.

I should also note that this challenge features the latest bit of PPP (Pointless Product Placement) in the form of Samsung's new TV which gives everyone a great seat and a great view of the screen because of something or other that I don't care about. So the final look is expected to be impressive from 360 degrees. This is as opposed to the other challenges where the designer's looks are only expected to look good from the front. This also doesn't take into consideration the fact that someone sitting behind the TV probably doesn't have a good view of the screen, so the TV itself isn't even perfect from 360 degrees, but I digress. The TV PPP leads a few of the designers to get inspired by the TV itself, which I don't think was actually the point. But I could be wrong.

So everyone's off to Mood where most of the designers run straight for the Vinyl and waterproof fabrics. Sandy seems to grab every bright primary colored fabric she can find, leaving Char to laugh over the presence of more Yellow and to wonder how this will turn out. She's clearly still not over Sandy's choice of the yellow fabric which led to her being out. The group heads back to the workroom with Tim reminds everyone not to step on Swatch who appears to have put on a few pounds, or is it just me?

During the design process, we spend a lot of time with Fade talking about how uninspired he is and the best he can come up with is playing off of the Play button on a remote control. Looking at the dress on the dress form, it was clear that nothing about what he was doing was going to fit in with the Avant Garde nature of the challenge, and I found his TV based inspiration to be suspect. Also inspired by TV is Sandy and she makes a jumper that's color blocked in a manner reminiscent of the end of the broadcast day. For anyway reading this or watching the episode who's too young to know what she's talking about, Sandy was inspired by this image. There's a part of me what want's to find that charming, but I don't know where that part of me is at the moment. I think he might have gone out for coffee or something because I look at this and I think, really? In the years and years of TV, this is what you choose to get inspired by? But again, I also don't think the TV element was meant to be an actual part of the challenge, so I find her inspiration stupid and I tend to think she didn't get the point of the challenge either. So there's that.

The award for inspiration and innovation clearly goes to Sean who has the brilliantly dangerous idea to sew powdered dye into his basic white dress so the color will run on the Rainway and create an experience and a fully unique textile. It'll either work and be brilliant, or it'll fail and maybe send him home. But it's the riskiest thing we see in the episode and maybe in the entire show's history, and you can't help but to root for him.

The second day in the workroom sees an interesting element of the two day challenge: Korina wakes up and realizes she hates everything about her design. She's doing something that's inspired by Thunderbirds and her sketch looks like little more than a Thunderbird costume. I love two day challenges for a lot of reasons, and this is one of them; when you only have one day, you don't necessarily have enough time to think yourself out of your original concept. But when you have a night to sleep on it and gain a new perspective, you can look at your design with new eyes the next morning and decide to change it. And you've still got a full day to make said changes unlike when someone tries to pull out something new after Tim's visit in a one day challenge. It's a fun way to add drama to an episode without having to force or manufacture it.

On to the Rainway because I simply cannot wait any longer!!!!

Char: I like this look. I love the little hat/veil thing, and I think the color is great. There’s something odd about the way the constructed sash portion of the look seems to separate away from the rest of the dress in the back, the movement of it looks odd and almost accidental to me. But other than that I like it.

Sandy: I don’t hate it. I think the swinging pinwheels on the front are the most interesting thing about it, but I don’t understand the “point” of it. She says she wants to capture the color block lines when the service goes dead on a TV, but what do the pinwheels have to do with that? Without the pinwheels, it’s a simple silhouette under a vinyl rain coat.

Emily: I like this one for a couple reasons. 1) It’s the first look we see that isn’t afraid to show some skin. There’s something about that to me that says she wasn’t shying away from the rain. You don’t have to be completely covered and your garment doesn’t have to be shielded, embrace the rain. 2) It’s really sleek and sexy in a way I find interesting. 3) Pockets! I’m curious about how those pockets didn’t just collect a little puddle of water in the bottom? Are they open so the rain slicks down her legs? Because that’s cool!

Alexander: It’s a rain coat with petals on it. No thank you!

Fade: It’s boring. I think the fabric holds together well in the rain, and that’s impressive, but nothing about this is innovative or avant garde, or really all that interesting. I like his model’s styling a lot, though I think if her hair were down instead of in the pigtails, it would have added a nice effect in the rain.

Korina: I neither like nor hate this. I think it’s just kind of there. The play on the light is interesting and fun, but that’s about it to me. It’s another look where I don’t see much of a “point” or an artistic perspective really.

Amanda: The best thing I can say about Amanda’s look is that if no one told me it was her's, I wouldn’t have known it. It looks very different from the other things she’s designed, and I appreciate that. But I’m not impressed with it. The fact that the “eyes” were falling off means she either underestimated the effect the rain would have on the fabric, or she didn’t finish the dress well enough to withstand it, which is problematic in a two day challenge.

Kini: I want to yell and scream and jump up and down about this look. Did he ever use the term umbrella when he was talking about it? Because I must have missed that if he did. And if he didn’t, that’s too bad because that’s exactly what it looks like. The protection offered by the hat, the way the dress looks like a closed umbrella. OMG I love it all!

Sean: OH MY FUCKING EVERLOVING MERCIFUL GOD! How crazy perfect was that? This was a risk that paid off in the best way possible. I kid you not, I gasped when I saw it start to change color. This literally took my breath away. I was thinking he’ll need his model to do more than just walk if the dye in the bottom is going to work, and that moment when she stopped and spun around and the rest of it ran! Oh man, this is just amazing. If I have a criticism, it’s that I’d like to have seen a different color than the yellow on the top. But that’s really it. Man I love it!

 Kini, Sean, and Sandy are in the top, Fade, Emily, and Korina are in the bottom. In his explanation of the dress, Kini does indeed say that he was thinking of Umbrellas when he designed it. I don't know if that word was used by him at any point prior to the runway because I didn't hear it in my episode. I either missed it, or it was edited out if it happened at all, but the fact that that intentionality came through even without having to be told is pretty prefect to be honest. I don't have much to say about the judging this week because I didn't get to see much of it. It all went by so fast that I couldn't latch onto much. I will say however that the judges don't seem to have much positive to say about Sandy's look, so she seems to be more safe than in the top, but it continues the seeming trend of one person making the top three simply to round out the numbers. If anything, this episode really does prove that this season is a battle between Sean and Kini and it's just a matter of time between everyone else gets weeded out. I'm wondering if there will be 3 or 4 people showing at NYFW this year? Because if it's only 3, my guess is that this model of 2 people in the top and one person just barely scraping in will be found in the final runway too. 

Along those lines, Kini and Sean both win this challenge. The elimination of immunity gives the judges the ability to give the double win. But it's Sean's third win and Kini's first, and I can't help but to wonder if Kini finally winning isn't cheapened a bit by the fact that he has to share that win with Sean? Sean is brilliant, and Nina's point about loving the way his brain works is spot on, but is he really so much better than Kini that he's deserved 3 wins to Kini's 1? Keeping in mind that even Sandy and Amanda have each won at least twice. I'm not sure about the answer to that, but what I do know is that both Sean and Kini deserved to win this week because they were both amazing. 

Fade goes home, and I'm sad because I love him, but I'm not capable of disagreeing with that decision. I think the other point proven by this episode is that the judges just don't like Fade and Emily's aesthetics as much as I do. But Fade going home here brings us back to the issue of the Tim Gunn Save. Char has been safe on each challenge since she was brought back (and rightfully so), and Fade is one of the designers we mentioned in comments would have been more worth the save. But would/should Tim have used it here? The look Fade sends down the runway is not at all in keeping with the intention of the challenge, nor is it very impressive in its own right. But I do like his aesthetic more than Char's. It's a moot point because the Save is off the table, but it's something to think about. Also interesting to think about: this is the second episode in a row that's felt, at least to me, like classic Project Runway. I realize I might be wrong about that as I didn't see the longer version I'm guessing some of you guys saw, so feel free to disagree with me in the comments, but I think I might officially be ready to say that Project Runway is back. In as far as this show is capable of being back with its continued formatting problems.

Rain Washed Thoughts:

--Barring a huge misstep by either of them, I think the writing is on the wall that Sean and Kini are going all the way this year. Which designer(s) do you think will join them? 

--Has anyone else noticed Alexander's almost constant look of comic befuddlement? It's most noticeable on the Runway when each of his reaction shots are more like non-reaction shots. I swear it looks like no one's home in that boy's head most of the time. 

--The main elements of the shortened episode, I think, have to come from Tim's visit and the judging. So my question to anyone who watched the longer episode is did Tim meet with each of the designers? And also did each of the judges get a chance to say something about each of the top and bottom looks? Because the only looks I heard each judge check in with were Sean, Kini, and Korina's. 

--Speaking of which, Zac's increased silliness this season is starting to bug me. His pantomime of rain dancing and of boxing with Heidi were just too much for me, and not very charming. 

--One other concern I have for Sean's look is that I didn't care for the finished product. I think the majority of the appeal of this look was the entertainment factor as it walked down the rainway. When I saw it standing next to him when all was said and done, I couldn't help but to think the finished product wasn't very pretty. But that's to take nothing away from the pleasure of watching it walk down the rainway and the level of how impressed I am with him that he even though to do what he did.

--When I say that Sean gets the award for most innovative, I feel the need to point out that Kini gets the award for best construction. So it'll be interesting to see how this plays out in their collections at the end.