Project Runway: S13 E14: "Finale Part 2"

What's the ultimate "point" of Project Runway? I think this is an interesting question that PR can be asked that other reality competition shows don't have to. The "point" of Survivor is mostly entertainment these days since the more social experiment element of the show passed within the first few seasons. How people survive and interact within the confines of that game is a subject that's been exhausted. We really haven't seen a new way to play the game in a long time no matter how many new wrinkles the producers toss in to the rules. But Project Runway exists in a different kind of space. The winners have the ability to really effect the future of fashion in a manner that the winners of other shows simply don't. Can you name the title of a single album from an American Idol winner since Clarkson? Have you seen any of the dancers from So You Think You Can Dance anywhere? Chances are unless you're deeply into those worlds, you probably haven't, but one only need be aware on a basic level of the world around them to have seen something from Mondo or Christian Siriano around somewhere. So in that sense, PR is uniquely placed to seriously effect the general outcome or trajectory of the fashion industry as a whole. As such, do we watch PR thinking primarily that we need drastic amounts of entertainment, and the rest can be damned? Is it the show's job to find the next great fashion talent and reward them? Or maybe it's just the show's job to shine a light on aspects of the design process within the fashion industry? I'm not sure the answer is any one of these things. It's more likely that the show should be striving to hit each at some point in time, but I also think that this fact makes PR into something of a mixed bag from season to season. Specifically, since this show has the ability to do all of these things, it sometimes has identity issues because we can't be sure which of these aims we're watching at any given moment.

Along those lines, let me introduce this final competition episode of the 13th season. The first portion of this episode seems mostly dedicated to providing both drama (read entertainment) and something of an insight into the design process. Kini is still reeling from his horrible critique, and trying to figure out how to remake his entire collection in two days. Tim comes in to offer his notes on what just happened. He tells everyone what they should do, and his points to Kini are mostly about just mixing and matching pieces from the collection instead of redoing everything. I don't think Kini really was listening though. This sit down wraps up with another trip to Mood for anyone who wants to go and get fabric for another look.

Amanda stays and chooses to just edit her looks. Sean goes to buy some great orange fabric in order to get in one non-fringe based look. Kini and Char buy a lot of fabric in order to make a lot of looks, and the divide between the remaining designers is established. The amount of work that needs to be done on Char and Kini's collection seems to ensure that they won't be in the running. Or at least that Kini will rush through and pull a collection together in two days and achieve this Rocky style come back in the 11th hour that will make this the single most dramatic PR finale ever. Which is clearly what the judges and producers are hoping for. We'll see how well it plays out.

Everyone gets to work and Tim comes in to consult once more. When he's meeting with Kini, he says to him, “That’s already looking youthful.” And Kini responds with “And that’s what they want to see.”This brings up another possibility for what the show could (but certainly shouldn't) be, which is just a vehicle for the judges to get what they want to see and wear placed into collections and onto the runway at NYFW. The judges' comments to Kini weren't about trying to get him to create the best looks he was capable of within the scope of his own personal vision; they were about shifting his collection to fit a set of circumstances that they themselves would prefer. Or at least I think that that's true. The result is a collection that I don't feel as though he fully believes in. It's cute and sexy but some of the looks don't scream Kini to me. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Tim tells Char everything she does should be done in an hour. It reminds me of the one hour run off she had against Korina and I said much the same thing after that moment; she’s better off working in one hour than she is over the course of an entire challenge.And it's an accurate point as I think the two brand new looks are the best in the collection. They still seem to butt heads over some of the earlier looks that Tim thinks should be scraped all together and she ends up using one of them anyway because if she didn't, she wouldn't have a full collection. Not surprising since she doesn't really deserve to be here at this point, but hey. That ship is sailed, I guess. 

Another moment in trying to bring the best NYFW runway that they can is found in Kini and Char having to have new consultations with hair and makeup. Don't get me wrong, I think this would have been an element either way, but when Tim tells the group that they're doing so, he specifies that Char and Kini will need this because of how unhappy the judges were with their styling. So it left me wondering if this is more about PR trying to protect its brand than it is about getting these designers' visions out there in a pure form. If that was really what the show wanted to be about, they'd allow the first time the judges see any of the clothes to be during the NYFW runway. So you get to the point where you see that after 13 seasons, PR is used to putting on good shows at fashion week and they aren't going to risk that streak by putting down a collection they haven't vetted first. I'm not a fan of this. 

So onto Fashion Week where the point of the show tends to be about the chaos of putting on a show like this. It's about shining a light on the dark aspects of the fashion industry and the kinds of drama that happen in the background. We've seen it all at this point, so the major drama of one of Amanda's models having changed shoes on her own rings a bit light. No one spills anything on a dress, no article of clothing is lost, the best they could come up with is a model wearing different shoes. It turns out the shoes Amanda gave her to wear were too small and she just went with her own. After a quick swap with a pair that fits, the crisis is averted and we're back to being a bit bored. In a lot of ways, this is the perfect microcosm of the season as a whole: when there's nothing there from the designers to give us drama, we'll make something small and basic into something huge and melodramatic. So good job on that one guys. 

New York Fashion Week:

Amanda's Collection: I will say that the only look where I think the jewelry is front and center and really noticeable is the last one. But that doesn’t take anything away from the rest of the collection. Perfectly cohesive, the use of color is jaw dropping, the cut outs and the amount of skin is always tasteful and sexy and worth it, and the pattern looks are all great as well. It feels original and beautiful. The looks I don’t care for are the shorts looks. Although I recognize that it’s good to mix things up and not have dresses or skirts on everything, the shorts just didn’t work for me much. Everything else is just great. 

Char’s Collection: Her third look is great. I like the forth look too. Both of these are the looks she threw together last minute. The last look is something I think rides the line. It’s almost tasteless, but it’s also almost elegant. I want to like it, but I don't. Overall I think we can see the cohesion better in the full collection than we could in the mini collection she sent down last time, but it’s still not very good. And the look that she calls the most “Char” is really simple and right-off-the-rack-boring. She shouldn’t be here, but what more can we say that hasn’t been said thus far? Also each look with that expensive Rome fabric was horrible. 

Kini’s Collection: I want to like the second look so much, but I hate it. The open back details are nice and the cut of them is unique. The shoulder pads look is way way better in this version than it was with the coat. But overall, I do not like this collection. And he used the umbrella cut of his rainway skirt a lot more often here to mixed results. The one look that had it on the top was really just…no I hated it. I’m not a fan of this.

Sean’s Collection: I don’t know what to say about this. To start off with that stark white look which is so crisp and clean and just wonderful, the transitions are just perfect, the dart of fringe on the back of that white look that I didn’t like in the mini collection out of context works so much better here as you see it transition into the the full orange look. I still don’t care for the first fringed black pants look, but there’s a much better version of that dress later on in the collection that has fringe all around instead of just on the front. The full orange look that he created after going to Mood is just sheer perfection; it perfectly matches the wonderfully draped white look from earlier. And the final look is breathtaking and perfect. It is still a lot of fringe, but I’m not going to fault him for that. Sean’s my clear winner after these collections. 

 Emily Rossum is my all time favorite guest judge on this show, and she actually has the remark that gets at the heart of what I think the show should be about. She says, in talking about why she thinks Sean should win, that for her this show is about finding the next great voice in fashion. So you should be looking for someone innovative and unique. The judges comments make it pretty clear that this is between Amanda and Sean. The judges compliment him on his fun and unique vision, and they compliment her for her brand ambitions. To those ends, I do think Amanda is great for that. If we've ever seen anyone with an aesthetic that could be brand marketing ready, it's Amanda.

The judges have polite things to say about Char's use of color and how fun her own personal style is, and by extension how fun her clothes can be when she brings that personal style into her designs. They praise the hoodie and black and white looks as the two best in the collection, reaffirming the way she seems to thrive under the pressure of time constraints, but that's about it. 

As for Kini, they are at least happy with how much sexier the collection is, and everyone's impressed with how quickly he pulled these looks together, but they're still split on a lot of the looks. They seem to think he's not editorial enough and allows his designs to get away from him. Emily at least likes the coffee filter top look, but no matter how much she compliments it, I hate it. The key comments that I responded to here were about how much he needs an editing eye. I think if they had said that during the mini collection more than "It isn't sexy enough" I would have been on their side a little bit more. 

So the debate after the designers leave the runway is about does the Brand Ready designer get the win, or does the designer with the most refreshing and interesting voice get the win? And the fun part about it to me was that there wasn't really a wrong answer. If you're judging based on these collections, Sean and Amanda both equally deserve to win. If we judge by the competition as a whole, then I think it's more between Sean and Kini, but that's neither here nor there. In the end, Sean is crowned the champ of PR season 13, and I'm happy with it. Granted I'm happy because I think he's cute and I'm far more interested in jumping his bones after he wins than after he comes in second place, I mean who wants to sleep with a loser, amirite? But this was one season where I honestly think PR did well to leave themselves in a position where either outcome could have been celebrated. This won't go down as the best season in Runway history. There was a serious lack of talent that we talked about often enough in these threads. But I do think that the three most talented people from the season found themselves in the finale, and I think the winner was chosen with an emphasis on effecting the future of fashion and the design world, and that's certainly something I think we can all be proud of. 

Final Thoughts:

--In case anyone was wondering, I won't be watching the reunion episode. i never do and have no interest in starting now with these boring people. If anyone else wants to do so and wants to writeup a review of it, I'd say let Julius know and that could be worked out? 

--Speaking of things that won't be watched, we had a discussion about PR Threads last week, where did everyone fall on that? Will you watch it, won't you? If you do watch it, is it something we should should be reviewed on here? I haven't fully decided yet, but I'm thinking I might at least check out the first episode. Maybe we can write it up and see what kind of response it gets to determine if we keep going?

--The Mood cashier asks Sean, “No fringe today, huh?” He really has become Fringe Man hasn’t he? In my Mood based fanfiction, there's a constant office pool going on each day about how much fringe Sean is going to but during his next visit. 

--Within the episode there were a lot of contestant retrospectives as they looked back over their time on the show. It all felt like a cheap way to fill out the time. 

--The overall theme from Heidi's responses to everyone was "I liked some things, but didn't like some others." I was like, yeah, no shit, it's a 10 piece collection. When was the expectation that every single piece would be loved start, because I don't recall that ever really happening.

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. 

Project Runway S13 E6: "Rock the Wedding"

Ok guys, are you ready for a lesson on manufactured drama? Because that's what this entire episode consists of. The drama starts at the top of the episode when we open up on a tense and silent apartment with some of the girls sitting around looking pensive. Why is everyone on pens and needles? Has someone withdrawn from the competition? Has someone fallen from the balcony? Is there a sexual scandal brewing amongst our gals? No, Korina just called Amanda a big Phony, and apparently Char agreed. All of this takes place off screen for some weird reason, but there you have it. Korina's bitch goddess persona is rocked up a couple levels as she basically attacks Amanda to her face instead of just behind her back. And there's no explanation as to why.

We get a quick shot of Amanda crying and then we whip off to the challenge. This, my dear readers, is what we call a cliff hanger. I was expecting a big To Be Continued... screen in between the confessional and the challenge. But they're suspense building wasn't that obvious; which is actually a compliment believe it or not.

The contestants sit in front of a rocked out alter, and a few of them guess that the challenge will be to design a wedding dress. Sure enough, Tim walks out with the amazing and resplendent Dita Von Tesse, and informs everyone that they are indeed designing an unconventional wedding dress and also a companion look for the reception afterwards. The rules are that there ain't no rules, Tim says (though with a lot more refinement and better grammar), and they mostly want to see the designer's unique aesthetic shine through. Since the designers are asked to create two looks and since two day challenges are the things of the past, this will also be a team challenge. Or at least a pairs challenge. And guess who gets paired together... Of course this is totally random, and by no means were Amanda and Korina's names purposefully left out of the button bag in order to ensure this very eventuality.

The drama between the girls continues as they debate what they're looks should be. Amanda's aesthetic is wild and hip and crazy, but Korina's is more simple and streamlined. Korina of course refuses to design anything expansive and Amanda refuses to design anything simple and boring. And they glare at each other while Korina explains during her confessionals that if they end up in the bottom, she'll be the one to go home since the judges love Amanda for some reason. Of course, any drama manufacturer knows all of this is just setup for the team either bringing it together and getting a win, or falling apart and fulfilling Korina's doom prophesy. To Be Continued...

Amongst the other pairs are Fade and Emily who are happy to be together as their both older and married and trust each other's aesthetic. Kini and Sean create the obvious dream team with both of them fresh off of a challenge where they were both in the top and Sean won, but Sean's immunity immediately places Kini on edge. And a reluctant Char finds out she's paired with Sandy.

The pairs head off to Mood where Amanda and Korina at least have agreed on a kind of Tux inspired look for both of their outfits, and start looking for black and white fabric. Meanwhile, a reluctant looking Char concedes to Sandy's love of color and agrees to work with the loudest yellow fabric Mood has to offer. How can this possibly go wrong? That was rhetorical, let's not list all the ways in which a garish yellow fabric can go wrong on a wedding dress challenge as we'll be here all day if we do.

Back to the workroom and back to the drama. Char mockingly imitates  Amanda's excitement over the challenge and she and Korina laugh about it for a bit before Amanda storms out to blow off a little steam. She runs into Fade and shares her frustrations with him. To his credit, Fade listens and offers some helpful words of consolation as he tries to figure out what Korina and Char's problem is. He points out that it might be jealousy over the fact that Korina was in the bottom but Amanda was in the top Again last challenge. I found the stress Fade put on the "Again" to be interesting. I think he was intending to imply the way that Korina felt about Amanda's continued success, but I also think it could have been a little bit of a slip on his part to showcase how everyone feels about Amanda's success. To his credit, I don't think Fade's support of Amanda is ever about any kind of veiled criticism on his part, but it's fun to read the situation that way. They end their conversation with Fade assuring her that if she ever wants to talk, he's totally here for her, and I think what we're seeing is the start of a really cute friendship.

Tim's visit is really lackluster after the whirlwind that was Heidi's visit last week. He points out that Alexander and Samantha's looks probably have too many applique elements and look too similar to one another to be easily distinguishable. He tells Char and Sandy that their construction is going to have to be perfect in order to overcome the horror that is their yellow fabric. And then there's the meeting with Korina and Amanda... Tim gushes over Amanda's "not another fringe dress" look, citing its innovation and cool design. And then he bluntly asks Korina what's so special about her Tux look. The entire time he's talking to the two of them, you can seen Korina's seething over his unwillingness to admire her simplicity and demonize Amanda's exuberance. It's enough to make you wonder if she's ever even watched the show before.

In the end, Amanda and Korina are left in just about the same place as they were before Tim's visit: Korina has no desire to spice up her look and Amanda refuses to tame her's down. This is a group that is not in agreement at all, that can only spell disaster. To Be Continued...

Runway day sees a lot of people scrambling to finish their looks. Sean, having spent so much time on his tuxedo pants, doesn't have a blouse ready so Kini steps in to make one for him. "He could sent a topless model down the runway and still be safe" Kini acknowledges as he bitches about Sean's immunity once more. He's not wrong, but I expected a little more excitement on Kini's part to be paired with Sean, and I was wrong. Likewise, Korina's spent so much time on her jacket that she didn't have time to make pants. Amanda steps up to make them for her, but not knowing her model's measurements, the pants end up being ill-fitting and Korina just has to fix them anyway.  And so the end of this drama and ultimate suspense is coming. It's on to the runway for us!

Dita Von Tesse is there to judge and some fashion writer or something is there to waste space and time. Sorry, but when Dita Von Tesse is on my screen, I tend not to care about anyone else.

Kini: I like it a lot, but I'm also starting to feel like we’ve seen a lot of this big bulge/ruffle on the hip silhouette this season. It’s well made, and fits her perfectly, and I love the story of who their girl is. So I don’t want to take anything away from it, but is this just going to be the season of the big hip ruffle?

Sean: Here’s the thing: I hate a high waist line on just about anything. I always prefer a low waist or a bit of stomach showing. I don’t like what a high waist tends to do to a person’s torso. So I can’t say that I love this look, but I do see how it’s unique and innovative, and I also think it’s a brilliant take on this challenge. So objectively, I’m impressed, but subjectively it’s not the look for me. That top is perfect though, and their mix of masculine and feminine is really brilliant. The same woman is certainly wearing both of these looks.

Alexander: I think there’s a lot of almost about Alexander’s look. It does look different from the other things he’s put down the runway thus far, the open back is a nice touch, and I really like the lace fabric. But he went a bit too crazy with the floral applique.

Samantha: I like this look in spite of myself. It’s certainly the most interesting thing I think Samantha has put down the runway thus far. I think they ended up with something nicely cohesive and yet still stayed away from making the same dress twice like Tim was worried about.

Korina: I find it boring. I like the fabric, but I find the look itself to be boring. I don’t know if it was just my computer screen, but I couldn’t see anything wrong with the fit of the pants, so either they pulled it out at the last minute, or they made a big deal out of nothing, but I’m still bored. 

Amanda: I’m bored with this too. As much as she says it isn’t another fringe dress, it might as well be another fringe dress. The looks match up at least in color scheme if in no other manner, but I honestly found them both to be a snooze. I wouldn’t want to get married in either. 

Emily: I’m not going to lie, I fucking love this. It's artistic, but also functional. I think I can see how it lends more funeral than wedding, but I also think there’s honestly a client out there who would just love to get married in this look.

Fade: Conversely, I’m not sure I buy that there’s someone who wants to spend their reception in Fade’s dress. This isn’t to say that I don’t like it, because I do. But there’s something about it that suggests it’s a look for the wedding night more than for the wedding reception. And I don't think these two dresses go to the same woman.

Sandy: There’s just something so homemade about the bodice to me. It looks cheap. And the draping on the dress looks messy. And the color offends my eyes. I can’t see anyone wanting to get married in this look. 

Char: What the actual fuck? I knew the look was bad on the dress form, but I had no clue it was this bad. Holy shit that looks messy and unfinished as hell. Like she just stapled fabric to the model and let it fall where it would. This is a huge step back from Char after weeks of being safe. WOW.

So after a full episode of sniping between Korina and Amanda, the pay off has to be them being in either the top or the bottom. And given how boring both of their looks are, the suggestion is that they're in the bottom. I was so ready to watch them cat fight it out on the runway before Hedi tells us that they're the only team that's safe. This is an entire episode in futility. The editors wanted this episode to be as dramatic as possible, and framed it through the lens of Korina and Amanda's animosity, but what do you do when your contestants give you every aspect of a dramatic arch except a conclusion? The answer to me would be to edit all that shit out and find something else to focus the episode on. But what do I know?

The judges are split on every teams looks except Sean and Kini's who the love. Zac and Nina hate Emily's dress, while Heidi likes it. I don't find any of this surprising, but what I did find to be a little surprising was Dita's point about Emily's dress looking like a parody of goth instead of like an actual goth look. I loved Emily's dress, and I won't make apologies for that, but I also don't disagree with Dita's point. I also agree with Nina's point that the veil and the sleeves are a bit too much and she should have gone with one or the other. 

Another good point from Dita comes when they're looking at Char and Sandy's looks. She points out that given this dress she doesn't trust Sandy's ability to construct good clothing at all. I watched this moment thinking to myself, And so say us all. I haven't been impressed with anything Sandy's done this season, but the construction issues on this look are just embarrassingly bad. But as bad as Sandy's look is, I think Char's is way worst. 

As the judges gush over Kini and Sean's looks, they ask them both who deserves the win. Sean quickly points out that Kini's amazing and has been in the top a number of times and totally deserves the win here, and Kini agrees. The thing about this is that I don't think that Sean's admission that Kini should win is born of a need to be humble or anything; I think he honestly feels like Kini earned this one. But neither of them mention to the judges that the only piece on the runway that Sean designed and constructed were the pants. If the judges had known that Kini was responsible for the dress and for the blouse, maybe they would have given him the win? Instead Sean collects his second win of the season. Char is sent home, and as much as I hate Sandy, I can't disagree with this decision. If there was ever a look someone deserved to be outed by, it was that one.

Stray Observations:

--Tim hates weddings? WTH, Tim?

--Can I just say how much I fucking love Sean and Kini's woman? That they went with a lesbian wedding was amazing, and then to add to that her career focus was so moving. All things told, this was a good week for marriage equality on reality TV. As I pointed out in my review of this week's So You Think You Can Dance. Sorry for the shameless self promotion.

--What the fuck is Zac doing during the judge's closer look at the clothes? He's talking in some accent and playing a role and it's really fucking annoying. I usually excuse a lot of Zac's choices and such, but this is one that I simply can't get behind.