Under the Gunn S1 E13: "Finale"

On Monday, I finally got the chance to attend a weekly screening here in Seattle of Rupaul's Drag Race, hosted by Ben DelaCreme, a local drag queen. Luckily, this week was also co-hosted by last year's winner, the amazingly awesome Jinx Monsoon, who was a local drag force.

Stay with me for a little while, and I'll tie in the relevance of Drag Race to Under the Gunn. First, I'm not a normal Drag Race watcher (Bad Gay!), so this story is about a first time watch for this season. Anyways, if you watched Rupaul's Drag Race this week, you know that there was a total of THREE HOURS of Drag Race this week, with 2 back to back full episodes, followed by 2 episodes of Untucked. And, if you watched this week, then you know that Dela was on the chopping block in the first episode and almost on the chopping block on the second episode.

What was amazing when watching Drag Race with a local crowd who all knew and loved Dela was the sheer amount of caring and relief that happened this week. The event is a free event, with a cash bar and dinner, please tip the volunteer staff. It happened in a huge ballroom, and the whole house was standing room only. I stood for 2 of the three hours (because people needed to leave before midnight, instead of the usual 10:30pm), plus an additional 90 minutes before the show in order to secure my section of the wall. Doors were open at 6:30 for a 9:00 showtime. People were lined into the hall. Of course, this was in Seattle's gayborhood, where we all know and have loved Ben Delacreme. We've seen him perform. He does theatre shows here in Seattle. 

Everybody in that packed ballroom was charged when Dela was on the chopping block and had to lip sync for her life. When Darienne, the chopping block teammate, was declared the lip sync winner the house was on the edge. And, when Dela got a pass, the whole room cheered and was practically a riot. Namely, because we were invested in the contestant who was on the chopping block. 

While watching Drag Race, I realized just how intimately Drag Race allowed us to get with the contestants. One of the things that Drag Race does is give all of their contestants the room to breathe and to tell their life stories. We see them relate to each other as they are working to create. In the two hours, I learned that Joslyn was a young queen who idolized Courtney because they were from the same scene, and that Courtney felt she was above Joslyn. Bianca is a mother hen who took people under her wing and criticized people in order to help them develop throughout the show. Laganja is a very young queen (24) who, like all the other queens, used her persona in order to project a powerful image...but was also rather fake and constructed drama around herself. Trinity was an insecure queen who was taken under Bianca's wing and finally gained the confidence to fly. In 2 hours, there were enemies, friends, constructed plots, and drama...all while they were also working on whatever bits they were working on and creating their costumes for the next day.

The same care was not given to Under the Gunn and its editing. Throughout this season, Under the Gunn has struggled with being overstuffed and trying to minimize the drama. Which is OK considering the mega drama that happened with last fall's Project Runway. But, what Under the Gunn didn't keep in, at least until the last minute, was our designer's personal lives. In turn, Sam's reveal last week of his bullying felt more than manipulative. The other thing that has happened is that, of all the designers left, the only two that have a point of view are not the ones that make good clothing. Sam and Asha both are trying to have distinctive looks to their clothing, but they're both inconsistent. Nobody has a singular style like, for instance, Patricia (like her or not, she had a vision), or even Portland's steampunk style. 

I know I'm beating a dead horse one last time, but the construction of Under the Gunn is overstuffed for its running time. It wants to focus on the creation process, focus on the designers' interpersonal team relationships, and focus on the mentors and their relationships. Of the mentors, the only one who had a positive learning arc has been Uncle Nick, who learned to let his designers breathe...over and over again. And...there wasn't much room for anything else. Mondo didn't learn. Anya didn't develop. The designers had emotions from exhaustion but...they didn't lead to anything

Who am I rooting for, while going in to the episode? Oscar. He's a great tailor and has made some really good outfits, even if I can't quite see a running throughstyle. He has time management, and probably could be a decent businessman. And, he's genuinely nice. Second choice would be Shan. Sure I've been ribbing him for being one of the femmiest straight boys on the show, but he's good people and he also makes solid looks for the most part, though generally I haven't seen much of a throughline. Sam is too underdeveloped as a designer. And, Asha...well...admittedly I kind of like some of the pieces she does, but she really pulled one out on Natalia.

It is with this mindset that I sat down to watch the final episode of Project Runway: Under the Gunn.

It seems that it's not only I who thinks that the designers aren't well drawn, nor are their character arcs. The show opens with a brief series-long recap of the designers. But, even these brief pre-credits recaplets stays rather shallow.

• "Asha has been improving all season, and winning one challenge!" 
• "Sam has been a judge's favorite, but has recently begun struggling with self-confidence." 
• Oscar is a "charming Cuban-American" who was "once a long shot." 
• Shan "has impressed not only with his designs, but with his speed and skills."

But, we only have an hour to get through everything, and there's a LOT stuffed in this episode. There's 3 days of designing, finishing the designers' stories, 4 runways of 5 outfits each, finishing the mentors' story arcs, getting in all the marketing, and a couple additional marketing bumps we've not seen before.

So, today's is sponsored by a car company, who loans the designer groups use of a car to go to Mood. The designers have 3 days to do 5 outfits in a mini-collection. So, it's an All-Star styled finale as opposed to a full season finale. Just in case you didn't guess.

During the initial sketch period, we're also attempting to solidify people's story arcs through their clothing. Sam wants to do a story of a girl whose armor disintegrates throughout the five looks, reflecting the breakdown he put on last week. Nick encourages Oscar to tell his story of being a Cuban-American and the struggle to get here. Shan needs to pull from his heart because he's exhausted. Asha wants to do an Egyptian Queen in Brooklyn...because she has an ego. Or something.

We head off to Mood where the designers have 1 hour to spend $2500. ZOMG. And, then, there's a brief in-show commercial for eyebrow waxing or sculpting or something. Whatever. It lasts all of 17 seconds, and you barely even notice that it existed. Because, we don't have time!!!

Next we get reintroduced to the last designers eliminated, because the designers get helpers. On Day 2, the designers get a visit from their families. Because the designers aren't robots, despite them not having much of a story, and have families and boyfriends and wives and whatever. Oscar's mom is so adorable, but she only is on for a brief shot. But, they're only there to say that these people have families as their back stories aren't highlighted, but the designers' success are highlighted because...I dunno. Family segment: 2min 15sec.

We end our first block by doing one half of a mentor critique, for Asha.

And, it's time for our first commercial break!

DAMN!!  So, when I wrote the first part of this recap, I hadn't yet watched the episode. I wrote it earlier in the day today, and was truly my feelings about the show overall. I didn't realize that the Finale episode would exacerbate and highlight and underline all of the issues that I have with the condensed over-filled format that Under the Gunn took on.

So, the mentor critiques are interestingly buzzy. Asha is regressing back to costumes. Sam gets a confidence boost from Tim Gunn when Mondo was critiquing. Shan is basically told to find himself. And, Oscar is making a greatest hits collection.

We don't get any time for model fittings. We don't get any time for interaction between designers. We get some confessional critiquing of each other's work, and defense of their own work. And then it's time for our second commercial break. Whole time of second block: ~5 minutes.

The third segment begins with 40 seconds of fellating the theater and stage. We get a brief period with makeup and hair. And then another 20 seconds of fellating the event/red carpet. And, it's time for runway already!! Jebus!

Tonight's special guest judges: Heidi Klum, Neil Patrick Harris.

Sam
His runway really started off strong and slightly experimental ready to wear. But, as the armor elements fell away, the clothes just started getting more and more normal. The first outfit is a glam showstopper for a winter collection with a glinty hard-edged look that just looks gorgeously asymmetrical. The second continues, but has an interesting green highlight tab. It's almost a bit Christmasy and overly simple, but the vertical graphic of the stripes really sells the look. Then, it goes straight into off-the-rack. The third look is pretty, but it's a shirt and skirt. The fourth look is the same, but the fifth look is the worst because we've all see that dress time and again. So, much like the competition, he started off strong but then petered away. I don't think he intended the petering part.

Shan
Hard and Soft. Leather and Lace. This collection was ALL over the place. I really liked all of the individual pieces but there was a lot in each piece, and their color disparities just was all over the map. What he didn't really do was spend time crafting a runway show, even by choosing the order correctly. He starts off with a bad-ass warrior bitch goddess outfit straight out of Tomb Raider or Resident Evil, jumps into earthy and brown leather and lace that's just hectic, goes straight into a booming red simple outfit, which leads back into a medium simple beige look, which comes back to red and black leather with a bomb ass jacket. It feels like a cohesive collection that could have been helped by a lot of reordering. Open with the second look that has all of the confused elements that make up everything, lead that into the fourth kind of boring look, have that bleed into the red simple dress, which leads into the bombing leather jacket look with then finishes with the video game heroine look. It tells a better story at least. A lot of these elements are damned awesome (A LOT), but it's all a bit much and confused.

Asha
Costumes. I thought they were IJ costumes. But, Studio 54 did cough up many of these outfits. There isn't much that I like about any of the pieces. The best piece were the awesome red leggings under the caftan that everybody was going gaga for.

Oscar
It's a cuban-tinged greatest hits look. His collection suffered because of his first look, which is dull. and should have been hidden much later in the collection. Pieces 2-5 were kind of amazing. The second look especially. But, I keep wanting one more piece after his final look. He needed to end on a showstopper, and his final look was sort of dull. He needed one more wow moment at the end. But, he only had 3 days to create the whole collection, so mad props. However, other than the lace, this collection didn't feel all that cohesive. It was just a lot of really good fashions from a bunch of different designers.

Not so surprisingly, I found myself constantly agreeing with both Heidi Klum and Neil Patrick Harris. Sam had the most cohesive collection, but it was really ready to wear and started fading after look 3. Asha was a complete miss. Shan was good, though it was a touch much. And, Oscar had great pieces and was a good designer, but he didn't have a solid point of view. So, who do you choose? They were all deeply flawed in a way.

Personally, I would probably have given it to Sam because he has a point of view, but I don't know that he had that adventurous of a style in order to make it in his own line. Oscar is good, but he doesn't have a point of view. But, I don't feel disappointed in the choice they made, which was to give Oscar the win.

And, so ends Under the Gunn. Oscar wins. Which, yay. And, is surprising to me because I underestimated him at the beginning due to his tendency to overdesign. But, I can't say that this format worked for me. There was too much time spent on the mentors who ended up not having much of a character arc, and not enough time getting to know the designers. By the time Under the Gunn realized that we didn't know who the designers were, it became too little too late. This format would have been better in a 90 minute format.

What allows The Voice to work more than Under the Gunn is that The Voice has 3 hours every week. A two-hour episode on Monday and a one-hour episode on Tuesday. Or, maybe that's Tuesday/Wednesday. It gives everything room to breathe, and doesn't feel so overstuffed. Maybe with a 90-minute format, at least, the show would have been afforded more time to get to know the designers in the beginning and thus let the viewers invest in the designers, even if they didn't have specific design voices.

And, it seems the Project Runway year is over. One of Project Runway prime, one of All Stars and one of Under the Gunn. Whew. Good luck. Thanks for reading!

Random Observations

• "Your son's hands; I am in awe." Teehee!
• "He makes clothes that are functional and believable." - I'd hope so...
• "I hate coutour" - Oh, Sam.
• "I call my collection 'Hipster Nonsense.'" - Ugh
• "I was getting 1920s circus carny coutour. Not my favorite." AMEN!!
• "I also liked Sam!" - Heidi Klum, always being difficult. Love you, Heidi!

Under The Gunn S1 E12: "Superhero Fashion"

OK fellow readers, here we are! We're almost done with this season's set of episodes. We're down to four, and after tonight, we'll be down to three. Hopefully, Asha will be gone, but it could be Sam. I remember that all three were in the finale clip we saw at the beginning of the season, so those are the only two possible outcomes, right? Right?

It's been a long season. The premiere was in 2 separate 90-minute blocks. There was an episode where we didn't have an elimination. We started off episode 3 with 12 designers, have knocked off 8 of them, and here we are.  *sigh*

I'm gonna be blunt. I'm finding it hard to get behind most of the designers this week. I know you are too. I'm rallying against Asha, but even that just seems unworthy of my energy. Maybe I'm having a Project Runway meltdown.

Speaking of meltdown, today we go to Meltdown Comics where the Marvel juggernaut can get in some free advertising for whatever superhero movie is coming out this week, as well as their comic books. And, it's also advertising for a Tim Gunn edition of Iron Man. But, really, it's all about Marvel because god forbid anybody read or learn about any of the independent geeky comic labels that exist, like Fantagraphics (Seattle!), Dark Horse, or Image. 

Anyways, we're introduced to the VP of Animation, Cort Lane...which...um...hot! Well, except for his hair. Cort, you're really hot, but you're soooo fucking WeHo. Does he bleach his hair? It looks like it in other photos. He's a hot cub, I just want hot cubs to not have be so affected by the shallow WeHo standards, which are so plastic and unsexy it's not even funny. Still, I'd not kick him out of bed. Maybe he could replace Mondo for a week so I can gaze at he all episode.

The goal this week is to pick one of four superheroes and to make a female outfit inspired by these superheroes, without going to costume. Oscar chooses Gamora, the most dangerous woman in the universe. Asha chooses Falcon, the first African-American superhero. Sam chooses Hawkeye, a rebel. And, Shan chooses Captain Marvel, formerly Ms Marvel, a strong woman or something. Why, yes, Marvel does have a couple of female superheroes...apparently. Just because Gamora is a side or group character in most of her comics, doesn't mean she doesn't count! Shut up!

The main thrust of this week's drama is Sam and Shan centric. Sam gets stuck in a gloomy depressed place because he's been all alone and under pressure for a month, and now that he's in the final four, he knows that it's time to let his drama fly so he can be in the final three! First he chooses Hawkeye because he's a rebel. Then, he starts reading the Hawkeye comic book and sulking in the green room so everybody can see him sulking in the background. Then he opens up about being teased on the bus as a kid...which was so done last season. "Just like what every gay kid has to go through." And, then, at the end of the episode, he talks about his suicide attempts! WAY TO GO SAM! 

Sorry if I sound a bit cynical, but, throughout the episode, he hit a lot of different buttons. Not that it's not a typical story of gay people around the world, but it seemed rather calculated compared to other reveals. Especially given what he eventually ends up with.  But, we'll get to that when the time is right...

Shan is also feeling lonely, but he constantly reminds us that YES, Shan is straight, and YES, Shan is married with three kids. Stop thinking he's gay! He's very married, thank you. Oscar also wants some drama time, but his attempts at creating drama is so half-assed compared to bullying and suicide. Oscar only has semi-low confidence due to a bad critique last week. I have to say, I respect his trying not to fabricate drama to save his ass. Asha saved her ass by throwing Natalia under the bus a couple weeks ago, so she doesn't need to be the star of this week. And, yes, I'm still bitter about that.

Sam's design has been waylaid by his day-long depression, so he only has a variety of fabrics to show with an explanation of what he's doing. He has a LOT of fabrics. A LOT. Purple, and polka-dot, and another patterns, and another color and things are color blocked and...it's all confused. But, because we have to walk on eggshells with Mondo and his positivity, Tim tells him that this is SMASHING, and that's in a good way. By the time we get to the model fitting, his whole top is completely confused. There's purple underneath a black and white hash pattern with a thick black shoulder strap. It's like the 80s got drunk and vomited all over the 90s. And, to add to it, he gives his model an afro, adding in the 1970s. 

We finally boogie down to the runway. This week's special guest judge is Jaime Alexander, a co-star of Thor 2. See! There are females in Marvel movies!!

• Oscar (Team Nick): It's a borderline costume. I mean it's a badass outfit that totally captures powerful aspects while also emphasizing the model as a female. The cloak is kind of cool. but, its the giant panels of fabric that extend from the shoulders that take it into costume land for me. They're unnecessary but would look cool in slow-mo.  It's rather Gamora, but not literal.
• Asha (Team Mondo): A Grecian goddess meets a warrior. It's not bad. It's just not that superhero to me. It's a little too soft to be warrior. And, more than that, I don't see any connection from the hard-edged urban Falcon to the Grecian goddess. Maybe I'm missing it though.
• Sam (Team Mondo): Wut?! You're kidding, right? I'm sorry you guys, but...this is a clown outfit. Those pants are amazing pajama clown pants. The top is an amazing bib that doesn't match the pants. The back of the top is long and deep (because superheroes don't wear bras) with all sorts of manner of straps hanging down in weird directions. Then there's the bit that's stained. It's a fucking mess. It's not boring, but it's not good.
• Shan (Team Anya): LOVE. LOVE LOVE LOVE. Hard-edged bad ass dress with leather straps. I mean, we've seen bits and pieces of it before. But, put together it is a great and amazing outfit that is all strength and fierceness. Amazing. 

The judging makes good observations. You guys, I haven't mentioned the judging much, but I think the judges on this show are actually really good. There isn't much egregious terrifying lapses in judgement, and they say things that I think we're all thinking. The only time things go haywire is supposedly after Sam breaks down on the runway. He doesn't bring up his suicide attempts on the runway literally, saving that for the asides. Or, at least that's the way it's edited. Anyways, after the suicide attempt reveals, suddenly everybody starts revealing their private parts of their lives and say that Sam's outfit is interesting. For some reason. And, nobody wins. Nobody loses.

What a gyp. Finale is a one-parter next week with special guests Heidi Klum and Neil Patrick Harris! If there's one way to get me to be excited for next week, it's fucking Neil Patrick Harris. OMG, that guy is awesome.

Stray Observations:

• Cort Lane is really hot, but he has nothing on Handlebar Moustache Guy. *swoon* Maybe they could get their own reality show together? I know, I've been swooning over HMG for years now, but...he's so fucking hot.
• Asha was hilarious. "Sam isn't being himself. He's not even talking to me!!!" It's so Asha centric, I couldn't even deal.
• Oscar is totally channelling Bruce Willis with his hat choice.
• No, Mondo, Asha did not expose such a private part of her soul. That was just an outfit. And kind of a storebought one compared to previous works.
• The Trevor Project is totally worthwhile. I highly recommend passing their glory around. The more people who know about The Trevor Project, the better. Because the more people who know, the more people who will use them, and the more lives that may be saved. Which is a good thing. Just keep the trauma off the runway.

Under the Gunn S1 E11: The Benefit of Fashion

Last week, I noted that we finally were moving from a mentor-focused series to a designer-focused series. This is a big relief because it allows us to root for somebody with actual feeling behind the characters. Not to mention, I think we're all a little tired of the mentors. Mondo became a huge dick last week that nobody likes. Anya is rather a hypocrite. And, Nick...well, he keeps having the same revelation of trying to leave his designers to design on their own.

The designers that remain:

• Asha - The single-episode villain who was a complete bitch to Natalia last week. Distanced, egotistical, and...I hate her because of how she treated Natalia last week. (Mentor: Mondo)
• Sam - The delightfully bitchy youngster. I kind of love his periodic lapses into snark. Funny, happy, genuinely kind of nice. (Mentor: Mondo)
• Shan - The married man with kids...who almost seems more feminine than the gay guys. Friendly, gay, and lovely personality. (Mentor: Anya)
• Blake - Who? How is this guy still around? He wears glasses. (Mentor: Anya)
• Oscar - The Spanish guy who still benefits from being forced to edit. Hilarious, genuine, and able to take a leader role when needed. (Mentor: Nick)

Seriously, though...who is Blake? Do you guys know? I keep trying to find him and turning up nothing. More nothing than even Natalia. Whatever. He's still here and I don't actively dislike him. I just...he's a big blank slate.

This week, surprisingly, doesn't open with a bunch of morning chitty-chat in the hotel. Probably because Asha would have been left out since she's sleeping by herself. Instead, we're treated to a burlesque outfit, where the men freak out because...women and sex?!  ZOMG. Get your boobies off me! Where's your penis?! Seriously...I don't even know what's up with their reaction, because most of the gay men I know love burlesque and breasts. I mean, it's B&B! What gay man doesn't like B&Bs?

The burlesque is because the Benefit makeup company was started by a dancer who wanted to make her aureoles redder for more tips. Which, I didn't realize was a thing outside of Showgirls. For those of you who haven't seen, during Nomi's revenge scene, her nipples are angrily red. Which, I thought was a bizarre quirk of Verhoeven that went with her revenge nails.

The challenge is a burlesque challenge, right? The female stripper clothing challenge? Right? This oughta be fun! I love when the designers have to design tacky tear-away clothing. But, alas. Project Runway, you tricked me again. You scamps. This is actually the real woman challenge. There are five women who have five real life challenges that they're facing. And, the women have been pre-assigned to their designers. Which...what? Under the Gunn, you're going soft on us.

The women:

• Brittany: Problem; A semi-new mom on-the-go who also wants a figure flattering outfit to get out on the dating scene. ... (Designer: Shan)
• Dani: Problem: Supersmall tiny woman who also does pageants. She's adorable. (Designer: Oscar)
• Ruzena: Problem: A very slim figured geek with flat hair and glasses who dresses like a tomboy. Perfect for the cliched geek-to-hottie story that Hollywood loves. (Designer: Blake)
• Norah: Problem: Wants a professional look with bright colors that will go from office to night. (Designer: Sam)
• Erin: Problem: Lost 50 lbs but still has curves. Wants to show it off for her birthday party. (Designer: Asha)

If tradition holds, Sam and Blake are on top because they have women who are closer to model figures. Also, Dani would be on top, but she wants a gown which means that Oscar is going to compromise his usual taste levels and totally go pageanty for her. And, probably over the top pageant which could mean bottom of the barrel. But...we'll see how this show goes because its already thrown me for a few loops this week.

The client pairings get along well, but these designers are generally so timid and without their own vision that most of them get lost immediately. Sam has the idea to create a tight outfit. Shan has to figure out how to make something sophisticated and sexy that shows off a body that also has extra skin from motherhood. Blake...well...what does Blake do?  Does anybody remember? The only designers to keep a version of their vision through even the initial client conversations are Asha and Oscar. Asha because she is told to create something sexy with a lot of bling, Oscar because he seems perfect to create a pageant gown.

This extends to the fabric selection. Sam gets a variety of mis mashy fabrics. Shan gets a sequined fabric that I think my grandmother had in the 90s (she loved bling and things that shined. Asha goes gold. Oscar goes green. And, Blake...well...he gets the most hideous looking print I think I've ever seen on Project Runway. Who made that fabric in the first place? did he get it from the discount rack? Who the fuck is Blake?!

During the mentor consultations, the only people to get any praise are Oscar and Shan. Apparently old lady sequins are hip or something? I swear. Asha is going over the fucking top. Blake is lost...well...its not like we know who Blake is. Then Sam created an awesome bloody nursing outfit...which is more Halloween than fashion.

But, this episode throws another curveball to the audience because Shan's model is allergic to the fabric of Shan's top. She almost faints during the fitting then calls to say that she broke out in hives...which...lovely. Which means that the old lady top is gone, which is possibly the best thing that could have happened for Shan because that top was soooo boring. He ends up making three outfits by the end of the episode.

The other designers are visibly exhausted. And, it's practically like watching a Bataan Death March. Mondo is getting in a fight with Asha's client. Sam and Blake are both lost and tired. I think they switched the usual coffee with decaf or replaced the cocaine with flour, or something. Everybody's just drag-ass. Oscar's the only one who's still summery and bright, practically whistling a happy tune as he's finishing up his pageant dress. It helps that he's fast as hell.

Eventually we stumble across to the runway. I don't quite know how. This week's special guest judge is Annie Ford Danielson, Global Beauty...she works for Benefit.

Team Mondo

• Asha: Oh god. It's ugly. I can't even deal. First off, the client isn't dark skinned enough to be able to pull off that dark of a gold. You need to be really dark skinned to pull off that color fabric. Secondly, the fit is awful. I know the client is probably bulgy in odd spots because her skin may not have tightened up yet from losing 50 lbs, so its an odd job of hiding and showing things off. But, the fitting of the dress is bulgy on the body as well with wrinkles in all the wrong places. And then there the bandolero type straps that accentuate her boobies and make them very very prominent. It's just...NO.
• Sam: ZZZZZZZZZZZZ. It would have been a cute dress that reminds you of the dress that Mondo made and lost with in his season. It has the same front print panel with the solid sides. A more generic neckline. And weird sleeves that don't belong with this style of dress. It's not a power outfit for work. And its too somber for play. Maybe as a late afternoon yacht club party? I dunno. I have nothing against this dress, except for the sleeves.

Team Nick

• Oscar: It's a pageant gown. A very nice pageant gown. But, a pageant gown. Green isn't her color. Its not really fashion, but it is what she wanted.

Team Anya

• Blake: What? I don't know. He makes his skinny girl look pregnant. The dress looks like a hippy craft session where paint got over a crappy dress purchased from Goodwill...or possibly made out of curtains from a kindergarten art studio. I don't even now. It's terrible. 
• Shan: Clear winner. It's not perfect. I mean, boy had like 2 hours to make this dress. But, it's the only happy dress of this whole lot. It's summery, fun, flirty, young modern. Clear winner.

So, judging goes as expected, though everybody was a bit gentler on the outfits than they deserved because you don't want to make your fan clients cry. Do you? No, of course you don't. Shan wins because...there's no other option for a winner. Blake goes home because...who the hell is he again?

Stray Observations

• Yes, Oscar. Your model will look very tall when you have her in 12" heels. ZOMG, did you see the heels she's wearing? They're ridiculous! They make me scared to even think about tottering around in such foolish contraptions.
• I like how Anya writes down a quote from Nelson Mandela: "It always seems impossible until its done." I didn't know she was a quote queen. I would have liked more of that earlier in the season. 

Under the Gunn S1 E10: Crossing Teams

If there's one thing we've learned from our years of Project Runway, it's that being a wallflower gets you nowhere. While being a complete and utter jerk doesn't necessarily insure you the win, at least egotism and confidence get you noticed and sometimes a begrudging respect. But, being a pushover with no confidence will get you kicked off the show. I still remember that one season where that one designer said "I should go home" and Heidi was all "You need more confidence in order to survive. You killed yourself by saying you shouldn't stay. Auf Weidersehen."

This lesson gets reinforced time and again, and, spoiler alert, it will be reinforced this week on Under the Gunn. This is also going to be the first time where the mentors are not the primary focus of the episode, creating a story where we finally get to see how the designers work together and how they work in general.

As we open the episode this week, everybody is passive-aggressively bitching about Natalia in front of her, without mentioning her name. Blake: "I miss Michelle. How does it feel to be the top two girls?" "It's another chance to get to prove who we are." *crickets* *Asha sideways glares at Natalia*

Asha, getting the villain edit while wearing a shirt that tackily says "Ohio Against The World," openly bitches about Natalia in asides, constantly throughout the episode. Even before we've made it to the challenge, the editors have inserted Asha's bitchiness, and don't let it up. She must have gone in to the confessional booth 300 times throughout the day to bitch about Natalia again and again. 

This week's challenge is the mini-collection team challenge, to create a spring collection inspired by an over-expensive boho women's clothing store that's found in malls everywhere, Francesca's. They also have the accessory wall. This week's teams are Oscar and Shen (finished + stylish), Blake and Sam (tailored + young), and Asha and Natalia (future + current). All three of these teams might stylistically add up to amazing mini-collections if they can figure out how to work together.

The editors, however, have already foretold that Asha isn't willing to work with Natalia. Nor is Mondo willing to work with Asha or Nick. By the time we hit Mood for fabric selection, even Tim seems to be ready to oppress Natalia out of the series. Later, both Shen and Sam have asides claiming they used to not respect Natalia, but they've come around. But, really...who cares since they aren't teamed with her.

The other two teams work well with each other, with Blake and Sam realizing that you CAN elevate junior with some really good tailoring. Oscar realizes that he sometimes needs some really good editing and Shen can bring a milder eye to Oscar's overdesigning. Both teams collaborate well during sketching, and during Mood.

On the other hand, Asha and Natalia are fighting in Francesca's. They continue fighting in Mood. Asha has decided on a color palette that she hasn't shared/confirmed with Natalia. Asha picks out a whole litany of fabrics, but doesn't fill in Natalia with her overall story. Asha chooses a bunch of fabrics, and runs the team overbudget if they included any of Natalia's fabrics. They can't agree on anything either, because Asha chooses some really fucking awful fabrics. Asha and Tim steamroll over Natalia where she can't get her fabric. When they get to the work room, Natalia wants to cut little swatches of the fabric in order to create a color story, and Asha refuses to let her because she doesn't work like that. It's really brutal how easily Asha's ego and pre-determined hatred for Natalia overpowers Natalia's wallflower nature and lack of confidence. The part that makes me really want to slap Asha is when people comment on her misery and she grins and passive-aggressively says "being positive" when she's being anything but. Her attitude is as tacky, cheap, and fake as her stupid t-shirt.

By the time we get to the mentor critiques, where the three designers come critique the teams in pairs, based on their designers. They stay with their team members. Nick and Anya work well together because Oscar and Shen are really lost at first with some good seedlings that have been lost in an incoherent collection of mundane design. Mondo and Anya critique well because Mondo likes Blake, and Anya is a terrible critic though she knows good criticism. 

But, Nick and Mondo have the same dynamic that Natalia and Asha have. Mondo hates Nick, and he also hates Natalia. He bowls over both Nick and Natalia in order to undermine Natalia and put the onus on her not to be critical of Asha. He also takes time out to say "you need to edit, but I love this Moroccan thing you've got going" in Asha's really awful fabric pairing that will become a dashiki. At this point, Natalia starts designing not to save herself, but to keep Asha from being out. "This isn't about me. This is about a team challenge." Ego, this girl does not have. 

During the final day run-up, Blake and Sam are given some sort of pseudo drama that they have to finish a dress in 2 hours, but they're really good at finishing anyways. The audience really knows that the big trouble team is Asha and Natalia. Asha asks Natalia to do some finishing on her crappy dashiki, just so she can freak out on the runway about how Natalia fucked up her awful thing, and says as much when Mondo comes by. 

*Deep Breaths* It's runway time. The guest judge this week is Sei Jin, from Francesca's. The winning design will be sold at Francesca's, and the designers will win $5,000 for that design. 

Shen and Oscar: Their collection ages a little from 14-year-old to late 20s as it goes on. I wasn't as gaga over it as the judges, though it is solid. Also, the maxi dress fits Francesca's but it isn't quite in the same story as the other two outfits.

• Design 1: OMG, CUTE! Up close and personal, the overalls seemed rather heavy, but from afar the overall shorts are totally junior cute. which is a bit too young for Francesca's. But, it's well done and the removable overalls are nifty.
• Design 2: I love the blazer from the front. But, from the back the cutout looks really saggy. I don't get the love because it kind of looks like somebody slashed the jacket. The pieces underneath the jacket, the bright orange knit things are also so hidden by the jacket that they don't get any time to shine, even though they are kind of brilliant on their own.
• Design 3: It's a maxi dress with pockets. It's stunning, but we've all seen it so many times that it was dependent on its great print.

Asha and Natalia: It's a tortured collection of terrible fabrics, unnecessary 60s retro, and terrible finishing. None of this is what I would expect from either Asha or Natalia on their own. Asha is normally future slut, while Natalia is normally more modern and innovative. That they created such a bad collection of Woodstock-inspired kitsch is telling of how they worked together.

• Design 1: Natalia look. The skirt is cute. The back is cute. The front is abhorable. It's a simple design with none of Natlia's usual innovation, so her lack of finishing skills comes back to haunt her when she creates something so simplistic. The skirt is so interesting (why pleats?!) and the back straps are fantastic, but the front bust is about as crushed and steamrolled as Natalia.
• Design 2: God, I hate this look. I hate everything about it. The dashiki is made up of awful felt fabrics, the turquoise doesn't match the brown and the gold, and everything about it is just pure tacky. It's just hideous. I just...I just can't.
• Design 3: Costume. OMG, does anybody actually wear this anymore? It is pure Woodstock. I haven't seen anybody in this look in decades. 60s aren't revivalist right now. The skirt, however, is interesting with it's belly strap and cutouts. But, it's in service of a look that's so dated it makes me scream.

Sam and Blake: Modern, youthful, and kind of tailored. This is what I expected their ollection to look like. It's kind of expected, and doesn't fit in too well with Francesca's (probably the least compatible of the three collections), but it is within their aesthetic without straying too far from the challenge. It's finished well as well.

• Design 1: Trendy, young, fabric. It's not junior, but perfect for that woman who wants to look 22. I love the top especially with the strong  red in the back.
• Design 2: Modern and boho casual. This feels like what Asha's design 3 was trying to be. It's an updated version of the overtly 60s crop top with harem pants replacing the skirt making it far more casual.
• Design 3: It's a nice semi-evening outfit. The asymmetrical top is interesting, but I can't see many girls wearing it. The skirt is a nice skirt. 

The judging is basically everything that you can see on the runway with your own two eyes. Strangely, Sei Jin takes up Shen's jacket instead of his overalls, and not so strangely also picks up Oscar's maxi dress with pockets because it is a totally expected window piece. 

But, the worst part is what happens between Asha and Natalia. When asked who should go home, Asha doesn't want to be the first to bitch out Natalia in order to make herself not seem like a bitch. But, Natalia doesn't have the ego or confidence to throw Asha under the bus where she belongs for that fucking awful dashiki. Instead, Asha works herself up to tears in order to say how much she wants it and tears tears tears. It's totally fake. Natalia, on the other hand, starts tearing up and throws herself under the bus, saying that she doesn't want Asha to go home because of Natalia. Which, ugh. Natalia's inability to stand up for herself and her lack of confidence was, ultimately, her undoing and she goes home.

Random Observations:

• Sam's comment of "isn't that a dress that every girl already has?" makes for an awesome friendly bitchy session that Under the Gunn has seriously been lacking in. It's gay camaraderie at its finest...wait, Shen is married with kids?  Still doubtful...
• When Tim comes in to say that the designers have an extra hour to finish their outfits, Oscar's look of "what the hell? Come on! I've been finished for hours already!" is hilarious
• Can we see the hair stylist lead make out with Handlebar Moustache Guy? Can they have their own series? Shirtless Stylists! I'd watch.
• Nick really likes saying "Easy Breezy [random third verb]." It's like a drinking game. If he references Cover Girl's tagline, finish the bottle of wine.
• Apologies for being so late on this week's posting. I had it all written out, and had clicked save instead of publish. YAY late night writing! LOL  Tomorrow's should be published in a more timely fashion.

Under the Gunn S1 E9: "Trouble in the Lounge"

You know you're in for a Very Special Episode when the title of the episode doesn't even reference the challenge. With a title like Trouble in the Lounge, one might think that we're going to some sort of bad girl bar, and the challenge is to make evening lounge wear that borders slutty. Or, maybe a biker leather challenge. But, really, today's challenge has nothing to do with trouble, and it would have to be a fancy lounge.

Yes, dear readers, this is a huge drama episode. And, it actually centers around a designer. We're also back to a Nick-heavy episode. But, surprisingly, it isn't a Nick vs Designer episode. So, it's a new formula!  We're all about new forms of storytelling within the given formula here, as long as it works.

But I get ahead of myself. Thanks episode title. The challenge this week is the periodic day to evening outfit. The outfit has to transform on the runway, in front of the judges. It's all because ladies are fickle as all hell women like choices. If you expect them to be able to choose between scents to decorate their house, how do you expect them to commit to a look for day and evening? I keed. Everybody knows that it is really convenient to go from the office straight to dinner to the theater when you get off work at 5, the theater starts at 7, and your home is an hour (round trip) out of the way.

The designers start sketching, and as they start sketching EVERYBODY starts bitching. Bitching about who? They're all bitching about Natalia. In case you don't remember, last week Natalia had that really interesting weaving thing, while both Michelle and Stephanie (the bottom two) had neon plastic things, where the former was trashy 80s acid raver, and the latter was so completely unfinished. I guess people liked Stephanie over Natalia, on a personal level. Suddenly, all the other designers (except Oscar), and both Mondo and Anya start to gang up against Natalia. They're bitching because they thing that Nick is giving Natalia far too much help and is way too handsy.

Mind you, Nick opens the episode by reinforcing everybody else's opinions. He starts by giving tips and ideas to both Oscar and Natalia, and also spending extra time with Natalia to help her through her emotional battles. The editors chose to make a victim narrative out of Natalia for this episode from the first frame. To me, it seemed to come out of nowhere, but maybe I'm missing something. Natalia seems like a frenetic girl but she doesn't seem mean to anybody. If we're making a hard working but emotional person who doesn't sabotage anybody else into either a victim or a villain, you know we're stretching for plot.

Of course, Natalia breaks down by the first break, in part because the editor has edited all of the people to be angry at her. If you know anything about microaggressions, they do add up. But, they add up especially if 85% of the people in your area are angry at you because they felt you should have gone home.

This is also a Nick's Growth episode that seems like a repeat storyline. Early in the episode he's telling Oscar to make a shirt dress with snaps and how to make it transform. But, by the end of the episode (at least in front of Tim), he's asking the designers to edit themselves. Didn't he already have this revelation? Hasn't he said "OMG, I should really trust my designers?" Namely, in the team episode. How many times can he have this revelation??

Anyways, we actually get some comparison with both Mondo and Anya. Both of them are attempting to disengage from the designers, and not tell their designers that their ideas are shit. They haven't quite figured out how to critique ideas constructively. Anya's critiques are "You might want to reconsider the pants." Or "This would look really boring in black." Mondo's critiques are "finish it off. Super clean." "Back up a little and just let it be more organic." Instead of challenging their designer's concepts, several of which are extremely hideous, they're content to just give tips on finishing. And, in Mondo's case, moral support.

They don't pull a Joanna Coles and say "this outfit is going to look like its a 70s throwback." Or, "That first silhouette looks like a sack and the second look looks like a straitjacket." Even on day 2, when Shan has a too wide cummerbund wraparound, Anya asks "what can we do about that?" without actually making a comment as to why it looks so bad.

There has to be a balance. I know that you're supposed to be playing team captain, but you need to be really really critical sometimes when the designers are going down a wrong road. This is part of being a good leader. Knowing when to encourage, and when you need to yank the wheel to the left.

Through many tears and indifferences, we actually make it to the runway, somehow. Today's special guest is Macklemore...who...ugh. Yeah, yeah, I know...he made a song about gay marriage that was radio friendly and blah blah blah, but I have strong negative fee fees about him that don't belong here. And, why can't we ever get Ryan Lewis? He seems to be the less douchey of the two.

Team Anya

• Shen: The whole outfit and idea is simple but cute. However, that cummerbund seems slightly off in its proportions, in part because I really don't like that fabric. My mom used to have suits like that in the 90s, which I guess are coming back in, but it never was a good fabric. For the night look, I can't tell if the cummerbund comes completely off or if it ties back around. Imagine having a big ol bump of fabric lumped in your back if you're sitting in a theater?  Maybe it's not that bad. But, I loved the zipper skirt idea. Suggested criticism: "That fabric is recalling Talbot from the 90s, use sparingly."
• Blake: This is so 70s, when we're all about reclaiming the 90s (I think? Are we still in the 80s?). Anyways, the bell bottom pants are recockulous in how exagerrated the bottoms are. Then, for night time, the model keeps the super long vest which went kind of well with the pants, but now re-emphasizes how short the cocktail dress is. And, really, that's the problem with his concept in the first place. To have a cocktail's dress worth of fabric in your pants, you'd have to be shoving fabric half way down your legs! It's a good idea that is impossible to do. It would have been better with a longer shirt and a pencil skirt. Suggested criticism: "Your dress is skewing 70s with the bell bottom and the fabric choices. Update for the '10s."

Team Nick

• Natalia: The first look is nice and winter warm for a cold day at the office, especially for some of you people who really like their areas cranked up into the 80s and 90s in the middle of winter. This looks nice and cozy warm for that cold office that you have to heat with a space heater. The finishing of how the knit wool lays on the dress is unfinished, but not in a distracting way. That the knit turns into a handbag (WHAT?!) is strange and bizarre and I'd love it, except where does she put her other purse? And, does her new purse actually hold anything? The dress beneath is kind of off-the-rack but its also fresh and sporty.
• Oscar: I dunno you guys. I kind of don't like this look. The two front slits for the daytime are a bit trampy high for office wear. And, with the black cape, the outfit is rather boring. But, when she flips the cape, all of a sudden its really trashy Real Housewives ugly.

Team Mondo

• Asha: No. The extra padding on the jacket adds like 30 pounds to a woman's body, and made this super thin model look pregnant. It's asymmetrical, and unbalanced. And, it serves no purpose as the jacket doesn't turn inside out or do any weird tricks. The skirt is OK in the day, but when it flips for night, (which is the only transformation that I can tell), it looks like she hiked her skirt up to use the bathroom and her slip is on the outside. Suggested criticism: "What's with all this extra padding? You made a model look pregnant. Do you know how hard that is??"
• Michelle: The daytime look seems like it was inspired by California beachwear, except in a drab palette. It's like a sad grey sack from the front with a brown poopy back. But then the even look is worse since she creates a pseudo harness with these pieces of fabric and string that hang down, making it look like she's got her sweatshirt tied around her waist. It completely doesn't work from either perspective. Suggested criticism: "That's a snoozefest. Do something to liven it up because your color selection needs help."
• Sam: I really love the evening dress because it is so easy and fresh. But, the daytime jacket makes it seem like she's wearing a smock, and I can't get over how high on the collar and boxy it is. Plus, the colors clash. Suggested criticism: "That looks like a smock."

In the end, Michelle goes home because we needed to even out the teams (cynical much?). Oscar wins because...I don't know. Today's runway was kind of full of ugly today. We've had much much better day to evening transformation challenges, and this was kind of an all around fail. 

The episode doesn't end there! After the judging, everybody is bitter that Natalia not only didn't lose, but was in the top. They think that Nick was helping too much, and it has been too late in the game. While I tend to agree with this reasoning, the problem is that the judges (except for Tim) don't actually see this work manipulation process. In the end, it just comes off like really bitter sour grapes.

Stray observations:

• Mondo's hair shirt is back. Yay?
• What the hell is up with Mondo's appropriation of the late 80s hip hop style with the cap, chunky gold chain and sweater?  I guess that it isn't being used at the moment, but its so fucking hipster and crass, it makes me want to slap him silly. It seems fitting that Mondo's appropriation trumped Macklemore's.
• Speaking of Macklemore, he really didn't have much to add this episode, did he?
• The way Mondo and Anya ganged up on Nick was really patently unfair. Saying "I think your designer sucks" is not a valid criticism. Sorry, assholes. Then, mocking him for saying your attitude sucks just adds to your mean girls attitude. Blah. I wonder if the producers pushed them into it because it seems rather unlike Mondo otherwise.

Under the Gunn S1 E8: "It's an Unconventional Beach Party!"

Today's episode opens with everybody lamenting the loss of Nicholas, and Anya's undermining of Nicholas' confidence. You know, without acknowledging that Nicholas was an accomplished menswear designer, but an amateur (at best) woman's designer. It's all really unfair to Nicholas, especially when Anya is all "I spent 15 hours sitting next to him" without adding "crossing my arms, breathing through my nose, and ordering him around through clenched teeth."

For the previous 4 episodes, the editors of Under the Gunn have been choosing to focus on either Anya or Nick as the subjects of the episodes. Mainly because the winners and losers have come from either camp, especially in the past couple weeks. Unfortunately, that means that we've also been getting a dearth of Mondo.

Luckily, today's episode fixes that, and also shows why we've been having a dearth of Mondo. But, I'm getting ahead of myself. First, we have to figure out what this week's challenge is. It's the full-on unconventional challenge, using beach detritus. It's all things like beach balls, chairs, umbrellas, leis, fans, etc. For an unconventional materials challenge, there are a lot of conventional materials. 

During the design process, everybody starts out on wildly different techniques. Natalia starts knitting. Sam is using a bamboo mat to make a jacket. Michelle is using rubber material from beach balls. Stephanie is using flower leis but hasn't figure out what to do with them. There is a wildly different array of techniques, which is a surprising variety even compared to previous unconventional material challenges.

This week, as mentioned earlier, focuses on Mondo and how he leads and encourages, but also critiques. His general attitude is to point out flaws in approaches, but also to push for better choices and to support his designers in their abilities. But, like all of the other mentors, he also focuses on those who need his help most. Later in the episode, Michelle laments that Mondo isn't paying as much attention to her as he is to the other designers, and doesn't know if that's because he trusts her or if he doesn't believe in her. To the viewer, she's also one of the designers who has mildly regressed throughout the season.

In part, as the story goes, Mondo sees potential in both Asha and Sam that was unfulfilled in their portfolios, and so dedicates more time to them to develop their eye. Michelle, on the other hand, had a developed eye in the first place, and so he mainly just bops around because she might not need as much help.

Contrast Mondo to Nick, who was at first completely hands on, and is now trying the Mondo technique of editing where needed (Oscar) but being otherwise encouraging and trusting of his designers (Stephanie). Oscar basically needs to be edited, because, as mentioned in the premiere, he suffers from the Spanish cliche of over-the-top throw-in-everything-and-the-kitchen-sink type of design. Oscar's first two designs totally filled that role until Nick came around and told him to change his direction.

The editors of Under the Gunn are also doing a great job by setting up parallels between Mondo's team and Nick's team. Sam and Oscar both have to make U-turns to great effect. Sam and Stephanie are both suffering from confidence issues. Asha and Natalia are both using unusual techniques with layers and woven type materials to create looks. Stephanie and Michelle are both using rubber materials, and also both getting the least amount of help from their mentors. 

Meanwhile, Anya is widely ignored...because she's terrible. They keep giving her asides, and way more lines than they seemed to give Mondo in the previous episodes. I don't really know why. It's not like she's all that insightful. Maybe it's because she's photogenic?

Anyways, we eventually stumble our way to the runway. Georgina Chapman is back. 

Team Nick:

• Natalia: Maybe I'm not as critical, but I kind of loved this piece. I liked how it wasn't quite finished and the patterns she made with the knitting, especially up the sides. The back needed a little bit of work. But, what frustrates me is that the dress underneath was made from a beach umbrella, which wasn't that unconventional. 
• Oscar: Beach mats become a scalloped dress. It's totally super modern and chic. It isn't California beach culture, being more based in the south of France or Italy, but it is fresh. 
• Stephanie: Ugh. Sad. This is arts and crafts, with her melting plastic flowers to create a kind of young and junior outfit. But, it isn't finished, you can see the white material she used as a base, and it looks almost a bit cheap. Still, I can't deny that it would be an awesome thing for a stage show.

Team Anya

• Shen: He used a beach umbrella and an inflatable raft. The materials he chose were rather conventional, and the look he ended up with was boringly conventional as well. But, the back rope work is beautiful. That's about all I have to say about that.
• Blake: It's a vest which looks like it belongs in a minorly stylish version of Swiss Family Robinson, and a skirt that belongs on a not stylish version of Swiss Family Robinson. Snoooooooze.

Team Mondo

• Sam: He made a skirt from a bamboo beach mat and a bikini top from a beach chair. It's really fresh, alive, and totally California Beach Culture. That being said, the top should get points deducted for being an actual material. Though those points get put back on for the model-suggested pineapple purse.
• Asha: This feels the modern fresh version of Blake's outfit. It has clean modern lines, a fresh textile stile, and the skirt bounces and is alive. They have the same types of direction, but Asha's just feels alive compared to Blake's dead costumes.
• Michelle: Futuristic rubber robot hooker. It's the colder, trampier, and more costumey version of Stephanie's outfit. If she had cut off the side wings from the skirt, it would be a clean design and it is finished.

The judges this week can't decide on who wins, but their top 2 are both in Mondo's camp. Mondo has to decide between Sam and Asha, and picks Sam as the winner as a bit of a pick-me-up. I preferred Asha's look myself due to it being more innovative, but I can see Sam as well. And, because the look was unfinished and ugly, Stephanie goes home.

I kind of liked that the judges left the hard decisions up to the mentor if the mentor had to decide, kind of like a team captain. But, making the mentor choose the winner is more like choosing favorites, which is like of lame. The judges needs to make a decision sometimes!!!

Random Observations:

- Yes, Blake, we know you're pale. Say it with me...Sunlight.

- Oscar likes showing off his ripped pants...while he's wearing them. HAH!

- Anya, your critiquing designers that aren't under your mentorship shows just how terrible a mentor you are.

- Blake winning a bonus prize for incorporating a design detail suggested by his model is kind of cool. I hope that he shares part of that prize money with her.

- Can we talk about the non-runway fashion choices? Sam in a long-sleeve shirt with a giant sad hound dog printed on his chest. Oscar is in a rejected outfit from a Sylvester Stallone version of Scarface that makes me shout "It's Lacroix, darling". Mondo in a suit made of a cloudy blue sky. Mondo's confessional shirt that looks like he got a haircut while wearing it. There was a lot of ugly not on the runway today.

- Ugh to the title this week, Can you get any longer and more unwieldy?

Under the Gunn S1 E7: "Steampunk chic"

Earlier this season, I said that Under the Gunn is more about the mechanics of mentoring than the design process. At the time, I was citing that most of the character arcs we've been watching has been the arcs of the three mentors: Nick, Anya, and Mondo. So far, it seems that this assessment hasn't been wrong.

Really, what do we know about most of the designers? Nicholas is a menswear designer who can't design for a woman. Shan is rather gay for a married man. Sam kind of only claimed to be sassy to try to catch more airtime, but hasn't lived up to his Sassy Sam nickname. Oscar is Spanish, a fast designer, and a leader. Um...Asha is a good designer who is also black? I don't really have much to say about ANY of the females. It's not for lack of watching. The only female who gained some screen time not related to her mentor or her designs in the past SIX episodes was eliminated two episodes ago. And, really, the men's stories were mostly givin in those first two premiere episodes.

Any enjoyment of Under the Gunn really depends on your tolerance of Mondo, Nick, and Anya and their personalities between the episodes. If you can take Nick and his gay daddyness, Anya and her rapidly changing mentor styles, and Mondo with his kindergarten teacher encouragement, then you will love Under the Gunn. If you like watching designers design, you will also find enjoyment. But, if you want to learn about what makes designers tick, then you will find the show wanting.

The reason I bring up that we know nothing about the designers is that this episode is one of those episodes that forces designers to shoehorn their vision into an aesthetic they may not be familiar with, or have downright animosity toward. This week, we have to deal with an Avant-Garde challenge, and a Steampunk challenge. Now, Project Runway already has a sketchy relationship with Avant-Garde, considering how traditional it likes it's avant-garde outfits (especially in the Lifetime years). But, slamming a Steampunk aesthetic on top of it also lends itself to be an exhibit that is more about outfits you'd find at sci-fi cons, goth clubs and Burning Man.

Steampunk is a specific aesthetic, and one that was all around the edges of Season 11 what with Portlandia being the winner who specialized in a darker goth/steampunk styled aesthetic. Some designers at the beginning already express problems with the episode. Shan is like, "huh, what the fuck is this? Don't you know that I don't care about this shit?" Natalia has dabbled in steampunk for four years. Blake is lost...because his aesthetic isn't futuretech.

The only designer that we actually get any insight into as a person, and not as a student designer, is Natalia whose lifetime insight is "I really like Steampunk." Not, "I experienced Steampunk when I was living in..." or "I went to --- where I first saw steampunk." Though, at the end of the episode, she does say "I am the child of two engineers." I love this girl.

In the absence of these larger world revelations, we're rewarded with more insights into the design process. Team Anya are all discouraged. For the first half of the episode, Shan is like, "I'm modern, bitches. In the 1800s, black people were slaves. Why would we idealize this shit?" This is also reflected in Asha's weird use of picnic blanket flannel for the majority of her outfit. Nicholas can't get his shit together to sew to a woman's body. Boobs? Hips? Hourglass Figures? Silhouettes that aren't big masculine blocks? These things are all foreign to Nicholas. Blake is like, "I'm too gay for steampunk. Why won't Anya tell me what to do?"

Team Nick has the most inspiration, outside of Nick. Oscar's ego is currently floating on air, where he's going overboard. Natalia is delving into her steampunk past to create an actually mechanical dress (which...I'm in love with her). Stephanie...is absent for the most part.

And, Team Mondo is mainly coasting. Asha does a picnic blanket thing. Um...Sam exists to make bitchy comments. Michelle doesn't exist at all this week. Nobody cares about Michelle. Or, Mondo for that matter.

As the above paragraphs show, this is an Anya heavy episode. Please read that in the same tone as Lrr talking about Friends. Anya and Tim get heavy, heavy time with Anya's designers. Anya has to kick Shan's ass being like, "Bitch, I know that Steampunk may not be your aesthetic, but you have to send something that is Shan down the runway." Blake is lost, and remains lost, being the lost designer that he is.

But, the one who gets the most airtime is Nicholas. Last week, I made the error saying that Nicholas went home. I wasn't far off. After being repeatedly in the bottom, and not getting any help at all from Anya about how to design for women, he's now in a funk. I think, at this point, he knows he picked the wrong mentor. Did he not see Anya's season? She knows how to drape. He knows how to tailor. She cannot help him with learning how to tailor for women's bodies. At all. Ever. Period. She can send down a stylish easy sarong, but Nicholas is all about fitted fabrics.

If we remember, Nicholas made the hilarious mistake in the premiere episodes saying "what better than a woman to help me learn how to design for a woman's body?" HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! That was a good one.

Anya also doesn't help anything because, this episode, she suddenly turns into that bitchy woman from those awful pageant/dance shows that we keep getting advertising for. As a former pageant queen, its only natural for her to base her mentoring style from her mentors, practically turning into a cutting bitchy monster. Look at her body language on day 3 when she's talking to Nicholas. She's standing around him with her arms crossed, pointing, or hands on hip, breathing through her nose with teeth clenched and about ready to stab Nicholas. Then, she spends half of her episode bitching about how her self-centered, negative reinforcement, military-style approach to mentoring hasn't motivated her designers! "Why doesn't saying that they're an awful designer, and even suggesting that they didn't design the stuff in their portfolio, motivate anybody?! It's beyond my capacity for empathy!"

Now, I should say that not everybody should be Den Mother Mondo, who is all about gold stars and blind support. But, his designers are happier than Anya's, and actually putting out work that strongly emphasizes their point of view even if the designs ended up in the middle of the road this week and last. Nor, should anybody have been Helicopter Parent Nick, who I think is now starting to experience Empty Nest Syndrome, since at the end of every episode lately, he has the same revelation of "I should trust my designers more." Ugh. YES YOU SHOULD. TAKE YOUR OWN ADVICE!!!

Eventually, we somehow get to the runway. Nicholas is in the nick of time, because his design of a female's trench coat seems to be beyond his capacity, especially with Anya sitting on his ass the whole time. This week's guest judge is Georgina Chapman (whom you may remember from such achievements as Project Runway All Stars).

Team Mondo

• Asha: No. She was lost. This is all avant garde, and no steampunk. Punk maybe, but not steampunk. It's not that great of avant garde either because there are far too many ideas going on. The only thing steampunky is the belt. Then there's a flannel thing. Then some avant garde paint pointy bodice thing that reminds me of a kindergartener's art project. Then some hideous 1800s esque pink lace shit pencil skirt. And a pale pink under shirt and skirt that doesn't match the deep purple bodice that doesn't match the red flannel. It's an eyesore that would have gone well in a Punk challenge, but not a Steampunk challenge. She obviously didn't get it.
• Not-so-sassy Sam: This is a costume. I feel like this is more satire than anything. Eyeball goggles, mixed fabric baggy jacket. A piece of carpet hanging out her ass. Tights and boots. Sam seems to have gone the post-apocalyptic form of steampunk as opposed to the traditional form of classy steampunk.
• Michelle: This is one of my favorite pieces of the runway. An impeccable brown jacket with a high collar and long trails. Plus, she added panels that reminds me of stained glass. Add in a hairpiece that looks straight out of some royal court in a steampunk universe, and this is a strange look that, to me, exudes steampunk and avant-garde.

Team Anya

• Nicholas: A hastily thrown together simple dress of copper and wool with copper tuping that seem haphazardly added on. It's not a finished look at all, but it is classic steampunk. Just amateur style.
• Blake: An outfit that is...something. It's lost. It has an interesting base, but then he lost track of what steampunk is. Steampunk is an alternate universe where mechanics have taken over. He decided to make an outfit that's the stylistic equivalent of a time-traveling steam trunk, where it has stickers from all of the eras it has been. This results in some Victor/Victoria stylings, and Hobby House bedazzling on the fabric. There is no marriage here, and it isn't a happy outfit.
• Shan: He made a cool future-tech outfit that has a Steampunk edge. It's mildly avant-garde in its strange cutouts, and leather connections. But overall, it's just a really nice look.

Team Nick

• Oscar: Nick said it best, "If there was a Broadway musical about steampunk, this would be the queen." It's over the top, has a giant fucking clock on it, and is very pageanty. But, it's a stylish slightly-over-the-top pageanty that borders costume silliness.
• Stephanie: Snooooze. It's a nice dress in brown and copper materials with bedazzled washers on it.
• Natalia: HOT. A cape, a dress that has a mechanism to roll the dress up and down to change its style, a metal framework with a chainmail collar. Unf. This dress was my favorite because it had the overt metal workings of steampunk integrated into the design of the outfit, that it also had a mechanism to change it made it super fantastic. 

The judging is strange. Team Mondo, collectively, is in the middle. Despite Michelle's fantastic outfit that exuded both avant garde and steampunk elements without being costume. Shan, Oscar and Natalia are in the top. I don't understand the love for Oscar's outfit because it is so costumey. But, whatever. Michelle got robbed for the spotlight. Shan somehow wins over Natalia. I don't understand it. Even without the mechanism gimmick, Natalia's was the best. *throws remote*

Nicholas, Blake and Stephanie were in the bottom. Anya gets to decide between Nicholas and Blake, and Nicholas FINALLY goes home, because he can't design for women. At all. She tells him that he needs to take this advice to heart, and he says, essentially, "If I actually had time, you know, I could pull off some great shit. DIAF"

Random Observations: 

• Tim Gunn as the tattletale on Nicholas really struck me as a sour note. He basically told Anya that she needs to ride Nicholas' ass, instead of letting him actually eat his lunch.
• Anya's runway necklace is incredibly awesome. 
• Nicholas: "You can't run a car into a pothole and not expect to do maintenance on it." This is the basis of many many reality shows.
• Nick actually helps Natalia a little by showing her a cowling technique to help her achieve HER vision. This is the type of help that designers sometimes need. See: Nicholas.

Under The Gunn S1 E6: Pompeii Team Challenge

Last week on Under the Gunn, Nick ran over Isabelle with the bus in front of his designers. And, by running her over, I mean, she was already knocked out by the judges, but he still felt like it was OK to tie her ass up and lay her in the middle of the lane, then get in the bus and drive over her.

But, Tim Gunn, let's be fair. You changed the whole format of the show in order to let Nick run over Isabelle. That was episode 5, and in the previous 4 episodes, at no point did the mentors get to come to the defense or criticize their designers. Instead, in that judging session, you allowed Nick to completely influence the judges. In essence, you handed Nick the keys to the bus and said, "run that bitch into the ground!"

And, Nick, your apology this week was less than genuine. "Isabelle, I'm sorry I ran you over and got you kicked off the show. I'm not that type of person. But, you're still gone, and that's a good thing. Please, I'm not letting you back on the show. Buh bye."

Meanwhile, his designers are all, "Well, if he threw one girl under the bus, why wouldn't he throw any of us under the bus?" Not that there wasn't going to be somebody from Nick's team that was going home this week. Because we had a team challenge that was coming up, and of course the producers were chomping at the bit to send somebody from Nick's team home. But, because he got the largely weaker team, and they were already eyeballing Isabelle from day 1, they waited until E5 in order to have balanced teams for this week.

Which brings us to this week's challenge: it's a team challenge, brought to you by Voltantor. Volcano/Titanic/Gladiator.  Now you don't have to sit through 7 hours of movie to get that combination, it comes in at a smooth 100 minutes! Set in Roman era, the goal of this week is to create three fashionable looks inspired by Roman times, but not costumes, making something fashion forward, and inspired by The Getty Villa, actually a Greco-Roman museum in LA (I'll plug the cool things that deserve plugging).

Since we're doing a team mini-collection, we can look closely at the three mentor's collection of their designers with a smaller scope.

Mondo chose a team that was relatively forward in their thinking, almost to the point of being future forward thinking. His team is quite progressive in their points of view, even if they come at the same challenge from completely different angles. He is seen saying that materials and flairs will keep his team cohesive, but otherwise he is mainly encouraging the team members to express themselves and help each other out.

Anya has a motley group, especially since she kicked out Brady to keep Nicholas, for some reason. So, she has the can't-design-for-women Nicholas (who chose her so she would help him design for women but she's taking a hands off approach), the completely fashion forward but in his own idiom Shan, and the overly-serious but may skew younger Blake (who created the tampon look last week). Anya is, of course, taking a hands-off approach because, what? Is she going to teach them how to cut and sew and do finishing??  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!  Damn, that was funny.

Nick has an even more motley group, of which only Oscar seems to have a singular point of view, and Natalia runs a close second. Having learned his lessons of being too hands-on in Episodes 1, 2, 3, and 4, Nick boldly and proudly asserts at the beginning that his team would benefit from having HANDS-ON NICK. This would benefit the whole team, he states. And, he dominates the sketch time. Because, of course he does.

At Mood, the teams all start to expose their strengths and weaknesses. Team Anya and Team Mondo are all about matching their fabrics before cutting, and working together. But, Team Nick is disoriented and Oscar is being completely independent and uncommunicative toward the other team members. Because he has a strong sense of view, but can't figure out how to work with anybody else without being the explicit leader.

The mentors, this week, actually take a huge step back from the show. Nick gets told by Tim Gunn that he has to step back and actually let the team figure out their own problems. Part of that was because he was so late in coming to them for the initial mentoring, but his team was melting down at that point because they wanted Nick to tell them what the fuck to do, since he had taken such a heavy-handed approach in 4 episodes, and at the beginning of this episode. Part of the problem of having a heavy-handed bitchy approach to your designers is that they eventually come to depend on your approval for their sense of self-worth as opposed to being strong in their own designs.

Mondo's team works well together, and Mondo tells them that they need to refine their dyed print. Then, he otherwise disappears for the episode, only making an appearance to say "I love you guys." NOOOOO!!!

Anya's team is all about compromising instead of critiquing. She tells them they need to not compromise their individual visions, then worries about Shen's compromised vision. She makes a second appearance to try to help Shen work out his vision. But, her worries amount to "I hope you figure it out."

Nick's team has a lot of their design elements developed, but couldn't figure out how to work together. They're looking to Nick for leadership, but Tim, who gave Nick the keys to the bus last week, tells Nick to let them drown if they can't figure out how to work together. He disappears from the episode, probably to get drunk. I think I saw him in the background during the model fittings.

Mind you, we're still focusing on 13 different people. Tim Gunn, the 3 mentors, and their 9 designers. So, there is little breathing room for the designers to assert their individual personality. The main characteristics we get in the first half are Shen compromises in a team, and Team Nick's designers are now paranoid.

In the morning, Oscar has already finished his look, and takes leadership to tell Natalia and Stephanie what the hell to do. Nick makes a cursory appearance, but he's been negated as a leader. Fuck off Nick. You're almost as shitty as Anya. Anya makes a cursory attempt to help with finishing, but it is totally cursory based on what comes out on the runway.

And then, it's runway time. Jen Rade, Zanna, and Rachel Roy are back. Our guest judge this week is Wendy Partridge, who worked on Voltantor.

Team Anya: I think, largely, her team was secretly taken over by children who can't sew. It's an incoherent collection of ugly pieces, that I think the judges were far too nice about.

• Nicholas - If I take off my glasses, squint my eyes, and pause on a somewhat blurry frame from afar, I can see what he was going for. The tunic is still half finished, but the top has some nice patterns when blurred. Up close, it's all a fucking mess. The hard shorts with the sloppy safety-scissored top makes for a hideous up close experience in the discount junior department at Walmart. Plus the material mix for the pattern is fucking ugly. The one good thing the outfit has going for it is the low-slung back, which couldn't be worn with a bra.
• Blake - Black witch. This is the best look of Anya's group, but it is borderline costume. It flows nicely, though, and the mantle/hoodie into a strong back with a sexy feminine front is gorgeous. The belt pushes it into costume territory, but it's not terrible.
• Shen - What is with the white gauzy looks this season? Seriously, its another tampon look, only the gauze is on top of the applicator. Just stahhhp. The flat bustline is terrible, the gauze on the top is awful and not shorn well. The back is nice, and from the waist down it's a nice look. But the top needs a lot of help.

Team Nick: OMG, are we sure this isn't Team Anya? This is an excellent resort wear collection, with draping of summery prints. I think Anya actually designed 2 of the 3 looks.

• Stephanie - A nice, summery, Roman beachy resort tunic look with a dreamy, watery print. With the hard blue shoulder accents and the white outlines, this look is stunning.
• Natalia - the most costumey of the looks, but it is still a really nice roman column-based design. With a blocky column-esque top and a flowing blue skirt, it's a nice looking outfit, if a bit on the cheaper side compared to her two compatriots.
• Oscar - Who are you and what have you done with Oscar? This is not an overdesigned look at all. It's clean, Roman inspired, strong, and sophisticated. It's open sides make it edgy, and it is pure awesome.

Team Mondo: It's a cohesive, younger look that actually feels most like a strong woman take on the Roman warrior woman.

• Sam - With an oxblood leather/vinyl top and an interesting abstract red/print skirt, it is a bit on the easy breezy costumey side. It's still strong, but it isn't that modern.
• Asha - Girl needs to edit. She used only the oxblood material to create a roman throwback take on her bitchy future-tech warrior girl. It's a blend that isn't harmonious, though I respect the point of view. Mondo put it best when he said "I want to love it, but it's not letting me love it. She needs to learn to edit."
• Michelle - Another costume style outfit, which truly is more in the Roman vein. It feels like it could be in a movie, which is actually different from the challenge.

Team Nick, despite Nick's terrible mentoring, is the winning team. Team Anya, because of the finishing problems, is on the bottom. In the end, Oscar wins, and Nicholas goes home should have gone home, but somehow is saved because...who fucking knows at this point. *throws remote*

Random observations:

• Mondo: "We need to take more risks." No, honey, you don't. Your team was a bit more costumey, and was out designed. But, your designs were good, they just weren't as sophisticated as Oscar's.
• Nick: "I cannot take responsibility for this one. It is all theirs. Bravo." (though, he's secretly taking credit for letting them be their own designers)
• Jen: "She's like a mummy. ... I'm just here to be honest." Jen, there's a line between honesty and brutality. You crossed it, but I like it when you crossed it. Just don't be apologetic.

Under The Gunn S1 E5: Hit the Stage

Everybody is watching The Nick and Isabelle Hour

Last week, we watched as Nick started to try to let go of everybody but Isabelle. He had a special focus on her, and ripped her dress up and down. Isabelle, as a result, when on the bottom, threw Nick under the bus.

This week opens with Nick taking umbrage at Isabelle rightfully throwing him under the bus, and being in complete denial at his own terrible attitude. Meanwhile, Isabelle is already complaining because she can't finish a dress in the way she wants to do it. This episode, from here on forward, should be called The Nick and Isabelle show.

Sure, there's a challenge. It's to make a stage outfit for some teeny-bopper, Zazzle?, though nobody knows who the hell this girl is...except oh-so-straight Shan who helpfully adds that his kid watches Disney right now. Oh, Shan. You so hetero.  And, really, this challenge would have been tailor-made for Brady...but Anya sent him home last week. *ironic sad trombone*

That's almost the sum total of anybody else's participation in The Nick and Isabelle Show. During the sketch moments, Nick is telling them such helpful hints as "this is a girl who takes selfies," while rambling, rambling, rambling. When Isabelle finally tells him to shut the fuck up and let them actually think for themselves, Nick is all "OOOOOO. Bitchtoldmeto...shut...up!" (in so many words). 

Accenting The Nick and Isabelle Hour is that, when we get to the work room, Isabelle is is mental thought in the green room, and everybody else is talking about Isabelle. "Isabelle can't time manage" "Hey, Isabelle, get your ass out here." Isabelle is all, "I needed to have somebody kick my ass." And its just about Isabelle.

But, Nick comes out with Tim to help his designers. Natalia is designing something, but she's not Isabelle so nobody cares. Oscar has created a great ice dance outfit. Stephanie is using waxed denim, for some reason, but there's no changing that. 

And, then we return to Isabelle! Because, it's been way too long since she's been on screen. It's The Nick and Isabelle Hour, not Nick and Friends. Nick bitches about Isabelle telling him to shut the fuck up. Isabelle asks Nick for some actual help, in which I think she actually created a problem in order to let Nick be helpful. And, Nick gets to be helpful. So, Nick and Isabelle actually leave happy!

Mondo gets to talk to a designer and is skimmed over since he is neither Nick nor Isabelle.

Anya talks to Blake, who created a drop pants diaper and is lost. She talks to Nicholas, who is designing something boring. And, finally, she talks to Shan if only to feature his fucking bad ass jacket.

Models come in for a fitting, and Stephanie complains about nothing fitting. Models leave in the same amount of time it took to type these sentences.

But, then its back to the Nick and Isabelle Hour. No, really. As soon as the models leave, Isabelle is loudly complaining about fucking up her outfit. We just can't cut her out, we have to watch her crash and burn in all her glory.

It's at this point that I wonder if the editors really wanted to document Isabelle's fall from grace in excruciating and exact detail. Even once we get back to the work room, on day 2, Isabelle is the focus immediately. The editors try to create some tension by having Blake be all frazzled. But, Isabelle is still obviously the focus of The Nick and Isabelle Hour. Even Handlebar Moustache Guy's extended time this season (thank you, editors!) has been cut short by Nick harassing Isabelle because her dress is still in pieces. And, she ends up sewing up to the last minute, being harassed by both Tim and Nick. Especially Nick.

And, finally, The Nick and Isabelle Hour pauses for the runway. Finally. You guys, this has been a trying episode. Judges are now only 3: Jen Rade, Zanna Roberts Rassi, and Zantax, the performer.

Team Mondo:

• Michelle - It's a good mid-20s walking to the gym look as its a sporty catsuit with a really cute jacket. I'd walk to the gym in that. 
• Asha - An interesting take on the leather and flannel look. Its a fresh top with a bare midriff, and a cute shorts with a flannel shirt tied around it (and sewed on). It is a cute ode to teen love. 
• Sam - I get it from the front. I get it from the back. I don't get it from the front to the back. The front is a full covering cute shirt jacket type piece with a mini skirt. And the back has an open bare back, giving the longer in the front appearance, which I totally don't get at all. I'd like it as a teen junior mall store look if it was full back though.

Team Nick:

• Natalia - Cute jersey with pants. Its modern and hip and feels like stuff I already see on the racks. 
• Oscar - Oscar, Oscar, Oscar. What ARE we going to do with you. Trashy, trampy, high glitz Cher-by-Bob-Mackie-wannabe outfit. Its well done...for Cher, when she was 45. 
• Stephanie - Boring Faux Gaga, and not well done either. It's like the spirit of Elena took over, but not the skill. It's awful.
• Isabelle - Um...No. It...I...I...What can I say? I don't even know.

Team Anya:

• Blake - Tampon in applicator.
• Nicholas - Snooooooze. It's not dramatic. It's dull. It's old. It's boring.
• Shan - I fucking love that leather jacket. I want a men's version of it. It's such a sexy jacket. The pants are well done as well, but that jacket is amazing. 

So, after the judges rip apart and praise as is the custom, we get a new segment where the mentors get to comment to influence the judging, you know because it is The Nick and Isabelle Hour. And, this time Nick throws Isabelle under the bus. As if she needed the extra push. Kick a girl while she's down. 

Isabelle loses, and Asha wins. But, the ultimate result is that Nick's designers now feel like they can't trust Nick as their mentor. Which will lead into the next episode which can't be The Nick and Isabelle Hour. Thank God.

Random Observations:

- Asha: "I don't think that people get who Xanadu is as an artist..."

- Best moment of the night was Oscar's model dancing like Cher in her Cher spangled outfit.