Project Runway: S13 E9: "American Girl Doll"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thought Facsimiles:

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

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

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

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

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

Project Runway: S13 E8: "The Rainway"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rain Washed Thoughts:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Project Runway: S13 E7: "Priceless Runway"

Well I'd love to complain about this episode (because I just love complaining), and to be sure, there are elements of it that I will complain about, but I have to say it: Way to go Project Runway! It may have taken 7 weeks, but it finally feels like the producers of this gem of a show finally remembered how to make good TV. Or maybe the contestants and Tim Gunn, and everyone else on screen just finally started giving us something to work with? I don't know what it was, but something about this episode just felt like classic PR to me. Everything from the challenge, to the low level of drama (even though the drama that was there wasn't really small, it was just understated in a nice way, but we'll get to that), to the beautiful designs almost everyone put forth. This is the Project Runway I can be proud of watching every week, so let's get right down to it.

This week's challenge is to get inspired by, and create a companion look for, an exquisite piece of jewelry. Disclaimer: I hate jewelry. I think our obsession with shiny rocks is just the single dumbest thing ever.  For more information on how I feel about this subject, one only ever needs to read Gulliver's Travels, specifically the section about The Yahoos and see what that great satire has to say about us. But with that being said, I understand how a nice piece of jewelry can be perfectly accented by or even overpowered by a dress, so I tend to like this challenge when it comes around.

So the designers pick a piece, or collection of pieces, of jewelry and head to the workroom to start sketching. It's at this point that things get a little dramatic as Tim comes in looking very distraught and asks for a gather around. He admits he's been feeling uneasy about this all night, and then proceeds to bring Char back and use his save on her. It's a little bit late, but no less dramatic for so being. On the contrary, doing it like this and at this point in the competition heightens the drama of the episode in a very palpable and enjoyable way. The designers spent the beginning of the episode talking about how much they miss Char, Sandy talks about how responsible she feels since she was her teammate in the last challenge. No mention of her feeling responsible since she chose that hideous fabric, but whatever, I guess. And generally, a number of people talk about there being a lack in the workroom without Char. So you get the warm fuzzies of her being brought back, and then you get the gut punch as the realization sets in that the Tim Gunn save has now been taken off the table. Everyone is essentially working without a net now.

But I'm also not totally sure how I feel about the save being used on Char. I know I got some shit for defending Tim using his save last year, but I stand by my thoughts that it was well used then. Especially given the collection Justin turned out in the finale. But do I really think Char has what it takes to  even make it that far in the competition? I'm honestly not sure. While I'll agree that she was probably ousted a little bit before her time, I don't know that I'll say she doesn't deserve it, or that she didn't deserve to go home off of the shit show she sent down the runway last time. Both saves thus far seem to have been used out of a deeply moving emotional moment on Tim's part. And I don't want to take anything away from emotion and gut feeling, but it still leaves me questioning how the save should be used. Does it get held onto until someone like Kini or Sean stumble and go home? I don't think so because logic dictates that at this point Kini and Sean shouldn't be capable of stumbling so hard that they'd be sent home, and if they are...maybe they'd deserve it? Should it be used for someone like Emily or Fade who have nice aesthetics, but who haven't been given their due yet and may never be given them? I'm more inclined towards the latter, but now we'll never know because it went to Char. Don't get me wrong, I'm not upset about this decision. I understand why Tim made it, and I've got no problem with seeing more from this designer. I just think these are interesting and important questions to ask.

Now, back to work. To aid in the designer's inspiration, everyone takes a trip to the Charles James: Beyond Fashion exhibit at the Met. And my jaw hit the floor. Again, not a fashion expert by any means, so the name Charles James didn't ring any bells for me, but my God those dresses were fucking beautiful. And there's something about a museum doing an entire exhibit on fashion that just makes me crazy excited for some odd reason. Either way, man oh man do I love this.

From there it's off to Mood where Sean and Samantha get fabric in the same color, and the producers have started translating and subtitling Swatch's barks for us. So....you know....there's that. But Swatch is still one of my favorite elements of the show, so far be it for me to complain. The two designers with the same fabric drama has been played out enough on this show for me not to pay any attention to it when it happened. Indeed, the show tries to milk a little more drama from it here, but I don't think they were fully committed and I for one didn't buy it. So no big deal on that one.

Tim's visit also brings the drama in the form of some tough words for everyone. Well everyone except for Sean, but who's counting really? Tim bringing the tough love almost always results in looks getting better before they hit the runway. Or, to be more specific, when good designers hear Tim offering tough love and proceed to follow his advice in a manner that enhances their already solid, but maybe just slight off, vision, it results in looks getting better. Point to fact: Tim admonishes Fade for a tragic neckline on his dress which looks like an elastic headband for the model's boobs. He doesn't panic, but he changes it and comes up with something great we'll talk about in a bit. Korina's made a bold choice with an upholstery type fabric for her jacket, but she's constructed it in a manner that doesn't allow the pattern to matchup. I have no clue why she did so as it's hideous, but Tim points this out to her and in typical Korina fashion she gets her panicked deer in the headlights look before deciding how to proceed. Alexander's neckline is so wrong for the necklace he chose that it hurts, but Tim points this out and he reworks it in a manner that's certainly better. So good things all around, more or less. Let's head to the runway for the bloody aftermath.

The Runway:

Korina: Bear with me for a minute on this one while I venture into sports territory: There are times when coaches take big risks in football by going for it on like 4th and 5 to go moments. It's the kind of decision that's great if it pays off, and is horrible if it fails. That's the same way I feel about Korina's look. Objectively, it’s much much better with the construction issues worked out. The pattern matching up makes everything more pleasing to the eye. And the jewelry is perfectly framed and shown against the dress. But I think it's only really great if she wins and the huge risk pays off.

Fade: This look has a simple elegance to it. I think the fact that he only had earrings to work with dictated what he needed to do, and I think he made the right choice. My guess is it’ll be overshadowed by the extravagant gowns on the runway, but it’s beautiful nevertheless. Everything is designed in a manner that allows the earrings to speak for themselves, and the draping on the back and the redone neckline are just fabulous.

Char: I think it’s beautiful to the tenth degree, but I also think I would like it more in a color other than white. Maybe something that could allow the jewelry to pop just a little bit more. But the cut of the dress is fantastic and I loved it.

Emily: I’ve admitted a number of times that I like Emily a lot. This I’m less sure on. The cut of the dress and the little bubble elements of the skirt portion just don’t sit as well with me. I think it’s pretty, don’t get me wrong, but it looks like a bit much and something I don’t think many women would rush to wear. I’m not a woman, I’m not even a man who wears dresses (sadly) but it’s not a look I respond to all that well. She’s starting to be the designer we look at as being over-designed I think. I like that she went with red to go with the pearls, but I think that red might have been better with a darker pearl.

Samantha: I hate it. I feel bad for hating it, but I hate it. It looks like there are construction issues with the back, the flaps on the hips just look odd, and I don’t see how any of it complements the jewelry at all. She chose pieces that were simple and paired down, so I think she wanted to go a little more extravagant with the dress, but I think I would have preferred the opposite.

Kini: This is an example of going simple for his paired down jewelry without going basic or boring. The movement is breathtaking. He said he wanted to combine hard and soft, and to those ends I would have liked a firmer corset like top, but I think this is beautiful. It's not his best look, by any means, but it's pretty.

Sandy: Here’s another look from Sandy that I actually do like. I think it goes well with the jewelry, I think the back is just freaking gorgeous, and I think her little hip flaps work so much better than Samantha’s that it’s scary. I like it, but I still want her to go home.

Sean: I feel like this dress is made by the neckline (which I love) and the jewelry. I think there’s something to be said about creating a look that’s simple so your jewelry can stand out and carry the bulk of the weight of the entire look, but I also think he’s capable of doing better. It's another beautiful gown from him, but I'm not really wowed by it.

Amanda: NO! Just no! Get off the runway. There’s no way this isn’t the worst look up there. What the hell was she thinking? No! 

Alexander: I love this! Which I think might be the first look from him that I can say that for. But here's the thing, I think a lot of my love for it has to do with how he's transformed it from what it was before. The neckline still hides the jewel a bit too much, but it's way better than it was before. I don't like the back which looks way too messy and tacked on, but he had a vision and he went with it. I love the fabric, I love how he manipulated the fabric (on the front), and I love how he took Tim's advice. I'll be in the minority on this one, I think, but I love it.

So it's Sean, Korina, and Amanda in the top three. I honestly don't want to type anymore because that just made me throw up in my mouth. Amanda? Give me a fucking break! I can't handle this for much longer. And it's Kini, Alexander, and Samantha in the bottom. Which, again, I know I'll probably be the only one to say so, but I really love Alexander's look. It could have been at least safe if nothing else, and then you put Amanda in the bottom where she belongs, and replace her with either Char or Fade in the top. 

Because here's the thing, the judges actually don't have glowing praise for Amanda to begin with. The girls all like it enough, but no one's gushing over it. Heidi even points out later that this is really between Sean and Korina, so why is Amanda even up there? You expect me to believe that the lukewarm comments they made towards her were better than the comments they would have had for one of the safe designers? And it would have given us a chance to talk to someone we haven't heard from much yet. I'm so over the judging this season. 

No one has anything at all positive to say about Alexander's look. Which doesn't surprise me, but to be honest I fully disagree with every point the judges make except for the messiness of the back and the fact that the neckline is still too high. But everything else they rip apart: the fabric choice, the manner in which he works the fabric, and the color of the dress as it goes against the color of the gem in the necklace I call bullshit on. He's one of the few designers to not go matchy matchy with it. He had a red gem and didn't choose a red fabric. I commend him for that. And he had a vision and took a risk, much like Korina did, but I can see how someone would say his risk didn't pay off as much, but still. It's some of the specific things they say about the dress that bug me, because other than a few of the elements, I like it. If the entire critique had been about how it's unfinished, and the back is messy, and you couldn't see the jewelry, then I wouldn't complain....maybe. 

But either way, Korina wins, and it's well deserved on this one. Her risk paid off, and by virtue of it's success, she looks like a genius. And Samantha goes  home because safe isn't good enough at this point. So as much as the judge's critique of Alexander pissed me off, they still made the right choice on who to send home. This is also the last challenge for which anyone will win immunity, so things are about to get tougher from here on out. But this was also the first really good and compelling episode of the season, so if this is setting the tone for what's to come, I think we can start to get excited again. 

Random Ravings:

--I'm sick of the phrase Stray Observations, so I think we'll mix it up a bit from here on out. 

--Char being back leads to her and Amanda having a great connection moment in the workroom. Everyone was so ready to throw her under the bus for her bitchy attitude last week, but now she's been humbled and she's a sweetie. All the more reason to not judge too harshly. 

--In talking about Kini's look, Nina says: “Beautiful but not well executed” which I think might have to be the tag line for Kini’s looks at this point.

 --I love how the designers aren't allowed to touch the jewelry. It's like "We don't trust you fuckers at all. Keep your grubby hands off our bling!"

--I would do some dirty dirty things to Zac Posen in that suit. Yummy! 

--Sean: It's crazy to be on the bottom one day and then on the top two days in a row. Truer words have never been spoken, although it's possible he means that in a different way than I do...

--Lastly, I think I should make mention of the passing of Joan Rivers this week. She certainly had a powerful and distinct voice when it comes to fashion, and for that I'm guessing she'll be missed. I know she made a few statements lately that weren't too positive and painted her in a bad light, but I would at least like to hope that we could look past that to an extent and understand death is a solemn if not respectable occasion.