Project Runway – ‘Best Looks’: Althea Garners Another Win; Logan’s Out of Luck (Plus Drama Over Zippers & Sweaters!)

Last night’s episode of Project Runway began with the designers facing away from the runway. Why? So that each of their best designs could be dragged onstage for the big ‘reveal’: Their challenge would be to create a complementary companion look for their best work to date. Much better than what Carol Hannah and I both imagined–that they would be required to cut up their old garments to make new ones. (Hey, Lifetime–if you’re ever strapped for a concept for a challenge…)

Honestly, this was one of those challenges that reminds me of Project Runway seasons past–clever, inspiring & innovative. Thankfully, because sometimes I worry that the producers are running out of ideas. (Again, Lifetime–if you’re ever in a bind…see above.)

The good thing about having so few designers left is that we get to see more of the creative/construction process. The bad thing is they all start wanting to kill each other. Logan allegedly copied Althea’s zipper collar (but since she’s a class act, Althea didn’t call him out on it), and Althea allegedly stole Irena’s ‘big sweater’ idea (since she’s not so much of a class act, Irena threw Althea under the bus in front of the judges).

[Sidebar: How did we miss Irena’s comment last week about Christopher’s ensemble looking like ‘an Amish woman would wear it’? So much for diplomacy…]

But apparently the judges–including guest panelists Nick Verreos (Project Runway Season 2) and Kerry Washington–forgave Althea any transgression she may or may not have made, because they awarded her the prize for a pair of black paper-bag-waist trousers and an oversized comfy gray sweater.

Unfortunately for our resident hunk, despite the fact that Logan wore the same outfit that saved him from elimination after his first misstep, the judges were not blinded by the glare off his pants this time and sent him packing for creating a futuristic costume of a dress that Heidi Klum said looked like it came from ‘a bad music video from the 80’s’.

Good night, sweet prince. And may the fashion angels sing you to sleep…

Project Runway – Destination Designs! Irena’s Aspen-Inspired Design Warms The Judges’ Hearts; Nicolas’ Greecian Creation Is Less Than Greek

Ladies & gents of the blogosphere, your Project Runway recap! (…as promised!)

On the last episode of Project Runway, the remaining 7 designers were challenged to create a distinctive look inspired by one of several famous locales, ranging from Palm Springs to Aspen.

Our favorite person (insert sarcasm here) Irena Shabayeva took the win yet again for a luxurious camel colored three-piece ‘snow bunny’ ensemble, inspired by the ski culture of Aspen.

(But sidebar–in all seriousness–any way you slice it, Irena has been consistently turning out fabulous garments ever since her first win this season. And it seems the good people at Lifetime are making the creative choice to use some strategic editing in order to dumb down her ‘witch factor’ a couple notches. To which we say ‘Yay, Lifetime!’ Because in terms of likeability, the girl needs all the help she can get, especially since it looks like we’re going to be seeing more of her in the coming weeks!)

Unfortunately for Nicolas Putvinski, it looked like Nic took a wrong turn on the way to Greece, with a markedly un-Greek gray trouser and an accompanying long-sleeved top.

Nicolas signed off with an unexpected parting shot, saying ‘This is SO the last you’ve heard of me. I’m totally taking a break and moving to London, or Paris, or Japan.’ Just a suggestion Nicolas–you might want to swing by Greece in your travels and check out what the Gods are wearing these days!

On a side note, the still-loveable Christopher Straub seems to have more lives than a two-headed cat, appearing in the bottom two and surviving for the fourth time this season.

Project Runway – All the World’s a Stage! Carol Hannah Steals the Spotlight as Christina Aguilera’s Top Pick; Shirin Askari Exits Stage Left

The designers (especially Nicolas) were practically giddy this week when they found out from none other than costume designer to the stars Bob Mackie himself that their next challenge would be to design an over-the-top stage look for–wait for it–Christina Aguilera.

Now, whenever there’s a celebrity on Project Runway, someone inevitably exclaims something along the lines of, “This is, like, the biggest star project runway has ever seen!” But this time, such a statement might actually be accurate.

With such an enormous task at hand, the designers were given two days to complete the challenge, which of course means another full day of work as well as another full day of  D-R-A-M-A.

Even though she had immunity from her win on the previous challenge, Gordana broke down almost as badly as her garment did when it started raining strings of beads all over the workroom floor. Christopher was once again adorably overconfident in his design which the judges would ultimately chew up & spit out like a slimy wad of gum. Irena reached new heights of cattiness and the other designers are starting to take notice. Oh yeah, and they also tried to reintroduce the Logan/Carol Hannah subplot–using the same cut of Carol Hannah saying ‘He’s really hot’.

…Stop trying to make it happen, Lifetime. It’s not going to happen.

But I digress!

In the end Carol Hannah received the prize (And no, Lifetime…the prize isn’t Logan) for a theatrical, texturized black gown that impressed the panel and guest judge Christina Aguilera, who alluded to the fact that, at some point, in the near or distant future, she may or may not actually wear the costume that Carol Hannah designed for her. Wow! So keep a look-out, Carol Hannah! Or, ya know…don’t.

In a heartbreaking turn of events, the little girl with big dreams (and arguably, an even bigger mouth) Shirin Askari was asked to take her final bow after presenting a similar black gown which the judges dubbed ‘an upscale Halloween witch costume’…at least they called it ‘upscale’?

You will be missed, Shirin. The workroom will be significantly less zany without you.

Project Runway ‘Divorcee Challenge’: Everything Old is New Again! Gordana Gelhausen Gets the Gold; Epperson Misunderstands the Assignment

Last night presented us with potentially the most innovative challenge of the season, when the designers were asked to create a new look for nine real women, all recently divorced.

Sounds easy enough, right?

Wrong!

Aside from up to 2 yards of additional fabric & trim purchased from Mood, the new outfit had to be fashioned from the divorcees’ old wedding gowns.

…Yeah. That sounds more like Project Runway.

Of course, drama ensued. Shirin got stuck with a dress with no fabric & a client who wanted to look like a “Cher half-breed” (complete with headdress), Irena said nasty things about Logan’s pants (surprise, surprise) and Gordana called home in tears (don’t worry Gordana! Things will be looking up soon!)

In an unfortunate turn of events, Epperson “misunderstood the assignment” and tried to create a garment with as little fabric from the wedding gown as possible (still not sure how such a misunderstanding is possible, but…all right), forcing him to reformulate his plan in the middle of the challenge.

In the end, Epperson was sent home for a thrown-together look that reminded the judges of an Oktoberfest waitress (ouch.)

Gordana Gelhausen was awarded the win (see Gordana? We told you!) for a chic & edgy gray strapless cocktail dress that was decidedly un-Oktoberfest.

Along with the win, Gelhausen received immunity from elimination for the next challenge, making her the last designer to receive immunity for the remainder of the competition.

Project Runway – INC Challenge: Irena Shabayeva Wins (Again); Louise Black Sings “The Blues”

For those of you who haven’t been watching Project Runway since the dawn of time (not to brag, but…I have), every season there is a challenge that requires competitors to design a look for a mainstream clothing brand. The prize? The winning garment will be manufactured and sold by said mainstream clothing brand. The win for the this challenge is understandably coveted, so it is always an event when this challenge inevitably rolls around again.

This time, the challenge was to design two looks for INC, a fashion label exclusive to Macy’s department stores. The catch? The designers once again had to work in teams, and, for some unknown reason, the looks absolutely had to be designed entirely in shades of blue.

Irena Shabayeva (who was paired with Gordana Gehlhausen) took her second win with a flowing striped dress and a romantic skirt and blouse set.

Alright, Irena…so the judges might like you now. But you better stop saying all those nasty things about the other contestants’ designs…remember, the cast villain never wins on Project Runway!

Louise Black–who was paired with last week’s winner Nicolas Putvinski and, contrary to popular opinion was not eliminated after the last challenge–was ultimately given the axe for creating two dresses with ruffles and…well, not much else.

However, perhaps the biggest scandal of last night’s episode was famous American designer and beloved veteran panel judge Michael Kors bringing crowd favorite Christopher Straub to tears with witty remarks about his satiny teal bubble dress looking like a ‘disco pumpkin’.

Project Runway ‘Movie Genre Challenge’: Science Fiction Double Feature – Last Week’s Almost-Loser Nicolas Putvinski is This Week’s Victor; Solid Competitor Ra’mon Coleman Goes Home in Shocker Ending

If you just started watching this season, you may not know that this is the New York-based series’ first season filming on the west coast–specifically in Los Angeles. So in a geographically appropriate turn, the challenge this week was to create a look and a story for a character in a given movie genre, ranging from ‘Film Noir’ to ‘Western’.

After almost going home last week, Nicolas Putvinksi (who designed for the genre ‘Science Fiction’) redeemed himself with a stunning, glistening ‘Ice Queen’–one of the three sister queens who reside on Orion’s Belt, trapped forever in a frozen crypt when her sisters discover her plans to take over the universe.

Former contender Ra’mon Coleman (who also designed for the ‘Science Fiction’ genre) created a look for a reptilian alien princess, coming to Earth to indulge her insatiable hunger for men. Coleman created an avante garde, deconstructed,  high-necked dress after scrapping a green body suit two hours before the designers’ time was up. Although the judges found merit in Coleman’s back story and creativity in his design–and had admitedly been impressed by his work in previous challenges–they sent him home in favor of Louise Black, whose black 1920’s/1940’s fusion flapper dress they had called a “snoozefest”. Black’s work had never before been singled out on the show, neither in a positive light nor a negative one.

Subplots included a labored ‘romance’ between Logan Neitzel and Carol Hannah Whitfield (she called him ‘hot’, he called her ‘fun to have around’). Also, Louise pricked her finger.

Project Runway: ‘What’s Black & White & Read All Over…’ Irena Shabayeva ‘Finally’ Gets Her Win; Johnny Sakalis Gets the Boot After the Judges Smell Some ‘Pants on Fire’…

While typically I give you the straight-forward play-by-play of what went down on the runway, things got a little too catty this week not to warrant some commentary!

So keeping in the theme of last night’s ‘Newspaper Challenge’, this post will be more of an ‘Op-Ed’ piece than a news item. ‘Just the facts?’…Not this time!

The spite-fest got off the ground early in the episode when Irena Shabayeva bashed Althea Harper’s winning look from last week’s ‘Industry Party’ challenge. Shabayeva (who appears to have developed a one-sided beef with Harper, seemingly founded on nothing but jealousy) gave us a sneak preview of this tiresome ‘Irena Hates Althea’ subplot last week when she remarked that Althea’s ensemble looked like it was ‘stapled together’.

The sour undertones carried over when Johnny Sakalis scrapped his first attempt at a red newspaper-gown after some less-than-flattering critiques from Tim Gunn. Sakalis later attributed his ditching the dress to a faulty steamer (when there was reportedly no steamer in the work room).

Competitor Nicolas Putvinski lashed out when Sakalis busted out this lame excuse on the runway, mourning the loss of his first gown, which he refered to as ‘hard-core’ and ‘Dior’. Putvinksi called Sakalis’s first design ‘a red mess’, to which Sakalis replied ‘Thanks for throwing me under the bus, jerk.’

Whether or not his lame fib played a factor in the judges’ decision is left to be seen, but Sakalis was ultimately sent packing for his hurried & poor execution of an angular, graphic mini-dress.

Meanwhile, the panel (including guest judges Eva Longoria Parker & Tommy Hilfiger) awarded Irena Shabayeva the win for her highly ‘orginal’ newspaper trench coat, which she created after growing frustrated with her unconventional material and Tim Gunn reminded her that the paper raincoat of the 1960’s was made of nothing but paper. Shabayeva said in an interview, ‘If it’s been done, then it can be done, and I can do it.’

All I heard was: ‘It’s been done.’

Upon leaving the runway with her first win, Shabayeva exclaimed, ‘I finally won! I feel like it’s past due.’

…A wee bit presumptuous to feel so entitled to first place when surrounded by 15 of the most talented designers this side of Vogue magazine, especially when her designs have been undoubtedly good, but not stand-out.

We’ll be keeping an eye on this one…

Project Runway – ‘Industry Party Challenge’: Althea Harper Thrills a Panel of Tough Critics; Qristyl Frazier Gets Flak for her ‘Little Black Dress’

In a familiar challenge, the models played the role of the designer’s clients on last night’s episode of Project Runway.

Their assignment was to create an eye-catching look to get their models noticed at an important industry party. But just like in the real fashion world, the designers were required to cater to their model/client’s desires and keep their best interest in mind, while maintaining their own unique style.

Season six’s resident Barbie doll, Althea Harper, created a three-piece mini-suit for her model that delighted Jennifer Rade, guest judge and stylist to Angelina Jolie.

But when elimination came down to Qristyl Frazier’s ‘little black dress’ (which the judge’s dubbed ‘cheap’) and heartthrob Logan Neitzel’s quirky 1950’s style prom dress, it became painfully–one could say ‘Qristyl’–clear that Frazier had sewn her last stitch.

Frazier left in good spirits, thanking the judges earnestly and proclaiming “I know I’m a talented designer.”

Project Runway – ‘Surf Challenge’ – Third time’s the charm! Team Leader Mitchell Hall Finally Strikes Out; Stunned Teammate Ra’mon Coleman Takes Prize

The winning & losing teams were one in the same this week on Project Runway.

Underdog and veteran bottom-two designer Mitchell Hall was appointed as a team leader for the surf-inspired challenge, where each team of two must design & create a look inspired by surf culture, as well as a surprise avant garde look . Hall selected solid contender Ra’mon Coleman as his teammate saying, “I wanted someone who could carry me in this challenge.”

And carry him Ra’mon did.

Out of the two looks the pair showcased on the runway, everything but the bathing suit that one model wore underneath her dress was designed and constructed by Coleman.

But Coleman’s frustration was not for naught, as the panel (including guest judge, actress Rachel Bilson) recognized his efforts by awarding him the prize–and immunity–for this challenge.

Hall was finally sent packing, saying with a lukewarm grin, “I leave with a smile on my face.”

Project Runway, ‘Pregnancy Chic’: ‘Sweet’ Shirin Askari Dazzles Rebecca Romijn; Malvin Vien…Not So ‘Egg-cellent’

When host Heidi Klum challenged the designers of Project Runway Season 6 to create a chic pregnancy ensemble for supermodel/actress/Mommy-to-be Rebecca Romijn, the aptly named Shirin Askari (‘shirin’ means ‘sweet’ in Isreali) came out on top with a flattering aubergine cowel neck dress and coordinating overcoat with a floral printed lining.

Malvin Vien’s conceptual “Mother Hen” design–in which the model’s baby bump is swaddled in white cloth to make it look like an egg–earned him the unpleasant honor of receving Klum’s signature “Auf Wiedersehen”.

Vien bid his tearful goodbyes, saying “I’m always going to have something to say, and I’m always going to say it differently.”