My mother accuses me of abandoning my blog.
I successfully got her hooked on "Project Runway" while I was home for the holidays. So successfully that a woman who swears she cannot stay up past 10PM was awake and bitching about Santino at midnight last Wednesday!
Anyways, we got a new episode this Wednesday, so here is my rundown:
Nick: Pretty. I like the color. It is similar to other dresses he's done, but they were pretty dresses, too, so who's complaining?
Daniel: I loved the fabric. There has been some discussion over at Television Without Pity's board whether it makes the model's ass look fat. Because "looking like you eat regular meals" is the new "fat," apparently?
Andrae: Drama Boy is pulling it together. I'm no longer even tempted to mutter "Don't poke the crazy" when they interview him. The dress is nice, though I wonder whether her clothes coming out of the suitcase wrinkled is Nicky Hilton's big problem in life. I did especially like the restrained sparkle when the model walked. That is the proper use of sequins and figure skaters everywhere should take note.
(Off topic: Please send Tim Gunn to tell Stephane Lambiel that he is skating the Vivaldi's "Four Seasons," not Survivor's "Eye of Tiger." There's just no excuse for that costume.)
Santino: Setting aside his personality and the fact that he doesn't seem to wash his hair on a regular basis, the dress isn't bad. The color was a little washed out and the style very reminiscent of his first dress. I think he went a little overboard with the ropey bits and shredded skirt, but that's his look and anything is better than the offenses against taste that were his underwear challenge.
Kara: Very pretty; would have been even better in a bright color. Like a lot of the others, this is a dress that I can only appreciate from afar and could never wear. I'd look pregnant, my breasts don't support themselves and I'd worry about flashing the world with a skirt that short...
Chloe: A lot of people have commented that this dress and her "Clothes Off Your Back" dress are really similar, which I can see. This one didn't seem to fit the model as well; different fabrics, I suppose. Or maybe I'm just looking at her and thinking "Eat a sandwich, please!" I liked the braid going down the back, but wasn't entirely keen on the flouncy skirt.
Emmett: I don't care. I like Emmett. I liked this dress, too, especially she walked and you got the shimmer effect from the layers. I'd have liked it better if the skirt hadn't been attached to a baby-doll dress, but that seems to be the style everyone's going for...
Diana: Nice on top, but messy on bottom. I liked the skirt in her sketch better; that may be the inexperience in taking things from paper to life under pressure showing up.
Zulema: Ick. Everything's all bunchy. And her model always looks miserable. Please, stand up straight and stop letting them do such awful things to your hair.
Guadalupe: The front wasn't bad. Not Nicky Hilton's style or really meeting the challenge in any way, but not bad. The back looked like the model sat down and stood up again with a garbage bag bunched up at her butt. And the sleeve thingy was completely unecessary.
Marla: Okay, Marla was on my last nerve. Three times she was told that her dress looked like the photos of Nicky that they gave the designers. I don't know why you'd want to copy that dress, anyway; it wasn't that pretty to start with and essentially flattened out what little chest Nicky had.
Winners and Losers: (Or Whiners and Losers, if you will)
I liked Nick's dress better, thought it would photograph better where-ever Nicky Hilton deigned to Appear (more contrast than the grey) and Santino's ego hardly needs to be fed.
I put my finger on something that really bugs me about Santino: he's all about making himself look good, more than making the client or the model look good. (He's the Mel Gibson of Fashion.) He's like this big Artist and the clothes are his creations and any other use of the creation as a garment to be worn by people simply doesn't enter the equation. Which has it's place, but Santino needs to understand that if he really wants to be the Next American Fashion Designer, he's gonna have to think about the practicality of what he does at some point. Otherwise, he's never going to move past the niche market of people who want over-the-top clothes.
Marla bugged, but I doubt that Guadalupe was going to make it to fashion week, so she had to go at some point. My money is on Marla going out next week. She just seems out of her depth, though I'm sure the time constraints are contributing to her difficulties. I hope she pulls something out next week that satisfies her even if it doesn't satisfy the judges; it would be sad if she had such a relentlessly negative time with what could be such a great opportunity.
Someone at TWOP said watching Marla was liked seeing a bunny get run over by a Hummer. Guadalupe had some spirity left; I just was never too keen on her whole Look.
