They did WHAT on Project Runway? ~ Now with a double issue!
They did WHAT on Project Runway?
by Bria L./helplessdancer
Double article this week covering the last two weeks of Project Runway since the Internet decided not to cooperate last week. And wow were they some good challenges and not just because they actually involved fabric…
This week, Project Runway returned to the sort of challenge that I highly prefer: one involving fabric. Not only was this challenge a return to fabric but it was a challenge that I could really get behind: create a look inspired by one of the four natural elements: earth, air, fire, and water. Who doesn’t love a good elemental challenge?
I feel that I must pause here to be slightly childish and celebrate. Why, might you ask? Because my baby’s back! Yes, dear readers: Emilio Sosa is back in business making gorgeous dresses and tearing up the runway with his awesomeness.
I also want to pause to recognise some of the more amusing comments from this episode because there were some rather excellent ones here. The first honour goes to Tim Gunn with him “Anthony is on fire” comment. If someone says they didn’t giggle at this one, they’re lying. And then there was Jonathan who told his model Carrie that she was “a big part of my inspiration. I identify with pale people.” However, top honours officially have to go to Anthony because, well, “In case anyone didn’t know, black, not only is it beautiful, it’s officially Presidential.” (Do I really need to add anything else here?)
Once again, I almost completely disagreed with the judges but I found it a fair bit harder to pick my Top and Bottom Three this week. That’s what happens when there are only nine designers left and also when I’m not incredibly crazy either way about most of the dresses. However, we had some serious disagreements about a few dresses this go around. Where my Top Three were Emilio, Seth Aaron, and Anthony, the Judges picked Seth Aaron, Maya, and Jonathan. My Bottom Three were Ben, Amy, and Maya in contrast to their Ben, Amy, and Mila.
Obviously, the biggest point of contention comes from Maya. The judges seem to like her and I don’t. I think she has some good ideas but I feel like she often doesn’t take them far enough. Also, like the judges commented on, she doesn’t seem to really have herself figured out yet. I’m not saying that inspiration isn’t a good thing but sometimes a designer can take it a bit too far. Also, I feel that she didn’t quite hit the mark with this dress. The grey colour did nothing for me and just felt very blah. I didn’t find that it particularly struck me as an outstanding design and the colour was definitely a factor here.
As for the other designers, I liked Emilio’s design because I felt it truly embodied the element of earth and he was able to use his model’s looks to his advantage. Seth Aaron’s more abstract view of air turned out wonderfully and all the leather just looked awesome. I liked Anthony’s design when it first went down the runway but upon examining it a bit more closely, it looks like he was trying to emulate his winning cover look dress from Episode Five. I didn’t particularly like Mila’s design but I was just so gosh darned excited that she didn’t colour block for once that I overlooked everything else when I originally made my notes. Once again, Amy tried to go too far with her design and while she’s definitely willing to take risks, it backfired completely this time. Jay’s design didn’t really do anything for me.
I liked the top of Jonathan’s dress and thought it looked incredibly elegant especially when the model stopped and posed at the end of the runway. However, I certainly didn’t expect it to win this challenge. However, when we the viewers were given a closer look at all the cut-out colour details, I can understand the judges’ thought process in giving him the win.
While I do agree with the judges’ decision, I am truly sad to see Ben go. I feel like this challenge just gave him problems all around and that he made some poor design choices this go around. The pants were bizarre and he just seemed to miss the mark. His dress from the Marie Claire cover challenge is one of my favourite designs from this season so far and I’d love to have it handing in my closet. However, we’ve now reached the point in the competition where there are no bad designers left. Everyone who goes home is going to be missed now because we’re that much closer to Bryant Park…
And now we move on to the most current episode where we got what every designer always dreads: teamwork challenge! These tend to be the most drama filled episodes and I often just sit back laughing rather like my man Emilio did this episode because no matter how professional you want to try and be, you can’t help but laugh at a team comprised of Jay and Mila who really don’t like each other.
I thought that this week’s challenge was a neat one. The teams were each given a distinctive New York neighbourhood and had to create a day look and an evening look inspired by one of those neighbourhoods. Emilio and Seth Aaron had Harlem, Amy and Jonathan had the Upper East Side, Anthony and Maya had Chinatown, and Jay and Mila had the East Side.
For the most part, I agreed with the judges with their decisions here. There was no Top Three/Bottom Three this week since there were only four teams. Team Emilio/Seth Aaron and Team Anthony/Maya had the designs deemed the best while Team Jay/Mila and Team Jonathan/Amy had the designs deemed not so fashionable.
Emilio and Seth Aaron certainly deserved the win with their designs and I swear I’m not just saying this because of my love affair with Emilio. No other designer team was able to take two opposing design styles and mesh them together as nicely as these two did while still recalling the neighbourhood inspiration. Both of them clearly deserved Project Runway’s first double-win ever. I’m not going to lie: I hope that both of them make it to Bryant Park because they’re two of the strongest designers in this competition. (In my opinion, of course.)
I thought that while Anthony and Maya had an interesting idea about not wanting to be too literal about their inspiration, I would’ve liked to see a bit more colour in there somewhere especially with the night look. One of the reasons that red is so prevalent in Chinatown is because it’s the Chinese colour for happiness. Red and gold are very strong and very meaningful colours in Chinese design and in the culture. I think that if Anthony had used some more colour in his night look, it would’ve been an overall stronger look and it would have tied the two designs together much more cohesively. I was rather fond of the jacket Maya created, especially the sleeves.
As a team, Jay and Mila are not a good mix together. Like the judges, I feel like Mila took over as team leader and it certainly showed in the two designs. Was anyone surprised that she returned to her black&white and colour blocking? What she did was a nice look but I feel like their designs made it obvious that the two designers did not mesh well together. The tank top was ill-made and I have to steal Heidi’s word again and call it bizarre. The pants were an interesting thought but I just don’t think it worked out well and I really have to chalk a lot of this up to a bad partnership. Jay’s a much designer than what he showed this episode and I can’t wait to see him get back in form next week.
On the other hand, poor Amy and Jonathan meshed a little too well together with their tendency to think big and occasionally over design. The basic ideas were certainly good but they tried to do too much with the time they had. I’m honestly not surprised that Amy went home. She’s been in the bottom three a bit too frequently lately and that did not help her case her. When I think of the Upper East Side, I think of very sophisticated fashion where colours like those orange and peaches aren’t incredibly predominant. I feel like maybe this dress would’ve worked better as a top or maybe even a dress? It was one of those designs that had good ideas but I don’t know how they could have been executed successfully. Jonathan’s dress had some good elements to it but he also fell prey to the overdesign monster. Amy certain has talent especially sewing all of those pleats in one day is any indication. I’m not surprised that both of them were working right until Tim dragged them out of the workroom. Unfortunately for Amy, the effort they both put in and her tendency towards more risky designs didn’t end up paying off this week.
That said, I’m going to miss seeing Amy’s designs on the show because she helped keep things interesting but, once again, at this point in the competition?
And then there were seven….
by Bria L./helplessdancer
Double article this week covering the last two weeks of Project Runway since the Internet decided not to cooperate last week. And wow were they some good challenges and not just because they actually involved fabric…
This week, Project Runway returned to the sort of challenge that I highly prefer: one involving fabric. Not only was this challenge a return to fabric but it was a challenge that I could really get behind: create a look inspired by one of the four natural elements: earth, air, fire, and water. Who doesn’t love a good elemental challenge?
I feel that I must pause here to be slightly childish and celebrate. Why, might you ask? Because my baby’s back! Yes, dear readers: Emilio Sosa is back in business making gorgeous dresses and tearing up the runway with his awesomeness.
I also want to pause to recognise some of the more amusing comments from this episode because there were some rather excellent ones here. The first honour goes to Tim Gunn with him “Anthony is on fire” comment. If someone says they didn’t giggle at this one, they’re lying. And then there was Jonathan who told his model Carrie that she was “a big part of my inspiration. I identify with pale people.” However, top honours officially have to go to Anthony because, well, “In case anyone didn’t know, black, not only is it beautiful, it’s officially Presidential.” (Do I really need to add anything else here?)
Once again, I almost completely disagreed with the judges but I found it a fair bit harder to pick my Top and Bottom Three this week. That’s what happens when there are only nine designers left and also when I’m not incredibly crazy either way about most of the dresses. However, we had some serious disagreements about a few dresses this go around. Where my Top Three were Emilio, Seth Aaron, and Anthony, the Judges picked Seth Aaron, Maya, and Jonathan. My Bottom Three were Ben, Amy, and Maya in contrast to their Ben, Amy, and Mila.
Obviously, the biggest point of contention comes from Maya. The judges seem to like her and I don’t. I think she has some good ideas but I feel like she often doesn’t take them far enough. Also, like the judges commented on, she doesn’t seem to really have herself figured out yet. I’m not saying that inspiration isn’t a good thing but sometimes a designer can take it a bit too far. Also, I feel that she didn’t quite hit the mark with this dress. The grey colour did nothing for me and just felt very blah. I didn’t find that it particularly struck me as an outstanding design and the colour was definitely a factor here.
As for the other designers, I liked Emilio’s design because I felt it truly embodied the element of earth and he was able to use his model’s looks to his advantage. Seth Aaron’s more abstract view of air turned out wonderfully and all the leather just looked awesome. I liked Anthony’s design when it first went down the runway but upon examining it a bit more closely, it looks like he was trying to emulate his winning cover look dress from Episode Five. I didn’t particularly like Mila’s design but I was just so gosh darned excited that she didn’t colour block for once that I overlooked everything else when I originally made my notes. Once again, Amy tried to go too far with her design and while she’s definitely willing to take risks, it backfired completely this time. Jay’s design didn’t really do anything for me.
I liked the top of Jonathan’s dress and thought it looked incredibly elegant especially when the model stopped and posed at the end of the runway. However, I certainly didn’t expect it to win this challenge. However, when we the viewers were given a closer look at all the cut-out colour details, I can understand the judges’ thought process in giving him the win.
While I do agree with the judges’ decision, I am truly sad to see Ben go. I feel like this challenge just gave him problems all around and that he made some poor design choices this go around. The pants were bizarre and he just seemed to miss the mark. His dress from the Marie Claire cover challenge is one of my favourite designs from this season so far and I’d love to have it handing in my closet. However, we’ve now reached the point in the competition where there are no bad designers left. Everyone who goes home is going to be missed now because we’re that much closer to Bryant Park…
And now we move on to the most current episode where we got what every designer always dreads: teamwork challenge! These tend to be the most drama filled episodes and I often just sit back laughing rather like my man Emilio did this episode because no matter how professional you want to try and be, you can’t help but laugh at a team comprised of Jay and Mila who really don’t like each other.
I thought that this week’s challenge was a neat one. The teams were each given a distinctive New York neighbourhood and had to create a day look and an evening look inspired by one of those neighbourhoods. Emilio and Seth Aaron had Harlem, Amy and Jonathan had the Upper East Side, Anthony and Maya had Chinatown, and Jay and Mila had the East Side.
For the most part, I agreed with the judges with their decisions here. There was no Top Three/Bottom Three this week since there were only four teams. Team Emilio/Seth Aaron and Team Anthony/Maya had the designs deemed the best while Team Jay/Mila and Team Jonathan/Amy had the designs deemed not so fashionable.
Emilio and Seth Aaron certainly deserved the win with their designs and I swear I’m not just saying this because of my love affair with Emilio. No other designer team was able to take two opposing design styles and mesh them together as nicely as these two did while still recalling the neighbourhood inspiration. Both of them clearly deserved Project Runway’s first double-win ever. I’m not going to lie: I hope that both of them make it to Bryant Park because they’re two of the strongest designers in this competition. (In my opinion, of course.)
I thought that while Anthony and Maya had an interesting idea about not wanting to be too literal about their inspiration, I would’ve liked to see a bit more colour in there somewhere especially with the night look. One of the reasons that red is so prevalent in Chinatown is because it’s the Chinese colour for happiness. Red and gold are very strong and very meaningful colours in Chinese design and in the culture. I think that if Anthony had used some more colour in his night look, it would’ve been an overall stronger look and it would have tied the two designs together much more cohesively. I was rather fond of the jacket Maya created, especially the sleeves.
As a team, Jay and Mila are not a good mix together. Like the judges, I feel like Mila took over as team leader and it certainly showed in the two designs. Was anyone surprised that she returned to her black&white and colour blocking? What she did was a nice look but I feel like their designs made it obvious that the two designers did not mesh well together. The tank top was ill-made and I have to steal Heidi’s word again and call it bizarre. The pants were an interesting thought but I just don’t think it worked out well and I really have to chalk a lot of this up to a bad partnership. Jay’s a much designer than what he showed this episode and I can’t wait to see him get back in form next week.
On the other hand, poor Amy and Jonathan meshed a little too well together with their tendency to think big and occasionally over design. The basic ideas were certainly good but they tried to do too much with the time they had. I’m honestly not surprised that Amy went home. She’s been in the bottom three a bit too frequently lately and that did not help her case her. When I think of the Upper East Side, I think of very sophisticated fashion where colours like those orange and peaches aren’t incredibly predominant. I feel like maybe this dress would’ve worked better as a top or maybe even a dress? It was one of those designs that had good ideas but I don’t know how they could have been executed successfully. Jonathan’s dress had some good elements to it but he also fell prey to the overdesign monster. Amy certain has talent especially sewing all of those pleats in one day is any indication. I’m not surprised that both of them were working right until Tim dragged them out of the workroom. Unfortunately for Amy, the effort they both put in and her tendency towards more risky designs didn’t end up paying off this week.
That said, I’m going to miss seeing Amy’s designs on the show because she helped keep things interesting but, once again, at this point in the competition?
And then there were seven….