Project Runway - Week Three

I need to say, right off the bat, I need to know what Heidi, Nina, and Michael Kors are smoking before they judged the fashions last night. I don’t call myself a fashion expert by a longshot, but I do know what looks good and what looks like crap. We obviously were seeing two different things last night. More on that when I get to the individual reviews below.

So here we are, third week in, and I can start to make out some favorites, (Daniel, Jerell, maybe Joe) some potentials, (Leanne & Terri) and some that have only taken those said 3 weeks to get on my last nerve. (I swear, if I hear Blayne say something is whatever-“licious” again I’m gonna scream. And Suede? Talking in the third person? Over it.)

This week’s challenge was a challenge we’ve seen before on past seasons. The designers were taken on a tour bus of New York, given cameras, and asked to take pictures of what would be their inspiration for their dress, which would be the ideal dress to go out on the town in NYC. (I remember Jay McCarroll’s dress from season one, which was inspired by the Chrysler Building;it came out simply elegant.)

Will someone please give Stella a clue? She didn’t even know how to function the camera, and she is hammering home the fact that “she loves leather, only works in leather, is rock n’ roll all the way, etc”….I’m done Stella, I get it. Though I can see you going home in the next few weeks if you don’t start adapting to the challenges. Using the same type of materials, or making the same type of dress can get only get you so far. (then again, Rami’s “draping” dresses get him into the finals…hmmm)

One final word before I move on to the individual reviews; I still think he’s annoying, but I need to give flower-pot tan Blayne props. He actually got my idol, Tim Gunn, to say “Holla at your boy!” I nearly peed myself from laughing. Thank you, Blayne.
So let’s move on to this week’s fashion hits and misses:

Blayne – How in the world was this dress any different then the prom dress horror that got auf’d? There were waaay too many colors going on, and it set up the same basic idea that Emily did; colored sash thing over a simple black dress. Granted it only looked slightly better then Emily’s and I guess that’s what kept Blayne in. But at the very least he should have been in the bottom three. Safe another week, Blayne, but let’s spend less time tanning and more time developing your skills. Three weeks in, I’m not impressed.

Daniel – Why wasn’t this in the top? I found this dress very “charming” in a sense. Elegant, with just a touch of passion and sex appeal. I thought the color suited the model very well, and the fit was perfect. Excellent execution. (and how cute was it that at the beginning of the show, he said he missed Wesley, because he was just getting to know him. Well, we all know how well that worked out, don’t we? Heh heh.)




Jerell – Where the heck did this come from?! Out of left field, I see a beautiful, elegant gown from the guy who wears a face mask to bed. I think I would have went with a different color, but the execution was superb! The ruffled bottom half of the dress perfectly accented the top half. Again, not quite sure why this wasn’t in the top, but I’m convinced the judges were on something last night. Definitely has potential this Jerell.


Joe – Another cool surprise. I thought Joe’s dress truly exemplified his inspiration, and was cute, yet sexy at the same time. I’m not that big of a fan of gold colored anything, but that top is definitely an exception. The lines work wonderfully against the gold fabric, breaking it up enough to create a simple, yet eye-catching design. I see good things from this quiet (so far, we hear almost no trash talking from him, have we?), yet skillfull designer.


Keith – I had to laugh when Michael Kors described Keith’s dress as a bunch of toilet paper flapping in the wind. Honestly, though the dress was a mess, I think I see where Keith was going with it. First off, his model had to quit, so he had to refit the dress last minute to fit the new model. I don’t think he could be faulted for it not being fitted well, since they threw him a curve ball one hour before the runway show. The idea I think was good, it was just very poorly executed. I think tighter, more shapely “pieces” would have given the look he wanted better.


Kelli – Am I blind, not liking this dress? To me, it looks like a dress a hooker might where out to pick up some business. I found it almost “trashy” in a sense, but I think that’s mostly due to that horrid sheer top. If you look at the dress, minus that top, you can see a very elegant and sexy dress. The simple top is perfect on top of the black skirt, but that extra top just pulls it right down to “trashy lane”.



Kenley – Here’s where I completely disagree with the judges. Though I think the pattern Kenley picked out matched her “inspiration” perfectly, the execution? Not so much. Did the judges not notice the HUGE, puffy side to the skirt? It made this model’s butt look as though one cheek was larger then the other. And the model is thin! Can you imagine if a heavier girl wore this type of dress? Awful. I thought the puffed out side was way too distracting, and certainly did not deserve to win. At all. Completely disagree with the judges on this one.



Korto – Simple. Sexy, yet basic. Those were my first thoughts when I saw Korto’s outfit. I still don’t know about Korto. Three weeks in, she hasn’t shown me anything to make her stand out. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t think her outfit this week was bad at all, but I didn’t find it “wow”. I mean, to me, it’s a basic black jumpsuit outfit I’ve seen tons of girls wear when they go out. It’s nothing I haven’t seen before. She needs to step up her game if she expects to get any further in the competition.



Leanne – What an extreme turn around from last week! Last week, she came thisclose to getting eliminated, and this week she comes back so strong, I feel gypped that she didn’t win. That skirt was…..exquisite. Beautifully contructed, the colors blended perfectly, and the simple top just took it to another level. How in the world didn’t this win? The judges chose Kenley’s mess over this beautifully constructed dress? This dress should have won, hands down.


Stella – I can tell you this much about Stella; this gal definitely doesn’t care what other people think. Which I say, good for her! But damn, I don’t know if I could possibly put up with her if I had to concentrate on designing a dress, and have her hammering in the background. But you know what? The outfit didn’t turn out to be that bad at all! I didn’t think it was a winning design, but I did agree with the judges that it definitely gave her a pass to next week. I think the style fit her style perfectly. I can see this outfit being worn by any girl going out for a night of clubbing with her gal pals or “mal pals”. (my term for straight women’s gay male friends)



Terri – Loved this dress. I agree this should have been one of the top designs, and I’m glad it was. My thoughts when I first saw this dress was “sassy, and fun”. The model really sold it for me, because her attitude totally fit the style of the dress. The colors weren’t overboard, and the simple black slacks underneath were the perfect bottom half to a snazzy top half. This dress and Leanne’s should have been the top two.


Suede – Suede is really getting on Nick’s nerves. Nick doesn’t like the way Suede speaks in the third person. Nick finds it annoying and distracting. Nick thinks that Suede’s third person speak doesn’t add to making his dresses memorable. Nick thinks Suede’s creation was a bit drab and boring. The cut off top didn’t look right, and the neckline could have been a bit more open. Nick doesn’t think the color was a great choice either. Nick thinks that, much like Blayne, perhaps Suede needs to better fine tune his skill, as opposed to trying to make some gimmick “stick” about himself.



Jennifer – I think it was Nina that said it, but I thought the same thing when this dress walked down the runway; matronly. It seemed very “suburb mom” to me. It was uninspired, and the construction was poor. The hemline on the bottom of the skirt looked unfinished, and to me, didn’t seem to fit right at all. Perhaps a low neckline would have given this dress some spark, but as is, not so much. "Drab and boring" are the words that come to mind.


Emily – This dress was a horror show. It looked as though a corsage threw up all over a beautiful black cocktail dress. The judges were correct in picking out this one as the worst of the bunch. (at least we agreed on something about this challenge). The way the ruffle thing went across the bust of the dress was completely distracting. And what kills me is Tim Gunn warned her in advance! He warned her! She chose not to listen. Have you even watched the show before Emily? When Tim speaks and gives you a crucial piece of advice to improve your garment, you listen! The man has never steered a designer wrong, so I don’t see how you could accept that this dress was your best.


So we come to another week ended, and another designer going home.
Like last time, I would love to hear what you guys thought. Do you agree with my assessments? Am I off the mark? Would some of my female readers wear some of these designs? Let me know! Chat it up!! Until next week…..auf wiedersehen!