Project Runway - Week Ten

I can’t believe we’re down to only six designers. It seemed like yesterday I was commenting on Wesley’s short-short school boy outfit. We’re really seeing who’s starting to get ahead of the pack, and who’s overstayed their welcome.

To refresh, last night the designers were tasked to create a look for six newly college graduated young women, pertaining to the career path they had chosen to pursue. To make the challenge more...interesting? (Annoying?), the young women also had their mothers along, to put in their 2-cents where it was (obviously) not wanted. Chaos and drama ensued, as was expected, but nothing that extreme. Half the designs were great, but half of them were...pretty bad. (Props to Jerell...the guy does seem to have pulled ahead of the pack.)

Apparently, poor Leanne wound up with the “Hedda Lettuce” of the challenge, (as Jerell so accurately stated). Leanne’s client’s mom had so many changes for her, Leanne had to re-work the whole outfit. I would feel bad, but to be honest, I kind of agreed with the mother’s suggestions. Sorry Leanne, I do still like you, but her changes were legit. (except for that constraining jacket – it was so not needed - I would have said remove completely)

Let us begin! It’s not like you haven’t waited all week for my insightful mind to comment on the designs, right?

Right?

Umm...are those crickets I hear?

To the designs:

Kenley – Okay this girl is really starting to get on my nerves. Granted, I will give you that she is a great designer of 40s/50s style dresses, but her personality is really starting to grate on me. This week’s outfit was, as the judges said, really cute. Not really good enough to win, but cute enough to get a pass. But who does this girl think she is? Did you see the surprised look on her face when her dress wasn’t chosen as one of the top two designs? Plus on top of that, she consistently ignores Tim Gunn’s advice, and she freely admits it! Yet, she wonders why she is either in the bottom or why her designs don’t get chosen as the top choices. (and don’t get me started on what I saw in the previews for next week...unless Bravo edited to seem that way, Tim really tells off Kenley and her poor attitude. Now to the outfit;like I said it was cute. Loved the belt, and the way it gave a soft separation of the dress. The vest was a nice addition, and fit into the over all style of the dress. Was it cute? Definitely. Was it a winning outfit? Not really.

Leanne – Poor Leanne. I have to admit though, she didn’t crack. Having that mother basically telling her to start over would have made me scream. But much as I agreed with the mother’s suggestions, the final outfit wasn’t as eye-popping as I would have wanted. And that jacket was just sooo unnecessary. It looked so constricting and unflattering. Once she took the jacket off, I saw a very cute, yet professional dress, perfect for a school teacher. No wonder the judges asked her to take off the jacket. Leanne’s outfit would have been fine, but she went a little overboard adding a jacket to the ensemble. (actually, now that I think about it, and look at all the outfits...every designer added some theme of jacket/sweater, except for maybe Kenley, who opted for a vest. Yeesh.) I was disappointed in Leanne this week, but I still don’t see her not making it to the finales. She at least takes Tim’s advice, unlike the laughing hyena, Kenley. (wow, I really dislike her, don’t I? No one gives Tim sass! No one I say!)

Korto – Finally, we get to see Korto’s funny side, and we get away from the impression of “angry black woman” that seemed to float around her. I saw her personality when she says she is a “cool hip mom”, knowledgeable to trendy current fashions for the younger generation. I also saw her funny side, commenting on now that Stella is gone, she is the new queen of “leathah”. Hysterical. Her design fit perfectly into what we’ve come to expect from Korto; clean, beautiful construction, amazingly fitted garments, with a great eye for patterns. The green print was a perfect choice for her client’s personality, which came off to me as bouncy and fun. And if you’re going to design a jacket, then the rest of the designers should take notes from Korto. That jacket was perfectly fitted and stunning. One of the judges described the jacket as looking expensive, and they were right. It was a great fit, complimenting the pattern and breaking up the outfit without disconnecting from it. I don’t remember what her client’s choice of career was at the moment, but I do remember thinking this was a totally appropriate outfit for it.

Suede – You hear that clock ticking, Suede? It’s the clock ticking down to your time on the show. You are sooo lucky that Joe’s outfit was way worse then yours...but not by much. What bothered me most about this outfit was not the dress itself (even though his client did tell him she wanted pants – but Suede does what Suede wants), but that awful awful jacket thing. I call it a thing, because not only was it ill-fitting, it didn’t even look finished. It looked half done and sewed together haphazardly. And don’t get me started on those ridiculous cuffs. Is that supposed to be stylish? Take off the jacket, it was a decent looking dress that probably might have given him a pass to next week. And I do remember his client worked in a lab, but I seriously do not believe that type of pattern and dress would look good under a lab coat. Maybe that’s just me. All in all, Suede has most definitely overstayed his welcome, but nonetheless gets a pass this week, mostly because Joe’s idea of female business style is stuck in the 80s.

Jerell - I loved this outfit. I thought it was the epitome of a designer “getting” his client, because not only was the outfit flattering and perfect to the girl’s style, it fit her personality flawlessly. I don’t remember what this girl was doing career wise, but I do remember thinking “Perfect! Perfect! Perfect!” when I first saw it. The colors created a beautiful blend, and the top was styled just enough to add a little femininity to a somewhat androgynous look. (which is exactly what the client wanted and asked for) The cardigan sweater completed the outfit well, which blended into a stunning outfit for someone with the girl’s tall, lanky proportions. Very impressive Jerell, I give you props, you definitely turned around from the boring outfit from last week. Is that the finale I see in the distance? We’ll see.

Joe – As most of my readers know, you can guess I wasn’t too upset to see Joe go. I really was never a fan of Joe, but I did give the man credit when he deserved it for great outfits. (the drag queen challenge, the Olympic challenge) But this outfit? What. A. Mess. Where should I begin? I knew this poor girl’s outfit was headed for disaster when Joe headed for men’s fabric at Mood. This outfit was cliché beyond belief, and a horror show of bad 80’s women’s business fashion. The blouse was so badly constructed and ill-fitting, it looked like she was going to “flop” out if she bent over. It looked way too loose and sloppy. His client told him she didn’t like the pinstripes, and she doesn’t like the idea of the jacket. Joe, of course, doesn’t listen. Cliché or not, this was just a bad looking design period, regardless of what time period it was extracted from.
Talk about being out of touch, Joe just proved he is not up on current women’s fashion trends. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t profess to be an expert, but I do see enough and interact with enough female coworkers in my office to know that Joe was waaaay off the mark on current women’s business fashion. So bye bye Joe, I won’t be missing you.

So what did you guys think? Would you wear any of the outfits designed this week to your job? Did you think Joe’s outfit was modern or cliché?
Chat it up!! Let me hear from you!
Until next week…..auf wiedersehen!