Project Runway Season 10 Recap: "Where's Joan Rivers When You Need Her?"

Where's Joan Rivers?

Oh Joan, I Wish You Were The Judge: Joan Rivers E! Fashion Police

This week's Project Runway Season 10 Challenge was to Create a Red Carpet Look to be worn at the Emmy Awards. The official name of the challenge was the LEXUS Team Challenge--hello, the show has to pay the bills!

Car Style: Mentor Tim Gunn tries to keep a straight face (no pun intended) as he announces the "LEXUS" involvement in this challenge

Somehow they created an addendum to the challenge that would somehow make it justifiable for LEXUS to be involved--yes, kids, the designers were "inspired" by the colors of these fab LEXUS GS automobiles...yeah, right. This season's designers were given their Red Carpet clients and no, it was't Sofia Vergara or Claire Danes.

Not so muchey as I like to say. Remember the mustard-mess of a dress Season 1's Wendy Pepper made for Nancy O'Dell (photo above). Yeah, bless O'Dell's heart--she smiled through it and was a good sport but you know she was like "NEVER AGAIN!".

Instead, it was former Project Runway contestants and/or winners--such as Laura Bennett from Season 3, Kenley I-threw-a-cat-at-my-boyfriend Collins from Season 5 (above), Irina (Season 6 Winner), Anya (Season 9 Winner) and several others. Let's just get to the Runway darlings, shall we:

Nina, Michael Heidi, and guest judge, actress Krysten Ritter were there and really--nothing against the lovely Miss Ritter--but I was hoping it was going to be Joan Rivers. She would have let these Season 10 contestants HAVE IT. Especially those who were all "I HATE designing 'Red Carpet'..." Yes, I am talking to you Alicia and Raul!

Anyhow, Miss Klum walked out in a strapless sequin LBD with a wink-and-a-smile secretly saying "THIS is a Red Carpet dress kids! Now, go home!" Speaking of Red Carpet dressing and the Emmys--here are the Best Dressed of 2011 as a refreshner:

2011 Emmy Awards Best Dressed

My favorite was the silver silk charmeuse gown that Dmitry and Melissa created for "Kelly Osborne 2.0" April Johnston (above). Somehow, this ended up in the "middle" and not as one of the top two. What gives? Maybe Heidi, Nina, Michael and Krysten were too tired and "over it" (some of those judging sessions go on 'till the wee hours darlings!)

Four Inches Too Short Wedding Dress: Bitchy McBitchy Gunnar and Kooan created this white gown for Irina and somehow this ended up in the Top Two.  You can read my Recap at the end of this post to really know what I think of this dress...

This was the Winner (above left photo)--a short navy blue silk gazar cocktail dress from Ven and Fabio--for "I Want ALL the Attention" Kenley Collins. It was very pretty and expensive looking but Emmys worthy? Go back to that collage of Emmys 2011 Best Dressed...

Is That Your Pageant Britney? Season 9 Winner Anya and Miss District of Columbia USA 2012 Monique LaShone Thompkins

The Bottom Two were cutie (I am renaming him "Drama Queen Christopher" after this episode) Christopher and Andrea BA MA MFA Katz and the design they created for Anya. I do LOVE a pageant gown and a slit--as long as it's not DANGEROUSLY close to her nether-regions--and this dress was. Poor Anya would have been SLAMMED by the "Fashion Police" --or at least moi on TV Guide's Emmys Fashion Wrap!

But the worst was the dowdy dirndl halter dress that pointy-haired Raul and dreadlock'ed Alicia created. Bad with a Capital "B". Poor Mila. This look really aged her and made her look like a Mother-of-the-Bride as opposed to a Red Carpet Diva.


If you want to know what I REALLY thought of this last episode? Read below:

"Where's Joan Rivers When You Need Her?"

 Team I-Don't-Want-To-Be-On-A-Team
We knew it was going to be a KRAZEE episode the minute Tim Gunn said that this was a "Team Challenge." No One. I reiterate, NO ONE, likes the Team Challenges on "Project Runway" (except the viewers). The challenge this week? To create a red carpet look that is to be worn at the Emmys in September. Lest you forget, our little ol' show is nominated this year! This challenge was also dubbed the "LEXUS Team Challenge" because the designers also had to incorporate the colors of the new LEXUS GS cars (the automobile sponsor) into their red carpet creations. I almost wished they had to make these looks out of actual LEXUS car parts! But oh wait, I think that's already been done...
 
Red Carpet Sacrificial Lambs
Seven Teams of two were created — Christopher/Andrea, Sonjia/Nathan, Elena/Buffi, Ven/Fabio, Gunnar/Kooan, Alicia/Raul and Dmitry/Melissa. Now, who would these teams be designing Emmys red carpet creations for? Heidi? Nina? Sofia Vergara?! Nope, darlings. Remember the debacle years ago when Season 1 Winner Jay McCarroll created La Klum a gown for the Emmys and she ended up not wearing it? (Oops). And the mess Wendy Pepper made for Nancy O'Dell to wear to the Grammy's as a result of a challenge she won? Yeah, in other words, not such a good history of these collaborations. So, instead, the show brought back seven past Runway contestants and winners — Season 9 Winner Anya, Season 6 Winner Irina, Laura Bennett, Kenley, Mila, April Johnston and Valerie Mayen (who?) — to be the Red Carpet Sacrificial Lambs ... I mean clients.
 
Time Complainer, Hissy Fits, Ironing Assistants
Team Elena/Buffi got Laura Bennett as their red carpet client which immediately scared me. If Laura and those two were the last people stuck on an island, she still wouldn't choose them to make her a dress (But, alas, she has no choice). Laura is elegant Manhattan chic, while Elena is Lady Gaga futurama and Buffi is just tacky-licious. Strong-headed Elena is delegating Buffi to steaming/pressing assistant status while she's just running around stressed and panicked. She's also complaining about the lack of time they are given to make an evening dress. Really Elena? What part of "Project Runway" did you NOT understand? These kids, they slay me.

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Project Runway Season 10 Recaps: Episode 2 "Candy Couture"

Sweet...or Not So Sweet, Fashion:

Cotton Candy Delicious: Guess What the Project Runway designers are working with this week?

Project Runway is BACK and we are now onto Season 10. It premiered two weeks ago and last week was "Episode 2", it was the iconic UNCONVENTIONAL CHALLENGE that all the fans LOVE. I, often wonder if these are the types of challenges that help discover "Next Great American Fashion Designer". But as we all know...it's all about what makes for fun and great TV.

Tim Gunn and Dylan Lauren, Project Runway Season 10

The contestants/designers meet Tim Gunn and Dylan Lauren (yes, Ralph's lovely daughter), CEO and owner of Dylan's Candy Bar. Soon, it is revealed they must create a look out of candy.

Project Runway has done this before in Season 4, where it was held at the Times Square Hershey's Store and Rami Kashou won , in case you're keeping tabs (Photo of Kashou's winning look above).

After some krazeee candy shopping at Dylan's Candy Bar NYC, some candy Parsons workroom draping, molding and more importantly, GLUEING...it was time for the Runway Show with Judges:

(Right to left) Heidi Klum (in a off-the-shoulder snakeskin printed ensemble), Michael Kors (in his black "uniform"), Nina Garcia (in a FAB black and gold jacket and skinny pants and FIERCE heels!), and Dylan Lauren in purple. Now, the whole point of this challenge was to somehow make a garment from candy BUT...make it look as if it wasn't made out of CANDY. Some succeed beautifully and well, some not so mucheey...

Le Good:

Beaded Candy Ball Superb: LOVED Belarus-born fashion wunderkid Dmitry Sholokhov's twisted halter dress with fitted midriff. He used black, red, and yellow candy balls and WOW!!! This should have been in the Top Three FOR SURE, some would even argue that it should have won. The candy looked like oversized beads. One could NEVER EVER tell that it was candy. Simply Superb. With all that, he just "made it through" to the next round--and somehow only landed "in the middle".

Mini Mermaid Cocktail: The first of the Top Two positions was Sonjia Williams (who is quickly looking like a contender to be in the Finals, if only from these two first challenges). She created a peplum-shaped mini dress using ivory and aqua candy balls, white chocolate covered almonds and shark gummies.

I LOVED how she created the princess seams with the candy, injected the color-blocking trend seamlessly and then finished it off with a "neck-piece" of shark gummies. She was part Sexy Mermaid, part cocktail dress, part "Mini Shark". The hat was a miss, as some of the judges said, but other than that, it was an excellent and very creative creation.

The Winner, however, was Ven Budhu. Just from the "hints" shown by the cameras in the Parsons workroom, I could just see that his design was going to be a STUNNER. And it was. The way he created this vision of serious Haute Couture using crushed colored candy, it was magical.

The perfectly geometric inlaid pieces, the stained glass effect he created with candy--it all added to a beautiful strapless cocktail dress that was reminiscent of something from an Atelier Versace Collection:

Atelier Versace Spring/Summer 2012

Now, Le Bad:

Oh Buffi Jashanmal: Her Project Runway fifteen minutes are a ticking. This is so tasteless that Miss Nina is looking as if she's going to get ILL every time one of Buffi's designs come down the runway. She looks like Paris Hilton's REALLY REALLY tacky--and that's a feat!--daughter (OUCH!). I know it's only the second challenge but I am beginning to wonder how the heck she even made it onto the show.

Noodle Twizzler Dress: Also in the bottom was Elena Slivnyak's "Warrior Princess" structured dress made from a muslin base with piña colada twizzlers. The twizzlers began falling off the dress the minute the model came sauntering down the runway.

And then from not-so-far, the twizzlers began looking like a pasta noodle arts and crafts project from a 12 year old. I totally get what Irena was going for and it could have been great but...alas, it just didn't work. Poor thang.

But the Worst Was:

Oh Huney You Didn't Even Try: Just take a look at the model. She was like "Oh Dear! First, I cannot believe I have to wear this tacky creation and, second of all, I just KNOW my designer is going home". Fashion designer Lantie Foster's design was a MESS. She really did not even try. Umbrella fabric and little candy. And she tried to use the excuses of a first year fashion school student. Hashtag FAIL.

Wanna know what I really thought of this past week's Episode 2? Then read on kids....

"Sweet Tooth Couture"

Last week, Season 10 of "Project Runway" premiered with the "Biggest Fashion Show" in "Runway" history. This week, our little ol’ show loses not an ounce of couture steam and keeps the strong momentum going with one of the most iconic — and beloved by fans — "Project Runway" challenges, the "Make a dress out of crap you would NEVER use to make a garment challenge" … in other words, yes kids, it’s the Unconventional Challenge. I’ve always said that this is a fun challenge to watch by the fans and TV viewers alike, but in terms of it being a guide rule in finding the "Next Best American Fashion Designer"… not so much.
 
Candy Re-Run
As "Plaid Heidi" saunters onto the runway congratulating last week’s winner — cutie Christopher — she tells the designers that this is "no time for child’s play." Instantly I think, "Oh Dear, they’re making clothes for bratty Upper East Side kids!" But oh no, I was wrong. Soon, the designers meet with Monsieur Gunn in front of Dylan’s Candy Store where he is flanked by it’s owner and CEO, Dylan Lauren (Yes, of Ralph Lauren fashion blue blood), announcing that their second challenge will be to create a look out of candy using materials bought from Dylan’s Candy Store naturally. Now, I remember back in Season 4, the challenge was done at the Hershey’s Times Square store (Rami won it), so it seemed like a slight re-run challenge idea to me, but one figures that it’s difficult to come up with new "Unconventional Challenges" year after year.
 
Gunnar and Christopher: Please Get a Room
After a mad "Candy Dash," the designers get their sugar tooth couture fix, buy out half the store and then head to Parsons to #makeitwork! The workroom quickly begins to resemble a 5-year-old’s birthday party after a piñata has exploded. Several designers are spending their early hours doing muslin dresses to build the foundation for their candy creations. Others are crushing candy, gluing candy … or just eating it! And then there’s Gunnar Siriano 2.0 and cutie Christopher who spend a lot of their time being Bitchy Queens (more so Gunnar than Christopher) talking smack and "throwing shade." It’s only the second week (In real time, it’s only been like TWO DAYS since they’ve met each other!), but there’s already this weird tension between them. I have a feeling that either A) Gunnar feels threatened because he thought he was going to be the only "twinky gay" or B) They just need to GET A ROOM! But I digress, let’s move on…



Click HERE to read the rest of my Recap...

Project Runway Season 9 Recaps: Episode 13--One Day You're IN, and the Next, You're IN!

Top Three...NOT!

The Top Four: Viktor Luna, Anya Ayoung-Chee, Joshua McKinley, Kimberly Goldson

Last night was the "Almost at NY Fashion Week" penultimate episode of Season 9 Project Runway, or as some people called it, Part One of the Finale. The Top Four Designers, Anya, Joshua, Kimberly and Viktor get $9,000 and 5 weeks to complete a ten-look collection and are told that upon their return, they will be narrowed down to THREE. They go home. Mentor Gunn goes for his visits. Seeing Tim in a full-on suit and tie (looking like a bank manager) while in gorgeous Trinidad and Tobago, was quite hilarious. Not hilarious was the fact that Miss Anya had NOTHING done--after three weeks of being home. I guess when THIS:

Is home...then all you would want to be doing is THIS:

Have cocktails by the pool

Back in NYC, after their return, Tim Gunn announces that for their Final Challenge--and for the judges to decide who will go on to actually show at Mercedes-Benz NY Fashion Week, they will have to present three looks that are "representative" of the collections they would be showing. Let's see:

Viktor Luna: Viktor's was the strongest. He had gone on a trip to Guadalajara, taken photos there which then he had made into prints. The silhouettes and styling was sleek and contemporary. Loved that white leather and beaded motorcycle jacket. It was very Nicolas Ghesquière for Balenciaga. I did not like the leather zip-up "car wash" over-skirt. I also liked the sheer high-low gown underneath. But for some reason, visually, the no-lining, oh-are-those-your-panties look, seemed unfinished and a little "Hoochie". But here's the deal: EVERYONE is doing it--

Exhibit A: Frida Giannini of Gucci Fall/Winter 2011--but I just think it's different when shown in a multi-million dollar venue like the Gucci Runways, with the lighting and that fierce late 70's make up and styling. It works here. Don't know if it works with Viktor in a Parson's Project Runway catwalk raised podium setting.

Joshua McKinley: I liked some of the pieces he showed to the judges and had some questions about a couple of others (just like the judges). That neoprene jacket was very Narciso Rodriguez "Scuba Chic": Loved. However, the pink pants fit weird; too wide and should have been skinnier and tighter on the model. Also, the length was too short, just about an inch and a half. Trust me kids, in fashion, an inch and a half matters. The dress was OK, but yeah, what was up with that tab? And I thought the black sheer jersey with plasticized neck was FAB.

NOT FAB...was that he paired it with black stretch leggings straight from a Pat Benatar video. And what was the keyhole back openings? Odd. I did like the neckline and silhouette--very reminiscent of a recent Michael Kors Collection:

Michael Kors Fall 2011

Kimberly Goldson: The ladies didn't fare as well as the boys, beginning with Kimberly. I liked the black glittery gown. That look is TOO HOT for words. If you're a woman with a boyfriend, don't EVER stand next to a woman who looks like HER! EVER.

I mean, seriously, look at that SEXY BACK!

But..."NO Sexy Back": that bubblegum pink skirt above. I get what Kimberly was going for. Lots of designers have recently "embraced" the hip-widening skirt look (Manish Arora's recent debut collection for Paco Rabanne, for example) . However, this doesn't mean A.) It works, and B.) women will actually wear it and/or want to buy it. If an actress wore this on the red carpet: Huuuneeeyyy! I do not want to be there the next day to see the "Fashion Police" Claws!

Anya Ayoung-Chee: Finally, there was the worst. In my myLifetime.com Recap (which incidentally begins right below!), I said that it looked as if she made the pieces in a 48-hour challenge. Actually, they look as if she made them in 3 hours!

They also seemed like clothing you could find at the Nassau Bahamas "Straw Market". All they were missing was a big Straw hat, a towel, and the "Make-Sure-You-Get-Back-to-the Princess Cruises ship back-in-time" notice card! The judges spent what seemed like HOURS trying to re-style her looks (as well as the other finalists, PS: Aren't they FINALISTS???) and saying what a mess they all were. And then, she was IN! Well, I have a couple things to say about all that:


"One Day You're IN, and The Next Day...You're IN!"

This episode is definitely going to get the fans riled up! I can already see the comments here. I don't know if the producers planned it this way, as it's always good to have people talking (or so they say), but they certainly aren't playing it safe this season. We're down to the Top Four, and Heidi states adamantly that they still have one more Final Challenge to narrow down the designers to the Top Three, and ultimately, who will show at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. This is repeated over and over again throughout the episode. But then, right at the end, it's changed to "Psych! Just Kidding! Y'all are IN!" What happened?

$900 Per Look
Let's rewind a little bit: As the episode begins, Heidi greets our Top Four and gives them $9,000 and five weeks to create a 10-look collection. That's a very short time, but honey, I've done TWENTY-plus-piece collections in the same amount of time so, no sympathy here. Also, if my calculator works correctly, this means they each get to spend $900 per look – for fabric and accessories. No money can be spent on any pattern or sewing (hired help). At $900 a look, they better be AMAZING! Finally, before saying "Until next time," Heidi adds, "Only THREE will get to go on ... to NY Fashion Week." Not "MAYBE three of you" (as she has done in the past). No, "THREE."

Here's Your MetroCard ... Now Go!
The designers go home. For New Yorkers Joshua and Viktor, this means "Congrats! Here's a one-way MetroCard! Now get to cuttin' and sewin'!" Kimberly goes to Maryland, and Anya heads to Trinidad and Tobago. Three weeks later, it's time for the "Tim Visits"...

CLICK HERE top read the rest of my Rant...ooops, I mean RECAP on myLifetime.com! And make sure to tell me what you thought too! I read them all!!! With a piña colada pretending I'm in a hammock somewhere in Trinidad and Tobago!!!