Project Runway, "Back to New York"

Here we go! Starting with first impressions:

Seth Aaron. Wants to be Tom Ford. Not with those socks, honey.
Jeneane. From Portland. "Dorking out to be here." Dorking out in general. OH GOD, is she already crying? Auf!
Ping. She is a physical therapist. Talks about her clothes liberating the body movement. Michael Kors doesn't care about liberating the body movement, Michael Kors wants to see hot girl fashion - even if it hurts.
Ben. Likes cartoon characters and anime. He seems immature.
Anthony. Grew up in Birmingham, immediately points out he's gay. He's heavy for a fabulous gay man, right? He's also a pageant gown designer, which means he's got half a season in him at most.
Jay. From San Francisco. Doesn't want to get rich doing this, designs for the love. That will sound poignant during his exit speech.
Pamela. Worked in advertising, and said she went as high as a she wanted to go before deciding she needed another challenge. Does not say what her top position was - did she get any higher than sales admin? How do we REALLY know she's as driven as she says?
Anna Marie. Ohhh, a new grad. She's in with the sharks, I hope they don't eat her alive.
Johathan. He's an "animal" about design. Wants to find where gritty meets pretty. Don't you need neck tattoos for that to be your aesthetic?
Jesse. He's Jack Sparrow! He worked at Disney World and is self taught. Being "self taught" never successful on this show.
Mila. Tells us that she took a break from fashion design to work as a costume designer for film and television. How is that not being a fashion designer?
Maya. Likes punk rock, and is seen in the pictures modeling all of her own stuff. She likes vinyl and is into retro - oh no... Kenley? Is that you?
Christiane. She likes layers and colors. Grew up in (on?) the Ivory Coast. She is confidant.
Jesus. He's ready, he's young, he's CONFIDANT!
Emilio. He works in costume design, which he does think is fashion. I wonder if he and Mila will clash over this?
Amy. Loves innovation and being different. Has good hair.

So, to sum up my first impressions? Bangs are back. Oh, and the girl that cried very first thing? She'll never make it. Plus, where is the straight guy? There's always a straight guy, and usually he tells us in his intro that he has 'the hots' for Heidi so we KNOW he's straight. Did I miss him this time?

It's time for the rooftop Champagne, welcome welcome welcome! Tim announces they will meet tomorrow morning in Central Park to receive the details of their first challenge. Central Park is a big place, I hope they can find him.

*******

Central park the next morning is alive with fabrics. (Thank you Mood!) They will pick fabrics and construct an outfit that defines themselves as a designer. Tim announces they have three minutes to grab the fabrics, and they start to panic. People! It isn't like Mood hung the fabrics from the branches of trees over an acre of land... they're all right there! Turn around and grab a couple that go together. Really? This is hard for you? Stop looking at Tim, start looking at the fabrics and which one you want to run for.

OK, PHEW. That was so hard. (Not really.) They seem to be having fun, and Tim tells them that being a fashion designer means being able to edit - so edit yourself to five fabrics. Again, they think this is very difficult. It can't be that hard to pick out the ugliest two or three selections, right? (However, as stated off to the right - I am COMPLETELY untrained and unqualified to be commenting on things like this. Maybe finding ugly fabric for a designer is like finding a needle in a haystack for us regular folk. Maybe they see potential in everything, oh EXCEPT FOR THAT BIRD PRINT. Whoever you are? PUT IT DOWN NOW! Nothing good can come from that!) OK, Ping is hilarious! I'm liking her.

Sidenote: Oh, snap! Seth's commentary - did you see it? Are you seeing Seth? Doesn't he look like Gabriel Byrne? If Season 7 is ever made in to a movie, they've GOT to get Gabriel Byrne to play Seth. And, David Allen Grier must play Anthony - ala Antoine Merryweather, remember that character? From Blaine and Antoine? They were the main reason to watch "In Living Color".

Back in the workroom and we have our first major product placement of the season. (other than the Brother Sewing machines... I always thought they sewed on the same machines that the Parsons students sewed on?) HP has provided Touch Smart Notebooks. Digital sketch pads! (Do they get to keep them?) Tim announces that they have until midnight tonight and a tiny bit of time tomorrow to finish, and winner will have immunity. They have their models' measurements on a card, so start sewing.

I'm going to skip most of the designer commentary... first week isn't usually important - and really until we get down to 8 or 10 designers we don't want to get too attached. I'm going directly to Tim's workroom consultations/commentary... and I'll be acting as Tim's interpreter for you.

Tim starts with Christiane: "Talk to me..." Christiane is making a dress, which is "what (she) does best." She's worried that it isn't 'out there' enough. Tim cautions her, "You need to ask yourself whether not having something hurts it." Interpretation: "That dress is a beast, and do you have time to make a jacket to cover up the hideousness of that mess?"

Tim moves to Ping: "Ping, are you cold, you're all enshrouded." "This is your look?" "Doing it on you, does it allow you to be objective?" Interpretation: "Ping, I take delight in the wondrously, epically unbalanced elderly woman you will be someday. Really... I hope you send pictures."

"Seth Aaron, How confidant are you in this zipper?" "It's cartoonish." Seth defends his idea. Interpretation: "Seth Aaron, I'm not sure even Judy Jetson wants the atrocity of her zipper showing, although it is unusual and the judges might just like it. Are you sure you can pull this off?"

Tim to Jeneane, "Talk to me..." Jeneane explains "this is my little black dress" Tim, "Here's my difficulty, this fabric shows EVERYTHING. I'm so distracted by how it puckers and how those seams don't lay flat..." "Clean it up as much as you can." Interpretation: "Wow, this is bad. This is garbage. Really, so very awful. It's so poorly made I can't even see through the flaws to notice it's black. Nina will rip this apart - you cannot send this down the runway."

Tim's next question? "How's Anthony doing?" Anthony answers, but Tim clearly isn't listening, he's checking out the garment. "Talk to me..." Anthony mentions that his garment, "isn't working for me." Tim replies, "It isn't working for me either." He then picks up a piece of Anthony's material, "This is the starring actor, why would you introduce a poor supporting player?" Anthony's answer cracked Tim up... no interpretation necessary - Anthony gets it.

Moving on to Jesus: "Is this a 'need' to put the seam in here, or is it a design plan." Interpretation: "They will so call you out on this prominent addition of length. You should have left it short. You will be in the bottom three with this seam."

Emilio's turn: Tim says, "Alright, I have one comment to make. I'm just looking at a top that is still very unfinished. We've never had anyone in the whole history of the show just not finish. Ever." Emilio starts to panic, as his skirt is still in pieces on the table. Interpretation: "Stop working on the top and get a bottom on this dress. Now. Not in 10 minutes... NOW. Nobody will notice that is a fabulous top if she's showing her woo-hoo on the runway."

(That is the end of what we get to see of Tim's consultations. Look for the above players to be the top three and bottom three.) We now see the designers scurry around to finish before midnight... Tim's visit generally has that effect. Jeneane is starting over, with two hours to go.
I cannot wait to see what the judges have to say!

*******

RUNWAY DAY:
One hour to send their models through the Garnier hair and L'oreal make-up rooms, remember - they have to do their final fittings also. One hour is not much. They all have so much to do still, how do we not see contestants pass out at this point?

TIME FOR THE RUNWAY!!! I can't believe how cute Heidi looks pregnant - there is no way I could have carried off that shade of green at any time during any of my pregnancies. Snaps for Heidi! She's so amazing. Plus? I'm glad to see Nina and Michael made it for the judging. One of the reasons I didn't like Season 6 so much was the lack of Nina and Michael. I missed their commentary, they bring a lot to the table. Our guest judge this week is Nicole Ritchie! I've grown to really admire this young lady, she's doing great things with her life - ever since she lost that albatross named Paris she's had success written all over her.

(I'm not going to post pictures this early in the season - too many designers!)

We'll skip to the final "best and worst", as the following designers scored enough on their designs to be "safe" this week; Amy, Anna, Ben, Jeneane, Jay, Jesse, Jonathan, Maya, Mila & Pamela.

The remaining designers have the best and the worst designs. The judges need to talk to them about their designs:

Anthony wanted to design something different.
Heidi likes the bottom , but not the top.
Michael thinks it looks like he glued a few different dresses together, and thinks the average woman won't want that extra appendage on their hip.
Nina's biggest problem is that the fabric doesn't fit the silhouette. (That's Nina's biggest problem?)
Nicole thinks the back is a mess, too short & too tight... but likes the dress.

Seth Aaron, calls his dress "Little Tokyo". (OK, sidenote: if Gabriel Byrne is not available to play Seth in the movie version of Season 7? Wayne Newton already has the same wardrobe as Seth - he can do it.)
Nicole thinks everything works.
Heidi thinks it's fun.
Nina appreciated the back.
Michael thinks lots of young girls would love to own this.

Ping wants the fabric to look like fabric. When you move the shape and form change.
Nicole said it did grab her attention, this piece would work well in a fashion show.
Nina doesn't think this has enough hanger appeal.
Michael thinks this is a great opening project.

Jesus wanted to show a woman's body in an evening gown.
Heidi doesn't think it works. She noticed the seam where length was added.
Michael thinks it looks like a large crocodile trunk exploded on an evening gown.
Nina likens it to a gigantic chocolate bar.
Nicole sees potential if he had put more thought in to it.

Christiane wanted elegant, sexy, layers and textures.
Nina likes the draping, but not the fabrics. Badly made.
Michael thinks the draping works... but not really.

Emilio wanted to make a young, fresh cocktail dress, showcasing the interesting fabric.
Michael likes that is is deceptively simple. LOVES the detailing.
Heidi asks about the workmanship.
Nina appreciates the technical work, and thinks it has hanger appeal.
Nicole thinks it is fun and sexy at the same time, she thinks it was a great choice.

Now the judges chat.
Anthony, they don't like.
Christiane, they don't like. Unsophisticated.
Jesus, they didn't HATE, but it didn't work.
Seth Aaron, they are intrigued, they liked the styling and all of it.
Emilio, beautiful dress, love the cut, a success, only Heidi didn't 100% love.
Ping, very unusual, it was a favorite and it did stand out.


Emilio, Congratulations! You are the winner of this challenge.

Christiane, you are out. Auf wiedersehen.

Project Runway Season 7

I didn't love Season 6, I didn't recap Season 6. I felt like Season 6 didn't live up to the Project Runway experience that we have come to expect. I didn't plan on not blogging Season 6, but after the first two episodes I recognized there wouldn't be any point. There really wasn't much to work with. (Ummm, the first challenge had Lindsay Lohan as a guest judge. That seemed like a good idea to them?)

Where were the unforgettable characters in Season 6? Who was to be the next Austin, Santino, or WENDY? (Wendy pacing the sidewalk at the end of the first year, talking to herself? Come on - brilliant.) Where were the quirky designers we had grown to know and love? Kara's fleurchons, Kenley's stupid hats, Christian's hair, Jeffrey's neck tattoo? Please tell me that the Samantha Ronson doppelganger wasn't supposed to be it for last season - as she wasn't even there long enough that I remember her name.

Plus? Where the hell were Michael and Nina? I don't want judging without Michael and Nina! Enough with the guest judges - they make a fine addition to the show, but as replacements left me feeling cheated.

I'm going to be recapping this time, and I hope it's back to the old quality standards for the show. They're back in NY, so it's looking up already. I LOVE Project Runway - and have high hopes for it's illustrious return to being one of the greatest reality tv shows out there. It's just more fun that way!

It starts tonight... ready? Set? Go!