Project Runway All Stars, Episode 10: Is U.N. or Is You Ain’t?

Right off the bat, can I just spoil the whole thing and say how happy I am that Seth Aaron won? He flew under the radar the whole season, he didn’t throw temper tantrums or hissy fits, he didn’t doubt his vision or what he was setting out to do, and he wasn’t a drama queen. He made beautiful, unique clothes, his collection was coherent and exciting, and was a nice guy to the end. Bravo, Seth Aaron.

That being said, I felt sorry for Elena and Korto, because they produced some beautiful clothes, too. And were nice people who didn’t feel the need to tear down the other contestants. Elena did cry a lot, but hey, it’s Elena. The maturity level really rocketed this season from previous ones.

The episode started with Alyssa explaining that the final challenge was for these remaining All Stars to design a six-look collection to showcase their talent. They would have 4 days to do so, and the inspiration was to come from their cultural heritage: Eastern Europe/Ukraine for Elena, Spain for Seth Aaron, and West Africa/Liberia for Korto. To help them become immersed in their cultures, they were to visit the Headquarters of the United Nations, where they would meet with the Under-Secretary-General for Communications, Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal and the ambassador from their country of heritage. After their meetings, they were instructed to stay and sketch at the U.N. Alyssa also explained that the final runway show would be held at the U.N.

The three designers met with Mr. Launsky-Tieffenthal, who had the most charmingly unplaceable accent I’ve heard in a while. Korto then met with George S.W. Patten, Sr., from Liberia; Seth Aaron met with Fernando Fernandez- Arias from Spain, and Elena met with Yegor Pyvovarov from the Ukraine. It was touching to hear Korto talk about the collections she has taken back to West Africa and the local models she has used. I was surprised to learn that Elena came to the U.S. at the age of 10—what different backgrounds these designers come from!

The designers rush on to Mood, where they have one hour and $2000 to shop for material. Back at the workroom, they get cracking and surreptitiously eyeing what the others are doing.

Day 2 and here comes Zanna to raise the anxiety level, making everyone second guess themselves about their collections. Tim Gunn, where are you? You have such a light touch, leavening your criticism with solid advice. Come back to Project Runway, Tim Gunn, Tim Gunn. But Zanna does bring reinforcements—each designer gets a helper for 24 hours. It’s SO GOOD to see Christopher, Viktor, and Jeffrey again. The workroom doesn’t seem as deserted.

On Day 3, Alyssa shows up with the Expected Unexpected Twist. They must use fabric from some collection (they didn’t bother to put the name up in a banner, so I didn’t bother remembering it) in a SEVENTH DESIGN. They really do know how to bring the stress level on this show. At least half of the seventh design must come from this fabric. Elena freaks out because of the patterns in all of the fabrics, but Viktor administers tough love and she comes down from the ceiling and gets to work.

On Day 4, there are protracted fittings, visits to the Ulta and Mary Kay salons, and trips to the QVC accessory wall. Before you know it, we are transported to the United Nations—aw, and there are Mychael and Daniel and Ari and all the other All Stars from this season. And there’s Zac Posen, who is also a guest judge this week, along with Gayle King from the Oprah dynasty.

All three shows go very well, but in the end there can be only one winner, as we have been reminded time and again. Elena’s collection is lovely, but not much new there so she is second runner-up. Korto has some stunning pieces, and a unique vision, but she has some taste problems with skirt lengths and fit. In the end, Seth Aaron has the best “Wow” factor and a beautifully cohesive collection, and so he takes the prize. Champagne glasses clink, people hug and congratulate, and we’re out. Ciao, bellas!

Project Runway All Stars, Ep. 6: Marge-inal Efforts

For this episode, our Project Runway All Stars are challenged to create an outfit for the most famous housewife in America since June Cleaver (oh, c’mon, you remember who June Cleaver was—I am NOT that old!). Alyssa gestures to the television monitor, and Marge Simpson appears, to everyone’s delight. Marge tells them that her wardrobe philosophy is “to find a dress that looks good on you and wear it every day for the rest of your life.” If it were only that easy!

Marge asks the designers to create a special outfit for her to wear for a dinner date with her husband Homer. Her edicts are that the dress cannot be green, and that it needs to be easy for Homer to remove in his inebriated state from several glasses of wine and the six-pack of beer he will sneak. My favorite line: “Use the accessories from the ‘Whoever’s Sponsoring the Accessories Wall Now’ wall.” Alyssa tells the designers that the winning design will be animated and worn by Marge in an upcoming episode of “The Simpsons.” She sends them off to do their magic in a day; they have 30 minutes to sketch and a $200 budget.

I love seeing the designer’s depictions of Marge in their sketches. Some don’t bother, but Christopher and Elena’s drawings are eerily reminiscent of the early days, when the Simpsons were a spot on Tracy Ullman’s comedy show.

At Mood, I’m seeing a lot of purple, so I guess that’s the anti-green. When they return to Parsons, their room has been decorated with all things Marge—useful to gauge the color tones. Zanna comes to do her customary walk-through/third degree, and manages to terrify Seth Aaron to the point that he starts over again—several times. She studies Elena’s design and points out that with Marge’s yellow skin and blue hair, the black, red, and purple ensemble will make Marge look like a Rubik’s cube.  Elena chirps to the camera, “Zanna likes where I’m going.” Is it a good thing to look like a Rubik’s cube?

Why does Christopher have two dresses? I have no idea, and he doesn’t either. However, Christopher does remark on Seth Aaron’s designs, “Where in the world did that dress come from? Is that the sixth one?” I guess when you only do two outfits, you can look down on those who put together six. Seth Aaron shares that he needs to take his outfit down about 27 notches—that’s a lot of dialing down. A whole lot of second guessing is going on, but the designs are getting worse instead of better. Oh, for the wisdom and practical adages of Tim Gunn—Zanna’s advice is not very useful.

Aw, Viktor apologizes to Christopher for being so cold to him after being in the bottom last week. Kiss and make up, you two. Just another example of the maturity of the All Stars—no knuckleheads screaming at each other, nobody stomping out of the room—just a little bit of jealousy, as it should be.

On the runway, we meet this week’s judges: Anthony Ryan Auld, who looks a bit like a cartoon character himself with his bright blue shorts and Mohawk (I thought it was Puck from “Glee” for a moment); Isaac Mizrahi (thank God for some continuity—no wonder the designers are all over the place this season with this constant changing of voices and opinions); Abigail Breslin; and Stacey Bendet from Alice & Olivia.

Irina’s gown is gorgeous; it’s easy to see that she’ll win this week. Jeffrey’s gown is absolutely awful—it’s as if he has forgotten how to make women’s clothes. Irina, Korto, and Elena are in the top three; Seth Aaron, Jeffrey, and Christopher are in the bottom three. Isaac comes off with some of the best zingers this week; he tells Jeffrey that it appears he is having trouble finding his muse (amen to that). Isaac tells Seth Aaron that his garment is a “dress of fear,” and tells Christopher that his dress “doesn’t look like one that I’ve seen hundreds of times, only fifty.” Ha!

In the end, Irina wins, and Jeffrey goes home. Once again, Jeffrey is gracious, thanking everyone for the opportunity and experience, understanding that you live and die by your own craft, not anyone else’s. Are you listening, Helen?

Project Runway All Stars, Episode 5: The “Lifetime Channel Plugs Itself…Again” Challenge

Note: I did not forget to post a recap of last week’s unconventional challenge episode—rather, I am going to pretend that it never happened. Why, you may ask? Because it was a lousy idea to use children’s school and art supplies to make an outfit, because everything produced was pretty hideous, and because it didn’t count—no one went home. I thought the designs looked cheap at best and unwearable at worst. Christopher won, but the models all looked like Transformers to me. It was a gimme challenge, and I’m responding by sticking my fingers in my ears and singing La-la-la-la-la. If they won’t eliminate a designer, I won’t write a recap.

Anyway, on to this week: Alyssa greets the designers and tells them that one of the hottest trends today is the glamor of the 30’s—all thanks to a new miniseries premiering on Lifetime. Huh, what? This series hasn’t debuted yet and it is setting fashion trends already? I can understand how a motion picture with a kick ass soundtrack like “The Great Gatsby” and coverage by Vogue and Women’s Wear Daily can sway fashion before its release, but a Lifetime miniseries? I’m finding this hard to believe, but whatever.

In any event, Alyssa introduces us to two of the stars (via video) of “Bonnie and Clyde” who inform the designers that they are to create a 30’s look for a young, modern couple. They will work in pairs to do this; Elena freaks out right away, of course; she has not done menswear. Alyssa emphasizes that the couple’s outfits must complement each other, and of course they have a day to do it. Christopher selects Viktor to work with him, Seth Aaron picks Jeffrey, Irina takes Mychael, and Korto and Elena are de facto partners.

At Mood, the designers tear around selecting fabrics, and Viktor jokes that he is on Project Runway Total Fitness. Whoa, that purple fabric that Seth Aaron is purchasing looks like something The Joker might wear. I do not like what Mychael is buying, either—too much metallic.

Back at the workroom, Zanna checks in. From the front, Viktor’s jacket looks like something Thurston Howell III would wear, while the back is channeling Tina Turner. Zanna has a lot of doubts about most of these outfits, and wisely tells the designers that they should edit themselves, and ask their partners lots of questions. Which no one does.

I do feel for Jeffrey when he throws a temper tantrum—his model’s measurements are a year old, meaning the fit of his jacket is off, translating to much work in a little bit of time. But he sucks it up, apologizes for his tirade to model and coworkers, and gets back to it.

When it’s time for the runway, we have four judges besides Alyssa—and I have to say, this is just too many conflicting voices to hear from, as some folks love something, and the person next to them hates it. In any event, this week (besides Isaac Mizrahi, who I think is one of the truly authentic fashion voices because of his years in design and the failures he has sustained as well as the triumphs), we have Austin Scarlett (from the oh-so-long ago Season 1 of Project Runway), Elie Tahari (hoorah, another experienced designer!), and Bar Refaeli, a model (meh).

On the runway, I like Jeffrey and Seth Aaron’s pairing, and think both pieces go together well. Elena’s design looks like Elena’s designs these past weeks, and she’s looking more and more like a one-trick pony (albeit an entertaining one). During the critiques, I’m confused by Bar’s remarks—I’m scared of him, I’m not scared of her. Who cares? Alyssa sends the designers away, telling them “We’re going to have our debate.”

Boy, is Viktor a poor loser—he seems really pissed off that Christopher received a sterling critique while his was poor. In the end, Jeffrey wins (as he should) and Mychael goes home. And once again, how refreshing is it to see a class act thank everyone for the opportunity, tell the judges (singling out Isaac) that he has heard their feedback and will take it to heart, and wish everyone a gracious farewell. The majority of these designers really are all-stars and with their willingness to try, fail, and learn, have a leg up on the other designers who whined when they were eliminated.

Project Runway All Stars, Ep. 1: Sucked Into a Black Hole Again

Damn you, Project Runway! After that pathetically horrible reunion show from the previous season (a WEEK ago! Can’t we have any breathing room?), I swore I was going to skip All Stars. Promised myself I’d be better off without it! And then you put Mychael Knight and Daniel Esquivel on, and I’m sunk. Two of my past favorites, so I’m reeled back into your trap. Sucked into the Black Hole that is Project Runway again.

Before I turn to this episode, I just wanted to mention how bitterly disappointed I was by the reunion show for Season 12. It was bad enough that we were missing Heidi, Nina, and Zac–was this season’s set of designers truly so whack-o that only Tim Gunn had the stomach to handle them? But it was such a weird, unhappy vibe from the group. Lots of sour grapes from Helen, Jeremy, Sandro, and Ken to make the mood really heavy. Dom didn’t seem all that happy. I was waiting for Alexandria and Helen to break out in a fist fight. And Sandro really needs meds or psych visits or something because he is just too delusional. The funniest part (weird funny, not ha-ha funny) was when Tim shared the tweets from Jeremy and Ken about Braden’s proposal being faked. Braden looked stricken by the comments, and I just felt badly for him. It was a sad ending to a stellar season, and it left me with a bad taste in my mouth. And I pray I never turn on All Stars and see Helen, because I will be tempted to put my foot through the television screen.

But I digress. We start the episode with Viktor from Season 8 telling us that he was robbed and he’s back. Uh-huh. He strolls up to Mychael and shakes hands. I am so happy to see Mychael, I’d turn cartwheels if I could. But I can’t so I just clap hands instead. Moments later, here comes my other boyfriend, Daniel. Hooray! Then one by one, the other designers converge on their meeting place–we see Christopher from Season 10 who states he is here “to sew stitches and cut bitches.” Elena and Melissa from Season 10 show up as well; none seem too thrilled to see the others. Korto from Season 5 is here–she was always good for a laugh. And Ari from Season 8 shows up, and is really a stunning woman. The group seems small for an All Stars, but whatever.

They stroll up to Alyssa Milano, our “Heidi” for the next several weeks, who greets them and notes that the group is a bit small, and she thinks they need competition. Cue the final three contestants–the winners from Seasons 3 (Jeffrey), 6 (Irina), and 7 (Seth Aron). Mychael looks like he’s going to cry.

Alyssa tells us that our judges this season are Isaac Mizrahi (HOO-RAH!) and Georgina Chapman (meh). She is gushingly complimentary to them as well as to this season’s Tim Gunn, Zanna Roberts Rossi. Let’s see if Zanna has the patience of Job, like Tim does.

This week’s challenge is to create a punk rock look for the runway. Alyssa shares that the guest judge this week is one of punk’s biggest legends. For a moment, I get very excited, thinking perhaps they had Lou Reed on the show before he died. How cool would that be? But no, it’s Debbie Harry. They are all given copies of her latest CD to inspire them in their sketching. And this week’s twist is that they have to work at Mood–no sewing room, no design room, no lounge–in short, no Parsons. Instead, they will be working in the basement of Mood. Mychael nails it: “This is the perfect situation for punk–nitty-gritty, raw, making something from nothing.”

Fast forward to Mood, and poor Swatch looks terrified of all of these designers in his house. Jeffrey tells us he’s been designing children’s clothing, so he’s a bit rusty. Everyone goes for dark and leather and tough ornamentation. Viktor is hammering grommets onto his jacket, which look tough, but what is with those pants? I don’t understand what Ari is trying to do, and I suspect she doesn’t either. Elena is freaking out, until the model suggests turning the jacket around. Genius! Daniel is making the same jacket we’ve seen from him before, but with some spiky add-ons. This does not bode well for your future, Daniel. Get out of your comfort zone!

Zanna comes to visit with some tough love, and we learn that hair will be provided by Alterna Hair Care, and cosmetics from Mary Kaye. Oh, L’Oreal, I never thought I’d miss you. But we just started seeing the power of the Butterfly Mascara.

On the runway, Debbie Harry looks like she’s stone, but I love her neon yellow platforms. The three high scores are Jeffrey, Seth Aron, and Elena with her jacket. The designers tell her how punk it is in that it works as a straight jacket, and she nods as if that were her plan all along. She wins, and we have boatloads of tears. Suck it up, girl–this is All Stars!

The lowest scores are Viktor (who is wearing a ball cap with two dinosaur toys on it), Melissa, and Ari. Poor Ari is first one voted off the island. But she’s gracious and thanks everyone for the opportunity.

In the coming weeks, we’ll get a lot of snark, drama, and tears. So what else is new?