PRToons, E3

Sur la plage, bitches!

[Illustrations: Alex Cox/Projectrungay.blogspot.com]


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Team Last-But-Not-Least

Let's wrap it up!

One's a Persian Princess...

The other's a South Carolina nuclear physicist.

Together...they fight crime!

Model: Ebony Jointer

Hey, how about that? They made a beach outfit. Didn't they get the memo that in Project Runway Land, "beachwear" means "clothes that no sane person would wear to the beach?"

It's pretty cute, we gotta say. Love that print, and the braiding detail at the bust. Using the necklace to hold the whole thing up is interesting, but we wonder how practical it would be.

It looks like the shorts have some braiding on them too. That might be overdoing it a bit.

But we do like that they made them boy shorts. They look cute.

Model: Valerie Roy

Oy.
It's not the worst entry this week, not by a long shot.

But it's WAY overdone. This has got Dr. Whitfield all over it.

It was an interesting choice of fabrics and we get that they were trying to evoke waves, but the whole thing's too heavy-looking for that image to come to mind. Maybe they meant that this dress was supposed to evoke what a woman in a gown would look like once she got hit with a wave. If so, good job!


Tim Gunn's Workroom Critique:




[Photos: Mike Yarish/myLifetime.com - Video: myLifetime.com - Screencaps: Projectrungay.blogspot.com]



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Team Salt and Pepper

Color us disappointed, poodles.

We thought these two were going to make an interesting team. They both have talent and strong points of view and we were curious to see what they'd come up with. Turns out?

Model: Lisa Blades

Not much.


Don't get us wrong. It's cute; it's appropriately beachy; it's well made. The problem is it's just so ... sans style, y'know? The little bubble hem is nice, the pleating in the bust is too, but... we don't know, it just leaves us disappointed. It's like they both have such strong points of view that, rather than find a way to blend them, they both put them aside just to bang out something to get them through the challenge.

When we saw the work in progress, we thought "Oh, how cute.That bikini top looks just like something they would put together." Kinda sharp and bold; kinda retro."

But then they did this weird half cover-up and never showed the bikini top at all except through the strangely small bust.

Like we said, it's okay. It's just a little disappointingly bland.

Model: Tanisha Harper

Y'know, it's a great looking dress. It really is.

But it's so aggressively NOT avant garde in any way that we almost feel they should have been called on it.

There is quite literally nothing about this dress that hasn't been done a million times before on a million other dresses, from the bodice made out of zippers to the asymmetrical ruffled skirt.


Kudos to them, because it looks like a lot of work and it's pretty much flawlessly executed, but SO not avant garde. We had troubles with almost every other avant garde entry but in most other cases, we can at least say that they tried to do something a little off the beaten path. This is pure beaten path all the way. Cute, but so done. And that's not what one should be saying about a look that's supposed to be avant garde.

These two were apparently a bad match as a team. They got the work done without any drama, but the end results were bland.


Tim Gunn's Workroom Critique:


[Photos: Mike Yarish/myLifetime.com - Video: myLifetime.com - Screencaps: Projectrungay.blogspot.com]



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Team Cute

Consider the following to be Exhibit A in the case of the Crack is Whack Judging.

Look at them. It's like a Tiger Beat cover.

To be honest, we never would have considered these two a good combination. Not that we expected a personality clash. Logan is too low-key and Christopher's too darn likable. We just didn't think they had aesthetics that would work well together.

Model: Katie Sticksel

We're coming around a bit on the Logan thing. His first couple of looks underwhelmed us, but with this look, we get a better understanding of his style. We like it.

Definitely has an L.A. feel to it and while it's deceptively simple, it's stylish and has some nice touches. We can't say that we personally like the sprayed-on metallic look, but it's youthful and it's got an edge to it. Besides, without that bit of shimmer, the outfit could have looked a little drab. Logan's definitely not big on color.

There's a bit of a fit issue with the pants, though. On the other hand, big points for the hat. It's not exactly original, but he's the only one that thought to do it and it does take this outfit from just being a typical L.A. look to more of a beach look.

We like the simplicity of the top too. Could have used a little more thought with the belt, though.

It surprises us to say this, but this was one of, if not THE best beach looks on the runway, in our opinion.

Model: Kojii Helnwein

Now, we're not going to say that this is avant garde, but what it IS is closer to the concept of avant garde than just about anything else offered this episode. Most of the other entries were either overworked party dresses or overworked ball gowns. This at least stands on its own as a unique look.

And he did a nice job tying it into the beach look, what with the general color scheme, the use of the same materials, and the fact that the top of the outfit evokes a wetsuit.

The lacing up the back was a nice touch too. But what really takes this close to avant garde is the incredible volume on the bottom and rather interesting way it was achieved. There are so many techniques at work her and with the various shades and types of fabric, it almost looks like she's walking in a cloud of smoke.

Are we saying this team should have won? No. Well, maybe. One thing's for sure, it's insane that they were shuffled off the runway as a middle of the pack entry.

Tim Gunn's Workroom Critique:



[Photos: Mike Yarish/myLifetime.com - Video: myLifetime.com - Screencaps: Projectrungay.blogspot.com]



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Team Drama-Free

Day off? There's no days off in reality television blogging!

Honestly, we thought this was the oddest pairing out of all of them and yet...

Model: Kalyn Hemphill

The bitches made it work.

We could quibble over how beachy this look is (hint: not at all), but it really was a cute, chic, easy look. In fact, it kind of calls to mind what Mitchell's maternity outfit SHOULD have been if he'd been more talented.

What keeps it in beach mode is the macramé bathing suit and from the back, we have to agree with the judges, it was gorgeous and unique.

Although it does look a little like those potholders we made in summer camp in the '70s.

Still, it was stylish and simple and really, that's all the challenge called for.

Model: Emarie Wiltz

We don't care how much Max Azria praised this, we were underwhelmed.

As so many commenters have already pointed out, there was a bit too much to remind us of Christian Siriano's and Chris March's avant garde look from season 4. Namely, the big asymmetrical collar.

Aside from that, there was just too much of everything with this dress, which for some reason, is how a lot of these designers envisioned avant garde: just turn the dials up to 11 and call it a day.

And why was there so much shit brown on that runway?

Yes, the woven bodice was kindasorta interesting and we'll give them credit for tying their two looks together (asymmetrical, brown, macramé), but this just looks like an overdone party dress. Interesting, but a little too sloppy and not avant garde in any real way.

They deserved what praise they got however, and Johnny must be singled out for making sure that the judges knew how invaluable Irina was to the team. Good job, kids.

Don't worry. We'll get to Mad Men soon. In the mean time, go read this week's T Lo Awards.



Extended Judging:





[Photos: Mike Yarish/myLifetime.com - Video: myLifetime.com - Screencaps: Projectrungay.blogspot.com]



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Team Bickerson

On this episode of Divorce Court...

When it comes to reality show throw-downs, editing almost always plays a huge part in heightening the drama and taking sound bites from a 2 or 3-day period and making them sound like a rapid fire argument. With Epperson and Qristyl, 2 contestants who up till now had come across as quiet and friendly, respectively, the editing suddenly showed them to be pompous and defensive with each other.

Which isn't to say that there weren't clear personality conflicts going on; just that, as viewers to this rapid-edit bitchfight, we really can't say who was in the wrong here or who started it or who should have acted differently.

Certainly, the normally quiet, somewhat affable Epperson did come across as if he thought Qristyl needed to be told what to do.

And Qristyl, for her part, did come across a mite too defensive every time Epperson opened his mouth. Plus she never seemed to let him finish a sentence without jumping all over him.

One thing we will never understand about these types of conflicts is why one of them never says to the other "Look, I don't like you but I don't want to get sent home and neither do you. How about we shut up and finish this without the sniping?"

The ironic thing is that for all their bitching and scratching...

Model: Erica Milde

They had almost nothing to show for it. This is just okay. A basic sundress with some minor twists - and the twists didn't work out so well.

First off: titscrepancy. Heidi made a point to commend them on how well they fit the bust - and we would have thought that to be the one area where she had more knowledge than the other judges - but those boobs don't look so hot to us.

Second, that weird torso panel. Does it come off or not? Tim didn't like it when it was removable and she didn't take it off on the runway, but why does it still look like a separate piece? And why didn't the judges notice that?

Third, there's the balloon effect on the skirt. We no love.

We also no love those shoes, but that's a different story.

It's just a boring dress with a weird silhouette, wonky boobs, and a panel that either does or does not come off. Confusing. No one should have to think that much about something you could pick up at Dress Barn for 20 bucks.

Model: Matar Cohen

Avant garde: a⋅vant-garde /əˌvɑntˈgɑrd, əˌvænt-, ˌævɑnt-, ˌɑvɑnt-; Fr. avɑ̃ˈgard/
Pronunciation [uh-vahnt-gahrd, uh-vant-, av-ahnt-, ah-vahnt-; Fr. a-vahn-gard]
–noun
1. the advance group in any field, esp. in the visual, literary, or musical arts, whose works are characterized chiefly by unorthodox and experimental methods.

2. a shitty bathing suit with a curtain stapled to it.

What can we say? This was a disaster.

A poorly conceived, poorly executed, badly fitted poop-colored disaster that was about as avant garde as a fart.

In fact, it's a fart in clothing form.

Nina put it best and had the only reaction one could possibly have toward this:

"What IS this?"

We could go on and on about how "avant garde" is meaningless as a directive or style brief (and we probably will for the rest of the week) because it means different things to different people, but we can say with some assurance that NO ONE would consider this avant garde in any way, shape or form. There's nothing forward-thinking about this; nothing that challenges the audience in any way. It's a very basic garment, poorly executed, with a last-minute desperate addition of a big, incongruous poof.

In that sense, it was a perfect summation of their time together as a team.

We keep going back and forth, trying to find a person to blame here. Qristyl threw Epperson under the bus! But Epperson deserved it because he took over and treated her badly! But she should have asserted herself without being so defensive! But! But!

Oh, to hell with it. They both acted badly and it showed in the final product.

Extended judging:


[Photos: Mike Yarish/myLifetime.com - Video: myLifetime.com - Screencaps: Projectrungay.blogspot.com]



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