PROJECT RUNWAY 3.10: SCARY/BACK
September 13th, 2006, 11:43 pm · 3 Comments · posted by Sam Mittelsteadt
So, I fired up the DVR around 10:20 p.m. to start my recap and I realized that when you select a program the machine’s in the middle of recording — say, in a purely hypothetical way, "Project Runway" — it doesn’t start you at the beginning of the episode, but the current broadcast moment. (Then you have to rewind the program to the beginning.)"Well, this must be a repeat," I said to myself as I watched the designers scurry around backwards at superspeed. "There’s Vincent, and there’s Angela. But they got kicked off already."Oh, it’s no repeat: Much to the delight — or not — of the other designers, they’re back in the game. Luckily, the game turns out to be a very short one.The episode starts off with lots of designers talking about making it to "the final five." Final five this, final five that … I’ve never heard anyone talk about making it two-away-from-top-three before, and the fact that everyone’s so thrilled about it makes me suspect that five ain’t nothin’ but a number that’s about to get messed up.Heidi trots out onto the runway wearing a supercute little silk babydoll minidress and informs the designers she won’t be informing the designers about anything right now: There’s going to be a L’Oreal party tonight, and she’ll tell them more about their challenge then, in front of a couple of special guests. (Also, no booting of one of the models. You know: girls walking out barefoot; the "models, this is a competition for you, too"; the winning designer sticking with his muse, etc. Suspicious, no?)Suspicious, oui: Jeffrey says he’s not looking forward to this party, since "It’s going to be a trap. It’s not going to be a party" — dramatic pause — "at all."Well, the "tonight" Heidi refers to must have happened pretty damn fast, because the designers are wearing the same clothing when they arrive at the nightclub. Kayne, bless his simpleton/simple tastes heart, suggests that the special guests are going to be the members of Destiny’s Child. Well, at least Beyonce is a step up from his "jetsetting" Tara Reid scenario.Oh, but the first guest is … Vincent, who trips when he is coming out to meet the other designers, who look sort of queasy now. (Laura, being three months pregnant, can use morning sickness as an excuse, but the others are on their own.) And when Guest #2 is revealed to be Angela, Jeffrey looks suspended in disbelief. "We’re giving them a chance to come back," Heidi says.Vincent and Angela are flabbergasted; Kayne chugs the rest of his glass of champagne as his voiceover interview compares the returning designers as coming back "like cockroaches." (I am disappointed he didn’t toss a Cher reference in there, too.) Heidi says it had been decided that any designer who won a previous challenge would be eligible to come back (well, except Keith) for this challenge; since Vincent had won the dress-my-mom challenge and Angela was team leader of the Macy’s challenge, they’re baaaaack.All seven will compete this week; if either Vincent or Angela wins, they’ll be allowed to return for good. No matter what, THREE designers will be going home at the end of the episode. "It’s really great," Angela says, holding her head in her hands like she has the biggest migraine ever and speaking with approximately the same amount of elan. At first I was kind of glad to see her back — think of how this will bother Jeffrey! — but then two things happened: (1) I realized she was wearing another stupid bubble skirt, and (2) She used the phrase "This is so gravy" in an interview. And just like that, I was back to hating her.As are quite a few of the other designers. While still at the party, Uli tells her model, "If I go before Angela, it’s going to be embarrassing." In an interview, Jeffrey says, "And the good news is" — dramatic pause — "…" — no, this isn’t a dramatic pause, he’s really struggling to find something to say — "…" — uh, now he’s giving up — "…" — yeah, he’s done. There is no good news.And back in the room the next morning, Laura points out to Angela, "Your win was a team win, so it doesn’t seem quite as fair that you got to come back." (Translation: "Michael and I did a buttload of work editing your lame designs down to something usable, so the fact you get to come back doesn’t seem right.") Angela says something along the lines of, "Well, I think it does!" Yes, and you thought Hollie Hobby was a great reference for a design that got you kicked off already.Oh, there’s a challenge, too: Design an outfit using only black and white fabric. The criteria will be weighted heavily toward design and silhouette, and the styling.Sketch time! Kayne has a big ol’ pair of drag queen cha-cha heels in front of him for inspiration. Laura interviews that after last week’s runway smackdown, she’s going to design something younger: "A youthful, baby-doll dress with a low, square neckline." And then we see her sketch, which looks exactly like a Laura dress, only run through a flapper mill: A long, lean, tasteful sheath, only with feathery-looking detail at the hem. Laura, remember Heidi’s dress from like five minutes ago? That’s a young-looking baby-doll dress. Your sketch looks nothing like that.Tim drops a second bomb on the designers: They must use every scrap of material in their design. No safe overage.Uli — damn Uli! — says she’s going to make a "hippie beach party cocktail dress in prints." Like every other week we’ve seen her. But at least she’s not Angela, who’s going to make "a leather shrug" with "an Edwardian collar" lined "in charmeuse." I think those three phrases were never intended to be spoken aloud with each other. And at this point I realize: Angela’s not going to win, so she’s going home. (One down, two to go.)Vincent gets half a yard too much of one of his fabrics. Kayne’s dress looks awesome from the front but (a) the only white on the whole outfit is piping and a ribbon, and (b) he’s got this weird belt that Michael tells him looks like a hooker. So he ditches it, which leaves him with even less white than before. When Tim Gunn comes in for consultations, he asks where the white is, and Kayne holds up the belt and asks if that counts. "Oh, Jesus!" Tim declares in this overwrought tone that’s equal parts outrage and shock. "I’d call it a trim, not a fabric!"Laura is wracked with self-doubt. She tells Tim Gunn she can’t "exhaust myself with the Olsen twins" when she has a mature point of view. (This, to my chagrin, is the only time the Olsen twins show up in this episode.) She’s tired. She’s even crying. Oh, and in case we haven’t heard a billion times, she’s pregnant. Even her model is hectoring her: "How can (the dress) be younger?" Here comes Collier Strong, lead makeup artist for L’Or









September 14th, 2006 at 5:38 am
I hate Jeffrey! When can he be gone? I am thrilled my girl Laura made it!
September 14th, 2006 at 7:34 am
This is becoming a comedy show! I was rolling this morning! Oh. Sweet. Mercy. I choked on the Cher comment…and Drag Queen Girl has better pecs than most men I know. Wow. Where in the hell did they find herm? Shim?
Signe Channel by the way will give you another hilarious shot of the fashion world. I call it “The Devil Wears Lagerfeld”…that clacking of the rings…
September 14th, 2006 at 11:20 am
Rather than blast those designers who try too hard, I think Laura and Michael are the two real designers. Michael especially really seems to care about the assignments, and even though he isn’t always playing to his strengths he does come up with some beautiful articles. I liked the white dress with the black decorative cumber-bund from last night’s program. I thought it was quite chic.
Laura, too, has some great ideas even though she has a problem with designing for other people. Most of the time she is designing for herself. Her workmanship and finishing looks wonderful and I’m so glad she won last night. I thought her dress was lovely, although it might be considered a “wear once” dress. This dress could not be worn very often without it being noticed as having been worn before — maybe this is a good thing!