Project Runway: It's Fashion Baby - The Recap!

Last night, Elena and Dmitry's dreams came true: they had a baby!  Just kidding.  They ALL had babies!  Our Top Six had the pleasure of designing baby outfits for Heidi's line at Babies R Us - Truly Scrumptious.  Oh baby!  (I can't stop)  But wait!  There was a TWIST - the designers had to run around that first day and night with one of those creepy crying babies that kids get in Home Ec nowadays.  Phew - I'm glad I dodged that bullet!  But besides that, the ACTUAL TWIST was that they had to design companion outfits for the moms of the babies they were designing for.
GUH
I say that because the mother that Christopher was working with was a super diva.  Not only did Christopher have conflicting feedback with Heidi and the mom but he had to design for both ladies, knowing that Heidi's opinion mattered more.  Talk about between a rock and a hard place!  Good thing he was able to turn it into a serious Make It Work moment - all the way to a win for the girl clothes!



So cute! These lovely ladies looked like they were ready for church or brunch or both!  At first, I wasn't crazy about the fabric on the baby dress with all those flowers and leaves but I kept having to remind myself that it was a baby challenge.  It's cute for babies.

Dmitry was not enjoying his time with his fake baby but he did give it a name: Brandon.  Aww.  He also said that designing for babies is like designing for a cat because they can't talk.  Ummm, yeah, they're totally the same thing.



This totally screamed "Super cute European Baby" to me.  It reminded me of the cool, quirky baby clothes my cousins were dressed in when they were babies...in Paris.  It also reminded me of David the Gnome.

Either way, it was still cute and I loved how Michael Kors was totally confused by the zippered hood that unzipped into a cape-like thing. Didn't they have jackets like that in the 70s? Yes they did because I have one.

Melissa must've taken a cue from Sonjia this week because she phoned it in BIG TIME.  She asked the baby's mom to sew buttons on.  Who does that?!  Tim had to go into the sewing room and kick her out to make it to the runway in time.  I mean, she really dropped the ball.



The mom's outfit was awful and the baby's outfit was so boring. I bet that's why Dmitry's baby kept falling asleep - he was that bored by Melissa's outfits.  I wish she had been sent home instead of everyone's favourite Bitch Supreme - Ugh...Elena.

Yes, it's true, Elena was eliminated last night and that made me very very sad.  While Michael Kors said it looked like a "baby sample sale", it was streets ahead of Melissa's.



Yes, she seemed to focus more on the cute jacket than the rest of the outfit and, yes, the qppliqués on the jacket killed me, I still preferred this look over Melissa. Honestly, I don't think the judges wanted to see outfit after outfit with giant shoulder pads walking down the runway for Fashion Week.

Personally, Fabio had my pick for the boy's winner last night.  What he made was super cute, extremely functional and he kept it playful.



He incorporated subtle hints of Heidi's monster-themed fabric, which was such a nice touch and the fact that he made a hat?! LOVE IT!  The outfit on the mom was cute too!  They were perfect little companion looks that were fantastic.  I think he was the only one who channeled whimsy and the cuteness of kids into his whole look.  Fabio was definitely robbed last night.

Robbed by who?  Sonjia.  She started in the right place with that cute blazer but I felt that the rest of the outfit didn't come together as successfully as they made it out to.


I did enjoy the jacket but I thought the pants and the tank were bringing the whole thing down. And trust me when I say No Tea, No Shade but - when I first saw the tank, I immediately thought: "Oh, it looks like one of Joshua McKinley's tanks shrank in the wash and Sonjia picked it up for her baby's outfit.  You have to admit, it's a pretty abstract colour / design combo from afar so, how can you NOT see that?  I think the whole thing would've worked better as separates but hey, I'm not a judge.

Also...this happened last night



I got a Tweet shout out from Mood! How does that play into the drinking game? One drink for when you hear "Thank you, Mood" but what happens when Mood thanks you?!  Gah!!  Fangirling hard core!

All I will say about next week is: AVANT-GARDE CHALLENGE!

I can't wait!  Too bad we'll be missing Elena's giant shoulder and Gunnar's half-leather creations.  BUT we will have Fabio and Dmitry's insane creativity so I cannot wait!!  Not saying that I don't think everyone else will excel but I'm just saying I'm most excited about those two!  It's going to be awesome!!

Sweet Valley - More Fall Sounds

I've found another album you can add to your Fall playlist (along with this one) and this time, it's coming from my favourite King of Things: Nathan Williams.
I know what you're thinking - Whoa!  Wavves has a new album?  Not just yet.  I'm sure you're aware Nathan and his little bro have a collab called Sweet Valley and they recently put up a 13 track album for FREE DOWNLOAD!



I can't stop listening to it!  It makes me inspired to make more videos like this and, coincidentally, Jay and I shot this around this time last year so maybe it's a combination of the music and the season that gives me that inspirational boost?  We'll see if he's up for some more filming.

Enjoy!

Feel The Project Runway Love!

So this happened on Instagram last night



Mr. Man-Cleave HIMSELF gave me a shout out on this photo!
 Naturally, this is my reaction:


What a wonderful day yesterday! First Gunnar retweeted me on Twitter and now this! I'm LOVING all the Project Runway love!
Thanks you guys!

Project Runway: Get a Kick Out of Fashion - The Recap!

Last night was too cute!  Christopher was freaking out because of the Rockettes and Dmitry was all "Heidi in that short green outfit. Whoa."  Easy there cowboy.  I thought you had hearts for Elena?!  I kid.  This challenge was too cute - and SPARKLY.  It was like my childhood dreams threw up all over the place.  There was glitter, rhinestones, pink, more glitter and even MORE rhinestones.  It was like all my drag fantasies come true!  But the designers didn't have a whole lot of time to work that first day of construction.  Why?  They were sent to a dinner!  Aww.  How sweet.  Another distraction!  It proved to be the most distracting for Sonjia since she was rolling her eyes the entire time (that we saw, anyway) and during her Skype call to her BF, you could tell she was losing steam.  Also, Elena took that time to apologize for being a bitch.  Huhwhatnow?  For real?  She apologized to Dmitry?  Can Dmitry and Elena just have babies already?!  Ugh!  It's driving me crazy!  I thought for sure they were going to sneak off and makeout during the dinner the designers went on.  Oh well.  Maybe later?  At least they finally buried the hatchet.  I guess you won't need that silver bullet and wooden stake, Dmitry.



So let's start the Project Runway Pride Day Rockettes Challenge glitter throwdown with Dmitry's new BFF Elena.

Girl. GURL. You said it looked like a band costume. GIRL. It IS a band costume. But you know what? It's not the worst outfit from this challenge.



If you were sitting in the back row of Radio City Music Hall, you could definitely see all the sparkle. That's for damn sure. And I like how Dmitry was all "Why do you make things you hate". Why would he say that? Well, Elena always complains about how she hates her fabric choices and the patterns and blah blah blah. She's an artist and if she's an artist like me, she will totally hate everything she's ever done. I can totally sympathize with her because as an artist, I'm always second guessing my work. It's never really done until it's handed off for that deadline or cutoff date or whatever and even then, it's still not done because I continue to see flaws in my work no matter how old it is. I feel you, girl. We can't all be crazy talented and amazing like Dmitry and turn out a beautiful piece executed to perfection the first time, every time. Most artists don't work that way...

Moving on to Elena's new BFF, Dmitry. His ballroom dance competition costume making skills definitely came into play and I LOVED IT. He hasn't really sexed up anything in a long time and this was extremely sexy.



Heidi loved it, of course (with all that skin showing), and so did all the judges. Fabio said something about the movement: When she [the model] stands still, it still moves. Ugh. So gorgeous. And normally, I'm not crazy about his model but she looked like a vision last night. Well done!

I don't know why Sonjia seemed to lose major steam but she totally phoned it in and Michael Kors had the second best line of the night by calling this look a "Crazy disco turkey".  YES GIRL.



I mean, Sonjia didn't just put a bird on it, she put plucked, like, a whole family of birds and just threw it together. I think Heidi & Co. were so upset by this and I think that's what prompted Heidi's tough love speech to designers. It's not playtime anymore kids, this shit is for keeps now.  SERVE IT HEIDI.  Sonjia should've been sent home for this bullshit but I'm glad she wasn't because...

Ven got the boot last night!  Finally!  I was so happy to see him go!  He was also losing major steam and I think it was because he got a major talking to about his stupid flower shit.  Too bad, Ven.  I think you might've forgotten the show you're on because you do realize this show is about stepping OUTSIDE your comfort zone, yes?  This look prompted the BEST line of the night by none other than Dmitry (who has been serving up one-liners like nobody's business): "Listen to Tim and put some glitter on it".  Ha!  Love it!  This line trumps "crazy disco turkey" because, well, we expect those kinds of shenanigans from Kors...



ZZzzzzzzZzzZZZzzzZZZZZzzz
Oops. My blog went to sleep for a minute there. Yes, the colour was pretty and the netting was cute but holy shit this was boring. Think about it: 36 gorgeous Rockettes in that snoozefest? No thanks.

Fabio has been flying comfortably under the radar and that's kinda pissing me off.  Why?  This outfit was starting to freak me out during the construction because it looked like super huge rick-rack on the top.  I was only slightly concerned and maybe a little disappointed BUT when this look came down the runway, I swooned BIG TIME.



Fabio's model looked like she freakin walked out of the artwork around Rockefeller Center FOR REALS.



I think that point was definitely lost on the judges, though.  That skirt was CRAY and I want one so bad!  Fabio should've been in the top for this!  He did such an amazing job!  If I ever wanted a Greek Goddess / female Trojan warrior look, FABIO IMMA CALL YOU.  This look was gorgeous!

Melissa was clearly taking the overly ambitious route for this challenge and she definitely bit off more than she could chew for this.  I'll agree with Ven about Melissa working way too slowly.  Or was it Christopher?  I don't remember - either way, she's too slow and too methodical for some challenges.  It's not a bad thing AT ALL - it's just not gonna work on this show, girl.



While her model was styled super cute, I wasn't crazy about the giant number 1 on her boobs and neither were the judges. I guess it was that situation where you work with something long enough, you start missing things - like a giant number 1. I feel you girl. At least Ven offered his help to hand sew some things for you and Tim showed you some mercy by giving you all a second chance shopping trip to Mood.

Christopher worked this one OUT.  I thought for sure he was going to go down in flames with his ambitious NYC skyline but DAMMIT this shit is FLAWLESS.

 

Personally, I would've like just a tad more colour in this but this look was AMAZING.  His model looked like the perfect little China Doll and the buildings were crafted so well!  He really wowed the judges this time and I think the Rockettes will flip out over this look.  And they're so lucky they get to wear it for a performance!  Hooray for Christopher!  If that didn't launch him to the top of the Fan Fave list, I don't know what can.

I would've LOVED to have seen what kind of awesomeness Gunnar would've turned out for this challenge!  Wait - what's that?  Gunnar retweeted that from me?!  BEST EMAIL TO WAKE UP TO EVER! (besides getting a message via She Loves You Blog's Tumblr ask box about how I have a message from Gunnar!)



I can't even believe it! Thank you so much Gunnar!!  You're, like, my Project Runway blog BFF right now!  Thank you for the shout outs!!  #TEAMGUNNAR FOREVER!!!

Hense

If you know Atlanta, you're most definitely familiar with graffiti artist Alex Brewer - aka Hense.  You've seen his name around town and I'm sure you're seen some of his larger pieces as well.  Friday, I accompanied Lauren, Chandler and Cynthia to his art show, SPRAY, at Sandler Hudson Gallery.  It was a little overwhelming at first but I managed to channel my inner Gallery Girl and I put my best Bitch Face forward. While the artwork was great, I really enjoyed people watching.

 

Needless to say, I felt extremely out of place and I felt like my OTP (that's Outside The Perimeter to you non-ATLiens) status was a neon sign above my head.  Normally, I don't give two shits about that but for some reason, it was a nagging pain.  I think it might be time for another existential crisis but hey, that's for another post!

 

Being at the space and seeing various pieces of art up close was good for me because it's nice to remember that things like this do happen in Atlanta.  I feel like nothing is really going on but there's lots to do!  Maybe there is hope for me and Atlanta yet!

If you're in the area and you want to check out some of Alex Brewer (Hense) and Greely Myatt's work, check it out at Sandler Hudson Gallery September 14 - October 20 2012.  Afterwards, you can get a bangin cup of coffee or a tasty cocktail at Octane.

Photo Post!

So much stuff has been happening!
My office finally got painted at work and I'm in the process of reorganizing for all my new equipment that's supposed to come in soon...



I experimented with a gradient mani and IT WORKED!! The red and black version is my favourite so far but the pink fade is looking pretty good too!

 

Coffee jokes



These two kids were adorable! I caught them posing at The Varsity while I was stuck in traffic on North Ave.



I finally got a shot of this sign! Too bad it was at 1:30am but still.



The old man and I went for some delicious vegan pancakes at a new spot we haven't tried yet



On that same trip, I was finally able to capture a photo of the BEST display EVER!

Project Runway: It's All About Me - The Recap! (Semi-NSFW)

Last night was a tough night for TV!  Let's just say that Glee won out over Project Runway (sorry!) and I only caught the last half hour.  Oh, and I was doing my nails.  I think I'm getting the hang of the gradient look!

Please excuse my messy cuticles - I was a little rough on them last night and this morning...

Anyways - last night was the long awaited textile challenge and I was so happy to see Mondo's adorable little face!


I was able to briefly watch the first 10 minutes or so so I know that the moms / boyfriends / best friends / sisters came into the work room.  I was also trying to do the switch back and forth thing - where I saw Sonjia say something about how she didn't want to be thinking about her mom the whole time and at first I was like, "Uh - don't be a bitch about your mom Sonjia" but that seemed to be the order of the evening.  I get it - you're distracted by your mom / friends / boyfriends / sisters / etc but holy crap!  My second thing about Sonjia is that this lipstick isn't working:



I know I'm all about the pale pinks (my mani y'all!) but I don't think it's working for her.  It's too weird on camera.  Maybe it looks better in person?  I hope so.  And since I'm on the Sonjia train, let's start with her.

   

I'm not gonna lie - all I kept thinking was Sonjia was trying to steal Mondo's steeze on the wide pants front for the textile challenge. While I liked that the pattern didn't end up looking like Pac-Man eating her crotch - an MK critique - I felt like it was too close to Mondo's.  And Mondo's fit was so much better AND he is STILL the reigning master of prints and print mixing.  I will say this about Sonjia's pants - they're nice and even though she was worried about the fit, they fit well and they looked good.  Those shoes are killing me though.  I know I've been in love with them since Michael C used a variation of them in the Godspell challenge but dare I say it, I'm kinda sick of them since I've seen them EVERY.  SINGLE.  RUNWAY DAY.

MOVING ON.

I'm glad Ven finally got the talking to he needed about his stupid fucking flowers.

 

I liked how Heidi said she looked like a Hawaiian Airline hostess. YES GIRL. That was so terrible!! And even though I missed Tim Gunn say this in the workroom, he said this was the "Ode to a menstrual cycle" dress.  How do I know he said that?  Oh, you know, during deliberations, Heidi called him out to ask him if he had told Ven not to keep doing his flower technique.  HEIDI.  You know Tim is all over that shit!  He's a mentor.  He knows a thing or two about telling people to think outside their "norm".  Don't you think Tim would have enough sense to tell Ven to not do this shit?!  Yes.  And he has - many times!  Ven has the disease of Gretchen - you win the first challenge and then you get stuck with your giant ego.  I'm not really worried about him anymore so I'm just going to try and move past this.

Fabio was super excited to be a part of this challenge but...I don't know about this look...

 

This looks straight out of the 80's - right down to the hair.  His super cute boyfriend came to visit and I'm not exactly sure if that was a good thing since I wasn't too impressed with the textile and its use.  Sorry Fabio!  But the look is still very Fabio and I totally knew that was his while I was switching between the commercials.

I expected a little more from Elena.  And I really just want her and Dmitry to hook up already!  The way they were bitching about how they were going to go out of their way to avoid each other was so cute.  Come you guys!  You know you're being mean to each other because you really like each other!  Okay - back to the clothes.

 

I saw when she was like "This looks like a grandma coat" between commercials and I think it still looks like a grandma coat.  What is the pattern anyway?  Looks a little phallic to me.  With some boobs.  The pink strips look like bleeding vaginas to me.  Or maybe a raw penis about to be squished between a pair of boobs.  OKAY - this post just got NSFW.  Sorry folks.

I'm going to derail that train and head over to Christopher and his ladybug things.

 

His look wasn't terrible but I definitely wished he had turned it out a bit more. Just a tiny bit. I liked it but, yes it was a bit Prom-ish and all that but it was still cute and at this stage in the game, cute isn't going to cut it anymore.

Can I just say this about Gunnar and his mom?  I love how they're besties but I have mixed emotions about Gunnar's comment to buy his mom a boob job if he had won Project Runway.  Um - WHAT?  Okay, you guys are so cute.

 

Kudos for Gunnar for going out on a limb and taking a more personal approach. While I LOVE the textile itself, I'm not crazy about this look. And neither were the judges. Anya was being super mean (surprise surprise) and I get that it's a little blah but that textile is so fab, even though it came from a dark place.  I wouldn't mind seeing it inverted.  I'd like a tank top or a shirt out of that.  Better yet - I'd LOVE it as-is for a t-shirt but with a red heart on it somewhere.  Typical, I know, but I think it could work as an anti-bullying campaign piece!  I'd LOVE that!  Sorry it got you sent home, Gunnar.  I'm gonna miss you!!

Melissa really stepped it up.  Her pattern was pretty but her dress was lovely.

 

It was such a chic combination with her graphic lines in her clothing and the way she worked those graphic lines of her pattern together.  Ugh - so pretty.  I wouldn't mind seeing this textile for a cropped jacket or something.  Maybe a short skirt or some short shorts with contrast piping?  The possibilities are endless!  Love it!

We have now arrived at the Dmitry Sholokhov Appreciation portion of this post.


bb Dmitry - ADORBS
 
 
Rocking the man-cleave almost better than Joshua? WHAT!! 

  VS   
You be the judge.  I love the both of them so much, it's not fair.


Being super cute in the work room as per usual.

Oh Dmitry.  I cheered when you won last night.  I wiped away my Glee tears and cheered so much for you!  You deserved this win!  The cutouts on the jacket were INSANE!  Wait - what am I talking about?  Here you go:

 

YES! Give me more of that!  I loved how those geometric shapes were "floating" over that really wonderful graphic print.  It worked so well!  AND, you crazy kid you, you made separates!  And you WON!  And they were FABS!  Keep this momentum going, Dmitry.  We all know you can flawlessly execute the perfect dress but I love when you mix it up!

I plan on watching this entire episode shortly (between long exports) or maybe over the weekend.  Hopefully I won't have anything extra to add to my comments.

Next week is the Rockettes Challenge I kept hearing about.  DAMMIT!  Gunnar would've had so much fun with this one!  Oh well.  I can't wait to see what the designers turn out.  That should be interesting...