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!!!

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...

Project Runway: Starving Artist - The Recap!

Can Dmitry and Elena get married and have babies already?  I mean, come on!  There no shortage of drama and antics with these two.  How did we get here?  Why...another team challenge!  The dreaded Button Bag reared its ugly head and Dmitry and Elena subjected poor Alicia to their couple-style arguing but more on that later.

This week our designers had to dabble in the arts and crafts world.  I was kind of expecting to hear, "Ermahgerd, I'm a high fashion designer, not an art teacher" but there was more scoffing and groaning than sweeping declarations.  The designers were sent out to the streets of New York armed with their custom made totes, tees and stuff to raise the money they would take with them to Mood for materials for a two-piece Fall collection.
The teams were as follows:
Christopher (immunity) / Sonjia / Gunnar
Dmitry / Elena / Alicia
Ven / Melissa / Fabio

I thought pairing Melissa and Fabio was smart because their style is a little similar and their different points of view mesh really well together.  Ven was a disaster up in there.  He was cramping their street style aesthetic.





While I thought this collab was cute, I wasn't crazy about the shirt and Ven's ugly skirt.  I know what you're thinking: What happened to the petals?  Oh, Tim Gunn himself shot that shit down.  He advised Ven turn off the petals because it was cramping Fabio and Melissa's street style look.  I definitely was happy to hear that.  This collection looked okay but the colour choice was a little too Spring for me.  I know they were trying to bring Summer colours to help it transition into Fall but it didn't quite work out.  I did enjoy the styling of the model on the left with the socks and heels.  I wish I could pull that off because the girl looks FABS.


Dmitry and Elena's love-fest didn't really help their team out and poor Alicia was in the middle of that mess and she ultimately paid the price by getting Auf'd.




Christopher brought up a great point.  Wait - was it Gunnar?  Either way, one of those two brought up a great point.  They said that Dmitry has been crying to make some outerwear - which was one of the pieces they needed but what did Dmitry make?  Oh, you know, another one of his pretty dresses.  Oh wait - you can't see it because he made a last-minute old lady shawl thing to cover up his beautiful work.  Elena struggled to make a well-fitting jacket and she bossed Alicia into making the pants that got her sent home.  What was more surprising was that Elena drove the bus all over Dmitry and Alicia when Heidi asked about their looks.  Elena claimed Dmitry was the bossy one and she didn't think the work was divided evenly between them.  I don't know where all that was coming from since Elena was the one that was bossing everyone around - LIKE SHE ALWAYS DOES.  Poor Alicia, too.  She's not one for confrontation so it was obvious that this was the vehicle (no pun intended with the under zee bus comment) to get rid of her.  Sorry boo.

Christopher and Gunnar managed to bury the hatchet and they worked so well together that I was totally expecting more of a love-fest than what we saw.  They were so cute!  Even when Gunnar called Christopher's vest a "Legends of Zelda" vest.  Priceless.  I'm glad that went in another direction because I was a little concerned when I saw Christopher fitting that piece.  Or maybe it was Sonjia's.  I don't remember.  My notes say Christopher.  See - this is what happens when I can't write my recaps on Fridays!  I forget EVERYTHING!



Gunnar made both the dresses in these looks and I will say it: GUNNAR WAS ROBBED this week! Sonjia got the win for making the jacket on the left.  WHY???  That jacket would have been garbage without Gunnar's gorgeous dress.  The same goes for Christopher's jacket on the right.  That jacket is tight but the sleeves on that dress MAKE IT.



Ugh. Gunnar was SO ROBBED!  His dresses were AMAZEBALLS.  I get the whole structured thing that the judges liked about Sonjia's jacket and all but come on!  The sleeves on the dress with Christopher's jacket?!  HOT.

Okay - enough crying from me.  Next week, Mondo makes an appearance (hooray!!!!!)  for the textile challenge.  A choice soundbite from Tim Gunn: "Homage to a menstrual cycle".  Holy Mother... That ought to be good!

PS - I was checking out Valerie Mayen's Instagram feed on Friday and I came across some photos from the Project Runway show at New York Fashion Week from that morning!  According to Miss Mayen, the show was the Top 8 designers from this past week, so no spoilers!   She didn't have photos of Dmitry on her feed but I found some on good ol' Tumblr!!

 
Hey handsome.