On watching Project Runway obsessively, S11E12

"Let's get this over with" Pony sighed grimly as we started watching. We're both sick of this bad romance that Project Runway has become, and yet none of us can give it up until we've seen it through to the end. The way the episode started, with Heidi's squeaky voice and Tim gushing unbearably, Pony tiredly stated "This is the worst start ever. This is awful" and it was. This week's episode started horrifically with the designers all zooming off to various locations for inspiration - except for Michelle who was apparently punished for last week. Ridiculous. Lots of designers have been kept around before, and none were ever treated like that. "This is your do or die moment" - no, this is the same as every week, a designer who you didn't want to go home and instead kept in the game. What was the point of sending them to Europe for one day and then sending them home to work? Not even a case of "hello jet-lag", but that's crazy stressful. Airport -> 8 hour flight -> airport -> ride around the city -> sketch -> shop fabric -> airport -> 8 hour flight -> airport -> back to work. It's retarded (to not speak of environmentally catastrophic). Michelle may not have gotten to see a glimpse of a European city, but my guess is that she was much better off getting to stay home and chilling for a bit rather than go through all that hassle.

Snore.

So congrats to Stanley, who this week won with a dress that screams 'escape from the convent'. That cape-thingie looks like something straight out of Mary Poppins. There was an interesting pop in the back with the sequins lining the inside, but in all honesty it wasn't enough. I'm all for minimalism, but this was just boring.

Wow, a jacket without exaggerated shoulders! I m elated.

So yay Mustachio for pulling it together and making something that didn't seem like something a Texas trophy wife would wear in between her manicure appointment and getting her hair rolled into a ridiculous beehive. This actually looks pretty cool (probably thanks to Amanda's vigilant editing), and I don't even mind the hooker boots much. It's by far the most modern thing he's done in a long time. He needs to stop crying though, I'm so over it happening every 5-10 minutes. I wonder if he's like that in real life too? "Oh my god, I thought I was out of cucumber for my salad and here it is! In the fridge! I'm so happy!" *sobs*

Needed more of that paint to make the gradient more visible.

Hanging around New York seems to have done her some good. I thought this was pretty cool, the cut of the dress under that harness was neat. I'm just still a bit upset with the show for the way they treat her (even if I was pissed with her "I've never been in the bottom, I've only had shitty teammates"- statement), but they obviously couldn't cut her because she's probably the only one who will produce something that feels young as well as well-made for Fashion Week. Also, for having an episode where Tu comes along as a helper, there wasn't nearly as much Tu in that episode as there should've been.

Zac Posen called it with trash-bag couture.

*sigh* Where to even begin. Patricia can create interesting effects with textile. I'll give her that. She's absolutely not cut out to be a fashion designer though. "She should do installations instead of clothes" Pony said and yeah, that's pretty much her ballpark. This is just really awkward. The sleeves, the collar, the pants... I mean, no, this just doesn't cut it for me. The proportions are really odd. Then again, I can appreciate someone doing something different, and given more time to finish her looks I'm sure Patricia will be able to create things that feel less horribly shitty and a bit more put-together. At least I hope so. Anywho, when she was selected to go on to Fashion Week Pony just about started saying "Well at least she's stopped talking about her herita..." and then the "bla bla bla my heritage! All the Native Americans bla bla bla our people bla bla bla" started again and I just screamed the most primal battle cry from the depths of my inner being.

I just... what?

So it's bye bye to Layana and her 70's-looking house coat. Seriously, who thought those sleeves were a good idea? Pony called it when she said "It looks like she doesn't have hands! That's so creepy!". On top of creepy, it went kinda matador, which is just silly. Is it just me or does that pant-leg look awkward too? Good riddance anyway. Anywho, it's like I've been saying all along - teams are a bad idea because they give weak designers a pass while kicking out people who are potentially a lot more interesting. And yeah, while I understand that there's no one star designer who works alone and does everything on their own in much the same way as architecture, this is a show about individual ability and creativity. Forcing everyone to constantly edit just makes for bland clothes. Hopefully the final runway should be a bit more interesting. Hopefully.