The purpose of this column is to review my own picks for best and worst look of the most recent episode of Project Runway and to give you the chance to make your own and weigh in with your thoughts. But please excuse me for a moment while I hijack this article for a minute to toot my own horn regarding my pre-season picks.
So I haven’t exactly been on the mark all the way in the weekly prediction columns, but back before the season started, I took a close look at the pre-season runway show and grouped the designers into my guess for the Bottom Five, Middle Five and Top Five.
I was way off on Sweet P – I thought she’d be auf’d a lot sooner, and while I thought Chris would make it some way through the season, I wouldn’t have guessed he’d come back from his elimination so strong. I also misjudged Carmen Webber and Kit Pistol as having more potential than the judges saw. But! Three out of my top five wound up being three of the ultimate top four: Christian Siriano, Jillian Lewis, and Rami Kashou. Either I’m really good (a possibility I’m certainly willing to consider) or else this season started out with some clear front runners who never really faltered significantly.
Onto the picks!
CHIC
I’m not picking a Chic this week because all four designers deserve, I think, equal kudos. Each look had amazing elements, but each look also showed the designers’ potential weakness.
Christian
While I can’t say I personally like or would want to wear Christian’s look, I can still see why he won. His outfit shows a confidence and innate understanding of the fashion world that is pretty startling in someone so young. Like many things that show on the runways of major designers, his look isn’t instantly wearable to many except maybe a hardcore Manhattan or European urban fashionista. However, the elements, scaled down, deflated and muted, could easily make the transition to ready-to-wear. This is the kind of outfit that goes down a runway and defines the trends for a season that eventually trickle down to Old Navy and The Gap. His personality might be grating, but the kid has serious talent. While again, I might not personally like his looks the best, at this point, I’d seriously put money on a Christian win.
His only drawback to me is the same drawback the other designers have: the essential sameness of his look from design to design. Since one season of a designer’s looks might, in fact, all carry through a certain silhouette that he or she is currently obsessed with, it’s hard to really knock any one of the designers for being a little one note.
Jillian
So while I don’t think Jillian is as showy of a talent as Christian is, I still think she has such an interesting point of view and creates really wearable clothes that are slightly oddball yet sexy. Her love of structure combined with the nod to a sort of Studio 54, slightly louche decadence feels fresh and interesting. However, like all the other designers, she returns to one look frequently – the structured jacket. She also tends to work slow, which might have hampered her in the process of ensuring her collection is finished properly upon close inspection. I burst out laughing during last night’s episode when she slowly announced, “I’m…not…a…fast…mover…” Really, Jillian?!?!? I know she’s annoying a lot of our readers but I just heart her quirkiness and her tortoise pace.
Chris March
Chris had such a beautiful dress, but why oh why that big collar?! He could have had a slam dunk if he had just found a different way to achieve his nod to the dramatic element of the painting that was not so similar to his previous team look with Christian. But he’s a fan favorite and so he is doing something right with his looks, and so it’s just up to him to keep it up, stay fresh and wow the judges.
Rami
Rami…what is there to say that the judges didn’t already cover? I can’t fault the dress, it’s beautiful, well-made and sexy. But again, in the context of the season, it was more of the same. What I find so bizarre is that in the pre-season “Meet the Designer” article I wrote on Rami, I included some looks from his current label and they are almost reminiscent of Christian’s style. So clearly, he can do structured and tailored. Why we’ve not been seeing it lately is a mystery.
FREAK
Sorry, Sweet P. When her look came down the runway, it was so clearly not at the level of the other designers that it was obvious it would finally be time for her to go home. But as the judges pointed out, she has a talent for the cute, wearable and commercial look, and heaven knows there’s a good market for that, so here’s hoping she finds the funding she needs to keep her design business going strong.
What do you think?
– Leslie Seaton, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
(Images courtesy of Bravo)
Staff Columnist, BuddyTV
