Project Runway has really been pushing the dramatic challenge reveal this season. Last episode, sky-divers jumped out of a plane to introduce the unconventional material challenge. And this week, armed security guards bring out the models who are drenched in over $30 million worth of diamonds.
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This week’s challenge is for the designers to choose a model wearing diamonds that inspire them the most and create an evening look for them. They have just one day to complete their garment.
The judges proved they made the right decision last week by sending boring Angela home instead of Timothy because right away he starts to make a stink about how he is not inspired by the diamonds. He says that that he’s never inspired by money or anything superficial. Didn’t anyone tell him that diamonds come from the earth? Well, considering the possible controversial origins of some of the diamonds, maybe we shouldn’t bring that part up to him at all.
In The Mood
The designers make their first trip to Mood and the little doggie mascot Swatch who lives there gets some much needed face time. And despite the fact that Mood has an organic fabric section, Timothy (who Sandro refers to as “The Amish”) prefers to rifle through the garbage until he finds some scraps and blue velvet to work with. But he says he’ll use the organic material as a “last resort.” Makes sense.
Bradon gets some brilliant metallic curtain fabric on sale for his look and you can tell as soon as they get back the workroom that he’s going to make another knock-out. Bradon has a great eye for fabrics and draping and has to be an early front-runner.
Helen wants to take inspiration from the cuff-like structure of her diamonds. She is ambitious with her design, and Tim Gunn expresses his concern, especially because she’s never attempted a breast cup top before, but she assures him that evening wear is her forte.
Tim suggests that Justin remove some of the layers from his design because it would take too much time to finish, but Justin respectfully disagrees and continues to do his thing.
Sandro and Ken get into a verbal spat in the sewing room and I can honestly tell you I have no idea what it was about. I watched that scene several times over and couldn’t figure it out. I guess Sandro was getting really yelly about Ken using his machine or something? I don’t know. But there was a lot of yelling and Justin removed his hearing aid.
Kahindo is working with a silk print that is puckering a little too much when she sews it. The shape of the print is also not lining up well. Tim suggests covering it with a dark organza to cover some of the flaws. Kahindo is inspired by Tim’s visit, and is even confident enough in her new garment to say that the first lady would wear her garment. That’s some pretty high expectations there, Kahindo.
Surprise, surprise, Timothy is having trouble working with his “found” materials. When Tim comes in for a critique, Timothy has nothing but a blue velvet rectangle over his mannequin’s bust and a poorly draped skirt. Tim calls it a “hot mess” and says that it has “ticket home written all over it.”
Timothy feels dejected after his critique and considers quitting, but then he rallies with a little help from Helen and Jeremy. He re-works his design to actually look like a dress.
Kate is working on a Marie Antoinette-inspired gown with a corset top in a beautiful gray fabric.
Shine Bright On The Runway
Our regular judges are here and looking attractive as usual. There’s Heidi, Nina Garcia, and Zac Posen along with Emmy award winning costume designer Eric Daman.
It’s another impressive runway show. Some of my favorite looks that didn’t make it to the top were Bradon’s expensive looking metallic gown (this really should have been in the top) and Alexander’s short black dress with sheer plume sleeves with pops of yellow underneath. Karen Batts’ dress should have landed her in the bottom in my humble opinion, due to it’s poor fit around the chest and back and boring silhouette.
During the runway, they have to shut the show down because Helen is crying and shaking uncontrollably. She is so ashamed of how her garment was constructed that she’s having a meltdown. Papa Tim approaches her and gives her a pep-talk, saying that she may have made a mistake but there was nothing that could be done about it now.
Top
Dom – The judges love how her silk print looks like it’s covered in the same emeralds that she was inspired by. Heidi thinks it looks young and hip, but no one cares for the matching headband.
Sandro – Despite the sides of the skirt being sheer, which makes the judges call his taste into question once again (but hey, at least none of his model’s lady parts were visible), they love the construction and the structure. Zac especially loves the bare mid-driff and the unconventional browns to bring out his rubies.
Kate – Kate styled her model along with her Marie Antoinette theme and the judges love it. They think the color is classic yet fresh and admire her construction and design.
Bottom
Timothy – Another shock: Timothy lands himself in the bottom once again. But the judges actually admire his use of the scrap material they just hate the razor-back-in-the-front design of his gown. Eric also says that the blue really drowned out the canary yellow of his diamonds. On the bright side, someone from L’Oreal did manage to find some products that Timothy could work with so his model was neither bare-faced or bare-footed.
Kahindo – None of the judges care for Kahindo’s print. Heidi says the look is boring and basic and Zac seriously offends Kahindo by saying it looks like it came from the sale rack.
Helen – Helen’s garment is really just a big old mess. The flaws in construction are almost so obvious that it seems pointless for the judges to point all of them out. There’s unintentional rouging in the back, uneven breast cups in the front, and a “hairy fabric” effect on the hips that just looks like a bunch of exposed strings.
Helen comes to her own defense, admitting that her design was too ambitious but how she will keep designing until the day she dies. The judges seem impressed by her impassioned speech.
And they must have been impressed because they save her for another round. Kate is the winner of the challenge and gets immunity for next week. And Kahindo is sent home, despite it being Timothy’s second week in a row in the bottom two.
Next week: Kelly Osborne! And more Timothy, so let’s hope for him someone at Mood throws away some interesting fabric before his next trip.
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(Image courtesy of Lifetime)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
