Project Runway 12/5/07--"Trendsetter" summary

Previously on Project Runway: the contestants have to design an outfit for Tiki Barber to wear on the Today show, even though almost none of them have designed for men before, or know who Tiki Barber even is in the first place. Since it’s a menswear challenge, guess what that means? Male models! Somehow everyone managed to work through the distractions and make some clothes, sort of. Except Kevin, he wasn’t distracted. There were a lot of disasters, but Jack managed to win with some pants and a striped shirt. Kit made a fleece blazer that was pretty cool. Ricky thought he could pin all his hems without the judges noticing (duh), but in the end Carmen went home since she didn’t even have enough time to make a shirt. In other news, Jack is dating Dale from Top Chef. Really! Look, I found a story about it. SO CUTE! I want to hang out with them. (click for more)

In the morning, Kit is reassuring Sweet P that her outfit didn’t suck, and Carmen’s would have. Rami and Chris brainstorm the fragrance for Project Runway perfume: tears, sweat, and Chinese food. Hee. I like Chris. Rami too.

It is so odd to see Heidi skinny. I’ve gotten too used to seeing her pregnant. She only brings out the winning and losing designers’ models: Carmen’s model, Marion’s model, and Jack’s model. Jack wants to swap, and he takes Ricky’s model. There is no motherf*cking walkoff, for which I am sad. Ricky gets Jack’s old model, so the other two girls are out. Ricky does not cry, although he does make a comment about Jack‘s “true colors“. (Kmanpat: “Which are hot, and competitive. And hot.“) Heidi says there are “old friends” and some girl in the workroom with Tim. Sweet P calls senior citizens. That would rock.

Nina is there waiting for them. There are 12 photos of hideous fashion trends. Like, neon. All these trends are out. The best part is that Jillian is wearing overalls, which is one of the looks. Ha! I mean, hers are well fitted, which usually isn’t the case, but ha anyway. Tim draws buttons so they can pick their looks. Jack picks pleather and calls it “Britney Spears on crack”. Victorya: underwear as outerwear; Christian: zoot suit; Rami: poodle skirt; Kit: fringe; Elisa: cut outs; Jillian: overalls (hee); Ricky: neon; Kevin: 70’s flare; Chris: shoulder pads; Steven: dancewear. Sweet P thinks her button is stuck to the bottom of the bag. She ends up with baggy sweater. Now comes the extra twist. They have to work in teams of 3, and they have to incorporate all 3 trends in their 3 piece collection. Christian is going to die. Good. And it has to be cohesive and relevant for today, of course. Tim says they can pick their own teams, in the next minute. I guess pick people whose fads will work with yours? There’s a lot of discussion about strategy, and how the teams ended up the way they did, but it’s not very interesting. They have $225 and 2 days, an hour to sketch. Nice. Plus each team needs a leader. That means “scapegoat”.

Sweet P, Steven, and Chris decide that Chris is in charge. Or…Steven and Sweet P kind of go, “Not it!“ and Chris is left in charge. Steven suggests they each draw an outfit with their trend, and they’ll try to make them cohesive some other way, but each trend will only be found in one outfit. Jillian is in charge of Rami and Kevin. This team is going to have all 3 trends in each outfit. Ricky tells Victorya she’s the mediator, he’s the leader. Elisa is just along for the ride. Make sure you note that she refused the leadership position. Very soon after this decision Victorya is explaining how they’re going to design things. Ricky interviews that Victorya seems bossy so it’s good he’s the leader, so they don’t get micromanaged. Christian is the leader of himself, Kit, and Jack. He thinks that each outfit kind of needs to have each trend in it for the collection to be cohesive.

Shopping lets us know that Christian has labeled his team “team star” because they are hot and celebrities. Also he says “fierce” again. He needs to quit saying that. (Kmanpat: “Seriously. Not fierce.“) Ricky decides on duchess satin. Steven runs around.

Back in the workroom, Kit and Christian giggle about fringe looking like armpit hair. Sweet P has a sack dress, a sweater dress for Steven, and Chris is making a short jacket and a long dress. He mentions that people have pigeonholed him, what with the giant wigs and all, but he is still a good designer. Uh oh, bad foreshadowing. He shows Steven the shoulders of his jacket. Steven‘s response is “sweet merciful crap.” Hee. Ricky says he’s trying to speak to Elisa in a way she can understand. That’s so condescending. He basically says it’s like she’s high and that’s how he talked to her so she would understand what he wanted. He‘s really an ass about it. Christian tries on his jacket and it has giant kimono sleeves and it’s hilarious. Jillian says she and Rami worked together well in the previous team challenge but she’s not sure of Kevin. She starts telling him what to do and that he’s doing it wrong or whatever, but he seems pretty calm about it. Jillian basically says if they fail, it’s Kevin’s fault because he’s not fast enough.

Day 2. Sadly I do not see Jack carrying Christian into the workroom. (Kmanpat: “That‘s not sad. All is as it should be.”). Kit reminds us of the challenge, but really I am noticing her gun pendant. Suddenly I hear a Tim Gunn impression. Is it Santino visiting? No, it’s Steven. “Designers, you’re screwed, there’s nothing you can do to fix what you’re working on, carry on!” Hee!! It wasn’t as good as Santino, in that I can tell it’s not Tim, but he has the tone of voice down. Victorya claims not to be a “bossy cow” but rather she has ideas. I guess she just has to express them. She starts telling Ricky how to fix his garment, cleaning it up or whatever. It certainly sounds like she’s the leader, since she’s saying “personally, I would like it clean” and not “I think it would look better if you cleaned it up.” Ricky thinks she needs to do her own stuff.

Tim comes for a visit, and says that they’re sending in the models right now, and they’ll have 30 minutes to fit. Nice. Chris’s team thinks it looks like a collection, but Sweet P hates Steven’s. The color, possibly, which is a very boring beige, except they are all boring beige. Jillian tells Kevin all the pleating on his shorts is gone because they used Jillian to measure and the model is bigger. Kevin says he did what he was told and they can’t redo it. Victorya hates her design, it looks like a jester. Sorry, “a harlequin at Festivá l”. So she’s going to totally redo it. Ricky is pissed she didn‘t ask him. He doesn’t like the criss cross straps on the bodice because there are “too many lines“. She pretty much ignores him and says she likes the straps. Meanwhile Jillian is standing around passively complaining about Kevin, but not actually talking to Kevin. She thinks he might not get done. Rami knows when you are in charge you have to push people so things don’t get ruined.

Tim comes by again to investigate. He likes Christian’s group. But then Chris’s group doesn’t have cohesion, and Chris’s jacket doesn’t go. Also the dress looks more modern without the jacket. He’s come by 2 hours before the end of the day so I‘m not sure what they can do about it. He tells Jillian’s team that all the clothes look like Jillian’s clothes. Ricky’s team isn’t finished or refined. Victorya starts talking about tweaking silhouettes, plural. She’s basically taking over and claiming all the designs as her own. Tim is confused but he does establish that Ricky is supposed to be the leader. When she pauses, Ricky tries to defend himself, and she uses the phrase “Can I finish?” which is never a good sign. After Tim leaves, Ricky tells her he didn’t like how she didn’t tell him what she was doing when she decided to change her design. Victorya says that there were things that were clearly wrong, but Ricky interrupts her to point out that they were wrong to her. He feels she should just shut up and go with it, but she won’t send clothes down the runway that she doesn’t like, and also why did he want to be leader anyway? Way to change the subject. He tells her if she thinks she’s been leader this whole time then she can just go ahead and be leader then. She’s all, no, I like that someone else stepped up, but I wanted you to do your job. You can’t make other people take the job and then bitch that they suck. Especially since he only stepped up because you refused to do it. Ricky interviews that probably she wanted to be team leader and then didn’t have the balls. The argument ends when Victorya basically tells Ricky they need to get back to work but “we will continue this discussion.“

Rami tells Kevin to get stuff done. At midnight, when the day’s pretty much over, Jillian bitches to Rami that Kevin’s too slow, the shorts should be done. Rami, as he’s telling us she worried about her own garment too much and that‘s why there‘s a problem now, tells Jillian she didn’t seem that concerned because she didn’t do anything about it. She doesn’t want to breathe down someone’s throat. Rami is just like, we don’t agree and that’s OK and then the fight’s over. See how nice that was? Victorya lets Ricky know she‘s disappointed because he wouldn‘t make decisions about anything. What decisions? By her own admission she made changes without asking him. And he had decisions and she ignored them. Ricky fires back that she was so concerned with his look that she had to do her own twice. Ricky thinks this is a disaster, the collection isn’t cohesive, and they’re screwed. Victorya says she stands by her garment, and when Ricky insists that he also stands by his garment, she just snaps “OK” and walks away.

The morning of the runway show, Jillian is still freaking out about Kevin. The boys joke about going to Denny’s. Their apartment seems like so much fun. Ricky is done, and Elisa is mostly done, but Victorya is still working. Ricky pretends that he is insulted she didn’t ask him for help. I thought he was pissed because he is supposed to be in charge and she did things without him, but he‘s making it sound like she should have known her design was terrible and asked him to give her some advice. Kevin needs a magic rabbit. Models come in. Kevin pounds buttons with a shoe. Chris’s jacket isn’t that great, according to Steven. Ricky says Victorya’s bodice is just wrong and he starts to fix it. He complains that it makes the model look flat chested, but Victorya wants it to look flat because she’s seen it before and she‘s used to seeing it on the runway. Ricky takes offense since he’s a lingerie designer and somehow her personal opinion of how she wants her dress to look is an insult to him. I mean, I don’t think the model should look flat chested, but I don’t think she’s doing it just to piss him off. She says that once she let it sit it looked good. Kevin finally finishes the shorts. Jillian tells him she’s impressed but in the same monotone she spoke in when she was complaining about him. She feels bad about doubting him, I think. The lack of emotion throws me. Christian slams Ricky’s and Chris’s collections and they all suck but at least he admits the judges might like them.

Our guest judge today is Donna Karan. Sweet. Jillian: overalls with flared bottoms, and pleats at the hips. Not something that many people can wear, but that’s not the challenge, so whatever. The top is a sheer sleeveless top with a floppy bow, so I guess that’s the poodle skirt? Kevin’s shorts look OK, they are cut wide, and there’s a halter top with a poofy neck that reminds me of Daniel V.’s orchid outfit. Rami’s dress has a big full tiered skirt with a close-fitting top, in denim. It’s cute, very Jillian. Chris’s team is up next. I don’t mind Chris’s shrug that much, but that might be because I tend to not like shrugs and bolero jackets in general. It’s boxy. The dress is cute though. Sweet P: knee length sweater dress with a bubble hem and a turtleneck dicky. She calls it “rad“. Steven has a wrap top and leggings. It’s sort of a very short kimono robe. I don’t know. How is that dance? Christian: pinstriped pencil skirt, blazer, high-necked top. I can see the zoot suit, obviously, but I don’t really see any fringe or pleather. Kit’s dress is cut very loose, with a square neckline (and I think some very short upholstery fringe) and it’s in a gray pinstripe, and there are leggings. Still no pleather unless they were claiming the accessories were pleather. Jack’s outfit is another pencil skirt with a tight vest and top with cap sleeves, and a very long tie or skinny scarf. WHERE IS THE PLEATHER? Ricky’s got bright gold and red with a sheer top like an ice skater would have. Very 80’s but I wouldn‘t really call it “neon“. Elisa’s dress is great, it’s one shoulder, black with geometric shapes along the neckline. I think the shapes are supposed to be cut outs, showing the color beneath. It’s too bad her model can’t walk, though. Not because of Elisa’s outfit this time, either. Victorya has a tight bodice top that might look like a corset if you were to squint, and a short flowy skirt. I’m not sure what in their collection was supposed to be “underwear as outerwear”.

Today there is a clear winner, so they’re just going to announce it now, and that is Jillian. She and her team get to leave. Christian looks sad, but his team didn’t suck, so he can leave too. Heidi addresses Ricky and Chris directly and says their teams suck and one of them will be out. Oo team leader dies. DK doesn’t like Chris’s design, it’s not cohesive. She busts out “liquidity” to tell Steven his dress doesn’t have it and it doesn’t look like dance. It doesn’t, really. They like Sweet P’s dress, although it should have been exaggerated. They don’t find any modern take on shoulder pads in Chris’s dress. It’s not relevant for today, except that shoulder pads aren’t relevant for today, so WTF? DK says the “totality” of the garment is lacking. This judging makes no sense. They want Sweet P to exaggerate her trend, but Chris’s shoulder pads are “awkward” and not relevant. Nina likes the concept of Ricky’s team, but not the construction. Elisa gets high praise, and Victorya gets praise for the fit, which she quickly gives to Ricky. Nina reminds him that he’s had construction problems in the past, and his dress looks the worst. He claims that micromanaging his team made him behind. So…not so much with the avoiding micromanagement, then. Elisa tries to defend him by saying he helped her out a lot. Kors says he killed his team with his choice of fabric because it’s so impossible. They ask Victorya about Ricky’s leadership, and she claims to have had a “heavy hand” in the first two looks and says she claimed responsibility. Heidi is like, I asked about Ricky, not you. Kors knows she‘s trying to say she took over, and Victorya says she can‘t help but to say what she thinks, but she also expects a “counterweight“. I think she‘s saying that Ricky should have told her to shut up and do what he told her. It sounds like she wants to voice all her opinions, but also that Ricky should have stood up to her? Ricky knows she has no respect for him. Kors says this weird relationship shows in their clothes. Now is the time to ask who should go and start throwing people under the bus. Victorya and Ricky throw each other under the bus, and Elisa says she always says herself when asked who should go. Steven says Chris, and Chris says Chris, but then Sweet P says that Steven’s outfit stands out the most so he should go.

Judge bashing. Ricky’s design wasn’t great, plus it was so unfinished. Victorya gets in trouble for trying to claim to be the leader. At least I think so. Chris’s team didn’t have a collection, and it wasn’t relevant either. Steven’s actually was the least like the other two but Chris’s jacket was horrid. Kors says the jacket was “mother of the bride” but I think that like insane crotches that’s something he tries to say once a season. They’ve made it seem like Ricky might go, but he didn’t get any interview time to talk about how fashion is his life so I know he’s safe.

Sweet P, Elisa, Steven (phew!), and Victorya are in. So it really is down to Ricky and Chris. I don’t like this at all. Both of them had the worst looks on their teams. Ricky is in. Dammit. I love Chris, he’s so fun! He stands by his look, but he’s just going to go back to his life and he hopes he brought fun. Bye, Chris! If you ever want to come over and hang out we can make fun of people and giggle.

Next week: Jack is sobbing and upset and oh no I remember what this is. Now I am sad too. I have absolutely no idea about the challenge, though.