Project Runway 1/14/10--"Back to New York" summary

I can’t improve on that title. Thank goodness.

Why did my DVR start taping in the middle of someone’s introduction? I mean, I’m sure I just missed the beginning of his intro, but, stupid. Seth Aaron Henderson, 38. Does he go by all his names? Sigh. He jumps on the bed and breaks it. He starts talking about vintage pieces. His pieces aren’t edgy though. Janeane Ceccanti, 28. She’s listed with three names also but she introduced herself as just Janeane. Her clothes are mostly pretty. She’s so glad to be in NY she’s crying already. Ping Wu, 33. She’s a physical therapist, but has very loose flowing clothes. Ben Chmura, 30. Ben reminds me of Todd Oldham. Delicious. Anthony Williams, 28. He is like a slightly larger flamey Wayne Brady. He should be fun. Jay Sario, 31. He wants to do what he loves. For some reason the boys talk about the broken bed, which maybe Seth isn’t going to claim? Even though he’s the one that broke it? Then everyone compares how much they weigh, except Anthony, who says he’s thirsty. Pamela Ptak, 47. She used to work in advertising. Anna Lynett, 23. She looks about 14. Jonathan Peters, 29, claims to be an animal. He’s been hand-painting items in an attempt to make them edgy, but they still look pretty. Jesse LeNoir, 24. Oh honey. Do you know what his job is? He works at Disneyworld, playing Jack Sparrow. His picture on the website has him in a suit so he looks like a preppy rich boy, but MAN is he hot in person. He claims to be an actor, but playing Jack Sparrow at Disneyworld I think is “acting”. Mila Hermanovski, 40. She’s been making costumes. Oo, a costumer! Maya Luz, 21. She has very structured, voluminous clothes, but is also edgy. Christiane King, 30. People please spell your kids’ names in a normal fashion. I beg you as a teacher. Jesus Estrada, 21. His clothes are couture poofy giant gowns. Emilio Sosa, 43. He speaks Spanish. I think. Amy Sarabi, 26. She loves innovation.

Now is the time for the party on the roof! Heidi’s pregnant again. We’re in New York, at Parson’s, in Mood, Heidi’s pregnant…all is back to normal. Emilio has been working in costuming, but he says that’s just for money. He wants his clothes on regular people. Ben is talking about comic books. Christiane is all about color. Her portfolio is actually colorful which is great. Anna is fresh out of school. Tim lets them know their first challenge will start tomorrow morning in Central Park.

When they arrive there, big swaths of fabric have been draped on coat racks and benches, rolls in barrels, pinned on dress forms. Tim says that for this challenge their look has to embody their point of view. He’s standing on a runway with a scrim that has the logo on it. What is that for? They will have 3 minutes to grab whatever they can. But then they’re going back to Parson’s so why is there a runway? Everyone runs. Emilio says they are like fat people at an open buffet in Vegas. There is shrieking but no injuries. Tim says editing is important, so out of what they are holding right now they must pick five. Nice. Ping doesn’t like her choices. Tim tells her she has to unwrap one of her fabrics from the cardboard tube so it fits in her Mood bag, so she’s flailing around with it like she’s waving a flag. Anthony says “Ping. Pong.” which just doesn’t do it for me, sorry to say.

Yay Parson’s! The room looks darker than before. I think they repainted or something. Everyone also has an electronic sketchpad. Winner of this challenge gets immunity.

Seth is going over the top. For some reason he’s left his boot on the floor. Janeane is making a little black dress with panels. Emilio has hot pink and circles? It’s very loud. Ping drapes fabric on herself and says how much she loves the mirror. Everyone looks at her but no one interviews anything. They worry about time.

Tim appears to bring in the models. I think many people don’t have enough to put on their models. Jesus has a tight bronze dress, but it seems to have a handkerchief attached to the hem by one corner. I hope he’s fixing that.

Jonathan polls the sewing room to find out what everyone is wearing. He’s going to wear something he’ll look dignified going home in. Emilio’s fabric is looking darker and not as crazy.

Tim time! Christiane has a blue and yellow print and a royal blue solid color. She wonders if it’s out there. He says that she should stand behind it and make sure it’s finished. Ping has wrapped herself in fabric, including a turban, and Tim asks her why she’s enshrouded. This is her look. She doesn’t have a dress form at home so this is how she makes everything. Fair enough. When asked if she can be objective, she says she would only give her customers clothes she herself would wear. Tim can only laugh. Seth has too many zippers. Well, maybe just one, but that one is bright red on a black and white checked fabric. Oh, and he is going by Seth Aaron. He says that zipper is him. Janeane has some pleating on the bodice of her dress, but she’s picked a fabric that is all puckery. Tim points that out, and she freaks out and cries in confessional about how she has to fix it. Anthony has one boob in yellow, and one in a dark green print. It’s not working for him. Tim refers to the print as the starring actress, and the yellow as a poor supporting player, and Anthony says he just introduced her to Tim that way, but Tim doesn’t want to meet her so she’s getting put out. Hee. Jesus has lengthened his dress, which is actually brown leather. But since he had a shorter skirt, there’s a seam where he added to the length. Emilio is still working on his top, with no skirt started. Tim tells him that they’ve never had anyone not finish. Oo. Tim announces to them all they may have to “recalibrate your ambitions” so they can finish.

Christiane thinks she can win, but it has to fit perfectly. Janeane cries again. She seems to be jealous of everyone else. She’s also making a whole new dress, at 11pm. Emilio leaves with only half his dress done. He whines, “Why me?” You’re the one designing.

In the morning there is a lot of running around and panicking. Mila says that Christiane could have pushed her design and her construction skills are lacking. Ping has a very different garment, which seems to be just draped fabric. Tim brings the models in a gives them an hour. Jesus thinks his dress is hot. He’s confident. Anthony’s still behind. Emilio has somehow gotten done. I’m not sure how. Janeane thinks she can finish. They must have been really behind for Tim to say something. At the 5 minute warning some models are still naked. Seth Aaron is still confident. And now he’s wearing a bandana headband in confessional. Anthony is “sweating like a Baptist preacher” and his zipper is stuck. The dress zipper, not his zipper.

Heidi comes out and reminds them of the prizes. New this year, in addition to the other prizes, the winner will get a $50,000 “technology suite” to help them design things and run their business. Nina and Kors are here, and they’ll be here all season. Also there is Nicole Richie. SIGH. Jonathan: short dress with a black skirt, a wide black belt, and a fitted top that has a dark green print. It looks kind of metallic. It’s not very exciting. Seth Aaron: black and white checkered dress, with a short bubble hem. There are weird suspender-like straps on the bodice, which are not attached to the bodice, so it looks like he couldn’t fit the dress properly. Then all the way down the back is a big red zipper. Jesus: one shouldered brown leather dress, to the floor, with a chiffon train in the back. It looks pretty good and there is a matching choker. The horizontal seam in the skirt isn’t that noticeable. Ben: orange dress, short, with a subtle stripe to the orange. The skirt has extra volume at the hips and very pointy shoulders. Think of the width of shoulder pads in the 80’s and then under that, very short tight sleeves. Oo, Asian model! Jay: oh, Jay. A strapless bodice with a light green print, and then a high waisted pencil skirt in a darker fabric. With giant flowers on the skirt. Like, he took the skirt fabric and made big poofy flowers and sewed them on her hips and right over her belly button. AND there are two on her ass. Pamela: hot pink short dress with wide elbow-length kimono sleeves. It’s actually not bad. When she turns around you can see that there is no back to the dress, just thin strings. So the wide sleeves are actually just squares of fabric, attached to the skirt with a string going from one corner to the skirt. It’s interesting. Emilio: one shouldered dress with a darker wine background. Over that are strips of a circle print in a lighter wine. The bodice has a lot of the background, but the skirt is almost all print except for some strips of solid.

Jesse: slim pencil skirt and an off the shoulder top, in a dark beige. The top can be unzipped to reveal a fitted blouse in the same style, but in orange. The jacket doesn’t fit that well, so I’m glad to see there’s a blouse underneath. Ping: it…it’s just some fabric she draped over. A red on top, and a darker color for a skirt. I think there’s a big strap, like a giant suspender, for the skirt. As the model came out, she had a red plaid piece over her head that she took off and draped over one arm. I don’t get it. Christiane: one shouldered dress, with a royal blue and a yellow and blue print. It looks like she alternated fabrics, so the top of the bodice has the print on the right side, then on the left, then on the right of the skirt. As if she made a fitted blue dress and then wove the print into it. Amy: gray strapless bodice and white and black print bubble skirt. Blah. Actually I lied. She has a titscrepancy: it looks like she sewed a shoulder pad over one boob. Janeane: a blousy black top in chiffon, with a darker panel down the front, and a beige skirt. Boring. Mila: very short gray skirt, black shell with a white windowpane, and a blue print jacket with short sleeves. The jacket looks kind of old-lady but that skirt is pretty short. Anthony: short dress with a halter neckline. It’s in a print, dark green with pastel shapes, I think. On her left hip are big gathers of fabric, but they’re stiff so they hold their shape in big loops. Amy: dress with a bubble skirt that is almost the color of the model’s skin. Next! Maya: short dress in champagne (also almost the color of the model’s skin). One side of the bodice is big stiff ruffles in a slightly darker color. It produces some interest. Finally we’re done.

Amy, Anna, Ben, Janeane, Jay, Jesse, Jonathan, Maya, Mila, and Pamela are safe. Anthony is up first. He wanted a different shape and something fun. I’m noticing he’s pretty short. Heidi is bored by the top, although Kors doesn’t think anyone would buy it. Nina thinks the fabric and the silhouette don’t mesh. The back is all jacked up too; it doesn’t fit properly and is really short. Seth Aaron has some story about the MTV movie awards and Little Tokyo. They love it. The straps in the back are nice. They think it’s commercial. I don’t the worst dressed lists would be kind to a wide red exposed zipper. Ping wanted the fabric to move, and Nicole says she would wear it, so that’s something I guess. Nina wonders how it would look on a hanger, but Kors says it’s a great first piece to tell them all about who she is. Jesus didn’t really make a fashionable leather evening gown. Heidi spied the seam and calls him out on it. Nina wants lightness. Christiane’s dress has wonderful draping but the combination of fabrics isn’t working. And they know the hem is not finished. Emilio’s dress is deceptively simple. Nina brings up the hanger appeal again.

Anthony didn’t match his fabric to the shape of his dress. Christiane was unsophisticated and the hem was terrible. Jesus’s dress is unexpected but also cliché. It would have been glamorous, says Kors, in a lounge in Vegas in 1972. Seth Aaron, they praise to the heavens. Are we watching the same show? That dress wasn’t that great. He did do a good job with the styling. Emilio had a sweet dress, with the full skirt, and also looks very expensive. Ping was very unusual, and expressed who she was.

Ping is in. Emilio gets a bunch of praise and is the winner. Nice. Seth Aaron is in. Anthony is in. He gasps like the drama queen he is and tries to confirm she said in. Heidi tells him to get lost before she changes her mind. Hee. Christiane had poor fabric choices and construction, and they don’t know who she is as a designer. Jesus also made a poor fabric choice. Heidi tells Jesus that someone has to go, but not him because he’s safe. When did Heidi get this idea to do that? I like the old way better. Christiane never saw it coming. She’s glad to have met everyone.

Next week: the farm. No really, they’re on a farm. Tim is flabbergasted. Someone designs a poor dress. Ping cries, which makes me sad. I like her.

Oh, and on the model show? Each week the judges chose the strongest models and Heidi tells the designers who they are. Every single designer kept their model. EVERY ONE.