Project Runway 4/1/10--"Sew Much Pressure" summary

Previously on Project Runway: the designers had to design their own fabric, which actually was a pretty cool thing. I think everyone was pleased with how their textiles turned out. The outfits were not as great. Mila made this maxi dress with a rainbow fabric, that was ugly and her model couldn’t walk in it, but then they just blamed her model. Jonathan made a pretty dress but they attacked that too, and the backwards coat he included with it. I didn’t think it was that bad. But Anthony made a very odd shrug and the judges have decided to be bored with Anthony so he went home. Seth Aaron, though, made another super tailored outfit with a million details and he won. Mila made a cute dress but her million details were not as cool, I guess. (click for more)

Everyone is saddened that Anthony is gone. I think they’re bored. Mila says in the last challenge the judges were hard on everyone. Not everyone. She says her age and experience have taught her to take criticism and move on. Maya says she’s the youngest and it’s getting harder.

Heidi says their designs have to set them apart. Today they will be designing for an opinionated celebrity. A “difficult” celebrity, says the chyron. Seth Aaron says he’s totally nervous.
Tim grins at all of them in the workroom. It will be a red carpet look, for Heidi. We ALREADY had this challenge. Seriously? You couldn’t find another celebrity? I am bored and it’s only been three minutes. Heidi talks at them about how picky she is and they’ll have a dossier but all I can notice is how she’s like, two inches taller than Tim. They’ll get $300 at Mood, after 30 minutes of sketching. Is she going to actually wear this dress? Unlike Jay’s dress? Seriously, they already designed a dress for Heidi this season. Sketching begins, and then there’s a bang and shots of the door and Maya’s empty workstation. Where’d she go? No one says anything, they just start talking about how they’re working hard and Mila doesn’t do red carpet often but Jonathan is pretty confident. And Maya’s still gone. Jay wants some detailing that will be captured by the cameras, but small. Emilio feels the dress needs to yell instead of whisper. Maya is still gone. WE GET IT. She’s not at her station working. All of a sudden she comes back in with Tim and Tim gives the “gather round” and she says she’s quitting. So that’s why she didn’t have a finale collection. But why is this out of the blue? Whenever someone has a powwow with Tim they show it. If we didn’t know she didn’t show a collection this would be out of left field. She says she’s not ready to “go all the way”. Everyone is confused. She feels like she’s not fully developed, and they show a shot of Nina telling her she is too referential. Now we see the talk with Tim, where she tells him that she isn’t sure of her point of view, and that she has a hard time “performing on command”. It’s time to go. Everyone interviews that they’re shocked and she’s so close and no one understands. Emilio thinks it’s a copout; she should have designed some crazy shit and gone down in flames. “Quitters never win.” Well…generally that is how that works.

Everyone stands around talking about how unexpected this was and how they think she freaked out at the thought of making it all the way and having to make a collection. Seth Aaron defends her, saying they work long hours and that if you think she shouldn’t have quit then “fuck off”. Tim comes back in and tells everyone they need to rally and buy fabrics. He tells them “don’t disappoint Heidi” which doesn’t have the same ring to it as “don’t bore Nina!” Mila doesn’t have black and white! Seth Aaron does have black! Exciting!

The five remaining designers return and start working. Tim comes back in…again…and says that they expected six designers so they’re bringing someone back. Why? Why not just have five? Obviously you don’t care about how many there are because you had 87 decoy collections. Anthony comes back in all loud and interviews “Who wants Anthony back? Hell, who WOULDN’T want Anthony back? I like him, you should like him too!” Hee. Seth Aaron tells him he knew Anthony would have talked himself back on the show. Tim tells him he will still get the same amount of money and time. Anthony thinks it would be wonderful if the judges will have to change their minds about him.

Jay is sewing strips together. Jonathan wants more than one day for Heidi and his cutwork: sewing fabrics together and then cutting away to make patterns. Emilio’s fabric is kind of see-through so he needs a good lining. Tim comes back in…again…and tells Seth Aaron he needs to speak to him. Oo, that doesn’t sound good. It’s like getting called to the principal’s office. It might be something good, but probably not. Mila can’t focus. Seth Aaron returns and says that he’s just lost his model. So during the model show, they made a huge giant deal about how his model got booked for a Donna Karen job the same day as the next runway show, so if she wanted it she’d have to quit, and they made her tell everyone her decision during model selection, and she said she’d stay. But now apparently she’s changed her mind. Stupid. So the last model eliminated is returning also, and Seth Aaron says she‘s not the same shape as his old model but oh well. Everyone works hard.

Tim time! And Heidi! Seth Aaron has a “smoke” black dress that will be long. Heidi is bored. Anthony has black and white, that will move. He doesn’t have a lot done at the moment. Emilio has sequins and a mermaid bottom. It will be difficult. Jay’s dress may make Heidi look like she has a giant ass. He says she’ll be wearing a piece he designed…which they haven’t actually said yet. They get into a discussion about the gap in the bustier, which Jay says is like the space in her bra, but she’s got a push-up bra on so the girls are smashed together. Which she shows him by pulling down her top and shoving her boobs in his face. Tim is like, “Look at this experience you’re having!” Hee. Mila has three fabrics, and her dress is not too simple but the others might be better. Jonathan has a bad curtain print. The print he’s been cutting for eight hours. Tim says if he can make it work it will make a very good impression on how well he works and responds to criticism. And how versatile he is.

Jonathan imitates Heidi demanding a gang of stuff, and says it would take a week. The models come in and the designers fill them in on the gossip about Maya. Seth Aaron has to scramble to refit the dress. Jay might ignore Heidi and Tim and do what he planned. Jonathan hates his drapey dress. Oo, yeah, it is fugly. So he’s making another dress. With the first dress he had, plus the drapey one, this is the third dress. Everyone goes home except Anthony, who leaves at 2:30 and then only gets an hour of sleep. I know they aren’t waking up at 3:30 so they probably made him do confessionals then.

Everyone kind of freaks out in the morning. Anthony babbles. Seth Aaron makes weird noises. Anthony has to remake the front of his dress because the interfacing is doing weird things. Jonathan’s new dress still looks as fugly as the last one. Mila is glad other designers aren’t doing well. She’s got her hair pulled back and it’s not very flattering. I’m just saying, some people look worse with their hair all back. Anthony clarifies that he got back to Atlas at 2:30 and woke up at 5, which is more than an hour. Last minute flailing and fitting. Emilio trash talks Seth Aaron. Mila says her black and gold lamé dress is sophisticated and modern. Jonathan disagrees. But he also says that his own dress is different from what he usually does, so since the judges usually hate what he does, maybe they’ll like this.

Guest judge today is Jessica Alba. Her hair is still blond, and I wish it wasn’t because I think she looks better as a brunette. Jay: short putty dress with a bubble skirt. The skirt has a lot of volume and looks like it’s made from strips of fabric that are starched and stand out from her legs. You know when you see paintings of men from the Middle Ages and they have like, giant bloomers and hose? Like that. So it’s short too. The top is plain. As his model gets closer, you can see they aren’t strips so much as they are flaps of fabric, Leanne-style. He did make her ass look big. Mila: black dress with gold diagonal stripes over one hip and down the skirt. It doesn’t fit her quite right on top. And this one is short too. I wouldn’t buy it. Anthony: black and white sleeveless long gown with a v-neck. One side is white and one is black. The skirt has enough volume to move, and the top is draped a little bit on the white side. There is a black belt and no back. Seth Aaron: black dress fitted just past her hips and then it flares out. It has double straps and then a column of rhinestones straight down from the straps down the front of the dress and down the skirt. Also there is a short train. Jonathan: putty colored dress that seems shapeless, to the point where his model looks really wide. There is a red stripe in the draping across the skirt. When she turns around it looks like the front is all draped on, and there is a swag of red and one of black on the back of the dress. I don’t get it. Emilio: bronze sequined strapless dress, long and with a stiff loop over her right boob. It’s a small loop.

Everyone has to stay! Seth Aaron was wanting to keep true to himself, but Nina says that he shouldn’t have been thinking of himself so much. Kors says this is the dress the girl who carries the statue wears. Ouch. It’s not sexy enough and they’re bored. Anthony wanted sophistication. Heidi loves it; it’s sexy without being vulgar. You can tell Anthony is shocked. They all love it and think it’s stunning and glamorous. Wow. Mila is still talking about modern lines and she wanted to think of how Heidi loves jewelry. The cups of the bodice are too far apart so it’s going to be double-sided tape time. Too simple, says Heidi. Emilio starts talking about how his fabric is like “liquid gold” even though it’s bronze. Kors calls it “impeccable” and Nina says it looks expensive. Jay describes his dress as “a 360 experience”. Kors knows no one wants to look like they have a huge ass and hips. Everyone else agrees. Jonathan talks about fun, but the dress is really short and the front looks like he threw it together last minute. The back looks much better than the front. He explains how he’s run out of fabric because this is the third dress, and Kors says you can tell.

Seth Aaron is boring. Anthony made a chic dress that moved very well. Jessica wants to borrow it. Jonathan…no one knows what he was thinking. The color was all wrong and the front was a “pillowcase”. Jay’s skirt should have been fuller, and then the ruffles would have worked. Emilio is the only one who put the right structure in his dress. Heidi says it’s the “right” kind of glitter, not crazy glitter, as she appears to be wearing black velvet studded with a grid of pearls. Mila’s dress wasn’t formal enough, and Nina says it looks like something one of the Real Housewives would wear. Heh.

Heidi says they do not have a winner--they have two winners, Emilio and Anthony. Jessica herself wants Anthony’s dress. Yay! Emilio has been winning a lot. Anthony is still shocked. Seth Aaron is in. Mila is in. Jay is in. So Jonathan is out. He knows he couldn’t compete with his last minute dress. But he’s mostly OK with it.

Next week: “This will decide who goes to Fashion Week! Even though all of you and the 54 people before you will also go because we didn’t plan this season very well!”