Project Runway 8/5/10--"Larger Than Life" summary

Previously on Project Runway: 17 people came to New York, and although there were cameras everywhere, people felt they were not yet on the show and this was a problem. Everyone had to make an outfit out of someone else’s clothes. There wasn’t as much drama as there could have been. Gretchen was declared the “unanimous” winner, as if everyone else’s clothes were horrible garbage, which wasn’t true. McKell styled her model horribly and apparently that was enough. Her dress was cute though. I think Casanova and Jason seem more interesting in terms of reality TV personalities. We all know the producers interfere a lot with this show. I watched Tim’s vlog and he was very upset with the judges, and he says it only gets worse. Someone came down on him for saying the judges smoke crack and he says he stands by his statement. When Tim has to show up on the runway and explain to the judges that all the designers are doing what he told them so lay off? Not a good sign. (click for more)

Today we have decided to have the longer credits sequence with people’s soundbites and Casanova’s kickboxing and Mondo’s shorts and knee socks.

Sarah declares herself a zombie and the show “public torture”. Wah. Chris is ready to go. April feels shocked that McKell left because her dress was cute. April also loves Peach, who is pointing out to the girls that while many girls sharing a bathroom is not ideal, many boys sharing a bathroom is also not ideal. High maintenance boys. True that. For example, Andy has an airbrush makeup kit. Mike D. only really knows Casanova but knows nothing else about anyone else except that Chris is hot and Mondo is weird. Mondo talks about being kind of a loner.

Heidi drags them to a rooftop and tells them they’re “officially” on the show, which must be the same thing as when they tell them that “three” people will show at Fashion Week. Joanna Coles is there also to tell them about the next challenge, which is to design one look for the “Marie Claire” woman. She is fashion forward, confident, sexy, etc. This look must tell the audience all those things at a glance, and the winner will be featured in a billboard campaign. Everyone is excited. Damn…when the title said “LARGER Than Life” I had been hoping for plus-sized models. Oh well. Chris declares this “operatic”.

Back to the workroom for 30 minutes of sketching and reading Marie Claire. AJ is going for punk rock/Gwen Stefani/Courtney Love. That could work. His captain’s hat works too. Mike D. seems to be planning to wing it. Gretchen is making pants. Mondo is making a list of fabrics and notions. When he gets back with all his stuff he’ll plan the look. Jason is making an “infinity” dress that somehow has the number 8 in it, for Season 8, although to me it just looks like a backwards S. He talks about death and infinity.

Everyone gets to go to the real Mood now. $150 and 30 minutes to shop. We see some of Nicholas’s sketches, a jacket and slim skirt. If they’re using the extra half hour for things like that, then I’m all for it. We’ve seen much more of sketching than we used to. People are having trouble finding things. Peach can’t find any houndstooth or tweed, just wool. Ivy freaks out. She wants “translucent, with stiffness”. Valerie is making a modernized trench dress, in red.

They have until midnight tonight to finish. Peach knows she picked the wrong fabrics because she likes polka dots and just picked out polka dots. She is kind of frustrated with herself that she stayed in her comfort zone. People complain about the sewing machines. April complains about Kristin, mostly that she’s headstrong. Valerie might be changing her mind. She babbles at a mile a minute to Mike D about it. Casanova goes to AJ to talk to him about a design. He’s asking AJ to help him, but can’t phrase it as a question, which has nothing to do with the language barrier and everything to do with not understanding how to pitch your voice when you ask a question. AJ is really confused and finally says he’s not going to help Casanova pattern. Casanova says he respects that AJ is into the competition, and even though everyone else is sharing opinions, he’s not taking it personally.

Tim time! Valerie is putting a fitted skirt on her trench coat dress. Gretchen loves Valerie’s work and thinks she’s competition. Tim tells Valerie something looks cheap and Valerie is thrilled. Or possibly horrified. Tim goes to Mondo and says that he took something matronly and made it modern and that is so impressive. The last challenge. He tries to describe what he’s doing because he doesn’t sketch. Tim has faith in him, though, based on the last challenge, so Mondo doesn’t get any reprimands. Jason has lots of grays. Tim doesn’t get the 8 either. Valerie makes a comment about Jason’s “Clockwork Orange” bowler hat, which is funny. He wants intense because it’s going to be on a billboard. Tim is concerned for time. Jason brings up again how he’s straight and it’s a “gay man’s world” which is such bullshit. Tim is not giving you a hard time because you are straight. He doesn’t trust you can finish your garment in time and he doesn’t like your stupid concept. Gretchen says this is the first pair of pants she’s made without help. April interviews that Gretchen is not creative. Casanova has a dark jacket with elbow length sleeves that he calls “sailor”. It doesn’t seem very sailor. Tim calls it matronly and Casanova claims to not know what that means. Nicholas calls him on it (in interview) and says they’ve heard him speak perfect English in the workroom, so it’s an act. Nicholas gets his turn next and brags about his top and how awesome it is. It’s mostly backless, except for some fabric across the shoulders. Gretchen thinks he copied her. Well…she had a mostly sheer back, with more fabric. Nicholas’s fabric is not sheer but there’s less of it. I don’t know that there’s enough to call copying. It’s a bare back. Tim worries about the shawl/jacket/circle thing. Actually he says he’s ambivalent. Mike C. loves his jacket and is so proud until Tim hates it and calls it “Blanche Devereaux”. Mike gasps and clutches his pearls. Hee. It’s like, shiny patterned fabric with poofy short sleeves and a butt bow. He thought it was fashion forward. Yeah…no. Peach explains her plan well but then admits to being lost. Her top and skirt don’t go together. Tim says she needs to stay true to herself.

Peach starts over with 4 hours left. Everyone talks about what they’re doing, I think they’re all talking to each other and asking advice. Now Peach has a hot pink bubble skirt but it sucks so she starts over again. Tim reappears and reminds everyone of the challenge, and then tells them this week’s twist: in the morning, everyone gets a photo shoot with a Marie Claire photographer. They get to run the thing, to get the best picture. The picture will be factored into the judging. That’s a good twist. Jason whines that now he won’t have time to finish.

Model fitting. There is a lot of pinning of fabric while models are trying things on. Casanova asks Gretchen’s opinion of a gang of things. She claims he is charming enough that he’s not annoying. Peach is still trying out ideas. She keeps talking about going home. You know what? They didn’t have model selection this week.

Gretchen tells Casanova he’s her “bosom buddy” but then must explain “bosom”. Now he thinks he’s her boob friend, or something. Nicholas interviews he thought Mondo would be very chatty but he’s silent. Nicholas whines about his model’s huge boobs. Peach has something, even though she feels defeated and tired.

Back at Atlas the girls hang out and drink. Well, Valerie, Ivy, Gretchen, and Sarah drink in their apartment. AJ gossips about how he doesn’t know Jason at all because he doesn’t share any information about himself. Some of the boys drink and then wonder where Mondo is. Mondo interviews that he’s lonely and needs to make a connection with someone and he hasn’t yet. But they’re not ignoring him; I think his roommates really did want him to hang out with them. He’s gone to bed while the rest of them hang out. He starts to cry because he feels he’s never been loved for himself, just what he can create.

Kristin doesn’t know if she has time to get everything done. Ivy is worrying about everything. Tim comes into the room full of flailing to deliver the models and give everyone 2 hours to get them ready. Andy is done enough that he’s not rushing. Mondo asks Valerie’s opinion of the accessories he has. For some reason he’s wearing blobs of fake fur on one shoulder. Collier Strong is not in the makeup room. It is some flamer with a handlebar mustache. I guess we’re going to get extended hair and makeup onscreen time. Peach is glad to just have clothes on her model. Jason ran out of time, so he is safety pinning where buckles were supposed to go. That’s two dresses in a row that were not finished. Mike C. says that Jason is the kind of creepy that makes you wonder if he’s going to stab you with some scissors, so he’s made sure to be Jason’s friend. Hee. He does the Psycho noise and stabbing motion in confessional. I like him.

Photo shoot first, before the runway show. AJ: short strapless yellow dress with a double black stripe running down the front, and a wide black belt. There’s a lot of black jewelry and a black clutch and very dark lipstick. It’s a cute dress, if not super exciting. I don’t read Marie Claire so I have no idea what would go in that magazine. Gretchen: navy satiny jumpsuit. The top is mostly two wide strips of fabric laid over her shoulders to make a deep V and flutter sleeves, and then the bottoms are crop pants with little ties at the back of the leg. There is almost no jewelry, just some ankle boots. I am not a big jumpsuit fan but it’s cute. April: short dress with a high neck. The main part of the dress is in this blah brown/olive green/non color. Over the shoulders and the neck are ruffles of dark purple, so it looks like a weird cap on the dress. I don’t know if I like it. Andy: bright purple satin top with a lot of ruffles, and wide legged gray pants. I think it looks good, but Gretchen interviews that he does too much stuff and it’s student work. Mike C.: short shiny party dress with a strapless neckline and a big peplum over a tight skirt. At least I think it’s supposed to be a peplum. And a giant necklace. Chris: slim black skirt and a sleeveless top in gray lined with coral. There is a small peplum but it looks cute.

Nicholas: gray short skirt, a lavender top, and a dark eggplant cape. There’s no getting around it, it’s a cape. It fastens at her throat and sweeps down to her butt. Valerie: red dress with a zipper down the front, a short skirt (although…maybe a slight bubble hem?) and no sleeves. The neckline isn’t quite a V but isn’t quite a keyhole either. There is a slight standup collar. It’s very modern and I really like it. Kristin: light sleeveless top with either a pink scarf or a big poofy pink collar. The skirt is shorter in the back than in the front? Maybe on one side? I don’t get it. Sarah: high waisted skirt in charcoal and a V neck top with cap sleeves in eggplant and lapels that match the skirt. There seem to be details of little strips of coral or maybe slits in the dress that let her skin show through. Peach: short dress with pink polka dots and a big brown scarf? Backwards collar? She also has a problem with her model, where she isn’t getting anything from her in the photos. Casanova: light skirt, knee length, and a shiny jacket. The jacket is black, with loose sleeves gathered at the wrist with wide cuffs, and fastened at her waist with a big oval buckle of some sort. I stopped talking about the makeup and hair because mostly it was the same, although Casanova has styled his model to look like Laura Bennet. Mondo: sleeveless black top with a mock turtleneck and a poof of lace, a gray checked wool skirt with tiers, and black leggings. She looks cute. I don’t know about the lace though. It’s like a cravat sewn onto her chest. Valerie declares him “whack-a-doo” but says it works for him. Jason: It’s just a silver dress with some folding, and he put the model in black flat ankle boots which is weird. He tries to claim his dress can be styled in so many ways that’s why he didn’t actually sew it, he put safety pins in it. No one is buying it. I still don’t see the 8. However in the photo you can see where he neglected to sew a main seam and the model’s stomach pokes through, along with a very obvious safety pin. He claims the judges need to look past “these little closures”.

I think I may have missed a couple people. I’ll catch them on the runway. Heidi pretends they might eliminate more than one person. She also tells them no one will get immunity this week. Joanna is back for the judging. Nicolas: you can see from the closeup of the picture he chose that his top actually has gathering right in the middle for a sort of starburst effect, and the skirt is about 6 inches longer in back than in front. And it’s tight so it looks really weird. And then the hem of the skirt swoops up at the sides so it’s rounded. His picture is good, but the cape is in his model’s hand so what’s the point? Plus there’s still no back to it. Jason: he claims his dress is “impeccably” sewn. But I can still see the safety pin. AJ: for some reason, on the runway his dress has gathered or ridden up or something and now his model looks pregnant. Peach: the brown in her look is two strips of fabric down a V on the back of the dress, and draped straight across the neck of the model in the front. There are also regular shoulder straps. It’s like reverse lapels. Mike D.: short black dress with bat-wing sleeves and a high neck. It’s in a fabric that has shiny horizontal stripes somehow. It looks fab. On the runway two things become clear: the “stripes” are actually an open weave so that’s her skin we’re seeing, and the skirt is so short she’s about to flash everyone. However this is the first we’ve seen of his dress today so I’m willing to bet he slides through. Ivy: gray shift dress with a thin belt and a turquoise collar necklace. It’s so boring. Even the color is like, putty blah gray. There is like, one stripe of sort of chartreuse on the skirt. Valerie: her skirt actually has flaps of fabric for some interest when she moves. Andy: the ruffles on the top are actually poofs. And the sleeves are accordion style so you can fold them up or down, depending on your mood. They do look good. On the back of the pants, not directly down the backs of the legs but far enough behind it’s not visible in the photo, are two stripes of the same purple the top’s made out of. Kristin: her skirt is asymmetrical, longest on her left side. The pink was a scarf, which she can remove to reveal a bustle? Really? The back of the sleeveless top has a giant pile of fabric right on her butt. Gretchen: her jumpsuit has a deep V in the back to match the front. Mondo: not only does his model have a lace cravat attached to her chest, but underneath is some of Peach’s pink polka dotted fabric. April: when the model walks you can see how horrible the fit is on the dress. Also there is an exposed zipper all the way up the back. Also also her model shakes her ass too much when she walks.

Heidi calls out Mondo, Peach, Nicholas, Jason, Valerie, and Gretchen as the top and bottom. AJ loses it when he gets backstage. Aww…poor baby. Come let me make it all better. Everyone backstage says they think Valerie is the winner, but they can’t decide who is going home. They all think Nicholas has finishing issues, but then Kristin thinks it would be unfair if Jason went home. Jason can’t finish anything either!

Peach talks about how she likes polka dots and Heidi hates them. There is no sex appeal. Kors says “Amish cocktail” which is hilarious. Everyone thinks it is matronly and old, and not youthful like polka dots should be. Plus they hate the brown. She tells them this is look number three. Valerie wanted simple and elegant. Nina says it’s sexy but conservative. It’s simple, but has enough interest to not be boring. Jason talks about his 8 again. Nina is bored and has spied the safety pins. Jason claims this is intentional. Kors doesn’t know when anyone would wear this; evening it is a bed sheet, day it is a walk of shame dress. Joanna can’t imagine why he picked a picture where you can see a hole and safety pins. No woman would wear this to an office. Jason claims it’s HIM for Marie Claire, as opposed to Marie Claire. He starts hiking up her skirt, and Heidi is worried, but he’s just trying to claim it’s reversible, or something. Gretchen wanted to appeal to all ages. She also points out that she’s got a closure on the top to make the V almost down to her navel. They love the photo and Heidi likes the easy-access front. Kors thinks you can wear something under it and it’s like sportswear. I know jumpsuits are a thing, I just personally don’t like them. Nicholas talks about his cape. Nina says there are too many things going on for a billboard. Joanna calls it “utterly unsexy”. Kors points out that Nicholas even knows that the cape sucks because he picked a photo without it. When they look at the back, you can see in closeup it’s raggedy. Nicholas talks day-to-evening, but Kors is like, does she have to wear the cape all day? Because she might be joining a religious sect. Hee. Mondo presents his dress, which they seem to like. His picture is very cute. I hadn’t noticed, but the skirt has a weird waistband. Like…there is a belt, but the fabric of the skirt sticks up over the belt like a collar. I’m really not feeling it.

Jason blames his model and says she’s not a runway model. Then he claims he’s not making an excuse for his sucky dress. Judge time. Good: Mondo was eye-catching and the photo had movement and was not posey. Gretchen was sophisticated without being old, and appealed to a lot of ages and seasons. Valerie was sexy but not vulgar, a cover dress. Bad: Jason should not need a disclaimer for his clothes, and the picture was terrible. He was too concerned with his 8. Nicholas was too ambitious, every piece had something wrong with it. Peach: Kors says you have to be 11 or 70. Mostly like 70 with pearls and pumps. It’s well made, but no one likes it.
Mondo is in. He’s in a much better mood now. Gretchen wins again. Good for her. Mike C. fake valley-girls that he is so happy for Gretchen! But (back to serious) he thought Valerie should have won. Valerie is in. Peach is in. Jason is out. Well, at least they didn’t let him get away with that two weeks in a row. When he goes backstage to tell them, they tell him to sit down and talk to them, but he’s like, no, I have to go. No wonder you find it so tough in this industry. Tim tells us that Jason left before Tim could even come back stage and tell him good luck and pack up his stuff. Nicholas is out too. Wait, what? No way! He’s pretty upset because I think he felt he was safe. When he gets in the back he’s sobbing and AJ comforts him and tells him he’s awesome. Everyone is super nice to him, actually. He sticks around for Tim, too. Ivy says having two people sent home makes her realize someone is going home every week. Yes, generally that’s how that works.

Gretchen’s model does not get to do the photo shoot and be on the billboard, which seems unfair. They go see the billboard, which I am pretty sure doesn’t have her name on it which sucks. It’s a cool billboard though.

Next week: Tim throws a party! Not really. It‘s the “unconventional materials“ challenge and that is a party supply store. Hee. Gretchen and AJ bitch at each other. Someone gets an ambulance and from the commercials it looks like Kristin. That can’t be good.