Project Runway 8/4/11--"My Pet Project" summary

Previously on Project Runway: At first there were 20 people, but then they got rid of 4 people right away, which was nice. Then Tim woke everyone up in the early morning and told them they needed to make outfits out of their pajamas and one sheet. There was not much drama, aside from people just flailing. Bert won, even though I didn’t like his dress, but props to the 102-year-old! Rafael went home, as he made terrible leggings and a weird cropped top. And he didn’t hang onto his do-rag, he cut it up, but it wasn’t enough. There are still 15 people and as of last week I think they were still filming so I’m not sure how all this will work out in the end. Probably with too damn many decoy collections at Fashion Week. (click for more)

So only the judges get to talk in the opening credits? Huh.

Josh C. says he can only go up from here. He says he’s not trying to win today, but just get by. Bryce says for them to use Rafael’s empty bed for motivation. The girls also talk about Rafael. Kimberly thinks he went home to enter a Beyonce look-alike contest. Heh. Anya is glad to know she can compete. Bert has immunity, so he’s feeling pretty good right now. Viktor jokes that they’ll all be Bert’s friends--his evil friends. Bert responds, completely deadpan: “Oh well. The price you pay for being fabulous.” I love Bert.

Heidi tells everyone today they will need to “unleash your creativity”. Josh M. has not gone to “dogs” but to “S&M”. Which is telling. Heidi sends them on a field trip without model selection. So is that not happening? Or what?

Tim meets everyone at Petland Discount. Not only a pet store, a discount pet store. Hee! Anthony Ryan for some reason thinks they’re dressing dogs, but we all know what it is: unconventional materials challenge. Tim warns them against using a lot of fabric, as the judges want to see random stuff made into clothing. However they can use muslin as a base. They get $300 and 30 minutes to shop. Someone asks Tim if they can buy live animals. People are buying food…I guess. And leashes. And plastic plants. Anthony Ryan is carefully looking for the empty aisle so he can use things no one else is using. Bert is going to get a dog bed, as he has immunity and “costumey” isn’t his thing so he did not listen to Tim. Bryce has potty pads that are used in house training. Laura’s bought those plastic cones you put on your dog when they have surgery. She says something about refinement.

Tim gives them 11 hours to finish their looks and tells them to have fun. Julie took all the food out of the dog food bags and is using the paper bags. Although now she’s not really thrilled with it. Anthony Ryan is going to use birdseed as beading. Cecelia is using dog food for beading. Becky tells us this in confessional, then dies laughing. Laura has discovered that a dog cone will work as a skirt if you are skinny enough, and you cover it with aquarium plants so it’s not transparent. Fallene worries that she has orange because she never uses orange. It looks like everyone thinks this is her challenge to lose, as she is artsy or whatever. Josh C thinks the key is creativity. Olivier (who was born in Columbus, OH) wants class. I think. Someone says “trashion” which is an excellent word. Josh M. bought a bunch of plastic tubing, but no connectors. He mentions it to Viktor, who says “Oh, connectors like these?” and holds up the pieces Josh neglected to buy. Hee. Josh takes it pretty well.

Josh M. grew up in the theater. Does that surprise you? No. Kimberly says everyone is feeling the pressure. Julie tells Bert that it works in her head. He says, “Yeah, but in your mind you’re the Queen of Austria.” She tries to tell him that he’s the Queen of Austria, but he says he’s the Queen of England. Julie’s decided to weave her paper bags. Becky has a ton of leaves, so she’s trying to stay away from too hippie. Josh C. is dyeing things. Laura brags in confessional that she’s upper class and she was able to have “brands”. She also says she was shopping at Neiman’s since she was little, which enables me to know exactly where she was shopping and probably where she is actually from. For some reason, being a rich snob pushes her because it means she can’t put out crap and call it luxury. 1. It’s an unconventional materials challenge, no one is going to call it “luxury”, and 2. Shut up, Laura. Fallene is self-taught, and she says she’s just as lost as everyone else. She would love some more time. Bert rubs it in that he has immunity. Someone tells him if he abuses his immunity the judges will get mad. Yeah, they probably will.

6 hours left. Anthony Ryan has tested out his birdseed beading, but as far as I can tell he hasn’t actually done anything on his dress. Olivier is making a top out of a fleece dog bed. Bryce knows a bunch of people are using potty pads. Viktor is dyeing his purple, and he says it’s worse than doing laundry in the river. Nice.

Tim time! He loves Viktor’s dress, even though he calls it “a Depends dress” and makes a joke that you’d never have to get up from your barstool. Bert’s dress makes Tim look concerned. It is declared “black velour beach cover-up” by Tim and “tacky boudoir…thing from the 60’s” by Becky. Josh C. is more confident about this design than the last time. Olivier is using two different types of wood chips to make an ombre effect, which is pretty cool, actually. Cecelia may have too much going on. Julie must think about movement. Danielle has something chic. Bryce seems to have a good start, but Josh M. is like “Where is she going?” Where is YOUR girl going? Stop trying to be a sound bite whore. Laura wants approval, but we don’t see if she gets it. Josh M. only has a skirt done, but he has shoes picked out and everything. Tim doesn’t think he can finish, and his outfit is so over-the-top he has to either execute it exactly how he’s pictured it in his head, or do something completely different. He can’t go halfway or it will look terrible. He knows Tim is worried. Kimberly gets a warning to avoid “tire tracks”. Becky seems to have bought nothing but aquarium plants and fake leaves. Kimberly, even though she just got some criticism, feels secure enough to express her bewilderment at Becky. Anthony Ryan knows he has to finish tonight so everything can set. Fallene is behind.

Lots of working and gluing and model fittings. Viktor’s is tight. Bert is telling his model that he doesn’t do costumes and simple things are the way to go and whatever. Josh C. is concentrating on fit. Josh M. has no top done, so he’s rethinking his design. Laura’s model tries on the skirt, which is short enough that you can see her ass. Like Zulema’s dress that she made out of her sweater. At least Laura knows she has to fix it. Josh M. is using aquarium rocks for his top now. Laura is sewing cardboard strips. I don’t know. Olivier says something to her about paper? I’m not sure. He seems exhausted. The Joshes chit chat about accessories. Julie is just floundering, or at least she thinks so. Bryce has used his potty pads like handkerchiefs attached at the waist of his skirt. Laura says it looks like a dog could walk up and pee on it and it would serve its purpose, but at least you won’t be able to see his model’s ass. Anthony is running out of time, partially I think because he’s trying to put the sunflower seeds on the shoulders and the other seeds on the rest of the thing. Josh C. worries.

In the morning, Anthony Ryan has decided to just put birdseed on the skirt too. Anya doesn’t seem to have a skirt at all. Tim comes in to give them 2 hours to finish. Anthony Ryan’s model is sitting on a chair watching him glue. Olivier’s model has wood chips glued to her eyebrows. Laura has scrapped her previous skirt. I think everyone actually is ready on time.

Guest judge is Stacey Bendet. Danielle: short skirt and top. I think the top is like a macramé made out of dog toys, and the skirt is potty pads. It’s hard to tell because her model has long hair that is in the way. Fallene: brown tube top and red skirt made out of aquarium plants. The top is a dog bed. It’s fine. Anthony Ryan: sleeveless sheath dress with a high neck, made out of muslin covered in birdseed. He picked out all the sunflower seeds and put them around the neck. It looks fantastic. Bert: jeez. Short black dress with two pink ruffles up top. Big ruffles, like she’s fat and trying to hide it. Sigh. He knows it sucks. Julie: wrap dress made out of woven dog food bags. The back is stripes of paper. It looks pretty good, considering it’s made out of wax paper. Anya: black skirt with a dog toy rope top. That top looks awfully similar to the one she made last week. Same shape and everything. It looks impressive though.

Bryce: halter top and big poofy skirt. I think the skirt is a little too big, but I’ve seen worse. Kimberly: dark blue strapless top, braided from aquarium tubes, and a black miniskirt. I think she made a flower too for the top. Josh C.: black miniskirt and a halter top in purple with a green belt. Made out of potty pads, I guess. It looks nice but isn’t terribly exciting. Viktor: sleeveless bandage dress in shades of purple, made out of potty pads. It looks fantastic. Cecelia: sheath dress with hamster bedding glued to it. The top is tan and the bottom is blue. Olivier: the top is a fleece dog bed, and the bottom is a pencil skirt with wood chips in different colors so it shades. Becky: strapless dress with a purple bodice, green skirt and yellow hem, all made out of aquarium flowers. It’s cute and colorful. Laura: the skirt is now made out of cardboard, and a tube top made out of leashes. And a weird diagonal strap. Josh M.: black skirt and crop tank top with aquarium rocks glued on in a neon design. It’s very 80’s.

Heidi calls out Danielle, Julie, Laura, Viktor, Becky, Cecilia, Kimberly, Anya, and Bert as safe. Before they can leave, Heidi makes sure to tell Bert he is pretty lucky. Backstage everyone trash talks the people still up there. Bryce explains his dress, but Kors calls it “ugly napkin clothes”. Apparently the judges are tired of this skirt. Nina doesn’t like the balance with the texture on top and volume on bottom. They know what he used, which apparently a problem, and also they demand a back story on clothes, as if anyone in their right mind is going to actually go anywhere in a dress made from a pet store. Anthony Ryan explains how he wanted to be special, but it totally worked. It is short, though. They all love it, especially because it’s not immediately obvious what the dress is made out of. Olivier even used tubing for a belt. The judges like his outfit too, as it is editorial and the ombre skirt is great. The eyebrows are kind of dumb though. Josh C. used an umbrella in there too. They don’t like that his materials were umbrellas and fabric. And then on top of that they seem bored with the outfit too. Nina tries to be nice and says it’s not terrible, but it’s not great either. Stacey points out the model has on snakeskin open-toed booties. Yeah. Josh M. explains how his top is cropped because he wanted to show some skin. They think it’s very colorful and they like the shape, although he seems to have taken a mirror from a birdcage to hang from her belt. Heidi then says she’s wearing too much makeup, which is hysterical because she’s got like 5 pounds on as she’s saying it. Plus he put some dog toys on the heels of the boots, which looks stupid but I guess Kors likes it. Fallene’s outfit is deemed boring, but she agrees and says it’s not what she wanted. Plus the proportions are off; her tube top is very short and then there’s a belt, so she looks really short-waisted. Fallene pretty much agreed with everything the judges say, which makes them attack her for not fixing her outfit if she knew it sucked.

Backstage, Fallene says she just was uninspired. Anthony Ryan says “excuses are for the birds” which is a pretty bitchy thing to say. Bryce is over everything, and at first I thought he was telling everyone to shut up and leave him alone, but as no one takes offense I think he was just venting. Josh C. was very boring and used fabric. Bryce had “the worst outfit I’ve seen in a long time” according to Heidi. Oh please, “the worst”? Fallene’s dress was ugly and boring and everyone hated it. Josh M. had a very colorful outfit with a good silhouette, but weird accessories. Anthony Ryan was very different, and didn’t look like the materials he started with, but it was short. Olivier’s outfit was sophisticated and modern. Nina likes it best, but Heidi likes Anthony Ryan, because of course a short skirt doesn’t bother her. Kors points out that those two dresses could come from the same line. Heidi and Nina fight over it while Kors fans himself.

Olivier is the winner. Huh. He gets immunity. Not that he had a bad dress, I just thought they’d go for birdseed. Anthony Ryan is in, but not until after Heidi tells him she wanted him to win. Josh M. is in. Bryce is in. Josh C. is out. Fallene sobs as she gets backstage. Josh C. is so awesome that even Tim is choked up.

Next week: Heidi is on stilts. Sadly she does not fall. Teams of two, drama, outdoor runway. I think a Kardashian.