Project Runway All Stars 11/15/12--"Made in the USA Today" summary

Previously on Project Runway: graffiti is now called “aerosol art” and you can make people spray paint fabric as artwork. So they did. Lots of bright colors and crazy things. Laura was rude about everyone, and no one likes her because she talks about how rich she is. (Side note: the thing she said about her high school costing more than her college? There are high schools here that cost that much, so that may be entirely true.) Ivy and Anthony Ryan did well, but Emilio won with a “denim jacket”. It was fine. Suede went home for a weird dress with cutout circles. (click for more)

So last week, Kmanpat and I were out at dinner when I saw Laura walk into the restaurant. I didn’t go talk to her because 1. I wasn’t absolutely positive it was her, 2. I can get behind the theory that famous people out at dinner just want to have dinner, and 3. I was pretty harsh on her last week so I felt bad, and clearly I am not a fan. ANYway, it led me to look at her Twitter, where I found she’s blaming editing for making her look like a bitch. And while I know editing can completely change the tone of someone’s comments (and has, on this very show), when you say things like “His shit is gross”? There really aren’t very many situations where you could say that in a positive way. Or when you’re complaining that Althea copied your color combination.

Carolyn says the fans are taking part in the first interactive challenge ever. This worries me. Joanna elaborates: there Sandra Micek, the senior VP of marketing for USA Today, who says some stuff about infographics and photos. The theme today is “Every picture tells a story”. Fans tweeted inspiring pictures and the designers must pick one and make a design for the runway. OK, that actually sounds pretty cool. Sandra tells them to think about the headline for their look. Emilio gets to go first, and he can pick someone to go with him. He chooses Casanova, because Casanova doesn’t have any motives, he likes everyone. Sandra then says the winner’s look will get an editorial in USA Today. Woo. Kayne thinks this will be on “every doorstep”, instead of mostly nowhere because who subscribes to USA Today?

Emilio finds a picture of a little girl in a gray and yellow dress. Casanova has some guy that looks badass. Street. Everyone else picks, and this is a lot like the “be inspired by New York” challenge they like to have. Ivy says she tries every day to grow as a person. Everyone picks their replacement on the computer, and of course Laura is last, so she thinks everyone hates her. Either that, or they all think she has so much no one wants to give her anything. Well, then don’t tell them how much your high school cost. Kayne says Laura has offended everyone, and then we see the clip from last week when she called Ivy out on being mean. The one time last week when she was justified because Ivy and Kayne were snickering at her. Good job, producers, on picking the ONE TIME she was right. God, they can’t even manipulate things properly. “They want me to talk to them like we came from the same place. Not gonna happen!” See…never mind, she can’t hear me.

Sketching time. Most of the pictures seem good, not weird or tacky or anything. Emilio might be copying the dress on the girl in his picture. We’ll see. $150 at Mood. Andrae says “Tinkertoys” to describe his look.

Apparently there are few enough people that everyone can claim a sewing machine for their very own. Althea says she’s pushing it. Laura is dyeing her silk and it seems to be turning out well. She complains to Josh about how everyone hates her and people don’t want to be friends and somehow Josh is saying the “new” people don’t understand her. I almost stopped listening to Josh, because I seriously can’t with him sometimes, but he’s very carefully saying he’s trying not to listen to anyone, without agreeing with one side or the other. In confessional he says Laura needs to be more careful with the way she says things, because she comes off as harsh. Laura actually claims she feels she can’t talk about her personal life because everyone is mean about it. You can talk about how your grandmother took you shopping, without making a point of how said shopping was at Neiman Marcus. You can talk about high school without mentioning how much it cost. So I don’t have a lot of sympathy at the moment. Josh tells her not to get upset over it because she won’t do her best work.

Josh wants to make sure his lines are right. He says “linear lines” which is redundant but I get what he’s saying. Anthony Ryan is going to work through the stress. Andrae declares himself an outsider and works on the floor. Or on the shelf near the floor under his workstation. He’s weird. Uli laughs, but Emilio says he seems Andrae as a personality, not a designer.

Joanna time! She brings the style editor for USA Today. Andrae’s idea is interchangeable panels, so you can have whatever colors you want today. Joanna says it’s either bonkers or brilliant, and Andrae says it’s both, as he imitates her accent. Heh. Laura says something about emotions and vulnerability, although the last time she said the picture of water had motion or something? I think the story changed. Joanna says she seems emotional herself, and Laura says some stuff about tensions without really getting to it. It’s a long gown, which no one wears anymore. Because now that is a requirement, that everyone can wear it? Whatever. Then Laura loses more support by saying she’s not trying to make clothes that are accessible to “the farmers of America”. Yeah…that’s not going to go over well. Emilio says his headline is “Sophie’s Choice”, which makes no sense and Joanna hates it. They like Uli’s. Casanova’s pants are weird. The print looks like a fingerprint. Joanna hates his hat. Joanna tells Ivy she’s much better this season. Anthony Ryan’s headline is “Always Moving Forward” which he relates to his having cancer and moving through that. Althea’s picture is of a train station glass roof (Grand Central?) and it’s all in black and white and glass, but her outfit is taupe.

Models. Althea’s pants have a drape or something. They don’t look good right now. Everyone freaks out. Emilio hasn’t lined his skirt yet. Back home Uli, Althea, and Laura talk about how they’re here to show who they are, and Laura is over the drama or whatever, and is she wearing brass knuckles as a pendant? Sigh.

Day of the show. Laura talks about other people pushing themselves, like, that is the worst. When people talk smack about others but phrase it in “oh, I just want you to do your best, I’m disappointed”. Whatever. Hot makeup guy Scott. Casanova fondles his model’s ass. Althea’s pants really look terrible. Andrae makes up a whole story about the girl in his photo being creative like him.

Carolyn has a weird dress with shoulder flaps. Like, vertical flaps, but too high to be boob flaps. I don’t know. Guest judges are Tavi Gevinson, who is a blogger and apparently 16, and Charlotte Ronson, designer. But no one from USA Today, tellingly. Kayne: sexy red sheath, with a black feather fascinator. It’s not terribly exciting, and his picture doesn’t have any red in it. Laura: long dress in light silk. The pattern sort of turned out brown somehow, like she was wading in hip deep water. The top looks really drapey, but it is actually two pieces? The top ends, so it looks like it’s not attached to the skirt. Andrae: green sheath dress with a yellow and red stringy scarf. The back of the dress is orange, with a narrow yellow vertical stripe. And hot pink shoes. Sigh. Casanova: pantsuit, with wide legged pants and a sleeveless top with a belt and a narrow slit down to her waist. And a keyhole in the back. It looks pretty good, and the print from far away looks wavy and not like a fingerprint. And the pants are good. Althea: brown suit, with a green V-neck shell under the jacket. The jacket is nice, with a peplum that is longer in back. But the pants! The pants are cropped pants with an INSANE crotch. Like, diaper insane. Ugh.

Josh: shiny electric blue skirt, that is higher on one side. The top is a sleeveless vest, with orange and yellow and black frog toggles for some reason. It’s mostly orange, with yellow along the edges. Those colors do not go together. Uli: long gown in beige, with a V neck and a plunging back. It’s fine, and fits well, but it’s not a bright color. It mostly goes with her picture though. Ivy: coral crop top with black edging, and long super wide chiffon pants. The pants are mostly sheer, and I think the model has on black biker shorts. The print is nice, sort of a mottled brown and orange. I am about 90% sure those are pants. There is a shot of Laura yawning inserted here, and that is just a low blow, producers. That could have come from whenever. You are ruining your plot. Anthony Ryan: tight white skirt, high waist, and a dark blue top with a keyhole over her chest with illusion netting inside. There’s a cutout in back too. Emilio: so this dress is a loose tunic, with a high crew neck, in bright yellow. Then the skirt is giant, and bent away from her, longer in back so you can see her legs. Somehow he got the material of the skirt to be stiff enough that it has tremendous volume. The skirt is gray, lined in the yellow. I wonder if it’s too much of a copout. I mean, the picture is of a girl in a yellow and gray dress.

Laura, Andrae, Josh, Anthony Ryan, Emilio, and Althea are the best and worst. Althea talks about old and modern, and tries to explain her pants away by saying she wanted to do something different so she draped them. It makes a weird pocket thing in the front. Also too much beige. They like the jacket mostly. The sixteen year old says something annoying about the pants. I don’t know what she said, but I know she thought it was funny and it wasn’t. The back of Anthony Ryan’s dress has a tall rectangular cutout, with horizontal black strips in different widths. That’s pretty cool. They want him to take more risks but they really like the dress. Josh I think tried to match the colors, but in the picture the colors bleed into each other and Josh made a costume. He really did. Bleh. Andrae is super drama about his photo as he always is. Isaac just says he doesn’t get it and what are you doing anyway? The zippers in his design are all buckling because they’re stiff so it doesn’t look right. I don’t know, the swooning and whatever is getting old. Laura managed to make a good print. They all like it, which irritates me for some reason. I mean, it’s better than Josh’s McDonald’s whatever that he made. She matched the picture really well. Georgina wants the skirt to touch the floor. Emilio wanted fantasy. The gray is actually pinstriped, which is kind of cool. It’s light and fresh, and has a “wink”, whatever that means.

Anthony Ryan had great balance and a clear woman in mind. Laura dyed her own fabric, and that is why it was interesting. Emilio was bold but light, even if you couldn’t actually wear it anywhere. Andrae talks a lot about everything, and everyone is tired of it. Althea’s pants were a disaster, but they seem desperate to keep her so they talk about how no one else made a suit and the jacket was great. Josh had a horrible color combination and was too literal? Too literal? Whatever.

Emilio is in. Boo, I wanted him to win. Anthony Ryan is the winner! Yay! Laura is in. Althea is in. Bleh. Josh is in. Bye Andrae. He’s sad it’s over but now he has stories to tell and “I shall be OK”. Yeah.

Next time: make an androgynous look. For male models. Hee! That is the twist.