Project Runway All Stars 11/21/13--"Partners in Crime" summary

Previously on Project Runway: the unconventional material challenge caused everyone to make clothes out of school supplies. Chris won, with his “school sucks because bullying” black plastic dress. Whatever. Elena became Helen 2.0 and had a meltdown while everyone rolled their eyes. Mychael and Korto couldn’t execute their designs, while Jeffrey made some weird dress that flashed everyone. Somehow the judges couldn’t make a decision and no one went home. (click for more)

My DVR had this listed as a repeat. So I would have missed it if I hadn’t checked. Thanks for nothing, Charter.

8 left! Should be 7! Jeffrey needs to win. Today’s trend is “the glamour and romance of the ‘30s”. Oh, you hadn’t realized the ‘30s were a trend? That you could have “glamour” attached to the decade containing The Great Depression? Clearly you didn’t know Lifetime has a new miniseries about that very topic! Anyway, they have a Bonnie and Clyde miniseries. The screen with the two actresses talking about the challenge is over the runway, so when they get reaction shots, the designers are basically staring into the camera. It looks like they’re practicing emotion for a school assignment. So they will be partnered up. Is that why you didn’t eliminate anyone last week? So you could have pairs this week? Holy shit, Lifetime, can’t you COUNT?! It’s not like you had someone quit. You should be able to plan when you need even numbers of people for certain challenges. What is wrong with you? Anyway, make stuff for the 1930s which is glamorous and romantic apparently. You will make looks for a “young, modern couple”. They have to go together, but one person will make the menswear and one the woman’s outfit. Chris picks Viktor, Seth Aaron picks Jeffrey, Irina takes Mychael, so Elena and Korto are stuck together. Viktor got to pick Seth Aaron to go next after him, so Elena is pissed. No more BFFs! She also feels everyone is scared of her from her season, because Elena is hard to work with and everyone learned that from the TV. Korto thinks because she’s calm all the time she’ll balance Elena.

Viktor is taking menswear because he knows what he’s doing. Chris is making a gown. Shocking. Irina complains about not winning a challenge yet. She and Mychael are both making separates. Korto tells us the last time she did menswear was when she was last on “Project Runway.” But she won that one. Elena has a complicated jacket. $400 per team and 30 minutes to shop. Seth Aaron and Jeffrey have wool. Korto and Elena make a list.

8 hours to work. Jeffrey has a big coat with magnet closures. He thinks his piece is maybe more modern than his partner’s which is a problem. Viktor has fringe. Remember when he put fringe on so many things? He’s pretty far along, while Chris is struggling. He wants to do something cut on the bias, which looks great but is really hard to sew. He says something about fabric weight which I guess means bias-cut doesn’t work on all fabrics. I don’t know enough about this, even after all these years of writing about this show. Mychael is quilting knees on his pants and is confident. Elena snobs that everyone else is literal. Whatever. You’re not that great. Viktor has to tell Chris how to make his dress.

Zanna shows up. Jeffrey has no shirt under his jacket. Zanna then goes to Seth Aaron and tells him that he hasn’t won and Jeffrey barely didn’t get eliminated so how are they going to do well? Nice. Korto says she’s providing calm and it’s working because Elena hasn’t freaked out once yet. Mychael is confident even though Zanna has reservations. Elena is really bitchy about everyone’s looks. Get over it. Viktor loves his fringe. Zanna leaves and tells everyone to ask questions and question each other for editing purposes.

Seth Aaron decides to help Jeffrey, even though they’re judged separately. He thinks that if their looks don’t go together, then they’ll get docked, so not getting docked is worth maybe not doing an outstanding job on his own stuff. Model fitting. Jeffrey’s male model is much too big. His measurements were a year old and he’s been working out. Stupid. A year? A year is too old. Jeffrey curses and throws his scissors down. For some reason everyone turns to stare at him and interview about how he should calm down. He’s got a fitness model, who should really only wear sportswear and underwear, not suits and clothing. I see his point about the difference. He’s not freaking out that badly. There are weird shots of his model sitting in the lounge like Jeffrey kicked him out of the room, but I wonder if maybe they just spliced that in. Back to work. Jeffrey thinks he for sure does not have time to make a shirt.

Runway day. Everyone has a lot of work to do. Jeffrey is really cutting it close. Chris’s dress is terrible. The back is all bunched up because the zipper is not laying flat. He’ll have to sew her in. Yeah, that zipper is making the back of the dress really lumpy. Hot makeup guy Scott. Makeup for the boys too. Jeffrey’s coat seems to fit. There’s some frantic working and then it’s time to go.

The winner will get their “debut” as a fashion designer in a “Lifetime Original Movie Event.” With screen credit! Hee. Guest judges today are Bar Refaeli, who is a model, and Elie Tahari. And Austin sitting in for Georgina. Hee. Seth Aaron: dark purple wool suit. The jacket looks like it has elbow-length sleeves, and then the model is wearing black long leather gloves. There’s a big belt and a chain, and dark tights with a white diamond pattern on them. The top has some leather shoulder details and a scarf to go with the tights. Jeffrey: long herringbone coat with a flat front (no buttons) and black pants. The pants are several inches too short so you can see his ankles, but the coat looks fine. There are black thin bands around the biceps and outlining the big patch pockets.

Irina: long dark orange skirt, fitted closely to the knee and then very loose. Shiny gold bustier and a black coat. The coat has a big collar that looks like it’s covered in faux fur and it kind of looks like a motorcycle jacket. Mychael: tight black pants and a shiny copper motorcycle jacket, the kind where it zips diagonally up the side of the torso. I think there’s a shirt underneath.

Elena: black jacket with an exposed zipper up the front. It’s tight, but then there is a ruffle across her shoulders. There’s no other way to describe it. It is a dust ruffle running around her upper body and hanging down to her elbows. And black pants. The guy has gray pants, and the black jacket has a lot of leather details. These two models look like each other. They each have black jackets and tight pants so from a distance they totally match.

Chris: long dark red gown, which is that sheer long skirt over a miniskirt thing that I think looks dumb. The top has thin straps and does drape well. Big gold belt and a small peplum. The back looks like it has rhinestone straps. Eh, I don’t know if this fits the challenge. Viktor: OK, pants, fine, shirt, fine. The jacket has really weird lapels, and they are set very far apart. So what it looks like, is that you can’t sew, and you made a jacket that doesn’t sit right at all. It doesn’t open in a V, it opens in a big round circle. I don’t know. The shoulders have some leather trim and there’s the fringe on the back.

Elena and Korto are safe. Seth Aaron talks about his silhouette, and Alyssa says she loves it so much she wants to kiss him. Elie says it’s maybe overdone. There’s a leather yoke around her shoulders in the back, and Isaac thinks maybe then the belt is too much. Maybe not dangerous enough. Jeffrey actually did put something under the coat. Huh. The coat is fantastic but the pants are not so great. It’s not 30s maybe, although I wonder if they will end up caring about that. Irina’s outfit is gorgeous and stunning. Austin wishes she didn’t cover up with the jacket. Elie disagrees and thinks the jacket is different. Mychael’s vision is that their models are bank robbers and are now nouveau riche. Isaac likes the vision but the lapels are weird. The pants are great but it’s the jacket that has the problems. It doesn’t go. Everyone loves Chris’s outfit because the universe hates me. This is not 30s. Sheer skirts over miniskirts are terrible. UGH. And Isaac says he loves the back but didn’t someone else do a back that was all crystals and they yelled about it? I know they did. At least Alyssa points out there are too many spots where there’s a horizontal line. Viktor’s neckline is too weird for everyone. Austin says the fringe takes away from the whole look.

Back in the Scrap Bin Chris and Viktor fake-fight. It’s lame. Isaac says Chris is “masterful”. Whatever. They seem to like it. Irina got the glamour part down. She did the most work. Didn’t Irina say something about not having won yet? Yeah, looks like they decided it’s her turn. They love Jeffrey’s coat but the pants are dumb. Well, Elie thinks the pants maybe are dumb but Austin likes them. Seth Aaron had something modern. He’s the bottom? I think they don’t all agree. Mychael’s outfit wasn’t 30s and the jacket was all wrong. Shiny copper gold and black leather don’t go. No one liked Viktor’s fringe. At all.

Irina is in. I was wrong. Jeffrey is in. Oh, of course, because he was talking about how much he wanted to win something to get back on track. Fine, Chris lost, so I’m OK with it. Chris is in. Seth Aaron is in. Mychael is…out. Aww. He says he might not have won, but it was a great experience and he loved being around so many creative, inspiring people.

Next week: well, not next week, that’s Thanksgiving. Wait…am I actually getting a preview for the next episode!? Woo! Anyway, it’s somehow Simpsons-related. Make a dress for Marge Simpson. Well this should be interesting.