Thursday, December 12, 2013

Project Runway All Stars 12/12/13--"As Sewn on TV" summary



Previously on Project Runway: Everyone has to design for Marge Simpson. This meant everyone pretending Marge is a real person, to the point that Chris said his design was based on the fact that Marge was just a housewife and wouldn’t want anything too sexy. And then Isaac got offended by that. Sigh. Anyway, Irina made a very pretty purple voluminous thing and won. Jeffrey’s dress was poorly made and everyone seems tired of his tortured artist shtick so he was eliminated. (click for more)


Down to six. Everyone is out somewhere where there is a helipad. Alyssa plugs QVC and says they’ll all be taking helicopters to the studio. Lots of freaking out. Also all the boys go in one copter and the girls in another for some reason. Wow, QVC has sweet offices. This week’s challenge is about “red carpet glamour”. Because QVC has a red carpet gala around the Oscars? Sure. Lisa Robertson, who is “QVC Program Director”, will wear the winning design. Not Alyssa? She must be able to sit and stand in it. Winner will have “a version” of the dress for sale on QVC. Everyone gets a tour and then they practice talking to the camera and presenting things. They mostly are OK at it except Elena. She kind of flails. They go to another studio and joke around for a bit before drawing. Chris wants a dramatic train. Those are hard to move in because everyone steps on the train. Isaac shows up in a hoodie and tells people to pull out all the stops. Well that was useful. Shopping is shopping. People want dramatic gowns and there seem to be a lot of mermaid silhouettes. Korto is doing orange to set herself apart from all the black.

10 hours to work. I know because Irina complains about the time. Chris has a one-up on “some” people because he’s done some gowns already this season. I don’t know who he’s talking about. Elena is doing all new things and it’s not working. She is at least self-aware enough to know she’s about to freak out. Korto is kind of eye-rolly about it because Elena is fine. Viktor lays all his fabric out on the floor. He interviews that something is bothering him and he needs to talk to someone about it. Seth Aaron agrees with this, that Viktor is off his game, but then nothing happens. Korto gives Seth Aaron crap about making multiple dresses. He is actually using the neoprene that Elena avoided. She didn’t want to do the same thing she always does.

OK, so now Viktor is talking about being a private person but he’s “living with something” and he’s not sure how people will take it. Is he HIV+? He takes Elena aside, and Seth Aaron, and they go into the lounge and he tells them he’s been HIV+ for seven years. Oh my God, I am a horrible bitch because my first response is “So?” and then my second response is “Why is he doing this now? What is he trying to gain from it?” I’m a terrible person. It just feels weird and shoehorned in here. At least when Mondo told everyone he’d just made a print about it. I don’t know why this is coming up during a red carpet challenge but there you go. He hasn’t told his family yet (well, now they know). Seth Aaron and Elena are supportive and of course won’t treat him different, because they wouldn’t anyway.

Zanna time. She says the gown must look as amazing in photos as it does on TV. “If I see one jewel-toned strapless gown in here, there’s gonna be trouble.” Hee. Cut to Chris saying that’s what he has. Oops. He is going to add some leather pieces. Viktor’s dress is shiny olive and Zanna is like, green doesn’t sell. I love green. Whatever, Zanna. Seth Aaron has a weird length, and Zanna actually talks him into leaving it a tea length? Or making it short? Something. No train. Elena is layering fabrics and Zanna loves her idea. Irina made a white dress so she must make it not look like a wedding dress. Korto has a very large amount of tiny pleats but she’s got a lot of work to do. Before Zanna leaves, she tells everyone this isn’t All-Star work and any of them could go home. Ouch.

Lots of really frantic working. Model fitting. Chris complains that his model’s ass is too big. Irina tears her dress. Now there’s a photo shoot? Zanna did it so they could see how the dress photographs. Most people’s look OK, but Korto’s orange is really bright and Viktor’s shiny green is laid bare so you can see all the puckering and mistakes. Korto doesn’t like the way her pleats look so it sounds like she’s scrapping it with 30 minutes to go. Simpler top and a beaded belt.

Runway day. Everyone seems to be freaking out. Viktor’s dress is really puckery. Hot makeup guy Scott. Final fittings go really well except for Irina, because of her fabric and how it’s splitting. But somehow everyone gets finished. Not everyone can walk easily, though, so we’ll see.

Georgina is gone AGAIN. Stupid. Mondo is here instead. Guest judges are Lisa from QVC, whom they met at the offices, and Elizabeth Moss. Alyssa says they’ll be considering photos as well as the runway. Chris: long dark blue gown, which was strapless with a sweetheart neckline. He’s put some black leather shoulders on it, so now there’s a keyhole but it’s still sleeveless. It’s a mermaid skirt, with tulle giving it volume. It’s pretty, and the skirt has that pleated/torn thing he used to do that gives texture. He’s the one that used to do that, right? It looks like even pleats but also like he’s sewn thin strips onto the skirt? Viktor: olive green satin gown, which is so long she looks like she’ll trip on it. There’s some vertical seaming and then two matching ruffles down the sides and some smaller ruffles at her hips. It doesn’t look good. Plus she’s walking on the bottom of the gown, basically. Seth Aaron: the fabric is a shiny silver with black stripes in it, to give it some pattern. The front is slit high in the middle, with a high neck and strong shoulders. The back has a big keyhole…but then it’s even worse than Viktor’s. He’s placed the fabric vertically, but with a solid panel over her butt so her ass looks huge. It looks like the width of the fabric panel, like it’s so stiff it’s just sticking out. Ugh. The front has the stripes in a chevron pattern so why isn’t the back like that?

Korto: the top is a simple V-neck with thin straps. I think she took the fabric and sewed it to the skirt, then twisted it to make straps. This is in beige/light gray, and then a sparkly belt and the orange in a flowy skirt. For the time she had, it looks great, but it’s also maybe not fancy enough. Also I think there are pockets. The back is asymmetrical. Elena: high crew neck, sleeveless, in a purple. It looks like purple with some black on top, a lace or something with stripes. The hips have some volume, but it looks nice. Interesting. Upon closer inspection the black makes small pieces, lined up in columns and rows, like dashes. I do like it. The back doesn’t have a train but it looks like she’s bustled it? Like when you see wedding gowns that have some ribbons or buttons to pull up the back of the train for the reception. Irina: mermaid dress in beige, so it doesn’t look too much like a wedding dress. The top looks corseted, with a plunging strapless neckline. The skirt has white flowers or something appliqued to the skirt. The train is huge. And then the model has trouble walking back up the stairs. It’s super dramatic but better for standing around for photos, I think.

When the models all come back out to the runway, everyone can see Irina’s skirt tore right along a seam. Oops. Seth Aaron totally loves his dress. Alyssa likes it, but Mondo points out the front of her skirt has a really weird shape. It stands away from her legs like wings. Isaac hates her ass. Plus the slit in the front is really high. Irina was going for “orchid plant” but everyone can see the tear. Irina whines “She tore it!”, like, way to blame your model. It’s kind of puckered but not as bad as Viktor. Lisa doesn’t think she could walk in it. Alyssa tells her that in the photos it really looks like a wedding dress. Elena wanted a texture on top of something shiny. That’s what she says. Isaac likes the textile, but he thinks the silhouette is dowdy. They don’t really like the back, where the skirt bunches and there is maybe a seam right under her butt. Korto wanted something free, plus to have pockets to put things in. It does look comfortable. The top is kind of bland but the orange is great. When Chris talks about his gown he leaves out the part about how all the leather is because of how Zanna said it was too boring. There are some leather details that don’t show up in the photos. Isaac loves the navy. Viktor has made a flattering dress, but it really does not photograph well, and the wings are weird. The judges argue about his dress, is the color good, are the wings good, whatever.

Chris had a very innovative gown, with a good mix of textiles, even though the picture wasn’t stunning. Seth Aaron took a risk, I guess, but it’s not flattering at all. At least people would talk about you. Korto’s dress is not as glamorous but it’s easy to move in and they like the orange. Oh, that was the top three. Huh. Irina made a wedding dress, dramatic, but falling apart and a wedding dress. Elena’s dress is not sexy but they at least like the fabric. Viktor had great ideas but it was boring and in an ugly puckery fabric.

Seth Aaron is in. The winner is Korto! Yay! She’s so happy. Chris is in. Viktor is in. What? That dress sucked. UGH. Fine. Irina is out. Huh? This is dumb. Fine. I bet she’s somewhere blaming her model for purposely tearing the dress. She’s already won once so she’s fine with going out.

Next week: Nina Garcia!! And she’s judging! She says something about seaweed to Chris, who says “Thank you” in a snippy tone, and she says back “It’s not a compliment.” I’m excited.

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