Project Runway All Stars 1/9/14--"Are U.N. or Are You Out" summary

Previously on Project Runway: I missed last week’s episode due to travel and DVR being stupid. But it wasn’t super exciting. Everyone had to make a dress for a specific line, taking into account the price point and stuff. Remember the first All-Stars season when Mondo made that dust ruffle pillowcase and everyone said they loved it? Same challenge. Seth Aaron announced at the beginning of the episode he hasn’t won a challenge yet, so it was seriously no surprise when he won. At least his dress was fine. Korto and Chris were the bottom, so naturally they had to take all their clothes from the previous challenge and make something new. Like Korto was not going to the finale. I bet what happened was the guest judges hated her dress and wanted her gone, but that doesn’t fit with the decided narrative of the season, so they had to make another challenge to declare her safe. You didn’t see any of the guest judges after this last surprise challenge, did you? Anyway, Chris is eliminated so it’s Korto vs. Elena vs. Seth Aaron for the finale. (click for more)

So, finale, huge prize, make a 6 piece collection in 4 days. That seems like more time than usual, but also I think the collections used to be 5 pieces? Inspiration is your own personal heritage. Then Alyssa lays it out, I guess so you can’t cheat or something: Elena has Eastern European heritage (specifically Ukraine), Seth Aaron is from Spain and Korto is from Liberia. In order to learn more about this they will be going to the United Nations. Cool. They will meet the delegates from their respective countries and then stay there to sketch. Also that’s where the final runway will be. Huh, interesting. Quite a change from the first time they went there, to do the flag challenge. That time they had to stay outside on the lawn.

Field trip! Tour of the main chamber! Everyone dressed appropriately but Elena is wearing short shorts and heels. Korto talks about losing everything in the war. Eek. Elena talks about Fashion Week? Seth Aaron…also talks about nothing. Sketching time is the usual. Elena puts some words and Ukrainian flag colors. Seth Aaron has colorblocking. Korto is bringing some intricate details. They get a whole hour to shop.

4 days left. Korto is working on her looks in order of runway appearance. Seth Aaron is skipping his muslin and is directly working with his patent leather textured in a diamond pattern. Elena is starting to freak out.

Oh, a reunion next week. And I was so excited to be finished. Sigh. Whatever, it’s fine.

3 days left. Elena remarks that she would love some help. I only note it in case they get some. Zanna appears to check on everyone. Seth Aaron thinks this is his best collection ever. He needs to check his time. Yeah, he could run out of time easily. Elena is using her emotions and making her dream collection, which Korto thinks is the same one she lost with. Elena is also really behind, because currently she has about a coat and a half. Korto has some pants which is nice. Tailoring will be important. Before she leaves Zanna brings in Chris (in a janky “Team Korto” T-shirt he wrote on with marker), Viktor, and Jeffrey. Viktor is helping Elena, and Jeffrey plus Seth Aaron. They have helpers for 24 hours. See, I told you about the help. Korto immediately puts Chris to work on her “chiffon-y-esque” dress that she was not looking forward to doing. Ha! Jeffrey starts throwing out opinions, but Seth Aaron can stand up to him.

2 days left. Alyssa is waiting for them and everyone is pissed. She has…scarves? 7^th look made from a scarf. Stupid. I don’t want to talk about 21 things. Seth Aaron and Korto quickly get back to it, while Elena cries and threatens to quit. Viktor basically makes her seventh look for her before he leaves.

1 day left. That was quick. Model fitting. Looks good. A bunch of frantic working and then the day is over. That was a lot of time crammed into one short montage.

Runway day. 2 hours to do things. Hot makeup guy Scott. All Korto’s girls have some “tribal markings”, which are dots along their cheekbones. Everyone talks about how glad they are to be in the finale. Wait, their girls are all dressed. Are they going to walk to the UN or what?

So they set up the runway in the main assembly room, which somehow makes me ashamed. Like…do we have to shoot our poorly-scripted basic cable reality show in a room like that? I don’t know. Guest judges are Zac Posen and Gayle King. OK. Alyssa’s gown makes her chest look huge and misshapen.

Elena is up first. OK, I don’t really want to talk about 21 outfits. So let’s just sum up the looks. You can find them on the internet anyway I’m sure. Elena took what looks like a gray wool and cut holes in it to make a print, then put different bright colors underneath. So they’re different colors but the “print” looks the same. The jackets are her usual boxy jackets. I do like the gray/color combos though. There’s also a weird short satin skirt and boxy top. Like, it stands away from her stomach like a bell. One top has windows that look like plastic along her ribcage. They don’t show her scarf look in the runway show. I know because it’s the only print in her collection. It’s cohesive, and it looks interesting, I’ll give her that. It’s not to my taste, but then again I don’t go for boxy silhouettes. Does it say “Ukraine”? To be honest I don’t know what that should look like.

Seth Aaron titled his collection “Ole!” Sigh. Very strong shoulders and tailoring. Not soft looks at all. The leather looks good. There’s one white dress that is just a trapeze dress and is very simple. Also all the girls have his glasses for some reason? He hasn’t been using prints but the scarf print actually really works well with what he’s got. He made a top out of it. That black leather seems to have been fashioned into a swimsuit, worn with fishnets. Or possibly leggings made from the same fabric? It’s very sexy but not something I think anyone would wear in public. Maybe Lady Gaga would. The dress made totally out of the scarf is fantastic. He placed the print so it draws the eye to her waist. Lots of primary colors and strong shoulders, more form-fitting than Elena’s. I like it. It’s Spanish, I guess. More things are making me go “oo!” than Elena’s collection.

Korto is so cute. I like her the most. She opens with a long yellow gown that is simple. Lots of flowing skirts, or at least skirts that are full, in yellow and cream and the scarf print works well. Everything seems easy breezy. There’s a short shift dress that is loose but has some detailing on the shoulders that looks cool. White pants suit. The shoulders are giant ovals. Somewhere there are giant palazzo pants but it’s hard to tell them apart from skirts. I really like this one, but this is more my style and I like Korto the best anyway.

Seth Aaron is judged first. Georgina tells him he has demonstrated his skills at draping and texture. It’s true, he has a red coat that is luxe. But she hates the swimsuit/fishnet thing. Isaac thinks his black textures make the colors pop. Styling disaster though. The pants are a weird length, because the girls have on platforms, so there’s a platform and then their toes, and then the pants end. They don’t go to the floor. The scarf dress has some leather on the back. It’s architectural. Seth Aaron says in confessional that whether you like it or not, you remember his collection. That’s fair to say.

Isaac tells Elena he had a moment. Some of her pants don’t fit, but they are fabric down to the knee and then leather, so it looks like boots. Some skirt is collapsing. Alyssa thinks Elena spent all her time on the tops of looks but not the bottoms. Yeah, she has fit issues, but her collection is cohesive and she has a clear idea of who her customer is.

Georgina doesn’t think Korto’s strength is structured pieces. Her long maxi dress is the best. The peplums don’t always work. Alyssa says this collection makes her want to go to Korto’s country. She’s the most inventive. Isaac tells her he felt like crying. Aww!

Final deliberations. Seth Aaron can go off into space but they all rave about the white dress that was just like an A-line skirt. He made sure to have something that was a wow. Is it too much like a caricature? Korto is described with “effortless chic”. But Georgina doesn’t like the scarf outfit, which was the scarf as a top, with a black belt and peplum, and then a really short gray miniskirt. The skirt doesn’t work. Isaac reminds them it made him emotional. Elena’s vision is so specific, but that means it’s the same silhouette all the time. Gayle speaks up and says she’s not looking for something that only appeals to one person. They all agree that Elena is out of the running. Seth Aaron is more “runway” while Korto is more ready-to-wear.

Alyssa wastes no time telling Elena she’s in third place. She says the usual about continuing to pursue her dreams. And the winner is Seth Aaron. Again? Sigh. I wanted Korto to win, but just listening to the runway judging, you could tell they said almost nothing negative about Seth Aaron and much more about the other two. I don’t know if he says anything about winning because my recording cut out. Everyone always says the same things anyway.

Next week: reunion.