Project Runway 12/1/16--"Bold Innovation" summary

Previously on “Project Runway”: there was a helicopter ride and people were supposed to make editorial looks inspired by New York or whatever. Mah-Jing was in the top again but then Cornelius won because of course he did. He just got saved so of course he would win so Erin and Dexter could be mad. Then all of a sudden Heidi started talking about how multiple people will be out and then Dexter and Nathalia were both eliminated. (click for more)

Finally down to six people. Mah-Jing is cutely thrilled. Cornelius pretends feelings and says he's sad Nathalia's gone. But not Dexter. Heh. Erin says she's happy to be on the top again. I'd forgotten she made the top three with a shiny pink tweed dress with a dust ruffle. I feel like she's supposed to win and the judges/producers have been slamming her for a few weeks so when she wins we can all pretend she overcame...something.

Heidi tells everyone there are two challenges left until Fashion Week. Or...there were six collections and there are six people now. Go big or go home. Rik thinks they're leaving the country, which is hilarious. Instead they are in some abandoned warehouse with some cars and trash can fires and some guy from Lexus. Sigh. You did this challenge before and you aren't going to do better than a seat belt coat. This is an “avant garde” challenge which I put in quotes because this show doesn't do this properly. ALSO it's an unconventional materials challenge! Tim says there are some pieces of metal and whatnot that should “inspire” their look, plus $150 at Mood. So it's a mix of fabric and metal pieces, not the inside of cars. Boring. Two days so twist alert in effect. Like...make a ready-to-wear look to go with your avant garde look.

There's duct work and I guess tools and chicken wire probably. Rik thinks maybe he didn't get enough metal stuff. They ride to Mood in the cars, which is dumb because you know they just did some shots of the cars driving around and made everyone ride in a van. Erin buys that Big Bird yellow color she used in the last unconventional challenge. Mah-Jing buys denim. Swatch barks at everyone. Tim gets on his hands and knees to see what Swatch is barking at, then accuses the dog of “just wanting to see [him] in this position!” OK, hee.

Someone wasted money making fancy metal stenciled signs for people's buckets of crap. Cornelius I think is planning to make butterfly wings out of duct work. Mah-Jing makes “seashell coral” shapes. He has no idea what he's doing and it's clear from how he's talking about his look. Erin loves these challenges, you guys. It's all about creativity and true genius or something. Rik is also just throwing things on the dress form. Roberi tries to make one cohesive look instead of a dress with a bunch of crap on it. Erin makes a fucking print. Erin. Don't talk about how great it is to be challenged by unconventional materials and then do the same exact shit you always do. She wants to do a paper doll dress, which is a thing I KNOW I just saw like a month ago. If I didn't know better I'd say she copied it, but the collection showed at the same Fashion Week they all did, I'm pretty sure. Still, you aren't such a genius, ERIN, because someone else thought of it too. Rik's look is good, I like it, but it's not avant garde I guess. Erin makes flowers out of her crap and talks to Mah-Jing about glue. Specifically that her glue might not dry in time, or at least the editing would like you to think that not listening to Mah-Jing's advice will ruin her.

Day Two. Erin comes in and immediately gasps because the glue bubbled up like foam as it dried and all her flowers look terrible. Mah-Jing is just like, girl I told you. So Erin has once again wasted most of her time doing some pointless embellishment.

Tim Time! It says “Six hours left until end of day”, just FYI. Rik has some safety pins which is kind of cliche. Student work. Also the back is not as refined, but better than the plain white back he had last time. Tim says to go overboard. Roberi appears to have curved sheet metal around the dress form. It looks good and smooth. Also he wants a helmet or mask for a reveal. Tim says it looks OK probably. Mah-Jing describes his coral reef idea to Tim and shows him his copper mesh that is kind of crumpled with copper wire swirled through it. Tim tells him it's heavy and now he's worried the strapless dress won't stay up. For real, my sister just got married and her dress probably weighed 25 pounds. They tied the skirt on so tight we thought she'd need scissors to take it off. But the alternative is the skirt falls off her because it was so heavy. Tim labels this costumey, and Mah-Jing says in confessional that isn't that the point of avant garde? Erin describes her paper doll dress, over pants, and she wants it to sit with just the tabs holding it up. But it looks like the “dress” is just going to be mesh with those dumb flowers on it. Tim cautions her to not injure her model with an unwearable design of metal mesh with metal flowers. Laurence says she's making a stairway dress. More square blocky shoulders. The skirt is like a step pyramid. Tim doesn't point out she does that same shoulder all the time, but says it's graphic and the rest of the bodice is too organic. Cornelius is making a scary face, like how sometimes butterflies have patterns in their wings to frighten predators. Right now, though, it's a black dress with a hot pink oval over her stomach. Tim says “maternity”.

Cornelius still wants to use his duct work, so now it's a host being devoured by a parasite. Erin makes giant clown pants. Mah-Jing looks around at everyone and rolls his eyes about how Tim said he was too “costumey” because paper doll dress, parasite, “bathroom tiles”, and “Robocop”. Cornelius complains he wants his model and then said “I wish I had boobs”. Heh. Model fitting. Erin loves her look of course. Mah-Jing's dress is heavy. Laurence asks Roberi's model about if she speaks the same language as he does? And he's like YOU SPEAK SPANISH ALL THIS TIME?!?! because he's been struggling with his English. Ha! That was great. Laurence I think made steps and tiers out of chicken wire and then wove leather strips through it. She also thinks Cornelius has given his model a penis because there is duct work attached to her crotch. Mah-Jing talks about bringing it which is not a good sign for him.

Runway Day. Tim shows up to give them an hour so I guess no twist? Good. Erin pastes flowers over her model's nipples so she can wear the chicken wire thing without a bra. Not hot makeup guy Scott. Mah-Jing's dress is really heavy. Roberi is still planning on a mask. I think Mah-Jing's dress is too heavy, especially on top. Laurence made a very short dress.

Guest judge is Shiri Appleby who is from “Unreal”. Cornelius: tight black dress, knee length, with sleeves and a high neck. There is a length of pink fabric making a U shape over her waist, and some blue and some yellow on the sleeves. The duct work is painted black and hard to see, but there for sure is a duct coming out of her stomach. He tried, I guess. Mah-Jing: dark denim strapless dress with panniers over the hips so they're wide. Then over the hips and chest are the copper mesh with wire. The model has her hands on her hips and I feel like she's holding the dress up. Rik: black shift dress covered in metal. There are tile-like pieces on one shoulder, and a panel of dangly bits. It looks the most like real clothing, which is both impressive and not great, for an avant garde challenge.

Erin: super wide bright yellow pants. Over this is her open mesh with yellow “flowers” around her chest and a piece of yellow metal across her hips to make it look like she has a peplum and also to keep her model from flashing everyone. I do not get “paper doll dress” from this look. Laurence: short black dress. Seriously, that's what it looks like. I know there is chicken wire and leather strips in the skirt and the top has those square shoulders she always does but I honestly can't see much of the details because it's all black. It ,looks vaguely shiny. Roberi: short black dress covered in curved metal pieces, kind of like armor. I'm impressed with how great the metal looks, not lumpy or anything. She's also got some fabric over her face. I like the armor-like quality of it although it's not super-weird.

Everyone gets to stay today. Roberi talks about draping metal and aerodynamics. He's mixed conventional and unconventional materials very well. Plus Heidi likes the face mask. Zac calls it cubist. The guest judge wishes it was more “surprising” which is so nonsensical. Nina says something about Robocop and how it's too costumey, but it's clear she's not that upset. Mah-Jing's dress just kind of looks crumpled up close. Also he explains he couldn't put more copper on because of the weight. Of course that's what the judges wish he had done. Cornelius smirks because he's a dick. The unconventional material is a decoration instead of part of the look. Rik wanted something that was still wearable, and they love the mix of textures. It's not the most avant garde look here, but it's integrated and Nina wants to look more closely at it which is a good sign. Heidi loves it because of course she does. I could see her wearing it. She also pretends that “avant garde” doesn't mean “crazy shit no one would ever wear in real life” except I feel like there should be at least a hint of that?

Cornelius talks about parasites. This dress is not great. It's a plain black dress made of neoprene, with a big cowl neckline. It looks like a hoodie put on backwards. And ducts. Nina says whenever anyone talks about the future it always has tubes. Hee. She says it's scary, but I want to say she's OK with that. The tubes come out of her uterus and the ones on her back attach on her butt, so the placement is a problem. Laurence can't talk about her look, just saying she wanted a crazy dress. She says when she thinks about her fashion, it's all in French, so Heidi tells her to say it in French and they'll translate it. So she says EXACTLY WHAT SHE JUST SAID IN ENGLISH. Goddammit Laurence. At least say some more interesting shit or what is the point? Heidi wishes for some non-black. Actually I think everyone wants it to not be in black. Plus they acknowledge it's the same shoulder as always and this dress is not really a risk for Laurence. Erin talks about paper dolls even though her wire thing is not like that. But of course everyone loves it. I can't roll my eyes hard enough. But I guess because it's a color they love it. Plus from the back you can see all the glue on the mesh.

In the Scrap Bin everyone acts like the judges just HAVE to nitpick everything. Secretly they love all of it, I guess. They like the contrast between the copper and denim of Mah-Jing's look, but it's not polished. An execution problem. Cornelius had some good execution, and they keep saying how his look is weird and makes them uncomfortable, but no one says it's bad? I don't know, I feel like in this situation making the viewer uncomfortable is a perfectly fine outcome for an avant garde look. Laurence's dress is safe for her, because they have seen the shoulder thing so many times. Plus it's too short. Zac wouldn't let anyone wear this dress. Roberi made good lines and put a lot of work into his look. Nina just sniffs that she's seen this before, but Zac points out this is one of the best-executed versions of this look. That's true. Heidi for some reason is pleased that she asked the designers before the runway show who should win? And Rik is the only one who raised his hand. It's a beautiful dress that's done well, even if it's not super avant garde. Erin's model claims the mesh top isn't painful, just heavy.

Somehow Erin was feminine. Sure. I guess we tore her down enough so now it's time to praise her. Rik did a great job and had the best execution today. Mah-Jing sort of did OK? Maybe enough to make it? They don't seem to be slamming him that much. Cornelius made a provocative look, which Heidi argues is not a bad thing.

Erin is the winner, because the universe is like “Fuck you, Toyouke, Erin should win this whole thing!” I take petty satisfaction in how she has to go to the Scrap Bin and congratulate herself because no one is there. Laurence and Rik are in. Roberi is in too. Mah-Jing was too random, Cornelius had “unflattering hose placement”. Cornelius is in, because of course he is. Tim Gunn Saves always make the finale. Mah-Jing is out, and I love him. Mah-Jing, I will buy clothes from you though. He made it much further than I thought he would.

Next week: whatever, you guys. I hate this show. Apparently more unconventional bullshit.