Project Runway 10/5/17--"Client on the Go" summary

Previously on “Project Runway”: use a menswear look to get fabrics, then pick teams, then make a fall look that goes with your partner's look. Why are these things so complicated for no reason? Anyway, of course the twins paired up and provided most of the drama and arguing (with an assist from Kenya and Amy). Shawn continued to complain about having plus-sized models, even though I learned Liris is not the size 22 model advertised in the promos. I thought she was simply because they seem to be presenting her as the most difficult to dress. Margarita made a mostly simple dress with some cool seaming, which was producible so she won. It's a fine dress, although it only goes up to a size 16 or so. Of course the twins were in the bottom, and then Heidi was like “oh we can't decide” so now we have to start this episode with a one hour challenge. Whatever. At least they didn't say they couldn't decide and therefore weren't eliminating anyone. (click for more)

Also just in case you forgot, they can't help each other. They both have interviews where they cry and are sad. It would have been great if one of them had said “OK, guess I have to eliminate my sister” all hardcore. Shawn flips out almost immediately, of course. Claire is at least doing something. Shawn spends 15 minutes pretending to drape and flipping out before crying dramatically. Claire continues to pin and work while Shawn cries, so there is my hardcore. Shawn asks for Tim, and says that Claire should stay. Now Claire is crying, because sacrifice or whatever. Well judging from that display just now, I'd say since Claire actually accomplished something and Shawn didn't, that's the right decision. Of course now that she's being noble Shawn is not crying.

Tim brings the twins down to tell the judges Shawn wants to quit. Then he gets choked up which is terrible. Come on, Tim. They aren't that great. Oh God what if he Saves her? Anyway, Shawn admits Claire helps her a lot anyway. Heidi pretends Shawn is great and then asks Claire if she's OK with this. She cries harder, which somehow tells Heidi she has fight? Anyway, now we have some bullshit about letting people go. Why is everyone crying? I'm tired of both of them. Just shut up already. Back in the Scrap Bin Shawn tells everyone how noble she is for quitting and allowing Claire to continue. JUST. GO. Shawn packs up so I think we're safe.

Claire's still crying back at the apartments about how she hopes she can hold on. The girls reassure her while Michael kind of shrugs like, well I've never seen her work alone so who knows? Heh.

Everyone goes to the workroom. Claire is now the “I have someone to work for” person. Tim appears with someone from Dixie. Sigh. Anyway, the challenge is to dress “women on the go”, who will be friends and family of crew members. Everyone yells as if this is the craziest thing they have seen. Claire is immediately assigned the executive producer's friend and freaks out. Lots of moms. One more element: make a custom print. Didn't we have to make prints already this season? Anyway, the print will become a Dixie cup you can buy or whatever, plus you get $25,000. Two day challenge. Meet with clients now, then another 20 minutes to finish your print, which will be delivered tomorrow. So I guess since the previous print challenge had to be done by hand, this one will be with the software? I don't know why the print challenge can't stand alone.

Claire freaks out some more because her client hates print. Ha! She wants to put the print on one leg, just in the front. Ayana's client wants long sleeves so she is relieved. Margarita looks a little worried since she wants to do a floral and her client wants geometric. Batani talks her client into purple. Claire's client knows she's freaking out, so of course Claire is like “last week my sister went home” so her client has to reassure her. Whatever.

Twenty minutes for prints. They get a helper, though. Ayana makes the word “Dixie” in Arabic, which does look cool but is kind of a copout. I think everyone is describing what they want, or showing a sketch, and the helper person does the work. Margarita doesn't know how her print is going to turn out, but she's out of time so she just kind of shrugs. At Mood she has no idea what she's doing.

Claire pins a card and some photos on her dress form just in case you managed to forget she is all alone in the cruel world. Michael's client is Native American, so he wants to use a traditional print and make it blanket-like. Claire sits in the lounge and talks out loud, as Michael and Brandon look as bored as possible without actually being asleep. She just wanders off eventually. Margarita starts whispering to everyone to look at Claire's top. She says Claire is draping something that looks exactly like the dress she made for JC Penny last week. They show it side by side and it has the same diagonal seam across the front. I mean, on the one hand, you can't own a diagonal seam. But on the other hand, this was literally one day ago. Maybe pick a design from further back than that. Margarita runs around and whispers to everyone and starts shit. Kentaro loudly declares that you can't win $25,000 from copying so don't worry about it. Margarita interviews that she “knows” the twins knock off other designers. Where did that come from? Now Margarita is obsessing about it, without saying a single word to Claire. Someone asks her if she doesn't think the judges will notice, and Margarita is like “No. They'll probably be like 'this is brilliant, where did you come up with this idea?” HA! We all know that's exactly what will happen. She continues to flip out.

Day Two. Everyone has their print and they have varying reactions. Batani's design is more spread out than she would like, so she's just going to cut it carefully to make sure the design can be seen. Margarita hates her print. It's hot pink with triangles of white stripes. Also she's still obsessed about Claire in case you were wondering. Ayana interviews that it's just sideways rouching and everyone does rouching. I'm tired of her bitching about it without saying anything to Claire. Kentaro is making a jacket from his print. Kenya sits in the lounge, eating popcorn and hot sauce with a spoon. I was going to laugh about it but that actually sounds kind of good. Margarita has scrounged up some turquoise dye, so her print is know a slightly darker pink with turquoise stripey triangles and it looks much better.

Model fitting. Kenya's client cries because she loves the print so much. She's invited Kenya to Thanksgiving. Hee. Tim Time! He tells the clients they are “coaching” their designer. I see. Kentaro has made something flowy, and Tim says he doesn't see Kentaro in it. Too simple. Michael has something he can make into a skirt or jumpsuit depending. They think jumpsuit. Brandon's skirt is too boring, as is Amy's pants. Ayana had been thinking a dress over pants, but Tim is like “but look at her legs” so I guess not. It's not modest, but Ayana also doesn't want to upset her client. I mean it's not revealing to most people. Margarita's print turned out pretty 80's but she seems to have a good grasp on where she's going. Batani had to cut the design out of her print, and now she has a gray dress with patches of blueish purple. Her client says she wouldn't wear it out of the house. Ouch.

Commercial Interlude: Brandon is making a pencil skirt and Kenya laughs at him for not making baggy clothes. You never know what he's up to. He appears to be wearing a necklace made of two skeins of yarn held together with a carabiner.

Back to Tim Time. Batani literally picks some fabric off the floor and offers a lilac which goes over well. I think it's the scraps she cut her print out of. Kenya's client loves her and is getting a peplum of course. A peplum and a mermaid skirt. It's too high or too big or something, and the peplum isn't working. The two ruffles of the skirt and peplum look odd. Claire has one black leg and one white with fat black stripes. She shows Tim the top, and his comment is that he's seen this top before from her. From Claire? Margarita continues to obsess.

Kentaro asks Brandon's opinion about his jacket, because he needs to make his outfit less simple. Ayana paints something. Claire says she has a question for Margarita, if she could look up for two seconds. Margarita ignores her. Good. Claire thinks that people won't interact with her anymore now that Shawn's gone. You asked the wrong person, and also they probably never wanted to interact with you but you didn't notice because you were too busy with your sister. There's something about a sleeve, and Margarita actually answers her without bringing up anything she's been bitching about. Then she interviews that she can't say anything because Claire will feel attacked. You have gone behind Claire's back to probably every single person in this workroom, to tell them how terrible she is because she's copying you. And you are going to pretend you care about her feeling attacked? Come the fuck on. Batani paints too. Brandon and Kentaro discuss how $25,000 is basically a year's salary.

Margarita talks to Michael in Spanish about how someone (she says “she” and they keep showing Claire so I guess Claire) has a measuring tape and is measuring pants in her bathroom. Michael says something about “fairness” and how Claire is not playing the game right. I have no idea what they're talking about. Whose pants? When was this? I don't know. Ayana thinks either Kenya will get wild praise for putting an older woman into something fun, or the judges will hate it. Claire's top is now a normal vertical keyhole like everywhere. Meanwhile Margarita is fucking up and cutting the fabric wrong and running out of fabric. I'd have to say Claire is winning this right now. She changed her look so it's not “copying”, as Margarita has spent two days obsessing about it and it's thrown her off.

Runway Day. Margarita is ashamed of her look, because she's run out of gray and now isn't giving her client what she wanted. Tim says they will only have an hour. Brandon appears to have straps again. Margarita's client makes a face and then pretends to love it. Kenya's client loves her look. It's a lot of ruffles. Well at least she loves it. Margarita is in tears about her look, which isn't great but I've seen worse. Her client is trying to be encouraging. Claire's pants are now both in the print so at least that's not weird. Out of fucking nowhere, Michael interviews that he knows Claire's pants aren't original, because they're similar to some pants she has in her room? Is that what they were talking about? Also...how do you copy pants? I mean...it's pants. Right? Unless we're saying that she is so incompetent that she can't cut pant legs properly without a template? Well...last week's pants were horrible so maybe so.

Heidi comes out to greet everyone and asks how they are, and then specifically asks Margarita how she feels. Come on, producers. Don't do this shit. Because of course Margarita is on the verge of tears because she feels defeated and now the judges know that going in. HOWEVER! She has immunity, which I feel like maybe someone could have mentioned AT ANY POINT IN THE PAST HOUR. Last immunity for this season. Guest judges today are Yolanda Hadid, who is hosting some Lifetime show, and model Sophia Stallone. Amy: black sweatshirt and black pants. It's cut like a sweatshirt, anyway, pretty baggy with a cowl neckline but the ends of the sleeves are fitted from elbow to wrist. On either side of the pants, there is a long flap of beige with white rectangles all over it. The print is supposed to look like a folded ribbon, I think. These flaps are terrible but we haven't talked to Amy today so I guess she's safe. Brandon: crop top and skirt in black with the white print on top. The crop top is mostly white with a black border and a turtleneck, while the skirt is mostly black, with the print just over one hip. And some damn straps. The print is just thin straight black lines with pink accents. I think this skirt is a handkerchief hem or something. The top is terrible because the white is cut in a crew neck, and then the turtleneck of black, with no sleeves. Batani: long purple dress with a darker purple sash, and a blue sleeveless vest. There is almost no print in the dress, just a narrow stripe down one side of the dress and a stripe in the back of the vest. Also her print was some mottled pinks and blues and purples on a lilac background, and that lilac is nowhere in this outfit. It looks like it fits pretty well though.

Margarita: above-the-knee shift dress in fuchsia, with a vertical panel of the print. The print is also in a band at the hem. Over this is a cropped jacket with elbow length sleeves in a brown/gray non-color. The print is that 80's pink and turquoise linear print, and you can see in closeups that the fuchsia is not the same shade as the print. I think it clashes. And I know this is partially the model's fault but she walked down the runway with her hands shoved into her pockets and so the dress looks really wide, like it's not fitted properly. I don't know that it IS fitted very well but that makes it look worse. Claire: black silk top and black and white pants. The top has three narrow keyholes, one on the chest and one over each shoulder, where the cap sleeves would attach to the top. There's a little bit of a peplum. The pants are the print, which is fat black stripes with fuzzy edges on a white background. These pants actually look pretty good, which is in high contrast to the insane crotch, diaper butt, too tight in the shins pants from last week. Ayana: short skater dress with elbow-length sleeves and a crew neck, in a dark blue with Arabic lettering in a slightly lighter blue. (A skater dress is short, with a fitted waist and a fuller skirt. It's the modern equivalent of a 90's babydoll dress, if like me you are old enough to have lived through those.) There's a little bit of a slit, and the hem has an odd treatment that I can't see well. It's not just a plain straight hem.

Michael: black pants that are odd. I don't think they're dropped crotch, but that's what they make me think of. Maybe they have flaps? The top is a wrap top in the print, which is vaguely Native American/Southwestern. There's lines of triangles and diamonds. The top has ¾ length sleeves, but with slits in them so her arms show through. When she turns around it looks like the pants have a flap in the front that looks like she's got a skirt over pants maybe, and a short black peplum in the back. Kenya: mermaid skirt that hits mid-calf, in a raspberry color. It's very fitted and then the flounce below the knee is pretty pronounced. The top is a light pink, almost lilac, with tiny butterflies (?) on it. The peplum starts right under her boobs, and there is a vertical slit in the neckline. So it's a crew neck, and then a cut straight down the middle, and then one side folded back almost like a lapel. Long baggy sleeves. It's really covered up and I'm not sure the top fits right. Kentaro: long dark pink dress that moves really well, and a loose jacket. The jacket is mostly red with purple bands, and it's got a lot going on. There are two layers in the back, both pleated, but the top layer has bigger pleats. The whole thing is very drapey with wide sleeves and it makes me think of a kimono. But I'm not sure the dark pink of the dress goes with the red of the jacket.

Batani, Michael, Kentaro, Kenya, Margarita, and Claire are the top and the bottom. I'd like to point out that this is the second or third time Amy has sent some nonsense down the runway and been safe, and I knew she was safe because she got no screen time. So you know as soon as an episode allows her to speak that's probably the end. Also they aren't praising Brandon's straps so that's something. Batani explains where exactly her print is on her outfit. Her client feels sexy. Aww. Heidi babbles about Coachella, because I guess her styling doesn't go? It's too much makeup to go with a maxi dress and wedges? They have her turn around to look at the print, and the stripes look crooked. Like the one on the side of the dress has a huge bend in it, so either she cut crooked stripes or when she finished sewing it didn't hang straight any more. The print is an afterthought and they're especially pissed because Batani is so good with prints. Michael's model loves her look, but Zac is disappointed. Nina thinks the pants need to be on someone much taller, and the openings in the sleeves are weird. I mean, that's a style, but whatever. They don't talk to him for very long. Kenya tells them her print would be really cute on a cup. Hee. They...love the top? Huh? OK Zac loves the detailing on the blouse, and they do show a closeup so you can see she's sewn in pleats over the bodice. They do dislike the high peplum and the skirt is too tight.

Kentaro was making a dress for a wedding guest. He babbles about being a new designer because he used color. I still don't think all the colors go perfectly but sure. Zac loves all of it, how it moves and flows. Heidi thinks it's too much fabric. Well of course you do, Heidi. Nina and Zac gasp and make faces. Heh. I do like it, and I like Kentaro, but I'm not sure it's as stunning as they say. We have to talk to Claire about Shawn, but no one cares. I mean, I don't care. So now they praise Claire about how great the pants are and how the print works with the pants and Nina is claiming if she saw this print on a Dixie cup she would want it. Don't fucking tell me that Nina would touch a Dixie cup. Also this print is a graphic black stripe with fuzzy edges. We are not reinventing the wheel here. But I guess this is so we can cut in shots of Michael and Margarita looking pissed. Nina admits she's seen this before, but for some reason this is “suitable” and not “boring”. I would love some explanation of why that is, but I'm sure the explanation is “praising Claire causes drama”. Zac wants more creativity.

Margarita wanted some color and she lets them know she promised to make her client a better look after this. Aww. Nina is confused because the gray/brown non-color jacket is actually sparkly, so it's too fancy for the dress. Zac likes the print and that's about it. So they then let Margarita talk about why she got so lost, which I still think is a producer-driven thing, like they would never have done that except the producers know she's been bitching about Claire for two days and they're hoping she'll say something. She alludes to the workroom distracting her, and of course Heidi asks what was so distracting, as if she cares. Margarita won't say anything, because of course she won't. She had the chance to say something to Claire and she didn't. She says something about throwing people under the bus, which makes no sense, and then Heidi kicks them all out.

Back in the Scrap Bin, as Claire is explaining how they told her how great she was, Michael starts with “no shade” but then brings up how they said it was “ready to buy” and not original, but then praised her look. That's a great point. Claire babbles something about how most people look good in sleek looks, and Michael shoots back that you could probably find those two pieces at J. Crew. Yup. Margarita says they asked her what happened, and that she responded that she wasn't going to throw people under the bus. OK so if that's true, you can't say shit like that. Say they told you the jacket didn't go or whatever. Reminding everyone you refused to throw people under the bus is just inviting them to ask you who exactly is getting thrown under the bus, and you are clearly not going to say it to Claire's face, so why bring it up at all?

Kenya's look is very well constructed, but it's not as flattering as it could be. Zac pulls the peplum back so the whole top is fitted and it looks much better. They of course love Claire's, and say shit like it's the most “real” look. At least Nina says it's basic, and fashion and design is supposed to elevate. Zac thinks it's inspiring because he is mental. Kentaro's jacket doesn't have two layers in the back. The smaller pleats are actually part of the dress, like a capelet. They like the colors, although Heidi still thinks it's too much fabric, and then under the collar of the jacket Kentaro has found a Dixie label to sew in. That's cute. Michael's pants are weird and they do look like a skirt over pants. It's overdesigned. Tim explains how Batani's print had the design but a lot of empty space between the sections with the design, so it wouldn't have worked. They discover the sash is just cut fabric, without any finishing. Margarita's model explains how most of the dress was supposed to be gray, and the judges seem to agree that would have been better.

Claire is the winner. UGH. No one claps or anything and then Michael walks off the runway. Fuck yeah. Backstage some producer or whoever asks him what's up, and Michael says he came to play fair, and there's no fairness in this game. Tim finds him and he apologizes for making a scene, and then tells Tim he believes in fairness, and this win lacks that. Tim says he's of course entitled to his opinion, but Michael responds that this has nothing to do with the design, but with what is happening behind the scenes. Meanwhile Heidi keeps demanding to know what is happening, and Margarita says no one wants to point fingers, but before she admits who she's pointing fingers at, the show ends.

I'm not sure about this cheating thing. I mean, I don't know what rules there are about measuring pants or what. I find it interesting that Margarita was pissed about copying, and then as soon as Claire changed her design so it didn't have that diagonal seam, she brought up the cheating. I know the editing could be screwing that timeline up. I'm not sure why she said anything on the runway, when she could have just let Michael do his thing and pretended not to know, especially since she was so reluctant to confront Claire. However if Claire is measuring pants in the apartments, there's no way Michael would know that because he's not there. So he would have had to find out from someone, so Margarita wouldn't be able to keep her involvement a secret.

Next time: it sounds like Michael accuses Claire of cheating, Tim investigates, Margarita doesn't actually say anything but then she leaves the runway also to find Michael. Heidi keeps pretending no one will let her know what is happening, as if she couldn't find out without even trying.