Project Runway 5/16/19--"What Do You Care About?" summary

Previously on “Project Runway”: the designers were asked to create stagewear for Elton John. Imagine if Elton John asked you for a stagewear outfit at the height of his popularity. Guest judge was the costume designer for the upcoming biopic. Also the eliminated designers came back to help. That didn't even cause any drama, except for Sonia kind of acted like this was her design. But that was so minor. Bishme made an amazing denim jumpsuit with rhinestones, but lost to Garo and his silver jumpsuit and giant collar. The judges sent Lela home over Venny, for being mediocre. (click for more)

Tessa claims her best friend is now gone so she's upset. Christian shows up to the Scrap Bin to tell everyone their next challenge is right now actually. Karlie asks what they stand for, and all the models have T-shirts with slogans on them. Elaine talks about pussy hats and miniskirts. You need to make a “high-fashion interpretation” of a cause you care about. They have two days to do this. Also Elaine is going to be very involved, because Elaine has been involved in how Teen Vogue is suddenly a voice of reason on the internet.

Sketching. Jamall says his brother just went to prison. Jamall was able to leave the situation he was in, but his brother wasn't. Elaine is very excited about his look. Tessa talks in confessional about women's rights, but it feels strange. Maybe it's just Tessa herself, but as she talks about her look and how it's going to be a black box, it feels like she's not really invested. You know? Like she just made something up but it doesn't mean anything to her personally, but she's saying it does. I'm not sure that's actually the case, maybe Tessa is just getting a weird edit. Hester is going to make something about LGBT rights. Garo wants to make a gown about bees, and Elaine says it's hard to make something with black and yellow. Venny says he actually had a coworker who didn't work directly with him, and when he met her in person she said “oh you sound white on the phone.” Who actually says that to someone's face? Honestly. Bishme is thinking about his dad who works with youth in Baltimore. Sebastian was turned away at the first store he tried to work at, because the guy said he didn't hire Latino people. He's not sure how to make an outfit about this, though.

Mood is Mood, although Venny babbles at the person working and they caption him, and literally put “DEEP BREATH” when he pauses for breath. Heh. Garo says he can't imagine doing anything about bees without using yellow and black. Christian asks Hester how much tulle she's buying, but he doesn't get as judgy as he did last time. Hello, Swatch.

Hester is making something super gay. It's time for her crisis about herself, after the judges have praised her for weeks. Venny is still babbling. Jamall grew up with his white relatives, and so was surprised somewhat when he encountered racism later in life. Hester says “put more glitter on it” and gets upset with her sewing machine.

Christian appears to talk to everyone. Bishme has a “lady” with a tight skirt and tailoring, and it's not really representing what he wants his look to be about, with is Baltimore youth. He was going to put faces on the skirt, but he's pulling back now maybe. Lot of work to do. Venny talks to Christian about stereotypes, and he's much calmer than they've been showing him, no babbling. He wants a bomber jacket with a target, and then she takes the jacket off and has an elegant dress. He needs to work on the jacket because that's more complicated and will take more time. Jamall is making a gown but like a puffer jacket. He wanted sleeves, but he also knows he probably will scrap them for time. Tessa has a flap on her gown so her model can cover up her shape. She says in confessional that this is based on something that happened to her, but she can't keep it in any longer. But then she doesn't say anything. Did she explain herself but they cut it? Are they trying to make her seem calculated, like she is waiting to bring up this huge thing on the runway for sympathy from the judges? Because her lack of emotion so far is weird and to say “I can't keep this in any longer” and then not say anything relevant is also weird. Christian tells Garo to make his gown longer. Supposedly it's a length he “always” does although they only come up with two examples to show us. Sebastian has a multitude of skin tones.

Christian gives a gather 'round and no one is happy. They hope it's a social media thing. Christian says they're going to have to dress another model: themselves. Make a statement T-shirt to go with their look. All of the T-shirts will be produced and sold and some of the profits will be put to charity. Also the designers will have to wear their shirts and walk next to their model on the runway. Tessa talks about how she hopes her model gets what she's doing, and I notice she's got a plus-sized model, but has learned not to bitch about it. I mean she says nothing, which surprises me. She didn't get penalized for that look last time, so it is edited to seem like she's learned her lesson. Or, she wanted a plus-sized model because it fits her narrative today. I don't know you guys. I just find Tessa to be super fake today and I'm not sure how much is legit and how much is the editing.

Runway Day. Everyone has a lot of work to do. Christian shows up with T-shirts, and says they'll need to do selfies to promote their shirts. Venny wanted to do a hoodie, but he doesn't have time to finish it so he's using a hat from the accessory wall. Jamall has his model stuffing his dress. Hester gets enough of her jacket done that she feels she can send it on the runway. She knows it was too ambitious. Garo laces his model into his dress, but he doesn't have time to make the flounce on the skirt he wanted to. Venny fucks up the zipper on his jacket somehow. I'm not sure what he's talking about, but it means his model can't take the jacket off, which messes up his design somehow. Backstage someone asks to borrow Christian's lint roller and he says “I'm going to lint roll you!” which is adorable.

Guest judge is designer Aurora James. Sebastian: long gown in different skin tone shades. It looks like there's a base beige fabric, and then layers of tulle over it to make the different colored stripes. The skirt is in big flounces. Think of taking a length of fabric maybe a foot wide, and sewing it to the waist along the long side so it hangs down in an upside down U shape, and then do several all around her waist. That's the skirt, so it shows a lot of leg, and then there's one more at her shoulder. Sebastian's T-shirt has different skin tone stripes and it says DNA on the front. Venny: big oversized bomber jacket, in a very dark green. The back has an X of what looks like studs? Under this is a black dress with a knee-length skirt, and mesh shoulders. But you can't see the dress very well because his model just kind of unzips the jacket most of the way and slides it down on her shoulders. I think the jacket also has mesh? I'm still confused on what exactly the problem was with the zipper. Venny's T-shirt has a black and white box that says “i have a name”. I like his shirt.

Garo: tight yellow minidress. There is some detail stitching along the bodice in a V pattern, but it's very hard to see. The straps stand up so they're sitting three inches above her shoulders, and the back has corset lacing. His T-shirt has what I think are bees on the front, in a Batman symbol, and the hashtag #wearebees on the back. Bishme: black dress, off the shoulder, with a big ruffle around the neckline and around her arms. But the ruffle doesn't cover the top of the dress, so you can see the points of the bodice sticking out. The dress has sparkly outlines of heads, although with the usual runway lighting it's hard to see. Backstage Christian makes a comment about his being sparkly, and Tessa asks “did you suggest that?” and Christian just says “Mm” in a satisfied tone. Hee. The dress hits below the knee. His T-shirt has one of the faces, with a flower sprouting out of her head, and the hashtag #baltimoreblossom.

Hester: miniskirt and a crop top, in bright blue, and a pink jacket. I am pretty sure this entire outfit is tulle. The crop top has a turtleneck. OK as they show close-ups of the top and skirt they do look opaque...maybe a knit? There's some sparkle at the hems. The jacket is sheer, and all ruffled. I think she made a base jacket and then bunched up tulle on top of it. The wrists have a rainbow. I think on the back it's supposed to say “Gay AF” but the letters are in the same fabric as the jacket, so you can't really see them. Hester's T-shirt says “Its OK To Be totally Gay!” [sic] and then there are some flowers and it says “Gay As F”. At least say AF like everyone else, Hester, come on. The back says #OK2BGAY.

Jamall: black strapless ballgown. The whole skirt is quilted like a puffer jacket and it looks pretty good. His shirt says “My Royal Story...” Tessa: so when her model poses behind the scrim, you can see the word “mine” at the bottom of the flap. Black dress, below the knee, with the outline of a female body on the front and back. The flap was used to do a reveal at the start of the runway, where she covered up and then flung the flap open to show the outline. See...this outfit works best on the plus-sized model, with the body outline to show what I'm sure she's been told she should look like. It's not as impactful on a skinnier model. So is that why Tessa didn't say one word about how she was stuck with the fat model? Because they haven't shown her learning better from the last time, and Tessa didn't talk about learning better anyway. I know I'm harping on this and I feel like I'm picking on Tessa but it all seems very calculated. Her T-shirt is basically a copy of her dress, black with the outline on it.

Everybody stays on the runway today. Sebastian talks about skin tones, and his layering of the same fabric to make darker and darker tones. The DNA on his T-shirt is because we all have the same DNA. The layering works with his message, that we're all the same, just as each color is made with the same fabric. He usually tries to escape from reality when he designs, so this was a little difficult. Nina says it's very impressive and then we move on. Venny's intention was that the same person is wearing a bomber jacket, and also the dress underneath. Oh, OK. That's why it was so essential she be able to remove the jacket. The message got muddled in the delivery. Nina doesn't like the proportions, and she's sad because he has talent. Venny is starting to cry, and the guest judge reassures him that he'll nail the jacket another time. He'll get it. Garo's dress has a little point to it on the hem. Brandon thinks it's costumey. Nina flat out tells him he's only there because he's technically good and is good at making corsets, but he needs to step up.

Bishme talks about using the sequins to make the faces pop. His dress is actually a deep purple, which I didn't see at all at first. Everyone loves the message and how he played with the shoulders. Hester is also emotional talking about her garment, and Brandon knows she's stressed as opposed to moved. She tells them she's upset she didn't execute the way she wanted to. The judges promise her they get it and it's so wonderful that young people will turn on their TV and see someone like themselves. Wait so there are more people like Hester? Her beret literally says “Pls Die”. Once again, no one says anything about any possible execution problems. But they're spending so little time on each garment that no one is really getting in depth critiques anyway.

Jamall talks about the puffer jacket as gown. He says the power in his story makes him feel royal. It's a great styling and a great gown. Tessa explains how the flap on her dress is like a box. It's her minimalist aesthetic. The guest judge says she's having a hard time because she's over designers telling women what their bodies should look like, but she can cover it, but why does she need to cover it? And then she's like “well maybe you can tell me where this idea even came from” and now I'm yelling at the TV. That line was so fake. Someone on production knows Tessa has some huge revelation she's sitting on, and they forced the judges to act like they just want to know, when they otherwise wouldn't have said a word. And the fact that Tessa has been sitting on this and not mentioned it at all for the whole episode. Turns out Tessa remembered several years ago that she was molested when she was younger, so this is a way of reclaiming her body. OK so I don't think Tessa is that great an actress, because she's upset right now, so I don't think she made it up. But this whole episode she's alluded to something, without one scrap of emotion. Every other time there's been a big runway reveal, the designer talked about it all episode and we all saw it coming. So why did we have to stay in the dark about Tessa until this moment? And whose decision was that? Because we all know she could have said something right at the beginning and production edited the whole thing out.

Karlie starts off judging by saying Hester and Tessa are in the middle and therefore safe. So they just get pep talks then? Whatever. Sebastian's gown makes a great statement, although closer up it's maybe not as great as it looked from far away. Jamall elevated this technique, and styled it wonderfully. It's a great look, and very high fashion, but Nina says she can't tell the cause from this look, and she doesn't see Jamall. Bishme has a solid theme, and the dress is very well made. It tells his story very well. Garo can deliver polished looks, but that's about it. It's not that flattering, and Brandon says seaming in black makes all your mistakes stand out. Venny's jacket isn't even well made, because you can see the lining on the sleeves. His T-shirt is great, though. The dress is unfinished and they quickly clock the zipper problems.

Sebastian knows who he is, and his T-shirt matches his look. Jamall made a beautiful gown. Bishme made something youthful, which matches his message. Garo has much better construction skills, but it's very costumey. Venny screwed up his construction, and also they don't get his message.

Tessa and Hester are in. Bishme is the winner. Sebastian and Jamall are in. Bishme is thrilled. Venny is out. Garo is in. Before they let him leave they tell him they need to see more. Poor Venny. He's really glad for his experience from this show, but back in the Scrap Bin he's very upset and in tears.

Next week: I think Christian's store, makeover challenge, designers pretending to do work, Danielle Brooks.