Project Runway 6/6/19--"One Elle of a Day" summary

Previously on “Project Runway”: the last challenge before the finale. Everyone was asked to make an “experiential fashion show”. That means you get a (fake) room and you will need to decorate it, and make an outfit that goes with your room. It needs to be “bigger and bolder” than anything else you've made this season. Hester really struggled, but had a great room full of flowers. Her look just wasn't very good. Bishme did fine, as did Sebastian, after he had a breakdown and threatened to quit. But Sebastian's dress was great. Garo did the best job of both room and dress, though, and he won. Tessa decided to make a ceramics studio, and asked her model to make some clay pots and get clay on herself, but it was not enough. The judges said her look wasn't her, and it was still unfinished, and Tessa was sent home. I thought for sure they'd get rid of Hester's very niche and weird point of view, and keep Tessa's far more salable minimalism, but I guess the unfinished hems and arguing were too much. (click for more)

Five months to create ten looks with $10,000. I like the move back to having plenty of time to create looks.

Two Months Later. Time for home visits! Hester is up first. Her house is exactly what you would think. Very brightly colored with paintings and shit everywhere. Hester has a lot done. She's doing “YTK-cocco”. YTK mixed with rococo. Lots of prints, some of which Hester drew herself. Everything looks very well made, so that's good. Elaine had told her before everyone left that her finishing had to be perfect. Christian suggests she have something solid, because I think right now everything has a print.

Christian declares Ft. Lauderdale a “gay island”. Heh. Time to visit Sebastian. I'm not sure what time it is. He has a very small apartment, and the dining room has been taken over by the workroom. But Sebastian's husband says “whatever he needs” which is so cute. Sebastian is inspired by palm baskets, so there's some woven stuff and hand-made belts made by Sebastian's dad. Some of the things are overworked, because he's trying hard to be cool. Christian says you don't have to show every technique in every garment. He is supposed to be working on who his client is. That way the collection will be cohesive. Christian isn't having family time which is kind of sad.

Bishme has been trying to find what his voice is. He says the collection is inspired by the buildings of Baltimore. Sometimes abandoned buildings, because he says he was homeless when he applied to be on the show. Bishme has half-finished stuff. Christian says it'll be great, but it's not done and there's no physical work happening. He has two months to make basically his entire collection. Christian forces him to pick a look and a fabric and declares that's what he's doing tomorrow. He just has to start making stuff. You can make a collection in two months, but it will be hard. Christian interviews that he doesn't really know what the collection will be like, so he can't say if it's going to be good or not.

Garo is not working in NYC but somewhere in upstate New York in a cabin. He's inspired by space and galaxies. And maybe aliens. There are a lot of pieces that can read as dated. Every look is different, so he has to make sure he's not going too costumey. The stuff he has looks cool but he's just got to be careful with it.

Everyone returns to the workroom. Or, it says “New Workroom”. There is an entire row of garment boxes with all the looks. They all unpack and sort of look around. Garo made 14 looks. Hester scolds everyone to not come spy on her collection until it's all unpacked. Bishme has only made eight looks. Garo says he's not done either, and Bishme jokes that Garo should give Bishme some of his unwanted looks. Christian and Karlie show up to say hi. I think Bishme is going to admit to them that he isn't done, but he instead says that his sister has colon cancer and it's weighing on him. Now Karlie lets us know that only three people will make the finale. There is one more challenge, and Nina is going to give it to them. Christian smugs that they all have to deal with Nina now, and Bishme crosses himself.

Nina gives them a tour, ending with the room full of clothes and shoes and stuff they use for photo shoots. Nina says often designers miss the one piece that makes their collection complete. They will show three looks, and one has to be brand new. Of course. Nina is going to help them figure out what they're missing, and then they'll have two days to make that last look. She leaves to meet with people individually and Bishme asks for a sewing machine. Heh.

Sebastian has sketches on a tablet for Nina. She likes it, but everything is “strict”. He needs to make something soft. Garo has a lot of looks, a lot of embellishment, but nothing tailored. He needs a tailored suit. Bishme has stand-out pieces. Everything is special, but he needs something accessible. For some reason she decides that should be a streetwear-inspired outerwear look. Hester's looks are all very editorial. Nina wants a breather, something without prints or embellishments. Hester tries to bargain with her to use a large-scale print or colorblocking, but Nina's not having it.

30 minutes for sketching. Garo of course is making wide-legged 70s inspired pants with a cinched waist and some sparkle or something. Hester basically acts like Nina is asking her to abandon her whole design philosophy. Christian has zero sympathy because he told her the same thing. She at least is trying to match the base colors in her collection so it's not out of left field. Sebastian is making sheer pants and a gown over it? I think. Bishme is going to recreate the jacket he made for Dapper Dan. I'm not sure how that will go over. I know they liked it, but recreating something doesn't always go well.

They only have two hours to work today. Bishme and Sebastian giggle about wasting time and joke that they don't want to talk to each other about their looks. Sebastian says he's making a “nunya”. Nunya business. I missed this too, the joking around and the sense the designers like each other. It's been missing from Lifetime. Sebastian has made some fabric with lines. Honestly it looks like stickers, but it'll be like pinstriped pants. He worries a little bit because he thinks Nina wants a straight evening gown, but oh well. Hester is going to make a sheer white dress out of organza. Garo worries because he normally would take much longer to make a tailored suit. True.

Day Two. Garo decides he likes his fabric more now that he can see it in the sun. Hester is doing extra shit because of course. At least she's aware. Bishme heaves a sigh, and I think maybe he sewed something wrong. He's screwing up right and left and he reveals that his sister's first chemo treatment is today. So he's not really thrilled about sewing. Christian shows up with models. Sebastian's look is amazing, tight pants with thin stripes, and a long duster with a cool belt. But Nina wanted an evening gown, and this ain't it. Christian points this out and then leaves. Sebastian is not thrilled. Hester's new look gets a dramatic gasp and Christian says it looks cheap. Make it in red. Bishme still looks worried. Maybe he doesn't have to exactly replicate his Dapper Dan look. Christian orders him not to give up. He's burnt out, and Christian says he's so close. Bishme thinks his jacket looks too cheap and he's out of ideas. Aww.

Hester talks to Bishme about how he has created places and now she's upset she might be eliminated because she tried to do the same thing. She doesn't have time to remake her dress in red, but she doesn't like the white, but she is going to have to use it. All of a sudden Hester starts shrieking because she's sewed through her finger. She says in confessional that she's never sewn all the way through her finger before. She's very hysterical, but honestly I've never put a needle through my finger so I'm not going to blame her for freaking out. In the end Garo gets her finger off the sewing machine and calms her down.

Runway Day. Garo has a lot of work to do. However Bishme has decided to make a dress out of his coat. He seems in a better place today. Hester tried to wash her dress but she couldn't get all the blood out. Now she's reduced to tying the sash in a certain way and putting some red on. Sebastian has to hem a skirt, but it's woven like macrame so hemming it involves unraveling it. Christian still wants a whole red dress from Hester, but at this point she doesn't have time. At some point she decides to make two pieces out of red fur. Bishme's new hoodie dress is a little short, but there's only so many ways he can make it longer. Hester flails a little bit. Garo has ignored his other looks for this suit. He did have a point earlier when he said Nina gave him a ton more work than she gave the other two. “Make something soft” doesn't take as much time as “make a tailored suit”. Garo's model offers to help, but he says that's the kiss of death because they always know when the model helps. Bishme has sewn a black ruffle on the bottom of the dress, and now he really hates it. He says every time he touches it, he hates it more, and he's pretty upset and giving up. Hester now has a red look so Christian is thrilled. Garo's suit is too big but he's got no options.

Guest judge is Steven Kolb, president of CFDA. As the lights dim, Bishme gets real upset and starts crying. Elaine notices, and the other designers try to comfort him, but it's not working. He raises his hand, and the lights come back up. He asks if he can go in the back for like two minutes, and Karlie says of course. Bishme goes outside to cry for a couple of minutes, and of course he's annoyed with himself. I feel so bad for him. I think the judges would have waited longer for him, but he's very determined to keep it together. Hester tells him his stuff is great and she believes in him. Aww.

Sebastian: long white dress, sheer with thin white vertical stripes. There is a halter top with a collar, and an intricate belt with a bunch of loops. It's very sheer, and the stripes for some reason make the fabric look cheap to me. I don't know. New look: long white dress with a bright orange belt. The belts wrap around and then the ends loop but don't tie in bows, if that makes sense. The shoulders are the same stripes, and the rest of the dress is just a couple of sheer layers. The skirt is very loose and slit on both legs very high. His model is waving the skirt around which is maybe not needed. Last look is an orange blazer with the woven macrame sleeves, and a dress with a skirt that is all woven (so sheer clearly). The top part of the dress is opaque, and it comes down far enough for decency. Both the dress and blazer have woven backs. They do all go together.

Bishme: very short pink dress. It looks like a patchwork of different pink sequined fabrics, with a thin metal belt and some black at the bottom. Like how a sweatshirt has a band at the bottom. But it's just a rectangle with a hole for her head? It's not complicated, per se, and unfortunately the model looks wide. On one hip is a spray of gold fringe or something. There's a hood, so I think this is supposed to be his outerwear look Nina asked for. Second look, black leather bustier with spaghetti straps, and black pants. The pants aren't super tight, and the top has what looks like big pockets at each hip. Third look, short black leather skirt with a thick ruffle, and a cropped halter top with the pink and gold sequined fabrics. The top part is black mesh. The second two looks are much more finished, but the first one really doesn't go. I feel for him.

Garo: a short cocktail dress in teal, covered by a long piece of sheer gold. The gold is very loose and flowy, and you can't really see the underdress very well. At the end of the runway she unsnaps one shoulder of the gold...which doesn't do a lot. I guess it lets you see the bottom dress is a fit-and-flare dress with a sweetheart neckline. Second look is a short dress in a shimmery gray, with reds and blues in the color. The top is off the shoulder, in a solid gray, and it hits just above the knee. The back is draped, so from the front at first I thought he hadn't tailored it to her and it was too big. But it's because the back is wider than the front. Third look is a suit in lavender. The pants are slightly wide, and the jacket has a pointed hem and a zipper? Or maybe hook and eye instead of buttons. You can tell it's supposed to resemble his corsets, but it's not quite tailored enough. The lapels are really small, weirdly, so the jacket opening looks more like a zip-up hoodie instead of a blazer. The sleeves are slightly wide, although that might be the tailoring too. It fits in the collection, though, I think.

Hester: very short dress with long sleeves and a Peter Pan collar. The whole think looks like white lace, except the sleeves are just a white sheer fabric. Actually I think the sheer is over the whole dress, so maybe it's an overshirt? And the fabric might not be lace but it almost looks like a snakeskin pattern. They don't show it well. Second look is a miniskirt in a diamond pattern, pinks and lavender on a light background. There's a simple lavender top, and then a coat that has pink faux fur on the wrists, lapels, and pockets. The coat is longer in the front than the back and is lined with the skirt fabric. The new look is a bell-shaped skirt in the pink faux fur, and a short sleeved shirt in the same color, but a sheer. There is a ring of fur around each armhole, and then over the shirt is some weird bra construction in the same color. The shirt is cropped a little bit. Honestly I wouldn't wear these clothes ever, but it's clear the same woman has all of these pieces in her closet.

Hester explains how she needed to make something without a print. Of course this is accompanied by a story about how she sewed through her finger and stained the dress and that's why she got rid of it, not because she wasn't thrilled and Christian pressured her to make a red look. Nina is glad she pushed her because she loves it. There's a bow in the back which is cute. It still flatters the shape. It feels like a print, without actually being a print. Hester talks about creating trends or something. Sebastian talks about his evening gown. Brandon makes sure to mention the finishing because I guess he's still salty about Tessa. The lines and the geometry are great. Nina talks about how he really did need something soft, and then out of nowhere Sebastian says he used to be a ballet dancer and so that influences his ideas about movement. If I didn't know they filmed this long ago I'd think he stole that from Brooke Lynn Hytes. Elaine loves the belts. Of course they are amazed by the woven look.

Bishme tells the judges how he was making a bomber jacket with pants, and then it kind of failed, and then he's proud he didn't quit. Nina is disappointed, but she wants him to make that all black look for her. The patchwork look is just because he was taking scraps to make something, anything. Nina is sorry he struggled, and he's sorry he couldn't get it together. He tells them how he's not mentally there in the workroom because he's got too many things going on. Brandon says he needs to go on autopilot, and the guest judge wisely asks what he would have done if he had time and was mentally in a better place. He describes a moto jacket and then he's asked if he can get that done for the finale, if he moves forward. He confidently says he can. Garo says he used a stretch wool crepe to make his suit, which was smart, but it doesn't fit. He does do some adjustments to show how it would fit better with another hour. Brandon thinks it looks dated, with the hair and accessories. They all look kind of dated. The first look, the gold comes off completely. Nina likes the second look, with the sequins and the gray neckline. He begs them to let him show his collection.

Karlie says it's clear to her that Hester and Sebastian are in. They adapted quickly and were successful with the new look. Bishme's new look is terrible. There's some weird stitching at the front, and the back makes her ass look huge. But the looks he came with are amazing and would sell so well. Nina knows she asked Garo for a lot to make a suit, but to her it's the taste level she's worried about. He can be really creative, but is there an audience for his work. For this challenge, clearly Bishme is the loser. But they're judging on the collection. Garo's problem is not tailoring but taste, and mentoring won't help that much. Bishme has taste, but he also has two more looks to do. Elaine thinks he's given up on himself. Maybe, but I think also he's in a space where this show no longer matters to him. And I have to say I can't blame him for that decision.

Hester and Sebastian are in. They're both thrilled, of course. Garo is in. Aww. That means Bishme is out. He breaks down and says he's so happy he got this opportunity. Nina says it might not be the right time for him, but she believes in him. He's not surprised because he knows it wasn't his best work. Aww.

Next week: guest judge Diane von Furstenburg, some damage, someone wins.