Project Runway 2/13/20--"Live and Let Tie Dye" summary

Previously on “Project Runway”: the designers were asked to reinvent the tuxedo. To do this they got the aid of eliminated designers. This didn't cause as much drama as Delvin shittalking Nancy and blaming her for sabotaging him, or Sergio making up a political stance for his dress that was offensive (he said America was the greatest in the 1950s). In the end, Marquise won, which I knew he would because he designs his own looks for his ballroom competitions. Brittany made some shorts that were terrible, and just in general didn't tailor well, so she was eliminated. But then Christian Saved her, so I guess she's got a second chance. (click for more)

In the morning Brittany mopes around. She looks terrible, like she spent the night crying. She and Marquise commiserate over getting second chances. On the runway Karlie makes sure to be glad Brittany's back. I guess. This week's challenge is about tie dye. Nancy lived through the 60's, although she was a teenager. Anyway, here is Nina to tell them that tie dye is having a “moment” and they need to “elevate” it. Make your own tie-dye outfits. Delvin looks ill. They'll even get two experts to tell them how to do it. It's supposed to be a one day challenge, but they need extra time for the fabric to dry, so they get to have a sleepover! Ugh. They have from now until tomorrow morning, when the runway show will happen. OK, so this isn't that different from when “Top Chef” would do BBQ or make chili and the contestants would be told to cook overnight so it would be ready. Delvin interviews that he's not sleeping in this workroom. Immediate smash cut to several shots from different episodes, of him sleeping. Marquise doesn't get immunity, but he does get to pick his model first. Karlie hands out the rest of the models (no one makes a big deal), and then sends everyone to go learn to tie-dye.

The “class” is basically how to make the standard designs, like the standard “starburst”, or stripes. Delvin declares he can't remember all this stuff. Brittany is taking notes, and she is pretty sure she's the only one. Geoffrey is ready to go right now. 22 hours until the runway. There are big bolts of fabric back in the storeroom. Sergio tells us that in his great experience, silk takes dye better than cotton. Cotton just looks dated, and he never wants to be dated. This from a man who told the world last week that the 1950s were the best decade.

Everyone sketches. The whole workroom is covered in plastic wrap, the tables, the dress forms, the floor. Geoffrey doesn't want to overdo it. Marquise is making something completely feminine, which he thinks they haven't seen from him yet. I guess? He's made some girlier looks. Nancy says that the time from now until they go to Mood to buy supplementary fabric and trim is supposed to be for test samples, to see how the fabric reacts and how the dye looks. Nancy is not going to do that though, because she's very confident in how the dye will look. She wants to start draping. This seems some pretty heavy-handed foreshadowing. Victoria's sketch looks very flowy and not Victoria. Delvin wants something like a phoenix. Victoria once again shows zero self awareness and tells Delvin to just be careful not to make the same clothes he's made before. You know, coats and jackets, because he makes those all the time. This is now the second designer that Victoria has judged for making the same outfit over and over. Come on, girl. Delvin and Geoffrey argue about if they should boil the dye first or what (some dye is made to be used hot, apparently) and they decide to ask Brittany. She has zero sympathy for non-note takers. After stating this in confessional, she then gives everyone all the information they could want. Apparently she just wanted us to know how helpful and great she is. Help or don't help, honestly if she had refused to tell them anything I wouldn't think less of her. But don't snark that they should have taken notes, and then tell them everything so they don't have any repercussions and say “you're welcome”. Victoria is harping on how everyone is making the same thing always because she has decided to make something completely different today. I think this might be the first time she's admitted she makes the same thing all the time.

Time for Mood. Christian doesn't like what Geoffrey has. He's got weird colors and no design yet, because he needs to find fabric to know what to do with it. The cashier tells Nancy it's good to see her still alive, which is cute.

17 hours. Nancy is making pants again. Slightly different from the other ones, though. Looks like a ballgown over pants. Geoffrey is still sketching. Sergio gets a phone call home, and I really don't care except to hope it's foreshadowing his elimination. He whines that the judges didn't understand his vision last week, which is bullshit. We saw him tell Veronica last week that he had a design but didn't know the story yet, because Veronica replied that they should protest her elimination and they laughed. So his dumbass story about the administration moving in reverse didn't have anything to do with what he designed. “They're always telling me to keep it about the clothing...so I think the judges are afraid of me.” Wow. Please tell me he's acting like this for the camera time, because it frightens me that there might be people who truly think this way. He calls his boyfriend, who is too nice honestly. Sergio interviews that not only is he making beautiful clothes, but he's taking on such difficult topics, and it really says something about him as a person. Oh it says something all right. He feels better after his boyfriend tells him how great he is.

Christian comes in to inspect. He jokes that someone should gift him a shirt, but then Brittany rolls up with a T-shirt she dyed and gives it to him. Hee. Nancy has some technique with ice that she does all the time in real life. Christian is impressed until she admits she hasn't dyed anything. She wants something to put on the model, and then I guess once the garment is complete she'll dye the whole thing. I guess, but if there are any mistakes she's stuck. Marquise is doing little starbursts that look kind of like flowers. It's unusual for him, but Christian is worried it's too old-fashioned. Luckily he's mostly done with the garment design so he has time to play around. Geoffrey is making a pleated gown, but it's olive green and dark yellow. It's a very military color palette, so maybe he should make a more military design? Christian has good advice that I think Geoffrey is taking. Brittany needs to think about her silhouette. Christian has a good point that everyone is doing tie-dye, so it's really going to come down to shapes. Marquise decides not to use pink. Sergio has some mix of two techniques or something. I think ombre and also traditional starburst. Christian says it might not work, but if it does it will be great. Victoria has shorts over pants. The design on the pants is very “Brittany and Justin on the red carpet” dated distressed denim. Delvin gets the same advice from Christian he got from Victoria, which is not to make another jacket like he's done before. I don't disagree with Victoria, I just want to point out the hypocrisy of that particular piece of advice coming from her.

Model fitting. I think everyone's fitting muslin. Geoffrey complains that this model fitting is useless because no one knows what they're doing. I mean, sure, but you have to do it sometime. Delvin has chosen cotton twill, and as he is rinsing it all the dye is washing out so it's too light. He has a huge starburst pattern, which has one dot in the middle, and then a faint pink, and then some darker pieces around the edges. Once the models leave, Christian tells them tomorrow's guest judge is Leslie Jones. She's going to be so loud and amazing.

Victoria curses about something. I'm not sure. Victoria is also using cotton, maybe that's what she was cursing about. Delvin wonders about not rinsing, but the colors will bleed. About 2am everyone puts on the onesies they were given to sleep in. Why onesies? Who knows. Brittany and Delvin do Fortnite dances yes I know what they are shut up. Marquise puts on what I think is his skirt, which is just all ruffles. I mean everyone is slap happy except for Nancy and Sergio but of course. Nancy is finally dyeing her fabric, and luckily she loves it. Delvin is starting over, because he picked the wrong fabric. He gets Brittany's leftover silk fabric and starts over. Geoffrey says this is the worst challenge, and can't believe Brittany doesn't agree. Of course she thinks it's the one where she got eliminated. At about 4am Victoria has put her fabric in the dryer, and it all faded. It's just a solid light green. She gets some silk fabric from Sergio so she can start over. Geoffrey's green dye has turned out so dark it looks black. He thinks it boiled too long and got oversaturated. Nancy thinks it'll lighten up.

Pizza time! Everyone stuffs their faces and giggles because they're even more slap happy than they were two hours ago. Nancy brings Geoffrey's fabric back to show him that it actually did lighten up. Delvin looks pissed about this for some reason. He's already said he's going to go to bed. He didn't, but still. His silk worked exactly like he wanted, but now he has like 6 hours to sew. Victoria's fabric also worked. Nancy is only just now starting to sew her pants. So out of seven designers, three of them are just now starting and have like six hours to work.

Runway Day. I wonder if they'll give the designers the afternoon off after this. I think Victoria is still dyeing things? Will they have time to dry? Christian comes in to tell them it's a Flash Challenge. No one is that thrilled, because it's not a lot of extra work, but you do lose some time for pictures. Marquise's dress looks like a figure skater. Nancy swears these pants are a new design (the editors actually add in a third pair I had forgotten about), but Christian says they look the same. More importantly her model is clutching fabric to her chest because there is no top. Sergio doesn't want to push a political statement with this look. Really? I thought it was terribly important to your identity to always have a message? “So the judges will have no excuse not to love this outfit”. Just say you realized they hate the politics so you ditched it. They will still find a reason to hate your outfit. Delvin's dress needs something so it won't be too boring. Nancy still doesn't have a top with under an hour to go. Honestly with 30 minutes to go she's basically wrapping fabric over her boobs. Hilariously Nancy says her dad is very much like Christian so maybe her dad was preparing her for this moment. Hee.

Leslie is already shrieking and I love it. Delvin is still wearing his onesie. Nancy: wide-legged pants and a top, in a light brown grid pattern. The pants technically aren't the ones she's made before, but they are pretty close. The fabric is much looser, and so it looks closer to a skirt than distinct pants with a flap. But I see what Christian was saying. The top is basically a length of fabric wrapped around her torso and over one shoulder. There's a lot of drapey wings and I'm not sure if they're sewn to the top or if they're the ends of the model's headband. Sergio: a fit and flare dress in a very light yellow pattern. It's got a square neckline and thick straps, and then it's tea length. The straps don't look like they were sewn on properly. OK so this is the dress he should have made last week, right? This is a 50s dress, and he could have argued that bullshit about the 50s. Right? I can't see the pattern so it looks very boring. It's a nice dress, but that's basically it. He of course thinks it's amazing.

Victoria: OK, so it's not like anything she's done before, I'll give her that. High-waisted jeans, and then the top is cropped. I think it's two pieces, a crop top that is close-fitting with a Peter Pan collar, and then a ruffled part that is off the shoulder, with two panels in the back like wings. The jeans have flowers on them? Like embroidery or something? It looks like a green and yellow dust ruffle. There are also elbow length bubble sleeves. At least DD is loving Leslie's yelling about superheros and Grace Jones. Marquise: short skirt with tiers of ruffles, and an inverted triangle top (the kind that come up to a point at your throat and then tie around your neck). There are also long sleeves with a sheer eyelet fabric. The tie-dye is a light blue and green. It is seriously a figure skating costume. There's a little keyhole in the back. Delvin: red and orange dress, knee length and sleeveless. The tailoring isn't great, but I think he did cut the fabric so the pattern mirrors itself like a Rorschach test. This is boring too, like Sergio's.

Brittany: knee-length dress, also a fit and flare, in pink and blue. Instead of sleeves, she has lengths of pink fabric that are tied down at her shoulders, elbows, and wrists. The back is kind of strappy too. Geoffrey: long gown in an olive green. I think the dye was olive and yellow, and it's blended into sort of a dark yellow. There's a high slit, and the top is a deep V with long sleeves. There's some thin orange straps lining the neckline, and an orange belt. It moves beautifully and really stands out after a bunch of short fit and flare dresses. Leslie starts yelling for the model to take the dress off because it's hers, and the model loses it. “If I die and come back, I'm coming back as that dress, and I want you to wear me, just like you wearin' that dress.” Leslie should be on every week.

Brittany and Marquise are declared safe. Really. They talked to everyone last week, why not this week? Sergio says he used ombre in the panels, but also a fan pattern for details. It doesn't look like tie-dye. He actually does explain what he did, and I guess they get it. They love it, and when his model spreads her skirt out, you can see that there are oval panels in the skirt, some with the gradient and I guess some with the pattern. I can't see anything, because it's yellow on white and it's hard to see. But I guess that's what they like about it, it's not obvious. They do not praise him for a lack of dumb story. Geoffrey wanted something simple and mildly Army. It's so simple and flattering. Nina says the sleeve makes her crazy. It's very chic and finished. Nancy wanted to update the 60s. They all want to look more closely. It is revealed that the cape thing was the headband. The judges like it much better without the headband. The tie-dye is very controlled and it's a good pattern, but Nina wanted something simpler. Elaine says it's a reinvented pant shape and it's great.

Victoria complains that she doesn't like tie-dye, and Nina and Elaine roll their eyes. She keeps talking, and we see that what I thought were flowers on the jeans are really bleached and colored spots. Karlie thought she had made Marquise's look, which is hilarious. First because I can see that, and second, because what if Karlie gave that look safe marks because she thought it was Victoria and then it backfired? Victoria claims that's not his style, but Leslie fires back that Marquise is safe. Then Nina reminds us that this is not actually jeans, but short shorts over jeans, sewn together at the waist. But why? They're the same fabric. You can't tell what is happening. Brandon leans over to tell Nina it's a denim diaper. Without the dust ruffle, it's a cropped button down shirt with cap sleeves. Brandon claims he gets where she was trying to go with the pants, and at least she took a risk, but it failed. Delvin pulled back on the details he planned. Leslie says the colors are like a cheap church dress. It's all the things they hate about tie-dye. Brandon doesn't hate the tie-dye that much, but the silhouette is bad and dated. And they've called his looks dated before. Nina tells him to go all out next time. Brandon knows both Victoria and Delvin ran out of time because they had problems with their dyeing.

Nancy did the best actual dyeing, but it was kind of boring. I'm not sure how it's more boring than Sergio, but sure. Sergio did something tricky (Brandon says) but it's elevated. Geoffrey was tasteful but it made an impact. Plus it would work for a lot of people. Both Delvin and Victoria were a hot mess. Delvin is trying to prove that he's crafty, but he's not thinking about the end product. Also there were buttons up the front and they were ugly. He was too safe. Victoria had a bad tie-dye pattern. Elaine just wrote “Why?” Leslie knows why, she watches the show. She panicked that she hadn't done enough, and started adding shit to the jeans, and a ruffle, and whatever. Brandon says at least there's an idea there, but it's very late in the season. Karlie asks who they want to see a collection from.

Nancy is in. Geoffrey is the winner! AND Sergio looks pissed. Leslie wants it. Geoffrey can't just leave because now he's crying and says someone really talented is going to go home and it's sad. Leslie comes up and gives him a hug and says just remember you won. Aww. Sergio is in. Geoffrey tells the judges this was the hardest challenge yet so stop it! OK that was kind of cute. Delvin's look wasn't elevated or chic, and was boring. Victoria's was a hot mess. Delvin is out. Victoria is in. Brandon tells him he has great craftsmanship, but he just lacked ideas. Now Delvin says he didn't take a risk because he was too afraid of the judges not liking it. Did he say that before? Or was it just a factor of not having time to do crazy shit? Christian says Delvin is one of the most beautiful tailors they've had. Didn't someone use “tailor” as an insult once? I don't remember.

Next week: makeover time! “the perfect victory dress” for various Olympic athletes, lots of red, Geoffrey freaking out, Sergio argues again.

Delvin and Christian giggle about being poor. Then Delvin declares he'll be the Jennifer Hudson of the season. Bold statement. He also is salty about Nancy's lack of top, and “mak[ing] the same outfit like seven times”. Yeah don't aim that at Nancy. Supposedly Delvin thought they were there for construction, because I guess he doesn't watch the show. People have been getting away with shitty construction for the entire length of the show. And Christian points out the button thing. So I think he had buttons in the bust, and they were supposed to be hidden, but he screwed up the tailoring so the top was too tight and you could see them. Christian tries to explain how the buttons should be on a brown coat on a dog, which of course is a Leslie quote, but he's laughing too much. Christian also thinks Delvin doesn't say much, but I guess he just didn't talk to Christian. He's been shittalking people a lot. He finishes early and then stops working so he won't screw it up. Delvin thinks Victoria will win, because no matter how bad her garment she always is safe. OK that's fair. I love that he seems to have zero things to say about how SHE'S made the same garment seven times, but Nancy is terrible about that. Delvin then claims the only person he remembers from this show is Christian. Really? The only one? I see. So it's time for a game, which is for Delvin to look at pictures and say “fever” or “chills”. Which is good? Who knows? Also fever because his lab coat looks like a doctor's coat. He hates Nancy's look with the print and says “casket ready”. Calm down. Alan's weirdo look with the boots = bad chills. Christian posing in Mood = shook. I mean...it's just dumb drunk people and Christian flirting but I guess we gotta give Delvin one last chance to shit on Nancy, even though Nancy beat him. Then we have to talk to the hair person. Whatev. They pretend we care about hair and then Christian and this woman bitch about difficult clients.