Project Runway 2/6/20--"Suit Yourself" summary

Previously on “Project Runway”: make an editorial look using sheer fabrics. Almost immediately, Dayoung had to lie down and have medical attend to her, and after a conversation with a producer she quit the competition. Marquise was brought back to replace her. Then Victoria had a meltdown and threatened to quit, and everyone talked her out of it for some reason. She didn't follow the challenge and blamed it on language, leaving out the fact that several people explained sheer fabrics to her and she could have asked Christian several times. But sadly she was not eliminated. Instead Chelsey made a bad sheer blazer and was sent home. Sergio, for all that he is still very annoying, made a beautiful dress that was constructed so well no one could tell it wasn't lined, so he won. (click for more)

In the morning Victoria is now saying she doesn't know what happened yesterday. She wants to be here. OK. Sure.

Christian and Karlie come out to the runway. Karlie is wearing a suit with city shorts, and they say today's challenge is tuxedos. We see a photo of Billy Porter at the Oscars, wearing the outfit Christian made for him. The actual “Billy Porter look that broke the internet”, SERGIO. Anyway, reinvent the tuxedo. Christian says the difference between a tuxedo and a suit is satin? I didn't know that. You will have to use it somewhere. It's a two day challenge. Tuxedos have to be tailored, and that's a lot of work, so here are the eliminated designers. All in tuxedos I guess. Because of a failure to count (or I bet because they haven't had Christian's Save to make up for that first double elimination) there is one extra eliminated designer, so someone won't have to do anything. Also the eliminated designers are going to decide who they want to work with. Hee.

Jen wants Brittany (she freaks out), Tyler picks Delvin, Shavi picks Marquise (v. excited for this), Melanie picks Geoffrey, Veronica picks Sergio (not last? She really does not want to work with Victoria), Chelsey takes Nancy after thinking a long time, and Alan ends up with Victoria. I see. This means Asma goes home, which is kind of bullshit. Sergio has immunity. Karlie tells them model cards are in the workroom, and since tuxedos are for everyone, there are male, female, and non-binary models. Interesting.

Several people take male models. No one says anything really shocking, except Alan offers to help Victoria and she just tells him to sit tight and not worry. So he laughs that she doesn't work well with others. Geoffrey is letting the judges get to him and since he was in the bottom last week he's going to pull back and not be crazy. At Mood Christian yells about how boring everyone is being. Except Delvin is making a whole powder blue tux. Christian says it's interesting but he's not sure if that's a good interesting or a bad interesting. He then reminds Delvin that Alan was wearing a powder blue tux, and Delvin immediately leaves to buy green instead. Christian continues to whine about how boring everyone is. Nancy is getting print, so he actually goes over to praise her. Marquise is very excited to make menswear, because that's his brand. Geoffrey says “tuxedo jumpsuit”.

Alan immediately starts singing so I'm sure everyone is thrilled. Sergio is turning his tuxedo backwards. He claims it's never been done before, which is horseshit because Celine Dion did it TWENTY YEARS AGO. And that was off the top of my head so I'm sure there are more I'm just not thinking of. Get it together, Sergio. I rewound it and he technically says “I've never seen it done before”, but you know what he meant. According to his bio he was 15 years old and his bio says he started with fashion at the age of 4. Of course he brags that the other designers won't do it, probably because they all know about Celine. He also brags to Veronica about his stupid “heritage” dress with the names. For this outfit he doesn't have a theme, because of course he only does that when it's convenient. Veronica wants to protest her elimination. Delvin wants asymmetry, and he thinks he's the best tailor here so he's set. Victoria doesn't want pants so she's designed a gown. With strong shoulders. Alan is sent to fetch her water because Victoria doesn't trust him, so she's going to use him for “moral” support. Brittany is regretting taking a male model and picking out boring colors and doing something she's not used to for a challenge. She starts talking about her shitty childhood which is never a good sign.

After the workday is over apparently they all go out? Or maybe just to the rooftop? Drinking and cornhole commence. Alan thinks he's being cute by asking Tyler to teach him about cornhole but he's just tipsy. Geoffrey tells Melanie he needs to do another collection for his brand but it's so much money. He gets emotional because he believes if he doesn't do well here, his career is over.

In the morning as everyone gets ready to work Sebastian shows up. Woo! Reigning champ! He's brought everyone breakfast (a giant pile of carbs) and he chats about his year, and how his mentorship is bringing him clients, and you should stick to your first idea instead of changing your mind midstream. Geoffrey cries some more and says he desperately needs this mentorship. Not to diminish the effect a CFDA mentorship will have on a career, but it doesn't seem that healthy to me to pin your entire life on winning a basic cable reality show. You know? I get the feeling that unlike basically everyone else, if Geoffrey is eliminated he won't say “this isn't the last of me”, he'll say he's quitting fashion. Brittany hates one of her fabrics, and I think is using the lining as the outside of the jacket? Victoria still won't give Alan any work to do. I mean, she won't even let him make the garter belt without taking it back from him to futz with it.

Christian comes in to chit chat. Geoffrey has a full muslin look. His shoulder is maybe too strong, so it will look dated. I think he's going to streamline things. Sergio describes his backwards tux, and he's now come up with some bullshit about his look. I am confident it's bullshit because we just saw yesterday that he made the design but admitted to Veronica that he didn't have a story to go with it. Now it's reversing like society is reversing since the last administration. Veronica gets the greatest look on her face and interviews that his stories are stupid but she won't get in the way. I wish Christian would call him out about believing he's invented the backwards tux, but as far as we see, Sergio doesn't mention this fact he believes in so I guess Christian doesn't know he's delusional. Nancy is making the pants from the Ashley Longshore challenge, and Christian is skeptical but he's not that worried. Delvin has a double lapel and asymmetry, and he gets praise all along. Tyler is worried about the fabric choice being dated. Brittany's fabric isn't quite formal, but with the print and the satin she might pull it off. Christian straight up tells her to make the pants out of satin.

Nancy has Tyler try on her pants, because he's the same size as DD. The problem with this is that Delvin needs Tyler to help him do things. Delvin is pissed. Model fitting. Marquise's model is hot, and everyone is eyeing him including Christian. I love that Marquise seems very calm. Geoffrey says he doesn't like shirts. Christian tells Nancy her tux looks great sleeveless, so she scraps them.

Two hours left. Alan finishes the garter and announces to Victoria that he'll be in the workroom awaiting her orders. He finds Veronica, who is also just sitting around because Sergio wants to do all the machine work himself. Marquise talks about military influences and shoulders. Delvin claims he'll be ashamed if he doesn't win because this is his category.

Baby! Commercial for Top Chef All-Stars! Lee Anne! Emilio! March 19!

Runway Day. For some reason, at breakfast Brittany wants Delvin and Victoria to tell her who will probably be in the bottom. They think Nancy, because while her pants are cool, she's made them before and the top is not great. It's especially annoying that it's Mrs. Pointy Shoulder Victoria who's complaining that Nancy already made those pants. Come on. Nancy is sitting on a bench somewhere (I'm not sure what the layout of the penthouse is, so I'm not sure how close she is or what) and of course she can hear them. They aren't really making an effort to whisper which is also stupid. Nancy says when the pressure is high, that's when she does her best. Delvin walks by, I guess coming out of the kitchen, and immediately sees Nancy on the bench. So he knows they've been caught. Of all people Sergio thinks everyone underestimates Nancy. It does hurt but it's not like Nancy is going to quit.

2.5 hours to work. There's a lot of frantic working. Marquise's shirt is very tight. Something weird is happening with Brittany's shorts. They're uneven or the hem is bad so she's rolled them up high or something. Alan is helping Brittany since Victoria won't let him help her. So why not? Nancy struggles with the buttonhole machine. She announces it's down, and immediately Delvin says “She broke it” and flails dramatically. He also claims it's the second time she's gotten in his way (the first being using Tyler to fit things). She didn't break it on purpose, calm down. Christian has minimal sympathy because his season didn't have a buttonhole machine. Geoffrey hates the bow tie he made. Sergio's look comes together and this idiot has made it in white. You're going to claim you've never seen a backwards tux, and so therefore you're better than everyone, and it's even the same color as Celine Dion's.

Guest judge today is Thom Browne. Geoffrey: dark cropped jumpsuit. The top has lapels and some shoulder pads, with a black shirt and a black bow tie. I'm not sure if this is a shirt or if it's a dickey he just sewed into the gap. There's a satin band at the hip, and it's cut with a flap so it looks like a regular suit. There's nothing to indicate it's a jumpsuit. Delvin: suit in a dark teal, with an asymmetrical hem on the jacket. The pants are cropped but also slim, like leggings. One side of the jacket is about four inches lower than the other, and there is a wide corset piece around her waist. No shirt, and one side of the jacket has a double lapel and one side has no lapel. It does look very well tailored.

Victoria: long dress in black, with a very high slit and strong shoulders with a V neck. As far as I can tell it does not have side cutouts. The slit is basically up to her hip, with a rhinestone garter around her thigh. The whole back is open. Nancy: the same pants she made a couple of episodes ago, where the pant leg is kind of loose and there's a big flap behind them. The top is a sleeveless jacket with wide white lapels. The rest of the outfit is in a metallic dark red and gold floral print. Brittany: short black satin shorts, a white shirt and a dark floral print jacket. That's basically it. It doesn't look like it's perfectly tailored.

Sergio: OK first of all, his model walks out and immediately turns around and ruins the reveal. Come on. It's a long white gown that comes up to her throat, and then the back is completely open and it has pink lapels. I don't like how the keyhole fits, because I think it's pretty wide and low and it's hard to fit something like that to a person's back. Also there's a black bow tie facing backwards. He still thinks it's original. It's well made, I guess. Marquise: black pants, I think they are cropped a little bit, and a skirt. I'm not sure if it's a whole skirt, or a wide panel sewn to the back of the pants. A white shirt, and then a dark blue jacket. The jacket is all horizontal pleats with black lapels and some pins at the shoulder. The shirt isn't a regular button down shirt, but has a collar that makes it look like an ascot. It somehow comes up very high and covers his throat like he's Mr. Darcy.

Everyone gets to stay today. Geoffrey is already crying, and he says that he was trying not to overdesign. Nina likes that it's minimalist for him. He also praises Melanie a lot. The only thing they don't like is the bow tie, but the tailoring is so beautiful I don't think they really care. Delvin was very excited about this challenge, and he wanted to keep it sleek. Nina asks what fabric he used (double wool crepe) and why (it's one of his go-to fabrics). It's too day and doesn't read “tuxedo”. Brandon says “leprechaun in a corset” which is not even true. It's the wrong shade of green. He also claims the asymmetry took focus from the tailoring. I guess. Then we have to put in a shot of Sergio bragging to Nancy about karma, and a flashback to Delvin saying shit about Nancy. First of all, that was not even 20 minutes ago, and second, Sergio is due for some karma so why is this even here. The asymmetry was his attempt to be creative, but he didn't take a big enough chance.

Victoria talks about powerful sexy women. When they ask who she worked with, and she says Alan, Brandon says he's missing Alan's shoe game today, and then they cut to Alan in the Scrap Bin, laughing hysterically just as the camera pans down to his sparkly loafers. Nina likes that it's chic but also sexy, and the thin strip down the back of the keyhole. It's maybe not moving the tuxedo forward or reinventing it, but it's beautiful. Marquise wanted to make a look that would stand out. The judges also lust after the model. This is getting old. I'm not going to pretend that I've never ogled a hot boy but can we dial down all the thirsty comments? We get it, he's hot. This was a high drama look, and the skirt was right on. He also says Shavi tailored the pants and he was really glad for the extra hands. Brandon says it's a great example of trusting your instincts. Thom says he would have pleated the skirt but that's minor. Brittany starts off by admitting she's never made menswear before ever. She knows it's only like 75% complete. The lapels are too thin and the shirt is bad. Elaine says “douchey Hampton's party”. The judges didn't think it was hers. The shorts are the wrong length, but we knew that because Brittany said they were.

Sergio immediately starts in with the current administration going backwards and how their slogan is “Make America Great Again” and then says that in his mind, the last time America was great was in the 50's. You dumbass. Not only is this a bullshit story you shoehorned in because you think anyone gives a shit about your “political” clothes, you picked a terrible time to romanticize. He keeps talking about how you could own a home with only one parent working, and now it's a lecture. Elaine looks pissed, and as soon as he shuts up she says that for his dumb stories to work, not only does the garment have to be perfect, but also his messaging. And the 1950's were pretty shitty for people of color and women, so no, America was not great then. AND in my opinion that logic only makes sense if you made a 50's style dress. Right? At least that's vaguely logical. Elaine flat out tells him he was offensive and he should stick to the fashion. I'm pretty sure they told him that last time. Didn't they? Nina follows this up with immediately referencing Celine Dion, and Brandon gushes about how great that look was. Nina then turns to him and oh-so-casually slides in “I'm sure you know the look that I'm talking about.” Sergio hems and haws and eventually asks what year that was. Nina gets her patented disgusted look and I am hollering for her to dress his ass DOWN. She doesn't remember the exact year (I mean I had to look it up too) and just says she's surprised he's in fashion and he doesn't know this. Sergio responds with “John Galliano is a genius” and her immediate response is “And this is very very similar.” Ha! It's well made but they all recognize the reference.

Nancy really wanted to do print, and she wanted the pants she liked, and the sleeves looked weird and she took Christian's advice about the sleeves, and then DD's face lit up, and blah blah. She's hilarious. Brandon loves it because he wishes he would have amazing stories like that when people ask about his inspiration for stuff. They don't particularly like it, sadly. It doesn't really say “tuxedo”, and the lapels are kind of wonky. Then Elaine says they've seen the pants before, and while that's true they let Victoria make the same damn jacket WAY more times before they penalized her for it. So let's not pretend they are on top of shit like that.

Sergio, Marquise, Geoffrey, and Victoria are the top. Sergio did a good job but it's a copy, and no one can believe he didn't know about Celine. In the Scrap Bin he laughs and says he was in middle school, but no one is buying it and also he said the wrong year so whatever. Victoria and Marquise seem to be the best of the best. Geoffrey's look was nice but maybe too much. Nina likes Victoria for some reason, but Brandon loves Marquise and his take on gender. Geoffrey's bow tie was not good, although this is the most polished Geoffrey has been. Marquise could have pushed the skirt a little bit more.

Delvin didn't really make a tux, they've seen Nancy's (this is still bullshit considering how many pointy shouldered wrap jackets with cutouts Victoria got praise for), and Brittany's was a hot mess. Out of these three, at least Delvin's was well made. Brittany was embarrassed by her outfit, and she just failed. Nancy is too boring and they hate the print, I guess. In the Scrap Bin, Nancy is convinced that even though Brittany had the worst look, the judges like her more and so Nancy is going to go home without making the worst look. That's likely, sadly.

The winner is Marquise. Nice. He's so happy to win, to impress Thom Browne, and have a real comeback. Geoffrey, Sergio, and Victoria are all in. Brittany is out. Huh. Delvin and Nancy are in. I mean, that's the right choice, but Nancy had a point. Brandon tries to act like her getting eliminated is just what she needs to propel herself to be better. That's not what she probably wants to hear right now? She's very upset, but she knows she disappointed everyone and she hated everything about the look. Christian comes in and praises Brittany and then uses his Save. UGH. Is Brittany really that great? I argue not really? But I'm sure he's required to use the Save probably? We get a flashback to five minutes ago and Christian telling the judges he wants to use his Save because Brittany is just that talented. Everyone is joyful, which is so weird because if they thought she was that amazing they could have just...not eliminated her? Right? It's not like the judges haven't made crazier decisions in the past. So are we pretending they're actually considering the clothes and not the drama or what the producers want? I'm irritated but I know the Save is part of the show. I guess I was happier about her being gone than I thought.

Next week: tie-dye, Leslie Jones is here to be loud, it looks like Brittany is crying again.

Christian says Brittany is just too promising and it was her first attempt at menswear. OK but she didn't need to do menswear. Anyway, Sebastian is here. They giggle about never being eliminated. They chit chat about the episode, and then Sebastian does quick sketches for the challenges from this season. Also Christian calls the production out for serving them rum and cokes like they're teenagers. Sebastian has two collections he's released in Colombia, and the one for the CFDA is being shown to buyers. Also people are calling him for red carpet stuff. He does joke that Christian is making all the looks for the Tonys and Christian is like, I only made eight. Hee. Then Swatch comes out and they put him in the chair with a bow tie. Christian talks to him and I can't tell if he's drunk or what is happening. Then he gets Swatch on the floor and lets him pick treats in front of pictures to predict who will win. So he picks Victoria. Huh.