Previously on “Project Runway”: designers were asked to create reunion looks for various Real Housewives. I feel bad because not everyone is American and they don't all know what this franchise is and what a reunion show is. Once again the judges put Aaron in the top but gave the win to someone else, this time Shantall. Kristina got the difficult client, who basically wanted to show off her new boob job and ass job, but her outfit was deemed better than Anna, who was sent home. Anna really hadn't been the same since the car accident and Octavio leaving. (click for more)
Shantall gets some congrats about winning but she says she can't sleep and I guess never celebrates for the stress of wanting to make the finale. Kristina is pretty upset about almost being eliminated but she also has to keep going.
Christian appears and says that they have three challenges left before Fashion Week, and one of them is right now. Elaine is also there, and some models with “fabulous” hairstyles. I mean...sure. They have good hair, but some of the styles are like, “long braids” on an Asian model. This is some Tresemme initiative to support up and coming hairstylists and also get some people who can do non-white hair which is a real problem in the fashion industry. Each designer will have a “collaboration” where they make an outfit that goes with the hairstyle. I remember this challenge because I'm pretty sure it's the base challenge that gave us Christian and Chris March's avant garde look with the huge collar. Anyway we have “random” assignments. Bones and Chasity are especially excited about this challenge. One day challenge, so I guess it's not avant garde this time.
Bones puts his wig on before the hairstylists show up for consults. Everyone wants to make something epic, which is not life-changing for the final six. Everyone seems to get along with their partners so this part isn't that exciting, you know? No one is doing anything super crazy, but they also aren't slacking. And no one is complaining.
Back at the townhouse (I think the next morning) it's Aaron's 40th birthday. They got him donuts and a huge amount of balloons. He says it's “amazing” to spend it on the show, but there's a giant pause like he was going to say it was terrible. They go to Mood and it's the same as always. They show some sketches but they all seem very washed out. Shantall is going to make a leather outfit and Christian is concerned she can't finish in one day. Aaron wants a raincoat but for some reason he is in the satin section. Christian yells at him to go to the vinyl section. Or at least the neoprene section, honestly. Kristina comes up to a counter and asks for a ribbon, and Shantall calmly says she's in line here. I mean she's already being helped and Kristina did come rushing up. Kristina interviews that this is such unnecessary attitude, like in the Scrap Bin where she said she wanted to win. You can't cut in line, Kristina.
They have eleven hours to work. Coral wants to prove she can do more than dresses. That's why she's trying to do a leather coat. Chasity gets a video call from the hairstylists to talk a little more about the hair and the outfit. Bones is draping a large amount of red fabric. Everyone has video calls today. Aaron is planning a chevron pattern to mimic braids. He interviews that he's never done this before? Like vinyl? I'm not sure. I think Bones is making heart shapes? Like realistic hearts. Sure.
Christian comes in to talk to everyone. He immediately shits on Chasity for just making a maxi dress. They gave Anya the whole win for making maxi dresses. Christian finds out it's Aaron's birthday and runs around until he can steal a pearl handbag from somewhere to present to him. Aaron jokes that he loves a pearl necklace. Christian loves the new fabric, it just can't be too costumey. Kristina has a loose top right now, that looks kind of kimono-esque. I think she is told to make it tighter. Not sure why, but sure. Christian asks Coral about her look, and then asks about where she got inspiration from. I guess expecting her to say how this look relates to the hair. Coral freezes, which I guess we're supposed to think is terrible and she's failing. Listen, we all know that someone who makes a good outfit that has nothing to do with the hair will be safe, and someone who makes a poor outfit that is exactly the hair will go home. So I'm not convinced that she's in trouble here. Really Christian is telling everyone they're too boring, and it feels like he's really obsessed with everyone going above and beyond. But they have one day. You can't get too ambitious or you won't be able to finish anything.
More video calls. Mostly Bones promising to do some more embellishment. Model fitting. Aaron has a jacket but no jumpsuit. It's not like he can only send the raincoat because it's clear vinyl. He tells Christian he can adjust quickly because it's neoprene. Kristina's model didn't bring a bra (…??) so they just have to try the outfit on. She thinks she can't just change her look dramatically, even though she likes this no-bra idea, because of the collaboration. Chasity has a tiger stripe and she's put slashes over her model's stomach. Christian is worried it's too on the nose. Yeah that might be a problem but if Chasity can talk her way out of it, it might be fine. Shantall's pants have ripped. They show a shot of them and it somehow doesn't look like a seam gave way. It really looks like the fabric tore in a weird curve. Christian is all, this is why I told you not to get leather, which is not helpful. I can't think of a time someone used leather and the actual fabric tore.
After the models leave, Chasity is looking at her design and trying to decide if the loops she wants to put on the shoulders will clash with the hair the stylists have planned. There's a lot of running around and being stressed from everyone. Kristina is running out of time, especially since she changed her look. Aaron had said he was just going to make a jumpsuit, but he apparently wants to weave strips to repeat the chevron. That's going to take forever. Shantall would normally just do something else since the pants ripped, but because this is supposed to be a collaboration, she feels pressured to try to fix the pants instead. Everyone is putting so much emphasis on how they can't up and change their designs. So now Shantall's model won't be able to sit down.
Back at the house everyone curses and eats pizza. Also there's a donut pinata. Coral really goes to town to let out her stress.
Runway Day. Kristina asks why they have to wake up to cameras which is a great question. Chasity calls home. Her kids are adorable. She admits in confessional that 2020 was a really low time, and she had suicidal thoughts. But she didn't give up because of her kids.
They only have two hours today, which I find interesting. I know there are fewer people, but everyone has elaborate hair today. Aaron is scrapping his jumpsuit idea, so he can make something he's proud of. Kristina has made a bra, because her model didn't have a bra yesterday. Aaron's pants look terrible, so he's back to the first ones he made. At least he was honest about that. We of course need a hair product commercial and a lot of talk about representation. Aaron is putting his jumpsuit on his model and he tells Christian not to look at the back. Of course Christian immediately looks at the back. It is BAD. There's an exposed zipper but I don't think it's supposed to be exposed, and you can see at the top that it was moved, or at least wasn't sewn in right. It's so crooked. Aaron promises a cover-up. Is this how Aaron's story is going to end? He comes in second like six times and then crashes and burns? Coral comes in to the hairstyling room and freaks out about how her model has several puffy ponytails. You know like one rubber band by her head, and then a ball, and then another one so it's a string of balls. They're also frizzy somehow. She changed up her look and now it doesn't go. There is a ton of last minute stuff happening. Shantall is telling her model if she wants to sit down she's going to have to take the pants off. Chasity interviews that when she was growing up she only had Black dolls, and how important that was for her and how moved she is to have this challenge.
Guest judge is model Precious Lee. Also for some reason Kristina is wearing one of Bones's wigs. Bones: she comes out in a red draped dress, which just looks like a bunch of shapeless fabric she's wrapped around her. She unwraps it to reveal a sheer red bodysuit with long sleeves. There are some fabric tubes around her chest, sort of making straps and I guess technically over her nipples. The skirt is attached to this in what looks like a traditional way, with a high slit and a knee-length skirt. She just carries the other fabric in her hand, so I guess it was just wrapped around her. Coral: black leather jacket, which is sleek and shiny. It fits pretty well. The skirt is that fabric that's made up of solid circles attached at the sides, so you get little open diamonds, and it hits her just above the ankle. Of course there are a bunch of strings hanging off her hips. The back of the jacket has a pleat like a little peplum. The ponytails are a lot but I personally don't like the weird ball ponytails.
Shantall: white jacket and pants, in leather, and a knit crop top. The crop top I thought was a sweater at first, but I think it's a print in white with rows of black polka dots. It's a halter top that comes up to a collar, and the front has small pleats and it ties in the back. The jacket is loose and it looks sporty, compared to Coral's tight dressy one. The pants look fine from here but they also seem to have cargo pockets on the knees. They're not super skinny, which probably helps, but it's the waist where they ripped. Her model has Bantu knots so it's a very 90's hip hop vibe. Chasity: long gown in a tiger print. The bodice has no sleeves but slightly pointed shoulders, and over her stomach are some artful slashes that mimic the fabric. It looks like she's lined the holes with silver and bronze sequins. There are some pieces over each hip that look kind of like panniers, and then a long skirt with a slit. The hip pieces look like stiff strips looped and sitting on one edge, instead of lying flat. The hair is a set of loops and twists like a crown.
Aaron: so the raincoat is clear and yellow vinyl, with the yellow making chevrons and shapes, and then a big hood. I think it's a hood, she never lifts it. It's a little hard to see the pattern because under these lights the yellow is pretty light. But it looks pretty impressive. Beneath this is a strapless dark blue jumpsuit in neoprene. The bodice has some random pieces of the yellow he's used for edging, and some vinyl. But it doesn't look like a pattern. The pants at least look completed but she's got camel toe. You can also still kind of see the jacked up zipper. Kristina: so I think it's loose pants and a bra top, with a big piece of striped fabric over one shoulder. The stripes are black and white, and there doesn't seem to be a lot of shape for this part, although at the top there's a fold like a coat lapel. But it just kind of hangs down over her whole body and it's not belted or anything. The pants are black high-waisted wide-legged pants. So the striped fabric actually has some kind of structure because it has a wide strap to untie to take it off. The bra is a black and white checked fabric and I am pretty sure it is not providing any support whatsoever. And this model has a big chest. Which honestly makes it more baffling that she showed up to the fitting with no bra.
Kristina talks about her “half jacket” which is maybe a kimono, and turns out it has a sleeve. Nina says she loved it, which I don't get. It's a plus-sized model. She's not dressed in a skin tight outfit with skin showing. In every episode before this they have been really mad about that. Anyway, Nina loved the finger waves in the short hair and how they went with the stripes. At least Precious and Brandon hate the bra top. It's a giant half jacket that looks like a blanket. Whatever. Coral tells the judges that it's a leather jacket (aren't they required to use pleather and fake fur?). Brandon liked the look, but it doesn't go with the hair. Elaine wanted the skirt to be less straight. Nina gets mad that hair and makeup are important, but at least the jacket is good.
Bones immediately is emotional talking about his dad and the heart and how he wanted a sari. He takes off the big draped fabric over it, and it turns out the skirt is adjustable to different lengths. Elaine loves the artiness of it, but Nina is more critical, saying it's unfinished as opposed to conceptual. There is a lot going on here and it's maybe too many things. Aaron's model has long french braids, and there's some fabric woven in. The jumpsuit is tragic but everyone knows that including Aaron. The back is of course terrible and Aaron fully admits he ran out of time. Elaine then makes the absolutely ludicrous claim that if Aaron had sent his model down the runway in underwear and the raincoat, it would have been amazing and he in no way would be in trouble for having a naked model. Please. No one buys that. Nina does at least tell him they know what he can do.
Chasity committed to a look and it totally worked. Nina says it's the most impressive outfit she's seen from Chasity this whole competition. Chasity is making faces to try not to cry. Elaine would have chosen a quieter print, but other than that she seems OK with it. Shantall says something about Alicia Keys, and apparently both the jacket and pants are leather in the front and twill in the back. With the white it's hard to tell. Nina doesn't really like the jacket but the outfit does go with the hairstyle. It's a defined look and character.
Bones and Shantall were the middle and are quickly dismissed. Chasity delivered a runway look. The hair design mimicked the loops at the hip, which are actually pockets. Kristina is the other top, which I find baffling. I don't hate the look, but the amount of times they've insisted that the plus-sized models HAVE to be in tight clothing, or at least show a lot of skin! And now they love this weird half-jacket that looks like a blanket and huge pants and a terrible unsupportive bra.
Aaron's raincoat is amazing but the jumpsuit is an atrocity. It was unfinished and the zipper is terrible. Coral had a very clear idea, but it didn't go with the hair at all. I'm not sure what would go with that hair but sure. Elaine says the jacket doesn't go with the skirt either. Normally I'd say Aaron was in trouble just because he made the worse garment, but I think it really depends on if they consider all his second place looks.
Chasity is the winner! She gets emotional and says her daughter rejected her skin tone and natural hair for a long time and she wants to make someone she can look up to. Kristina, Bones, and Shantall are also in. Chasity has won three times. Coral's look didn't meet the challenge. Aaron's jumpsuit was terrible. Aaron is out. Hmm. Coral hugs him and says she's so sorry. I hope Aaron gets a lot of business from being on this show. He says he became an adult at age 40 by owning his mess on this show. Everybody has bad days but he knows he'll wake up tomorrow and he's going to make it.
Next week: an editorial look, with a specific model who seems great, people directing photo shoots.
On the aftershow we confirm that Aaron was in the top more than anyone else on this season. Christian introduces the drink which apparently is “sorry you turned 40 and then lost”. There is a giant pause like Aaron's mad. They talk about all of his looks in the top and he rants that he can make clothes without camel toe! He dresses drag queens! All the other smokers have been eliminated so his friends were gone and it does affect you. Oh and then he had a crush on a producer and once he was eliminated he hollers off screen to ask him out. Amazing! Then because Christian is a little shit, he says “OK so you had a crush on a producer so let's go on your date right now”. Aaron's response is “I hate you” and then they bring out a little table and some wine and spaghetti and the producer. Christian has some disclaimers like “producers do not understand fashion” and “we are a professional workplace but we do allow consensual comedy bits” and then he leaves. But not before coming back to smack Aaron in the leg with his cue cards and telling him to ask nice questions. This is so cringe but it's great. Coop is cute and he seems like it's OK with these shenanigans. Christian appears to yell at them for being lame and they probably don't go on dates and then he swans off. Then he reappears to confirm Aaron thinks Shantall will win, gives him the spaghetti and tells them to have a real date off camera. There is also a segment with the lead hairstylist but that is exactly as expected.
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