Project Runway Recap: All About Nina
The designers work with a very important client: Nina Garcia. Several contestants make poor fabric choices at Mood, making the high-pressure challenge that much more difficult. Marie Claire editor-in-chief Joanna Coles and actress Kerry Washington guest judge.
After seasons of watching Heidi make requests for clothes, Nina Garcia is finally a client. The fact that they even allowed Nina and Michael Kors to talk in the opening credits must have been a struggle. After hairstylist Fallene's departure the contestants were evaluating their previous challenges and after three, Cecilia was less nervous. Her top two showing with Danielle had to be a fluke. They were up against a matador, a ballerina, and a curtain. Bryce, who had a seat in the bottom three, continues his "I need to wow people" mentality. Viktor was convinced that he didn't want to be "That person" (*cough* Bryce).
Heidi welcomed the group and explained that the next challenge was to design for a very important client: Nina Garcia. Nina needed an outfit that could transform from day-to-night. She then rattled off a shopping lists of dos and don'ts including tailoring, streamlining, class with an edge, and no loudness. The winning look would be in an ad for Marie Claire and on taxi cabs. Taxi cabs? As a New Yorker, I only look up to see if the cab is taken. I don't care if a new version of Rent is coming out. Wouldn't the ad be tiny?
Tim explained that along with their normal 30-minute sketch time, they placed product placement computers with photos of Nina to study. I miss the days when everyone was given a dossier. Afterwards, the contestants had 30 minutes to consult with Nina. Of all the contestants, Anya was the most out of her element. She suggested a jumpsuit for Nina, but Nina was worried about her sewing. Bryce got his cowl rejected. Nina directly told Daniele what she wanted and it clearly flustered Danielle. Julie's jacket-dress was positive, probably because Julie's sketches looked cool. Kimberly got pigeonholed into making pants again. Cecilia tried to suggest a jacket with a dress, but Nina immediately called it Dynasty, which made me wonder if Cecilia knew what Dynasty was.
At Mood the contestants were given $200 and were let loose. Danielle couldn't find olive green fabric. Not to be boring, Anya decided to try mustard yellow. With 10 minutes left, Anthony Ryan and Becky chose the same fabric; neither knowing who was first. Cecilia couldn't find fabric in her budget as her "I'm amazing" mentality turned into a mopey depression. The contestants returned to the work room and Anya second-guessed her colors. Julie discussed with her fellow mousey contestants Cecilia and Danielle about her outfits. On the other side of the workroom the bickering gays wondered about Becky's choice in fabric. We also got about five seconds of Bert when he was chatting in the small dining area with Becky. All this buildup to the fabric showdown falls flat. In the workroom, Cecilia realized the purple fabric she selected was actually gray.
Nina and Tim arrived for consultations. Danielle's outfit had too much softness; Nina wanted a harder palate. In the next two minutes of Danielle's suggestions, Nina said no. Julie's collar needed to be dainty instead of half the outfit. Clearly, Julie didn't want to make Becky-proportioned collars. Anya presented her fabric to Nina and immediately asked as Nina wanted a plan B. There was no Plan B.
Oliver was called "old fashioned" but Oliver continued to be Oliver. Bert created a plunging dress, which seemed nowhere near appropriate for Nina. Laura had "Christmas Green" but she also had immunity. Cecilia's gray and beige outfit immediately was called sad. Nina then called it mousey and looked for a Plan B. What is it with the women with no plan B? Kimberley's outfit had too much matchy-matchy blues, but she had a sharp gold fabric on top. Apparently gold is okay for Nina, but mustard isn't. Before leaving Nina announced that the winning look will be in a Marie Claire editorial. Ah, much better than the NYC Taxi.
We're given a voiceover that Kimberly knew that she's been through a lot of hardships. This sentence should trigger that Kimberly would either be in the bottom three or top three. Anthony Ryan suggested dyeing Anya's clothes, which I'm assuming there was extra dye from either the Bed sheets or Petland Discount challenge. While helping Anya dye her clothes, Anthony Ryan had a Skype conversation with his fiancé. While they missed each other, they both glorified how pretty Anya was.
The models arrived for the fittings, but it seemed like no one was ready. Danielle's model suggested belts and other ways to make her look less like Peter Pan. Poor Karin, she doesn't want to be eliminated before we learned her name or she was given an interview. Cecilia mentioned to her model she didn't have any fabric dyes. She mentally quit at that point because she could have borrowed Anya's dye, if not taken some from the back. With time running short Julie was behind sewing and left before she was done.
Anya was worried about time management, but by picking poor colors, it threw her off even more. On the other hand Cecilia was worried about her model Alyssaís huge nipples. Maybe she should have been worried more about the dress.
The contestants had two hours to finish up before the runway. Tim arrived and no one was there. Turns out that everyone was in the sewing room. The models went in for their final fittings. Becky pointed out that Anya's finishing skills were non-existent and will eventually catch up with her. Sounds like a future plot-line later in the season. Viktor turned his dress into a two piece. Instead of making any adjustments Cecilia accepted her bottom three position and shrugged.
With time running out Cecilia decided to help Julie finish her outfit. Cecilia gave Julie suggestions how she could save time by not being a horrible sewer. With time running out, Julie pulled out the glue. It's interesting to see that while Cecilia didn't have emergency dye, Julie had emergency glue. Laura decided to help Anya to finish her outfit. Viktor called it cheating, but it's fair game to keep the weaker contestants and weed out the strong.
Heidi welcomed the contestants to the runway and reiterated the day-to-night look. Along with Michael Kors and Nina Garcia were Marie Claire editor-in-chief Joanna Coles and actress Kerry Washington. Laura had immunity so she could celebrate Christmas as much as she wanted.
Joshua - I liked the pop of color, even though the back had a bit too much keyhole for something I'd consider for Nina.
Bert - Bert's outfit looks sleepy and the slit in the center of the skirt was a bit too hoochy. Bert continued to make clothes that look outdated.
Oliver - Oliver continued to make clothes that are monochrome, but it was finished well.
Anthony Ryan - The skirt had an odd poof to it that I didn't like. The top was fine though.
Becky - The dress was nice, the pop of color looked like pee coming out of the sides. What is it with the designers and their love for oranges and yellow?
Kimberly - I liked the gold top instead of the all-blue idea she had prior. I was worried that the gold was a bit aggressive if Anya's mustard wasn't acceptable. Then I looked at Nina and realized she was bedazzled.
Cecilia - The outfit looked like a boring burlap sack. A well-finished, but boring, sack.
Anya - With the help of finishing the collar the outfit looked great. I'm pretty sure we've seen the belt before on Fallene's model, but Anya used the belt correctly.
Danielle - The outfit looked really sleepy but also very retail. The collar upset me.
Julie - The outfit had Shamwow orange. The colors just didn't work for me. I also don't understand the appeal of a jacket dress.
Bryce - The hemline looked horrid. Did you see that weird two inch pucker on the bottom? I also questioned the shoulders.
Laura - With immunity, the dress looked cool, but didn't scream Nina. The choice of Christmas green was odd.
Viktor - When Viktor made a black dress it looked modern and tasteful; Bert's looked like a mess. I guess I'm Team Viktor.
The top designers were Viktor (Versatile, Tailored), Kimberly (Wearable separates, finished), and Anya (Great back, nice shape). The bottom three were Julie (Incomprehensible unbearable housecoat), Cecilia (Poor fabric, not office), and Danielle (Pedestrian, Sad looking). While the judges deliberated, the final decision landed on Nina. The winner was Kimberly and she was given immunity. The bottom two were Julie and Cecilia. Even though she had a quitter's attitude, Cecilia survived and Julie was eliminated.
As the bookend to the episode, Kimberly arrived at the Hearst building with Nina wearing her outfit. It actually looked great on Nina which made me wonder about Anya's jumpsuit idea. The taxi cab ad cut off the bottom part of the outfit, which were Kimberly's "signature" pants.
Next Week: Oliver goes down. More people want to kill Bert.
Michael Pascua – TVLatest.com
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