Project Runway Recap: This is for the Birds
With Anthony Ryan eliminated last week were down to six contestants. Three will "show" in the finale, while the other three will be decoys at the finale. I guess everyone wins in one form or another since everyone from Oliver's elimination got to show at the finale. It seems like Anya is a shoe-in at the finale after winning last week.
Laura thought that Anthony Ryan was really good, so his elimination was a wake-up call. I still find Laura's designs to be good, but not great personally, but the fact that people are bombing is the key fact of her survival. Joshua wanted to push himself, but Viktor pointed out Joshua's poor editing skills. Heidi arrived and she emphasized that the contestants would "spread their wings." The idiotic designers thought that they would be designing skydiving outfits. I miss the Postal Uniform challenge of season one. It turned out that it was legitimacy birds. Kimberly showed her fear of birds. Tim introduced Collier Strong, L’Oreal consultant, and pointed out the challenge was to create a high fashion look based off of a bird and the advertorial was themed from the concept of "Colors take flight." The winner would get 20,000 and emphasized the word "cash prize." The twist would be that the competitors would be in pairs, but they would compete head-to-head. Meaning one would be in the top, but the other will be on the bottom. Sadly, Mr. Owl got no love.
Raven - Anya & Laura
Amazon Parrot - Joshua & Bert
Cockatoo - Viktor & Kimberly
Since the clothes had to be high quality for a photoshoot, the contestants were given $300 and two days to complete the challenge. I think that the phrase "two days" at this point should have been a blatant clue to sew really fast. Joshua was convinced that high fashion was a talent that Bert didn't have. Viktor wanted to do couture. Bert thought the greens were really ugly on the bird and it wasn't calling to him. During the Avant Garde challenge, Kimberly did something bird related, so she didn't want to double up. I think the bigger point was that one bird was black and the other white. If she made an exact white version, then she'd be crazy. The designers had 30 minutes to shop and Anya didn't lose her money this time around. Kimberly decided to work with chiffons. Anya's challenge was to design with one color, and no prints. Laura decided to do pants with an organza coat. Joshua decided to go over-the-top picking loud colors.
Kimberly knew that Viktor was the golden boy of challenges and it would be great to beat him. Anya decided to be totally different from Laura design-wise. Several hours into the competition Viktor decided to do a Roman style dress and handmade feathers. Tim arrived and announced a twist: the designers had to make a second high fashion look based off of the same bird. They had 30 minutes to sketch and another $300 for fabric. Joshua was blank; his eyebrows were also not moving. I'm just happy that they didn't have to make a commercial version. Anya decided to break the mold and do a structured black piece. Bert decided that the second look would have to be an accomplishable dress.
We get a second round of fabric selections and Joshua decided to use the makeup color of purple as inspiration; which meant that he grabbed orange. I love that. The contestants returned nervous about time management. Laura knew that Anya would bring great designs, so she decided to be as tailored as possible. Bert thought that the juxtaposition between him and Joshua would be enough to keep him around. At the end of day one, there wasn't much completed on either dress for all of the contestants.
Day two arrived, Kimberly joked around about calling in sick. The contestants returned to the work room and continued to cut and sew as much as possible. Kimberly struggled with her mannequin. Joshua got all "fustrated" about the dress. Kim's ideas were still forming so things weren't close to completion. A cockroach arrived scaring the crap out of Kimberly. Anya being amazing grabbed a Piperlime shoe and squished it. Now that's advertising: crush bugs with expensive heels.
Collier arrived and each contestant had the stereotypical advertisements from L’Oreal. Just a lot of shots of eyeliner, lipstick, and blush. Bert seems like he was finally accepted into the group. Kimberly got a stain on her fabric and it mentally got to her. She didn't have time and was beyond frustrated. Joshua decided to work on the second look to keep his head going. Joshua started talking to his orange fabric and started sewing. He talked to Kimberly about stepping it up a notch. Viktor and Anya appreciated Kim pushing herself, but they both knew that she was all above her. Kimberly's sewing needle went directly into her finger and it made her bad day worse.
Kimberly ran to the bathroom and was in tears so Anya and Laura went in to talk. We had a long shot of a women's bathroom door and sobbing. At least they were nice enough to stay on the outside of the women's bathroom instead of watching Becky cry and having her try slamming the door on the cameraman. We learn that Kimberly lost her mom at 17 then lost other family members soon afterwards. Joshua decided to scrap his first dress, which looked like a scrunched mess anyway. He turned to Anya and asked her if she had any fabric, Anya wasn't sure if she wanted to hand fabric so she gave a passive-aggressive no. Joshua was a bit upset that Anya wasn't direct. Anya talked to Laura about how no one is lending advice or fabric anymore.
We're reminded that the prize is $20,000 Josh decided to do a circle skirt. Anya was worried about construction and while Bert gave suggestions, not as many people were helping. Tim arrived for his critiques and Laura was stuck thinking about her second look and Tim told her to ditch the outfit. Anya's critiqued about her armholes looking a bit wonky. Tim liked the shape of the structured dress, but he warned about perfection. Joshua was next and he explained the circle skirt; Tim thought it looked crafty and Josh tried to defend himself. As for the orange dress, it was beautiful. Bert's first look was too serious, and his second wasn't high fashion' enough. Viktor's dresses lacked color. Tim talked to Kimberly and Tim was worried about how over-the-top the second poofy dress was. She explained that she was having one of those days and Tim tried his best to be a cheerleader for her. He suggested stopping thinking and just feeling. He stopped and hugged her. I wish Tim-hugs were sold on Piperlime.
Tim was happy about the potential and reiterated the $20,000. The models arrived for fittings. Josh's second look looked great on his model. Kimberly's model was worried about looking too vulgar. In frustration, Kimberly tossed her dress on the table and accidentally burnt a hole into her dress. I'm not even sure who was using the hot glue gun. Kimberly needed a three-hour Anya moment. She had polyester for lining, so that was the only thing left.
It was the day of the runway show and Kimberly warned Viktor about not to underestimate the underdog. There was furious sewing and Viktor was convinced that Kimberly copied him. The contestants had one hour for hair and makeup. Tim made a special announcement: only one of two looks will walk the runway. There was relief running through the contestants faces since they only had to finish one dress. Tim emphasized editing and decided to go for the most outstanding look.
Bert was stuck because one of his dresses was over the top and the other more simplistic. Josh was thrown for a loop and he knew about having an editing eye and stood back and actually thought about things; he landed on the orange dress. Anya liked both dresses, but she was worried about the finishing of the fitted dress. Kimberly considered sending the three-hour dress. The models arrived for fitting and each contestant talked smack about each other. We spent a lot of extra time at hair and makeup. There's a hysterical moment of Anya trying to get a dress on her model. Josh was disappointed, but I have to give credit for Anya doing a fitted dress.
Heidi welcomed the contestants and along with Michael Kors and Nina Garcia was guest judge Francisco Costa, from Calvin Klein.
Viktor - I liked the sheerness of the dress and I liked the under part of the skirts. The fake flowers worked great even though I would question how many flowers he used. If Joshua managed to have an editing eye, then Viktor had no excuses.
Kimberly - The three-hour dress looks stunning from the simplicity of the dress. The bottom could have been finished better. Of the two shoulder looks, I prefer Kimberly’s
Bert - I understood the concept, but I didn't like how the colors finished on the inside. The pop was nice, but it couldn't counterbalance the odd greys and the scale-like top.
Joshua - The editing eye finally worked; the simplicity was counterbalanced by the overdone flower corsage which was enough to scream Joshua.
Anya - I give kudos for Anya for making something that wasn't patterns. I liked the intricate pins and tucks. Who cares if it isn't wearable? This is Project Runway and the challenge was about high-fashion looks that were going to be in a magazine.
Laura- There was something about the frills that was tacky and I almost wished that the bottom of the jacket was longer. I wanted something more post-apocalyptic if she was going to do the pants and jacket look.
Anya & Laura were first for judging and Anya was commended for how edgy she went. Michael appreciates how interesting and flattering the dress was. As for Laura, Nina thought it was dramatic, but the feathers and the satin were a bit much. Heidi thought it was too bird-like and too tight. Bert explained that the inspiration was the claws and admitted it wasn't too strong. Michael thought it was too pageant, even with the hair and make-up. Nina knew that color wasn't the strongest, but she was disappointed by how generic the dress was. The element of surprise was nice but wasn’t perfect. Joshua explained his draping abilities and trying to edit. Michael liked the draping and chain, but hated the corsage. Josh had the high score. Kimberly's three-hour dress was cut well, but Michael thought the pearls were questionable. There were criticisms about the maturity. Nina thought the dress skewed beauty pageant. Viktor's technique of feathers was light and romantic. Michael thought that Viktor was too literal.
The top three were Anya, Joshua, and to a minor surprise Kimberly. We didn't have to see that Anya was the winner, above and beyond the other contestants to the judges' eyes. She really can do no wrong. The bottom three was Bert, Laura, and Viktor. It came down to Laura and Bert, but as much as Heidi liked Bert this whole season, he was finally eliminated. I bet he would have done better if he had Mr. Owl.
Anya had her advertorial and I liked the concept of Anya looking up at her muse.
We had our first after show, but since it didn't involve Andy Cohen or some skanky MTV reality members it just felt like a lite version of a reunion show.
Next Week: Inspiration from a wonderful art from Stormking in mid-state New York seems to be the final challenge for the final five.
Michael Pascua - TVLatest.com
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