Project Runway All Stars Recap: Return to the Runway
The same music set up the beginning of Project Runway All Stars so as much as there are a lot of things different, there glimpses of similarity that we've grown accustomed to (or tired of). We start the show with Mondo and Michael (now relinquished from the "C.") from Season 8 and I have to think it's because that season was the big Lifetime season that said "We're back and not on Bravo." We continue to slowly go down the rest of the cast and while the advertisements threw the phrases "most talented" and "most memorable," Elisa of all contestants was asked back. All I remember from her was that she spit on her fabrics and made Hershey kiss floaters. I guess we had to have at least one fodder contestant right? Kenley reminded us that she's smug and she tried to be open with Jerell and I'm not sure if she was trying to cover up her bitchy attitude or if she genuinely was nice to a fellow contestant. The contestants all greeted each other with happy faces and cheer, as if this was some high school reunion. They entered Limelight and Angela Lindvall welcomed the contestants; sure she's no Heidi, but I think I'll give her a few episodes to warm up. She emphasized that the contestants have immunity, but I'm hoping that these contestants get some form of prize, whether it be from Marie Claire or otherwise.
The prize for the All-Star season got their own Boutique in several Neiman Marcus' stores, the editorial spread in Marie Claire and position as guest editor, equipment from Brother, $100,000 from HP/Intel, and $100,000 from L'Oreal. That's about $500,000. The judges this season are different, which I like the idea because it allows the contestants to not sit on their laurels and cater to Nina Garcia. We're introduced to Georgina Chapman of Marchesa, and Isaac Mizrahi (of Bravo's The Fashion Show). The contestants brought a "recent creation" that represented themselves and had an All Star fashion show. The contestants met their models and the butterflies kicked in.
Jerell - African print was pretty, but there was something that screamed Korto about the whole thing.
Mila - Mila's still color blocking, which I hoped would have been a bit of a phase that she would grow out of.
Kenley - Reminds me of her purple reptile dress, but with more flow and time taken into the dress.
Austin - The flow was pretty, but for some reason it didn't really scream "Austin" to me.
Elisa - The painting was interesting, but it really didn't have wow.
Rami - Reminds me of something Lady GaGa may have gotten her Haus to create.
Gordana - The shoulders were the coolest thing that I remembered.
April - Still black.
Anthony - I liked the color, and the huge pin was an interesting aspect
Michael - The flow of the dress was the best part, I can see him being direct competition to Rami.
Mondo - Still signature Mondo, but very, very pretty.
*Somewhere along the line, I must have missed Sweet P's mostly cream dress with cool leather top accents.
Georgina and Isaac gave generic compliments and the contestants went to their suite for a little time off. Interestingly, all 13 contestants were staying in the same suite. Elisa used her lipstick to call her bed. The contestants watched a video where Giancarlo Giammetti and Valentino gave the contestants the message of support. They cheered with some Champagne.
The contestants arrived at the unconventional material challenge. The contestants had a whole 99 cent store to search, but the look had to be inspired by the look at the fashion show. The contestants got 100, so basically 90 pieces with tax. The contestants ran for everything set to the tune of mostly curses and April using the phrase "Clusterf$#k." Sweet P grabbed colors. Mondo decided to go away from conventional items. Michael was shocked to see that April grabbed the same mop heads.
The contestants arrived at a new workroom at 1407 Broadway with the contestants already assigned tables and their free HP Tablets. Our accessory wall is sponsored by Neiman Marcus. Instead of Tim Gunn, Joanna Coles was providing the "Mentor Session." I'm sure Kenley was happy probably more so than the rest of the contestants because of how she pissed off Tim Gunn. The contestants started working as Elisa moved her cutting mat on the floor to work. As Michael started sewing, Jerell pointed out that April's mop dress was exactly the same at the moment.
Joanna Coles arrived and started with Sweet P and Joanna pointed out that she lacked any oomph or surprise. Gordana wanted to do a shorter dress, but Joanna thought it looked confusing when it wasn't on the model. Mondo wasn't competitive yet, but was moving on with his work. Elisa tried to give her spit blessings and then explained her whimsical nature to a very confused Joanna. Sadly, because of our show back to an hour, we now can point out that the people being focused on were either the high or low contestants.
As the contestants tried to finish up in time, Austin’s glue gun melted part of his dress right in the front. He was in shambles but had to wait for the morning to desperately fix his dress. In the morning Gordana's piñata was still holding on without any problems. Austin decided to carefully cut out a patch and add it into the dress. The shininess of the plastic was distracting enough for him to think the judges would just ignore the dress. The contestants had hair and makeup with the same sponsors as always.
Angela welcomed the contestants and along with Georgina and Isaac was guest judge Ken Downing (of Neiman Marcus).
Austin - The dress kinda works for me, but the color was so cheap looking; yeah it was from a dollar store, but the other contestants grabbed colors that weren't so blaring-ly dollar store.
Kara - The dress looked very conventional and I like the pink, even though it was nowhere from the original.
Jerell - I thought the handkerchiefs were a bit predictable, but he made a dress with a top that matched the original.
Elisa - The same execution of the "flower reveal" was nice but even in the original dress, it was nothing special.
Rami - I liked the concept, but for some reason this dress screamed more Beyoncé than Lady GaGa.
Sweet P - The whole dress looked like if you asked a kid that just visited Epcot to draw the workers at the Mexican pavilion, and then they made the dress from the same crayon colors. I didn't get it at all.
Mondo - It’s Mondo. I get it and it wasn't as conventional.
Kenley - It felt like a shortened version that matched the similar original without being too direct.
Gordana - It's a piñata, seriously, after Mondo said it, I can't help thinking about that and wanting to see if the model was full of candy.
Anthony - Sure, it's not green, but the purple was pretty and it didn't rip.
Mila - I understood the stripes and I liked that perfect 90 degree angle.
Michael - The mop strings looked nice and had similar flow.
April - I think the solid top was nice with the bottom was flowy. Of the two dresses, I'd prefer April's.
Apparently both Michael and April had safe dresses so it didn't matter. The high scoring dresses was Rami (Strong execution, very editorial)
Jerell (Wearable, colorful), and Mondo (Fun, flawless, great proportion). The winner of the challenge was Rami, even though the judges said the outfit was too close to the original. The bottom three were Sweet P (Ragged, unresolved, fattening), Elisa (Passionate, but confusing), and Gordana (Nice top, but had too many elements). Elisa was eliminated, which surprised me only because Sweet P's dress was awful. Did you see the weird back thing? Angela told Elisa "Bye" and provided a handshake. It's not exactly German, so Angela will still have to figure out something distinctive. As Elisa left I got to say how much I loved her bag because it looked like a huge pillow.
This Season: Crying, bitching, stress, and increased level of challenges. So basically a season with people we know. Kenley will probably survive a bit longer as a villain and Mondo will probably win because he was the first person we met this episode. Just a hunch.
Michael Pascua - TVLatest.com
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