Project Runway Season 10 Episode 10 Recap: I Get a Kick Out Of Fashion
Sep 21 2012 07:55 pm ET
We return to Atlas with Fabio and Dmitry without Gunnar. Neither had the morning enthusiasm to keep chipper in the morning. Coffee can only do so much and these two were running on whatever extra reserves they had left. Both Christopher and Ven were in the bottom and never wanted to return. With the loss of Gunnar Christopher/Ven had to move and share rooms. It took that long for the men's room to be phased into one, whereas it felt like the women were living together after three challenges. The girls realized that Elena was the only one that hasn't won a challenge; she decided to change her game-plan to be more outgoing and ambitious. I hope that means less insane shoulder jackets.
The contestants headed to Radio City Music Hall and took a front row seat. Tim was with the Rockettes as they got a special performance full of accuracy and high kicks. I'm sure it was only a five or six minute routine, but for a private show, I'd take anything. Heidi popped up and had her sharp kicks as well; she fit perfectly in with the girls considering both her age and the fact that she popped out countless children. After watching the show, the obvious was stated: the challenge would be to design an outfit for the Rockettes. Tim introduced Linda Haberman, director/choreographer, to explain the goals of the challenge. She explained that the winning outfit would be worn for a "special event" that wasn't necessarily Christmas. Heidi also pointed out that it had to be great looking for distance viewing. Basically to consider the poor person in the back row. Tim warned about a modern aesthetic.
The designers had 30 minutes to sketch at Radio City, with several dresses available as their dossier. There are high amounts of beading from the designs, one creamed Roxie Hart. Dmitry wanted sex appeal with athleticism using his Ballroom background. Melissa wanted to use Art Deco inspired by Radio City. Elena has had experience with dance costumes, though I'm not sure if this is much of a help for this challenge. Wouldn't you want to make it more fashion-forward? Fabio wanted multi-toned clothes. The contestants had about the same amount of time at Mood and they worried about stretch fabric. Christopher thought of making a NYC skyline as he figured the Rockettes would have their roots on their chests. Sonjia had no inspiration; Ven had no crystals in his shape so he had to change his ideas. Elena grabbed whatever she could with time running out. The budget was supposed to be $250 and Elena was at $399.54. She panicked and cursed as she had to edit down.
Back at the workroom Tim pointed out that the contestants had two days. The first night would end at 7:30PM because the contestants would have a nice dinner together. Only them (and the camera/sound crew), no Heidi, Tim, Michael or Nina. Elena was worried about her fabrics because they looked like high school varsity ice skaters. All the women seemed really stressed as they designed, Melissa having multiple elements that involved hand sewing.
Ven talked to Elena and he explained that he wanted strong lines and not going overboard. Christopher transformed himself into a junior Sonjia. He put on a head wrap and seemed to powder his face. It wasn't offensive, it was actually kind of funny. Sonjia was worried about the embellishments. She decided to turn the feather trim into her whole skirt. Probably not a great idea for a challenge that involved a lot of movement. She also lacks the Santino ability to argue his way out of a bag.
After 7:30, the designers arrived at a restaurant and while everyone was trying to relax, Sonjia was worried about her designs. Elena tried to apologize to Dmitry; Ven even tried to open up after having a glass of wine. He explained that he was kind of alone as a child, explaining his quiet demeanor.
Day Two. Christopher was worried that everyone was creating a lot of generic clothes. He of course was making magic from his fingers. Sonjia continued to doubt herself as her creativity was nowhere. Melissa continued to cut tons of pattern pieces. Elena tried her best Rockette as she tried to kick around with her dress on her. I always found it a weird disadvantage for the designers that could actually try on their own clothes. Christopher was excited as his skyline looked amazing with bling outlining the edges of the buildings.
Tim arrived for his critiques and immediately saw that Sonjia had no inspirations about the top. He questioned her about the neckline and she had no responses so Tim warned her to start cutting. For Elena, Tim pointed out that the design looked like a school outfit. His critiques didn't help because she knew that already. He warned her to keep staring and trying to figure out a solution. Dmitry wanted geometry with a wow factor; Christopher called it a dance team's outfit. It looked strikingly close if they had black leggings on the bottom. Tim suggested adding more fringe to give it more movement.
Fabio was worried about sequin as Tim suggested that he "bitchslap that bitch" and by bitch, he meant sequin. Tim's getting such odd influences from the sassy gays of Project Runway. Tim worried about Christopher's skirt length; he also suggested adding more sparkle on top. Melissa had pieces together, but Tim suggested trying to speed up her process. Ven tried a different direction and color; the extra fabric that Ven was going to ditch actually seemed useful in giving his outfit some more edgy and interesting.
Tim talked to the designers. He warned them about urgency. Tim gave the contestants a reprieve: he offered the designers another $100 and 15 minutes to shop at Mood. Fabio, Ven, Dmitry decided to stay and work. The rest of the designers made a run for the sequin and Elena decided to grab more sparkles. Wrong move; she didn't realize that she over-sparkled already. Melissa had nothing in her price range to grab so Christopher comforted her by giving her $50 so she could buy sequence. I assume Christopher only needed crystals to finish the sky of his skyline. Sonjia grabbed more feathers, but it didn't help too much for her influences.
The other designers returned from Mood as the models were next to arrive for their fittings. Elena's model loved her design; she must be drinking Elena's Kool-Aid at this point, crossing her fingers that she could make money off of this crazed designer. Surprisingly her skintone worked with Elena's school design. Melissa continued to stress about the design as she still had many more pieces to put together. Sonjia didn't have a top and decided to just keep working until something magically popped up. Sonjia Skyped her loved one as he gave her a bit of moral support. I'm a little confused why it looked like it was on his phone, but technology these days. She decided to commit and keep going with what she had. Ven was positive about his dress even though there was nothing special about it.
It was morning and the girls stressed out before making it to the workroom. There was a lot of silent finishing as Ven tried to help Melissa finish by hand stitching for her. The models arrived and Sonjia was stressed. Christopher's armpit of his dress ripped so he had to patch it. During hair and makeup Melissa’s invisible zipper popped off. Fabio, Sonjia, and Christopher tried to help. Everyone complained about Ven's lack of design. Sonjia struggled with her thrown-together top. Melissa had to sew her model into the dress. Elena had to do some last minute gluing.
Then out of nowhere, it was judging time. Heidi welcomed the designers to the runway. She reminded us that the winning design will be reproduced for the Rockettes. For a special event, probably one of those road trip shows or one-time performances. Along with Michael Kors and Nina Garcia was Season Two finale judge Debra Messing. Wait a second. Where's the Rockettes director/choreographer? Doesn't she want a say in what clothes her Rockettes are going to be wearing?
Dmitry - I saw a mix of Chicago with a figure skater. It looked better than expected with the shine everywhere, but if the girl was twirling a flag, I would have found the outfit to be awesome for a flag girl as well.
Melissa - Can she stop doing the top with the little floating lip? It's cool the first time, but now it's just predictable like Ven's petals. The front looked like a chessman rook, though I also see the 1 everyone else pointed out. There was also something very harlequin about the colors that no one pointed out.
Ven - The dress was shiny, but really boring. I couldn't even see the cutout in the middle without squinting. Was that cutout intentional?
Elena - Do you remember the music video for "Hollaback Girl" by Gwen Stefani? I imagined that video as the girl walked past. This dress may possibly be bananas (B-a-n-a-n-a-s). It may have been over-done but I thought that was perfect for a junior figure skater.
Christopher - I loved the top of the dress, but I found the bottom to be a throwaway. I wished the fringe was added to the bottom like he had in the original, but maybe multiple layers for movement.
Sonjia - The top was a throwaway, but looking at it now the bottom looked like a throwaway as well. The feathers were a decent attempt, but in the end it didn't work.
Fabio - My first thought that popped up was gladiator. Then I realized that he looked like a fish that I used to own. One of those generic silver/black Petco tank fish that died after a few months.
Heidi announced that Fabio was in the middle of the pack and he was safe. The rest were the top/bottom.
Sonjia - Low - Sonjia was too covered up. They questioned the level of movement, but she noted that there were short-shorts underneath. Heidi called it boxy. Nina thought feathers were not functional. Debra feared of it's molting. Michael thought it was too cocktail.
Dmitry - High - He wanted modern/athletic and Heidi loved the design and the beaded fringe. Michael found it impeccable, polished and it still screamed Dmitry.
Ven - Low - Ven's design was too weak. Heidi called it boring and didn't tell a story. Michael thought that there needed to be more body showing. Nina wanted drama. Debra was confused by the hemline.
Melissa - High - While she had art deco, but Heidi now found the #1 after staring at the dress for too long. She also thought it was a bit too short. Michael liked the graphic, but it looked like a short cocktail dress.
Christopher - High - Heidi loved the design and thought it was stunning. Nina loved the illusion of the skyline. Michael thought the execution was spot-on.
Elena - Low - Michael was floored, calling her a "Las Vegas Cheerleader." It was too gaudy. Debra thought it would be beautiful for the circus. The circus would be a start. Nina thought that everything matched too much with the accessorizing. Heidi called it cheap, it lacked sophistication or modernity.
Heidi told the designers that everyone was talented and they all deserve being the final seven. After analysis, the winner of the challenge was Christopher. I'm sure the skirt is going to be tweaked for the final product. The bottom two were Ven (aka Origami Rose) and Elena. Luckily, Elena was still safe and she was in tears for her survival. Ven was eliminated for not doing enough. Seeing him eliminated, I would have rather seen what Gunnar would have done with glitter and sparkles.
Next Week: Baby designs. No seriously: baby designs What? I get men's clothing, considering that a lot of menswear designers come on this show, but outside of designing for Barbie, I don't think we've ever had a babywear designer on this show.
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