This week on Project Runway All-Stars, the stakes were high as the designers rolled the dice, taking on a fashion gamble. The gamble being it was the roll of the dice that would set-up each designer’s challenge details for the week. One dice encompassed fabric, the other for what occasion the designers would be creating for. So the runway became a gambling table and each designer made their rolls.
The order of the rolls truly made no difference this week, but Fabio having won last week took his turn first. Then each designer unnecessarily chose who would roll next, leaving Dmitry to go last. Here is what everyone was set to create for the week —
- Fabio — Masquerade Ball look, made of denim
- Sonjia — Bachelorette Party look, made of brocade
- Samantha — Awards Ceremony outfit, made of brocade
- Michelle — Gallery Opening piece, made of lace
- Justin — Gallery Opening look, made of silk
- Helen — Another Awards Ceremony ensemble, made of brocade, unofficial fashion face-off with Samantha
- Gunnar — Masquerade Ball look, made of brocade
- Jay — Sunday Brunch outfit, made of denim
- Dmitry — Gallery Opening piece, made of velvet
After sketch-time, the designers were off to Mood with a budget of $150. There were lots of brocade looks this week and also a few fabric concerns. Dmitry was quite unhappy with having to work with velvet. I wholeheartedly understand, not a fan of velvet myself! Everyone was then back to the workroom to begin this 1-day challenge. Work began with a little bit of fun & play at the QVC accessory wall, but that quickly faded this week as some claws started to come out!
I found only 2 aspects of this episode intriguing or interesting. The results ended up being predictable, but I was interested to see how the judges would formulate the top & bottom 3. But the other intriguing aspect was seeing some drama this week. Hey, now I would rather an episode be great because there was a bunch of truly phenomenal looks that graced the runway. But that didn’t happen in this episode so I was only left to enjoy some drama!
First up, there was Sonjia v. most of the designers. Apparently the fabric she wanted to work with was not a brocade. Now Sonjia said it was in the brocade section. And all we saw was the designers voicing their opinions and Sonjia ending up changing her fabric choice. I’m sure the powers that be somehow behind the scenes confirmed that the fabric she initially wanted to use was not brocade. Although just like last week with some Sonjia fabric drama, I’m not sure what all the fuss was about. Neither of her selections this week were worthy of such attention.
The other bit of dramatic tension this week was Helen v. Jay. Helen went over to Jay to offer him some friendly advice, saying his Sunday Brunch look was more akin to that of a club or party girl look. He took offense, overreacting a bit, ending up call her a Beee-yatch! Now on one hand, I agree with Helen in the sense that Jay’s look did not read Sunday Brunch. But waiting to call him out in front of everyone, especially his model, probably not the best timing. Also, this is a competition, if Jay wants to shoot himself in the foot, at this point, let him. And then with Jay, overreaction, but did we really expect anything less. I guarantee the same thing would have happened with pretty much any other designer v. designer scenario. Actually, at least Jay said his response back to her face. Many of the other designers probably would have just saved their reaction for their private sessions, not having the guts to be so vocal and upfront with their response.
Oddly enough, way less dramatic, was Zanna-time! She added some incentive for the designers, what good that did I’m not sure. But the winning look this week would be worn by Alyssa in an upcoming feature for Marie Claire. She urged the designers to forget about the hands they were dealt and to push forward, to be super creative.
The judges panel was finally lessened to only 4 judges this week, also seeing a return of Georgina who has been missing for quite a few episodes. The guest judge for the panel was CFDA winner Michael Bastian.
The top & bottom for the week pretty much made sense. But as I mentioned earlier, I was intrigued to see how the top & bottom would develop. There easily could have been a few switch-ups and I wouldn’t have been surprised. But let’s look at the top 3 first, although it seemed more like a top 2!
Sonjia was the winner of the week. I’m not sure I see this as the best look for Alyssa in Marie Claire. But she did just what she was supposed to this week, she designed a sexy look for a Bachelorette Party, made of brocade. This gold fabric to me was quite hideous, in fact, I agreed with Justin; it looked cheap. But somehow, Sonjia actually made this work. I think a different fabric choice would have still been leaps & bounds better with this design, but making it work, where others designers simply did not, this was what led to her win.
Mary Kay shout-out, love this bold red lip & cat eye! The look was sexy and fun. There was a bit of shimmer giving the outfit a special touch, but I still think Sonjia could have pushed a bit more. This was not her strongest win, but deserved in my book because other designers this week simply failed to step up their game.
Chi Hair Care shout-out, love this fishtail braid!
Michelle rounded out what I’m only calling a top 2. She could have won, but making the hip area bigger, way wrong move! Only working with lace had to be hard; it’s very sheer. But Michelle worked wonders with layering. And what was even more great about her work this week was that she took some odd color choices and really paired them together to create a very eye-catching piece.
But as I said, the bigger hip area was the wrong move. I think a more fitted look, maybe even a little shorter would have hit the mark, making Michelle more of a contender for the win. I also think this type of look would be way more fitting for Alyssa in Marie Claire. But with the design choices made, Alyssa must have not been so in love with it. She embraced the fashion gamble this week though, whereas other designers did not, so kudos to her for that.
The judges then placed Helen in the “top 3”, although from their critique it didn’t sound so lovey-dovey to me. This look was not all bad, but it wasn’t all good. I agreed with Georgina, it had way to much going on. The 2-piece aspect just didn’t work with the slit and the neckline. So not only did she have too much going on, but the elements didn’t work well together.
A few edits though and Helen too, just like Michelle, could have hit a home-run. She also did a great job with sticking to her challenge details. She had a difficult fabric choice and made it work for not only her look, but the event at hand, an awards ceremony.
Mary Kay beauty shout-out, gorgeous shimmery eye and subtle red lip. But ultimately, what didn’t work for me here was how all of the elements came together; it just made the look less luxe.
Justin lucked out having been in the bottom 3, but not the bottom 2. Just as with Helen though, the look wasn’t all bad, but did have quite a few things wrong with it. The dress was too short. I didn’t quite see it being such a grand design concept for a gallery opening. The sleeves also didn’t pair well with his choice of neckline. And I agreed with the judges, the proportion seemed off.
But the look did have some positives, which is why Justin deservedly was not in the bottom 2. I really liked this print — it was very Justin. The back was gorgeous. And I commend his starting off points. Had the look been longer, drop the sleeves, keep the neckline, BAM! Justin would have already been way better off.
Another Mary Kay Beaut Shout-out — Lots of great, bold red lips this week!
Fabio ended up in the bottom 2 this week, which was quite a shocker coming off of his win last week. I didn’t think his dress was deserving of such harsh criticism, but I think the judges took some serious offense to his choices for the week. He didn’t embrace working with denim. He chose a fabric that barely even resembled denim. His styling was also way off this week, perhaps a bit too much, the grey eye, the pearl necklaces as a head wrap.
Isaac took the most offense with Fabio’s work this week, ultimately feeling like Fabio dropped the ball. This part I agree with though. Even had Fabio not been in the bottom, he was only aiming for the safe-zone. He won’t win this season with that attitude so hopefully next week, he steps it back up.
This left Gunnar rounding out the bottom 3, and ultimately going home this week. This was not a huge surprise. The past few weeks he’s struggled with executing his design concepts. He has some great ideas, but PRAS was not the place for him to allow those ideas to flourish.
There was just way too much wrong here for him to escape elimination again. The fit was way off. The bodice had no structure to it, very unflattering. He selected some interesting fabric choices and had an intriguing idea, but again, he was not able to execute it. Sad to still see him go though. Gunnar seems like such a great person and I don’t doubt his talent. But time restraints are clearly not his friend!
