This next Project Runway challenge was all about designing for real women, not models, and giving them a chance to be celebrated. It was to give them a dream outfit for a victory night celebration. And what was so nice to see from this final set of designers, was that truly each client felt like a million bucks in their looks, grinning from ear to ear! The designers were paired with athletes, who would be competing in either the 2020 Olympics or Paralympic games. A few of the clients have really had to overcome some major hardships, and it was such a touching moment to see how excited these women were with their final looks.
I can’t say all of the looks were really knockouts in terms of traditional runway standards and technical abilities, but the clients were happy, and there was no arguing with that! But let’s jump back to the beginning and lead back up to the runway. So Karlie matched the designers with their clients by use of the button bag, but it was actual medals this go round instead of buttons! This would be a 1 day challenge, aka major time crunch! The designers first took some time to sketch with their clients. I definitely felt Victoria didn’t understand the difference between customizing to a client’s wishes versus just inserting your own wishes onto the client. And all of this talk about repetition this season, Victoria even says herself, she only does asymmetrical looks! How much clearer does it need to be stated!
Next up, shopping time at Mood with a $400 budget. Christian was not loving seeing so much red. But to be fair, if the clients did want a red dress, it probably is best to at least give them the color they wanted. Everyone was then back to work in the workroom. Sergio gave some advice to Brittany on some of the technical aspects for her look. You could tell Nancy really felt a lot of passion in this challenge. She really wanted to deliver for her client and was not planning to take a safe or easy route.
It was then time for Siriano sessions. Christian was urging Sergio to do a bit more with his look, give it a little more excitement. In between talks, Christian was having fun doing some ribbon gymnastics! He urged both Brittany and Marquise to not lose their voices in their looks. And finally, for Nancy, he cautioned her on time management. Most of the designers didn’t seem ready for model fittings, but it was that time. Victoria’s client was really feeling her look, ready to dance! Nancy’s client is in a wheelchair, and Nancy was being super functional in the creation of her look for her client. She actually used Vel-cro to make the look’s use easier. Marquise planned on making another matching outfit for himself, to go with what he was creating for his athlete. And Geoffrey, all we saw there was trouble! He didn’t seem to get that low boob, a short dress, a slit, it was tight, like these were all the wrong elements to combine!
As the rest of the day winded down, Geoffrey re-started on his look and was freaking out! Marquise was doing a bit more mannequin rolling, having a little fun in the workroom. From the morning of the runway, we saw another potential short look to keep an eye on, that was coming from Victoria. The client actually seemed a little worried, but Victoria was quick to quip that she had given the client exactly what she wanted! We then of course had this big iron incident. It seems in Nancy’s quick use of the iron, something of her black fabric got on the iron. In Geoffrey’s then quick use of the iron, that black residue got on his dress. Of course production tried to make this a big blame Nancy moment. But really, good lord! Is there only one iron? It is a communal iron, so yes, things like this can happen! Geoffrey could have also checked the iron. I would hope Nancy later offered apologies, but let’s be real, that little stain was not even close to the biggest issue with Geoffrey’s look, so in reality, chill pill please!
Iron drama aside, it was time for the runway! This week’s guest judge was fellow athlete and Olympian Lindsey Vonn. As I mentioned at the start of my post, all of the clients were happy, so yes, that was a positive. But not all of the looks were that amazing. And yes, nobody went home, but as we saw in previews for next week, someone not going home this week means that 2 designers go home next week! That makes me nervous! And the judges can try to force on us that all of the bottom looks were hard to debate between. Or that the top 2 looks were really hard to choose between, that of Victoria and Nancy. Both notions were laughable. I think it was abundantly clear Geoffrey had the bottom look. I would have hated to see him go, but he did struggle this week. And even more abundantly clear, Nancy was the hands down winner!
It seemed as if it was mainly Elaine trying to discuss Victoria being the winner this week. She tried to question Nancy’s color choice, really grasping at straws to not just give Nancy this much deserved win. Let me start by reminding everyone that the designers were given a $400 budget this week. Nancy’s dress was the only one that look remotely close to $400 worth. If anyone would have paid $400 for Victoria’s look, I caution you to have your eyes checked! But back to Nancy, this look was a real dream come true for her client. She had such a moment with this dramatic train, the falling sleevelets were gorgeous, and there were just so many great details for this look. The fabric was stunning, such a great shine, but was not doing the work to make the look great, that was all Nancy!
I didn’t love Victoria’s look, but it wasn’t a bottom look either. It just annoyed me that the judges could even compare this red salsa dress to Nancy’s utterly divine gown. I reiterate again, this dress looked cheap, not like $400 went into it. One of the judges even pointed out her poor fabric choice, which I immediately made note of as well. It read cheap and it was so wrinkly on the runway. It was funny seeing her called out on poor fabric choices, when just earlier in the episode, she said the same thing about Marquise! I did really like the work she did on the top portion of her look, but it was very short. You would think that high of a budget, there was more you could have spent on fabric to make it somewhat longer!
To me, there was no real top 3 or top 2, but if I had to put another designer as safe or more towards the top than the bottom, it was Brittany. From the judges’ view, I guess it was a 4-way tie for the bottom between her, Sergio, Marquse and Geoffrey. I don’t see how they came to that conclusion and very much disagree that Brittany or Marquise were in that spot. I will admit, Brittany’s fabric choice really did make the dress. Brittany’s voice and work wasn’t there. It did read very traditional bridal or even to some extent prom. That said, it’s not like Brittany didn’t put work into the look and I didn’t note any technical or quality issues.
I also don’t think Marquise was deserving of a bottom spot. Up close, I kind of loved his look less. The overlay on the bodice didn’t look as great. But I did like his braiding work and the flow with the skirt portion was beautiful. I think he lost his voice here, but it was still a great dress. Not top or bottom worthy, just safe.
I still contend that Geoffrey’s look was the true bottom look, but I do think Sergio could have done a bit more with his dress. I loved the color. I loved that it wasn’t form fitting. I don’t get why there was so much emphasis on a maternity look needing to be tight?? But it seem as though there was some technical issues and it did read a little basic. This is what the client wanted, but Sergio kept it super simple and did play it very safe.
But Geoffrey got his look all wrong and it did not read at all as Project Runway worthy. It read cheap. I didn’t see anything of Geoffrey in this look. Sure it could be a sexy club dress, but with PR, there should be a little quality, a little more than something you could buy cheaply online. And I used the word cheap a lot in my critiques or basic because once again, I was flabberghasted remembering the budget was $400 and these were the looks produced to match that budget.
