No wars or battles declared, just some fierce outerwear looks to come down the runway. PRAS was not on last week. I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! But I’m super excited it was back on this week and not just because I love the show — it’s all for selfish reasons! The challenge for the week was all about outerwear and I am on a quest for a new coat. It was great to get some ideas from this episode so thanks PRAS designers!!
PR was also all about Paddington Bear and London this week. The episode began with the huge announcement the designers would be off to London. The reason for the trip to London was to celebrate the arrival of Paddington Bear to the big screen. But of course to also get the details on this week’s challenge and gain some inspiration. Once in London, the designers met Zanna at Paddington Station. To their total and utter surprise, they were also greeted by Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York!
Zanna and the Duchess reminded the designers that Paddington Bear was famous for his duffle coat. Also, since they were in London, to remember the weather definitely made the need for a great coat a must. So this week, the designers were asked to design an outdoor coat. For an added incentive, the Duchess offered to wear the winning design. They were then off to take a tour of the city, to take in the sites, soak up the atmosphere, and gain some inspiration, while sketching.
After their tour, the designers were off to the Mood of London, MacCulloch & Wallis, with a budget of what worked out to be $324 US dollars. Sonjia was loving all of the different, unique fabrics, so much so that she really couldn’t make up her mind as to what fabrics she wanted to use. This created some tension with Ben since he also wanted to use a fabric Sonjia was debating over. Sonjia won out, although I really don’t get all of the fuss over this lackluster light grey fabric — total snooze-fest!
Before heading back to the states to begin this 1-day challenge the designers took in one final sit-down with Zanna and the Duchess. They took in some afternoon tea at the luxurious Intercontinental London Park Lane.
But down-time was soon over as everyone headed back home and to the workroom. Dmitry was upset his neoprene had not traveled well; it was now all crinkly. Ben too was still a bit upset over having to change-up his fabric, but was quickly getting over it and finding peace with his new brown plaid fabric.
It was then Zanna-time! She was worried mainly over Dmitry & Ben’s work. For Dmitry it was a matter of him getting all of his work done. For Ben, it was not having his look be too cartoon-like. I was then surprised at her harsh final words for the designers. She said she gave them an all-star experience with their trip to London and she was not in return seeing all-star quality with their work. She said to not embarrass her in front of the judges. I was shocked because she mainly seemed to give positive critiques. So come on PRAS, if you want dramatic effect with Zanna’s words, it has to match what we just saw during her critiques!
Once again, no Georgina! But filling in the judges’ seats as guest judges were actress Debra Messing and singer/songwriter Karen Elson, who was also named British Model of the Year.
The top & bottom pretty much made sense. Lately I’ve been in disagreement with the judges as to who wins each week and who goes home more so than who actually lands in the top & bottom. Since my main disagreement this week was over who went home, let’s start my discussion with the bottom 3.
Jay was in the bottom 3, but not in danger of going home. This made sense and I assumed as much. It was no surprise he landed in the bottom. His coat/vest combo had way too much going on. And for me, if I could pick any 2 colors I would never want to wear on a coat, it would be this light grey and mustard yellow. So seeing both colors in one jacket, needless to say, I was not a fan!
Jay had some great ideas, but he really shouldn’t have used them all in one look! Different colors and a more simplistic design, he would have rocked the runway.
I knew Samantha would land in the bottom this week. In my book, she should have been the one to go, but I had a sneaking suspicion it would be Ben who was out, whether I agreed with the decision or not. I get both looks had some design problems. But with Samantha, she also had execution issues and a very poor fabric choice. And idk what Alyssa was smokin’ by saying she loved the back of this jacket — it was lopsided! Also, this was not Samantha’s first go-round with poor execution issues.
Love this Mary Kay beauty make-up look, great dark smoky eye & daring burgundy lip. But back to this not so thrilling coat, the judges were 100% right in critiquing her poor fabric choice. I get her story with it and how it related to London and the ornate details. But this is a show where a barely there print is just not going to cut it on the runway. I don’t buy that out of all the gorgeous London fabrics this was the only one she could find. I get that she loved it, but with a 2nd stint now on PR, knowing on the runway your fabric choice has to pop, her decision made no sense.
So even though I have my long list of reasons why Samantha should have been the one to go, I knew unfortunately it was going to be Ben. It’s almost as if this season you can easily predict who is going to go, whether it’s from prominent feature in the episode or a certain judges clear dislike of a designer. And yes, there has been some obvious judges’ dislike of designers this season. I think Isaac was the one who very much wanted Ben’s elimination.
This is not to say Ben’s jacket didn’t have any issues. The flounce was off-putting. And yea, I’m not sure why he was so into these clear brown vinyl pockets. If he wanted to play with textures, he could have done that with the pockets, but kept in a solid fabric choice, perhaps even throw in a pop of color.
But I did find some positives with Benjamin’s coat, which is why to me, this was not the worst look this week and was not the one deserving of the axe. The judges thought the coat was junior and drab, which actually makes no sense. Generally junior means fun, not boring, so I don’t get those two adjectives being used together when describing this coat. I liked his fabric choice — way better than the light grey he originally wanted. I think he lucked out there! But no flounce and no clear vinyl, Ben could have made this work. I’m not sure what Samantha could have done to make her coat work at all outside of a whole new design in a whole new fabric.
QVC shout-out, love these black booties! Predictability was the clear name of the game this week. And knowing that, it didn’t make me understand the bottom, but the top I got. I hated seeing Dmitry miss out on another win, but at least this time, his 2nd place made sense. I think his previous 2 looks were by far more deserving of a win. But this jacket was still worthy of a top 3 placement. There was something so artsy and luxurious about it. It was definitely deserving of runway show and praise.
The tulle was intriguing and Dmitry really made it work after his neoprene disaster. But I was left to wonder the practicality of the jacket. Would it serve it’s purpose it keeping one warm? Michelle mentioned something about a stiffness and so I also wondered if this jacket would be one you would want to wear? I’m sure it would be, but maybe just for show, for a special occasion. And over Fabios’, there was something more regal about the the look.
So Fabio was the outerwear victor this week. Also with Chi hair care shout-out, chic bun, and Mary Kay make-up shout-out, bold burgundy lip and smoky eye. Fabio did some great work this week. He made a great coat and yes, coat, not a dress as Dmitry kept calling it. The color-blocking was great, the mixing of textures, it was all fabulous!
I’m not sure I see the Duchess in this coat, but plenty of women would love to wear it nonetheless. I agreed with Debra in that it wasn’t something I had seen before. And of all the coats that came down the runway, it was the most innovative.
Justin’s coat was too amazing this week. It looked very practical in terms of being a fully functional coat, well until the model walked back down the runway.
I’m not sure why you would want to wear a coat with such a fully exposed back. The front closure was great, but the design didn’t work from the back. There was just so much that was great about the coat until the back so top 3 made sense, but no win! The pop of burgundy with the lining was another terrific detail. The wraparound scarf was perfect, but ahhhh, the back, just can’t let it go!
Very excited about this rolling of the dice next week, can’t wait!
