PRAS — Matchmaker, Matchmaker Make me a Match

Posted on December 21, 2014 by SMM

Find me a find, catch me a catch. This was the name of the PR All-Stars game for this week. Alyssa announced that the designers would be designing looks for Match.com singles who were going on a first date. So while Match.com was matching singles, PRAS was matching designers. That’s right — team/pair challenge. And it was last week’s winner Sonjia who got to play matchmaker.

Sonjia picked Dmitry for herself. They would be working with 1st date duo Helen and Craig. Sonjia then paired Fabio and Jay together, who would be working with the only same sex pairing, Bryce & Tarek. Next up, Samantha and Michelle, working with singles Raquel & Arvind. And finally, Justin and Helen, who would be dressing Becca and John. This challenge was definitely a quick one, with barely a day to create these looks as the dates were that night! Yikes! There was a great incentive though as the winner would receive a pampered prize pack with a luxury spa day for 2! For the most part, the designer pairs worked seamlessly well and even the dating pairs all seemed to have had a nice time.

With a $300 budget in tow, to divvy as each designer pair saw fit, the designers were then off to Mood. Not much drama came about with this challenge, except for the Samantha/Michelle pairing. Michelle was very adamant that she was not a menswear designer and was quite vocal about how unfair the set-up was. I’m not sure why, but couldn’t the designer pairs have tackled both looks together, instead of each working on only 1 look? Maybe there wasn’t time to divide the workload that way, but Michelle ended up working solo on the menswear look. It seemed as if she would be in store for a major downfall and possible elimination this week. She was even sick on top of being crazed over having to do menswear. In fact, I wasn’t sure if she was actually sick or if this challenge was making her sick.

Zanna came by for her visits, making sure the designers kept in mind these clients were real people who would be going on real dates. Another nice touch for these 1st date couples was that Biosilk would be providing hair care services for the actual dates and the runway show. After the dates, the pairs joined their designers for the morning of the runway, regaling of how well their dates had gone. It seemed as if we were in for a tough runway because everyone loved their looks. But this week the judges’ panel was adding a little sass via guest judge OITNB star Laverne Cox, so I had no doubt the judges would critique, and critique they did!

The judges critiqued each look. And because I felt one designer pairing was not given enough praise, I will gladly discuss each look as well! I will start with Dmitry & Sonjia because I was baffled at how their looks were just SAFE! Puhhhhh-LEASE!

I guess since there was technically a winning and losing pairing, maybe that had some bearing on keeping Sonjia out of the running for the win. But it seemed even if she had been judged solo and not a group score, the judges still were not all loving this bold turquoise look. Although I never think the judges are on the same page. But the panel seemed divided over the midriff cutout. I don’t get why though. The cut-out, the details on the bodice, that’s what made this look. If that cutout were not there, this look would have been a bore like some of the other pieces we saw this week.

Biosilk/Chi hair care shout-out — Sexy, flowy waves

I applaud Sonjia for creating a bold piece. Some of the other looks were not all that special and at least she put some true designer effort into her work. I also love that she made use of such a great color choice. She was really trying to make her girl standout! This piece had just the right amount of sexiness to it. Sonjia struck a great balance.

I didn’t peg Dmitry for a win this week, but I thought he did a superb job in tackling his menswear pieces. His pants were the only ones that fit well. I’m not sure why or how Laverne loved Justin’s menswear pieces more than this. Oh wait, I think she was distracted by the male model, not the clothes. Because had she been focused only on the look, Dmitry by far did a more superior job.

I’m not sure what bells and whistles the judges were wanting for a hetero-male first date look. But of all the menswear pieces, Dmitry had one of my more fave looks. I liked Jays’ a bit more for menswear in general, but if I were looking for what I would want my man to wear, it would be more akin to what Dmitry designed. And I think he really did add some special touches to this sweater to make it more than just an ordinary, average sweater.

Biosilk/Chi Hair Care Shout-out — Handsome, refined, love the hair!

My next fave pairing, the judges top pairing, was Jay & Fabio. I think what likely kept Jay from the win was maybe the jeans, they were a bit ill-fitting. But for the judges, I think they wanted to award Fabio for his risk-taking design. But Jay put in just as much design effort with this jacket. And even in baby pink, it works for man! Very happy he did the sleeves in grey though, smart move Jay!

Menswear is a bit more difficult to tackle in such a short time-frame. And for Jay, he clearly didn’t want to rest on his laurels. He wanted to do more than a shirt and a pair of pants. And he did by also making a jacket. With a bit more time, Jay’s look could have been so much better, but what he did in the time he had was amazing!

My winner for the week was Sonjia, but based off this winning duo the judges picked, I see why Fabio’s look made the most sense for the win. I don’t think every man would love this look, it’s very stylized and just wouldn’t work for every man.

I even remember the judges saying they thought of scrubs when looking at this look so I’m still not sure this win made the most sense. But what was nice to see was that this look was very Fabio. He was the designer this week that I could see the aesthetic translate from womenswear to menswear. Both Jay & Fabio did great work with their menswear pieces, very fashion forward and fashionable. And yes, men can be fashionable too!

So oddly enough, with the Michelle/Samantha pairing, it was Samantha who ended up with the worse-off look.

Michelle was able to tackle her fears and somehow salvaged a workable look. Michelle’s look was not perfect, but the top was quite intriguing. The zipper details created for some special touches. I had 2 main issues with this look. One, both the top & the pants shouldn’t have been so loose. And second, the pants didn’t fit quite right. The judges’ focus was on the ankle area, but mine was on the crotch. Needless to say, they needed some more work.

Michelle isn’t a menswear designer though, so with that in mind, she did an okay job.

But it was Samantha who was saved by what I am guessing was a higher group score, keeping her safe from elimination. I think had the judges just been scoring these looks as solo pieces, Samantha would have joined Helen in the bottom 2. I can’t believe this is all Samantha came up with for this challenge. Even making use of a crop top, this look had nothing sexy about it at all. And that’s surprising because Samantha is a sexy urban designer.

The judges focused on the crop top, namely the boob-issue. But the skirt could have used some focus as well. It was way too long and was very boring. Helen & Justin might have been given a second chance since no one went home this week, but Samantha was given another chance here too.

This left Justin/Helen as the bottom pairing for the week, although in an anti-climactic decision, no designer went home. PRAS is taking a holiday break, so in a sense, I guess this was a timely gift for both designers.

I’m not sure who the judges would have ultimately sent home. My guess would be Justin because the judges seem to love what Helen does way more. They also found some saving graces with her separates look this week, as did I. The front angle was god awful here though. I agreed with the judges, very pajama-like and it made this beautiful woman look so much larger. And no one wants to look bigger!

Biosilk/Chi Hair Care Shout-out — Love the gorgeous curly locks!

But the shorts were a nice touch, something different and what a woman might wear to look super-sexy for a first date. The open-back was also gorgeous. And again, what likely would have saved Helen from elimination this week had the judges actually sent someone home.

Mary Kay beauty shout-out — sun-kissed look, gorgeous, stunning!

Helen wanted to initially design the menswear pieces, but Justin thought he was rescuing Helen and doing her a favor since he has done menswear before. But Justin didn’t do much after making the decision to design a menswear look. He created a shirt and a pair of pants. Nothing special, nothing unique. You could find this anywhere. And I know his guy said he loved J. Crew, but that doesn’t mean you should settle. Just like with Samantha’s client. She said she loved crop tops, but that doesn’t mean if you can’t execute one you should just do it to do it. As a designer, you have to listen to what your client wants, but also infuse your design aesthetic. Justin didn’t do that here.

There was even some execution issues to top off Justin’s lack of design. The pants were too tight and Justin’s client even said the shirt didn’t fit right. But again, I believe menswear is way harder to do in this sort of atmosphere, such short time frames. It’s very rare on PR we ever see well-executed menswear pieces. But if you are going to do it, you need to do more than this!

So remember, PRAS is off next week, Happy Holidays!

PR All-Star Designers Roll the Dice

Posted on December 15, 2014 by SMM

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!

London Calling to the PR All-Star Designers

Posted on December 7, 2014 by SMM

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!

PRAS Designers Get Personal this Week

Posted on November 23, 2014 by SMM

That’s right! The designers got very personal this week, wearing their hearts on their sleeves. Everyone was off to the Hearst Building, home of PRAS partner Marie Claire, to receive the challenge details. To provide these details, Alyssa was joined by creative director of Marie Claire Nina Garcia and Zales VP of Marketing Scott Davies.

Davies introduced Zales’ past, present, and future jewelry collection. In fact, the winner of the challenge would win a $10,000 Zales gift card and a diamond pendant from this collection, worth $15,000. The “past, present, future” element carried over into this week’s challenge. The designers had to create a colorful party dress inspired by their personal relationships, their own journey with love. Each look needed to incorporate an element representing the designers’ past, present, and future with regard to love and relationships.

You would think with such a pricey prize package at stake PRAS could have afforded a little more than a mere $100 Mood budget. With that in mind and only a 1-day challenge at hand, I was very impressed by what the designers created. At Mood, we quickly knew we would be in store for lots of red looks! And of course with the challenge being so personal in nature, we would hear many designer tales about their love lives. There were stories of happiness, such as with Kate’s marriage to a life-long friend and companion. But there were also some quite sad memories being brought back up, such as with Helen’s on & off again boyfriend struggles, or Gunnar trying to work thru a recent split.

It was then time for Zanna-time. She reminded the designers to add surprising elements into their looks, there needed to be a Wow-factor! We got to see how creative Justin was being with his hand-prints painted treatment. I was impressed, just as Zanna was. As Zanna was departing she let the designers know she still felt as if their looks could be a little more representative of their personal journeys; there needed to be more vulnerability.

Generally it’s after Zanna-time that a designer might be prompted to change up their look. But for Kate, this happened after her model fitting. She wanted to create a more sexier outfit so she began making changes. But with the morning of the runway, Kate was not the only one still scrambling away with last minute changes and work.

The judging panel this week consisted of Nina Garcia, filling in for Georgina Chapman who was missing again. But we also had 2 guest judges, fashion blogger Danielle Bernstein of WeWoreWhat, and last season’s PRAS winner Seth Aaron Henderson.

The designers put on a fairly impressive runway and Zales took note of that as well. In addition to an already amazing prize for the winner of the challenge, each designer would receive a $1000 gift card — SUPER NICE & KIND OF ZALES! While the runway put a smile on my face, the judges baffled me somewhat this week, so let’s just get right to it, looking at the top 3 and winner for the week.

Helen being in the top this week was confusing for me. I wouldn’t have put her in the bottom or have sent her home, but this dress seemed kind of boring to me, so for me, a safe look should be just that, Safe! But the judges flipped over Helen’s red dress and not only was she in the top 3, but she also won. Hearing the judges and Helen talk about the elements of her dress and how it reflected the “past, present, future” part of the challenge sort of began making sense. I found her dress to be a little more interesting. But I still don’t think this look was enough of a wow-factor to make it a winning number.

Chi Hair Care shout-out — this is such an exquisite and gorgeous up-do!

I was even further baffled that there was so much debate between Isaac and Nina over who should win this week. I guess I just didn’t get it with Helen’s look. But I will give a shout-out for the Mary Kay beauty look, love this bold, deep red lip!

Once again, the judges were in a heated debate over who should win between Helen and Sonjia. And with that, I would have picked Sonjia. I’m not sure that right when I saw this look that I was totally head over heels for it, but the way the burgundy lace worked with the cobalt blue under-garment, there was something very eye-catching about it. Zanna gave Sonjia some great advice about making sure her look wasn’t too matronly. I think she turned it around very well, but I still felt as if there was a slight matronly vibe in play. The judges flipped over the back of the look, but I’m not sure why.

Chi hair care shout-out for another stunning up-do!

Sonjia created a very intriguing look this week. She was very smart, picking such an interesting lace fabric with eye-catching details, and then taking that eye-catching appeal even further by pairing the burgundy lace with the cobalt blue. QVC shout-out for these perfectly coordinating cobalt blue heels. Also, Mary Kay makeup shout-out for another gorgeous bold burgundy lip.

But once again, all in all, Dmitry would have been my winner this week, just as I pegged him as my winner last week. Come on judges, two times now, let’s show Dmitry some love! But thankfully, he’s at least still making top 3 so that is good! When Dmitry first said he was working with vinyl, and that it was his first time ever doing so, I was a little scared. But his work with it was freakin’ awesome. The incorporation of vinyl panels made his dress stand-out; I was intrigued. This look had such an impeccable fit. It was sexy, but still tasteful.

The debate between Nina & Isaac over the flounce, I’m not sure what side I land on. Is it my favorite aspect of this dress? No. But I think if it were to not be there, the dress might have been more hoochie, or like another bodycon dress you could find at Bebe. Chi hair care shout-out, love this side-swept braided look, gorgeous!

So for the most part, the top 3 made sense, exception being the winner. I will also say the bottom 3 made sense, with the exception of Benjamin being a part of it. I loved his flowy gold dress. First off, in a sea of red, pink, and purple, it was commendable he went with gold. I also thought his work was very much the epitome of a party dress. This should not have been in the bottom 3, especially over some other questionable looks that came down the runway.

We have to also do a minute love-fest on this back detailing. I mean come on, this is stunningly gorgeous! I got what Isaac was saying about not wearing chains then, but those can easily come off.

Thankfully though, Benjamin was not in the bottom 2 so the judges at least got something right after wrongfully placing him in the bottom to begin with. He was thinking outside of the box by not going with red like so many others did. I love this dress so I say to Benjamin, Great job!

I’m going to move onto the designer who went home, Kate. Because as much as I disagreed with Benjamin being in the bottom, I too fully disagree with Kate being sent home. I knew Kate was going to be in trouble this week. She changed up her design last minute. And then there were some obvious execution issues since she was running low on time. The judges also didn’t love her use of a neutral color.

Chi hair care shout-out, lovely up-do.

The bottom was messy, but the top beading work was beautiful. I think this should have been enough to save her this week. Gunnar was the other bottom 2 look this week and I just didn’t see a saving grace with his look. I also think his execution issues by far surpassed that of Kate’s issues. QVC shout-out, killer gold sandal heels.

I do love Gunnar, just not this dress. He spent so much time on these details of his dress, the flaps, but it all just came across as messy. The backside was even worse than the front, just so sloppy looking. Gunnar was trying to convey chaos and this look was chaotic, just not in a good way.

I think the slight popping out of the printed fabric he chose was a commendable element, but I was disappointed this dress just had so much wrong going on. And again, I love Gunnar and didn’t want him to go. But over Kate, he should have been out.

PRAS Designers’ Showdowns — Good v Wicked

Posted on November 16, 2014 by SMM

Well the set-up was all there. The challenge was couture inspired fashion. The underlying inspiration was the Broadway hit musical Wicked. We had the drama, huge showdowns between equally talented designers with “Good v Wicked”. But all in all, I was somewhat underwhelmed this week. I wasn’t WOWED by many of the looks. I was expecting some touch choices to be made between pairings on who had the best design. Instead I witnessed a battle of who had the worst look. The episode wasn’t all terrible, so first let’s backtrack a bit and get all the details on this week’s challenge.

Alyssa descended upon the Wicked stage to greet the designers and provide the challenge details. Joining her were Wicked’s stars, Christine Dwyer (Elphie The Wicked Witch) and Jenni Barbour (Glinda the Good Witch). A major theme for Wicked is that every story has 2 sides. So as a tribute to the musical and the witches’ rivalry, this week, the designers would too rival one another by facing off and presenting a couture look representing the concept of “good” or that of “wicked.”

The pairings were set —

Justin (wicked) v Fabio (good)
Kate (wicked) v Sonjia (good)
Ben (wicked) v Helen (good)
Chris (wicked) v Michelle (good)
Samantha (wicked) v Jay (good)
Dmitry (wicked) v Gunnar (good)

Part of the issue with the designers’ work this week I think could partly be blamed on the challenge details & parameters. Couture work means so much more work than a mere 2-day challenge. That is PR though and even in short time frames we’ve seen some stunning work come down the runway in the past. I did feel as if a $250 budget for Mood seemed a bit low for such a high stakes challenge. I’m looking for a bit of blame though because I still feel as if something was off with the work this week. I felt with many of the designers I didn’t dislike their entire look. There were aspects I very much enjoyed and was impressed by. Some had a decent start and I’m not sure whether it was a lack of time, a bit of nerves, or maybe not enough of a budget, but somewhere, somehow, things went off course a bit.

As the designers headed back to the workroom for their 1st day of work many recognized some stiff competition for themselves with who they were paired against. I think head games might have been a factor with lackluster looks. Gunnar seemed to be the only one with a diehard spirit on wanting to truly beat out his competition — Dmitry. The 2nd day of work brought us Zanna-time and model fittings.

Zanna announced a prize for winning the challenge. The winning look would be on display for all to see at the home of Wicked, the Gershwin Theatre. Sadly though, this incentive nor were Zanna’s encouraging words enough to boost many of the designers’ looks. Zanna encouraged the designers to think couture, replace crafty with exquisite details. Samantha & Fabio were likely given the harshest critiques. Samantha was told her original look was a snooze-fest so she started over. Fabio’s dress/pant combo had Zanna worried so he hesitated on moving forward. But ultimately he stuck with his gut and his original look that he loved.

The morning of the runway saw a few designers working away, lots still to do. But for others, there was confidence and a ready-to-go spirit, such as with Chris, Dmitry, and Jay. Of course, not all of these designers had true reason to be so confident! The judging panel was sans Georgina this week, but there were 2 guest judges — eclectic designer Betsey Johnson and star of ABC’s hit comedy Modern Family Ariel Winter. Betsey was a little on the nicer side, but Ariel, to be so young, I was very impressed by a lot of what she had to say. She knew what she was talking about and what she liked. Not sure why Georgina was out, but it was probably best because we didn’t need 5 judges, let’s keep it at 4 every week!

The only designer I want to give a side shout-out to is Kate. I think the Kate/Sonjia pairing was the only one where both designers went all out. For every other pairing I was able to pick the high score, except this one. This was certainly no white dress or bridal type look this week. I love this skirt, the vine detailing and the tons of tulle covering up the skirt. Also, Mary Kay shout-out, great call being dramatic with the make-up. A lot of the designers for “Wicked” went with a bold, dark lip and a dark, smoky eye. But Kate mixed it up and was wise to try out this “white-out” eye. Gorgeous!

From here, we can easily transition to discussing Kate’s face-off partner, Sonjia, who was also this week’s winner. Sonjia wasn’t my pick for the winning look, but she definitely did a good job.

The judges loved this cover-up skirt over a shorter fitted dress. I was not a fan of this aspect. It took the luxe, couture factor down a notch for me. The reason I think I disliked it was actually because of how much I loved what Sonjia was doing with the under-dress, the lacier portion.

The neckline, the sleeve detailing were all just insanely gorgeous. I think a dress going more in this direction, all of this type of work, would have been a total knockout and a winner for the night in my book.

Shout-outs for QVC, love the metallic gold sandal heels, & Mary Kay beauty look, subtle smoky eye & semi-dark lip combo worked beautifully together and with this look!

You can see above Sonjia’s winning look on display, but my winning look for the week and more fitting for a Wicked display was Dmitry! This dress was full on wicked and it was stunningly eye-catching. The feather detailed work, the cut-outs at the waist, sheer tulle overlay, the stunning back, I mean WOW! I can’t believe Dmitry wasn’t even in the running for the win, so yes top 3, but to then not be top 2, really?!?

Michelle said you could see the model’s cooter in this dress, yet then we saw Isaac & Betsey wanting more skin. Not sure about more skin here, I think we can see enough! I’m not sure I could rock such a high slit, but it’s definitely a red carpet trend right now and Dmitry was smart in knowing many celebs and starlets would love this aspect.

The back and the neckline did it for me with Dmitry’s very wicked-esqe dress. So sad it was not the winner, but had it not been in the top 3, that would have been a true travesty!

No disrespect to Samantha this week, but I in no way believe she even thought she would be in the top 3. Actually she was in the top 2, very near winning this week, which is still a bit mind-boggling to me. We as viewers got see her many troubles over the 2 days in creating this look. But even had that not happened I still wouldn’t have pegged this look as a near win. The entire back side is very disappointing, poor execution, nothing special going on.

Chi hair shout-out for this gorgeous fishtail braid though! I’m just not sure how the judges overlooked the entire back side of this dress. I will say her showdown pairing with Jay wasn’t as much of a slam-dunk as Jay thought it would be. Jay’s dress was not amazing at all so Samantha being the higher score made sense. But top 2, still scratching my head on that one.

Even the front had execution issues to me, but I think the judges called this “raw” or “organic.” The sequins are gorgeous, but really are Samantha’s saving grace this week. They did all of the work to make this dress sparkle the little bit that it did. The dress had potential so Samantha going this direction made sense. And I’m sure with more time it could have been so much better. But maybe since so many dresses this week were safe or lackluster, the judges decided to grade on a “Potentials” curve. Mary Kay beauty shout-out, beautiful cat eye and deeply bold wicked lip color!

Fabio was the first of the bottom 3, being saved from near elimination. The judges said this dress/pant combo was not couture and I agree. He clearly has an aesthetic, but his style has a way to transition into a couture look and this was not it. If the printed pants weren’t enough to catapult this look into a non-couture zone, the harnessed back certainly did the piece no favors.

Fabio already won a challenge and I think the judges took that as well as couture work not being in his wheelhouse into consideration. But he can’t let his work be so confined into one box or one type of design work. He needs to be able to show growth and development.

Mary Kay shout-out for this sweet & delicate beauty look and QVC shout-out for these cute black sandal heels. Great choices to help in some way for this look!

During this episode we saw Helen working tirelessly away on ruffle details. I was super-excited to see where she was going, but this end result was not great. I knew she would be in for some trouble. The ruffles didn’t marry well with this embroidered fabric. Also, the ruffle placement was too much for the look. It made the garment really heavy feeling. The judges were spot on in saying just because something takes you so long to do, it doesn’t mean it will be the best part of an ensemble.

Helen works with eveningwear so this letdown was a bit of a surprise. I’m not sure what she was thinking here. It’s clear she really wanted to do these ruffles so the only way I think she could have made it work was maybe to make use of them at the bottom of the dress? And then even as gorgeous as the vines on the shoulder were, I’m just not sure how all of these elements were supposed to combine and work together harmoniously.

Love these QVC ivory sandal heels though, so QVC accessories shout-out!

So with Chris rounding out the bottom 3, sadly this meant it was goodbye Chris. I know Chris has talent, but something did veer off course here. It was not his best work. The judges expected more from Chris on this challenge, and coupled with his bottom appearance last week, were reasons leading to his ouster this week.

It was no surprise Betsey loved his dress. In fact, the bottom portion looked very Betsey Johnson-esque. But to me, it kind of felt costume-y. Chris didn’t want his “Wicked” look to be black, guessing like a few others. But there are tons of colors you can go wicked with, really anything dark, browns, blues, purples, reds, etc. Being wicked is not all about color! Color aside, this shredded detailing didn’t help either.

The fabric, the shredded detailing, it just didn’t feel couture or high red carpet quality. Sad to see Chris go so soon, but I’m sure that will be a constant sentiment for many designers on this season of PRAS. Another QVC shout-out though over another pair of heels, dying over these silver sandal heels!

PRAS Designers Are on a Runway to the Danger Zone!

Posted on November 9, 2014 by SMM

Well so the runway was not quite a danger zone, at least for some of the designers. The danger zone was in fact the inspiration for this week’s challenge. The designers met Alyssa at the Skylight at Moynihan Station, which serves as a runway for many major designers.

Currently it’s under construction, leaving the designers with tons of construction related materials for their challenge. The designers were to create feminine looks from the masculine materials at the construction site. So yes, check mark for the cliche PR group challenge, and now it’s time to get another one out of the way, the unconventional materials challenge!

The designers had 15 minutes to gather the materials for their 1 day of work. As the horn blew everyone began crazily running about, grabbing as many materials as they could. PR often highlights who might be in danger of elimination for a given week. And this week we saw a somewhat Alexandria-centric episode, beginning with her intensity as she was gathering her materials. She was clearly not around to play nice!

Everyone was back to the workroom, which for this week can be rightfully dubbed as the “new danger zone”! The designers had traded in their sewing needles & machines for toolboxes filled with screwdrivers, glue guns, and wire cutters. Jay began ripping to part the tarp he was planning on using, driving some of the designers bananas! But a clear issue soon became about designers working with similar ideas/concepts, or with this week being all about unconventional materials, it was really the use of the same materials.

Earlier on, Ben & Justin feared their looks might be too similar as both would be working with zip ties. As we later saw, both wanting to use zip ties was where the similarities ended. But Chris & Dmitry passed a mere similarity fear with Chris straight up calling Dmitry a copycat! So Dmitry was working on a green garment, but was not loving it. We didn’t really see this, but he apparently went by Chris’s work station, and all of a sudden wanted to work with ropes, just as Chris was doing. I’m not sure why Dmitry wanting to use ropes makes him a copycat, materials were limited this week. And if Dmitry gathered ropes to use, why shouldn’t he be able to use them. Just as we saw with Ben & Justin, the looks could have ended up being distinct, but Chris decided to change his look up. More on this later, but for now, let’s get to some Zanna-time!

Zanna made it clear from the get-go, she didn’t care what materials the designers were using, she still wanted to see feminine and dreamy fashion forward looks. She thought a few of the looks were going in one wrong direction, Michelle — sporty, Alexandria — goth, and Kate — bridal. But only one designer actually went with a completely new direction, a new look, Sonjia.

It was soon time for the the model fittings, many of the designers poking fun at Alexandria’s crazy use of a wire for the bottom portion of her look. But no time for poking too much fun because the morning of the runway was quickly approaching, and as per PR usual, many designers were still frantically working away.

The guest judges this week were reality TV stars, Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi and Jenni “JWoww” Farley, as well as acclaimed fashion designer Elie Tahari. But wait, what was PRAS thinking this week — did we really need 6 judges?!? There were way too many cooks in the kitchen, way too many voices and styles in the mix. And what we were left with was a major lack of agreement on the top and bottom, and ultimately who should go home. I’m always intrigued by the unconventional challenges, just to see what looks the designers put down the runway made from these odd materials. I could definitely discuss a few other designs, but let’s stick to the judges’ “top” and “bottom.” The top made the most sense, not as much disagreement, so let’s begin there.

At first glance, Justin’s look this week did kind of take me back to his finale collection during his season on PR. He used a lot of white, the completely adorned dress of test tubes, and his work with 3-d fashion printing was clearly re-visited in this look. I don’t think this is a bad thing, but clearly this area, the use of non-traditional materials, is where Justin thrives, leaving him with a well-deserved win! His look came up short last week so I applauded his bouncing back so strongly. Regardless of a reminiscent type look, I was still intrigued and pleasantly surprised at how intricately crafted this look was. It was also positively shocking it was mainly made of zip ties.

Even though the judges, namely Isaac, found a way to nit-pick just a bit, I felt this look was the most well executed considering the unconventional materials being used. The black ombre into the white was beautifully done, very black swan-esque. I almost want to give a beauty shout-out for the make-up here, but it was a little too over-bronzed, or orange-y for my taste. But hair shout-out with Chi, love this chic up-do!

Jay was the other contender for the win this week. I think the main criticism came from Isaac over the use of nails to make this statement necklace. I didn’t love the sleeves as much as the judges did. For me, they were way too crinkly, just not showing the best craftsmanship. But we are dealing with tarp here, not fabric, so that aside, Jay did a commendable job this week. And caution aside, this necklace of nails was pretty eye-catching! I thought it was smart of him to mix textures, giving him an extra special element. A tarp dress with over-sized sleeves wouldn’t have been enough and it’s great Jay recognized that.

Snooki had a few interesting comments as she critiqued the various looks. I think she meant them as compliments, but they didn’t seem that way to me. Jay was the recipient of one such critique-pliment — “this reminds me of a dress made of garbage bags”? Apparently her & JWoww attempted a garbage bag dress, failing to do so as well as Jay did. Either way, great work from Jay & lots of shout-outs from me. Hair shout-out from Chi with this perfectly chosen structured ponytail. Make-up shout-out from Mary Kay, making use of more pops of blue and burnt orange, great bit of color on both the eye and the lip here respectively. And also, QVC shout-out, great way to coordinate more with burnt orange with these heels!

Kate rounded out the top 3, despite some slight criticism from Mr. Tahari. He thought the dress should have been longer, which is odd since all episode Kate’s goal was to steer away from being too bridal. Wouldn’t this dress, being longer, have been way more bridal than the shorter version?? Discussing this bridal point, I’m not sure why it’s such a big issue. Yes, this dress, I could see some bridal qualities. But last week, just because she made a white dress, doesn’t mean it was automatically bridal. If that’s the case, then I guess the white dress I own is bridal too right! Ahhhh, NO! I say get over it.

I think Kate landed in the top because Snooki might have been having some bridal fever. But a couple of other judges had some great comments to add. Even if Snooki’s scoring wasn’t the reason, I didn’t see this look being anywhere near the bottom. The bodice was intricately crafted and it was stunningly gorgeous. She was right in keeping the length shorter. Even though the top knot bun didn’t make this look any less bridal, I still loved it, so hair shout-out for Chi! But also Mary Kay shout-out, the more edgy, bolder eye worked here!

Chris landed in the bottom 3, but I am super excited he was in no real danger of going home since he was not in the bottom 2. I agree with the judges and am happy they were able to see Chris had more to offer. But Chris did mess up this week. He changed his design and it threw him off. I would say next time, if that were to happen again, just screw it. But here is why I am not so sure if that statement should be made. The top portion of Chris’s look this week, from my understanding, was what Chris was working on when the “copying” issue popped up. This is the part of the garment the judges took most issue with though. Because Chris decided to change up his design, this is how the skirt came about. The judges loved this. So I think Chris making the change actually helped him a bit this week.

But we wont’ know because Chris didn’t fully do what he wanted and that’s never best for any designer. What he ended up with, with this top & the bottom, it wasn’t harmonious. But a couple of shout-outs, QVC shout-out, love these black booties! A little too much on the Curly Sue-esque hair, but great, subtle beauty look, so make-up shout-out for Mary Kay!

Michelle was in the bottom 3 last week, but not the bottom 2. This week though, she barely escaped elimination, not only landing in the bottom 3 again, but actually the bottom 2. I’m shocked this wasn’t given more consideration. I think the judges rolled around the concept of this being a basic, safe dress, which sort of was an issue last week. Neither look had much going on design-wise to really stand-out. And bringing up the “safe” aspect, generally a designer who does too little goes home. That was not the case this week. I guess what really helped with Michelle staying was maybe the fact she won her season??

Michelle got one of Snooki’s critique-pliments, comparing this dress to duck tape. I actually thought the exact same thing and I know I didn’t mean that thought as a good thing! And one other perplexing thought for me on this look was why was there was no discussion on the chevron points, that of the same colors, being so way off, not meeting up properly. I’m not a designer, so I’m not sure what the proper terminology is, but I’m fairly certain on almost every other look I’ve ever seen on PR that had points meeting such as this, if they were off, even just the slightest, it was brought up. So why not here?? Also, what was Michelle doing with this model’s hair, trying to blind her so she couldn’t see the runway. It’s called a bang trim people!

I’m not the hugest Alexandria fan so her being eliminated didn’t bother me so much. But I hadn’t seen any dreaded drop crotch pants and I liked her look last week so I think she should have stayed this week. The wonky wiring on this look was crazy & not needed. I agree with the judges in that it was way too 80s, but I would just call that dated. It was also too costume-y. I think Alexandria would have benefited more from trying to do something with this wire on the neckline.

Poor JWoww tried her best to make a case for Alexandria, but she was never going to outweigh Isaac’s vote. And Isaac did not like this look at all, so I think that was what led to Alexandria’s elimination.

Can’t wait for next week, Wicked, good v evil, and showdowns!

Goodbye PR Season 13 & Hello PRAS Season 4!

Posted on November 2, 2014 by SMM

So this week, with the whole Project Runway franchise arena, we are bidding farewell to PR season 13, all the ups and downs. But no worries since it’s also time to welcome back PR All-Stars, season 4! Before season 4 officially kicked off there was a special reunion episode with the outgoing PR season. I could really do an entire post on that alone! Drama was re-visited. Disputes were settled. Indeed, a great deal was in store as the designers sat back down with each other. We did learn that Amanda received a $5000 cash prize for using the Aldo accessory wall the best during the season. I remember often giving her an Aldo shout-out on my recaps so congrats to her! But all in all with the reunion, it was great to watch and see how everyone was doing. Very happy to know Korina is going to be having some pieces at Lord & Taylor — that’s AWESOME!! But moving on now to PRAS, I’m excited to blog about this upcoming season and it looks like we will be in for some drama, spectacular creations, and much more! I’m excited & can’t wait!!

The episode kicked off as all of the designers came together at Grand Central Terminal in NYC. From season 12 we had Justin LeBlanc, Alexandria von Bromssen, and Helen Castillo. Some tensions were revisited between Helen & Alexandria. Will there be more of that this season?!? Only time will tell, but of course more designers were ready to make their entrances. Kate Pankoke was on both season 12 & 11. So she was reunited with the group above, but also with fellow castmates from season 11, what I dub as “the dreaded groups season”, which included for this all-star cast, Benjamin Mach, Patricia Michaels, and Samantha Black. We also saw quite a few designers from Season 10, Fabio Costa, Gunnar Deatherage, and Sonjia Williams. Oh, and then one designer, having to go a bit further back seasons-wise, we have Chris March.

Returning host & judge Alyssa Milano was there to greet everyone with a few surprises. One being that she was expecting, which fits perfectly with PR & PRAS’s theme of “expect the unexpected”!

But another huge surprise was that these designers would also be working with 2 previous winners, Dmitry Sholokhov and Michelle Lesniak. So note, if the competition was not already tight, they would now have to all step up their game even more! This goes for the winning designers too as they have titles to defend. The designers also were reminded to always be on their game as there would be no immunity, yikes! There would however be some prizes along the way. Gotham West would be the designer’s new home.

The challenge this week was all about NYC, to create a collection inspired by the uptown or the downtown scene. The collection aspect of course meant group challenge. And with an equal number of men and women, what would make better sense than to pit the girls against the guys. The designers had to think collection, think cohesion, but ultimately, each would be responsible for their own look. Being in Grand Central, a subway token decided the fate of the teams. Dmitry called gold-side on the flip, he got it, and the guys chose downtown, leaving the women with the uptown girl. There would be a losing team and a winning one. From the losing team, a designer would go home, and from the winning side we would of course have a winner. Each team would have a $1500 budget and it was up to the groups on how to split it. And no surprise, there would only be 1 day to accomplish this all!

The groups were off to their locations with an hour to chat and find inspiration. The women went uptown and were thinking of a classy girl, but with some edge. They were creating for a socialite party girl. Hanging around The Plaza Hotel provided a great deal of inspiration with colors and the vibe. The men went downtown and were thinking of a raw, edgy girl. It was surprising to see from the guys’ team the first bit of tension as some of the men were worried about Ben’s outfit looking more uptown than downtown. Everyone was then off to Mood with 30 minutes to shop. I would have loved to see more on the decisions of how the budget was divided up — was it equal? Oh well, back to the workroom we go!

The workroom was dope — decked out with the QVC accessory wall, Brother sewing room, relaxing lounge, and kitchen area. It was nice to take in some luxe workroom aspects, but it is still a workroom so quick to work went the designers. As the guys were unpacking, Fabio learned his fabric was missing. There was no clue as to what exactly happened, but a plan was put in place and everyone handled the situation professionally. As the men were starting to gel, the women then seemed to show some tensions. Just as the guys were worried about Ben, Alexandria was concerned Kate’s look didn’t fit with their collection. Some of the ladies were concerned about Patricia and her working process, as we saw many times during Patricia’s first PR stint. Next up, Zanna-time!

I thought her comments were spot on. She reminded a few to keep their theme of uptown or downtown in mind. She too reiterated some of the guys’ concern with Benjamin’s piece and from that, he knew some changes were needed. Also with a couple of the guys, Zanna wanted to make sure the looks were not too short! Zanna reminded the designers of how important styling was. She introduced to them that Chi Hair Care and Mary Kay cosmetics teams would be on board for this season to help with all of their styling needs!

As the first day came to end, many thought it was over way too soon, another no surprise moment for the episode! The morning of continued with a little more last minute craziness. The designers were off to receive their styling help. The ladies went for the same beauty look, thinking of spring, so going fresh and sunny, with a citrus lip from Mary Kay. The guys gave us the inside scoop on their hair look regime, wanting a stylized look, but something that looked as if the girl did it themselves, all courtesy of Chi hair care. It was soon time for the runway where Alyssa introduced to the designers what would be in the store for the winner. It is a truly phenomenal prize package consisting of

the chance to create their own capsule collection with QVC and appear during QVC’s Spring Fashion Week programming;
a fashion spread in Marie Claire and a position at the magazine as Contributing Editor for one year;
CHI Haircare will send the winner to stay in a luxury spa resort as a special guest at their International conference in Cancun, Mexico, plus product and staff for entire year of runway shows;
from Mary Kay, an entire year’s worth of beauty products for their fashion shows and professional makeup artist services for their debut show;
a cash prize of $150,000 and
a complete custom sewing & crafting studio to launch the designer’s winning line from Brother Sewing and Embroidery.

The designers were also introduced to returning judges, talented designers Isaac Mizrahi & Georgina Chapman of Marchesa. This week’s guest judge was Ivanka Trump, successful businesswoman, and too a designer, with her own apparel and accessories brand. After the runway, it was announced that Ivanka would don the winning look.

As far as which team won this week, I really thought it could go either way. Both teams had some hits and misses. I thought the ladies had a more cohesive collection, but the men had more innovative designs. I did like a few more of the women’s looks though, more my style. Both teams had looks with execution issues though so a few will have to step it up or they will be out sooner rather than later! Let’s start with the winning team, drumroll please, THE GUYS!

The judges were right with their top 3 choices, Fabio, Chris, and Benjamin. Fabio was the ultimate winner, but I think Benjamin had the winning piece.

I think from where Benjamin was originally at, no asymmetry, the more ladylike neckline, this was a drastic turnaround and he really made it work. I think it was the piece that maybe didn’t fit quite so well in the guys’ collection, but as a standalone, it was a knockout. Most of the guys thought downtown, and went literal, lower east-side or east village. Benjamin rightfully remembered in downtown there is also Soho, Tribeca, FiDi. Great back, wonderful movement, a great piece from Benjamin indeed! Also, love the black bracelet, great choice from the QVC accessory wall!

The judges however selected Fabio as the winner. He also had a stunning look from the back! And don’t get me wrong, I was very much impressed with this jumpsuit. This was far better than anything I remember from Fabio during his season of PR. But for this look, I could have done without the cinched waist and dangling piece on the front. And to also mention for the guys, shoutout for the distressed, yet chic look with the hair, courtesy of Chi hair care. But I think both teams got it wrong with beauty/make-up looks this week. So for the guys, the eyes just had way too much make-up on them. It looked more like morning after eyes than the original “going out” look.

I also loved Chris’s work this week so I was happy to see him land in the top 3. I want this skirt! I loved the layers, the safety pin detail, the leather, just everything about it, I’m a fan. I can’t say this leather top was deserving of such a rave, but he still very much deserved his top 3 placement. He also gets a QVC shout-out for perfectly pairing his look with these knee-high black boots. So funny, I really wanted a pair of these myself this week for my Halloween costume!

So with the ladies dubbed as the losing team, we had a bottom 3 consisting of Kate, Michelle, and Patricia.

But because the ladies as a whole were on the bottom, no standout looks from their team received any praise. No worries! I can take care of that. First, for Helen, I mean WOW! She could have won with this look. The fit, the execution, such clean lines, it was all spot on perfection. Breathtaking!

I can almost guarantee this was a split-type look when it came to the judges’ scoring. Some will love it. Others won’t. That point of debate is likely over this iridescent fabric. Personally, I’m a fan. I love the pairing with this faded green. I think the back was cut beautifully. Also, shoutout for the QVC heels!

And a surprise for me, I really loved Alexandria’s top this week. I wasn’t a fan during her season, but this top was spectacular. I don’t think its pairing with this ivory floor-length skirt works with the collection’s vibe of an uptown girl, but shout-out nonetheless is owed for this top. My thought is if the women had landed on top, this would be the top 3, likely Helen winning! I will also mention now the styling choices for the ladies’ team. Just as with the guys, shout-out for the hair, very chic up-do by Chi hair care. But the beauty look, not right for the uptown girl at all. The citrus lip, bad choice. I would have gone with a nude lip or light pink, but I guess the ladies were trying to insert a bright pop of color. Something just looked off with this color choice though.

But alas, the girls were the bottom group this week so let’s discuss the bottom 3. Michelle was a surprise with ending up in the bottom. She won her season. And all episode all we heard was how much she didn’t like Kate’s look, yet her look was just so luxe, with high priced suede. And for her girl, she just had so much money to spend. The problem, this wouldn’t be a dress a girl would want to spend her loads of money on. Ivanka was a fan, but I agree with the other judges. This fabric didn’t look so high quality and expensive.

This left Kate & Patricia in the bottom 2. I was also surprised Kate landed in the bottom. I’m a fan of Kate and her work. I’ve followed her success since her time on PR. She creates such beautiful bridal gowns. But this look did have a bit too much going on. The slit in the back, the overworked bust, etc. I know she can bounce back though so I think it was the right decision she stayed this week. Shout-out for the QVC metallic silver heels!

Patricia was unfortunately the first to go. She had many issues going on. If you look back at any of her previous work, you would have no clue as to how this look below would fit in that aesthetic. It didn’t read Patricia at all. During the episode, all we saw Patricia working on was some leather detailed work, which was nowhere to be seen on this piece. All she had was a plain boring ivory A-line dress trimmed in black. This bottom 2 represents what many PR bottom twos consist of, a look of too much and one of too little. The look of “too little” generally goes home and that, in a nutshell, is why Patricia was out.

Very much can’t wait to see how this season plays out!!

PR All-Stars Season 4 Intro, Let’s Go…..

Posted on October 30, 2014 by SMM

Season 4 of PRAS starts back this week, and we will be in for some high designer talent and dramatic action. I’ve seen the preview once and I do feel we are in for a good season, some great looks, exciting challenges, and more! I always still have a teensy issue with why for only 13 seasons of PR that we are already at such a high # of all-star seasons. Generally, all-star seasons for reality shows are every once in awhile, truly encapsulating the best of the best. I think PR gets a pass, it’s the exception to the rule. In any given season of PR, great talent can go home too early. And even by the time we reach the finale, there is only 1 winner. This means there are still so many in the top 2 or 3 that were worthy of the title. But really, PRAS is a great fix for all of us true, diehard fans of PR. I am one of them and am very much ready to see what Season 4 has in store for us!

Returning as this season’s host and judge, we have the very talented actress, Alyssa Milano. Also returning as judges, two very amazing designers, Isaac Mizrahi & Georgina Chapman of Marchesa. And one other familiar face, returning as this season’s mentor, the female Tim Gunn, we have Senior Fashion Editor at Marie Claire, Zanna Roberts Rassi.

What’s in store for Season 4? Well of course we don’t know all of the fun details quite yet. But what we do know is 14 of the most talented “Project Runway” designers are returning to compete in the biggest and most competitive “Project Runway All Stars” season ever! In this cut-throat season, former standout designers come back to New York to compete for runway gold (#PRAllStars), premiering Thursday, October 30, at 9pm ET/PT. The designers will be in for a little surprise since 2 former winners are joining the mix, Dmitry Sholokhov and Michelle Lesniak, making for an even tougher competition.

Some of the biggest names in fashion and entertainment make up this year’s A-list celebrity guest judges including Emmy® Award nominee Laverne Cox of “Orange is the New Black,” Emmy winner Debra Messing, “Modern Family’s” Ariel Winter, Academy Award® winner Mira Sorvino, singer Nicole Scherzinger, Emmy nominated host Cat Deeley, reality stars Snooki and JWoww, celebrity photographer Nigel Barker, QVC® Program Host Lisa Robertson and many others. Designers appearing this season include Betsey Johnson, Michael Bastian, Elie Tahari, and Ivanka Trump, and special appearances by “Project Runway” judges Nina Garcia and Zac Posen.

This season’s highlights include a surprise visit to London for a challenge featuring British royalty, a collaboration with Broadway’s “Wicked”, and the first ever wedding ceremony live on the runway. And this year’s prize package, not disappointing at all! I mean at least compared to the actual season of PR we just had, a Red Robin fashion accessory, still SMH on that on!

the chance to create their own capsule collection with QVC and appear during QVC’s Spring Fashion Week programming;
a fashion spread in Marie Claire and a position at the magazine as Contributing Editor for one year;
CHI Haircare will send the winner to stay in a luxury spa resort as a special guest at their International conference in Cancun, Mexico, plus product and staff for entire year of runway shows;
More Mary Kay!!, With an entire year’s worth of beauty products for their fashion shows and professional makeup artist services for their debut show;
a cash prize of $150,000 and
a complete custom sewing studio to launch the designer’s winning line from Brother Sewing and Embroidery.

Here is the full list of this season’s contestants, what they’ve been up to and some recent work! ENJOY!!

Kate Pankoke

Kate is a great friend of Fashion Nexus. I’ve been happy to cover her bridal collection for Elaya Vaughn in the past. In fact, I will soon be getting another piece out very soon!

She’s been doing a lot of bridal, which I’m sure will translate nicely to eveningwear or red carpet looks if need be. But I’m also ready to see her back to doing some great RTW, such as what she showcased during her redemption season.

Dmitry Sholokhov

Dmitry is a PR winner, from season 10, seeing if he can take home the title twice! On top of winning PR, he does host a great many other award recognitions — GenART Award, Saga Furs Design Competition Award, Gap Design Competition Award, showcase at Debut, winner of 24 Hour Cat Walk (lifetime), amongst others.

With winning PR, he designed a capsule collection for Lord & Taylor. I was able to attend, meet him, and gaze at all of his amazing looks! I loved them all!

Helen Castillo

Helen was on season 12, eliminated right before making it to the finale, likely one of the worst feelings for anyone on this show. The judges weren’t sure she was quite ready. She is now back to prove them wrong! Some redemption maybe?

As seen above, the talented singer/songwriter Mary Lambert loves her some Helen Castillo!

Michelle Lesniak

Michelle is another winner coming back for this PRAS season. She won the dreaded groups season of PR, season 11. This was a task certainly worthy of commending!

Michelle is committed to staying in her native hometown of Portland. Dedicated to local manufacturing and ethical business practices, Michelle is undoubtedly playing a key role in shaping and growing the Portland Fashion Industry.

Benjamin Mach

Poor Benjamin was on the dreaded group’s season of PR, season 11. I think he got lost working in this capacity. I saw plenty of his work before PR and I expected him to be on the show for quite awhile. I’m thinking sans group we will see more and better work from him!

He officially launched his own line earlier this year. His capsule collection is influenced by the art deco era and takes inspiration from the chic and timeless style of Halston in his heyday and the urbanely sensual approach of Vionnet and her technical innovation.

Chris March

March was a finalist on PR way back when, like way back to the Bravo days, Season 4 to be exact! But he has certainly kept himself busy. Many major celebs have donned his garments — Beyonce, Madonna, & Meryl Streep, just to name a few.

He developed and starred in his own show on Bravo in 2011, Mad Fashion. He’s also had an exclusive Halloween partnership with Target!

Justin LeBlanc

Justin hails from my hometown, good ole’ Raleigh, NC. I’ve attended NYFW, the PR show once, and I was so glad to see many great pieces come down the runway, including some from Justin!

Samantha Black

Samantha has kept quite busy since season 11 of PR, putting out collections, dressing celebs such as Keri Hilson, and more.

She is all about feminine, modern, sexy urban appeal. How will this translate to her work on PRAS, can’t wait to see!

Sonjia Williams

Sonjjia has been designing, blogging, and more since PR, season 10. She seems to have focused a great deal on outerwear, very luxe looking and tons of layers!

She also creates pieces for Annabelle NY.

Gunnar Deatherage

Season 10 has quite a few familiar faces, Gunnar included. He definitely brought a little sass to his season, very interested to see what all he will bring to PRAS! His 2014 RTW collection launch coincides perfectly with premiere of PRAS, what a kawinkydink!

Jay Sario

Going back to season 7, Jay worked great with prints, as well as with bold pops of color!

Alexandria von Bromssen

Alexandria was a force to be reckoned with during her time on PR. Here are some of her pieces from her fashion week collection as a finalist on PR Season 12. She was a tough cookie. I’m looking to see how she’s grown in the last year, so no more drop crotch pants!!

Patricia Michaels

Patricia was quite an interesting character on her season of PR, again, the dreaded groups season. Being on stronger groups definitely helped this lady out. She won’t have that on PRAS, so can she step it up solo?!?

Jesse Tyler Ferguson, of TV’S hit show Modern Family and longtime fan of Project Runway, was so impressed with Patricia’s performance on the show, he asked her to be a Guest Designer for his line of JTF Bowties. She’s also taken in part in numerous speaking engagements and designing away since her 1st stint on PR.

Fabio Costa

Fabio was a finalist on season 10, creating looks with a very distinct and unique POV. He co-founded a brand, NotEqual, which has been donned by celebrities such as Chris Brown and America’s Next Top Model star Allison Harvard.

He creates looks for both men and women. PRAS is a bit more on the high fashion side, where it seems Fabio is more RTW, streetwear. It will be interesting to see how the judges take to his work, if it will need to be amped up some or accepted as is.

Project Runway – The Best of the Rest

Posted on October 29, 2014 by SMM

Project Runway season 13 has come to an end, with Sean Kelly being the winner. NYFW is where the finalists show their final collections, MBFW at Lincoln Center to be precise. Fashion Week happens a little before the finale airs. In order to maintain secrecy, other designers will too present collections so that the finalists will remain unknown. As I’m sure many of you have already done, I am now perusing the other designers’ presentations and of course ready to discuss! So here is what I call “The Best of the Rest”!

Korina for sure had my fave collection amongst the fellow eliminated designers. I’m still holding onto such a grudge that she was eliminated early and unfairly. I think she could have done great work in the last challenge, thus securing a spot for herself in the finale. I really dig the vibe and attitude her looks are giving off. The pieces exude such confidence and have the capability of being worn by either chic fashionistas or bad-ass women who dare to be feminine and sexy.

Based on the finalists we saw, I think the judges would have given great feedback to Korina. She clearly demonstrated she was far more than just an “ethnic” designer as Nina so annoyingly dubbed her. I think she showed a greater range than one other finalist for sure. And I also think she wouldn’t have needed quite as much direction as at least 2 of the finalists. She had a clear concept here and stuck to it. She’s demonstrated such growth this season within her own aesthetic.

Korina is another contestant this season who did have a clear vision, a focused aesthetic. And because of this, and what was created at hand, I think she could have done well in the finale. I saw growth from her, right at the same level or pace as that of Amanda or Sean. Too bad the judges were sippin’ on some crazy kool-aid and made the poor choice in sending Korina home before she had the chance to present as a finalist! And as crazy as the judges & I were about Amanda’s jewelry, I am the same level of love-fest craziness for Korina’s booties, which I’m pretty sure she had a hand in creating! I know they are not from Aldo and they fit too perfectly with her looks to not be a part of her design-work.

This look above is one of my faves. Honestly there are too many faves to pick just one! But this one represents so well what Korina’s collection is about. She works well with leather. Her jackets or outwear are TTDF! She works well with texture, mixing of various fabrics. She can do more than just dresses, her separate pieces are divine, such a great fit. She also had a great use of color, bold red, sunshine yellow, soft teal, and royal blue. All of the colors worked well together and were paired nicely with basics in black and white.

Other great facets to her collection, the color-blocking, excellent fits, and good proportions. Other finale collection pieces certainly had some execution issues, but I didn’t see that with Korina’s looks. Poor fit and execution should not be issues a PR finalist has. And really, by that point, a designer’s clear voice should be heard. And we have all of this with Korina!

There is always a question about what cohesion means. Generally it’s a multitude of things, but cohesion shouldn’t mean 1 fabric throughout a collection or the same colors. There should be more. And with Korina, we have connective colors, similar vibes, ultimately having the same girl wanting all of the pieces. I see that here. There can also be a story. Unsure of Korinas’ since we didn’t hear her thoughts, but there are still other cohesive points to discuss. There is color-blocking, patterns, styling, and more. This was more than I saw from another finalist!

To Korina, great job. I want your pieces and will keep an eye out. I would proudly don any of these looks. I know we will see more from you in the future and I can’t wait!

fäde’s collection was too quite impressive overall. I don’t think his intricate work with prints was truly able to flourish during his time on the show. He is really about pushing the creative bounds, being innovative with his print work. And more often than not, a day or less is just not a sufficient amount of time to really develop this type of work.

Now this is the way to incorporate words or phrases into looks! For the runway, you can’t just stick a word on a boring top and expect that to cut it. Is it wrong to make a sweatshirt or basic tee with words and put it down the runway? Absolutely not! Wildfox, Desigual, and other brands do it all the time. But the point is to still be exciting; you still must amp it up somehow. And fäde did just that!

He of course is a master with prints, but really showed he could work well with his great use of color. It was the perfect idea of a graphic print work to incorporate a teal or burnt orange, and just play around with those colors – various shades, mixing textures, etc.

He also showed a great deal of versatility. He not only made some stunning dresses, but really worked well with separates too – jackets, shorts, pants, and more!

When you can tell a model is having genuine fun rockin’ a look, I think that speaks volumes! So either these girls can add “great actress” to their resume, or they were authentically having a fun time!

These are just a few of my fave looks, but really I had so many to choose from so you will have to forgive my lack of ability to pick only 2 or 3!

fäde also gets shout-outs for Philip B. hair, a little chic yet messy distressed hair-do; it really worked with the streetwear vibe, but also Mary Kay for beauty – very clean, natural make-up look, spot on with the bronzed cheek!

Alexander had some great looks, but my main issue was cohesion. I remember when Tim told Sean during the finale, part 1, that his collection seemed like it was divided; there were 2 different presentations. I think I saw this with Alexander’s 10 looks. I saw pieces that were more sportswear-oriented and then ones of a more refined, elegant level. I’m just not sure I got the connective thread, except that both were still executed in a simplistically minimal manner.

This is not to say I didn’t like the various pieces, but I’m still not sure Alexander has developed a clear vision for where he wants to go as a designer. I’m not sure if he would be ready to make a brand for himself. But I have no doubts he can get there and I would look forward to seeing his development and growth as a designer!

I think this was a decent start for Alexander though. Over time, I’m sure he can work with a great foundation in the basics he already has at his disposal, and just work with developing some “Alexander” signatures to add to his pieces.

It was great seeing the versatility though, lots of separates and beautiful dresses. I’m interested to see where Alexander can go from here for sure!

Next up, Emily, who too was cut right before the finale, barely missing her chance at being a finalist. I think she is another designer this season who had a clear voice, a clear vision. I think with her final collection we saw her aesthetic, but with a bit more sophistication; it had a more luxe feel or quality to the various pieces.

Emily made use of some great work with sheer pieces. This stunning turtleneck sheer top above was immaculate! I don’t think the judges showed much love for Emily over the season. But I wonder how they would have reacted to her work, but turned up a notch as she did with this presentation.

The vibe was somewhat luxurious, but still youthful and chic street. There was a wide range for her type of girl to choose from — shorts, great tops, day dresses, or even some more elegant night-time looks.

A lot of her fabric choices caught my eye, especially the sheer printed tops. I would love to know if she screen-printed her own design on them, but definitely would be intrigued to learn more!

There was a little flare with her show, some volume, some structure in the pieces. So that was great to see RTW, but also with a little dramatic umpf.

Upon my first few glances for Sandhya’s looks, I was quite confused. This was a different side of her work as a designer with more understated looks. Sort of as with Alexander’s more basic vibe, I’m not sure I was over the moon about Sandhya’s more simplistic looks. I think they were executed just fine, but I wasn’t sure how much I was seeing Sandhya in them or that they stood out, being memorable. This was just such a new facet of her work so it was a bit perplexing, nonetheless intriguing.

But later with her collection, the more DIY side of Sandhya came back. I understand the desire to go avant garde, to create a bit more show-y pieces. As we saw from our 4 finalists, this was not their direction and it made sense based on their aesthetic. But for Sandhya, going with this more dramatic flare route made sense. I still feel her looks read very DIY though and not high fashion.

There were a few looks though where I might have thought differently or could have changed my mind if I had seen them in person. And these are looks I wouldn’t mind getting a more up close and personal visit with to better gauge my reaction! Let me be Zac Posen, who always made sure to get really up close and personal when doing his final judge’s critique! Actually, I really commend him for caring. He judged from his seat, but when it came time to really study the looks up close, he was right there, looking so closely. Other judges tended to hang back some, their prerogative, but I was glad to see Zac with genuine care or concern!

All in all, I’m still not the biggest Sandhya fan, but I did see some improvements with her work since she had more time. I think she still needs a bit more time to work out some kinks though!

Until next time ………….. but stay tuned as I will also be blogging about PRAS!!

And the PR Season 13 Winner is……

Posted on October 28, 2014 by SMM

Yes, let’s just announce the spoiler right from the get-go! With a much-deserved win, the PR Season 13 winner was SEAN KELLY!! With blogging/recapping, it’s all about the discussion, so let’s get to that, and see how this season came to its conclusion.

From last week’s episode, we left off where the designers had previewed 3 pieces from their collections so that the judges could offer some feedback. Amanda needed a little more sophistication. Sean had to show he was more than just the one note of fringe. Kini needed to re-work a lot, youthfulness was the goal to achieve. And finally, Char had to scrap several looks, making sure her collection represented who she was as a designer and was cohesive.

Tim quickly came by to offer the designers the option of returning to Mood with an additional $300 to spend. Amanda was the only one who decided to hang back, having some extra fabrics already at her disposal. She didn’t want to lose any time! With some new fabrics and a rejuvenated focus, each designer was back to work finishing up their collections. Tim also came by again for a little more Tim-time.

He instructed Amanda to stop over-thinking so much. Kini scrapped his trench coat and already had many new youthful pieces to show Tim. And Tim definitely recognized the improvements! Tim & Sean discussed the fringe. He told Sean to take in what the judges said, namely Nina with lessening the number of fringed looks, but he further advised him to ultimately still own it. Tim was a bit confused on the new fabrics Char purchased. He reiterated what the judges had just told her, be who you are, don’t stray.

The guest judge for the finale was Emmy Rossum, a very talented actress from the Showtime hit show Shameless.. She did a wonderful job as the guest judge –lots of thoughtful critiques and words of wisdom. And just as all of the judges were, I too was impressed with the finale presentations. I’ve been reading comments that the finale was a bit lackluster, perhaps lacking in shock or wow moments. I 100% disagree and here’s why!

It can’t be helped that with this season there were 3 top notch designers who each could have easily won. The surprise factor was lacking because there wouldn’t have been much outrage had Kini or Amanda won. As long as the “ABC” (anyone but Char) remained in effect, the end result was going to be a bit predictable. I guess you could say underwhelming. But just because predictability or a general acceptance was on the rise, it doesn’t negate the designers’ outstanding work. Kini, Amanda, and Sean all had different designer POVs and really stuck to those aesthetics. Each did a fine job, and with so much greatness to choose from, it was hard to be so surprised over who won. But I would be much more disappointed had their only been 1 decent final presentation and if the winner had been so clear cut. I think there was a bit of surprise because even with narrowing down to Sean & Amanda, it was still up in the air over who might win. I think what was missing this season was diehard fans over 1 designer and what we saw was acceptance for a few instead.

Another type of comment I’ve come across was about a lack of dramatic flare with the various presentations; the pieces were maybe a bit too RTW. In this case, people have to recognize a runway presentation is only going to include a few showstopping gowns if that is what the designer specializes in, such as Monique Lhuillier or Carolina Herrera. But take attending a show for Rebecca Minkoff, Wildfox, or Desigual, what you are going to see are pieces much like we saw with this finale, looks that are more wearable, RTW. Taking in a presentation, you still have to be mindful of who the designer is. And to me, based off who these designers are, I think the presentations stayed true to that and there were still many highlights. Remember, highlights don’t always come in the packaging of bells & whistles, sometimes it’s in the details or the subtleties.

But getting back to the runway shows at hand, here are my thoughts based on the judges’ placements for this final 4, first up, the winner, Sean!

I’m definitely a fan of this collection and happy for Sean’s big win! He not only stuck to who he was a designer, but he also told a great story in that of the betrayal of Caesar. Each moment was perfectly encapsulated in the various looks, whether it was the betrayal in black or the bloodshed in bright orange. The looks were not over-the-top in dramatic flare or with volume, but rather, it was his understated and detailed work that was truly mesmerizing. From the perfect fit to the great movement, Sean truly did a fantastic job with this collection.

There were so many great pieces, so above and below are just a few of my faves. Yes, many of Sean’s looks worked with fringe, but it wasn’t as it if the fringe effect was the same from piece to piece. He definitely mixed it up with this design technique from fringe all over a floor-length dress to jumpsuits to just a dangling few strands draping down the back. It really created such great movement, very much catching the viewer’s eye as the pieces came down the runway

The draping also created for some lovely, flowing movement. I too loved how regal and sophisticated these looks were. There was such a refined and elegant sophistication. Any woman would want to wear these pieces because of how luxe they looked, very high quality work.

Shout-out: Mary Kay beauty look, nude lip, shimmery silver eye. Still not a fan of the slicked back look, but it wasn’t too distracting!

Whether it was looks in black, white, or the burnt orange, this luxurious quality was maintained throughout. No piece felt lacking in this chic, sophisticated vibe.

A truly fascinating facet of Sean’s fringe detailing was when the fringe was done in 2 colors. The way it moved and mixed was a stunning and eye-catching detail!

The judges felt a look or 2 was not at the same level as the others. But clearly his innovative, fresh take, as well as creativity was enough for the judges to give him the win. They were able to envision his growth and potential. I’m not sure as we heard Zac say that the decision was so “crystal clear” between Sean & Amanda. But either winning would have been well deserved.

Amanda should certainly feel proud of herself for a job well done. She came back for redemption this season, a do-over, a 2nd chance. And while winning would have been the ultimate redemption, 2nd place is still a pretty decent result. To me, Amanda has the most clear design aesthetic and I think she really could have built this big brand she had mentioned upon winning. I really hope she can still make this happen and hopefully not winning will not deter her or keep her too far off track.

Her looks were all boho chic, effortless and easygoing. I think she heeded the judges’ advice. Her looks were not all hippie basic, they were modern and sophisticated for her aesthetic. Her work with color-blocking, use of prints, mixing of texture, such as with leather and suede, were all top-notch. This knit eye-print was probably my least favorite aspect of her collection, but when paired with a vest as seen below, it worked for me. So breaking up the full length knit dress was 100% the right decision!

The judges were not a fan of the look below, but I disagree. It again demonstrated Amanda’s ability to make her aesthetic work with a mix of fabrics and textures. It was the escalated level of the boho vibe the judges were wanting. It was more than just a long flowy maxi.

Amanda was right when she said there was just the right amount of color in her collection. If Sean was able to make use of only some burnt orange, than Amanda’s vibrant pops of bright blue and red are just as sufficient. Both of Amanda’s shades of blue looks were totally to die for. I WANT THEM BOTH NOW! It may not seem as if these looks were that extravagant, but this type of look can easily be dressed up or down. And when dressed up, it would create a wow factor.

Amanda really showed she could work with not only dresses, but just as well with separates. And again, the color blocking, missing of fabrics, specifically the work with leather, I was impressed.

I’m not sure what the pinpointed moment was with the decision between Amanda and Sean. I did feel as if they maybe were more in love with her jewelry perhaps, than her collection. Not that this is a bad thing, but PR is supposed to be about the garments. I thought they saw her more with a clear vision, focused brand, big future, but maybe not quite as fresh or innovative as they saw with Sean’s work. In any event, the judges had a hard decision here, quite tough, but I think they still thought a lot of Amanda’s work, as did I!

Next up, let’s discuss Kini’s practically re-worked collection. I mean for someone who had so much re-working, re-thinking to do over a 10-piece collection, and in less than 2 days to do it all in, this was pretty amazing considering the circumstances. I guess the point that lingered with the judges is they still had to point him somewhat in this direction so this likely counted him out for the win. I think Kini re-made only a few pieces, but the rest was just a matter of re-styling, re-pairing. He may still have a little way to go in the judges’ eyes, but I have 0 doubts he will get there!

Kini definitely gave us some flare with the volume and some more formal looks. Take for example this denim and neoprene mermaid gown below. To make denim feel so luxe, Kini clearly has a talent with this. I’m not the hugest fan of denim, but Kini is doing a great job on making me RE-THINK this opinion!

This flirty feminine frock below was probably my most fave of his pieces. It was super-cute and fun. I could see a ton of girls wanting to rock this look. And the point that will still be of such talk, such attention, is that it’s DENIM! The pleats, the volume, and the perfect execution all lend to the fact that Kini is still a top notch designer, despite his not winning PR.

Emmy pointed out a great note in that Kini did take direction well, both in terms of styling the looks and the beauty look with hair & make-up. He took it and was able to execute what was needed to make the necessary improvements to his collection. The high ponytail may have not worked universally for every look, but the Mary Kay beauty look was great, vast improvement from the way too dark smoky eye from last week!

I think the youthfulness vibe was always underlying with Kini’s pieces, it was just a matter of styling. His newer pieces did really amp that level up a few notches though. I’m still amazed at how great Kini’s quickly made leather shorts were, as seen above, far surpassing the shorts from Char’s graphic print piece, which she had way longer to work on. So all in all, job well done to Kini and I can’t wait to see more from him in the future!

And finally, we have Char to discuss. I still stick with my original notion in that she was not quite ready for her fashion week showing as a finalist. Even had she not made a top 4 finale, she would have still presented. But in terms of the prime-time viewing, compared to her fellow designers, the work, the design, the pieces were just not at the same level.

Take for example a few things we saw during the episode. She had to scrap just as many, if not more looks than Kini. On top of this, she was nowhere near Kini’s level of speedy sewing. Because of this, she ended up keeping a look that still had many fit and execution issues. Even up until pretty close to the start of the runway, she was still sewing, having model fittings, and the like. It just all showed in her final presentation she wasn’t quite ready.

I feel as if the judges knew what kind of designer Char is, but she might not know quite yet. That or she isn’t able to fully execute looks that are encompassed under her design aesthetic. There really was not any cohesion amongst these pieces. I’m not sure why Tim bothered saying there was. To me, everything was scatterbrained, a little all over the place. There were a few good pieces in the midst, but the lack of cohesion and poor execution really kept Char out of the running for the win.

And once again, here is what Sean has in store for him with this big win!

$100,000 from Red Robin to launch their business and the opportunity to design a fashion accessory for all Red Robin servers
a complete sewing and crafting studio from Brother International Corporation
a premiere entertainment center, courtesy of Samsung
a fashion spread in Marie Claire magazine
a car from Lexus
from Mary Kay, an entire year’s worth of beauty products for their fashion shows and professional makeup artist services for their debut show
a shoe and accessory collection from ALDO to help enhance their upcoming runway shows
Best Western International will also provide the winner travel and hotel accommodations to fashion capitals and inspiring locations around the world
The winning model will also appear in the winner’s fashion spread in Marie Claire magazine.

UNTIL NEXT SEASON!! CAN’T WAIT! AND AS ALWAYS, I WILL BE BLOGGING ABOUT PRAS!!

Fashion Nexus

A fashion blog for anything & everything fashion, including fashion law topics

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A fashion blog for anything & everything fashion, including fashion law topics

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