ThatsDarling

Pictures of the full collections and their designers have been posted here. At this point, I'm predicting that Sean wins (that's not necessarily an endorsement).

A fourth season of All Stars wrapped production recently. The cast reveal should come some time this month, but I'm almost certain Dmitry will be competing again. Is there anyone in particular that people would like to see return?

It's just a matter of having enough money. IIRC, Hernan mentioned that his grandfather backed him financially.

In other S12 news, Dom has released a collection of boxy, polyester t-shirts and dresses that appear to be stained with ink.

On season 11, Amanda seemed to be the most well-liked contestant by the other designers (and not just by the mean girls). There's a clip in which Matthew, Joseph, Tu, Daniel, and Richard sing her praises, and following her elimination she was a very helpful assistant to Daniel during his Berlin challenge. Overall, I'm led to believe she's a nice person who sometimes comes across like she's trying too hard. I also like the references she makes and think she's capable of producing great work (her Miranda Lambert outfit, duct tape prom dress with Michelle, certain looks in her NYFW collection, etc.)

The screencap posted on page 1 of this thread shows Fade at the "rainway," so he's safe for at least another week (along with Char, Sandhya, Sean, Korina, Alexander, Kini, Emily, and Amanda). Looks like Samantha is the unfortunate who gets the boot right before fashion week. Based on who was active on Twitter before pre-finale filming wrapped, it seems that Amanda, Sandhya, and Alexander may be the next to go (not necessarily in that order). I think that it would be foolish to save Char, not only because her output has been underwhelming, but because she lacks formal training and her design experience consists of making clothes for herself and her friends. I highly doubt that she can make it all the way, but it seems to me that Tim uses his save on people he likes on a personal level.

It also won an Emmy for casting. Orange was submitted as a drama to both the Golden Globes and SAG awards, earning one unsuccessful nomination at the former and zero at the latter. I'm disappointed that the show missed out on the big awards, but I don't think it would have been up for them were it categorized as a drama.

There needed to be a bottom 5 this week. Mitchell, Kristine, Emily, Korina, and Alexander all had serious issues with their garments. Also, I don't know why Alexander continues to win fan favorite; his dead eyes creep me out. A bit disappointed to see Kristine go so soon. Her dress was a disaster, but she showed great promise with her look for the 2034 challenge. It has been said by others already, but it bears repeating: Sean's dress looks like a car wash. Kini's was a bit expected, but beautifully done and would have been much more flattering, IMO.

Lisa is my favorite winner, in large part because she seemed to be one of the few hamsters who understood the show for what it was. I loved when she told Nigel during a shoot for All Stars that she was afraid to take one bad photo because she suspected it would be the one selected for judging. She was also on The Tyra Show years ago and said that she knew a black girl wouldn't win Cycle 5 because of racial politics (there had already been two African American winners in a row). Tyra was pissed, the crowd applauded, and it was glorious. She can also take fantastic photos. I also like Ann, Yoanna, the Nicoles, and Danielle. I admire the success Jaslene and Brittani have enjoyed post-ANTM, but their personalities on their respective cycles turned me off to them.

Tim Gunn said in a recent interview that pre-finale filming for this season finished on July 25. Many of the designers were active on social media prior to then (those still competing are not allowed Internet access), and Amanda hosted a premiere screening in Nashville on the 24th. Kini, Korina, Fade, Char, Emily, and Sean didn't start tweeting until later, so I'm thinking they may be finalists.

@angelasum, I thank you so much for very thoughtful responses to our questions. All the best to you!

Zac liked Amanda's look, but noted that it wasn't the most imaginative and that he saw something like it on a Cavalli runway. He said Kini's was a "winning" look, but Nina thought designers on previous seasons had already produced something similar (it looked to me like a dress Viktor Luna would have made). I pay way too much attention to what these people say.

In the first episode, Nina seemed to prefer Amanda and Char to Sandhya, noting their far superior construction. It seems to me that Zac is the most influential judge after Heidi, so I was surprised that Kini didn't win. I think Amanda is getting set up for a major downfall. Watch her keep doing her thing and the judges' suddenly decide that they hate it (see their overreaction to her problematic but not terrible look last week). This is the first garment of Sandhya's that I kind of liked. I also appreciated Korrina's look, though I agree with Zac (for once) that the motorcycle jacket has been done to death. I would wear it (™ vapid guest judge), but it's hardly a fresh or creative look for a design competition.

So nice to hear from you, Angela, and what a great attitude to have! I appreciated your work and look forward to seeing more from you. If you don't mind, I would be interested in learning your thoughts on the judges. Specifically, who do you think provided the most thoughtful feedback on your work? Was Zac as mean as he appears? And how did you feel about Tim pressuring the judges to eliminate you during the deliberation ("this look needs to be euthanized!") A few of us thought that was very inappropriate coming from a mentor.

Much was made of the Emilio-Seth Aaron rivalry, but my favorite designer was Mila. Her Bryant Park collection looked the most modern and polished of the finalists', IMO. Interestingly, I remember Tim Gunn insinuating that the judges narrowed it down to Mila and SA for the win, but dismissed her first from the runway after they decided on SA. Apparently, they were hoping to get a bigger reaction from Emilio.

I liked S11, in large part because this group seemed relatively mature compared to other seasons' casts. Michelle, Kate, and Layana were judgmental bitches at times and Daniel and Richard could be quite passive aggressive, but overall I didn't really dislike anyone. It also felt like it was anyone's game, which was nice. I'm curious to hear of what people thought about Michelle's non-elimination towards the end of the season. On one hand, I can see why they decided to keep a strong designer, but it also struck me as unfair to the designers who followed the rules of the challenge to keep someone who disregarded them.

This has to be my least favorite cast in the history of the show. We had rageaholics (Ken, Sandro) cliquish mean girls (Helen, Dom, Kate), bitter drama queens (Jeremy, Alexander), designers with major taste and/or construction issues (Sue, Karen, Dom), and people who just couldn't make it work under the constraints of Project Runway (Miranda, Timothy). And then there was Tim, insisting that this was the finest bunch yet and seemingly encouraging the abominable behavior displayed on the reunion special. Out of all the heinous designers who have appeared on PR, I think Helen takes the cake for wishing death on Tom and Lorenzo and obsessively hating Alexandria.

This. I think Irina got the mean girl edit, in part, because there weren't any true villains on her season. She also made what I consider to be one of the best finale collections in the history of Project Runway: I still think it's a shame that Gordana is the only fourth place-finisher who did not get to show at fashion week, especially when they had seven decoys for S7.

It's not; the judges are full of crap.

The designers will show their collections the first week of September. I wish that Tim would stop opining during the judges' deliberation. If Heidi is going to insist that he's not a judge, he shouldn't be talking about how Angela's design should be euthanized. I think Sandhya was given the win, in part, to anger the other designers. I liked Emily's design the best, but would have supported a Kristine win, too.

Season 5 had the strongest final two in the history of the show, IMO. Korto's collection was fabulous (with the exception of a green dress that was cut, like, a millimeter below the model's good china) and easily could have won in a different season. I loved Leanne's, too. These days it's rare to see one Project Runway collection that looks like it belongs at NYFW, but they both knocked it out of the park. I wish they could have crowned two winners and spared Korto her years-spanning mission to get the PR crown.

I loved Carrie's first design and was disappointed by her early dismissal...even more so when I noticed that she wore a Sailor Moon necklace in the last episode.

Your last sentence sums up how I felt about the vast majority of what Christian made during the competition, including his ballyhooed finale collection. It bothers me that the judges are so inconsistent when it comes to how they deal with referential designs. It was fine for Christian to emulate McQueen and Westwood, but Jillian was dinged for making a scarf that supposedly resembled Balenciaga, and Kenley was repeatedly criticized for borrowing heavily from other designers. I guess it's because the latter two lacked his "fierce" persona (which I thought was obnoxious, but many others loved).

I think that Tim's ego is way too big for him to ever acknowledge that he made a mistake. He brands himself as a keeper of decorum, good taste, and integrity and gets very angry when anyone questions that persona (like when Alexander insinuated he was associated with a rigged competition). I didn't watch Under the Gunn, but I remember Tim displaying questionable behavior long before then. In one of the early seasons, he said one of the models was "shaped like a marshmallow," and he's been very vocal about disliking certain contestants. He went on and on about his antipathy to S4's Victorya and S7's Emilio's in the press, which struck me as rather unprofessional coming from a mentor. I want to see him replaced on Project Runway, but I know that's not going to happen. Instead, I would like for his influence to be reduced, which would hopefully humble him a bit.

If you're a male fan favorite from the Lifetime era, that is. ;) I agree with many of the posters that the judging panel needs to be shaken up, but I would drop Zac before Nina. They're both humorless and make questionable decisions, but I find that she tends to be more thoughtful and has more sophisticated taste.