stormy weather

well, this was so much bettah than season 13 of US Drag Race!

I'm not sure I like this format with the two separate groups. But now I get why some of the choices Ru made in the first episode's endless (read: ultra boring) battle of the lip-syncs didn't make any sense at the time, and it's because she wanted to form two groups that were sort of balanced talent and personality-wise. I was ready to call it quits when Ru announced over a loudspeaker that Elliott had to go home, and not because I particularly like Elliott but because it would've been completely unfair. In general I didn't and I still don't understand this whole shenanigan of the alternate episodes and this separation into groups. What is the ultimate goal here if it looks like they're gonna do the same exact challenges but 6 at the time instead of 13? And how long will they remain 13 since no one was eliminated this episode which leads me to think no one will be sent packing in the next episode either? Aaaagh, why! Kandy is so mean. And I didn't like that other queens sided with her against Elliott on the basis of what exactly, they had literally just met her. Olivia is such a sweetheart but Simone deserved to win. I think she's gonna go pretty far in the competition.

Exactly! Gigi was robbed! I'm not saying a queen must be funny, what I meant is that it would be better if she was talented in more than one category. Violet was not hilariously funny but she was funny nonetheless. I was never a fan of Bebe, plus she won Season 1, when the format of the show wasn't as structured and established as it has become, I don't think she would win a season now. Yvie Oddly did poorly in the snatch game, that's true, but she was funny in other challenges and she had a huge personality. I don't know, it seems to me that a sense of humour has always been appreciated on the show, and overall I'd rather go see a queen who gives me a little bit of everything instead of someone who can only do one thing.

Rita HAS to win this competition. She can sing, she can sew, she's a decent dancer and she is just hilarious. I get it that her style of comedy might not be appreciated by most, but that 80's apres-ski look with drunk Tonya Harding vibes was everything. I would buy tickets to see that show every day. I also adored her in all the mini challenges (especially the one where they had to sing the national anthem and she fell asleep), and overall I think she's the most "complete package" of the three, so I really hope she wins. Scarlet is and has been kind of meh for me for the entire season. I don't love her and I don't hate her, but surely I did not expect to see her in the final three. Her ice queen eleganza look was horrible, she looked like she had 5 pounds of random ornaments hanging from her face and the entire outfit was just a mess. I was shocked Michelle Visage praised it (although I never agree with her on regular Drag Race either, so there's that). Priyanka's talking heads are to die for and she's adorable, but for some reason she managed to never be funny in the comedy challenges, which is a problem. Plus that paper skirt looked like something a 5 year-old could do. Better. Anyway, my ideal top three would've been Rita, Priyanka and Lemon, so I can say I'm 2/3 happy. Rita for the win!!

I'm happy with this final trio (which was quite obviously the only possible outcome of this season), although I feel the producers had a hand in that. From what Cracker said on multiple occasions, it seemed like she was ready to get rid of the person who posed the biggest threat in her race for the crown, and that person is clearly not Blair. I think she was going to pull a Naomi Smalls and eliminate Shea and then the producers made her change her mind or plainly told her "don't". Or maybe I'm just conspiracy theoring and Cracker actually really chose Blair because she knows she's not exactly a fan favorite and choosing Shea would only make things worse for her reputation. Who knows. The one thing that's for sure is that that lipsync was painful to look at, but to be honest the song was awful and it would've been hard for anybody to do a good job.

Oh, okay. Thanks! I usually don't watch Untucked for All Stars seasons but I guess I should. I suspected that would be the case though.

I'm actually okay with Alexis leaving before Blair. I mean, RuPaul's Drag Race is a competitive show, there can only be one winner and every season we pretty much figure out who the two (sometimes three) top contestants for the title are within the first two episodes (sometimes even halfway through the first), so for the other ones it's just a matter of time before going home. We know it and they know it. In this All Stars season, especially, I can't possibly believe anyone (except Alexis) could be so delusional they thought they had a shot at winning the crown against Shea and Jujubee, so I honestly don't understand all the drama and conspiracy around eliminations, especially at this point where all the queens remaining have had their fair share of airtime already. Nonetheless it will be interesting, next week, to see how many queens voted for Alexis. I guess the fact Blair was generally a nicer person than Alexis might have added some weight to their decision. I wholeheartedly agree, someone NEEDS to give Jujubee her own show, I'd watch it religiously and give the DVD box set to everyone I know for Christmas. Shea was alright but, again, her look didn't match what the request for the runway was. Why did she come out dressed as a bride when the category was "backyard ball eleganza"? It's these kind of things that convince me Juju is an all-around better candidate for the All Stars crown.

I think she knows beforehand who's planning on doing who, just like I think the queens are told in advance what questions will be asked during snatch game so they can prepare a few jokes. But I might be wrong in one or both cases. I thought the exact same thing! She's hilarious and should be a full-time stand-up comedian. I love her sense of humour, it's very clever and subtle. Her prom dress was PERFECT, she always delivers exactly what the challenge/"category is" asks for, and she deserves to win this All Stars. Plus, we share a birthday, so of course she's my favorite! Shea's outfit was iconic and beautiful and everything, but the category was "prom", not "TBT" so I'm sorry but she should've stuck to the theme and just for that (because her Flavor Flav was amazing), the win should've gone to Jujubee. Alexis' dress was super banal and I don't understand how they criticized Cracker's dress and then praised Alexis', because for me they both belonged in the same category of basic, unimaginative and trite. Other than that, it was high, high, high time India went home. I honestly don't know how she 1. was even selected and 2. made it past the first episode. Also, I'm far from being a fan of Alexis, but I think India lied. What I think happened is that Alexis might have made a snarky comment in her and Mayhem's presence about voting for Shea and India blew it up into it being an explicit request from Alexis to vote for Shea. Someone should ask Mayhem.

Yes, that I understand, and it actually happens more often than not, but the same exact person? Nah. They could've for sure found someone who could pass as Wes and Laurel's son without him having to be the actual Wes, so I think it was a conscious choice on their part to get Alfred back for the last episode, otherwise it really makes zero sense.

I thought Eve was given too much screen time on the series finale for being a secondary character, but then I figured with Tegan and Annelise's family gone, I don't know who else could've spoken at her funeral (although this also means in 30+ years she hadn't made any new friends who knew her better than an ex-wife of 40 years prior, and that's sad). I might be the only one, but it really bothered me that they had Alfred Enoch play Christopher. I understand maybe the writers wanted Alfred to come back for the last episode, or if there was some other reason for this choice that was explained somewhere at some point please tell me, but I found it unnecessary, borderline sci-fi (what son is an exact clone of his father IRL?) and also super confusing! When he first entered the church I thought it was Wes' ghost that Laurel had kept seeing all those years, and since this is Shonda Rhymes (Grey's Anatomy, anyone?), I honestly wouldn't put it past her. So Frank, forever scarred by the reveal and by his life in general, is mad at Bonnie and the whole world so he goes and shoots... the Governor? umm, okay.

Onna-bugeisha (literally "female warrior", so technically not female samurai) and geisha (literally "person of the art") are of course two different things with different roles. I have to say though that if you look up pictures of onna-bugeishas they often have the same hairstyle and makeup as geishas, so I think the red lips and that particular hairdo were more of a traditional Japanese style for women in general than specifically for geishas. I might be wrong of course. Now, whether Sergio knew that or not when he decided to go for that classic style for his model, that's another story. (and I'm guessing not)

As much as I love Marquise and think he's the only one who deserves and would truly benefit from that CFDA mentorship, I have to admit his design wasn't so great. I loved the choice of silver, but all those eyelets and buttons were distracting and the sleeveless shirt underneath the jacket was too long. Maybe if he had styled the pants in a different way (sneakers, a shirt tucked in instead of that long vest and the silver jacket on top) it would've looked a bit more cool. Brittany, what can I say, I sort of liked the color and the shape (hi Dave) of the jacket but the dress underneath it looked like my grandma's easter tablecloth, made into a cylinder and slipped onto a model. And dear lord those plastic butterflies were SO tacky. So yes, bye Brittany. Geoffrey and Nancy deserve to be in the finale, and thank goodness they both got there. Sergio... yeah sure there's his personality, his "I'm a political designer, I'm so much better than everyone else, I don't need mentorship, in my eyes I've already won and bla bla bla" but man, that dress was faaaaantastic. I loved it. The craftsmanship, the colors he chose, the cut. The "geisha" aesthetics is a very powerful one and yes, it's been done before, but he still put his twist on it and come on, it was tailored to perfection and it would've been a crime not to have him in the finale, especially when the same finale also includes VICTORIA. Now, I guess I've said enough about Victoria since I've proper hated every single outfit she put on the runway since episode 1 and I mentioned more than once how the judges' (and especially Nina's) adoration of her made me question their mental sanity, so I won't add anything to that if not that 1. she should've gone home (a long, long time ago), and there should be only three finalists and 2. she'd better not win this thing.

(This, for clarity, was the answer to a comment made by Pepper Mostly: "I am astonished that Nina, particularly, is snowed by her [Victoria]." Sorry I can't figure out how to quote both) If that was true, I'd be even more worried because I can't imagine a scenario where the CFDA would want someone like Victoria to join its ranks. This is what I really can't figure out: at the time of writing, there are 182 posts on this topic. I read them all. Out of all the posts where Victoria was mentioned, I'd say 99% of the times it was to say how boring/ugly/tawdry/trashy/cheap/repetitive her style was and how she should've been gone already (which I wholeheartedly agree with). Now, what I don't understand is how is it possible that 99% of people here don't like her but 100% of the judges do (at least the little that's enough to keep her on until now)? It's statistically impossible! What are they doing?! Who's behind this?! Did they think viewers would agree with them when they taped the show? We want the truth! Oh my days, I think you're on to something! Do you think Victoria's husband is bribing the judges? 'Cause at this point I'd rather that was the case, since the only other explanation left for their adoration of Victoria is that they're visually impaired. Kidding not kidding.

I'm glad they didn't send anyone home out of respect for the kind of challenge it was, but seeing those amazing women was the ONLY good thing about this episode. All the dresses were tacky and poorly fabricated, and when they came down the runway they all looked like unfinished prototypes of what would later be embellished, decorated, hemmed, re-made in a better fabric and given some personality. Except that "later" never came, and those athletes got stuck with poor excuses for what should've been their "dream dresses". Out of all of them, Nancy's was the only one I would've saved, and I'm happy she won. She put a lot of thought into the design and Tatyana looked gorgeous. At this point I think the only possible explanation for them adoring Victoria as much as they do is that there's something about her clothes that makes them look good "live" but doesn't translate well on TV. I'm serious. I refuse to think these "professionals" can look at that piece of plain and badly constructed thing that was waaaay too short on one side (when the athlete said "I could wear this to dinner with my parents and then go dancing" I was like "wow, good for you, if I went out for dinner with my parents in that outfit my mother would send me back home to get changed the minute I step inside the restaurant) and had something that looked like the kitchen rag I hang on the side of my pants to keep it at hand while I'm cooking on the other, and put it in the top two! It's preposterous! Last week her outfit left me so speechless I couldn't even post a comment on the forum but man, every week, just when one thinks it couldn't possibly get worse, she still somehow manages to surprise me. Oh well, I guess that could be considered a talent, too.

I honestly don't know whether I'm more mad at Victoria for being Victoria or at the judges for being either so blind and completely devoid of taste or so morally weak and passionless about their jobs that they let producers tell them what to say and who to save even when it's so blatantly wrong and unjust. I think Nina Garcia should be fired from her job at Elle. I'm not kidding, she is in-sane for praising that monstrosity of a dress and thinking it would make for a good editorial. I wouldn't let that dress near any fashion magazine I know of. Or any magazine, period, actually. Pepper Mostly said her screams when they announced Victoria was safe could be heard from miles away, mine literally woke up my boyfriend in the other room. I just can't get over the fact she keeps doing whatever she wants to do regardless of what the task is (David Bowie jumpsuit for the heritage challenge, 75% white outfit for the pattern challenge, this super-cheap looking, not-sheer, bursting at the seams pale yellow eyesore with that horrid huge flap in the front for the sheer challenge) and the judges still give her a pass every single time. Come on, they know there's no way she didn't understand what sheer meant. Apart from Geoffrey and Nancy telling her and Karlie wearing it when the challenge was announced, Christian literally took her to the sheer fabric section at Mood. I'm sorry, but how dumb can you be to still not get it? I would understand the Mongolian word for sheer if someone led me to it, pointed it to me and said "this, sheer." She is clearly using her bad English as an excuse and it's crazy that nobody's calling her out on it. The fact they saved her actually makes me want to stop watching the show entirely, so I honestly don't understand what their strategy is in keeping her. To her husband, she forgot to add.

So I googled traditional Moldovan costumes and wow, they are SO beautiful. I'm sure if Victoria could actually conceive and assemble something other than cheap-looking stripes of fabrics held together by some sort of belt in an asymmetrical fashion she could have for sure drawn some pretty cool inspiration from them. She could have gone for a bohemian vibe: Or for a more classic, flowery kind of Dolce & Gabbana-style dress+shawl: Or yeah, she could have also made a Soviet work clothes-inspired jumpsuit or something! I mean, she had A LOT she could get inspiration from, and she did have a tablet to research it. Instead she chose to ignore the requirements completely and design a skintight suit for David Bowie circa 1974. But THANK YOU Andyourlittledog2 for mentioning and auntlada for posting that Wendy's Soviet fashion commercial video. I had never seen it before (I was 3 in 1985 when it came out) and it has now become my favorite ad of all time. Hilarious and genius!!

That one sentence made me love him even more than I already did, I'm glad they left it in after the editing. You can tell a lot about a person by just a few words like those. He will truly be missed. And please someone tell me who is Christian saving his save for if he didn't save Shavi. Except unfortunately it did. They completely fell for Sergio's fake crying, it was painful to see. That dress was ugly, exploitative and unimaginative, and Sergio's attitude towards Christian and the models is so disrespectful he should be sent home just for that, regardless of what clothes he makes. He didn't even ask the model if it was okay for her to help him embroider the skirt, he just said (his exact words, yes I went back and checked) : "I'm gonna finish this one stitch and then you're gonna help me finish these names up." EXCUSE ME?! And then he gathered more models and it turned into Project Sweatshop. I'm still convinced the judges/producers are keeping him 'cause the viewers love to hate him. After all, the judges are wearing earpieces all the time while they're discussing the clothes and I strongly doubt they're listening to their Spotify playlist. Wondered about that too! When and how did the fans vote for Chelsey's jacket? I agree. Thijin is really beautiful but she does have kind of a short neck. Maybe that jacket + the turtleneck dress were not exactly the most flattering outfit for her. Same! When they said those 4 names I thought "wow, I guess there's going to be 4 people in the top this week!". Ooookay, I guess not. Finally, Victoria. I am speechless. She keeps designing clothes for 2001 Paris Hilton. Her taste is utterly Eastern European (hello, Melania Trump), and I understand some may like it (apparently the judges, who are either constantly high or they're getting money from the Moldovan Tourism Board) but I don't. And why wasn't she speaking Romanian/Russian with her husband?

To me, the entire prerequisite of this challenge was a bit confusing. Did they say punk or 80s? Because they are two different things. Punk is Nina Hagen, Siouxsie Sioux or Lydia Lunch, and it's dark make-up, almost only black, safety pins and chains and mostly 70s. If, instead, they were referring to the more colorful, tulle and plastic accessories-ridden, big hair aesthetics pushed forward by Madonna and Cyndy Lauper, that's a whole 'nother thing, so I'm not really sure what they were asking for here. Other than that, I am now entirely convinced that the judges must be somehow visually impaired because: 1. they put Victoria in the top 3 AGAIN with the EXACT SAME outfit she has been putting out every. single. week. What's wrong with them?! Why do they love her so much? Is there something about her I'm not seeing? When Nina said she'd put Victoria's dress in an Elle editorial in a heartbeat I think I skipped a few. 2. Elaine telling Marquise the shoes with the lace anklet were "too on the nose"? They were the most 80s looking thing on the runway! Wasn't that the challenge? 3. It might be it's just me and fashion/style-wise we're just polar opposites but I disagree with almost everything that comes out of Brandon and Nina's mouth. The entire runway (except for Geoffrey's suit) was kind of disappointing. There was SO MUCH they could've done with the 80s theme and yet no one seemed to know how to go about it. Brittany's business suit with a corset was bad, Chelsey's romper was a cute idea but those outlined boobs looked like temporary stitching and fell flat (quite literally) on a boobless model. I can't believe no one on her team told Dayoung her dress was too bland before Christian did. I admired Nancy's attitude though, the other team members did leave her out on multiple occasions but she handled it well. It mustn't be easy for her. Sergio's confidence is truly unshakable and it kind of amuses me at this point to see just how far he can take it. That said, his dress was hideous and his attitude awful, but they're not sending him home anytime soon because he creates drama and people love it. Let's not forget that ↓

Hmmm I honestly can't remember whether the pillows were there from the beginning or they were added for this challenge, but I went back and rewatched the scene and there were quite a few pillows scattered on several couches in the loft, so I assume they were all there from before? I might be wrong, though. Plus, Christian mentions they can use "tree skirts, ornaments, ribbons, corn husks", which are all decorations, and nobody else used large stretches of fabric for their outfits. For sure the pillows have an African print that could be associated with Kwanzaa, but I think it's unfair that she could use real fabric for her dress when everyone else had to come up with creative ideas. Fabric is not an unconventional material! As for the link, here you go! https://www.bravotv.com/project-runway/season-18/season-18/blogs/project-runway-season-18-episode-3-recap (scroll down for runway pictures)

I thought the exact same thing. I'm not judging, I liked Karlie's dress, but maybe avoid the pot and kettle situation? That said, Tyler's dress was really way too short, and it's incredible how he didn't realize that. He could've easily adjusted the length by adding ribbons, fabric or maybe creating another stripe of those lace-like decorations he had on the top. Christian loved them and I don't know what happened to that idea he had in the beginning. I was sure they would've sent him home, but I'm okay with them eliminating Alan. He was lovely but yeah, like someone else said, he wasn't ready. Anyway, here goes my personal take on the rest! LOVED: Say what you want, I adore Marquise. Even if he was safe he made a stunning Vivienne Westwood-esque outfit that I would wear to all of the season's parties. The way he styled it with that black belt across the chest and the boots was ultra cool. And the double-layer tinsel skirt added an original touch to the classic Christmas tartan. Sergio is truly insufferable and the dress was boring but I could not believe he made it out of wrapping paper, that was incredible. I'm still waiting for him to design something other than an evening gown, though. OKAY: Nancy's dress reminded me of a priest's robe made from a curtain, but it was well tailored. Dayoung's outfit was more Princess of the Algae than anything else, but that model is gorgeous and I didn't mind the dress. Plus, that picture of baby Dayoung with her little coat and hat was so cute! Geoffrey, straight from Hewlett-Packard's 1984 office Christmas party, nothing to write home about but not bad either. NOPE: Melanie (whom I still manage to mistake for Veronica, even after she was eliminated) could have done without shredding the ribbon on the bottom of her dress, 'cause it looked like a dried corn cob. Delvin, I absolutely adore him and his quirks (also, he is the hottest contestant ever to grace this competition. Sorry but someone had to say it.) but that outfit was awful. I understand it wasn't his challenge but it felt like he didn't even try. Victoria, I really don't understand how she was in the top AGAIN. I also don't think she should've been allowed to use fabric from the pillows, that's part of the house decor, not material for the challenge. If she can use that, then everyone should've been allowed to grab curtains, tablecloths, towels, rugs and so on from the loft! Last and least, Brittany. Wow. I understand they gave her a pass because she was clearly going through a crisis and she did win the first challenge, but honestly it would've been better if she had explained her breakdown and sent nothing on the runway rather than that thing. I honestly made better paper clothes for my Barbies when I was 5. I felt sorry for the model and no, Nina, that "underarm cranberry" was NOT pretty.

I agree that they don't owe each other anything and I'm not going to say Delvin sucks for not helping. The weird thing was how the production handled this whole thing. I mean, they should've either had Dayoung sit this one out entirely or they should've guaranteed her immunity because she only had one day to make her outfit. In any case, it was obvious they were never going to eliminate Dayoung, no matter how her outfit looked (and by the way, it wasn't bad at all). I absolutely love Alan but I couldn't agree more, the whole thing looked like it came straight from the sales rack in the older women section at TJ Maxx. The fabric he used for the top looked super cheap, that color palette is terrible and the way he styled it with those snakeskin boots... I wanted to cry. The whole ensemble screamed "(50 yo) Girls' Night Out". I'm sorry but I have a feeling Alan is not long for this workroom.

I truly loved the winning outfit, I think Marquise is here to stay. He's very imaginative and an amazing tailor. Just think that it took him the same time to sew THOSE PANTS (with pockets!) plus that shirt it took Geoffrey to drape a square piece of crêpe? chiffon? around a model and add a couple buttons. More and more every season I ask myself how it is possible that Nina is the editor-in-chief of Elle. She has absolutely zero taste and for some reason the way she waves her hand when she says hi grates on my nerves! When Karlie said "relax Victoria, you're in the top" I swear to god I had to go back and re-listen. In the top?! With that thing?!! Not only it was practically the same outfit as last week, it's also something that honestly only 2003 Paris Hilton would wear, and it was soooo bad. I think Christian is the only one who understood Victoria has no talent, he hated the bag (and rightly so) and was super meh about the dress in the workroom. I would've paid to see his face when they announced she was in the top. That said, I actually loved Tyler's Tokyo outfit and don't know why they put him in the bottom. They asked for street style, he gave them street style, and the pants were pretty cool. "Saint Sergio", on the other hand, designed a proper red carpet gown, so it doesn't matter whether it was a nice dress or not, he should be in the bottom because he didn't meet the challenge's criteria. It was also like admitting he can't design anything else but gowns and fancy clothes. So l guess let's just wait and see how long it takes the judges to realize that.

I absolutely agree. I don't think Jen deserved to go home without being given another chance. Even the judges said a jumpsuit is harder to design and construct than a dress, so Jen should've been given points at least for that. Sure, it didn't fit properly and it was pretty bland, but at least it was well sewn. Asma's outfit looked like she made a very basic A-line cotton dress then picked some fabrics, cut them in some sort of shape (also leaving raw edges because she "didn't have time" to hem it), threw them on the dress and then held everything in place with a vinyl collar. Melanie really has to thank the universe for being in a team with Geoffrey (by the way, doesn't he look exactly like a younger John Malkovich?) because her jute sack dress was hideous. If they really had to do a double elimination, that's who they should've sent home with Asma. Ah, no, wait, there's also Victoria with her "this is what happens when you pull a tissue out of a tissue box and they all come out" dress that looked tied together rather than sewn. Also not a fan of the winning team, hated the asymmetric hems with the buttons, and the general feeling of the mini collection for me was a bit meh. I actually liked Dayoung and Alan's designs with the silver stripe across the chest and could not believe they were in the bottom. I think Dayoung has great aesthetics and I hope we get to see a lot more of her designs. I think the winning team should've been Tyler and Delvin (plus, his "no stress" attitude was everything. We should all learn from him!) Their red and white pieces were really good. Marquise's jumpsuit was also super cool and it would probably sell very well. Can Christian Siriano be on the panel of judges, please? He seems to be the only one who knows what he's talking about when it comes to fashion. Elaine's style and personal taste is not as bad as Heidi Klum's (who won "worst dressed" on red carpets across the globe for decades yet managed to be offered to host a fashion show), but it's a VERY close second, and her critiques are just as bad.

Exactly, and that's also why I think Margaret's and Helen's deaths had to be related (and I would've loved to know how), because if they weren't there was really no need to have them die in the same year. But EJ did say that Helen was a mother figure for him throughout his life, so we have to assume that unless Sierra moved to Montauk too, they all lived on the same coast for at least a few years. Add this to the list of things I would've rather found out instead of the useless and time consuming Joanie storyline in the future and all the other characters and plotlines that were introduced (Janelle and her husband, the return of Furkat, the Vanity Fair journalist and the whole #metoo incident etc.) and then left hanging. Yeah, I found it quite odd how none of the characters this season ever mentioned Alison or her death even in passing. It's like since Ruth Wilson left the show Alison's character never existed.

I rewatched the scene and Colin doesn't seem to mention the two events were connected. But even if they were, he also said "his dad always does this", so if it's such a routine occurrence I don't understand why his mom would miss her son's wedding because of it. Seriously though. I think the writers exaggerated Whitney's character a bit too much. Okay, we got it, she's a brat, but they way she talks to Helen is totally uncalled for and unjustifiable, it's just too much. Helen and Noah had their flaws, but as parents they were always very loving and supportive, so I seriously don't understand why Whitney would act this way towards them. It's unexplainable and she should probably see a therapist to figure out why she has all that angst pent up inside.