dialyn

Is it possible people don't buy the outfits to wear but as a kind of investment that might increase in value over time? I realize that may sound like a long shot but it's a thought.

I live in a neighborhood with a lot of old hippie types, but they mostly wear tie dyed t-shirts, beads, and blue jeans. Must be a regional thing.The women who wear dresses almost always wear something that is pretty light weight (I live in a warm weather state). No one wears anything as heavy looking as what Amanda designs.

That's right. I forgot. Thank you for clarifying that for me. I got muddled.

I could be wrong but I thought that's what happened with the pastor's girlfriend (the one that's pregnant). She appeared, she disappeared, she reappeared.....was she killed a second time? Apologies ahead if I mixed things up (it wouldn't be the first time).

I'm thinking it could be that it's not something they necessarily actually did but something they feel guilty about (Jacob felt he should have saved Barbara). Frankly, I don't buy any explanation the grandmother comes up with. That whole idea that convincing the Returned aren't wanted will make them go away doesn't really make any sense at all -- certainly not when some of them disappear without dying and then reappear (they regain the will to live in the ether?), and there was a whole plot line (apparently abandoned now along with Maggie's friend) about how the samples from the Returned also disappeared (how would that relate to the will to live?). I also don't buy the idea they come back in order to be punished (in some cases, the living seem more punished than the Returned). Frankly, the more everyone is manipulated by the grandmother, the more like a soap opera this whole thing is getting. Disappearing is the writers' way of sending someone up a stairway and not have them come back down again unless they are needed for a plot convenience.

But they say some version of this every season. Why are we so surprised? Some seasons are better than others, but clearly every season is not superior to every season before it, so they regularly dissemble to make this season group seem better than they actually are. Since we know that from season to season, why pretend otherwise? I believe they also do that every year. It's part of the deal.

There is still the Blogging Project Runway which often has follow ups on the designers as well as commentary, and a tricky April Fool's day joke here and there. I don't know why I keep watching Project Runway--it is a frustrating experience at times. Maybe I just have too much time on my hands.

Well, you're right. A valid alternative. Thank you.

I'm not sure what they could say that would satisfy anyone. "You all are the worse designers ever?" or "You all are so bad you'd have to reach up to be mediocre?" They weren't that bad....it's just that they weren't that good, and part of the reason they weren't that good was a combination of poor advice, short time frames, really stupid challenges, and stress. Does anyone want to admit that after they picked the contestants, the contestants didn't meet expectations? The fact is some of the most disappointing designers had decent designs in their portfolios. If you are trying to be inspirational, you certainly don't tell your finalists, "You're getting a trophy for being average!" but that seems to be exactly what happened. Were they the best designers ever in the history of Project Runway? No, not to my taste, but is the answer to say, "we're awarding nothing because you all are so untalented." While that would be an original approach, I don't see it happening. What they could do, and won't, is create an environment where the designers have a chance to be at their best instead of their worst, but then the people who like to jeer wouldn't be happy with people working to their strengths because they wouldn't be quite as easy to be made fun of as are the people revealing their weaknesses on television. This is almost a no win, no win situation. Pretty sad. I probably will watch the reunion but I'm not reading the forum afterwards because I know it will be an unpleasant experience. I haven't decided about the All Stars yet. Might be another forum miss for me.

Tim is often effusive when he talks up the designers at the end. That's just his way. When he stands with the designers as they look at the fashions go down the runway, he talks as if each one was the clear winner and reinforces whatever positives the designer has to say. And I do think they are trying to make project Runway seem more significant than it is. I think Heidi said this was the best runway show they ever had. Really? Can that be said with a straight face? But she looked perfectly serious when she said it.

It's funny that Kini wears lots of color in his personal wardrobe but seems so restricted in his colors when he makes his clothes. He and his partner Dinko Satta have created collections under their business name of KINIandDINKO, and it looked to me as if there was more of an infusion of color and lightness to the clothes (though much of Kini's basic designs are there, of course) which affirms my suspicion that Kini works best with a partner who can contribute some creative ideas. I'm not a fringe kind of person, but I thought Sean's fashions walked the best on the runway....the fringe and/or fluid fabrics add movement and life to the garments. Of course they aren't street wear. I rarely see anything on a runway that could practically be worn in real life. One big reason fringe isn't practical: cats. Enough said. But in the never-never land of fashion where we pretend any of this is important, it is all about the fantasy and Sean is the only one that came close to delivering that. His collection stood out from the other three. I'm not surprised he won. I'm not part of the Amanda fan club so I know ahead of time I tend to be very hard on her. I didn't care for her jewelry or her clothes or her color choices. It just seemed more of the same and I was underwhelmed. Amanda will succeed in her way because she just keeps doing what she does--I'm sure she'll keep turning up on variations of Project Runway and other shows because Amanda is really all about selling Amanda the brand. Nothing wrong with that. That is what our society is all about these days. For me, that brand is pretty boring but I realize other people would disagree. Char knows her niche and she has no intention of breaking free of it. I think she accomplished what she set out to do. Not everyone wants the same things out of fashion and Char is going to go her own way. Good for her. So it wasn't a spectacular season but I'm not going to have problems with my blood pressure over the way it ended.

Well, it wasn't the worst thing I've ever seen (though I'm not really into precocious children). Sadly it was another ridiculous short deadline challenge with the dreaded second item added. On the other hand a contest of basically one day with $25,000 worth of prizes is not a bad. The only thing I can think is if they decide to cancel the show early, it will be easier with each episode standing on its own. I was surprised at the winner (especially since his assistant was fairly useless) but I've learned judges and I do not see eye-to-eye. The judges were kind and encouraging to the youngsters, who actually do seem to have some talent. Aside from Christian Sirano (who I think signed up for the entire series and not just one episode) and Kelly Osborne (who I would never take fashion advice from), I didn't really know who the rest of the crew was (not my age group). The young designers might be a little annoying but not any more so than any of the adult designers on "Project Runway." I don't feel all warm and fuzzy about youngsters designing sexy adult clothes but that's the culture we live in and that's more my problem than theirs. The designs seemed so old that I realized that I would have liked to seen them design something for their own age group, but I don't think the young designers from this week would have enjoyed that. The jet setter would have been particularly disdainful of that approach--there is such a thing as being too worldly (she is already planning world wide domination with her clothing shops so what do I know?). Oh, well. I'm not sure I'll watch again but it was no bigger waste of time than was, oh, let's say, "Under the Gunn" or this last season of "Project Runway."

It crossed my mind that the finale with the theme of knights might be quite a challenge for Dina. Of course there could be ladies of the court, but if she has to tackle decking out a knight, will she be able to pull it off? My favorite moment was when Dina tried on the mantis wings and she looked back to see how it was moving....she looked like a little green fairy. What I was taken by with the mantis is how true to looking like a mantis it was and yet it managed to look feminine (yes, I know it was a female mantis but that's not quite what I mean). No matter what happens in the finale, I cannot imagine Dina not finding work in the field after this.

I think Sandhya is the real deal. I don't know her, but I've met people like her who have over-the-top self-confidence and optimism and sunny personalities. To someone like me who has a bit of angst in her soul, it can feel a little false but that has to do with me and nothing to do with them. There is nothing that I've seen about Sandhya (looking at reviews and her own site) that indicates anything but consistency. So I am with leighdear...I don't think she'd waste time being a spoiler. They may have been glad to have found her in the group interviewing for the show, but I don't think she was dragged in. My problem with Sandhya has never been her personality....I just didn't like what she produced for the challenges (with one exception, I think). She completely won me over with her lighthearted exchange with Sean. They were so comfortable with each other and he felt safe gently teasing her, and I think her response was a true one. That's just who she is.

Funny, I take her humility as being genuine. Some people truly are humble about their gifts, talents and/or skills. I find it refreshing myself.

I thought the judges were very generous in their assessments. If Dina's beautiful mantis had not been in the mix, then I might have understood their comments better, but hers was so much more refined than the rest. Once I got used to it, I got to like Cig's yeti creature and it seemed to deserve the second spot. Drew's sloth had a lot of problems (and I said it before the episode and I will say it again, sloths no matter how big are just not that scary and the burn makeup was unsuccessful). But I thought the one they were really kind to was George. It looked like a giant mess to me, but the judges were able to find kind things to say about it. A class act group. The knight theme for the finale could be a bit of a challenge for the remaining contestants...that doesn't necessarily fit into either beauty (for Dina) or monsters (for Cig and Drew). Personally I think it is going to come down to Dina and Cig, since Drew, nice guy that he is, seems to be faltering. I would think Dina would win unless she has a complete breakdown (she is so clever and focused that I don't see that happening), but Cig has been known to surprise so I'm not counting him out.

Wouldn't he still have to move out of the main house and to wherever the defeated contestants go? Other shows don't return the contestants back to their original homes but have them stay nearby until the finals are over.

Just for me, my goal is to try to focus on the fact that this is still supposed to be a contest of designs and it is the fashions I'd rather see criticized instead of personal attacks on people we don't actually know. Count me not on board the bully train.

Fred goes through some pretty drastic personality changes, but I think this episode's version is the most tolerable one. Hated, hated, hated the aging Lothario / the wife abuser / the town drunk / the hysteric bigot (in regards to the resurrected). The actor must be afraid to open his script each week since he never knows which direction his character is going (or maybe he just sees it as another acting challenge and a job).

I'm sure everyone noticed that Season 8 is going to have past winners become mentors. I hope this doesn't mean Mr. Westmore is retiring. Have to believe having Laura Tyler, Anthony Kosar or Rayce Bird mentoring would be very helpful, especially to those who haven't had as much training as others. Of course that depends on how open they are to advice. Consider the results Dina has been able to achieve, working with Anthony certainly hasn't hurt her.

I know we're not supposed to compare this series to the supposedly unrelated (but nearly parallel) French version but it feels to me as if the French version was trying to build a more ominous atmosphere, with the resurrected being more of a threat as they gradually fall apart and become more desperate, and the story became tighter toward the end (I don't know if there will be a second season) whereas this version seems to be moving toward the bickering universe of reality television where combatants talk more about what they are going to do rather than actually doing it and the story has broadened out so much that I personally am having difficulty staying interested in keeping track of all the threads. The dinner seemed a clumsy way of getting through some exposition but did we need it to understand the poisonous dynamics? The apology could have been made without it. Grandmother is manipulative and destructive. Got that. A large amount of previously unexpressed anger was released but even that didn't make much sense....no where had Lucille expressed the notion that her son was killed by Barbara when, so far, the story was that he died while trying to save her (I guess the idea she lost 30+ years of his life and resents Barbara for that overlooks the fact that Barbara also lost 30+ years of seeing her daughter grow up, but many people are irrational in grief). If the grandmother knows how to get rid of selected resurrected, than why doesn't she just do it? Why bother to move the bones....to ensure they would be found? In what universe does it seem a good idea to rebuild a defunct furniture factory just to make resurrected grandmother happy (haven't they figured out, that's not going to do it). Must be money in that family because that's one expensive, not to mention doomed, project. Then there are the women connected to Pastor Tom (his wife is either going for sainthood or preparing a takeover of the baby). I suppose we'll find out, maybe, why some of the resurrected get sick and others don't, but I'm getting to the point of not caring very much as the body count mounts up. I still can't quite reconcile the inconsistency of how people appear in different parts of the world in one part of the story, and in the same place in others (logic, I don't need no stinkin' logic). I wouldn't mind so much if I didn't have the feeling that the writers are now making this up as they go along rather than having an overall plan that will eventually make sense. So many balls in the air--some are going to come down with a thud. I keep on watching, but I'm not sure why. Edited to correct that I completely mixed Barbara and Maggie up. I do not know why.

That was my favorite part, actually. It establishes the relationship between Bruce and Alfred with a nice bit of subtlety. I don't mind Bruce being a child genius, somehow. I think the young fellow they have playing Bruce is good in the role, and not nearly as annoying as the dim woman who is Fish's secret weapon (really, would anyone outside of a television show be taken in by her act, even after the dubious advice she is given by Fish?). I am not a regular reader of graphic novels and/or comics so I am not well versed in the latest and greatest plot turns in the universe of Gotham, so any detours the show decides to take doesn't bother me. I have been repulsed by several new shows this year (particularly "How to commit a murder" which has no characters that aren't wallowing in corruption to some degree or another) but, for some reason, I've gotten to enjoy Gotham for its honest try at fitting the Batman canon into a setting that feels believably real and yet is not at all realistic in many regards. The characters are wrinkled and none is pure of heart, but at least they are layered with other emotions other than pure greed and ambition (okay, some of them aren't but at least there is a mix). I like the slow evolution of the stories (for example, seeing the Penguin grow layer by layer into the villain he will ultimately become). I agree that the women are pretty one dimensional, but that's often the case in action based story lines (somehow, men writers don't think women can show strength except as sexual objects). I'm still hopeful the young cat woman will be allowed more space....I love her intensity, the fluid way she moves, and how she dominates every scene she is allowed to be in. If Fish disappeared, I wouldn't miss her (a little of her is too much for me). I guess, for me, the show is my favorite of the new ones on this year...at least interesting enough to keep me watching from week-to-week which I can't say of many others. This is, I admit, the least likely show to show up on my watch list but it is starting to be one of the few I look forward to.

I completely understand that. I am so old that I have seen format after for format become obsolete....it's almost not worth it to me to buy the next new "thing" just to have a pile of stuff that I end up not watching and not being able to watch over time. Sigh. I'm not really trusting the cloud for most stuff, but I'd rather stream movies than have to stack the physical product somewhere in my shrinking abode. I just wish there was more consistency of availability. There seems to be no good reason that the Project Runway seasons are spread here, there, everywhere and nowhere.

Well, if the preview is any indication, Alyssa has the same stylist as last time, one of the designers is wearing blue lipstick, and the the producers scraped up Snookie for the judging pool. My excitement levels are not very high, but I'll hang in as long as Dmitri does.

I'd bet Nina is a "no regrets" kind of gal, because regret means you may have made a mistake and I don't think Madame would admit to that.