S02.E04: Face Off

[heckkitty]

For the first time ever, two designers face-off against each other in an all or nothing battle. Using their fellow competitors as their design and production team -- as well as their models -- the competition on the runway comes down to the wire and ends with a result no one sees coming.

I kind of hate how they obviously manufactured this whole thing to get Olivia and Ally out. Olivia was a terrible leader, but Ally seemed great. If the goal is a good business person, they could have kept Ally. But I guess it was "show us who you are", she did, and their response was "we don't like who you are".

Nobody's really watching this, it seems...

Edited July 23, 2021 by heckkitty

[dleighg]

13 minutes ago, heckkitty said:

kind of hate how they obviously manufactured this whole thing to get Olivia and Ally out.

and they made a big deal about how they "reconfigured the show" to have this "unexpected twist." But how convenient that they were to construct three looks, and "conveniently" had three "models" each from the other competitors. They acted like they couldn't get the real models back for this? How come? I think this was planned all along.

[binky101]

I fail to see the "shocking" twist in this. Olivia was haughty, self-indulgent and mean from the get-go, could not take any kind of advice, and why wall-to-wall denim as an edgy statement of fashion? Ally was miles better with leading , delegating and being an all-around considerate person, but the fashion was just not there. As someone noted, sustainable fashion can, and must be, fashion. And why just drag out your past catalogue, when the judges have said they want innovative looks? Using only one print in a sea of somewhat bland colors (though I liked the butternut) is not really innovation or risk-taking.

[chitowngirl]

2 hours ago, binky101 said:

Olivia was haughty, self-indulgent and mean from the get-go, could not take any kind of advice,

I am not going to miss her at all

So with 2 gone this episode, will we be seeing a non-elimination coming up?

Edited July 23, 2021 by chitowngirl

[raven]

2 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

I am not going to miss her at all

I'm watching this now and she's cracking me up "my parents say I'm a prodigy" *insert faux-modest eye roll* 

"It makes a difference when I'm calling all the shots"  LOL  -  hey, me too!  If only everyone would do things exactly as I want them to, my life would be so much easier.

Aw, Gary - "I can't do anything about this" - gesturing at this face.  I like Gary; he seems like a nice person.  I'm always in my own head too.

I like Brooklyn Andrea but having a meltdown doesn't help Ally - it makes it all about Andrea.   

[raven]

Ok, I admit I'm watching this in stretched out capris and a t-shirt that says "I may be cheap but I'm literate" but those were some UGLY clothes on that runway.  Not surprised they both go home.  They were both gracious on their way out though.

The designers who modeled all seemed to do a good job, though.

[dbell1]

Why do an episode featuring Olivia, her rbf and denim obsession, and competitors who can’t sew and Ally and her Lands End aesthetic? Tim seems over it and it was a bitch fest at judging.

 I hate when they make designers sew, they said last season they were not having it happen. Give me the inspiration behind their ideas, not fake drama with sewing machines and seamstresses. 
And Moschino judge can just stfu, he’s a jerk and his brand is dated.

[ArtFossil]

7 hours ago, binky101 said:

Olivia was haughty, self-indulgent and mean from the get-go, could not take any kind of advice, and why wall-to-wall denim as an edgy statement of fashion? 

As soon as Olivia said “I want them all to be in full denim” my eyes rolled so far back I really am surprised they don’t still hurt. 
 

This was Olivia’s way of showing “range” and pushing and not holding back? If she were my design student she would have gotten a blistering critique. 

[Tiggertoo]

So the idea was let’s take the two people whose worked we liked least and feature a whole episode around them?  Okay.

I’m glad they’re both gone.  Olivia is a dreadful boss, but of course she is a prodigy.  I haven’t liked anything that she’s designed.  And she seemed to be acting so immaturely during her Tim Talk.  I realize that she wanted to get back to work, but you have to fake it, at least.

Ally, you should have listened to Andrea.  You needed to elevate.  Those overalls were the most boring thing ever.  Oh, you used a polka dot print.  So out there!

I find Jeremy, the judge, very annoying.  Despite his wacky clothes, he doesn’t seem to have any fun in him.

I did like what Winnie said, about showing clothes that evoke an emotion.  I feel Olivia managed that better than Ally.

[nb360]

Can I just say, I loved this episode, especially seeing the designers model the clothes. I'm something of a fan of Olivia -- I like her quirky humor. I hope, in time, to see her back in a later competition. She got royally screwed since I think it should have been Andrea (her partner) who should have gone home.

Ally -- I'm a little torn. I thought her clothes looked great but understood what the judges were saying about "emotion." Ally's clothes look like anything you can find in a J.Jill catalog.

5 hours ago, raven said:

I like Brooklyn Andrea but having a meltdown doesn't help Ally - it makes it all about Andrea.   

Yes, I was thinking to myself: Ally needs the ten minutes (or however long it was) to work on her garments! What are you doing? That said, Brooklyn Andrea is one of my favorites, along with Gary and Olivia.

I love that the designers came together to help another designer, and I don't know if we would have seen such camaraderie on Project Runway.

[leighdear]

I can't believe they made Olivia work with Andrea again and Ally work with Andrea again.  Both of those team members PUT them in the bottom!  They just proved they could NOT successfully collaborate, so they put them back together?  That is just bulllshit. 

Olivia is an obnoxious little troll.  She looks as random and unfashionable as her clothes and has a nasty attitude.   Gary was damn smart to do the pants first, because then he had time to do the rest of his outfit and shorts for Josh.  But the designs were all stupid to me.   She was full of crap excuses.   She needed to go. 

Heidi is working my LAST NERVE with that stupid "Whoo Hoo" every time somebody walks the runway.  Just STOP! 

And OMG, do they have to say the words "My Brand" in every single sentence they utter?  ACK!  

You could tell by the end of the Tim Talk that Ally could win it.  But jeez, Andrea needed to STFU.  I can't stand her, and you don't refer to yourself as "baby girl".  Idiot.  Raf in the overalls looked like an overgrown toddler.  And I hate floaty, light dresses with clunky combat boots.  So stupid looking to me.  Not surprised they booted her too. 

I'm starting to like Josh more, and thankfully he's stopped blathering about his kids.  He & Gary are my top 2.  The rest can all leave now, Just let them compete for the rest of the shows. 

I love Jeremy Scott's tough love.  And I love his outfits, that could have come straight from Liberace's museum in Vegas!  *LOL*

[dleighg]

10 minutes ago, leighdear said:

Raf in the overalls looked like an overgrown toddler.

Indeed. And to me those overalls looked really badly fitted-- like too tight in the hips area-- and strangely "sited" on the body. And honestly, I cannot imagine a straight man wearing an outfit like that. Maybe that's fine, but it just seemed very junior and feminine. 

Edited July 24, 2021 by dleighg

[leighdear]

I'm not sure exactly where Heidi is seeing all these people in overalls these days, but we certainly aren't seeing them down here on the Florida Gulf Coast.  

Not since about 1981 that is, when we were all wearing the cream-colored canvas legit painters style overalls, bought from the uniform supply stores.  Loved the hammer loop at one side & the long ruler pocket on the other.  We wore them with long-sleeve surfer t-shirts or tank tops!  And the craftier among us would dye them with Rit Dye.  I dyed one pair pale yellow & a pair lavender.  *LOL*

I think Heidi just pretends to see things she likes. 

[akg]

I was not a fan of Olivia so I'm ok with her being gone. I liked Ally better until I remembered her aesthetic was basically stealing from Asian cultures. 

[TexasGal]

I’m so glad Olivia is gone.  We saw some variation on the jacket she put Gary in in each of her shows, I think.  It looks like a straight jacket to me.

Ally, meh.  Her designs were meh.  I don’t care that she’s gone.  She wasn’t going to win.  She definitely was a nicer person to watch than Olivia.

I love Gary.  I hope he really does get out of his own head ongoing.

[DEL901]

On 7/23/2021 at 5:37 PM, chitowngirl said:

I am not going to miss her at all

So with 2 gone this episode, will we be seeing a non-elimination coming up?

Glad to see the back of both of them.   As for the schedule, no one went home last episode, so with the (deserved) double elimination, they are back on track…4 episodes and 4 designers sent home.  

[TVbitch]

As I watch these episodes, all I can think about is how much money Amazon is throwing at this show (and at the winner) and THESE are the best designers they could come up with? In the whole world?! REALLY??!!

I do like Gary. And there are flashes of potential in some of the others, but sheesh! 

I do think they pre-planned this to either be a "shocking" double elimination, or, if Ally really wowed them, they might have saved her, but they definitely wanted Olivia to go. And to make sure she did, they set her up for failure with a team that, as Gary said, was like "the mighty ducks" or something. Now Olivia did not exactly have a sparkling personality, BUT, I think they made her exit unnecessarily stressful and humiliating. And I think she pretty much knew what was going down, and that is why she was a total sour puss when talking to Tim. She was OVER. IT. Then they did a number on Ally too, by announcing that Olivia did not make the cut first, then torturing Ally for another 5 minutes while she was probably thinking she was safe. (Cuz last episode they DID say one would stay and one would go.) 

Edited July 26, 2021 by TVbitch

[vibeology]

11 hours ago, TVbitch said:

do think they pre-planned this to either be a "shocking" double elimination, or, if Ally really wowed them, they might have saved her, but they definitely wanted Olivia to go. And to make sure she did, they set her up for failure with a team that, as Gary said, was like "the mighty ducks" or something. Now Olivia did not exactly have a sparkling personality, BUT, I think they made her exit unnecessarily stressful and humiliating. And I think she pretty much knew what was going down, and that is why she was a total sour puss when talking to Tim. She was OVER. IT. 

I agree with this. I'm sure the producers know who can and can't sew. It's not supposed to be a requirement of the show but I'm sure they ask at some point in the audition process. And somehow Olivia ended up with the three weakest sewers in the room. The production knew what it was doing. They put her, a grouchy, pushy control freak with people who were designed to frustrate her. The priorities were drama and getting Olivia out and it must have been easy to figure that out. And they got both. I don't love Olivia but I did feel for her when it became clear that no one on her team had the ability to be a workhorse and turn out garments quickly.

The other Andrea may have caused drama for Ally but she also got her look put together quickly.

[lidarose9]

I found this episode agonizingly hard to watch. You knew it would be a shit show from the get-go, and it was. Neither of them have a strong enough design aesthetic and both are unable to adequately manage a team.

The first thing a team manager should do is evaluate the resources and assign work appropriately. By this point Olivia could see who would be able to handle what and needed to adjust her plans accordingly. Her design decisions needed to take that into account. She failed miserably at both. The clothes looked awful. 

I felt like someone had coached Olivia not to talk smack about the others no matter what, and so she just kept mouthing the words "great team, getting along super" -- but inside you could see she wanted to scream. In the pairs episode, she had a partner that couldn't sew for shit and fucked up things left right and center. Then to twist the knife they doubled down in the face-off. Is it ever OK to tell the judges (and Tim) that you had a team of two, not three? Andrea was already "safe" so it wouldn't be throwing her under the bus.

Would it have made a difference? Probably not, but holy cow think of the chutzpah it took for Andrea to continue to keep her own mouth shut and look all innocent about how she fucked over Olivia. Did no one on that team think to speak up about it? It seemed like everybody was intensely aware of it and played along with covering up for Andrea.

I don't know what the deal is with Olivia. Her interpersonal skills are really, really bad. She doesn't seem to have any idea how she comes off. 

And Ally, omg. Again, even if she'd had some cool design ideas, she was saddled with that Andrea who can sew but is a massive huge narcissist, making it all about herself. She may have meant well, but again, a good manager knows how to offer critique constructively. She turned it all into major drama about herself. ME ME ME. Ally had that deer in headlight look throughout. Honestly she looked like she was just trying to get the hell out of there without embarrassing herself, and I'm not sure she succeeded. 

It's not like either of those two had a chance of winning. Where did they come up with this cast? If all or most of these people already have established brands, what does that say about the industry? If they had allowed either of them to stay, I probably would have bailed on the show altogether. 

I was really touched by how seriously Gary took this. He really tried. 

[Straycat80]

Agree that this was all pre-planned by production. Massive fail. I knew Olivia was out when she got all pissy with Tim. And Tim seems over this whole season already. Won’t miss Olivia at all. 
I was hoping Ally would pull it together because I liked her, but her designs did look like back to school clothes for kids. I did like the one dress though. And I felt bad for her having to put up with bossy, narcissistic Andrea. 

[leighdear]

As with all other reality shows, the producers have to find people that in normal times, can leave their jobs & families for a few months.  Now add in COVID, quarantining, etc. it's got to be incredibly difficult to find anybody with a shred of talent. 

I know in the later seasons of PR, the pickings got so slim, because most REAL designers also didn't want to take the hit to their professional reputations and have faux drama splashed all over social media.  As we now find, the fame-whores and attention seekers are the bulk of the contestants, not the actual talented and accomplished creators.  

[BellaR]

 I am so glad that Olivia is gone. She really needed to grow up. I know that she said that she understood the judges comments, but I don't think that she will change anytime soon. Ally was sweet, but I really wouldn't spend more than $20 on anything that she made. Her clothes were things that you wear around the house to clean. It is sad that she couldn't see how to evolve her style, and make the clothes look more fashionable. 

On 7/23/2021 at 1:14 PM, heckkitty said:

 

I kind of hate how they obviously manufactured this whole thing to get Olivia and Ally out. Olivia was a terrible leader, but Ally seemed great. If the goal is a good business person, they could have kept Ally. But I guess it was "show us who you are", she did, and their response was "we don't like who you are".

Nobody's really watching this, it seems...

This was the first episode and judging that seemed legitimate. Both women should have been cut. None of their designs showed passion or looked like anything that people would want to buy. 

[BellaR]

On 7/23/2021 at 8:38 PM, dbell1 said:

 

 

And Moschino judge can just stfu, he’s a jerk and his brand is dated.

Everything that he said during the eliminations was 100% true.

[DEL901]

I knew Olivia wasn’t long for the show when she expressed surprise in an earlier episode that she was getting critiqued and asserting that she’d never had negative feedback.   As long as feedback is constructive, that’s how we improve and grow.  Also, she is on a competitive reality show…did she think she’d be the first person in the history of competitive reality shows to be judged as just perfect the way she is and just handed the title and prizes…except the mentorship, of course, because she doesn’t need it 

Edited July 28, 2021 by DEL901
Spelling

[Mabinogia]

9 hours ago, DEL901 said:

Also, she is on a competitive reality show…did she think she’d be the first person in the history of competitive reality shows to be judged as just perfect the way she is and just handed the title and prizes

From what we've seen of her, yes, I do think she thought that. She's a prodigy after all. How could they find fault with her prodigiously amazing designing genius? 

Not sorry to see either of them gone. Won't be sorry to see any of the others gone, except Gary. Gary is the only reason I'm still watching. He is one of those rare gems where I love both his designs and his personality. 

[Omeletsmom]

On 7/27/2021 at 8:18 AM, DEL901 said:

I knew Olivia wasn’t long for the show when she expressed surprise in an earlier episode that she was getting critiqued and asserting that she’d never had negative feedback.   As long as feedback is constructive, that’s how we improve and grow.  Also, she is on a competitive reality show…did she think she’d be the first person in the history of competitive reality shows to be judged as just perfect the way she is and just handed the title and prizes…except the mentorship, of course, because she doesn’t need it 

Having had two kids go to college for creative degrees (one in costume design/tech, the other in illustration), the assertion that she NEVER got negative feedback is laughable. I can GUARANTEE she got negative feedback; she just was not able to recognize it for what it was.

[charliesan]

I thought this was a horrible idea, it was like "let's dedicate an entire episode for our worst people here". 

Clearly they both failed, but I thought no matter what they wanted Olivia gone. Don't get me wrong please, I did NOT like her designs but I'm sure had she been any other designer the critique would've been "but she does have a vision". However, I was a little surprised because usually they keep these type of people for drama purposes, so I'm guessing she was just as terrible to production as she was onscreen. 

Ally, bless her heart. I thought Andrea P. came in way too hot but ultimately she was right, Ally's designs were cute and they'd probably sell (not by me though) but there wasn't anything special and if her "pushing the boundaries" thing was adding polka-dots, then it's a no from me dog. But at least she's cute.  

[GaT]

As long as Olivia is gone, I don't care who else is gone.

On 7/23/2021 at 5:01 PM, raven said:

Aw, Gary - "I can't do anything about this" - gesturing at this face.  I like Gary; he seems like a nice person.  I'm always in my own head too.

Not that I'm any kind of expert, but Gary strikes me as someone who's on the spectrum.

[snarktini]

On 7/24/2021 at 6:56 AM, leighdear said:

I'm not sure exactly where Heidi is seeing all these people in overalls these days, but we certainly aren't seeing them down here on the Florida Gulf Coast.  

 

Overalls are really big right now! All over my IG and YT fashion feeds for the past year and a half. Mostly 20-somethings but not exclusively. Their cousin, "boiler suits", have also made a comeback and OMG WHY.

On 7/28/2021 at 9:27 AM, Omeletsmom said:

Having had two kids go to college for creative degrees (one in costume design/tech, the other in illustration), the assertion that she NEVER got negative feedback is laughable. I can GUARANTEE she got negative feedback; she just was not able to recognize it for what it was.

Exactly. As a design school graduate, I can attest that critiques are constant. The best designer in the nicest program gets their work challenged at best and trashed at worst.

[Lamb18]

I remember overalls being big during my college days in the 70s. Oshkosh Bgosh was the brand. 

[djsunyc]

On 7/25/2021 at 10:16 PM, TVbitch said:

As I watch these episodes, all I can think about is how much money Amazon is throwing at this show (and at the winner) and THESE are the best designers they could come up with? In the whole world?! REALLY??!!

I do like Gary. And there are flashes of potential in some of the others, but sheesh! 

I do think they pre-planned this to either be a "shocking" double elimination, or, if Ally really wowed them, they might have saved her, but they definitely wanted Olivia to go. And to make sure she did, they set her up for failure with a team that, as Gary said, was like "the mighty ducks" or something. Now Olivia did not exactly have a sparkling personality, BUT, I think they made her exit unnecessarily stressful and humiliating. And I think she pretty much knew what was going down, and that is why she was a total sour puss when talking to Tim. She was OVER. IT. Then they did a number on Ally too, by announcing that Olivia did not make the cut first, then torturing Ally for another 5 minutes while she was probably thinking she was safe. (Cuz last episode they DID say one would stay and one would go.) 

it was filmed during covid so i assume the casting wasn't a regular casting.  i bet alot of folks turned it down b/c of it.

[kirklandia]

On 8/6/2021 at 5:41 AM, Lamb18 said:

 

I remember overalls being big during my college days in the 70s. Oshkosh Bgosh was the brand. 

 

I'm a 60s kid from the Chicago area.  We were definitely wearing Oshkosh overalls in the 70s. I have pictures from a camping trip when three of us were wearing them.

On trips to visit family in WI, we used to stop at the factory outlet store in Oshkosh (which was actually in the cool old factory building on the river, before they eventually moved to an outlet mall).  As I got older, I got Oh M'gosh maternity overalls there, then Baby B'gosh overalls for my kids.

[Zonk]

On 7/24/2021 at 9:16 PM, akg said:

I was not a fan of Olivia so I'm ok with her being gone. I liked Ally better until I remembered her aesthetic was basically stealing from Asian cultures. 

Yeah, I'm mad every day how Walt Disney stole so much from german culture...

If you can't get inspired by other cultures anymore art is going to become real stale real fast.

On 7/31/2021 at 9:50 AM, GaT said:

Not that I'm any kind of expert, but Gary strikes me as someone who's on the spectrum.

I mean d'uh. Regardless, he's by far my favorite contestant there.

Edited September 3, 2021 by Zonk