Season 8 Discussion

[yeswedo]

Discuss all things season 8 here. Designers and episodes listed below.
 
Originally aired from July 29, 2010 - October 28, 2010

 

Designers:

• A.J. Thouvenot
• Andy South
• April Johnston
• Carlos Casanova
• Christopher Collins
• Gretchen Jones
• Ivy Higa
• Jason Troisi
• Kristin Haskins Simms
• McKell Maddox
• Michael Costello
• Michael Drummond
• Mondo Guerra
• Nicholas D'Azurizio
• Peach Carr
• Sarah Trost
• Valerie Mayen

 

Episodes (TVDB):

1. And Sew It Begins
2. Larger than Life
3. It's a Party
4. Hats Off To You
5. There IS an 'I' in Team
6. You Can Totally Wear That Again
7. What's Mine is Yours
8. A Rough Day on the Runway
9. Race to the Finish
10. There's a Pattern Here
11. A Look in the Line
12. We're in a New York State of Mind
13. Finale

[auntlada]

I finished episode three last night (on my first time to ever see this season), and maybe it's because I've read so much about the season, but Gretchen is just obnoxious. Besides telling everyone else what they should do and talking all about how she's winning everything (even though it's only the second episode) and how happy everyone is for her, when Tim tells her congratulations on her second win, all she said was, "Yes." Did it even occur to her to say, "Thank you"? She is one of the more oblivious people I've seen on TV, and I've watched a lot of reality TV.

[Xazeal]

I loved to hate the absolute trainwreck that was Gretchen. If there had been a strong positive force in the cast to balance out how terrible she was, the season could've been pretty good, but no. Half of them were utterly forgettable and the other half just plain sucked.

 

The only thing about this season that was legitimately great was the music that played as the final collections were shown. That's what I remember.

 

Oh, and this happened, so I guess the season was worth it.

[AwesomO4000]

Oh, and this happened, so I guess the season was worth it.

Thank you for that Xazeal; that was brilliant.

[seacliffsal]

I am so happy that Michael Costello is doing better than anyone else from this season (including, in my opinion, Mondo).  Just saw a picture of Kim Kardashian wearing one of Michael's designs (not a fan of hers, but she does get press and it's good publicity for Michael).  He has had several celebrities wear his work and he is getting noticed by the press.  

 

I was in shock during the season as I couldn't believe how horrid various people (including Mondo) were to him.  I'm so glad that he is doing well.

[Oholibamah]

I usually try and take a more analytical approach when considering an entire season of a show, but this one just stunk. From the uncomfortable bullying element to the pitiful crop of designers, I just have a very hard time finding anything good to say about it.

 

I like Mondo and Michael as designers, but find them a little offputting as TV personalities. Casanova was entertaining. I liked April's aesthetic, but she needed more time to grow. Everyone else needed to go home in one swift group elimination.

 

I also thought Jessica Simpson was a stellar judge, although it's possible her vehement support of Mondo helped.

 

My favorite designs include Michael's Mask Dress, April's Resortwear, Andy's Eyeshadow Interpretation, Mondo's Jackie O and Print, and I guess Gretchen's Partystore. Everything else was utterly blah.

Edited August 13, 2014 by Oholibamah

[Lurifax]

Whenever I go to the hairdresser, I read the trashy Swedish gossip mags, which I imagine are mainly translated from the US ones. In the past few months, Michael Costello has made about half the red-carpet dresses pictured. (No pics of anyone wearing granny panties hand-crocheted from porridge, however.)

[dialyn]

I am watching Season 8 over again because I simply could not remember the details of it (selective amnesia?). The first challenge is to remake a competitor's garment into something else in five hours.  Casanova gave up a brand new pair of pants that cost over $1,000, and he made a garment that was almost not there.  I had forgotten how many memorable characters were part of season 8.  Mondo, Andy (now Ari), Ivy, Gretchen (of course), Michael Costello, Peach (who gets some valuable information from Tim Gunn in the first episode on how to handle a fragile material), and others who got eliminated too early to make an impression on me the first time around.   The loser was encouraged by Tim Gunn to continue with her design because he thought the dress was adorable (one of his disconnects with the judges).  Even with the weaknesses in fit and styling, I'm not sure why they picked that dress over the rest of the group in the bottom, but mine has never been to understand the judges. Why am I doing this?  Maybe a little too much time on my hands.

Edited November 7, 2014 by dialyn

[Oholibamah]

Even with the weaknesses in fit and styling, I'm not sure why they picked that dress over the rest of the group in the bottom, but mine has never been to understand the judges. Why am I doing this?  Maybe a little too much time on my hands.

 

I was scrolling through Rate the Runway for Season 8 and picking my favorites and least favorites for each challenge before finding out who designed what. My favorite look for the Marie Claire challenge was Nicholas' plum capelet and pencil skirt look. I thought it was super cute, but hadn't remembered until I checked that it actually got him eliminated. So I agree, the early rounds were a bit of a headscratcher this season, although not as much so as the finale.

[kaydub]

Oh, and this happened, so I guess the season was worth it.

 

that is one of my favorite things ever, and i read it every now and then when i need a good giggle fest.

god that episode infuriated me, with how they treated michael c. the gang up, bullying mentality of that episode, and that entire team was horrible to watch. michael c looked so crushed when he realized how quickly everyone was to throw him under the bus - thank god he had immunity and was safe from being considered for elimination. and i just found it amazing that even though heidi (and i think nina?) said "but michael has immunity.... so who would go?" they still ALL said michael. a-holes.

overall with that season, i don't know who i disliked more - gretchen or ivy. i have a memory of a challenge where eliminated designers came back as help (?) and ivy was horrible to michael c, and surprisingly, gretchen was like "whoa, ivy, you need to chill"... it's been years since i've seen this season, am i making this up in my head or did that really happen?

[BathKol]

I loathed Michael Costello with a passion, and never once pitied him. Mondo wasn't much better but the man knows how to put together an outfit...

Ivy was more annoying than Gretchen IMO. I didn't mind Gretchen. I really don't see the same things in her other people apparently witnessed. If you're going to be in a high stress job like fashion design, you have to have a marginal sense of identity and faith within yourself to exist. She was dull, yes, but hardly nutty.

Ivy. OMG. Ivy. What planet did she come from? Send her back on UPS Overnight Interstellar Shipment. What did she ever make that kept her there for so long? Why did they allow her back even for All Stars? WHY?

On the other hand this was a dull season. Like really dull. Wasn't this when PR was heading to Lifetime and there were all those disputes over the rights and stuff? You can tell because the challenges were just rather blasé. There was way too many waterworks and meltdowns. Bad time.

[kaydub]

BathKol - the whole battle over rights and all that good stuff with PR between lifetime and bravo and all those other fun people, happened right before, or during, the taping of season 6, can't remember which for sure

[BathKol]

BathKol - the whole battle over rights and all that good stuff with PR between lifetime and bravo and all those other fun people, happened right before, or during, the taping of season 6, can't remember which for sure

You're right! I did a little research and was surprised at how early they switched. They were only with Bravo for five seasons...

[kaydub]

You're right! I did a little research and was surprised at how early they switched. They were only with Bravo for five seasons...

 

 

yep, PR has officially been with lifetime more than with bravo, with 5 seasons on bravo, 7 with lifetme :( kinda sad really. you watch the older seasons and it's night and day to now.

Edited November 12, 2014 by kaydub

[BathKol]

yep, PR has officially been with lifetime more than with bravo, with 5 seasons on bravo, 7 with lifetme :( kinda sad really. you watch the older seasons and it's night and day to now.

Things kind of started going downhill post season 11.

Season 8 still had an essential flavor, to me, of Bravo. It wasn't one of the best but it definitely had its good moments, too! We still got a lot of classic characters like Peaches, Gunnar Lite, the Artist Formerly Known as Andy South, and Casanova (was that his real name? On a birth certificate???). Though I think Michael Kors was kind of on the down low so he wasn't making as many witty comments as usual.

If I got some of the people wrong, I apologize! I've rewatched seasons 1 - 7 and got kind of lost after. I need to refresh my PR memory bank.

Edited November 13, 2014 by BathKol

[kaydub]

Things kind of started going downhill post season 11.

Season 8 still had an essential flavor, to me, of Bravo. It wasn't one of the best but it definitely had its good moments, too! We still got a lot of classic characters like Peaches, Gunnar Lite, the Artist Formerly Known as Andy South, and Casanova (was that his real name? On a birth certificate???). Though I think Michael Kors was kind of on the down low so he wasn't making as many witty comments as usual.

If I got some of the people wrong, I apologize! I've rewatched seasons 1 - 7 and got kind of lost after. I need to refresh my PR memory bank.

 

season 8 definitely had its characters - casanova being a gem of one for that season. if i remember correctly, casanova is his last name, and he just goes by it for... some reason. kinda like peach in this season, suede from s5,sweet p from s4, etc. i don't totally hate s8, but i couldn't stand ivy and to a lesser extent, gretchen, especially when she won over mondo, who i wanted to win lol. i definitely agree that there was a hint of bravo flavor left for s8 even though it was on lifetime by then (i say the same thing about s7). i somewhat believe it started going downhill around s9, and that's cos i hated that season because of the over the top characters like josh mckinley who got on my nerves (but enough about that, that's for another thread lol), and because i didn't see season 10 or 11. i saw some of season 12 when it was marathoned before season 13, and was very surprised at how... different the show seemed. 'different' being a kind word imo lol.

Edited November 13, 2014 by kaydub

[dialyn]

I don't know if he still does, but Casanova worked as an assistant to Ivy.  I'm not sure that means anything but it seemed odd they would be in the same season together.  I personally wouldn't enter a competition that my boss was part of just because that's the kind of coward I am.  I'm getting my second disc of Season 8 today, which includes the infamous episode called "There IS An 'I' In Team" during the course of which Gretchen takes the lead of directing the team, and then happily throws the entire group (except herself, of course) under the bus, and Tim sternly lectures them about following Gretchen off a cliff (sorry for the mixed metaphors).  I don't remember this clearly (I'm taking my summary from what I've read and clips I've seen) so I am interested (in a grisly sort of way) to seeing this a second (and last) time since I was obviously not paying attention the first time.

 

There is a snarky review of this episode here:  http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/project-runway-there-is-an-i-in-team-44415 which partially explains why Gretchen was not a favorite that season with the other designers.

 

===================

 

I just saw the episode I mentioned above.  Gretchen changed direction so many times at the end that I am surprised her head didn't fly off from it spinning in every direction.  First she loved the collection and everyone worked together, then it was an awful collection and Gretchen had to sacrifice herself in order to make it work.  Really?  The only garment that got faint praise was made by Michael Costello, who was the sacrificial lamb for the evening.  Ivy was only slightly better because she didn't talk as much as Gretchen (Gretchen would not shut up....but it was almost worth it to hear Nina's imitation of her), but Ivy's contribution to the actual fashion show was pretty sad.  It became the beat up on Michael Costello hour for no good reason (it is clearly not true that he can't sew but he became very insecure during that episode thanks to the team piling up on him).  As a group, the super stars went down while the team with no winners on it suddenly surged, and there is probably a lesson there in team dynamics.  I am pretty sure if Costello could have redo, he would never, ever pick Gretchen or Ivy to be on a team with him.  I don't think the others would have jumped on the mean train if not for Gretchen's leadership and Ivy acting as Gretchen's echo.

 

Well, now I know.   I'm trying to decide whether to watch the other episodes.  I know how it turned out, after all.

Edited November 14, 2014 by dialyn

[backgroundnoise]

god that episode infuriated me, with how they treated michael c. the gang up, bullying mentality of that episode, and that entire team was horrible to watch.

As someone who majored in Sociology, that episode was fascinating to me.   What a microcosm society, complete with power bases and group-think.

[dialyn]

There were two interesting Mondo related incidents on the second disk.  He was paired with Michael Costello in a challenge where one designer had to make a garment that the other designer had sketched out and chosen fabric for.  At the beginning, Mondo was nothing but rude and made no secret of his disdain for Michael C.  He complained to the other designers, he said to Michael C.'s face that he couldn't sew, and it was, all in all, a pretty sad way for Mondo to act considering that Mondo himself has experienced bullying.  Then, about half way through, a light clicked on for Mondo and he apologized for the way he was acting and they were able to work together after all.  Of course his kindness disappeared once "Under the Gunn" turned up but the less said about that, the better. 

 

The second was that near to going on the runway, an invisible zipper broke and Mondo had to fix it.  Now maybe he had more time in the first place than Char did, or he had a way of fixing the zipper that she didn't, but I noticed no one offered him extra time nor did he go to Tim Gunn and ask for any.  That is meaningless, of course.

 

Anyway, fortunately for Michael C., Ivy was paired with Michael D. who she happily tried to push under the bus.  The best thing that could have happened would be to pair Gretchen with Ivy because they so deserved each other by that point.

 

In Episode 8, Mondo made a Jackie O. inspired outfit that manages to capture her spirit and be completely Mondo at the same time.   I'm not big on mixed up giant patterns, but I have to give him credit--that outfit worked somehow.

[dialyn]

On to the third disk which has my favorite episode: "Race to the Finish" which has the most Swatch at Mood (including Tim Gunn chasing Swatch, and Swatch speaks) but also the elimination

of Ivy who, by this time, has become a poison pill.  Unfortunately she returns as an assistant in "A Look In the Line" in which she happily tries to make Michael Costello's life as miserable as possible by telling anyone who will listen that he cheated in a previous episode. It gets to the point that Tim Gunn comes into the workshop and shuts her down by saying the accusation amounted to a "he said, she said" and had no evidence to support it.

  "There's a Pattern Here" is the episode where Mondo makes his big announcement on the runway.  The accusations that Michael Costello couldn't sew are disproved though they linger as an idea for no good reason other than meanness.   Coincidentally Michael Costello appeared on Project Runway: Threads 11/20/14 as one of the Project Runway alumni who act as sewing assistants to the young designers, and he is shown quickly, efficiently, and effortlessly sewing away, so I'm not sure why Ivy was given so much credence on this point.

 

The last disk has the finale.  I don't know if I can face the final outcome, which I already know the results of, but I don't think I ever watched the at home visits by Tim Gunn so I might go ahead and get it just for that.   I don't believe it includes the reunion show, which is probably just as well.

Edited November 21, 2014 by dialyn

[CherryMalotte]

I loathe this season and really only rewatched it a couple of times.  I will not buy the dvds, even though I'm a completist.  Just can't watch the Gretchen & Ivy trainwreck, and even though I'm not a huge Mondo fan I hate hate hate that Gretchen won.  

 

Even though Michael Costello's designs aren't my aesthetic, it gives me such happiness that he is successful.  

[Julia]

Honestly, I didn't like her any more than Tim did (less maybe, because he has a way higher tolerance for pushy manipulative bullies than I do) but she can make clothes. She's the design director for Pendleton now, presumably based on the work since she won, because they certainly have done nothing to help her. Look what we get when the judges pick someone because they like them. Mondo and Michelle (who are, JMO, equally as personally offensive) do popups and run essentially mid-size Etsy stores, Christian has a Payless line, Anthony Ryan designs for QVC, Anya is Anya, and who knows what the hell Jeffrey is.

[NolaBorn]

I was shocked by the judges decision on the winner of Season 8!!

I thought Gretchen's clothes were so drab and who walks around wearing her diaper style bottoms?

MONDO's collection was so brilliant and fashion forward. I am happy for Mondo that he won All-Stars, claiming the prize he clearly was deprived of. I was very shocked and bewildered hearing years later that Gretchen won as I was convinced that Mondo had the win. That it was that clear and obvious who was by far the best designer. Mondo rocks it!!! I've just bought several of his 2015 pieces from his website store!!! I love love love his aesthetics!!!

[hatchetgirl]

Quote

...throw him under the bus - thank god he had immunity and was safe from being considered for elimination. and i just found it amazing that even though heidi (and i think nina?) said "but michael has immunity.... so who would go?" they still ALL said michael. a-holes.

overall with that season, i don't know who i disliked more - gretchen or i

I think Gretchen and Ivy were hoping that the judges would say "oh my yes, Michael is so awful, let's take his immunity away! Tut tut!"

I hated Gretchen and loved when Tim called her a manipulative bully!

[sara416]

I'm rewatching this season now, and am reminded how sweet Michael D. was. I met him briefly, about 3 years before he was on the show. We have a mutual friend and I am so glad he made it on to the show. 

I was hoping that my memory was wrong and Gretchen and Ivy weren't quite as awful as I remembered. But no, they really are awful. 

[chenoa333]

I know I'm years behind this particilar season however I just need to express how sad i felt for Michael C. Not because he was eliminated, but because of the horrible parents he has. They really did a shitty job of being a mom and dad. I get that certain cultures and religions have strict beliefs, but above all, the most important thing is to love, encourage and embrace all that your child is and strives to become. Michael's parents messed him up for sure.

I hope he and his partner used that Hilton Head Resort exotic vacation gift to go away together. I have a feeling M.C.'s partner is his only source of positivity (and his little boy)

[Fiero425]

On ‎11‎/‎11‎/‎2014 at 9:13 PM, BathKol said:

I loathed Michael Costello with a passion, and never once pitied him. Mondo wasn't much better but the man knows how to put together an outfit...

Ivy was more annoying than Gretchen IMO. I didn't mind Gretchen. I really don't see the same things in her other people apparently witnessed. If you're going to be in a high stress job like fashion design, you have to have a marginal sense of identity and faith within yourself to exist. She was dull, yes, but hardly nutty.

Ivy. OMG. Ivy. What planet did she come from? Send her back on UPS Overnight Interstellar Shipment. What did she ever make that kept her there for so long? Why did they allow her back even for All Stars? WHY?

On the other hand this was a dull season. Like really dull. Wasn't this when PR was heading to Lifetime and there were all those disputes over the rights and stuff? You can tell because the challenges were just rather blasé. There was way too many waterworks and meltdowns. Bad time.

IVY redeemed herself during All-Stars actually buddying up to Casanova; trying to support one another when at a deficit amongst the other designers! Poor Cass, he got too many chances just to be the 1st designer gone for the most part! He was right up their with that sleaze Daniel Franco! I've ranted and raved over season 8 for years because of the drama within and of course the joke of a winner! How she even made the finale is still a mystery to me! It appears it had to do with Michael and Nina who pretty much overruled Heidi! They have suspect taste and judgment and I never really cared what they had to say from then on! Love how Michael's success has overtaken all his detractors who scoffed at him even when winning challenges! It was so evil with all the willful bullying! Andy/Ari South & Mondo were the most disappointing since they went thru so much in their own journeys to take up with the cool kids to make MC some kind of outcast! They are good designers anyway! The other jerks needed to find something else to do because their creative and taste levels were suspect early on! ;-)