S01.E11: The Benefit Of Fashion

[Tara Ariano]

The designers are paired with clients who have specific fashion needs; one designer gets an unexpected twist midway through the challenge.

[Ketzel]

Can someone explain to me how Shan's client could be so extremely allergic to sequins that she has to come all over faint with hot flashes, and then break out in hives hours later? What were those sequins made of, radioactive waste? Honestly, girl, gulp a couple of antihistamine and deal with it!

This is the most depressing final five I could have ever imagined in a Project Runway context. Sam and Blake make ugly boring dresses (and I still can't tell them apart.) Shan remakes his toxic sequin number and produces a polka-dot dress that has mis-matched seams and looks like a bag of fabric cinched at the waist. Asha stuffs her client into a too-tight hoochie dress with a prominent pot belly. The only one who did anything worth calling "fashion" was Oscar and he isn't the winner? Ridiculous.

And while I am venting, I wish they would stop calling this the "Real Women" challenge (although it's a step better than calling it the "Ordinary Woman" challenge, I guess. Are the models supposed to be unreal women? Just call it the "Client Challenge" and stop implying some category of human females is either not normal or too pedestrian for the fashion world.

This show is such a disappointment and I am ready for it to be over. Just give Oscar the prizes and let's get back to Original Recipe PR.

Edited March 28, 2014 by Ketzel

[scootypuffjr]

Oscar was my favorite from the beginning, and the more time goes by, the more I feel my intuition was correct.  He's a nice guy, fairly drama-free, and makes pretty clothes with good construction.  I am (obviously) hoping he wins but am getting more and more afraid of a set=up for an Asha win.

It is amusing that when Asha has great ideas but has trouble with construction, she gets to hang around even though she has created several absolute atrocities, but when Natalia has great ideas but has trouble with construction, she is a pariah and must be sent home.  Granted, Natalia sent herself home, but I couldn't blame her.  Who would want to hang around and be shunned by everyone?  I was appalled by the rudeness displayed by last week's episode.

Dollars to doughnuts that Sam gets sent home next week, so that each mentor has a finalist.  I will spoiler myself for the finale, and if Asha wins, I swear the show will get deleted unwatched.  I just can't stand the sight of her anymore (and Mondo and Anya are pretty close behind).  I can live with a Shan win, but here's to Oscar going all the way. 

I am ready for this season to be over.  Disappointing show overall.

[BusyOctober]

Hello!  New here from TWOP.  Glad to see a few of you are as confused as I am re. Asha still being on this show.  I haven't liked any of her stuff since the Disney Pop Star challenge. Unfortunately the way "reality" TV works, each mentor will have a mentee in the final 3, so she'll be around.

I like Shan a lot but it means if he wins then Mean Girl Anya wins.  I don't want her rewarded for her lame "mentoring" or her participation in the Natalia evisceration. Mondo should just go away permenantly and take all his Pinnochio short pants with him.

So, I'm rooting for Oscar I guess.

Edited March 28, 2014 by BusyOctober

[Callasin]

Oscar's gown was beautiful and made his petite model look like she had such long legs.  I just wish he had chosen a different fabric.  There were a couple of green gowns in an earlier challenge. 

[Tara Ariano]

Here's what Sarah thought about the episode!

[Gulielma]

I'm new here, from TWOP.

I loved the color of Oscar's gown. The sequin allergy sounds dubious to me.  

Oh, now a good idea trumps lousy construction? And that was a good idea? Okay.

Prediction: next week Mondo will lose a designer, just so that TPTB can maintain the suspense (such as it is) to the finale.

I'll finish out the season, but hope there  isn't a season 2.

[leighdear]

Another TWOP refugee, so HUGE thanks to all the regular peeps for letting us invade!

Totally agree that the finale is going to be a 1 each for the mentors.  

Oscar is so far above the other designers in his attitude, skill set and vision, there is simply no way the others can legitimately compete.  I see him as Austin Scarlet 2.0 in his designing and taste level, but with a little less of the "look at me, look at me, look at meeeeee!" persona.  I think he'll do great work post-show. 

Sadly, Tim Gunn has burned so many emotional bridges with show viewers that it's going to be hard to go back to PR with any of the love he originally inspired in many of us.  The end of an era. 

[spanana]

The only two worthy of being in the finale are Oscar and Shan.  I also thought Shan's dress was hideous last night, though yes, I understand he was under extreme limitations.  So I was shocked they handed him a win.  I was only okay with it only because if Shan didn't win they would have handed it to Asha and at least Shan had a reason for making a hideous dress.   Besides Blake and Sam were just as awful.

Oscar should have been in the Top 2 just for the fact that he didn't make something hideous.  Have I said the word hideous too much?  Oh well. 

[eurekagirl mOo]

How sad is this show? I watch pretty with bated breath but this mess? I walked the dog rather than watch all of it. Acha is a bad designer and they looooooovvvveeee her? Dresses that look like sacks are applauded. Hot mess indeed. That and the shifting "rules" give me a headache. Oscar for win...unless it's a night the judges decide they don't want to..you know..judge.

[speac]

I kind of feel sorry for whoever does win this mess of a show.  Saying I won "under the Gunn" is never going to have the same cache as being a Project Runway winner.  I suppose someday they might have an Under the Gunn/Project Runway All Star Season to try to fix it.  

[NYCFree]

I have a saggy belly already so Asha's designs would be perfect for me. Maybe if she becomes a famous designer I will wear nothing but Asha and pretend to myself that I am disguising the old flab under the Asha gut.

[MyMorningCoffee]

What the hell was Mondo wearing at the runway? Some kind of burgundy sequined...shirt? Dress? I just can't with him.

Asha is awful with a capital A. Her designs have a way of turning the model's body into looking like a disproportionate lumpy mess. And she was in the top? Oscar for the win.

[Galloway Cave]

Here's what Sarah thought about the episode!

THIS is what I've been missing at TWoP for so long! A good, solid Sars review! Damn glad to finally find the Mothership again....

I've been watching the season in complete bewilderment, wondering who the hell Tim Gunn is and why he is attached to this trainwreck of a show. When they told Shan his model had an allergy to sequins I thought they were purposely screwing with him. There had to have been some way for him to present what he had made for her (lining, body suit, mannequin) rather than force him to make something in just an hour. I'm glad he was rewarded for it but that too felt like a manipulation.

I'm with scootypuffjr- I'm just going to spoil myself and be done with this mess. Oscar or Shan FTW.

[cosmic1]

So it looks like Mondo is wearing the sequined dress. Lol.

Asha's is a hot mess. The fabric looks cheap and she has terrible construction skills. Poor Shan, that dress looks good for him doing it in an hour. Oscar's is head and shoulders above the rest. They should just call him the winner and end the show now.

Blake and Sam just are too plain to be interesting from a style perspective. Blake got the model set up for the winner but he muffed it completely. usually the plain girl with the boyish figure ends up with the challenge winner.

[TiredMe]

Also former Twop, joining in the fun.

Shan managed an ok dress for two hours, but it was a bit too short for my tastes in the front. I liked the style of Oscars, I just have burning hatred for the color green.

Overall though, I am pretty over this show and Tim Gunn and I think I will bust a vein if Asha wins.

[helgas altar]

I've liked Shan since the beginning... as a person and a designer. I'll be surprised and sad if he and Oscar aren't the top 2. He was dealt a blow, and he just carried on. It wasn't a terribly impressive dress, but it wasn't the worst thing up there! At least the right two designers were on the bottom this time. Blake's dress with all of the interest on the skirt was weird, but Sam's was.... sad. I wasn't fond of Asha's fabric when I saw her working with it, but I did like that it sparkled a bit. I liked the green dress on Oscar's client, and didn't particularly think it aged her. 

I was one of the few who didn't mind Anya in her first season... I don't care for her now. I don't like any of the mentors. 

Edited March 29, 2014 by helgasaltar

[Texas Gal]

Oscar or Shan FTW.

The only palatable result, really.

[DarkMatter]

Was anyone else a little put off by Shan's (I think she was his) client?  In several shots, like in the Benefit room, she looks like she's chewing her cud.  Don't the producers or whoever is backstage tell people to dump the chewing gum while they are being filmed?

[RealityGal]

I have a saggy belly already so Asha's designs would be perfect for me. Maybe if she becomes a famous designer I will wear nothing but Asha and pretend to myself that I am disguising the old flab under the Asha gut.

If Asha becomes a famous designer I'm going to stop wearing clothes.  I've seen myself naked, so the world can take it as a threat.

 

Was anyone else a little put off by Shan's (I think she was his) client?  In several shots, like in the Benefit room, she looks like she's chewing her cud.  Don't the producers or whoever is backstage tell people to dump the chewing gum while they are being filmed?

I was first put off by her alleged "allergy"  How did she know it was the sequins?  If she knew she had a previous sensitivity to sequins why not mention it?  I'm not a huge fan of sequins, but in my 30+ years of life I've worn them, which is how I know I am not allergic to them.  And if you have a skin allergy, doesn't the product have to touch your skin to make you break out in hives?  The shirt didn't look like it was just sequins, I thought Shan sewed it to something.  And I didn't see not one iota of evidence of an allergic reaction the next day, if hives are itchy, wouldn't there at least be scratch marks?  And I'm confused as to why she couldn't go to a doctor and get some medication so she could at least wear it down the runway.  So, I feel that drama was producer driven.

[heckkitty]

I break out from sequins, although it's not as bad as what happened to her.  It happens even with lined clothing (like what she has). I get very itchy and red.  I could imagine there being worse cases, and if the client didn't wear sequins much, she may not have know.  I had no idea until I bought an insanely cute top about 5 years ago and couldn't wear it for more than a couple of hours. 

[WicketyWack]

Hi! Here from TWoP as well, and quite grateful for this site.

I wasn't enamored with Shan's look to begin with and couldn't figure out why everyone was ranting about that top ... it was just boxy, with the entire look coming from the sequined pattern. I have to give it to him for putting together a cute dress in 2 hours but the fact that his flimsy dress won over Oscar's stunning gown will never cease to baffle and infuriate me.

Blake's biggest problem was he didn't know how to dress his client's figure. That deep-V, A-line, flowing style would have been perfect for Asha's curvy girl. Blake's client was thin, no curves and small-chested, and would have benefited from a sheath or mod-style dress with a high neck that showed off her legs. Also, the print was stank and he barely styled her.

I hated Shan's client's runway hairstyle. Her "texture" looked like she'd gotten caught in the rain running from the car to the studio. Looked so much better when she had her first consultation. Oscar's client's bun would have looked 1,322,038 times better and more suited to the dress had it been a smooth and clean ballet bun rather than a "messy bun."

Anya has been grating my every single last nerve (and to think, I liked her and Mondo in their seasons) but her outfits on this show usually rock. Loved all her dresses in this episode.

Sam's dress was as boring as could be and nowhere near what his client wanted. I thought she was incredibly gracious while talking to the judges. She wanted a colorful, body-conscious dress and he gave her a sad gray frock.

Rachel Roy's tiara/headband + spangly earrings made her look like a 3-year-old playing Pretty Pretty Princess. 

Clearly Sam or Asha is gone next week; I'm guessing Sam, and just thinking of Asha in the top 3 is giving me hives.

[dialyn]

Here's an interesting little thing.  Someone by the name of Anders Christoffer pasted a suggestion on Tim's Facebook page that people hold off a day watching this show this week so that the producers get the hint that fewer people will watch the original showing because of the negative feelings over the way Tim and his team acted.  I don't know how long that suggestion will stay up, but I know if you try to post a link or quote to it on the Lifetime page (main page or episode page), it may be deleted unless you are oblique about your reference.   Of course it will do zero good since that's not how ratings are calculated but at least people are voicing serious concerns about the direction this show has gone in.  I wonder how long Tim Gunn's people will allow the suggestion to stay up.  On the other hand, A. Chris K.created a public event on Facebook called: UTG - Let Them Know -- I don't use Facebook so I can't comment on it (apparently it was removed so forget about that). 

I have the feeling they do know how some of us feel and they are glorying in in it. 

Correction: the powers that be apparently reversed some of their deletions, and then deleted them again. I can't keep up.

On the other hand, it is interesting to go to Francesca's Facebook page because they are getting a lot of comments on the topic of bullying and the disappointment people have with this show.  They posted a note saying they don't condone bullying.  Of course they are stuck with their contractual responsibilities since the show has already been recorded.  I wonder if the the activies of Tim's Team will have any impact on their future relationships with Project Runway shows.  Probably not. Business is business. Any publicity is good publicity.  Cliche, cliche, cliche.  But I do think going to the sponsors with complaints is the only way to have real impact. Lifetime doesn't seem to feel any need to address the issues at this point.

dialyn, another refugee from TWOP. 

Edited March 31, 2014 by dialyn

[ratgirlagogo]

More wretched refuse here from TWOP.  Why am I still watching this terrible show?  At this point I truly do not give a flying fuck through a rolling donut who wins or loses this whether they be designers or mentors -  a bold position I know but apparently all the judges feel the same.    If I hadn't found this site perhaps I could have simply walked away - but, no, here are snarky posters  and a Sars recap.  Damn you. Damn you all to hell.

[Joystickenvy]

Was anyone else a little put off by Shan's (I think she was his) client?  In several shots, like in the Benefit room, she looks like she's chewing her cud.  Don't the producers or whoever is backstage tell people to dump the chewing gum while they are being filmed?

That drove me nuts! Of course I'm of the opinion that gum should only be chewed in private, because no one looks good doing it. She also had this kind of stank face going the whole time like she was annoyed.

Much as I dislike Asha and her poor construction hypocrisy, I actually thought her dress was OK. However, a dress someone made in 2 hours after their cud chewing client came down with a sequin allergy winning a challenge somehow perfectly encapsulates this show.

I really hope Oscar or Shan wins, but I fear it will be Asha.

[djsunyc]

As Mondo was talking about Sam, "It's not fashion and it's not Sam", he's sitting there with a some bastardized leather cowboy looking shirt that looked like he dumped an ink bottle all over it.  That my friend is not fashion either but it definitely is Mondo.

[WigglyJKitten]

Glad I found this site so I could keep up with this trainwreck to the end and validate that my opinions are shared by others. Thankfully I am not the only crazy one (according to Mondo) who sees no talent whatsoever in Asha! That dress was horrid, in every iteration they showed on the dress form. And she totally stole that strap idea from Natalia! Grrrrr.

Oscar and Shan are the only ones who make anything wearable for the most part. They need to be top 2. And Oscar the dog can be third.

Tim needs a reality check. I have lost all resepct for him after his recent comments.

I didn't comment much on TWoP but I will here if the regulars don't mind another newbie invading their turf. Hi eveyone!

[dialyn]

The Blogging Project Runway site has an interview with Dani Vierra, the model for the now infamous green gown.  Turns out the color is the favorite of her mother, and in the top five of her own favorite colors.  She is very complimentary of Oscar.  Going to say....she still seems very happy with the results.

[leighdear]

Sadly dialyn, client happiness is NEVER the primary goal of any of these shows.  It's all about what the judges want to see and how they react to the design.  They can always find a reason for the client to be "wrong". 

But the same thing happens in the tattoo competitions, cooking competitions, home design competitions, etc....

[QuinnM]

If you Tivo UTG and do not want your tivo viewing counted in the statistics for watching you need to wait a week before viewing.  There are two sets of number now, the immediate and the ones that count dvr viewing.  But even with dvr viewing no one cares after a week.

[April Bloodgate]

Could someone please fill me in on what Tim/his team has said?