S01.E06: Monster Mashup

[FormerMod-a1]

The season's youngest designers are featured.

 

 

[Guest]

There is no way in hell Ciara designed, let alone sewed, that first outfit with the bodice and skirt. Nice job though to her mom who clearly did.

I haven't watched this show in weeks. Totally forgot about it. Hopefully I'll forget about it next week, too.

[Mondrianyone]

I thought I was a bad person for thinking they cheated on that first outfit.  Glad to know someone else thought so, too.

[seacliffsal]

I just don't get the weird challenges and need for the second outfit on this show.  Way too much pressure on the kids.  I felt for the little girl who went to the bathroom to cry.  Really?  A monster mash-up?  

[needschocolate]

The host's tone of voice is annoying to me.  She sounds like she is speaking to a group of kids on some Saturday morning show.  This show may be about (very) young designers, but it airs at 10 pm, so the audience is made up of adults.  

[PepperMonkey]

Okay, okay, I'm not crazy then. When I saw that corset, I thought, there is no way in hell Ciara sewed that. I have no doubt she "designed" it, but looking at her other garments on the show, you can tell she did not fit and sew her first outfit.

 

It was clear by looking at the other two, that they did sew their own and I was happy one of them won.

 

I still like Ciara though; I think she IS creative and I love her enthusiasm.

 

This show is starting to bore me. Vanessa Simmons (?) is a terrible host and I hate her air of authority in the workroom. What are her credentials exactly? That she is Rev Run's daughter? Even my beloved Christian is not enough to keep me interested in this much longer, I fear...

I find myself wishing they had a fashion educator - UNCLE NICK! - as the host of this show. It would be so much more in line with what they seem to want to achieve: encouraging young fashion "students" to continue on in the industry. From what I've heard, Nick is a great teacher and much beloved... I think I would have enjoyed him here.

Edited December 6, 2014 by PepperMonkey

[Locutus]

Lucas has a great father.

[aradia22]

Recap is up. Katie really got to me. I don't know why. Maybe she's just what I imagine my daughter would be like. Kids don't really get to me but I just found her so adorable.

 

 

Even my beloved Christian is not enough to keep me interested in this much longer, I fear...

I think I read somewhere that there are only 8 episodes so with any luck we're almost done.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

We see so many precocious/smartass kids on tv that sometimes we forget that kids are still kids. Katie was a good reminder of that though (and I totally mean that in a non-snarky way). They are KIDS so giving them these ridiculous challenges and putting so much pressure on them is silly and mean. Why the hell did they need to give them such a weird yet specific task this week? Combine two monster inspirations? What the hell? I loved that Katie's mom did such a great job calming her down and then talking her through what she wanted to do.

 

ITA that Vanessa Simmons is a terrible host as well as a terrible mentor (or whatever it is they call her when she's walking around the work room lording it over the kids). When she asked Lucas three times in a row if he knew there was only X amount of time left and whether he would be able to finish, I wanted to tell her to STFU. Quit wasting this kid's time by pestering him! And stop stressing him out by asking him the same damn question over and over! Let him use that last 15 minutes to work as fast as he can without you distracting him and making him think he doesn't have enough time to finish. Sheesh. His dad was really sweet and supportive.

 

I would have liked if they had shown us the inside of Ciara's corset from the first challenge. I don't remember much about it off the top of my head except for the fact that it laced up in the back. If there was no boning, I could see Ciara making it because that would mean that she just sewed 4-6 panels together and then put grommets in the back. Lacing it up in the back like that means you can adjust the fit very easily to a lot of different bodies without actually having to fit it very well while you're making it. Ciara was the most diva-ish of the three contestants, mostly when she snapped at her mom about how she knew what she wanted to do but her mom didn't know what she was doing.

 

I always loathe the surprise challenge because it's just arts and crafts time. Ciara's really exemplified that. It looked like exactly what it was - an 11 year old kid who threw some paint on a dress and then glued a bunch of candy to it. I totally agreed with the judges about the gummi bear boobs on his. Just really unflattering and kind of tacky looking. Katie's used a very simple technique but it was so effective. I thought it was fine to leave the skirt white and add a belt though. I think too much of that multi colored paint might have looked too busy and the effect might have been lost with the pleats in the skirt and ended up looking messy. Leaving the skirt white provided some contrast.

[PattyG]

This group of kids, though younger than others, didn't get any additional helpers like the last few groups did.  I wonder how they decide which group gets them and which don't.  I also noticed that Ciara didn't get to steal anybody's assistant this time, either.  That part is fine by me.  It's a stupid rule.  

[TeresaDee]

Don't get me wrong, I think the whole premise of the challenge was awful. But, the winner didn't adhere to the challenge at all--she simply designed and executed a cute outfit with no connection to the monsters. I expected that they would gently point that out and chose another winner. Am I the only one who found that unfair?

[aradia22]

 

This group of kids, though younger than others, didn't get any additional helpers like the last few groups did.  I wonder how they decide which group gets them and which don't.  I also noticed that Ciara didn't get to steal anybody's assistant this time, either.  That part is fine by me.  It's a stupid rule.

My guess is that the episodes have not been aired in the order they were filmed and they added and took away elements throughout the season as they saw how well something was or was not working. They were clearly making it up as they went along.

[Pepper Mostly]

this show could have been absolutely fun and entertaining. But it is a FAIL. The kids are adorable and I bow to no woman in my love for Christian, but the rest? pffft. Vanessa Simmons is awful, she has no personality and no authority as a fashion expert. I agree a PR alum (I am probably the only person on earth who doesn't like Nick Verreos, but anyone else. Why not Alexandria, who works with kids all the time?) The extra stress and pressure of the extra look and dumb "curveballs" is just annoying to me as a viewer and too much to heap onto the kids. If they'd gone more Masterchef Jr. with genuine mentoring and a supportive environment it could have been great. But I do not tune in to see children cry. That said, I thought her mother handled it wonderfully. 

[Mondrianyone]

If there was no boning, I could see Ciara making it

There was boning.  And there was also what looked like curved boning (either that or some kind of trapunto detail), which was the first thing I noticed about the bodice.  That was pretty high-level sewing.  I was watching on a large screen so the stitching was very clear, and I initially thought, "Wow, that kid is amazing."  Except what she did in the studio was nowhere near that skill level.  So I'm calling shenanigans on the at-home project.

 

You can see the outfit here:  http://threads.projectrunway.com/product/prt106-ciara-look-1/

 

If you click on the picture and then click on the expanding arrows, you can see the details a little better.  Obviously they didn't have that model to fit it on, but they probably could've done a better job of hiking her boobs up into the right place for the few minutes she was wearing it.  Iffy fit or not, the sewing was very impressive--by my standards anyway.  I don't think it was the child's work.

 

Other than that, I agree with everybody above about ditching both Vanessa and the stupid extra project.  I don't know why Christian couldn't take over the mentoring and hosting instead of being a judge.  He's terrific with them.  The kids, with the exception of a few bratty ones (or bratty-for-TV ones) have been wonderful to see. 

[Guest]

Yeah, Vanessa is awful.  Like Khloe Kardashian on X Factor level of awful.  

[Bebecat]

I only watch to see what the challenge is, and then the runway. I can't get into the process in the workroom...same with real Project Runway...I am only interested in the results. And Christian.