S04.E05: Designing For The Duchess

[Lovecat]

Anyone know the story behind that blue rooster statue in London?  (I raise chickens, so things like that always leap out at me)

Dunno, but I got a big kick out of messaging "I just saw a big blue cock on Project Runway!!" to my BF :)

[backgroundnoise]

People wear waist-length Eisenhower jackets in the winter so I don't see what's wrong with Justin's.  I thought it was interesting, although it might flare out too much for anyone with hips (any non-size 2 model, that is).

 

I liked that there was a specific directive:  make a coat.  I just wish they had had two days so they could have wowed us.  DON'T THE PRODUCERS GET THAT?!?

 

Benjamin's was really cute, but way too juvenile for the Duchess.

 

I would have loved Fabio's if he had substituted something else for that awful neoprene.

 

Helen's made her model look like she had no shoulders and a huge butt.

 

Michelle's:  Good God.  I will say no more.

 

Sonjia's looked like she was trying to make a pod for the S1 2055 challenge.

Edited December 5, 2014 by backgroundnoise

[Cramps]

1. Paddington Bear's journey didn't start at Paddington Station, it started in Deepest Darkest Peru (just had to get that out there!)

2. How did they get Fergie? Obviously the former Weight Watchers spokesperson does things for money, but this show doesn't have the budget, so is she Friends with Zanna? They didn't really milk it the way I thought they would have. And is she still considered a royal post-divorce?

3. Aside from the pockets, I really liked Benjamin's coat--it was definitely one of the better things he's done this season, and probably one of the few coats that would have flattered "the Dutchess."

4. How could Benjamin never have ridden a double decker bus? Plenty of regular busses are still double decker.

[Dirtybubble]

As much as I adore Dmitry what the fudge was up with his coat?  It looked terribly uncomfortable.  I understand this is a high fashion, runway challenge and not an off the rack challenge but all the coats on the runway, at the very least, looked comfy.  Neoprene and tulle, really?  It just looked so......severe, the coat barely moved when his model was walking.  I think I get what some people are saying about Dmitry's style; dominatrix much sweetie?

[beaker73]

Fergie!!  Before Fergie the singer, there was Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York. I wonder if this is an 80s-inspired challenge since Fergie and Princess Diana were THE celebrities back then.

To this day, when I hear the name Fergie I always think of Sarah Ferguson first.  I guess I'm showing my age. :)

[BathKol]

4. How could Benjamin never have ridden a double decker bus? Plenty of regular busses are still double decker.

Like Disneyland, double decker buses are tourist attractions that clog London streets in the summer when all the Yankees come to gawk at the Tower and Big Ben. I've never rode one either and the multi times my mother and grandma stayed in London they never once set foot on those things. The British government also has had problems with those things causing accidents or having accidents, so if you go to England during the off season, you rarely see them anymore. We went in April, and even with us being in the heart of things never caught a glimpse of them...

Edited December 5, 2014 by BathKol

[BathKol]

To this day, when I hear the name Fergie I always think of Sarah Ferguson first. I guess I'm showing my age. :)

I think the same way, and I'm in my 20's. I have no vested interest in pop culture. My mother is more up to date on Hollywood than I am.

[picklesprite]

I could never wear a coat cut up the back like that, not only because I have a butt that doesn't need displaying, but also because I'd get tired of constantly hearing people ask, "Doesn't your butt get cold?"

I loved Fabio's. . .I think. I actually have no idea what it really looked like. This was one time I wish they'd brought the models back for close inspection so we could actually see, for instance, the pleats the judges praised.

[kelslamu]

Benjamin should have gotten the same fabric.  He should have known there would be no way he and Sam would have the same design.  Hated Michelle's and thought Helen's was hideous.  Those colors!  Dmitry's made me think of a raincoat. I didn't like much, but think you would have to see these coats up close to really know.  I can not think of anyone who would want their butt hanging out the back of a winter coat though.

Edited December 5, 2014 by kelslamu

[cpcathy]

Sam's fabric was so, so bad. It looked like one of those sweatshirts you buy in junior high and wear it until it's filthy and falling apart. I thought it was hideous.

 

When I heard it would be a coat challenge I got excited, coats can be so beautiful, lovely tailoring in pretty jeweltones, but no. I think everyone trying to design something "cool" went overboard. Coats with butts hanging out? Coats with short sleeves???? No thanks.

[roctavia]

I saw Justin's open back as more of a play on those shirts/ dresses that are longer on the sides... or almost like a wrap of fabric that comes down on the sides vs cutting a specific slit in the back (I can't come up with the right way to describe it) cause I think it was very similar in the front. It was very exaggerated, of course, but I liked the coat overall.

 

That red monstrosity was horrible and I don't know how it was safe (they don't get immunity in all stars, right?) and a lot of those coats were fug as others have described. I liked Fabios coat, especially once you could see the details.

 

I didn't like Dimitry's coat at all... though it looked well sewn... it was too straight and as someone else said, very Dr. Evil to me. And really, just kind of boring! I didn't mind Benjamin's coat, so I don't feel the elimination... but overall, this episode was kind of a snooze.

[Wings]

You could reasonably wear Justin's backless coat in California, where it is chilly enough by late winter you can't suffice it with just jeans and a Hollister hoodie. We will have days out here by the coast where the temp dips down to 32 in the evenings and never rises above 58 - plus we are experiencing colder winters on average, and the high desert has been know to go below freezing. I've seen coats like that here in Barneys and Bergdorf Goodman so it is not completely impractical...

Honestly, the Royal Family (I say this with gritted teeth) lost all interest in the world after Henry and his wives and countless numbers of female conquests. I could care less who is a duchess, duke, princess, lord, queen - at the end of the day we all gotta wipe our butts, flush the toilet, and face the reality of ourselves. I'm sure Her Grace has her reasons...

 

 

I can see the coat in CA but the challenge was London and it gets very cold and raw there.  If it were of a different fabric I can see jeans under there with the goal of just keeping your upper body warmer.  

[BathKol]

I can see the coat in CA but the challenge was London and it gets very cold and raw there. If it were of a different fabric I can see jeans under there with the goal of just keeping your upper body warmer.

I've been to England so I am not ignorant to their harsh, long winters.

As others have mentioned, practical and beautiful were not in mind when the designers made these things. Even though backless/short/avant garde coats are not unheard of, I guess I do wonder at the end of the day what Justin had in mind. The scarf cowl spaghetti thing would probably twist and choke you in the wind should a sudden gale come up unexpectedly. The color was a hard gunmetal gray that works well with other shades of gray, forget anything scarlet, lapis, or violet.

I loved Fabio's. . .I think. I actually have no idea what it really looked like. This was one time I wish they'd brought the models back for close inspection so we could actually see, for instance, the pleats the judges praised.

He had added some sort of ribbing to the bottom of his coat, and his buttons were hook or bone shape I believe. I liked it too, but I know it was the color - midnight blue is gorgeous. I think if it was two shades lighter or in a completely different color, it would be absolutely hideous.

Helen did the blood red on flesh coat, non? It made her model look like a slab of meat...literally. She needs to take a course in color theory like really badly.

Why is Samantha still here? Or Gunnar? They get very little to no airtime yet coast through every week.

[EyesGlazed]

Justin was in the bottom 3 for me.  A coat with no back is not practical for the weather and you had to wear brown pants with it every time you used it.  A dress or clashing color would have looked terrible.  

I couldn't agree more.  I was shocked that he didn't get B3'd for a long coat with essentially no back below the waist.  It was so unflattering and, as you point out, impractical.  It really looked to me like he ran out of fabric.  The back wasn't "slit" so much as nonexistent.  What this episode needed was Heidi giving some reality-check commentary.  She would never have let Justin get away with that dreck and she wouldn't have cared if he went all big weepy eyes on her.

 

Fabio's coat grew on me the more I looked at it.  I wish PRAS did the close-up look at the garments by the judges the way PRO has started to do.  Fabio's collar/neckline in particular was flattering and fresh.  I couldn't quite tell what colors he was using - think it was navy and a little dark blue mesh?  In any case, it would be more flattering on a pale redhead like Fergie than some of the drab blacks and grays the other designers were using.

 

Speaking of drab grays, Jay's coat had so much potential with the contrast between the yellow and gray, but then he bollixed it up by over designing the hell out of it.

 

Finally, they should have sent Sam home (much as I like her) instead of Benjamin.  I actually liked his fabric and found it very London-y.  He did mess up with the flounce and the weird context-less pockets, but at least his coat was well tailored.  Sam's was just a droopy mess.

[candall]

Just watching it now. . .

 

I really hope the designers don't embarrass Zanna after she treated them to that trip to her hometown.

 

P.S.  Coats = sleeves.  I'm so excited!

Edited December 5, 2014 by candall

[RealityCowgirl]

I thought I saw, if not actual iridescence, the illusion of iridescence (maybe a blue/purple mix?) on Fabio's during the runway. Definitely got the feeling it played better live than on camera. Seemed to be well-tailored despite having only a day. (Really? A coat? In a day???)

I had no problem with his win.

Was multitasking, but I think I heard Dmitry settling on neoprene because he didn't see anything else that appealed for what he was thinking of doing. Not a case of " go to London! Beeline to the neoprene!" But I might have misheard.

Edited December 5, 2014 by RealityCowgirl

[izabella]

The cameras were doing a lot of quick shots of AM when she had that patterned dress on, so I didn't notice it on the runway, but it's a vagina dress!  There are some strategically placed "wings" to highlight the area, in case one wasn't sure.

 

http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/project-runway-all-stars/photos/season-4-episode-5-photos#id=2

 

After looking at the pics on the PR site, I now think Justin's was fugly and bulky and unflattering, butt gap aside.  It's really a mess in the front, and has that weird lumpy bump on her back.

 

http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/project-runway-all-stars/photos/season-4-episode-5-final-looks#id=7

 

I'm also hating on Sonjia's which was unflattering on even her slender model, especially in the back.

 

http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/project-runway-all-stars/photos/season-4-episode-5-final-looks#id=10

 

Helen's looks as awful as it did on the runway, and maybe even worse.

[Surrealist]

I liked but didn't love most of the other coats. I didn't really see anything fantastic in Dimitry's coat and would never associated neoprene and tulle with winter in London. Fabio's coat came across very dark on screen so I couldn't see the details the judges liked so much, but I like him so I'm glad he won. Justin's coat was nice too, but the opening in the back was just odd.

 

I could get kind of a city pattern out of Dimitry's coat, but I wasn't wow'ed by it. It wasn't bad though.

 

I like Fabio's work fine, but I feel like I missed what was so wonderful about his coat because it was too dark for me to see the details.

 

I really liked Justin's coat, except for the back. Justin's a woman wants her butt covered when it's cold outside. Hahahahaha. Justin's work has been pretty solid this AS.

 

Helen's coat was ugly.

Edited December 5, 2014 by Surrealist

[Nutjob]

I thought Jay's coat made his model look short and top-heavy--two things a woman never wants. Like many, I loved Justin's coat... except for the back. If he'd have just closed that up, it would have been pretty great.

 

I still love Dmitry, and don't find him any bitchier than his original season. This time, though, there is no crying Elena at which to direct it, and Helen has yet to earn his ire with her bawling. I was afraid they were telegraphing him going home, so I was glad he was top 3.

[FormerMod-a1]

With Justin's, I think if he had stitched up the back at least down to the tailbone level, it would have helped keep the front from looking so bulky as well.  

[Lamb18]

Re: King's Cross Station - was just there in September and there is a little plaque for platform 9 3/4! 

 

Re: Ben not taking a double decker bus - I like taking them as a tourist and running up the stairs to the top, but they are not the fastest way to get anywhere. They're more of a sightseeing experience.  He probably either lived close enough to walk to work or took the subway.

[Latverian Diplomat]

No disrespect to Justin, but his remarks about London fog as an inspiration reminded me of one of my favorite moments from Mad Men:

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1439792/trivia?tab=qt&ref_=tt_trv_qu

 

I know practicality is not really a thing on this show, but given that Benjamin's model made a show of tucking her hands into those ugly transparent pockets, I'd just like to note that I think that type of material would get grimy and gross in nothing flat if you actually used those pockets to tuck your hands in.

 

The Duchess of York things was well explained above, but just a couple of additional facets I found amusing. While she can style herself, Sarah, Duchess of York, she is no longer The Duchess of York. So, the episode title should perhaps have been "Designing for a Duchess". And she loses even that right if she ever remarries, because umm, family values?

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchess_of_York

 

And to add a little fun to the questions of how best to hob nob with the royal family, there's this "scandalous" development:

http://www.npr.org/2014/12/05/368640512/richard-iiis-dna-indicates-family-infidelity

[Linderhill]

I was kind of so-so on most of these coats.  Some of them tho' -- just no.  Helen, that was some of the ugliest things you've produced.  I go back and forth on Justin's flaring butt coat.  I liked it from the front.  I do think he kind of goofed with that but it wasn't as heinous as Helen's monstrosity or Sam's cluster of what the --.  Jay, didn't care for it at all, although its mostly because I hate that mustard color.  color me shocked that Michelle didn't inform us all about the dreary weather in London being similar to Portland. Color me surprised that she didn't use that acid green she liked so much on her own season.  Gunnar's ripped up coat, I didn't get that at all.  Especially for Sarah Ferguson.  I mostly liked Dimitry's coat although it could have used some tweaking.  I could not see what was so special about Fabio's coat, it was too darn dark.  I caught some blue but the details were all lost on me.

 

One thing I absolutely detest are ¾ sleeves.  Especially on a coat.  I have broadish shoulders and looong arms so I always have trouble finding long sleeves that are actually long.  Most of the time I end up with ¾ sleeves even when their supposed to be long.  Its a pet peeve of mine so I never will buy a coat or top with them.  As a teenager I always had to wear long gloves with my coats because I always had that length of wrist and arm hanging out.  And since I have big hands too, thats not easy for a woman.

 

I enjoyed seeing the Duchess too.  Its been a while since I'd seen her on TV but I agree that she needs to lay off the eyeliner.  Seeing some of the comments about how well preserved she is reminds me that over in Europe the fashion world isn't as hung up on women having a few age lines.  

[bobbyjoe]

Has Gunnar ever made anything good?  I don't mean that as a rhetorical question; I mean that in the sense that I really can't remember Gunnar making anything, ever, either in his season or All-Stars, that was any good at all.  Am I just forgetting something?  His presence on All-Stars is mystifying.  Frankly, his presence as a contestant on PR at all is baffling.  The producers (though no one else) obviously thought Gunnar was delightful, must-see tv during his season, when he had so many talking heads he was basically the narrator of PR.  But now he doesn't even have that.  His outfit tonight was predictably atrocious, but he wasn't even in the bottom three.  WTF is this man doing on my television set?

Edited December 5, 2014 by bobbyjoe

[Maya]

I kept wondering if Michelle's black coat, black sweater and black skirt were one thing. It seemed strange that the under clothes were more prominent than the coat.

[Surrealist]

With Justin's, I think if he had stitched up the back at least down to the tailbone level, it would have helped keep the front from looking so bulky as well.  

 

Exactly. When I saw the sketch and how he started putting it together, I figured he'd get a top spot. When the model walked the runway and I saw the lack of a back end, I kind of cringed because I really liked the coat.

 

I think I'm more impressed with Justin this time around than I was during his season.

[BathKol]

Re: King's Cross Station - was just there in September and there is a little plaque for platform 9 3/4!

Re: Ben not taking a double decker bus - I like taking them as a tourist and running up the stairs to the top, but they are not the fastest way to get anywhere. They're more of a sightseeing experience. He probably either lived close enough to walk to work or took the subway.

Dude you are so awesome for posting this!!! My mother and I are planning on taking a vacation to Europe Spring 2015 - if we can make it to Britain I am totally looking for platform 9 3/4!!! He lives!

Yup on the buses: they are so cumbersome and ungainly.

Edited December 5, 2014 by BathKol

[panthergirl13]

Did I hear correctly, when they were having tea with Sarah Ferguson, did Dmitry say his DAUGHTER wouldn't believe it?  I rewound it a couple times and could swear that's what he said.

I heard daughter too, but why is this weird?

[Archery]

I love how Gunnar's coat doesn't even rate a photo in the recap discussion. <br /><br />Sam's coat was weird because it looked like her model was keeping it closed, or holding it up or something. Her arm was not relaxed-that can't be how it'supposed to fit, right, with her shoulder all hunched? Maybe the pocket was too high?<br /><br />Dimitri's coat looked like the lab coat your radiologist wears. I didn't understand all the fawning there.

[TexasGal]

I heard daughter too, but why is this weird?

Those of us who are obsessed with Dmitry are always speculating whether he is gay, straight, bi, or none of the above.  :)  During his season he made some remarks about Heidi's attractiveness which has lead us to assume he is straight or bi, but he's never mentioned a girlfriend or boyfriend, or wife or ex or certainly having children so it would just have just been an interesting addition to my quest for knowledge about him if he had a daughter.

[One Tough Cookie]

 

 

Well, Sara is a lot of things, but Royal isn't one of them.  She's the divorced "commoner" of the second son.  Her {ugly} daughters are considered royal, but she is NOT considered part of the royal family.  It was embarrassing to watch Americans scream and act like they were being accorded some great privilege by having tea with a middle aged unemployed divorcee.

Edited December 5, 2014 by One More Time

[Calamity Jane]

You could reasonably wear Justin's backless coat in California, where it is chilly enough by late winter you can't suffice it with just jeans and a Hollister hoodie. We will have days out here by the coast where the temp dips down to 32 in the evenings and never rises above 58 - plus we are experiencing colder winters on average, and the high desert has been know to go below freezing. I've seen coats like that here in Barneys and Bergdorf Goodman so it is not completely impractical...

Honestly, the Royal Family (I say this with gritted teeth) lost all interest in the world after Henry and his wives and countless numbers of female conquests. I could care less who is a duchess, duke, princess, lord, queen - at the end of the day we all gotta wipe our butts, flush the toilet, and face the reality of ourselves. I'm sure Her Grace has her reasons...

"High Desert has been known to go below freezing...."  Yes, indeed, as a certified Desert Rat, I can tell you that most winter days start out below freezing.  And we have at least a little snow most winters, but not all.  The biggest shock when we moved here was not the baking hot summer weather, but the blustery, freezing cold winter weather!  Just did not expect that in a desert, somehow.

[LexiconDevilOne]

To this day, when I hear the name Fergie I always think of Sarah Ferguson first.  I guess I'm showing my age. :)

You're not alone. :)

[carrps]

Zanna's dress looked like it was made out of Christmas wrapping paper.

 

I hated Justin's coat and thought, for sure, it was going to be a B3. But I forgot how they fawn over him...almost as much as over Dmitri. Justin's coat was boring, bulky and ill-fitting on the top and WTF on the bottom. Just bad. And what was all the fog talk about? It was a gorgeous summery day when they were there, so he didn't see any fog. So, he was imagining a cliche. Even so I'd probably have eliminated Sam. That was a baaad coat.

 

I just re-watched "A Portrait of Jennie" yesterday, and Ben's coat reminded me of Jennie on the day she first met Joseph Cotton. When she was 12. It was very juvenile to me. Still better than Sam's and Justin's.

 

Agree with Archery that Dmitri's coat looked like a lab coat. I was picturing it with big bulky rubber gloves. And, if he meant his overlay to represent a skyline, why did he use pointy shapes? I could only see trees, and it made me think of Ice queens from Russian fables. If he'd used flat-topped cut outs, the skyline idea would have been easier to spot.

 

Gunnar's was absolutely a B3. Awful. Overdone. Ugly. Yuck. 

 

Michelle's looked liked a yeti costume, and her styling only emphasized it. Helen's -- dumb and unflattering. Sonjia's -- didn't hate it; didn't love it.

 

Who else? Eh, nothing else memorable...

[gingerormaryann]

I thought Dmitry's looked like 2000 Tokyo.  I would have pegged it for the win if the challenge was to design a coat inspired by "The Ring."

[MortysCleaningLady]

Oy vey!  What do I know.  My favorites were Jay and Benjamin.  I loved the mustard with deep gray -- my biggest concern was the back, since frequent sitting in that wool can cause an unseemed bum to bag a bit.  Benjamin's was adorable.  The pockets did say Junior, but Fergie could let Eugenia or Beatrice wear it. 

 

My picks for the bottom: Gunnar -- the white plaid would get filthy and the sleeves -- you can't wear anything heavy under that!  Second worst - Dmitry -- the tulle over the seems was randomly darker and was not aesthetically appealing to me.

[icycoldone]

The designers always say "This looks New York. This looks London. This looks Tokyo.". I want someone to design a look for a full desert look; like Tucson, Phoenix, Las Vegas in July. Make them use fabric like neoprene, wool, and to be mean, polyester for the common fast food worker..

[SSAHotchner]

The back of Justin's coat wasn't bad just because it wasn't appropriate for cold weather. It just looked awful. It accentuated the butt of the model. If even a skinny model looked bad in that coat, who else would wear it?

[BathKol]

"High Desert has been known to go below freezing...." Yes, indeed, as a certified Desert Rat, I can tell you that most winter days start out below freezing. And we have at least a little snow most winters, but not all. The biggest shock when we moved here was not the baking hot summer weather, but the blustery, freezing cold winter weather! Just did not expect that in a desert, somehow.

The only time there is never a frost is in the low desert...but those places are so far out it is nearly impossible to live there. I think Palm Desert is the closest you can get to a relatively 'balmy' atmosphere, and even then I've gone shopping in Cabazon during the winter and it is never above 45 in the daytime - but the nights are gorgeous aren't they? All those stars!

[BathKol]

The back of Justin's coat wasn't bad just because it wasn't appropriate for cold weather. It just looked awful. It accentuated the butt of the model. If even a skinny model looked bad in that coat, who else would wear it?

I found the front and collar really weird. First, there was the absence of said collar, so it looked weirdly unfinished, like he forgot or something. Plus, the assymetrical front made the model look like her breasts were having a fight with each and were inching slowly up her clavicle. The color was dull (and I love me some gray, especially a pale lavender or blue gray), not flattering, and the fabric looked like a shag rug or something equally unpleasant.

He should have added some silver or brass elements or just anything to liven up that mass of gray fudge.

Edited December 6, 2014 by BathKol

[Bebecat]

AM was gushing over Fabio too...it was embarrassing to watch. And that giant bun does nothing for her...with her awful clothes, she needs good hair at least.

Fergie is NOT royalty and good grief, even if she was, the reactions, fake or otherwise, of the designers, was also embarrassing to watch. Ok, if the Queen walked in, I guess I could understand a bit of "awe" but whatever. She (Fergie) is the most common of commoners.

[anonymiss]

I don't remember Dimitry being this bitchy on his season. I remember wanting him to win. Maybe he's getting the bad edit.

He is bitchier but I suspect it's just that he was more guarded/less confident to say what was on his mind first time round. He's a lot more relaxed now but still just as focused. He obviously has had his ego stroked by Nina being his no.1 fan and winning the title already, so he's letting his snark come out. I'm enjoying it.

 

Ben's personality is so cloying that I'm glad to see him go. Although, I admit I liked his coat because I'm "junior"-ish so could see it working for me and getting a lot of compliments on the pockets. 

 

Relieved Jay Sario is still here after that fug coat. He still hasn't learned to edit, which is what got him excluded from the final runway originally.

 

I liked Helen's! Second time in a row. Maybe it's because I'm similar to her in age and frame so I am actually "getting" her designs for once. Plus I have such low expectations for her I"m impressed whenever she does anything different from that pencil dress she replicated each challenge.

 

Oh, this might be the first time I've appreciated Justin's work, although it wasn't NEARLY as great as they were gushing over. It had potential to be great if he'd made the middle not look like the model was with child.

Edited December 6, 2014 by anonymiss

[awaken]

Well, at least Alyssa moved in the right direction by wearing something form-fitting!  Too bad that first pattern was hideous, and white is not all that flattering of a color!  

 

And Zanna was wearing some sort of colored tinfoil type dress, and her comments were as insipid as usual.  "This has GOT to be perfect!" "You're going to finish this hem, right?" Yes, they know!!  I wouldn't be able to suppress my annoyance if I were a designer.

 

???  Isaac's comment about what a wonderful idea it is to make a coat out of tulle!

 

The neoprene thing can just go away now.  I inwardly groan every time a designer has the revolutionary idea of using neoprene for clothes.  IT'S BEEN DONE!  And it's not very attractive.  When Dmitri said his was crinkled, I wondered why he didn't make that a part of the design.  Crinkle it even more!  His was ok- I didn't love it. 

 

I thought for sure Samantha would be out.  I was surprised it was Benjamin!  I thought they really liked him and assumed they'd keep him.

 

Like Justin's color combo, but found it very humorous the way it split in the back to showcase the buttocks!  LOL

 

Jay's was a good idea in theory, but in reality it had so many flaps and layers going in so many difference directions.  I wondered why they didn't have him show what it looked like without the vest.

 

I'll take their word for it that Fabio's was great-  it didn't show on my tv at all.  All I saw whenever it came on was a big blue-black blur.   I couldn't make out any details, just that it had short sleeves.  

[auntlada]

Jay's coat would have worked better (for me) if it was a different combination of colors (mustard is not a favorite of mine) and if he had incorporate the back detail into the coat and lost the whole vest idea (why would one wear a vest over a coat?).

 

I can't say it was a good look, but that was very popular in the early 80s, particularly with ski jackets. I think the idea was you could wear just the vest if it was only sort of cold (although I never got why you wouldn't want something on your arms, but think Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future), just the coat if it was a little bit colder or the coat and the vest over it if it was very cold. I had one in pink and gray. It was very puffy, though, and made you look bigger than you were, which isn't necessarily that bad if you're a young teenager and weigh 110 pounds. If you're older and heavier (no matter how much weight you've lost and perhaps especially if you've recently lost weight), you don't want that.

[Oholibamah]

I was mostly fine with those selected for Top and Bottom, although I would have had Gunnar replace Jay in the bottom, and Sonjia replace Justin in the top. Jay's was pretty bad and Justin's was pretty good (although the back seemed like either a mistake or a design element for the sake of a design element), so I can't really be outraged at the reality like I usually am. Helen's and Michelle's were fine and deserved their placement in the middle.

 

I am thrilled that Benjamin went home. He isn't a particularly horrible human being or anything, but I just find him so insufferable. His diction, lame attempts at humor, melodrama, and constant DUH expression drive me insane.

 

And that's about all I can muster to say about the entire episode. This group is so boring. Those who used to be bitchy have completely dialed it back (Michelle, Helen, Jay, Gunnar), and the rest are just mildly likeable people who lack any real conviction on television (Sam, Sonjia). Justin is a nice guy who kind of already ran his emotional gamut on his season, and Fabio and Dmitry are unique characters but can't really carry a season with their drama-free no BS approach.

 

They should just give up on finding a new cast every time and keep recycling people like Austin, Kenley, Jerell, Elena and Seth Aaron - they can design, but also manage to be interesting. I, for one, would watch.

Edited December 6, 2014 by Oholibamah

[Hpmec]

Fergie was booted out of the Royal Family years ago. She humiliated herself in an infamous toe sucking incident. More than likely she did All Stars for the paycheck. The fawning over her was embarrassing. Not much to say about the fashion except that I would not have put Justin's booty exposing coat in the top 3.

[BathKol]

Ugh, I remember the toe thing. That was so gross.

[Tess23]

What's with Michelle and her "It's Pawtington Bear!" at the beginning of the show? Is she taking diction lessons from Alyssa?

[Ms Blue Jay]

Gunnar did a brown wool and leather dress in Season 10 that I loved.  That is the only design I remember of his that I loved.  And in the infamous challenge where Ven was a total asshole to his "Real woman" client, Gunnar won a lot of our hearts by being extremely wonderful to his, in an interesting side-by-side comparison of 2 different designing personalities.  I think Gunnar is a sweetheart and I'll never mind him on my screen.  

 

Negatives to Gunnar: In Season 10 he started out extremely insecure and had a weird "hate" (really unrequited love I think) thing for Christopher (I love Christopher too so I get it) but then he got progressively a bit better.  This season I think he's totally fine.  Though okay, he does kind of suck as a designer in comparison to these people but so does Samantha, another personality I'm totally fine with.

 

I didn't think Jay's coat was so bad.  But I like Jay so I'm biased.  I fully agree with the top 2 coats and I thought Dmitry's was cool as all heck impractical or severe or not.

Edited December 6, 2014 by Ms Blue Jay

[jcbrown]

 

I could NOT see what she was talking about with that "print": it looked like a sponge-painted bathroom wall from the late eighties

That's exactly what it was! Thanks--it was driving me nuts that I could not place that print.