S14.E04: Fashion Flip

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Part of me wishes that Hanmiao hadn't been elimated last week just so I could have seen her ask the other designers, "What is Mary Kay?" and then hear their ridiculous ass kissing explanations about what kind of edgy modern hip youthful New York woman wears Mary Kay. That would have been comedy gold.

 

Maybe I'm being thick but I didn't get how the episode title related to the challenge this week. The only thing that was filpped was the judges' good sense.

 

ETA: Hanmiao moved from China to San Francisco when she was 19 so I am trying to imagine any type of scenario in which she learned about Mary Kay while at the Academy of Art. I can't think of anyone I have met in the 10+ years I have lived in the Bay Area who sold, wore, or even mentioned Mary Kay.

Edited August 29, 2015 by ElectricBoogaloo

[breezy424]

When I was at my local supermarket this week, there was a pink Cadillac SUV in the parking lot with a Mary Kay logo on the back.  Yeah, sure, that's so hip and edgy.

[Kromm]

Wow, this episode was a joke.  Candice was robbed just because they want to tell some story with Blake and his shitty badly made dress.

 

News flash: It was not only badly made, it was ugly.  These judges are often incomprehensibly bad, but this one takes the cake.

[Gbb]

I don't normally yell at my TV but when Blake won, I let loose a torrent of abuse that was colorful, profane and filled with compound words.

What. The. Fuck.

She looked like she climbed out of a pup tent, got tangled up in it and tried to cut herself out with jagged scissors befor giving up.

The fuck, judges?

Swapnil, come sit next to me and I'll make it all better.

[Kromm]

I was hoping Nina Garcia would have had the guts to write a blog on http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/project-runway/blogsdefending her statements and decisions from this week, but alas she has not.

 

That said, Alexander Pope gained some respect from me by calling his blog for this week "Season 14, Episode 4: When Bad Clothes Win".  He didn't like Candice's look either, which I disagree with, but with Blake's look he says:

 

 

don't get me started on Blake's look. They called it “innovative” and “something I've never seen before.” Was it? No, no it wasn't. Maybe it was “new” to "Runway," but I've seen that parachute dress thing again and again in previous fashion weeks. Just remember, it has all been done before! My issue with it is that I can't get past his crappy construction. It was so poorly sewn that it looked like student work. I truly cannot get past hideously constructed garments on this show, especially since I know how to make a damn dress properly. I have seen horribly made clothes win again and again while the superbly crafted garments get ridiculed. I just can't give poorly constructed looks high scores, but the judges obviously can, because Blake won the challenge.

[Calamity Jane]

If you have a good photographer, though, who knows how to light the set and how to use the photo software, you can get good photos of black clothes. And Swapnil's had plenty of light hitting the ruffles to show shading and variation. I'd rather see something in black than Blake's dress in any color or than a dress in his royal blue fabric, which looked like the fabric of a bridesmaid dress I wore in 1987. At least the dress didn't have a big bow on the butt, I guess.

Oh, I completely agree, I just don't think Nina does.

[Ketzel]

There was one moment when Blake's dress was being shown and Aube was striding back up the runway, when the scrunched-up light blue fabric billowed out behind her. For a brief instant, she looked like she had giant blue buttocks, and I laughed so hard I nearly choked on my wine.

If that's what it takes for me to look fashion-forward, I pass.

Edited August 29, 2015 by Ketzel

[slothgirl]

[so glad they're switching models each week!]

I don't understand how the models' prizes and eliminations work if they switch models every week.. so a model who might have worn a number of winning looks just happens to get paired with the losing designer one week and goes home? The model who through SHEER LUCK escapes elimination gets the model's prize at the end because she just happens to be paired at the end with the winning designer?

 

The judging for the designers is wack half the time, but this way of determining a winning model is ridiculously unfair.. unless the designers are choosing models like they showed them in that one season where they had a models 1/2 hour tv show. If designers have a pick of models before each challenge (resulting in a model being eliminated) then the best model is going to continue to get picked and others will go home regardless of whether they happened to be wearing the winning, losing or safe outfit that week.

Edited August 29, 2015 by slothgirl

[Muffyn]

I too have been wondering how the models are being assigned this season.  The red-haired model has been spending some serious time in the bottom.  Designers keep picking real bad colors for her coloring.  Do they know who they are working with early enough to factor this into their design? 

[Grandma Saracen]

They haven't shown us model selection, but I'm assuming it like previous years when they switched - they used a few different methods.

 

There is luck to the models' lot, but then there is talent, too. I find Aube really striking & smart in her presentation, and clearly the judges do, too. (They've commented on such.) 

[slensam]

I liked Swapnil's dress - It had almost  a "floaty" look. (I could never wear it but I thought it was perfect).  I did like Candice's look too.  BUT BLAKE WON???  In what universe - I thought it was poorly made and ugly.  

Some other random thoughts:

Does anyone else thing that Kelly looks like Boy George?

So a sequined sports jersey means New York? Who knew.

Since they've' cut the work time from two days to one day to 8-9 hours, maybe next week they will give the designers one hour to create a red carpet ready dress using string, duct tape, and confetti. Oh, and it must scream elegant.  Ready, set, go!

Oh yeah, Boy George! I've said this from the first week. Big 80's explosion. The weird thing was the night before on VH1 Classic and lo and behold a Culture Club video-"I'll Tumble for Ya". Spitting image.

[WearyTraveler]

Part of me wishes that Hanmiao hadn't been elimated last week just so I could have seen her ask the other designers, "What is Mary Kay?" and then hear their ridiculous ass kissing explanations about what kind of edgy modern hip youthful New York woman wears Mary Kay. That would have been comedy gold.

 

Maybe I'm being thick but I didn't get how the episode title related to the challenge this week. The only thing that was filpped was the judges' good sense.

 

ETA: Hanmiao moved from China to San Francisco when she was 19 so I am trying to imagine any type of scenario in which she learned about Mary Kay while at the Academy of Art. I can't think of anyone I have met in the 10+ years I have lived in the Bay Area who sold, wore, or even mentioned Mary Kay.

 

Hanmiao said that she used to watch Project Runway in China, before she moved to the US, so, she probably knows that Mary Kay is a brand of cosmetics, but she probably doesn't have the pink Cadillac Tupperware party image people who know US culture (or live there) do.

 

I'm going to guess that Mary Kay is trying to update its brand image and sponsoring PR is a part of that.  I live outside the US and don't watch shows with your commercials or see your magazines (unless I happen to travel there, which I do, but then I only see what's out for that week), so, I don't know what else they are trying to re-invent themselves. I gather from the comments here that whatever t is they are doing, in addition to sponsoring PR, hasn't been successful.

--------------------------------

I didn't like Blake's dress either, and when he got called as top three I was surprised, I don't like his personality, either, but I try to put that aside when looking at the clothes, because it shouldn't be a personality contest.

 

That said, the thing with the collar and the blood.  Some people here think that he said he'd gotten blood on the dress and covered it up with a necklace, when in reality he was trying to cover up a neck which had not been sewn.  So, he was a liar.  But you guys must have missed his explanation on the runway, he said he'd gotten blood on the dress and had to cut it out of the neck (thus resulting in a neck without a seam) and that's why he put the necklace over it.

 

As much as it pains me to say it, he wasn't lying.  He's annoying, but not a liar.

 

__________________________

 

I liked that KS (the guest judge) actually knew one of the main problems with Amanda's dress and told her so: the waist was too high.  Wrap dresses are not meant to be empire dresses because they wouldn't flow the same way.  Smart kid!

[Beden]

 

This is not a new concept, though the scuba section in Mood is pretty damn funny; for all those home sewer divers? (and yes, I sew and I dive but...)

Well, as a diver and a watcher of this show, you must have noticed that neoprene is IN IN IN.  Not that I disagree that it's funny for a NYC store - are all these neoprene users going to be scubadiving in the Meadowlands or something?

Oh dear god--I've been to the Meadowlands a zillion times on my way to NYC...you're scaring me. For those who may not be aware, that's where Giants Stadium (or whatever it's called this week) is located, is just outside of NYC and is rumored to be where the Mafia dumps their bodies. It's basically a giant swamp where it hasn't been paved over.

 

And, with respect to the posters commenting on how non au courant Mary Kay is, yes, you're likely right but (you knew there was a 'but, right?) this is sounding to me like the oft mentioned age bashing. No, I don't use the stuff but not everyone is 23, hip and seeking cutting edge. Shirley Maclaine is a pro, a highly respected and honored performer of decades standing still active in the business--Downton Abbey-- and a great broad (her penchant for mysticism and past lives aside).

 

I know this is equal to satanism to Nina, but there are a whole army of women who are 40 or 50+ and okay with that. And they buy clothes.

[auntlada]

Oh, I completely agree, I just don't think Nina does.

 

You're right, but that means she should not get to have anything to do with running a magazine if she can't understand what a photographer can and can't do.

[mansonlamps]

I agree about Mary Kay, but I think the comments are more geared toward how the designers and the show in general are trying to portray MK as a young, hip and edgy brand when it clearly isn't.

Have they ever used Avon as a sponsor? They had such a larger presence in my area when door to door cosmetics were a thing than Mary Kay.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Hanmiao said that she used to watch Project Runway in China, before she moved to the US, so, she probably knows that Mary Kay is a brand of cosmetics, but she probably doesn't have the pink Cadillac Tupperware party image people who know US culture (or live there) do.

She said she moved from China to San Francisco when she was 19 and her current age is listed on the Lifetime website as 26, so she moved to the United States around 2008 which is when S5 aired, well before Mary Kay was involved with Project Runway (L'Oreal did the makeup on PR until S12). I don't know how well American brands of makeup are known in China (especially ones like Avon and Mary Kay) so I just assumed that she wouldn't have known what Mary Kay was. I could be totally wrong about that though! My original point was just that it would have been hilarious if she had been around for this challenge, didn't know what Mary Kay was, and the other designers (who were obviously kissing Mary Kay's ass) had to lie about how cutting edge Mary Kay is.

 

For the record, there is nothing wrong with women wanting to wear natural looking makeup because not everyone is a 23 year old party girl with wild taste in makeup and clothes. I have never used Mary Kay but the models' makeup has looked consistently bad since Mary Kay replaced L'Oreal and I assumed that was because of Mary Kay's colors and the quality of the makeup (which sometimes looks uneven/streaky even on my non-HD tv). And it's totally fine that not every makeup brand is like MAC or Urban Decay with crazy colors. My issue was more that the show was trying to portray Mary Kay as an edgy look that a 20 something girl in New York would wear. I personally don't know any girls that age who use Mary Kay and I didn't think that any of the designs from this week looked very Mary Kay. To me it was like Top Chef having a Chipotle challenge and then everyone making dishes with foam and talking about how cutting edge Chipotle is.

[Julia]

That's the problem, I think. Runway makeup (which isn't what young women in NY generally wear) is striking. Mary Kay isn't. They've picked a palette of their most extreme colors - which are still not very extreme - and they're spackling it on with a trowel. JMO, it still doesn't look striking, just muddy.

[justawatcher]

Personal thought on why Blake was given the win: it guarantees him for two more episodes- the next where he has immunity and the one after that where he could possibly go. They are running out of cannon fodder and he gives better TV than Amanda and Jake and Lindsey.

Let's face it: the final four are likely Ashley, Candace, Edmund, and Swapnil. There could be some interesting things along the way for Laurie and Kelly and Joseph (who does have a market for his older woman look) and Merline. So, I think you will see Amanda, Jake, Blake, and Lindsay be the auf's in the next 4 episodes (order not important) and then I think the challenges will be structured in a way to keep the final four safe while highlighting the talents of Merline, Kelly, Laurie, and Joseph.

I don't think they are on crack- they are actually producing good TV, and they haven't auf'ed anyone wrong yet- just perhaps in the wrong episode. I would have sent both Gabrielle and Hanmiao home in that first episode if there hadn't been the more horrific thing to go first.

[candall]

That's the problem, I think. Runway makeup (which isn't what young women in NY generally wear) is striking. Mary Kay isn't. They've picked a palette of their most extreme colors - which are still not very extreme - and they're spackling it on with a trowel. JMO, it still doesn't look striking, just muddy.

Thanks, Julia--it sounds like you really know what you're talking about.  It's an odd disconnect between Mary Kay's efforts to rebrand as a more natural nude look and this PR marketing plan where that's ineffectual.

 

(I haven't worn makeup for years, but now my natural glow is getting spotty.  I won't be going Pink Cadillac, though.)

[PrincessSteel]

One afternoon recently my daughters and I played several YouTube clips of Kors making snarky comments during PR judging. It was roll-on-the-floor hilare. Posen is on track to provide a similar catalog of facial expressions. How glad I am that he does not have a poker face.<br /><br />Blake clearly internalized the convoluted brief of this challenge into his baffling, poorly made look: NYC! And Mary Kay! But reinterpreted classic! Ugh. Probably accounts for his otherwise inexplicable win.

[Mabinogia]

You know what design I think was "Mary Kay"? That purple St. Petersburg dress from the travel challenge. That, and not pleather dominatrics or parachute poop is what I think of as Mary Kay. And I don't get why MK would try to change their image. it's too late. They are far too ingrained in the American psyche and no one young and hip is going to give up their "cool" brands for Mary Kay. Oh well.

 

Is it just me or are the challenges way too convoluted? this was the Mary Kay challenge, with an editorial fashion shoot attached to it, influenced by New York AND putting a new twist on an old classic? Did I miss anything? Or, right, and they only get 8 hours to complete it. What happened to this show?

 

No wonder they only get hacks now. No real designer is going to want their brand to be reflected in these half ass convoluted jokes. They either have to go so simple that there isn't really any design there to do good construction in the short time, or do crappy construction of an elaborate idea. Either way, nothing I see makes me think these are anything more than disappointed design students who couldn't get actual fashion jobs and hope the be "discovered". And I don't actually think that of them. I have a feeling some of them might actually have some talent, but the show has tied their hands soo tight that they can't actually show what they are capable.

 

This show saddens me.

 

Also, Nina needs to be fired from anything that has anything to do with fashion. Her attempts to seem in touch just show how out of touch she is.

[needschocolate]

I get the feeling it could be difficult to have a conversation with Heidi, because every time her eye would catch something shiny, she would go running off after it.  

 

Also Blake needs to get over that "I'm just a cute pwecious widdle boy" simpering fast!

 

I loathe his "I'm so cute and adorable" attitude, his whiny voice, and the way he cocks his head to the side when he thinks he is being cute (which usually means he is being obnoxious). There's self confidence (as we have seen with Candice) and then there is just obnoxiously delusional. Blake thinks the sun rises and sets on his "adorable" little face. 

 

The kind of childishness that Blake displays is odd. I assume it must be something that's encouraged at home, around friends and family. Perhaps they laugh and tell him he's cute. It seems to be a coping mechanism too. It's just odd to me that any adult would pretend to not know how to tell the time.

 

Blake reminds me of one of those fluffy little dogs that is too dumb to remember to eat on his own, who doesn't understand any basic commands, runs around whining and yipping, chews on people's shoes for while they are still wearing them, poops all over the floor, and the owners just say, "oh isn't that so adorable!" (I am not saying all fluffy little dogs are like this, but some definitely are)

 

Because of this fluffy dog image, I have decided that Blake has a much older, much wealthier boyfriend who dotes on Blake because Blake amuses him.  And they have parties where all the guests are older people who talk about how adorable Blake is, because they don't want to offend their host by complaining about Blake chewing on their shoes.

 

This is not a new concept, though the scuba section in Mood is pretty damn funny; for all those home sewer divers? (and yes, I sew and I dive but...)

 

I am trying to decided if you mean people who sew at home and also dive, or people who dive in the tunnels under the city.  Either way, it works.

 

Based on what I recall from other seasons, designers need to internalize that "editorial" means color, not black, for sure.

 

After watching this show, I am getting the feeling that the new meaning of "editorial" is "full of crap" and I think I will start using that way in my everyday life - someone starts bragging about how they spent $15,000 on a ugly rug or $20,000 on a tacky piece of furniture, and I will smile and say "oh, that is so editorial" - 

 

Maybe I'm being thick but I didn't get how the episode title related to the challenge this week. The only thing that was filpped was the judges' good sense.

 

I think there may have been a typo - the "i" in "flip" was supposed to be an "o"

[NorthstarATL]

You know what design I think was "Mary Kay"? That purple St. Petersburg dress from the travel challenge. That, and not pleather dominatrics or parachute poop is what I think of as Mary Kay. And I don't get why MK would try to change their image. it's too late. They are far too ingrained in the American psyche and no one young and hip is going to give up their "cool" brands for Mary Kay. Oh well.

 

Is it just me or are the challenges way too convoluted? this was the Mary Kay challenge, with an editorial fashion shoot attached to it, influenced by New York AND putting a new twist on an old classic? Did I miss anything? Or, right, and they only get 8 hours to complete it. What happened to this show?

 

No wonder they only get hacks now. No real designer is going to want their brand to be reflected in these half ass convoluted jokes. They either have to go so simple that there isn't really any design there to do good construction in the short time, or do crappy construction of an elaborate idea. Either way, nothing I see makes me think these are anything more than disappointed design students who couldn't get actual fashion jobs and hope the be "discovered". And I don't actually think that of them. I have a feeling some of them might actually have some talent, but the show has tied their hands soo tight that they can't actually show what they are capable.

 

This show saddens me.

 

Also, Nina needs to be fired from anything that has anything to do with fashion. Her attempts to seem in touch just show how out of touch she is.

I'm surprised MK doesn't just come out with a line called "MK" or "Mary Kate" or somesuch that is aimed at a different client. A lot of companies do that, and it generally seems to work.

  I thought for sure that the blood incident with Blake had involved him somehow impaling his model! She was an incredibly good sport! Speaking of which:

 

I don't understand how the models' prizes and eliminations work if they switch models every week.. so a model who might have worn a number of winning looks just happens to get paired with the losing designer one week and goes home? The model who through SHEER LUCK escapes elimination gets the model's prize at the end because she just happens to be paired at the end with the winning designer?

 

The judging for the designers is wack half the time, but this way of determining a winning model is ridiculously unfair.. unless the designers are choosing models like they showed them in that one season where they had a models 1/2 hour tv show. If designers have a pick of models before each challenge (resulting in a model being eliminated) then the best model is going to continue to get picked and others will go home regardless of whether they happened to be wearing the winning, losing or safe outfit that week.

 I don't get it either. The models clearly make a difference, and some of the designers are obviously thrown by the models' dimensions during the fittings, which, combined with the lack of time, just make the challenges that much more, challenging. I think Tailor Swift's design, while not perfect by any means, would have benefited from a younger or edgier looking model.

     In complete agreement with everyone who has posted about what a nice addition to the judging panel Sally Draper was!

[Sarnia]

I can't understand either how Blake won and how Jake didn't lose. Both dresses were horrendous.
It hasn't been mentioned much but I quite liked the coat from Merline's look. Didn't like the overall look, but the coat looked different and well constructed. I think Merline is a better designer than what the edit is showing.

[Freckledbruh]

Blake's dress looked like it was falling apart on the runway and a bungee cord holding the back up is ridiculous. I also can't stand him. The fact that he won really ticks me off. I hope they are refraining from awarding Swapnil any wins because production thinks he will win it all and wants some suspense. He has consistently put out good work. The auf'd contestant made no impression on me except that that white dress was terrible. She shouldn't even mentioned that "pop of color" which looked like fabric she just tacked on at the last minute. These designers need to step it up. It isn't like they only have 8 hours to make .... Oh wait.

[Julia]

Did you notice that all the shots of Merline in the background showed her quietly making her really amazingly-well-constructed for eight hours outfit and the only screen time she got for herself was the Mary Kay guy calling out her bouncing? You go right on to the bitter end with that one, edit monkeys.

[akr]

I did like the coat on the last place look, enough that I might have kept her one more week instead of Amanda or perhaps whoever it was with that basketball jersey dress, It looked cute on Kiernan Shipka. The dress was pretty awful, though. I suspect she got dumped not just for being underwhelming this week, but for not showing sufficient promise in earlier weeks. I didn't even recognize her as someone who was on the show, and as soon as they were giving this mystery person air time, I figured she was toast, if not now, then soon, unless it turned out that whatever she was doing miraculously worked out. 

[venezia54]

Amanda: whiney AND backstabbing. So not a good look.

Swapnil is the new Dimitri (I miss Dimi!): A handsome import who mangles English and side-eyes the competition with a dry wit but is rarely mean-spirited. Also: wicked talented. I am waiting for his equivalent of "one-way monkey" and I hope he says it about Venn--er, I mean Joseph. 

I'm onTeam Candice all the way. I liked her look but I also like HER. She's gorgeous and seems genuinely nice. 

I can't say anything that hasn't already said about Blake's pregnant luna moth monstrosity. The back looked like a napsack. I wanted it to be unsnapped and turn into a train so at least the poor girl could sit down. His fey twinkie act is insufferable. Are we really supposed to believe from the clock shenanigans that he's so young, he doesn't know what an analog clock is? As someone said upthread, I don't think he's the brightest bulb. Stupid is as stupid does, and he does stupid too well. 

LOVED Edmund's op-art look-- striking and well made.

As much as I like her, I was surprised Kelly's T-shirt thingy wasn't in the bottom.  It might have been better in a color besides dirty bandage and it looked like there was nothing to it.  Was it Ashley who made the pretty gray and white dress? I loved that dress. It had a simple sophistication with a little Alice in Wonderland whimsy. Amanda's maternity dress was no worse than Jake's sequined atrocity, and I actually liked that black and white fabric. Although it was heavy, I really liked elements of Lindsay's look. I liked the dress fabric and think it would have worked had she made the coat bolero-length and not made it a two piece. However, she loses points with me for her constant upspeak, where everything she says sounds like a question, like--I know, right? Ugh. I'm getting old. 

[Mabinogia]

Are we really supposed to believe from the clock shenanigans that he's so young, he doesn't know what an analog clock is? As someone said upthread, I don't think he's the brightest bulb. Stupid is as stupid does, and he does stupid too well. 

 

I totally forgot about this. At work, there's a supervisor, she's 25-26 and basically got every job she's had because her daddy is a high up in the company. Anyway, she doesn't know how to tell time on an analog watch/clock. She was talking to our VP (and not doing her job because she's not remotely qualified for it) and the VP asked her the time. She looked at her watch, laughed and said she didn't know how to read it but she thought it was cool, the watch, which had hands that she couldn't figure out. Now my VP being a Nina Garcia type (old but in denial and thinks she's "down with the kids") thought this was hilarious and now thinks no one in their twenties knows how to read clocks because if this special little snowflake can't how can any of the others. So I took a poll of the other 20-somethings on the floor, and though a couple admitted it would take a minute, they could read a clock.

 

Bottom line, Blake strikes me as the type who hasn't had to actually take care of himself or learn anything because he's been told how special he is his whole sheltered life. So he, too, thinks it's funny that he's ignorant. Oye, I fear for the world if people like him and Princess (what I call the girl at work) are our future.

[Beden]

 

I have never used Mary Kay but the models' makeup has looked consistently bad since Mary Kay replaced L'Oreal and I assumed that was because of Mary Kay's colors and the quality of the makeup (which sometimes looks uneven/streaky even on my non-HD tv).

I'm not a make up user so, seriously, correct me if I'm wrong; to my untrained eyes it seems to me that basically most makeup lines have very similar products and colors (give or take). Obviously there are variations in quality, yes, but for a runway show which lasts a few minutes under the lights and the not great amount of time the models are hanging, getting stitched or zipped into whatever they're wearing and then--maybe--some hang time, it seems to me like they aren't really in the makeup all that long. Couldn't the problems with the make up be at least partly the skill of the makeup artists or the directions of the designers and not the makeup itself?

 

 

This is not a new concept, though the scuba section in Mood is pretty damn funny; for all those home sewer divers? (and yes, I sew and I dive but...)

 

I am trying to decided if you mean people who sew at home and also dive, or people who dive in the tunnels under the city.  Either way, it works.

Well, yes. Personally I've never seen a pattern for a wetsuit, that's what amused me. Obviously they exist but..well, y'know.

[sinkwriter]

When Amanda's "wrap" / babydoll-like "maternity" dress came down the runway, the first thing I said was, "Oh, Kate's back on the show again?!"  ;)

[Koffee Kup]

I read all the blogs on the lifetime.com page.

 

Mila Hermanovski's

 

BLAKE is very lucky this week. Though I like his design very much, his fabrication is awful. This is one of those episodes where the judging could spin a few different ways. I would not have given Blake the win because of poor construction. I do think the idea of this dress was great and if well-executed, could be fantastic. But since when has someone won a challenge with raw edges and straps jimmy-rigged in back with a piece of twill tape? On a personal note, I second Candice’s sentiment in the workroom, that it’s not becoming to pretend to be stupid, either.

Nick Verreos' Blog

 

 

The two bottom for me were Blake and Gabrielle. Both in design and yes, very poor construction. Now I know, many a time during all these seasons of "Project Runway", the judges bring up the fact that this is NOT a sewing contest but a design one. But I personally do think it's important to look at the poor construction. This week, it seems that the judges did look at that when it came to Gabrielle, but looked the other way when it came to Blake. His "original" parachute girl design outweighed the, why is the dress shifting and why is the neckline unfinished? And what's with the wonky sides? Somehow, Blake won.
I'm perplexed at why he got such a pass on his construction. Are we witnessing the beginnings of a "Judges' Favorite"? We'll see.

Althea Harper's Blog

 

Blake - Interesting design, especially the back, but the construction is really bad and distracts from the overall look of the garment...............................So once again I am at odds with the winner: Blake.

 

When all the previous contestants/designers can't understand the win because of the construction I think they have a problem.

[sinkwriter]

It baffles me that he won even with that awful construction. (Well, that and I didn't love the idea of his parachute design, but that's subjective, I suppose.)

 

I can see him being "safe" because they thought he was trying to be innovative in some bizarre (really ugly) way. What I don't understand is how he could WIN. Usually the winners of a challenge need both good construction and innovation or some sort of creativity (at least, above all the others). His innovation wasn't that interesting to me, but I could see the judges liking it and saying, that's good enough to be safe. But that construction should have disqualified him from WINNING the challenge. It was really, really bad. And not just because of the neckline which I understood he tried to make the best of because of his blood spill. The rest of the dress looked so bad as well -- as everyone has pointed out, the connection between the two fabrics was puckering, nothing laid well, and the back looked like you could get caught on it (and even the judges joked about that!). So I'm completely annoyed and baffled that they would give him the win. Safe, okay, maybe, but not the win.

[Muffyn]

That said, the thing with the collar and the blood.  Some people here think that he said he'd gotten blood on the dress and covered it up with a necklace, when in reality he was trying to cover up a neck which had not been sewn.  So, he was a liar.  But you guys must have missed his explanation on the runway, he said he'd gotten blood on the dress and had to cut it out of the neck (thus resulting in a neck without a seam) and that's why he put the necklace over it.

 

As much as it pains me to say it, he wasn't lying.  He's annoying, but not a liar.

Thanks for the catch.  I do see this as another example of Blake not being the sharpest knife in the drawer.  Unless he was spouting gallons of blood he shouold have just added the necklace and not cut the collar.  His construction was already horrible.  Why double down? 

 

The MK makeup artists seem really bad.  The supposedly exciting chance to work with their lead artist did not exactly conjure up some exciting results.  I would expect based on price that the quality level between L'Oreal and MK is about the same but the L'Oreal people were able to do some good work. 

[AZChristian]

I get the feeling it could be difficult to have a conversation with Heidi, because every time her eye would catch something shiny, she would go running off after it.  

 

Blake reminds me of one of those fluffy little dogs that is too dumb to remember to eat on his own, who doesn't understand any basic commands, runs around whining and yipping, chews on people's shoes for while they are still wearing them, poops all over the floor, and the owners just say, "oh isn't that so adorable!" (I am not saying all fluffy little dogs are like this, but some definitely are)

 

Because of this fluffy dog image, I have decided that Blake has a much older, much wealthier boyfriend who dotes on Blake because Blake amuses him.  And they have parties where all the guests are older people who talk about how adorable Blake is, because they don't want to offend their host by complaining about Blake chewing on their shoes.

 

After watching this show, I am getting the feeling that the new meaning of "editorial" is "full of crap" and I think I will start using that way in my everyday life - someone starts bragging about how they spent $15,000 on a ugly rug or $20,000 on a tacky piece of furniture, and I will smile and say "oh, that is so editorial" - 

 

I think there may have been a typo - the "i" in "flip" was supposed to be an "o"

 

needschocolate . . . Best post of the day!!!!

[Julia]

Thanks for the catch.  I do see this as another example of Blake not being the sharpest knife in the drawer.  Unless he was spouting gallons of blood he shouold have just added the necklace and not cut the collar.  His construction was already horrible.  Why double down? 

 

I actually rewatched for this. They didn't show the neckline up to the point where Blake theatrically called for a "medic" for what a still shot (nowhere near his model) showed as a single drop of blood. I didn't see anything to convince me that his neckline was ever finished, and he didn't stage that ridiculous scene as an excuse to show an unfinished neckline.

[izabella]

Perhaps I'm not understanding what "editorial" means, but if it means something other than "has to be completely recreated in appropriate fabrics by someone who can actually cut patterns and sew before they're letting a camera anywhere near it" I'm not seeing it.

 

In this case, editorial means fashion victim!

[needschocolate]

I can see him being "safe" because they thought he was trying to be innovative in some bizarre (really ugly) way. What I don't understand is how he could WIN. Usually the winners of a challenge need both good construction and innovation or some sort of creativity (at least, above all the others). His innovation wasn't that interesting to me, but I could see the judges liking it and saying, that's good enough to be safe. But that construction should have disqualified him from WINNING the challenge. It was really, really bad. And not just because of the neckline which I understood he tried to make the best of because of his blood spill. The rest of the dress looked so bad as well -- as everyone has pointed out, the connection between the two fabrics was puckering, nothing laid well, and the back looked like you could get caught on it (and even the judges joked about that!). So I'm completely annoyed and baffled that they would give him the win. Safe, okay, maybe, but not the win.

 

I agree.  I would have been fine if Blake had just been declared safe and walked off with all the other safes.  I would have sat on my couch and thought, "Blake was safe? Well, his construction sucked but it was different. They probably want to encourage different, so I can see why he was safe."  However, if he walks off with the safes, then the judges can't gush about how innovative he was and try to make themselves seem more hip and modern, so I can understand that they wanted him on the catwalk with the tops and bottoms.  I think they should have either told him he was in the top, gush over it, point out his mistakes, and then give the win to one of the other two - or just have five people up there and tell Blake that he is in the top and the bottom.  

 

But there is no way that he deserves to win.

[anonymiss]

I totally forgot about this. At work, there's a supervisor, she's 25-26 and basically got every job she's had because her daddy is a high up in the company. Anyway, she doesn't know how to tell time on an analog watch/clock. She was talking to our VP (and not doing her job because she's not remotely qualified for it) and the VP asked her the time. She looked at her watch, laughed and said she didn't know how to read it but she thought it was cool, the watch, which had hands that she couldn't figure out. Now my VP being a Nina Garcia type (old but in denial and thinks she's "down with the kids") thought this was hilarious and now thinks no one in their twenties knows how to read clocks because if this special little snowflake can't how can any of the others. So I took a poll of the other 20-somethings on the floor, and though a couple admitted it would take a minute, they could read a clock.

Bottom line, Blake strikes me as the type who hasn't had to actually take care of himself or learn anything because he's been told how special he is his whole sheltered life. So he, too, thinks it's funny that he's ignorant. Oye, I fear for the world if people like him and Princess (what I call the girl at work) are our future.

It's outrageous that people like this exist but then I felt some empathy when I remembered that I take it for granted that they've grown up with analog clocks. No, these kids have grown up with cell phones and computers where's it always digital. Even though I'm about a decade older than them, I stopped wearing a watch in my teens because of my phone, so I can just imagine that these kids born in the 90s have never had to tell time using an analog clock. Edited August 30, 2015 by anonymiss

[MortysCleaningLady]

When I was at my local supermarket this week, there was a pink Cadillac SUV in the parking lot with a Mary Kay logo on the back.  Yeah, sure, that's so hip and edgy.

I would love to drive one of those pink Caddie SUVs -- Of course, I live in the deep South where SUVs are the second most popular vehicles after pick-ups.  I also adore pink and florals, but I'll NEVER be mistaken as a New Yorker.  Like, ever!  That said, at 40 something, I'm still not in the Mary Kay party age bracket (Tupperware, you bet!  Pampered Chef, I'm there!  Mary Kay - don't know a soul who sells it.)

[Calamity Jane]

It's outrageous that people like this exist but then I felt some empathy when I remembered that I take it for granted that they've grown up with analog clocks. No, these kids have grown up with cell phones and computers where's it always digital. Even though I'm about a decade older than them, I stopped wearing a watch in my teens because of my phone, so I can just imagine that these kids born in the 90s have never had to tell time using an analog clock.

There is always a clock on the wall of my classroom, and there are always 4th graders who ask what time it is.  I don't even look up, I just point at the clock, and they always figure it out eventually.  Analog clocks seem to be going the way of cursive handwriting.

[ichbin]

Just WHO is the Mary Kay girl anyway?   Mary Kay had better get off her late butt and present the persona to the general publiic.  Do not...DO NOT leave it up to marginal designers and irrational judges to tell us.    

From my personal experience the only Mary Kay "girls" I know are middle-aged (and beyond) suburbanites with friends who are pushy salespeople.  Perhaps it is different in New York......  Based on my idea of a Mary Kay girl, Ashley should have taken first place.

 

I can't disagree with Gabrielle being in last place, but I still can't understand why Blake wasn't standing there alongside her before the Auf.  The other look that belonged there was that ridiculous sequined basketball jersey that looked like an old costume from the Solid Gold Dancer days.    WTF!!!!

Edited August 30, 2015 by ichbin

[Former Nun]

Because of this fluffy dog image, I have decided that Blake has a much older, much wealthier boyfriend who dotes on Blake because Blake amuses him.  And they have parties where all the guests are older people who talk about how adorable Blake is, because they don't want to offend their host by complaining about Blake chewing on their shoes.

 

 

This leads one to wonder if that "older" boyfriend is an executive with Lifetime...

[Grandma Saracen]

To be perfectly fair, I have left-right confusion, and it takes me a while to process the information presented on analog clocks. In fact, I probably make similar faces, and have been known to mumble to myself when trying to figure them out. Far be it from me to come to Blake's defense, but the actual clock confusion itself was familiar territory to me. 

[slothgirl]

You know what design I think was "Mary Kay"? That purple St. Petersburg dress from the travel challenge. That, and not pleather dominatrics or parachute poop is what I think of as Mary Kay. And I don't get why MK would try to change their image. it's too late. They are far too ingrained in the American psyche and no one young and hip is going to give up their "cool" brands for Mary Kay. Oh well.

Not to mention the cost. Mary Kay isn't cheap. It's expensive stuff. I've worn the eye shadows and lipstick and loved them. In fact, the lipstick I got was not only a great color for me, it is the ONLY lipstick I've ever worn that didn't trigger an outbreak of cold sores if I kept it on for more than a couple of hours.

 

So I don't understand the disdain for MaryKay products. However, I also don't understand their attempt to re-brand as edgy and cool for young women who most likely can't afford it, and wouldn't go to a party in the first place.. at least not unless they change the structure of the parties to appeal to a younger crowd. I've gone to several, and they spend a ridiculous amount of time on that Satin Hands product. Then other skin softening / youth'ening stuff. Then there's the push to rope in people who want to try their hand at being consultants (because that's where a party giver makes her best money).

 

Very few of the consultants I've met have the slightest idea how to advise for makeup colors. The ones whose parties I attended couldn't even tell me whether my skin was warm, cool, or neutral. But the products themselves are not poor quality at all. The L'Oreal eye makeup you buy at your corner drug store (which is also not what young women buy to be edgy and cool) isn't any better. (But then, I prefer vastly Revlon if I'm buying eye shadows at the drugstore)

[Madding crowd]

I don't have any sympathy for the designers because they have short time periods. All reality competition shows have short and unrealistic guidelines, from Masterchef to Face Off to Skin Wars. If you cannot create in a short period of time, don't apply to be on the show. I also do not agree that the show is going to be bad for their careers. There are a zillion budding designers out there, getting to show your stuff on TV is more publicity than most of these designers would ever get otherwise. 

 

I also was shocked that Blake's dress won and I can only guess it somehow would show better in Marie Clare that the others. I loved Swapnil dress and thought Candice's piece, Ashley's and Edmunds were quite nice. The basketball jersey dress was certainly for a junior party girl, but it deserved to be safe over the obvious bottom outfits.

 

I'm a teacher and I still try to get my students to learn to read actual clocks. Someday in the zombie apocalypse, they will need to read solar powered analog clocks (my silly though anyway). I continue to love Project Runway because I enjoy fashion and even in my old age, I like seeing what the designers can come up with.

 

However, I keep reading that all of the challenges in the Bravo days were several days, and Lifetime ruined the show. Not true. I have watched all of the seasons repeatedly, and all seasons from one on featured both one and two day challenges. I kind of think it is hard to edit down several days of work and make it interesting and that is the reason as much as cost. I also see in many cases that adding in an extra day just makes the designers second guess themselves and start over. Not everyone, but a lot of them don't know what do with a second day. A second week maybe.

[slothgirl]

 these kids born in the 90s have never had to tell time using an analog clock.

Don't their PARENTS have any clocks in the house? You'd think at least a few would have seen a grandfather clock as an heirloom, or at least a grandfather with a watch. I have trouble believing that just because someone is only in their teens or 20's, they haven't run into analog timepieces. I can see them not being interested in having one, but totally ignorant of the concept?

 

Nah... my niece and nephew are college aged, and I'm sure they know how to tell time. I expect not being able to is the exception, not the rule.

[akr]

Thought some of you might enjoy the review at anibundel's site: http://anibundel.com/2015/08/28/project-runway-season-14-twisting-and-branding/#more-65480

[anonymiss]

Don't their PARENTS have any clocks in the house? You'd think at least a few would have seen a grandfather clock as an heirloom, or at least a grandfather with a watch. I have trouble believing that just because someone is only in their teens or 20's, they haven't run into analog timepieces. I can see them not being interested in having one, but totally ignorant of the concept?

 

Nah... my niece and nephew are college aged, and I'm sure they know how to tell time. I expect not being able to is the exception, not the rule.

I should hope so. But I think seeing something is a lot different than having to rely on using it. PR takes away all their devices, probably for the first time in his millennial life.

Edited August 30, 2015 by anonymiss

[breezy424]

Don't their PARENTS have any clocks in the house? You'd think at least a few would have seen a grandfather clock as an heirloom, or at least a grandfather with a watch. I have trouble believing that just because someone is only in their teens or 20's, they haven't run into analog timepieces. I can see them not being interested in having one, but totally ignorant of the concept?

 

Nah... my niece and nephew are college aged, and I'm sure they know how to tell time. I expect not being able to is the exception, not the rule.

Exactly.  I have two kids born in the nineties.  They know how to read an analog clock.  Their not so old schools and now colleges have analog clocks.  As far as I know, you still can't have your cellphone sitting on your desk when you take a test.

 

Yeah, my cell phone battery died.  Sorry I'm late or sorry I didn't finish.  I didn't know how to read the clock on the wall....  Give me a break.