Past Contestants: Ins and Outs

[azshadowwalker]

Wow. Christian made circle skirts and a few tops. Kind of like Ashley. Yeah, don't see myself paying $98 for a skirt.

I agree that it's bad to look down on people who shop at Kohl's or Payless.   People who shop at Penney's, though, are just awful. Why do they even leave the house? 

[leighdear]

I shop at JCP all the time.  I simply won't buy any items in Ashley Nell Tipton's derivative, unattractive and poorly designed collection.  My post made it clear I felt her collection was sad, not the store nor it's customers.  

[RCharter]

3 hours ago, azshadowwalker said:

Wow. Christian made circle skirts and a few tops. Kind of like Ashley. Yeah, don't see myself paying $98 for a skirt.

I agree that it's bad to look down on people who shop at Kohl's or Payless.   People who shop at Penney's, though, are just awful. Why do they even leave the house? 

I thought his collection had more than circle skirts....I actually think both collections had more than circle skirts.....I just think that Ashleys collection doesn't particularly look that great....with the exception of the pale pink skirt/moto vest/white shirt combo.  I thought most of CS's collection looked great.

But to be fair, the collections do look like they are for two completely different clients, which is probably by design.  

[Tony]

On 5/13/2016 at 8:17 AM, RCharter said:

One day I may forget that CS came from Project Runway.  And Michael Costello at this point, I just was flipping through an US Weekly and saw that Ariana Grande was wearing an original Michael Costello gown......I couldn't have been happier even though I don't like her, I know she is a pretty big deal and it couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

Meanwhile, Gretchen's granny panties meets Coldwater Creek collection is nowhere to be found.

[ShellSeeker]

OK, I think I stand corrected. I was not a fan of CS when he was on Project Runway. I thought many of his looks were overrated. The only reason he won the couture challenge is because he was working with Chris March. And I thought his Fashion Week collection was ho-hum. Yet another parade of almost all black. Yawn.

But those pics of his Lane Bryant collection are pretty great. Way, way, way better than anything Ashley has put forth so far. And he's been the most successful designer out of PR to date, so he must really be talented, and like someone else said upthread, business smart too. So good for him.

[kelslamu]

I am rewatching season 10 and forgot how much I couldn't stand to hear Christopher talk.  I still don't see how plastic canvas purses made by Fabio delighted Heidi.  Um, you haven't seen them because you can go to the craft store and make them yourself for very little money.  Gah!

[BennyB]

Did you like Michelle Obama's dress when she gave her (awesome) speech at the DNC?

Christian Siriano, of course!

http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/07/michelle-obama-wore-christian-siriano-at-the-dnc.html

[Beden]

Quote

Tim Gunn did an editorial in the Wash Post recently, in which he described past winner Ashley Tipton's clothes as the worst he has ever seen. He did not hold back...and described her win as a PC move, a nod to the audience that there are larger women in America...and that the quality of her designs and her workmanship was terrible. 

Yesterday, just before the premier of season 15, the finals of Ashley's season were rerun. I was struck again by just how awful her stuff was...the most horrendous (IMO) being the purple lace long gown, sheer, made non-XXX rated by the model's privates being covered by matching and visible granny panties. Who on earth would actually wear this hot mess?

Mother of god--seriously? Couple that with the endless parade of peblums covering large hips, making them look twice their size (and I speak as a former size 22), exposed midrifts, too tight pencil skirts and you have your basic fashion nightmare. I'm all for real fashion for every size but this was just ill-conceived garbage.

I know she's still designing--and more power to her--but is her stuff selling anywhere? Does anyone know?

[lovinbob]

On 7/26/2016 at 5:45 PM, whimsey98 said:

I thought she looked great.  This is definitely Siriano's year--and may he have many more to come.  Shows nice guys don't have to come in last. 

If you had told me during Christian's original season that I would be rooting for him so hard, and so happy for him—and that he would be designing for plus-sized women, I would have choked. That goes to show that you can't believe everything you watch, and/or that people change and evolve.

I really admire this man. 

[DHDancer]

I posted yesterday under Ashley's thread that when I looked at her website, all I could find under the "Shop" tab was several of her "crowns" (those floral horrors) selling for $195 or thereabouts.  I think she still is working with JC Penneys.  I totally agree with Tim's assessment of her clothes and you couldn't pay me enough to wear them, even if I was dead...

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Seth Aaron is selling a black denim wrap dress through BetaBrand (the same company that sells a high necked coat by Melissa Fleis

[auntlada]

I like that dress. I could never wear it as the top would never fit me, but I really like it.

Was Melissa the one who always did those big cowl-looking collars?

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Seth Aaron is also selling the Phyllis coat and the Megann cardigan.

Yes, Melissa was the one who did the coats with big collars! I liked it the first time but it got a little one way monkey for me. 

[aradia22]

I was browsing skillshare (I'm trying to decide if membership is worth the cost) and scoping out some of the fashion classes. Guess who has a series teaching people how to construct garments? Anya Ayoung Chee. You know, the woman who couldn't sew and would send the same drapey barely sewn or unfinished dresses down the runway every week? 

ETA: Joshua McKinley is also on here. You know, the king of tacky?

Edited March 4, 2017 by aradia22

[Canada]

On ‎2017‎-‎03‎-‎04 at 8:23 AM, aradia22 said:

I was browsing skillshare (I'm trying to decide if membership is worth the cost) and scoping out some of the fashion classes. Guess who has a series teaching people how to construct garments? Anya Ayoung Chee. You know, the woman who couldn't sew and would send the same drapey barely sewn or unfinished dresses down the runway every week? 

ETA: Joshua McKinley is also on here. You know, the king of tacky?

How does that saying go?  Those who can, do; those who can't, teach.

[Love2dance]

?Lifelong teacher here.

[hendersonrocks]

Sad to share that Mychael Knight, who rocked my world so many years ago when I was still an avid PR watcher, died yesterday. Information and tributes here, from the family's preferred media outlet.

ETA: Didn't see this already being discussed in the media thread before posting - my bad!

Edited October 18, 2017 by hendersonrocks

[eurekagirl mOo]

I came here to say Micheal Knight has passed. The world has lost a great talent and a wonderful human being. Rest in Peace you kick ass designer you. You will be missed. 

[TudorQueen]

I found out about Mychael Knight yesterday and when I got up today I was still sad.

He and Laura Bennett were my favorite designers of Season Three. I liked his aesthetic and craftsmanship, loved his personality and hoped that he'd be one of those designers who was helped by his exposure on the show, even though he wasn't final three. Tributes from fellow designers from different seasons show how liked and respected he was across the board.

In any event, he was much too young.

[mauras]

I loved Mychael Knight. A talented designer and a class act. Very sad news.

[PaulaO]

What the fuck?  Michael dead?  I'm just stunned.

[remmybrat]

Sorry the fashion world lost a great designer Mychael Knight. One of my favorites of his designs was the reversible shirt dress he did.

[denbblbg]

I just heard the news about Mychael. I wanted to add to the thread to pay tribute to him. I loved he and Laura Bennett's friendship on season 3 of Project Runway. I was in the process of caring for my terminally ill husband during that season and Project Runway was something I looked so forward to every week, in large part due to Mychael, Laura, and all the other designers of that fantastic season. It is so horrible to hear about someone as awesome as Mychael passing away way too soon. I wish the best to his family and friends.

[Oholibamah]

Can somebody refresh my memory on what was so bad about Erin?

I know her abundant use of the word "like" rubbed people the wrong way (doesn't bother me, personally), but I saw her compared to the odious Wretchen and Poison Ivy, and I don't recall that at all. 

There was some cliquiness between her and Dexter during a team challenge with Cornelius. I don't think she handled it as best she could have. But this is Cornelius we're talking about... the guy who spent the entire season backbiting, wrenching supplies from people and having his own cliquiness with Nathalia. 

I think she can fairly be accused of lacking self-awareness: when her designs (rarely, IMO) sucked, she seemed totally blindsided by it, and I definitely see some Pretentious Hipsterisms, but mean? I think she was excited to work with Dexter on a challenge and didn't realize they were alienating Cornelius. When Tim came for the critique, they rightly shuffled around Cornelius' plaid skirt to break up the plaid-on-plaid: the fact that it was an issue for him to make another simple skirt with tons of time remaining likely didn't occur to Erin, who again, lacks awareness, but isn't mean. 

Frankly, I think deeming Erin a "mean-girl" gives way too much credit to her ability to recognize what's going on in a room. To me she always seemed off in thought. 

Anyway, I've always thought Tim's declaration of "mean girl behaviour" re: Erin and Dexter was OTT, but I guess this is SOP for Tim: he played favorites on UTG, and often seems to coddle the designers he uses his "Save" on (primarily Char, Cornelius and now Margarita). 

Which brings me to another Unpopular Opinion: I was 100% on Korina's side when she walked out of the workroom in Season 13.

Refresher: she is thrown into a head-to-head one-hour design battle against Char. Char's dress is designed and sewn by Sean. Korina is eliminated. Fewer than 12 hours later, she is brought back to the workroom and told she has to help Char literally tear apart the design that got Korina eliminated and help redesign it. 

Additional Background: Char received the Tim Gunn save. Two weeks later she tears a zipper 2 minutes before runway and received a second Tim Gunn save in having more time to sew it in. Korina wins this same challenge, only to go home to Char the next one. 

Frankly, I'd be hard pressed to find anybody rock-steady enough to do what was asked of her (help Char redesign her work) 12 hours after having her dreams crushed. When she walked out, we saw none of the softness and benefit-of-doubt Tim has afforded other contestants when they get emotional, which escalated Korina's reaction off set. 

Tl;dr Erin was little more than a spacy Hipster, and Korina got a raw deal and reacted like 99% of people would. 

[BlackberryJam]

I wasn’t around posting last season, but the reason I disliked Erin is that she was literally rehashing Delpozo designs. Her looks weren’t inspired by, or in the same style as Delpozo. They were Delpozo. That line has a very distinctive and particular look. It wasn’t like, “everyone is doing sheer skirts over granny panties and I’m doing them too.” It seemed like every garment she sent down the runway was a direct Delpozo knockoff. I am not a big Delpozo fan.

It probably wasn’t as bad as I’m remembering it, but it was definitely there. I also felt the airhead persona was an affectation, but I can generally live with that. I try to base my opinions of a designer on their design and not on their personal likability. 

 

Edit: Just adding that I have no recollection of a Cornelius or Dexter incident and would probably only remember if I saw the resulting designs. The show is about the clothes and not the people for me.

Edited November 6, 2017 by BlackberryJam

[Oholibamah]

1 hour ago, BlackberryJam said:

I wasn’t around posting last season, but the reason I disliked Erin is that she was literally rehashing Delpozo designs. Her looks weren’t inspired by, or in the same style as Delpozo. They were Delpozo. That line has a very distinctive and particular look. It wasn’t like, “everyone is doing sheer skirts over granny panties and I’m doing them too.” It seemed like every garment she sent down the runway was a direct Delpozo knockoff. I am not a big Delpozo fan.

It probably wasn’t as bad as I’m remembering it, but it was definitely there. I also felt the airhead persona was an affectation, but I can generally live with that. I try to base my opinions of a designer on their design and not on their personal likability. 

 

Edit: Just adding that I have no recollection of a Cornelius or Dexter incident and would probably only remember if I saw the resulting designs. The show is about the clothes and not the people for me.

I don't necessarily question the Delpozo accusations - I agree Erin was remixing their colour story, use of textured applications and certain pleating details, but I never found the silhouettes direct copies, nor do I think any particular piece was similar enough to a Delpozo to entirely discount Erin's talent. But I get that MMV on that one. (for reference: https://imgur.com/gallery/nQQ7q , where I think a lot of the head-to-head comparisons themselves are a reach, but I do see a consistent similarity between various pieces. But nothing to a Buitendorp level of fashion clone).

What I can't accept is that she was some awful person on the level of Gretchen or Ivy. To me she seems naturally spacy, and probably learned to play that up in a way that is "quirky and cute", possibly without even knowing it. It just seems that time has morphed a general viewer aversion to her into thinking she was terrible, which I don't think is accurate.

[BlackberryJam]

I've never seen that gallery before, and I never found Erin's work original enough to bother putting one together myself, but every single outfit was pinging my Delpozo radar.

I suppose if you're just writing a defense of her as a person, I'm out of the discussion, because I don't care about her as a person. I found her neither rage-inducing nor charming. She was ...there, a mostly forgettable there. 

The problem with the twins, personality wise, is they aren't going to just fade into oblivion, like Erin. Those twins are going to continue to invade every reality competition that they possibly can and try to maneuver their way into their own show. Ugh.

Edited November 6, 2017 by BlackberryJam
typos

[ichbin]

8 hours ago, Oholibamah said:

Which brings me to another Unpopular Opinion: I was 100% on Korina's side when she walked out of the workroom in Season 13.

Refresher: she is thrown into a head-to-head one-hour design battle against Char. Char's dress is designed and sewn by Sean. Korina is eliminated. Fewer than 12 hours later, she is brought back to the workroom and told she has to help Char literally tear apart the design that got Korina eliminated and help redesign it. 

Additional Background: Char received the Tim Gunn save. Two weeks later she tears a zipper 2 minutes before runway and received a second Tim Gunn save in having more time to sew it in. Korina wins this same challenge, only to go home to Char the next one. 

Frankly, I'd be hard pressed to find anybody rock-steady enough to do what was asked of her (help Char redesign her work) 12 hours after having her dreams crushed. When she walked out, we saw none of the softness and benefit-of-doubt Tim has afforded other contestants when they get emotional, which escalated Korina's reaction off set. 

 

I couldn't agree more!!

[gingerormaryann]

"We'll have to agree to disagree.  To me, it's a matter of intent.   Wendy came into the competition plotting to deceive from day one, and never deviated from that, even after people did befriend her and were genuinely happy for her Banana Republic win.  This just wasn't the kind of competition where that was appropriate.   Kara Saun had one bad day.  Kara Saun handled the shoe-thing badly, but she didn't go into it intending to deceive anyone--she was far too open about where she got the shoes for that.  Yes, she acted entitled when called on the shoes (and I don't think she should have been able to keep them without giving up something else), but that doesn't make her the season's villain, IMO, not compared to Wendy's deliberate deceit.  YMMV.:"

What behavior isn't appropriate for this type of competition?  It's a TV show.  At the end, there's a winner and many losers and the fact that Wendy Pepper still being discussed 15 seasons after her appearance definitely lends credence to her agenda.  You may have hated her as a person but as a contestant she never deviated from the rules.  Kara Saun wanted the win just as badly as anyone else and proved she was willing to cheat to do it.  Remember she even had someone helping her in the studio, which even Jay complained about.  Kara Saun showed that underneath the smiling morality was a cutthroat competitor who would do anything to win.  I have nothing against that except when you can't cop to it and accuse other people of being underhanded, it makes you worse than a hypocrite.  As for the shoes, she was not upfront and open at all.  In fact, she was quite sneaky about it and when confronted, she lied and tried to cover it up.  In that moment, she showed her own character.  S16 made so much of the tape measure scandal.  That's small potatoes next to having shoes custom made, trying to sneak them into your show and then faking receipts.

[amazingracefan]

Wendy Pepper did play by the rules, the only thing people singled out really was that in a team challenge she said she'd let someone dig their own grave in effect.  That person was eliminated, but it was their own fault for not taking responsibility for their own outfit.  Even in a team challenge you have to look out for yourself, as a guy who got eliminated after helping out one of the twins this year found out to his own cost.

I actually think a lot of hate (which is always really ugly to view on forums btw) tends to be on a pretty shallow level anyway.  If someone doesn't like how someone's face looks, some expressions they make, then they want to read bad things into it.  Some seemed to have that problem with Margarita this year, and I think it was the same with Wendy.  And the editors will always cut away to expressions to add to their storyline.  The confessionals are always used as a sounding board for contestants to express opinions on other designers, that's a basic part of the show's structure, and people do want to see the competitive sides of those taking part.  Much of the audience always seems to want a simple storyline where most people will agree on who is popular and who is unpopular, but reality of course isn't that simple, and people don't actually know someone at all fully by watching episodes either.  I don't really care about siding with a safe 'popular' view unless I'm strongly convinced personally, but on forums you will find some people gravitating to that quickly.

[HunterHunted]

On 11/23/2017 at 3:58 PM, amazingracefan said:

Wendy Pepper did play by the rules, the only thing people singled out really was that in a team challenge she said she'd let someone dig their own grave in effect.  That person was eliminated, but it was their own fault for not taking responsibility for their own outfit.  Even in a team challenge you have to look out for yourself, as a guy who got eliminated after helping out one of the twins this year found out to his own cost.

I actually think a lot of hate (which is always really ugly to view on forums btw) tends to be on a pretty shallow level anyway.  If someone doesn't like how someone's face looks, some expressions they make, then they want to read bad things into it.  Some seemed to have that problem with Margarita this year, and I think it was the same with Wendy.  And the editors will always cut away to expressions to add to their storyline.  The confessionals are always used as a sounding board for contestants to express opinions on other designers, that's a basic part of the show's structure, and people do want to see the competitive sides of those taking part.  Much of the audience always seems to want a simple storyline where most people will agree on who is popular and who is unpopular, but reality of course isn't that simple, and people don't actually know someone at all fully by watching episodes either.  I don't really care about siding with a safe 'popular' view unless I'm strongly convinced personally, but on forums you will find some people gravitating to that quickly.

I think most of the issue with Wendy was that when Bravo announced Project Runway, most of the press was about how Project Runway was different from typical competitive reality shows. It was supposed to be the show about talent and not dumb game playing and manipulation. Wendy did some dumb game playing. Lots of people thought Kara Saun was a jerk, but deserved to go to the finals. Because of the focus on talent, rather unpleasant personalities can go decently far in the competition. I found Ven to be really unpleasant, but thought he should have gone decently far. A lot of people hated Emilio Sosa, but most people never denied his talent. People have talked about how Ashley seemed nice, but really shouldn't have won. Wendy was of average talent and used some reality game show tricks to take her farther in the competition.

[amazingracefan]

11 hours ago, HunterHunted said:

I think most of the issue with Wendy was that when Bravo announced Project Runway, most of the press was about how Project Runway was different from typical competitive reality shows. It was supposed to be the show about talent and not dumb game playing and manipulation. Wendy did some dumb game playing. Lots of people thought Kara Saun was a jerk, but deserved to go to the finals. Because of the focus on talent, rather unpleasant personalities can go decently far in the competition. I found Ven to be really unpleasant, but thought he should have gone decently far. A lot of people hated Emilio Sosa, but most people never denied his talent. People have talked about how Ashley seemed nice, but really shouldn't have won. Wendy was of average talent and used some reality game show tricks to take her farther in the competition.

You say 'dumb game playing' and 'reality show tricks' but this is a competition and surely it makes sense for anyone to make sure their own outfits are good first?  I don't think most viewers would want to see contestants just helping each other out, they want the better designers to get to the end.  I think Wendy was a competent designer.  Austin was hyped but I wonder how much of that was just because people saw him as cute, funny or just something different to what most saw on American TV?  And it's the judges that do the judging anyway, but sometimes the audience seems to like to blame other contestants for the failure of one of their favourites rather than either their own failure in a challenge or the judges.

And 'seemed' I think is the key word on what we see with personalities, we don't know these people except through the edit and the unusual competitive environment.  Even then opinions will differ according to what people read into things, I'm certain many didn't like Ashley.  I don't hate, I think that would be  a total waste of energy with reality shows.  I didn't like her as a winner, but then reality shows are about more than just who wins, it's more about the overall cast.

And I think people do watch for the competition and the opinions from the contestants, if it was just about the judges opinions I don't think the audience would be as interested. 

[LeslieYep]

On 5/17/2016 at 7:55 PM, Tony said:

Meanwhile, Gretchen's granny panties meets Coldwater Creek collection is nowhere to be found.

Gretchen is no doubt one of my least favorite contestants, Mondo should have one. 

[nolieblue]

I'm not sure where to put this but Chris March is having some serious health issues and a GoFundMe account has been set up for him.

[Fiero425]

On ‎11‎/‎6‎/‎2017 at 7:57 AM, Oholibamah said:

Can somebody refresh my memory on what was so bad about Erin?

I know her abundant use of the word "like" rubbed people the wrong way (doesn't bother me, personally), but I saw her compared to the odious Wretchen and Poison Ivy, and I don't recall that at all. 

There was some cliquiness between her and Dexter during a team challenge with Cornelius. I don't think she handled it as best she could have. But this is Cornelius we're talking about... the guy who spent the entire season backbiting, wrenching supplies from people and having his own cliquiness with Nathalia. 

I think she can fairly be accused of lacking self-awareness: when her designs (rarely, IMO) sucked, she seemed totally blindsided by it, and I definitely see some Pretentious Hipsterisms, but mean? I think she was excited to work with Dexter on a challenge and didn't realize they were alienating Cornelius. When Tim came for the critique, they rightly shuffled around Cornelius' plaid skirt to break up the plaid-on-plaid: the fact that it was an issue for him to make another simple skirt with tons of time remaining likely didn't occur to Erin, who again, lacks awareness, but isn't mean. 

Frankly, I think deeming Erin a "mean-girl" gives way too much credit to her ability to recognize what's going on in a room. To me she always seemed off in thought. 

Anyway, I've always thought Tim's declaration of "mean girl behaviour" re: Erin and Dexter was OTT, but I guess this is SOP for Tim: he played favorites on UTG, and often seems to coddle the designers he uses his "Save" on (primarily Char, Cornelius and now Margarita). 

Which brings me to another Unpopular Opinion: I was 100% on Korina's side when she walked out of the workroom in Season 13.

Refresher: she is thrown into a head-to-head one-hour design battle against Char. Char's dress is designed and sewn by Sean. Korina is eliminated. Fewer than 12 hours later, she is brought back to the workroom and told she has to help Char literally tear apart the design that got Korina eliminated and help redesign it. 

Additional Background: Char received the Tim Gunn save. Two weeks later she tears a zipper 2 minutes before runway and received a second Tim Gunn save in having more time to sew it in. Korina wins this same challenge, only to go home to Char the next one. 

Frankly, I'd be hard pressed to find anybody rock-steady enough to do what was asked of her (help Char redesign her work) 12 hours after having her dreams crushed. When she walked out, we saw none of the softness and benefit-of-doubt Tim has afforded other contestants when they get emotional, which escalated Korina's reaction off set. 

Tl;dr Erin was little more than a spacy Hipster, and Korina got a raw deal and reacted like 99% of people would. 

She was given more time because this wasn't just a simple challenge; the model was a real person off the street and that was taken into consideration! TG asked the other designers if it would be ok to give Char extra time, but we all know "who wants to be called the a-hole by saying 'NO?'" Korina really embarrassed herself those few episodes; esp. by turning down more exposure by helping Char in a challenge after her elimination! ;-)

[Oholibamah]

20 hours ago, Fiero425 said:

She was given more time because this wasn't just a simple challenge; the model was a real person off the street and that was taken into consideration! TG asked the other designers if it would be ok to give Char extra time, but we all know "who wants to be called the a-hole by saying 'NO?'" Korina really embarrassed herself those few episodes; esp. by turning down more exposure by helping Char in a challenge after her elimination! ;-)

I'm not saying it was the wrong call to let Char fix the zipper, nor was it the right call for Korina to decline more exposure. But to be eliminated over a designer who was essentially saved 3 times and then asked to help them destroy their work 12 hours later would royally suck, and I don't think Tim or the audience were fair in how they demonized her reaction. I doubt many people would handle that well on the best of days, let alone in a pressure cooker environment on little sleep with producers purposefully stirring the pot. 

[Fiero425]

44 minutes ago, Oholibamah said:

I'm not saying it was the wrong call to let Char fix the zipper, nor was it the right call for Korina to decline more exposure. But to be eliminated over a designer who was essentially saved 3 times and then asked to help them destroy their work 12 hours later would royally suck, and I don't think Tim or the audience were fair in how they demonized her reaction. I doubt many people would handle that well on the best of days, let alone in a pressure cooker environment on little sleep with producers purposefully stirring the pot. 

Few come off as badly as Korina and that's saying a lot for a show that's been in production for well over 10 years, jumped networks, has several spin-offs, & became a worldwide phenomenon! If I wistfully think about the years of villains, Korina is the 1st to come to mind behind Wendy Pepper of course! Then you have a seasonal winner villain like Gretchen who took Season 8 with Ivy her "right hand!" After them I'd list Sosa (not as much a villain as single-minded), Santino (more an ego-maniac), Irina (S6 winner), Michelle (S11 winner), & several other "mean girls," but no one more graceless than Korina no matter the circumstances! That was "some way" to go out on Nat'l TV with replays on You Tube, Bing, Lifetime.com, and DVD sales to live on in infamy! ;-)

[Porkchop]

I was delighted to see Christian Soriano in the Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People issue! (April 30/May 7 double issue). I have very little interest in fashion, but I love competitions, so I used to watch Project Runway and Christian was one of the most interesting people on the show. And some of his designs were showstoppers! I check for designers' names in People magazine and I notice Christian Soriano is cited more and more often. It makes me smile.

[leighdear]

C. Siriano is becoming very well known for being body positive and size inclusive with his lines and custom designs.  He'll dress any woman of any size and make her look gorgeous.  Unlike the precious designers who refuse to create for any size over a 2!  He's becoming such a presence on the Hollywood red carpets. 

I think he's the best example of the talent that can actually come out of a reality show if it's produced correctly.  Of course, the train wreck Project Runway has become makes that a difficult result these days.  Christian was lightning in a bottle.  

Edited June 3, 2018 by leighdear

[Porkchop]

leighdear That's just how I feel about Christian Soriano ... total talent, total fun to watch! I feel like a proud aunt, having been there at his "birth". Well, his first appearance on the fashion scene. 

Project Runway now is just not the same. Too many team challenges, too short a time for creating, too much crabby interaction, etc. 

[answerphone]

If anyone out there see this, there's a 2006 Project Runway marathon on now, Labor Day, on Bravo.

I hope the return to Bravo will be an upgrade!!

[enoughcats]

On 6/2/2018 at 9:37 PM, leighdear said:

C. Siriano is becoming very well known for being body positive and size inclusive with his lines and custom designs.  He'll dress any woman of any size and make her look gorgeous. 

Which drips with irony for those of us who remember the brown prom dress and Tim Gunn's ordering C.S. to make it work.

[leighdear]

I'm going to venture that 10 years of maturity would give most people a better attitude about dealing with "challenging" people in their business, as the prom challenge on PR was in 2008.  This event however, is recent and speaks volumes of the gentleman's commitment to inclusion and acceptance:

https://www.sfchronicle.com/style/article/Ashley-Graham-opens-Christian-Siriano-s-10-year-12608641.php

He was only 21 at the time, dealing with a 17 year old.  And he did make it work, going on to win the entire competition.  

[Fiero425]

On ‎6‎/‎3‎/‎2018 at 1:13 PM, Porkchop said:

leighdear That's just how I feel about Christian Soriano ... total talent, total fun to watch! I feel like a proud aunt, having been there at his "birth". Well, his first appearance on the fashion scene. 

Project Runway now is just not the same. Too many team challenges, too short a time for creating, too much crabby interaction, etc. 

I think I heard Producers frazzle these people nerves, waking them up early with cameras in their faces & coaching or instigating drama behind the scenes, etc.! ;-)

[chenoa333]

Erin: Season 15 winner. Re: that hideous "black hand holding a banana" print outfit: i just wanted one of the judges to ask her "WHO is this girl and WHERE is she going?"

Then Erin could respond with: well she's like umm, going to her, like job at like the mall at Hot Dog on a Stick. No wait, maybe it's called like, umm, Banana in a Hand. But like, I think like, it's really like, cool and Zendaya wants to like, wear it.

Erin should have been cast on Project Runway Junior. Her clothes are way too "cutesy" for women over 20. But like, whatever.

Edited September 22, 2018 by chenoa333

[sweetsuzannah]

I have used Google and other means to search for this answer to no avail.  Sadly every search returns the only other plus size designer who happens to be a female.  This was in earlier years.  He was a very over the top costume designer in his own right and eventually even had his own show.  I am just wondering if he is alive and what his name is.

[izabella]

I think you are referring to Chris Marsh.  I don't know what he's up to.

[SuprSuprElevated]

Last thing I read, he had become very ill and was in very tough condition.  Don't recall the problem.

[Aulty]

The last thing we heard about Chris was very sad:

Quote

Back in June of last year, he suffered a debilitating accident and had to be placed in a medically induced coma where he stayed for many weeks. Thanks to the miracle of modern science he has pulled through, but is still in a very fragile state. His right arm has been paralyzed and at this moment, has limited use of his hands and legs. In addition, he's dealing with respiratory issues that demand constant care. 

I haven't found any updates on his condition, I hope he's getting better.

[Sew Sumi]

Chris is slowly recovering. On the plus side, he's lost a significant amount of weight. He's never been clear whether he's working now or wholly on disability.