S05.E06: Going For Baroque

[ElectricBoogaloo]

The designers celebrate Baroque fashion by creating couture-inspired gowns.

[Primetimer]

The designers get two whole days for a quasi-historical couture challenge. Your editors discuss which of them baroque bad.

Read the story

[Whodunnit]

Um, judges? The bottom of that dress was not Brown, it was like wine red or something. That's embarrassing.

[Tasya]

Once again Dom is robbed of the top and in my opinion first place. It's clear that at this point there's an agenda and a script that they are going to stick to regardless. Valerie and Sam were only both in the top so that they could justify to the viewing audience keeping them both last week. Mitchell and Alexander would have been in the bottom this week regardless of what they did. Otherwise Emily and that plastic looking atrocity or even Kini and that messy thing would have been in the bottom over Alexander. I'm rooting for Dom but I don't even know if I can keep watching this season. 

[RobertBestBarbie]

Well, I guess I can at least thank the judges for Sam NOT winning and Mitchell NOT staying, otherwise I'd have been shopping for a new TV tomorrow. I was really ready to throw something at the television if the outcome had been different.

When are these people going to stop helping Sam?! He never acknowledges any of them when the judges are falling all over themselves at his brilliance and skills. Let him fail, FFS!

[NYGirl]

I loved Sam's dress but it was not baroque.  I hate that people are helping him because he's so damn shortsighted.   We'd probably be rid of him by now if people would shut up.  I hate that we had a shot of Kini giving him dagger stares.  I thought Kini was above that.  I am rooting for him all the way because I think he should have won his season.  But damn Kini that was the same type of dress you did with black leather on your season.

 

Poor Mitchell.  My son who doesn't even watch the show walked by and called his elimination when they were in the work room.  He can recognize fugly.

[avecsans]

What??? Ken's dress looked like something a Vulcan woman would wear to a formal Star Fleet event. I'm not an expert on what makes something baroque, but I don't think that was it. Alexander was robbed. His gown was probably not baroque either, but it was beautiful.

Screw you, Mitchell, for blaming your model for popping the zipper instead of admitting it was your fault that your garment was fugly and poorly made.

I unfairly associate Coca Rocha with Gretchen but it was kind of interesting to get the model's perspective.

[slothgirl]

WTF was that? Most of these people (and I'm also looking at YOU judges) don't seem to know when the baroque period was. Medieval? No. Renaissance Fair? (which is what the blue dress looked like). No. Queen Elizabeth? No.

 

And the no-longer-gorgeous Giorgina couldn't even decide how it was pronounced, going from Barok (rhymes with our president) to baroke (rhymes with broke.. which is what this show is)

[Whodunnit]

I was baffled by Kini's outfit, and I agree that Sam's dress was not baroque. Baroque is a style that is defined as "overly elaborate" according to a website called history of European fashion. Sam's outfit, on the other hand, was really very simplistic. It was just lace with lace flowers from the same fabric sewn on top to hide the naughty bits.

Eta: It's Kini not Kim, curse you spell check.

Edited March 18, 2016 by Whodunnit

[mauras]

I *hated* Valerie's dress. I thought it looked cheap, and there was nothing baroque OR particularly modern about it. And it wasn't couture. I was relieved that it didn't win. Ken's wasn't my favorite thing on the runway, but it was interesting, at least.

I loved Layana's fabric, but the look was a bit costume-y. Still, it's a good thing she stayed and Mitchell went home. If it had been the other way around, I'd have given up on this season for real.

Tasya, I agree--Dom was robbed. Again.

[Nidratime]

I'm not getting this show. Are they really going to reward, till the end, a "designer" who actually gets help on every challenge such that he never rests on his own petard? I'm getting kind of disgusted. This show is warped.

[Whodunnit]

Apparently, Baroque was roughly from 1650 to 1720, and Rococo was from 1720 to 1800.

[Calamity Jane]

I haven't watched yet, but I'm confused - they took them to Medieval Times to get an idea for Baroque style?  Okayyyyyy.... Even though Medieval Times looks pretty Renaissance, it's still kinda like taking them to Hamilton for ideas on current fashion.  Oh well. 

[Texasmom1970]

I may have not liked his dress but I am glad Kini was safe, because if he were to go home tonight before Sam! Ugh!

 

Someone please help Emily with her makeup that red eye shadow she had on at the start of the episode. It reminded me of a horror movie where they are exposed to a contagion and bleed from their eyes!

[RococoChanel]

Just look at my username... Baroque and Rococo ARE. MY. THING. And on top of that, I am Sicilian... Baroque architecture is everywhere in Sicily. Where baroque is dark, violent and extravagant, rococo is light, buoyant and playful.

 

So disappointed in this episode. THIS is baroque: http://i.weddingomania.com/baroque-style-wedding-inspiration-1.jpg. Give me drama!

Edited March 18, 2016 by RococoChanel

[auntlada]

I completely forgot to watch. Did anything come of the others criticizing Sam last week after the runway? Who helped him this week?

[Miss Ruth]

I loved Kini in his season, but I was embarrassed for him tonight. The best thing I can say about it is that it wasn't made of denim. I don't blame Kini, or anyone else, for shooting daggers at Sam. I do blame those, however, who continue to help the little twit. Ken was a nasty piece of work on his season, but I really like him this time. Does Asha ever close her mouth?

auntlada, Dom helped Sam this week.

[njbchlover]

I loved Kini in his season, but I was embarrassed for him tonight. The best thing I can say about it is that it wasn't made of denim. I don't blame Kini, or anyone else, for shooting daggers at Sam. I do blame those, however, who continue to help the little twit. Ken was a nasty piece of work on his season, but I really like him this time. Does Asha ever close her mouth?

auntlada, Dom helped Sam this week.

 

Yes, she did - but I think she has wised up to Sam.  She was shooting some daggers at him, especially during Zanna's visit in the work room.  Eventually, Sam is going to have to do something completely by himself, and then, it will be interesting to see what the judges have to say.

 

Also, what the hell was up with Georgina Chapman's business partner (I can't remember her name)??  What a bitch!  Even when she liked something, she had a criticism of it, and her criticisms weren't constructive - they were mean.  She was worse, imo, than Nina.  

[slothgirl]

I haven't watched yet, but I'm confused - they took them to Medieval Times to get an idea for Baroque style?  Okayyyyyy.... Even though Medieval Times looks pretty Renaissance, it's still kinda like taking them to Hamilton for ideas on current fashion.  Oh well. 

Even if Medieval Times looks Renaissance, Renaissance isn't Baroque, so it still doesn't make sense. They seemed to be trying to pretend that Baroque came BEFORE the Renaissance, when of course (all references to QE1 notwithstanding) it came after.

[RedheadZombie]

They've been pushing the SL about Sam so hard, I was absolutely sure Ken would lose to him and go off about Sam on the runway. I'm kind of disappointed.

[GaT]

I liked Valerie's best, but Ken's gown looked like something by Erté, so I guess he got the baroque thing better. We've seen the "upside down umbrella" skirt on Kini's gown so many times, I'm surprised anyone would still send it down the runway. I thought Mitchell's was really ugly, not sorry to see him go, but I would have preferred it if it was Sam. Why do people keep giving him ideas? Do they not understand that this is a competition? And I'm glad at least Alyssa realized that there was nothing really special about the dress, it was the fabric that was the star of the outfit.

[slothgirl]

 I hate that we had a shot of Kini giving him dagger stares.  I thought Kini was above that.  I am rooting for him all the way because I think he should have won his season.  But damn Kini that was the same type of dress you did with black leather on your season.

Unfortunately, I have to agree with Sam that Kini is an exceptional sewer, but not a fabulous designer.

[Calamity Jane]

Even if Medieval Times looks Renaissance, Renaissance isn't Baroque, so it still doesn't make sense. They seemed to be trying to pretend that Baroque came BEFORE the Renaissance, when of course (all references to QE1 notwithstanding) it came after.

I may have phrased badly, but that was my point, so I think we are agreeing.  Even Renaissance and Baroque, as you say, are a long, long time apart, hence my reference to Revolutionary Era fashion as a guide for 21st century - way off. 

[ichbin]

The top of Layana's was on the right track for this challenge, unfortunately she chose horrible fabric/colors.  From a distance the yellow and black looked like cheap Halloween fabric.  I first thought the black in the fabric was bats.  Then the flamenco looking skirt didn't jive.   All that outfit needed was a tiny top hat fascinator,  a horn,  and clown shoes to finish it off.  Layana's own outfit during the runway seemed way too busy and out of place too. 

 

I like Kini but I think he really deserved to be in the bottom this week.  That skirt was all kinds of wrong.  At least it wasn't black denim.

 

Valerie's gown looked like Cinderella in the kitchen before the Fairy Godmother shows up.  Way too simple for baroque.  But then again, it's not like designs are strictly judged based on the criteria of the challenges.  The same way sometimes construction doesn't matter....except when it suddenly does.   The judges give me a headache.

 

Speaking of construction....no argument against Mitchell getting the boot for this one. 

 

Emily....really?!?  It seemed nicely made, but too sheer and the proportions looked off.

 

I really believe Sam is there to just rile people up and he's doing that job exceptionally well.  Hope he doesn't push Ken into storming out next week.

 

On the subject of Ken...yes, he's produced some decent stuff but I have to ask how someone who never won once during his history with the show is considered to be an "All-Star".    They really need to change that part of the show title to something like Project Runway:  Another Chance...

 

Bring back those kids from the Junior show!! 

[methadonna]

I completely forgot to watch.

I find myself saying that every week this season, except it's after I've spent 60 minutes having it play on my TV.

It's like, one minute, I'm seeing Alyssa look horribly uncomfortable in whatever schmatta her Lifetime-movie-inspired secretly-seething-with-jealousy-and-rage stylist decided to try to undermine her with this week, and hearing her sound horribly uncomfortable as she tries to speak around the magic marbles that the NY-hating accent coach told her would get rid of her accent if she kept them in her mouth, or whatever it was about getting this job if she kept someone's balls in her mouth*, [not]explaining the challenge, and, the next thing I know, my DVR is asking me if I want to erase the episode (yes. Yes, I do), and I realize I've missed not only who's won but who's been eliminated, never mind the whole (not)blind runway show, top and bottom critique***, and whatever Zanna has said to them in the workroom to make them doubt their work and/or basic life force (but surely not any advice or anything else that makes up the "constructive" part of "constructive criticism," 'cause I KNOW that there was none of that to miss).

*Ew, I hate myself for even joking about something so mysogynistic, especially when I actually typically** love Alyssa, but once I'd said the marbles, well, I knew I'd already, um, opened up for that one. **And this show just seems like such an odd fit (heh) for her, that.... Well, and, I'm 12.

***Again: I'm 12.

[phoenix780]

I feel like I know less about baroque than I did before watching.

I'm glad this show is about Sam and drama, not fashion, because it's some entertaining, real drama while the dresses are boring.

Of course everyone keeps helping the dumb pretty one. Of course he'll take the help and genuinely seem to believe it was all him (has he complained about editing yet?). That's how life works, and this dumb pretty kid will unconsciously, gleefully ride others for years. Right until the day he starts to age.

Goodbye Mitchell- you weren't cute enough to be saved. Long live that beautiful idiot Sam.

His success... The most real thing I've seen on reality TV in a while. It's Lifetime, though, so I'm assuming he has a downfall coming. Most of us wouldn't identify with his easy success, but we'd cheer on whoever causes his downfall. That's the part that'll feel scripted to me.

[Pallida]

How could Sam be in the top with that cheap ass pearl trim? It looked like white-out tape and he didn't know how to finish it properly in the back so it comes to a lopsided y rather than connecting properly. (I refuse to believe it might be by design.)

Did anybody catch if Asha hand embroidered her bodice? There was one quick scene where I thought she was doing it but I'm not sure. The dress looked like prom to me, but I would applaud her embroidering it if she did. That's far better "hand sewing" than Sam's where I doubt you'd be able to see mistakes.

I think I'm bitter.

Edited March 18, 2016 by Pallida

[PepperMonkey]

Fashion FOE-ward. Holy fuckbuckets, that drives me crazy.

 

Also, while I do agree with He Who Shall Not Be Named that Kini IS a talented sew-er, I have to add, at least Kini is talented. At something. I know I'm going to catch some flack from those who love Sam and think he's an excellent blogger/commentator and fashion expert. But so be it. We're all entitled to our opinions in this free country (until the election anyway), and that is my opinion.

 

This season continues to underwhelm, but at least there have been a few Swatch sightings. Swatch! Who, by the way, looks as if he is pained by this whole experience. I hope he's feeling/ doing well. Maybe he's just been watching the show?

[Julia]

Things that surprised me:

Ken hasn't noticed that Dom keeps the season viper off her ass by spackling the massive gaps in their skillset? I don't know how that is. She used to do Helen's work for her on the weeks when she had her meltdowns. Also, good job.

I didn't think Layana - and I don't like her or her aesthetic - should have been anywhere near the bottom.

Oh, Sam, you adorable little google monkey. Who knew you were doing those encyclopedic takedowns of other peoples' historical references with eighteen wikipedia pages open? Yes, dear. Baroque is definitely best remembered for long lines and poofy sleeves. Not so much for tacking flowers on poorly-constructed slip dresses, but nice work totally making shit up so you wouldn't have to say that your inspiration was Dom telling you what to do. Have you noticed that the judges pretty much only like the things about your work that other people are responsible for?

I wasn't crazy about the hobble skirt, but I thought Alexander's dress was kind of a neat Madame X hommage and at least as on point as Valerie's. I didn't see the elizabethan thing at all (Isaac, meet Sam, and let him show you Google).

I didn't hate Asha's, although if she had made it for the Catholic school uniform challenge it would have been equally appropriate.

Of the two dresses Dom was responsible for, I thought the one with her name on it should have been on the top.

Edited March 18, 2016 by Julia

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I was totally cracking up when Ken said same has already made eight jumpsuits and then Mitchell said, "Don't forget that Kini made one of them." HAHAHAHA!

 

I know that it's common for the designers to ask each other for advice/feedback, but I can't disagree with Kini about Dom doing the major design work for Sam this week.

 

Valerie's blue gown looked neither baroque nor couture to me.

 

Sam's lucky that he had Dom to help him because if he had just slapped five yards of lace on top of muslin, it would have looked horrible. I hated the pearl trim at the arm holes. It made his dress look like a costume made in a home ec class. There was nothing baroque about his dress either, no matter how much the judges claimed they liked it.

 

Dom's gold dress looked like something that empress in The Neverending Story would wear. Maybe the headband was influencing my opinion though.

 

Normally I disregard 99% of Zanna's critiques in the workroom, but I can't disagree with her about Mitchell's bondage dress. And I'm not saying that everyone had to design ballgowns but his looked like a cocktail dress. And did he lie on the runway when he said he had made the leg thingies but didn't put them on her? I thought when he was leaving the work room, he said he ran out of time and didn't make them.

 

Ahsha thought that adding a peplum would make her top young, cool, and fresh and give her a wow factor? That's one magical peplum. Her red dress was just too plain. I put it in the same category as Valerie's - a simple gown that was not detailed enough for a baroque inspired challenge.

 

I liked Alexander's dress better before he glued all those pearls to the front. I didn't realize how much work he had put into the texture by putting lace over a sequined fabric. The overall effect of them together was nice but as with many black dresses, it didn't read as well on the runway.

 

The combination of the red fabric/gold applique, high collar, fitted silhouette, bare arms, and long skirt made Kini's dress remind me of a Chinese cheongsam. I hated the pleated umbrella skirt at the bottom.

 

Did Ken's fabric come with that barklike texture or did quilt it himself for that effect? I agree with Zanna that the overall effect with the brown dress plus the brown cape gave it a heavy look. I liked the black sequins on the underside of the cape. That might look tacky in real life, but on the runway, it gave a subtle shine. Heh, and high five to Mitchell for describing it as looking like bark. Sam is so annoying that I was rooting for Ken to win this challenge. Yes, Ken of The Iron Incident! That's what you have done to me, show.

 

Emily's Halle Berry dress was just okay for me. I thought the shiny skirt looked cheap though.

 

I couldn't decide if I liked Layana's dress or not. I didn't like the big shoulders, I too thought the black blobs on her yellow fabric were bats, and I didn't like the color of the skirt, but I couldn't deny that her design was dramatic and memorable, especially amid so many blah dresses this week.

 

Fashion FOE-ward. Holy fuckbuckets, that drives me crazy.

It drives me crazy every time Alyssa said FOE-ward. Some weeks we are lucky and she only says it once per episode.

Edited March 18, 2016 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Beden]

 

Even if Medieval Times looks Renaissance, Renaissance isn't Baroque, so it still doesn't make sense.

It makes complete sense if you know that Medieval Times is located in New Jersey, about 10 minutes from the Lincoln Tunnel access to Manhattan. It was an easy ride across the river and (as far as I know, so please correct me if I'm wrong) MT's popularity isn't what it used to be when kids birthday parties there were a big thing. PRAS gets a easy location and the venue gets some badly needed PR. 

 

Baroque, smaroque...it's another episode in the can for TPTB. And no, obviously Renaissance/generic Medieval isn't baroque but to really know the differences you'd have to have taken a course in fashion history or read a buttload of books and, aside from the costume designer (Alexander? I'm terrible with names, sorry...) I'm guessing virtually none of the current crop could tell the difference between a baldric and an obi.

 

Sam depends, as Blanche said, on the kindness of others and the fact that most people are pretty non-confrontational. No one on any of the runways called him out for poaching ideas and taking credit but it looks like he's seriously wearing out his good will, or how ever much is left.

Edited March 18, 2016 by Beden

[Linderhill]

Thank you to those posters that pointed out how decidedly non-Baroque all of those dresses were.  Its been some years since my art history and fashion history classes but I saw nothing baroque in any of those designs.  I missed the first couple of minutes so I was wondering why they were at Medieval Times for this challenge.  Wouldn't the Metropolitan Museum of Art have been a better fit?  Where there are signs that would tell them what the baroque period was.  For that matter they should have brought the judges to the Met so that they would actually know what baroque meant.  While they were at mood I kept wondering why Sam was so set on "fabric like the Sistine Chapel."  The Sistine Chapel was built in the 1400's and Michelangelo is definitely a Renaissance artist, not baroque. 

 

I pretty much hated all of the designs but was routing for Ken simply because he was up against Sam and his not demure at all lace dress.  (as soon as the little twit started rambling on about being demure I kept picturing the extreme decolletage some of those period dresses had.  A long dress does not equal demure).  And yes, people stop helping the guy.  Let him shaft himself by using muslin to back that lace. 

[Steph619]

I wasn't particularly impressed this week with anyone's design. I was expecting more since it was a Baroque inspired challenge. I really just liked Ken's so I'm glad he won. I think if Sam would've won, there would've been an all out brawl between Sam and Ken backstage.

Attention remaining designers! Stop helping Sam! He will accept your help and take all the credit for it without once mentioning your name.

I hate to say it because he's my favorite designer, but I thought Kini's dress was awful. We've seen him do that bottom of the dress before and this time, it didn't even seem well executed. His dress wasn't enough to send him home, but it definitely could've landed him in the bottom. Hope to see something better from him next week.

I agree with Mitchell's elimination. His dress turned out to be a disaster especially with his fix for the broken zipper.

[Julia]

While they were at mood I kept wondering why Sam was so set on "fabric like the Sistine Chapel."  The Sistine Chapel was built in the 1400's and Michelangelo is definitely a Renaissance artist, not baroque. 

I took that as Sam's way of saying "I want the fabric to do all the work. Pick it for me."

[MuMuGuy]

I'm glad that Ken won instead of Sam, although I would've loved to have been a fly on the wall in the lounge if Sam was given the win. Mitchell was definitely the correct choice to send home, so I have no complaints about the judging beyond the fact that the judges didn't seem to understand the challenge themselves. If people can't even pronounce the name of the style, then they shouldn't make a challenge based on it.

 

I did laugh at how everyone was dog piling Sam. Sam was being a tool when he threw Kini under the bus as a response for Ken's comment about Sam constantly making jumpsuits. Sam's fraudulent win in the team challenge was the jumpsuit Kini made and Sam taking all the credit for. Hopefully after Sam stole all the credit for his outfit when Zanna was doing the consultation will make people realize that they should let Sam do his own work for once. Mitchell was right when he said that Dom was basically designing his outfit for him.

Edited March 18, 2016 by MuMuGuy

[alannaofdoom]

I don't blame Kini, or anyone else, for shooting daggers at Sam. I do blame those, however, who continue to help the little twit. Ken was a nasty piece of work on his season, but I really like him this time. 

 

Right there with you re: Ken. He was quite the villain on his season, but put him next to Sam and I am ready to draw a halo above his head. 

[terrymct]

The outfits kind of ranged from nice enough to meh to bleech.  

 

Ken:  I dislike him personally, but I picked that as the winning outfit, too.   The hair was a bad choice, but the outfit was interesting and fit within the theme well enough.

 

Sam:  I don't get the praise for this one.  It was fine.  I'd have put it in the middle.   It fit his model well, but other than that, it was bog standard.   The sheer trend needs to end asap.  I think that pearl trim was supposed to make this baroque, but I don't get why the flowers stuck out from under it in places.  This dress was something a saucy junior league girl would wear to a formal at a southern country club to raise eyebrows.

 

Layana:  I thought this was hideous.   The colors were ugly and it reminded me of something Madonna would have worn in a video in the 1980's.

 

Mitchell:  This sucked dead sheep sideways.  Horrible.  The piece work on the bodice looked like it was done in a home ec class and that's the best part of the dress.   He deserved to go home.

 

Valerie:  Horrible.  Another outfit that could be worn by a Star Trek alien woman who you know will end up in the sack with Kirk.

 

Alexander:  Very Downton Abbey rather than baroque.   It's pretty though.

 

Kini:  OMG, stop it with the umbrella skirts.  It was a neat idea in his season for the rain challenge, but here it looks like he's run out of ideas.

 

Dom:  Another Star Trek costume, but in this case a gorgeous one.  Something fit for an alien ambassador.

 

Emily:  Dear heavens above, that was craptastic.  Unflattering, weird, not baroque.   She should have been dragged over the coals more for that outfit.

 

Asha:  The dress was rather plain, but I think she started on an interesting track with the embroidery on the bodice.  She just didn't go far enough with that.

Edited March 18, 2016 by terrymct

[qtpye]

Of course everyone keeps helping the dumb pretty one. Of course he'll take the help and genuinely seem to believe it was all him (has he complained about editing yet?). That's how life works, and this dumb pretty kid will unconsciously, gleefully ride others for years. Right until the day he starts to age.

 

 

I remember when Nina Garcia said that she loved Daniel V "because he just looked like what a young designer should be".

 

I have a feeling delicate looking pretty boys make it far in the world of fashion.

 

The designers get two whole days for a quasi-historical couture challenge. Your editors discuss which of them baroque bad.

 

 

Shout out to the editors for pointing how Alyssa's braids made her look like an oil painting come to life.  To me her face looked like old Italian aristocracy.  I know the old school Italians preferred their blondes to their brunettes, but it really did suit her.

[libraryone]

I think where Alexander went wrong with his dress was that he made it sleeveless. The neckline itself wasn't all that different from some actual Baroque dresses, like this one: https://www.google.com/#tbm=isch&q=baroquedress museum&imgrc=HJV22C-e-Gu8uM%3A.

But removing the sleeves, combined with making it all black (which hid the corset effect), made it read much more modern.

[qtpye]

I think where Alexander went wrong with his dress was that he made it sleeveless. The neckline itself wasn't all that different from some actual Baroque dresses, like this one: https://www.google.c...=isch&q=baroquedress museum&imgrc=HJV22C-e-Gu8uM%3A.

 

 

I think he got tripped up, by trying to make it not look too costume like, but Baroque is by definition heavy, rich, and extravagant.

[Captain Asshat]

Screw you, Mitchell, for blaming your model for popping the zipper instead of admitting it was your fault that your garment was fugly and poorly made.

I was wondering about that. He has his model's measurements. It's not like she grew overnight and no longer fits into the garment. IMO, he simply didn't have enough finished during the model fitting, and screwed up on sizing.

I'm not getting this show. Are they really going to reward, till the end, a "designer" who actually gets help on every challenge such that he never rests on his own petard? I'm getting kind of disgusted. This show is warped.

They're reinforcing the whole idea that the judges have *no* idea what goes on in the workroom. I still don't know whether that is true, but that's their story. I'm guessing this is their way of sticking to it. Either that, or they are patiently waiting for someone to bring it up, and completely lose it, on the runway for Draaaaaamaaaa.

[Ms Blue Jay]

Ken was amazing this episode.  He was the star of the show.  I know he was awful in his original season but so far he's the likeable one.  It's very strange and out of body.  And when he was telling Emily he wanted to win a challenge one day, he was actually vulnerable. Mother help me.

 

Ken:  Zanna just came in and ripped everyone a new asshole.

 

Ken:  Sam are you going to make a jumpsuit?  Sam has made 8 jumpsuits.

Sam:  8 jumpsuits in 5 challenges?  I'm impressive.

Mitchell:  Well Kini made one of them.

Ken:  OOoh!  The shade was real.

 

Mitchell:  It looks like tree bark.

Ken:  TREE BARK?  Oh, that's shade bitch.  (LOL!  Literally!)

Mitchell:    No it's not!

Ken:  Yes, that's shade.  Well it's expensive ...
Mitchell:  Expensive tree bark.
Ken:  From Marie Antoinette's garden.
Mitchell:  Exactly.

 

Of course Dom would once again befriend the biggest bitch in the workroom.  LOL.  And I know it was manipulative editing, but that shot of her looking furious was HILARIOUS.   (I wonder if she was just thinking furiously about her design.)

 

Kini and Alexander with their meaningful stares towards each other in the Corner of Judgement were making me laugh.

Edited March 18, 2016 by Ms Blue Jay

[grumpypanda]

It's apparent that this group of designers is officially out of ideas. You would think that the designers would go into the show with a bunch of interesting ideas that would fit an array of challenges but nope, these guys got nothing.

I was disappointed to see that Kini recycled that stupid umbrella dress again. I didn't mind it the first time but this time it looked terrible. He should have been in the bottom over Alexander.

I also hated Valerie's sad blue dress. I don't know what the judges saw in it to put in in the top but I guess pickings were slim this week.

I actually thought Sam's dress was pretty even though it didn't necessarily fit the challenge. I thought Dom's outfit was kind of cool too. I didn't like Ken 's look but I'm not mad he won. Better him than Valerie I guess.

[Linderhill]

I hated Layana's dress.  It didn't look rich or sophisticated (much less baroque) in the least in that hideous mustard color.  I didn't think it deserved to be on the bottom but I was not a fan.  Valerie's was a snore too.  I didn't mind the blue but there was something missing from it -- besides the big naked opening in the bodice.  Kini should definitely ditched the umbrella bottom to his dress.  I saw that and cringed.  I thought for sure someone would bring up his rainway fashion.  I didn't like the red and gold combo but if he'd gotten rid of the umbrella effect I think it would have gotten a better reception.  That rich embroidery effect was very baroque.  

[ratgirlagogo]

 

he never rests on his own petard?

I think the show is setting it up that Sam is resting so smugly on his own petard that it's a given that he's going to be blown sky high by it.  Kind of Chekhov's Petard.

 

Someone please help Emily with her makeup that red eye shadow

I like Emily's blue Wolverine hair and red eye shadow - it's striking and it looks to me like it's a deliberate period reference. Also that shade of blue is one I had when I was younger and it's quite difficult to maintain (fades like crazy), so I'm impressed by how clear and unmuddy her color always looks.  The designer hair dye fail that I've been noticing but really struck me tonight was Valerie's black hair with 3/4 inch grey roots.  Wow, that's really not a good look.  To quote the old Blondie song, she looks like she don't know better.  If your hair is that grey I think you either need to "go lighter as you get older" just like the old beauty experts always said, or go way more obvious, like a reverse ombre - three or four inches of grey roots with black ends.

 

Layana:  I thought this was hideous.   The colors were ugly and it reminded me of something Madonna would have worn in a video in the 1980's.

I don't think it was hideous, in fact I liked it, and like seemingly everyone in the home audience I saw the skirt as a dark maroon that went well with the curry yellow.  I think it would have looked better with a full-length, voluminous skirt.  But it looked super-80's to me and I kept waiting for one of the judges to say so.

 

Dom's looked very 1920's to me - that Deco patterning on the dress, the headband, the colors. I liked it but I didn't see the baroque in it.

 

I think Alexander probably knew what baroque was better than any of them, but he was, as he said, afraid that if he went too historical they were going to slam him as the costume designer he is.  So he used certain baroque elements (lace, gold, pearls) and made a contemporary dress.  I don't see that as any more off-challenge than what Sam did, frankly, and can't see why the judges loved Sam's so much.

 

ETA:  forgot to say that it was amazing how pretty Alyssa looked last night in both outfits.  Can't she see this for herself?  She could look this good every week, obviously.

Edited March 18, 2016 by ratgirlagogo

[Kromm]

Ken is such a horrible troll I winced at him winning. Even if the dress wasn't horrible IMO, I'd wince just because Ken always makes me do that.

I do get that Sam is really a flashpoint not just for the designers but for the viewers. The show is being heavy-handed showing the others gang up on him, and kind of hoping the viewers forget about how arrogant he was at the beginning of the season. It makes me wish though that the other contestants had even an ounce of brains realizing that their endless slew of cheap shots at him are probably going over like a lead balloon to most viewers. They should know the editing would ease up on what a shit Sam is, would leave on their barrage of comments, and make them seem like a raging pack of Mean Girls. But the stupid suckers seem to have no awareness this was going to happen.

[Kromm]

When are these people going to stop helping Sam?! He never acknowledges any of them when the judges are falling all over themselves at his brilliance and skills. Let him fail, FFS!

Agreed. They should just quietly step aside and let him fail. That said, the way they ARE handling it is totally on them. First, it's insane to expect most people would dilute their own capital in a contest by slathering praise on another contestant. But if they don't? Then don't whine and gang up ON CAMERA and paint yourself badly. Just move the fuck on, and ignore the guy both good (helping him) or bad (doing visible gang ups on him).

I did laugh at how everyone was dog piling Sam. Sam was being a tool when he threw Kini under the bus as a response for Ken's comment about Sam constantly making jumpsuits. Sam's fraudulent win in the team challenge was the jumpsuit Kini made and Sam taking all the credit for. Hopefully after Sam stole all the credit for his outfit when Zanna was doing the consultation will make people realize that they should let Sam do his own work for once. Mitchell was right when he said that Dom was basically designing his outfit for him.

Sam is a tool, but the chrous was sounding so clearly like bullying, because they're acting like there aren't cameras on them. It sounds pretty cutting to state that someone spending 5 minutes making a suggestion about a dress is the one who actually wound up "designing" it and they should realize how piling on and making catty comments along those lines sounds to home viewers.

As for Kini's role in the previous outfit he's still harping on? He needs to grow the hell up. The logic I give uptopic about the gang-ups and how they come off applies double to him, because he could so easily have been the big man here, just hand waved it away and said "well, I'm not helping YOU anymore" and called it a day on it. Instead he's coming off as a real bitch.

Hearing Kini whine, Layana do her usual passive-aggressive sly comments (she did them in her original season too--she's a really pretty, soft-spoken woman who carries a verbal knife around constantly), Mitchell roll his eyes, etc. was bad enough. But add Ken, a verifiably horrible human being, to the pile on is the straw that's surely breaking the camel's back for most viewers and making Sam come off as a victim. Ugh. I don't want Sam seen as a victim! But how can that be helped with the quality of human beings sniping at him?

Edited March 18, 2016 by Kromm

[Ms Blue Jay]

Now everyone's jumping on hating Alyssa for saying "foe-ward".  I brought that up last year, because it drives me batty also, and someone here corrected me by saying something like "No, that's actually her accent."  Or something.  Um... OK?  I don't know what American-born accent is that removes Rs, but okay.  Unless you're a toddler.  Or have a speech impediment.  Someone explain.  Because she seems to say Rs in any other situation that calls for them.  Like the "Ward" part of Forward.  It's just straight-up incorrect pronunciation.

 

It pissed me off when Zanna said that Emily's looked like Halle Berry's dress at the Oscars (which it did) but then when Emily said "Oh.... Cool" Joanna was all bitchily like "Well, I don't know if it's COOL."    Oh, okay, did you not know that "Oh, cool" is just another way of people saying "Cool, now fuck off"?  Did you literally meant that Emily thought it was cool?  And even if she did, are you the authority on cool, because then I guess everyone should wear platinum-dyed straw hair with black roots and raccoon eyes?  Is that what's hot in the streets?  Halle Berry's dress is known as one of the best Oscar looks ever, and is Elie Saab, so it's not like Elie Saab is the King of Cool but it's a lot cooler than Zanna...... I don't know why it pissed me off, I'm not really making sense.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elie_Saab_net_dress_of_Halle_Berry

 

Baroque, smaroque...it's another episode in the can for TPTB.

 

LOL.  This blase attitude fits this franchise just so perfectly.

Edited March 18, 2016 by Ms Blue Jay

[Ms Blue Jay]

I totally think this could easily be very manipulative editing, but it was funny to me all the same.

 

Dom Look of Doom

 

[Julia]

I think the show is setting it up that Sam is resting so smugly on his own petard that it's a given that he's going to be blown sky high by it.  Kind of Chekhov's Petard.

 

This made me smile in the middle of a thoroughly frustrating day.