S15.E10: Life is Full of Surprises

[TattleTeeny]

Unless someone is literally wearing clothes for a baby, I find the term "age appropriate" to be a whole lot of shady, catty crap (because I'm a grown woman allowed to wear what I want without others deeming it "wrong"); Jenny's outfit was awful for reasons having nothing to do with age. 

[Almost 3000]

16 hours ago, Brookside said:

I thought Mah Jing's mum looked awful.  The fabric was too stiff and the length all wrong.

I couldn't get past thinking she was from the cast of The Wiz.

[English Teacher]

I agree that Erin needs an ego and taste level adjustment but Laurence (sp) also shot down TG's suggestion. 

[Miss Ruth]

7 hours ago, TattleTeeny said:

Unless someone is literally wearing clothes for a baby, I find the term "age appropriate" to be a whole lot of shady, catty crap (because I'm a grown woman allowed to wear what I want without others deeming it "wrong"); 

  

5 hours ago, sassykattt said:

It's funny, I'm a member of AARP.  You guys complain about clothes for real women?  I'm a real woman.  Sounds ageist to me.

 

Edited November 12, 2016 by Miss Ruth

[Muffyn]

Tim keeps pointing out that Laurence is making a jacket he could find elsewhere.   She always says she'll do her Laurence magic, but we are seeing less and less magic and more ho  hum. 

[sassykattt]

On 11/10/2016 at 7:45 PM, avecsans said:

I am glad Rik won.  His mother's outfit was so cute, polished and age-appropriate without being frumpy.  I could have done without the heart because it was a little too Cathy-comic-esque but it is his mom and he obviously loves her, so I'll let it slide.  

Any one of the bottom three could have gone home.  How Erin keeps getting away with showing the same coat every week is beyond me.  That dress was hideous on so many levels and she refused to even consider Tim's advice.  Nathalia has no sense of proportion at all.  She should have made a pair of slim pants and maybe the outfit wouldn't have been so bad.  Jenni's outfit was completely inappropriate for her mother.  And it's probably pretty tense at their house tonight because Jenni was preemptively blaming her mother for her own failure.

AARP challenge?  Really?  Project Runway is really scraping the bottom of the barrel with sponsors.

I agree about Rik's outfit, it was perfect for his mom, and I loved all 3 of the top looks.  On the other hand, all 3of the bottom looks should have gone home.

It's funny, I'm a member of AARP.  You guys complain about clothes for real women?  I'm a real woman.  Sounds ageist to me.

[hula-la]

I would have loved a challenge geared towards women 50+ (I'm assuming that's the AARP age). They are a huge segment of the market, and often have more money to spend on clothing, especially clothing that doesn't scream, or even whisper, "old lady". 

[breezy424]

Yikes.  To join AARP, you have to be fifty or older.  And women over fifty do enjoy fashion.  They do like to look good.  So what's wrong with them sponsoring a challenge?  Does every challenge have to be about a thin woman in her twenties?  Or even thirties?  I find it rather disturbing.  I think it a very credible challenge to design clothes for the average woman, no matter what her age.  The ability to do that shows the real capability of a fashion designer.  Note:  Christian Seriano has a line for Lane Bryant.

Rik deserved to win this challenge.  He did it right.  OK. The heart was bigger than I would have liked but he got 'it'.

We're clearly seeing a lot of one note designers at this point.  Very predictable.   You can have a 'signature' to your design style but you have to expand it.  I'm not seeing it with some of them.

[CraftyHazel]

This show is making me cranky...or maybe it's just Erin. Because like, every time she like, starts to like, talk, I like, get all frustrated at like, her obvious sense of like, superiority.  And she has been in the bottom consistently the past several weeks** (IIRC), yet she is always, always the first of the bottom three sent to safety.  Those oversized cocoon coats and tacky appliquéd dresses she likes to make are not impressing me, and apparently they aren't impressing the judges that much lately, either, so why is she always safe?  I personally can't stand Cornelius, Dexter, or Nathalia, but at this point I want at least one or two of them to outlast her.  One way monkey, indeed.

I got the idea behind what Mah-Jing was going for, but I really didn't like his finished garment.  I thought it made his mom look stumpy and frumpy.  

Cornelius, I felt a little sorry for you last week, but I see you're back to your old, asshole-ish ways.  And that thing you sent down the runway was all kinds of ugly.

Rik's design was cute and he and his mom were so adorable, but surely I can't be the only one who didn't find it exactly innovative or all that interesting.  God, I miss the old "PR"!!  Give me Christian Siriano, Seth Aaron, Dmitri, Rami, Chris March, Laura Bennett, Uli...  The best designers this year are not as impressive as the middle-of-the-pack designers from years ago.

Maybe I really am just hate-watching anymore.  But "PR" is like junk food TV, and it's hard to give it up.

**ETA: I checked, and no one else has been in the bottom three more than twice before being eliminated (Brik), and poor Alex was eliminated after placing high/in/high/in and landing in the bottom once.   So yeah...it's Erin and the inconsistent judging making me cranky.  Send her home already!!

Edited November 12, 2016 by Marmiarmo

[GreyBunny]

Just now, Muffyn said:

Tim keeps pointing out that Laurence is making a jacket he could find elsewhere.   She always says she'll do her Laurence magic, but we are seeing less and less magic and more ho  hum. 

I could forgive using leather virtually all of the time if she would just give up on those stupid 80's shoulders.  They're not retro, just dated.

[Beden]

6 hours ago, breezy424 said:

We're clearly seeing a lot of one note designers at this point.  Very predictable.   You can have a 'signature' to your design style but you have to expand it.  I'm not seeing it with some of them.

True but I strongly suspect that we're also seeing the effects of sleep depreciation. It's difficult to be creative and accurate in your construction if you haven't had a full night's sleep in 2 weeks.

 

7 hours ago, hula-la said:

I would have loved a challenge geared towards women 50+ (I'm assuming that's the AARP age). They are a huge segment of the market, and often have more money to spend on clothing, especially clothing that doesn't scream, or even whisper, "old lady". 

Yes and yes. This has been an ongoing problem with PR for years; the worst critique Nina can give is to call something 'mumsy'...clearly meaning no right thinking 20 year old would be caught dead. Yes, we Mums often do have $ to spend on top of knowing --after decades--what we like and what looks good on us, what makes us feel good when we wear it. I also, FWIW, have a degree in fine art (design) and have made my living for decades as a designer--still do, in fact. I had a polite conversation with a store manager in a Lord and Taylor, asking why they weren't still carrying quality/decent weight cashmere in the adult women's areas. He hemmed and hawed, said corporate didn't think it sold. Okay, says I, I'll buy it somewhere else and you've lost a sale. He nodded and clearly had heard this before.

Screw your 'Mumsy' or whatever tacky, insulting ageist comments and don't pocket my money, which I'll take elsewhere. While PR reinforces the idea that an interest in fashion ends with your 30th birthday.

[Texasmom1970]

On 11/10/2016 at 9:45 PM, Straycat80 said:

. I thought Mah-Jing's design looked like a Hefty bag and not age appropriate.

You are not the only one who thought that! When I saw that crap he sent down the runway it got stuck in my head. Then I realized it reminded me of Robin Williams in the movie "Jumangi" where he fashions a protective garment out of a black trash bag I think he also had a belt on it.

[mansonlamps]

I hated Mah Jing's outfit and could not believe that it was in the top three.  But more than that, I felt sorry for him because his mom could not break out of her "badass" persona long enough to give him a smile, a hug, or a word of encouragement.  The only time she could muster up the energy to give that tiny smile was when the judges were complimenting her, not her son.  

Edited November 12, 2016 by mansonlamps

[kitmerlot1213]

12 hours ago, English Teacher said:

I agree that Erin needs an ego and taste level adjustment but Laurence (sp) also shot down TG's suggestion. 

 

11 hours ago, Muffyn said:

Tim keeps pointing out that Laurence is making a jacket he could find elsewhere.   She always says she'll do her Laurence magic, but we are seeing less and less magic and more ho  hum. 

 

Both women have healthy egos but only Laurence has the actual talent to back up her ego.  Her jackets are very well made, especially in comparison to Erin's over-sized monstrosities.  I can't wait for the day Erin is auffed--hopefully it will be a double elimination with Dexter.

Speaking of which, I can't believe he doesn't have any family that could have been his model.  He doesn't have a mom, sister, aunt or cousin?  If he's estranged from his family I'm surprised he didn't talk about in his confessionals--there's a story there methinks.

Edited November 12, 2016 by kitmerlot1213

[TattleTeeny]

Regarding my previous post, now I'm thinking that I would like to see a designer who uses "age inappropriate" clothes as a starting point and kind of "elevates" (to use the judges' and contestants' all-too-frequent description) them for real-deal adult chicks. I'm thinking punk/gothy/grungy (because that's my preference) but other styles too. Seth Aaron did a little of that and I liked it, and I thought that's what the blue team last week did a bit of too.

Edited November 12, 2016 by TattleTeeny

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

   21 HOURS AGO,  MILLENNIUM SAID: 

Did anyone catch the relationship between Dexter and his model?   I must have missed it.   It seemed more than a little unfair that he got to work with a youthful tall blonde.

Quote

I think he said that she's been his best friend "for-like-ever" or something similar.  He mentioned that she has always been there for him, in good and bad times.  

The chyron said they have been friends for 14 years. 

 

1 hour ago, kitmerlot1213 said:

Speaking of which, I can't believe he doesn't have any family that could have been his model.  He doesn't have a mom, sister, aunt or cousin?  If he's estranged from his family I surprised he didn't talk about in his confessionals--there's a story there methinks.

I think there are a lot of possibilities. Maybe he doesn't have a lot of female relatives. Maybe they live on the other side of the country so traveling to New York would have been too much for them. Maybe they have jobs where they can't take time off or they have a very limited amount of vacation hours. Maybe Lifetime didn't contact them far enough in advance for them to be able to go the days that this episode was being filmed. Maybe they have health issues that make it difficult for them to fly. Maybe they have very young kids who they don't feel comfortable leaving for 2-3 days.

Off the top of my head, one of my friends who is 40 has only one female relative he's close to. He and his sister are close but she travels a lot for work so if she were asked to do something like this, she probably wouldn't be available. He has two elderly aunts (late 70s/early 80s) but he barely knows them because he was a military brat and moved around a lot as a kid but never lived within 1000 miles of his aunts. His mom is dead, and he has no female cousins. It's possible that Dexter is estranged from his family but it's also possible that like my friend, he just doesn't have a lot of female relatives who were available for filming. I try not to assume there's family drama unless the designers say so. 

[Knuckles]

Erin bugs, true, but to be fair to her, she does know how to sew and finish her seams. She's bright enough, so why the repeating coats with huge outside pockets? And, blowing off Tim...so, she's resistant to any outside advice, which might have helped her get out of Utah, but no longer serves her well. Her opening work with the party favors was bright and well-done...and her yellow coat was at least interesting...but since then...just one coat after another...and a sad little dress that said home ec, first project. Her personal issues are killing her ability to open up and design.

I was thinking about Maya and Petie from the Juniors...both very young with great skills and point of view...but always open to advice from Tim, and so at ease with themselves. 

Both Erin and Dexter would be blown out of the water by those two...maybe Rik and Laurence would tag along after them. I do wish PR would bring them back and put them in competition with their elders...they would all have to up their game or be aufed.

[Snickerdoodle]

I didn't like Roberi's look again.  The dress was constructed well but the 2 patterns?  I just clearly don't understand fashion. 

For those that commented that they thought the judges were afraid of Mah Jing's mom - as I was watching I commented that I would not want to mess with her. She looks like a tough cookie!

Each week I become more and more disappointed with Erin.  Did she put those flowers on the lace? That's her other trick besides those coats.  She needs to change it up quick.

[TiredMe]

Jenny's pants deserved to be eliminated not once but twice. What a monstrosity. Honestly nothing blew me away on the runway. The winning look was cute and I can see why is won. 

Poor Mah Jing. Crying away and his mom was so unmoved. Very strange. I wanted to give him a hug.

[frogzapper]

I wish all three of the bottom looks would've gone home - hated all of them! But I'm glad Jenni's gone - she was getting on my nerves with her complaining about her mom. It's not like her mom was saying she wanted one outfit to be able to do all of the things she mentioned - she was just giving Jenni options and letting her choose which direction she wanted to go with! But like others here mentioned, it seemed like she had some animosity towards her mom and looking for excuses to blame her.

I also felt like a lot of the moms were trying to be too nice in their comments on the runway about how much they liked their outfits. I like youthful hip clothing as much as the next person (don't get me started about how much I hate the term "age-appropriate", lol!), but I really question Jenni's mom loving the outfit as much as she claimed she did. That outfit was so ill-fitting, unflattering, and messy looking - I'd question her judgment if she really liked it that much! I did appreciate that Natalia's mom seemed to be a little more honest in her comments and did it in a kind way that showed how much she cared about her daughter.

Really tired of Erin and her one way monkey designs and smug attitude.

[Calamity Jane]

11 minutes ago, frogzapper said:

I wish all three of the bottom looks would've gone home - hated all of them! But I'm glad Jenni's gone - she was getting on my nerves with her complaining about her mom. It's not like her mom was saying she wanted one outfit to be able to do all of the things she mentioned - she was just giving Jenni options and letting her choose which direction she wanted to go with! But like others here mentioned, it seemed like she had some animosity towards her mom and looking for excuses to blame her.

I also felt like a lot of the moms were trying to be too nice in their comments on the runway about how much they liked their outfits. I like youthful hip clothing as much as the next person (don't get me started about how much I hate the term "age-appropriate", lol!), but I really question Jenni's mom loving the outfit as much as she claimed she did. That outfit was so ill-fitting, unflattering, and messy looking - I'd question her judgment if she really liked it that much! I did appreciate that Natalia's mom seemed to be a little more honest in her comments and did it in a kind way that showed how much she cared about her daughter.

Really tired of Erin and her one way monkey designs and smug attitude.

Well, what is a mom going to say if she's standing there in that mess of an outfit Jenni made?  She's damned if she's honest and damned if she isn't, apparently.  Most moms are going to be as supportive of the child as they possibly can be, which may mean less than truthful in many cases.  Also, did they know at that point about the $$$?  If so, all the more reason to be only upbeat.  I don't think most moms would be brutally frank in any case, though.  

[TattleTeeny]

Quote

I like youthful hip clothing as much as the next person (don't get me started about how much I hate the term "age-appropriate", lol!)

I honestly didn't see Jenni's outfit as particularly youthful; in fact, those pants, if made well, look just like something I'd see somewhat affluent women wearing around here--they look like something from Ann Taylor Loft or Banana Republic to me. Even the rest of it looked like fairly run-of-the-mill mainstream casual stuff, if not for the messiness of it all.

[PepperMonkey]

Sigh. Erin. LIKE, fuck me, that is, like, some awful shit you are recycling every week. Also, did you ACTUALLY SAY I stayed inside her an extra month and pooped in her so we have a special bond? Was that supposed to be cute? Am I the only one who thought it wasn't??

I had a somewhat different take on Mah-Jing's and Bahamadia's personalities and attitudes. Actually thought at the point of the critique where they were talking about how Mah made something that was so perfect for his mom, well, I thought a couple of times she looked like she was trying to choke back some tears. I thought she was warm enough to him without being overly ridiculous like Erin and her mom, with the squeeing, and Nathalia and her mom with both realizing the outfit was so horrible they had to prop each other up.  I mean she's a business woman in a male dominated business, so yeah, she's tough; and Mah did say they've had some issues, but I still thought she was glad to see him. Maybe she's not a cryer. I thought they were cute together. But I adore Mah-Jing's heart; he's got a good one. I'm kind of hoping he might make it to the end.

As I was saying last week, NO ONE should have gone home so they could have sent BOTH Jenni and Nathalia home this week because, yeah, they both deserved to go.

Jenni was singularly unpleasant. Who knows what the difficulties are between her and her mom but that was ugly to watch. And yeah, I got a sense that she was thinking it was all mom's fault that she did badly. When in reality, she's just not that good, and once again, she did Erin's trademark throw sequin shit on something and hope the judges fall all over themselves to pretend to love it.

Laurence, whom I still love: you are now officially boring me.

Loved Rik's. And loved his thoughtfulness about the Mariachi stitching and the heart for how much he loves his mom. The little jacket/blazer was nothing we haven't seen before, but it was well made and I did love the waxy finish of the tweed. Also the red trim. So nicely sewn and crafted; you could tell it was with love. Roberi's was also well made and a nice shape for his friend, but I didn't dig the prints together. He thinks like an artist, though, and that's kind of cool.

Finally, Cornelius: you can go home right after Erin and Nathalia. Oh, and Dexter can go right after you. He tries too hard to convince me he's cool for me to believe it organically.

Edited November 14, 2016 by PepperMonkey
spelling people's name correctly, I hope.

[mauras]

I liked Rik's; it was well made and fit his mom very well. But it wasn't all that interesting and looked very off-the-rack. I was fine with it winning, but I thought both Roberi and Mah-Jing made more interesting and creative looks. Mah-Jing's in particular was fun and suited his mom really well, which is especially impressive considering the total lack of warmth between them. Their dynamic was a little uncomfortable to watch, even more than Jenni's eye-rolling petulance with her mom.

How many more chances are they going to give Erin, I wonder. That dress was horrendous. It reminded me of something I wrote to a middle-school dance in the 1970s--and I was *not* a fashion-forward tween.

[dleighg]

8 minutes ago, mauras said:

How many more chances are they going to give Erin, I wonder. That dress was horrendous. It reminded me of something I wrote to a middle-school dance in the 1970s--and I was *not* a fashion-forward tween.

me too :)

[Ms Blue Jay]

You guys notice how many times per sentence Erin says "Like", right?

Roberi's outfit was beautiful.

Edited November 12, 2016 by Ms Blue Jay

[sleepyjean]

Quote

I appreciated the fact that Zak was not his usual handsy self with the mom models.

He still had his hands on them more than they seemed to be comfortable with. I do wish there had been a wide shot of him doing that little kick.

Quote

There was not one redeeming factor in Erin's mess.

Untrue. There was one. She somehow managed to restrain herself from  tacking on those mustardy yellow flowers she was playing around with.

Quote

Agree with the person who said the top of Roberi's dress looked like a swimsuit. I didn't have a problem with the contrasting prints - I thought it was really brought together with the pink stitching in the top - but the top just looked so blah to me.

On my tv, the top looked black, white, and red, while the bottom looked teal and pink. To me the two patterns seemed to be fighting each other.

Quote

I think the only reason Cornelius was not in the bottom was to not make Tim look bad for saving him lol.

Disagree. He wasn't in the bottom because there were three people who made crappier designs than he did. At least his fit his model.

Quote

Dexter, also, is really showing himself to be very mean.  His designs don't  do anything for me.  Interesting that he was safe with a sweater knit dress, but yet, the first designer to go home (Linda - ?) was aufed for creating a sweater-knit dress.  How come no criticism for him?  

Linda wasn't axed for making a sweater dress. She was axed for making a bad sweater dress that was droopy, shapeless, and sad. Dexter's sweater dress was none of those things. His was interesting and had some design to it. I didn't care for it, but it was in a whole different universe from Linda's dress.

Quote

I am an AARP member, and I seriously doubt that woman representing AARP is old enough to join.  So much for the fight against age discrimination.

Lots of organizations have people working for them who don't represent their membership. Barbara Shipley is a branding specialist/expert. No reason why she couldn't do that for a nursing organization without being a nurse, for a veterans organization without having served, or for AARP without being 50+. Although, looking at her resume, she has over 25 years of experience at the Account Exec level and up. She could very well be 50+.  

Quote

I used to like Laurance but I'm sick of her same old same old now.

I was disappointed that she dressed her daughter like a mini-Laurence. Like Erin and Jenny, Laurence made something for herself, instead of something for her model.

Quote

Nathalia made one of the worst outfits I've seen on PR in years. It was clownish and sad. And ugly to the max. She was lucky Jenni made the ugliest outfit I've seen in years on PR.

You must have missed Sandhya's season. LOL.

Edited November 12, 2016 by sleepyjean

[micat]

I liked Roberi's the best. He got the proportions exactly right. I do think the top was a bit sporty in cut, but the way the patterns went together was great, IMO.

I am commenting to mention the thing that caught my attention the most about this episode: the fact that, on the runway, Erin seemed to be wearing a lapel pin on her left shoulder that was a banana coming out of a peel, except the banana was actually a penis.

Edited November 12, 2016 by micat

[dleighg]

8 minutes ago, micat said:

Erin seemed to be wearing a lapel pin on her left shoulder that was a banana coming out of a peel, except the banana was actually a penis.

I think you may be correct :)

[ElectricBoogaloo]

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 There was not one redeeming factor in Erin's mess.

Quote

Untrue. There was one. She somehow managed to restrain herself from  tacking on those mustardy yellow flowers she was playing around with.

And nothing on it was bright yellow! I consider that a victory!

[meep.meep]

Why was that one judge wearing a dress covered in daisies?

I love when the judges are all trying to be so bad ass and then burst out in a chorus of "oh so adorable!" like a bunch of grannies.

Where was Michael Korrs to comment that the crotch of Jennie's pants was insane! ?

[Tony]

As soon as I saw Mah-Jing's outfit, I thought he was going home. She looked like she walked out with the hairdresser's smock in the middle of a bleach job. From her distant demeanor, I wouldn't be surprised if she's just trying to hide her hatred of it.

[GreyBunny]

1 hour ago, meep.meep said:

Why was that one judge wearing a dress covered in daisies?

No kidding.  They looked like giant blood clots.

Mah-Jing is like a neglected puppy, he's probably spent his entire life trying desperately to get approval from his mother and he never really gets it.

[Wandering Snark]

On 11/11/2016 at 2:00 PM, sourpickles said:

she lied about leaving the pin in "accidentally". I was glad she got called on that.

Yeah that was bad, it's like they weren't going to notice? They could even see the pins before the closeup look. Why lie about it? "Oh I must have just missed that one pin." Heidi totally nailed her on it too, deservedly.

On 11/11/2016 at 1:57 PM, Calamity Jane said:

Erin and Dexter have flamed out rather spectacularly after such a promising launch, at the same time that they seem to have become good buddies.  They don't seem to be good for each other!

They are totally acting like the cool kids that would sit in the back row of the show and couldn't stop talking and then they'd throw popcorn at the people they didn't think were "cool" like them. Speaking of their 'bonding' on the show that was actually Dexter's DEXTER distressed black shirt that she was wearing. He was wearing it a few episodes ago:

Now I'm not sure which is more not "cool", wearing a shirt with your own name plastered accross the top or wearing the same top as your BFF whose name is on the tee. It was total overloading my brain. Speaking of which:

6 hours ago, PepperMonkey said:

Also, did you ACTUALLY SAY I stayed inside her an extra month and pooped in her so we have a special bond? Was that supposed to be cute? Am I the only one who thought it wasn't??

She really did actually say that. I was appalled beyond belief. You just can't 'unhear' things like that. It was so crude. But it also re-affirms why some people want no part of seeing the birthing process.

To switch gears... why have the not even once commented on her models being 'swallowed up' by her giant jackets yet they called Nathalia out on hers? That thing Erin put on her mom was massive and the giant oven-glove outside pockets are tap dancing on my last nerve! I'd kinda love to see a challenge that her and Dex were talking their usual shit about how amazingly wonderful their outfits look and have them be the bottom two. That would be spectacular.

Edited November 13, 2016 by Wandering Snark

[sleepyjean]

Quote

They are totally acting like the cool kids that would sit in the back row of the show and couldn't stop talking and then they'd throw popcorn at the people they didn't think were "cool" like them.

I'm always startled when I remember these are people in their early 30s. They both seem much younger. Rik is the same age, but he seems like more of an adult.

Quote

Why was that one judge wearing a dress covered in daisies?

Her whole look was very Georgina Chapman.

Edited November 13, 2016 by sleepyjean

[PepperMonkey]

That photo reminds me they needed to drag some innocent bystanders in off the streets and add more chairs.

It's a judging circus.

Oh, and Tim and Zac are very cute.

I know it's not always PC to like Tim right now, so please bear in mind I'm talking about how cute he looks in his little outfit. I'm loving Zac this week JUST for the look on his face when Erin's mom walked out in the coat du jour. It was one of pure disgust and I hearted it.

[Former Nun]

21 hours ago, breezy424 said:

 

Yikes.  To join AARP, you have to be fifty or older.  And women over fifty do enjoy fashion.  They do like to look good.  So what's wrong with them sponsoring a challenge?  Does every challenge have to be about a thin woman in her twenties?  Or even thirties?  I find it rather disturbing.  I think it a very credible challenge to design clothes for the average woman, no matter what her age.  The ability to do that shows the real capability of a fashion designer

 

Iris Apfel (if the photo attached).  She's ninety-five years old and a fashion maven.

[Former Nun]

1 hour ago, PepperMonkey said:

Oh, and Tim and Zac are very cute.

I am always fascinated by Zac's curls.  I often imagine his going home at night, taking off that little cap and placing it on a wig stand.

[Kira53]

On 11/11/2016 at 9:51 AM, Maya said:

They better go back to one-day challenges if this is the fug that gets produced over the course of two days.

They didn't have model's bodies to create for.  In addition they were to create for their loved one's real goals and ambitions and they had to deal with their own emotions regarding their loved one.  Ma Jing's mother was probably off persuing her hip hop career while some else raised him; she behaved as if she didn't know him.  No wonder he is so emotional.  I thought he gave her exactly what she wanted imposing and powerful.  I think the only reason she showed up was in hopes of promoting her career.  Maybe they told her about the money.  It didn't look like she would just show up to see her son.

[breezy424]

Gosh, I don't know what Ma Jing's relationship with his mother is.  The only thing Ma Jing said was that they weren't close IIRC.  Is it because of Ma Jing or his mom?  I don't know.  I didn't care for the outfit at all but the important thing is that his mom seemed to be happy and Ma Jing was happy that his mother liked it. 

I really don't see any stand outs this season but it sure is better than last season - and my opinion on that is not a reflection on the winner.  Too many egos with too little talent.  PR Junior was a refreshing break.  So much talent given their age.

[meep.meep]

I think this group has talent - they are just in the killer fatigue section and can't think.  Rik's garment was well made, creative, and it fit well.  Not bad for a real woman challenge.

Did Mah Jing's mother say anything?  She looked down her nose just like he does.

[ownedbysetters]

Finally got the chance to watch this.

Ric so deserved the win. He made something his mother (client) would like and wear, he made it well, and the heart that personalized the outfit was placed so that it could be concealed beneath the jacket, if it would be otherwise be inappropriate. Bravo to Ric snd brava to mom for working toward her degree.

Jenni betrayed her age with her passive aggressive attitude toward her mom.  While her mom was trying to be open and let Jenni pick whatever type of outfit Jenni thought she could best run with, Jenni could only see her as being unhelpful, indecisive, and the cause of all Jenni's design issues.  I hope when you rewatched this epi on tv, Jenni, that you apologized to your mom who was solidly in your corner to the bitter end.

Erin is awful.  That is all.

I actually liked Dexter's outfit, although it was nothing new, creative, or different.  Safe was the proper category for it.

Roberi is the only designer in this seasin who has a true artist's eye.  He takes risks and while those risks aren't always successful, one has ti give him credit for pushing the envelope and bringing his own vision to these challenges.  He is the one designer this season that I think we may hear from down the road.  I liked his piece this week.  It was quirky and fit his model well, both literally and figuratively.

I think the issue between Mah Jing and his mother has as much to do with how different they are in personality as anything.  He is open, emotional, demonstrative.  She is restrained, driven, and tough (success in a man's world usually elicits those qualities).  I didn't see her as being cold to him.  Her smiles at their planning lunch lookedd genuine to me.  And when she came out on the runway in her outfit, she looked totally in her element.  Can you even begin to imagine what she would have done if given Erin's hot mess to wear?

Mah and Ma should sit down with a counselor who could point out their disparate styles and show Mah how to better read his mother.  As always, just my opinion.  I have no psychology bona fides.

I had to laugh at how much Corney and his mom looked alike.  I think she genuinely liked her outfit, even though it was a bit of a mess.

I agree with everyone who says Nathalia should have been auffed with Jenni.  She had no issues with her mom at all.  There was no reason for such unfortunate craftsmanship.

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There was not one redeeming factor in Erin's mess.

I actually like Erin's voluminous coats.  This one looked unfinished, though.  As for the dress, yikes.  I was fully convinced she would be out because I thought it was the ugliest thing on the runway.  It wasn't flattering at all--it looked like a lace wrap that was too small and couldn't close in the front.  It hung past the coat hem in the back that was not an attractive look.  Yeah, a mess.

[HunterHunted]

So I usually watch the show starting from the runway. When I saw Mah Jing's mom, I thought "why is he making his poor social worker mother wear that?" But as he explained his mom's career as a rapper, her transition to her next journey, her influences, and her natural girl wire earrings (which by the way were fire), I got it. She wanted anime, kung fu, comic book realness. She wanted to look like a warrior, like the princess of Wakanda. She wanted a look that when you remembered it, you inserted a katana strapped to her because that's what the outfit evokes. She wasn't sullenly walking down she runway. She was stompin' it out 'cause the boss bitch has arrived. A woman less certain of her image would have allowed Mah Jing to style her with accessories from the Just Fab wall of mediocrity. She was all "Nah, Imma rock my own shit." And as a creative, a musician, she has the luxury of wearing things that would be inappropriate everywhere else, but work just fine for her industry. Beyonce is clearly a business woman who clearly has business meetings. Has she ever been photographed wearing anything that a normal wage slave would wear (not even a high end version)? 

Additionally, Mah Jing has been designing very boring barely sexy clothes for an UES wife. What he made for his mom was a huge departure from his style and taste. He should be, at least, acknowledged for stretching himself.

[PepperMonkey]

By the way, Bahamadia's earrings were the BEST PART of that outfit.

And I liked the outfit just fine. I thought it fit her personality after she and Mah explained her journey and the next leg of that same journey.

[Jobiska]

My favorite part of the whole episode was Rik's sheepish but delighted grin in a talking head after he said something about his mom (as she started into her new career) being a "bad-ass bitch."  It was like he couldn't believe he'd said it, but then he was proud he said it because he meant it as a supreme complimetn, but he was still a little embarrassed he said it.

I didn't like how the lacy ends of Erin's dress hung down behind the coat.  (Not that I liked any part of it).  But I suppose if none of the dress showed, she'd look like someone who threw on her bathrobe over nothing to run out and get the paper.  Or a flasher.  A Mormon lady flasher?  Anyway.  Bleah all round!

[Lamb18]

Erin's dress was like a bad knock-off of a 70s Gunne Sax design. Or someone being Scarlett O'Hara with a lace tablecloth instead of drapes. Jenni's would have been redeemable if:

• Both tops were longer
• Stuff removed from gray top
• Pants turned into leggings, pattern would have been interesting then. But I don't think the pants fabric was legging fabric.

Nathalia's was just super large and unfinished. Her poor mother was swallowed, like someone wearing their old clothing after losing 100 pounds. Or their too-large pants had the stitching come out of the hems so are dragging on the floor.

[candall]

--In the back, the bottom of the lace dress hung down way below the bottom the huge ugly oatmeal-color horseblanket coat.  WTF?

--Very nice of Rik not to force his mother into stilettos for the runway.  I gave him a little side-eye earlier this season when he said his mother was paying his school loans and other bills, so it made me very happy that he planned to fork his part of the $50k right over to her.  (Then he said they could go on vacation.  NO vacation--unless it's her idea.  Pay your mom back, Junior.)

--I did not understand Jenni's pity party that her mother didn't have any "new chapter" going on for her to design around.  It's your MOTHER--the two of you can't just put your heads together and fabricate a lie?  "Mom's going to learn to ski this winter!"

-- Jenni's was bad, but part of the criticism was based on the context of the destination.  Nathalia's outfit just plain sucked, unconditionally--unattractive, ill-fitting, poorly made.  Nathalia should have gone home.

--Agree with everyone about those wire earrings.  Whimsy, fun.  Were those from "the wall"?

 

--AARP was top drawer with that $50,000 prize (and I liked that half was specifically earmarked for the model moms.)  I snickered a little at the representative's suggestion that AARP likes to promote re-imagining oneself, particularly for the over-50 crowd.  Ha, if it ain't "over 50," it ain't AARP.  But I'm over 50, and I think AARP is a fine little institution.  God knows no one else is writing about technology, investments, vacations, medicine or mental/physical activities with an eye toward my demographic every month.

[Oholibamah]

I'm not saying they didn't deserve harsh critiques, but did anybody find that Tim was a getting pretty personal with Erin and Dexter? He was turning red and practically foaming at the mouth. 

With Erin I understand the frustration, but Dexter wasn't being stubborn or unreasonable enough to deserve the beat down. The critiques themselves made sense, but his disdain for both of them was just written all over his face. There was no warmth or "mentorship" there.

I agree that they're obnoxious and immature, but I just don't get the pearl-clutching over Cornelius. Their workroom behaviour was lazy and shrill, but not "mean girl", and I agreed with them 100% on the runway. They worded it poorly, beat around the bush, and should have just owned it: Cornelius hasn't won a challenge, was only on the top once, and was almost (deservedly) sent home the week before. Tim gushing over him is bizarre, and seems like a purposeful FU to Erin/Dexter.

Despite 4 consecutive weeks in the bottom, I'm personally glad Erin's still here. I thought her feather dress was better than some of the "safe" looks, and her red coat from last week was only on the bottom because of the team. Hopefully she can pull it back together, because besides Cornelius and Mah-Jing, this is a strong group and anybody could go home. 

[Former Nun]

There was probably MUCH MORE mean girl stuff from Erin and Dexter going on--we just didn't see everything. Tim was probably still fuming.  Cornelius did his share of snarking early in the season, but the Gang of Two was a bit too much.  It's also a nice lesson for future designers (and I'm starting to use that term loosely).