S07.E07: Pure Imagination

[mauras]

11 hours ago, wovenloaf said:

Biddell's should have won.  They seem determined to never give him critiques...seems like he is always just safe.  And I'll always root for Dmitry, but I hated his... 

As for the two in the bottom - Django's dramatics in the workroom were getting annoying and there was no real point in him continuing on the show, but I think this week Sean's was much worse.  That thing was a cheap looking wreck.  And the pointless fringe, ugh.  Stop already Sean.  At least last week the fringe actually was the skirt (though I remain confused why that outfit won), this week he just tied on random cords to the bottom of his skirt. 

I loathed Sean on his season, but at least then he made a few interesting and pretty garments. This season he's been just as irritating but far less memorable. I'd have sent Michelle home last night, but Sean would have been my second choice. That dress was the sartorial equivalent of a shrugged shoulder.

[chitowngirl]

11 minutes ago, TexasGal said:

the carpet pad taco

Ha! Perfect description!!

[Token]

Anthony Ryan made a simple raincoat.  In an avant garde challenge.  And won.  This season is totally rigged.

Some of these people don't know what avant garde or functional means.  Not that it seemed to matter to the judges.

[millennium]

5 hours ago, JenLily said:

Michelle's dress was a direct (and completely poor) knockoff of Ken's amazing dress from All Stars season 5. It really irritated me that no one noticed that. Even her concept of a person shielding themselves was ripped from his inspiration.

I didn't like the manner in which both Michelle and Anthonyryan rode the coattails of their friends' handicaps.   "I have a friend who is deaf ..."  "I have a friend whose son is autistic."   I find that kind of ploy cheap and exploitative.

[Lady of nod]

Well apparently I'm fashion challenged because I liked Django's for the first time.

[Wandering Snark]

I don't think ripping off Wile E. Coyote is "inventive" Irina...

Also when leaving Django said "I should have done innovative. Or avante-garde" So he knew he'd not come close to either of the two aspects of the challenge. As Dimitri would say.. "WTF?"

I was glad he went home as he was dragging down an already mediocre and odd-feeling season.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

An avant garde challenge that includes creating some kind of innovation or invention? Okay then. I mean, is that really any weirder than creating a party dress with school colors? The challenges this season have been so weird and stupid that I am not surprised by anything anymore.

But yay for finding a way to include some musical theater stars on the show. I'd rather see Christian Borle, Andrew Rannells, and Anna Camp than some of the other guest judges we've seen on the show.

Irina's dress had drama and movement on the runway, but since the model couldn't actually fly was it really an invention or innovation? You can already buy Isis wings on amazon.

I loved the black outfit with the red cutouts on the back that Cynthia created, but I thought it looked more high fashion than avant garde.

Anthony Ryan's giant plastic coat that you can draw on was ugly. It looked like something you would find at the gift shop of a children's museum.

Anne was right about Evan's anti-surveillance outfit - it looked like a sweatsuit.

Sean Kelly's red dress was an interesting idea, but how were the judges supposed to know that it was interlocking/interchangeable like Legos just by looking at it? I hated the messy looking black cords hanging off the bottom.

Django's mosquito design looked like a Burning Man sunrise wedding outfit.

Christina's black and blue jumpsuit was not very interesting to me, and again why are we making the model's hips look bigger? I didn't understand why the judges thought her boombox idea worked because she didn't actually wire it with speakers.

Dmitry's looked high fashion but not avant garde. I liked it though. I thought it looked chic and sophisticated.

Michelle's carpet padding dress was just a regular dress with a giant circle as a coat. How in the hell did Isaac think that plain dress was the best dress of the season? And why was Michelle's simple dress considered amazing but Irina's was criticized?

I was totally fine with Django being eliminated, especially after his bitchy tour of the workroom this week. If you don't like what other people are designing, there's no need to walk over to their table while they're working to tell them that. Keep it to yourself and focus on your own garment, man.

[TVbitch]

I thought they were gonna make clothes out of candy! 

So tired of the bullshit judging. It's so blatant, absurd really. And I know nothing about fashion, so I'm sure most viewers are like .

What a lousy impression the foreign contests will be left with. I even feel sorry for Django. Ann is like some ridiculous Cruella Deville character. I don't blame him for regretting even signing up for this experience.

[gibasi]

This whole season is tired and dated.  I can re-watch Seasons 1-5 of Project Runway and they don't feel as tired and outdated as this one which is 2 years old.  Nothing wowed me in this challenge.

[janerazor]

I thought Biddell's was really cool, and I liked his idea. Is a dropped crotch passe by now? This season was filmed so long ago, I'm honestly not sure. Anyway, he seems to be putting out great things this season and keeps getting ignored, so...not sure what is up with that. 

Irina's was just a larger version of the dress she made for Marge Simpson minus the belt. It didn't really move well on the runway either.

Mr. Janerazor remarked that Sean's looked like one of those Native American dolls you'd find in gift shops. His look was awfully pedestrian. 

Although I loved Michelle's idea, I thought the execution sucked. It looked like carpet padding because it was carpet padding. Anyone who has ever seen it or had to work with it will not be wowed by how it looks wrapped around a model. As I said, her idea was great. I would love to have a sort of portable shield or tent on my person that I could whip out when the person next to me is droning on about something and I just can't deal. But I've found while traveling that a big, wide-rimmed, floppy hat and enormous dark sunglasses work just as well.

Overall, I was a little disappointed with how the avant-garde challenge went down, but this is a trend I've seen in the last several seasons (PR and PRAS). If you are going to do avant-garde, then do avant-garde. I don't really want to see avant-garde that is wearable. I want to see something closer to an object of art. But it seems that PR and PRAS have been rewarding "avant-garde" that is pretty darned tame. 

[40Love]

On 2/14/2019 at 5:32 AM, millennium said:

Now where did I write down my shopping list?   Oh that's right.   I wrote it on my back.

Can't.  Stand.  Him.

Right?!! How in the hell was that in any way functional? Why were the judges tripping all over themselves to praise a raincoat that I wore in the 2nd grade? Mine just didn't have any markers.  LOL!

I'm not a fan of AR's either... He really lost me in the first episode when he used his poor recently deceased grandmother as an excuse to stay in the competition. He also lost points with me when he tried to instigate a fight between Michelle and Dimitry, all the while claiming his intentions were pure.... when his sole purpose was to stir shit up.

Michelle's design was basically a sheath dress and a big giant circle with a hole for the model to stick her arm through. It was more of a balancing act than an actual design. 

I preferred all the safe designs to the ones they chose. 

[auntlada]

Anthony Ryan's dress/coat/thing looked like the clear plastic art smock with pockets that we got for our niece when she was about 4.

[raeb23]

Delurking to say I don't get how Michelle never gets called out for doing the same silhouette over & over when others like Irina do.

She's basically done shifts for all of the challenges except the corset one and almost all have been sleeveless. Isaac specifically singling out the shift dress aspect of this week's design as being great really annoyed me. 

Even Anya, with her poor construction skills, made an attempt to diversify!

Also, I think the innovation aspect of the challenge suffered due to the short time period given. So many designs seemed like allusions to an invention, like Christina's "boombox" jumpsuit, rather than actual inventions.

[violet and green]

So, Michelle's very boring a-line shift minidress made of carpet underlay was 'one of the best dresses' or did Isaac actually say 'the best dress of the season', so help me god. Anthony Ryan's childish raincoat affair won, sweet lord. And Sean's coppled together 'nice color'/horrid shade of red with pointless fringe-references monstrosity was safe.

They are not the judges' favourites, oh no!

For once, I thought Django did a solid design - maybe not quite for this challenge, but it had a certain elegance - so of course he goes, not Fringe Boy. Imagine if that was Anya's design - they'd have swooned over it. And the three better designs were just safe.

This is the most hateful season of Project Runway I can recall.

[Miss Scarlet]

I think Django has some mental health issues that made him uncomfortable to watch for me. I was pleasantly surprised at how he took his ouster but that could be part of something mood-related.

Also, him saying that someone else's design "lacks joy" was hilarious to me. Like...really Django? You have lacked joy in practically every moment this season!

I think Sean has a crush on Anthony Ryan. Move over Isaac, you're going to have to share and that's probably not going to go well. 

[Token]

Didn't Biddell win a golden ticket?  I totally missed what that got him.  Anything?

[chitowngirl]

4 minutes ago, Token said:

Didn't Biddell win a golden ticket?  I totally missed what that got him.  Anything?

More money at Mood.

[hoodooznoodooz]

I loved the “safe” black one with the red surprise in the back. 

I think Michelle’s appeals to people who are not familiar with carpet padding.

Plus, I love pale grey with pastel pink, turquoise, yellow and white. 

[Love2dance]

Is there anwhere online that we can see photographs of the show’s designs? I just have such a hard time remembering what each designer made, especially the ones who were “safe.” And sometimes I just want to look at the items closer.

[Ellaria]

On 2/14/2019 at 3:17 PM, meep.meep said:

Cynthia and Biddell must know the fix is in.  They have been robbed week after week.  By making them safe, the judges don't even have to engage with them.

Delurking to voice my agreement with the above comment. IMO, Cynthia and Biddell have delivered interesting looks week after week and have received little feedback. (I think that Cynthia was in the bottom once and Biddell in the top once.) And with the scenes in the workroom devoted to drama rather than the creation, I feel as if I know little about these two designers.

23 hours ago, 40Love said:

I preferred all the safe designs to the ones they chose. 

Me, too...again! The judging has been wacky all season but for this challenge...ugh! AR's coat was cute but not avant garde or innovative. And please, carpet padding for the win...I don't get it. Don't do an avant garde challenge if you aren't going to give the designers the time/money to truly execute something visionary.

I find this season to be uninspired.

[Pepper Mostly]

On 2/15/2019 at 1:52 PM, janerazor said:

Although I loved Michelle's idea, I thought the execution sucked. It looked like carpet padding because it was carpet padding. 

Reminds me of Daniel Franco, the first person eliminated from Project Runway. The first challenge was an unconventional materials challenge from a grocery store. He made a dress from butcher paper. The judge said "It looks like butcher paper". Daniel replied "It is butcher paper. That can't be helped". 

[hookedontv]

What the hell was Alyssa wearing on the runway? 

I need Swatch. 

[Stats Queen]

4 hours ago, hookedontv said:

What the hell was Alyssa wearing on the runway? 

I ask myself this every week

[Ashforth]

7 hours ago, Pepper Mostly said:

Reminds me of Daniel Franco, the first person eliminated from Project Runway. The first challenge was an unconventional materials challenge from a grocery store. He made a dress from butcher paper. The judge said "It looks like butcher paper". Daniel replied "It is butcher paper. That can't be helped". 

I thought he used a shower curtain.

[Ilovepie]

Holy hell. What was Alyssa wearing?!?

Add me to the list who thought Biddel should have won. I want that outfit!

Oh, and Michele- people who have sensory issues frequently have issues with uncomfortable clothing which an outfit made of CARPET PADDING would certainly be!

While well made, I didn’t think Cynthia’s was innovative or avant garde. Or Anthony Ryan’s either for that matter. 

The judging this season is bananas.

[meowmommy]

On 2/14/2019 at 4:51 PM, Brookside said:

It's been a long time since anyone (judges or contestants) has understood what avant garde means.

I think the first thing they forgot is that avant garde takes more than a day to create.

On 2/15/2019 at 12:17 PM, 40Love said:

How in the hell was that in any way functional?

IIRC, avant garde is not meant to be functional.  It's go wild with your imagination time.  

On 2/15/2019 at 8:49 PM, Token said:

Didn't Biddell win a golden ticket?  I totally missed what that got him.  Anything?

All I could think of were the golden tickets you "win" on Candy Crush that are really just a chance for King to sell you shit you don't want.

On 2/16/2019 at 12:08 PM, Ellaria Sand said:

The judging has been wacky all season but for this challenge...ugh! AR's coat was cute but not avant garde or innovative.

Didn't Anthony Ryan win All Stars because Isaac basically had a hard-on for him?  Why would it be any different this time?  I agree with other posters that they're slowly knocking off all the non-US winners.  Sean doesn't count since he won in the US.

Sean has been trained, like Pavlov's dog, to believe that adding fringe to anything he makes will get him at least into the top 3.  At least this time, no treats for him.

I wasn't paying attention when they were shopping.  Why would Mood sell Michelle carpet padding?  And how was making a shift dress that we learned in sixth-grade home ec and a giant piece of padding with a hole cut in it the height of fashion?

[auntlada]

She did not get the carpet padding at Mood. They were able to order other stuff from select store's websites. 

[Token]

1 hour ago, meowmommy said:

I think the first thing they forgot is that avant garde takes more than a day to create.

IIRC, avant garde is not meant to be functional.  It's go wild with your imagination time.  

All I could think of were the golden tickets you "win" on Candy Crush that are really just a chance for King to sell you shit you don't want.

Didn't Anthony Ryan win All Stars because Isaac basically had a hard-on for him?  Why would it be any different this time?  I agree with other posters that they're slowly knocking off all the non-US winners.  Sean doesn't count since he won in the US.

Sean has been trained, like Pavlov's dog, to believe that adding fringe to anything he makes will get him at least into the top 3.  At least this time, no treats for him.

I wasn't paying attention when they were shopping.  Why would Mood sell Michelle carpet padding?  And how was making a shift dress that we learned in sixth-grade home ec and a giant piece of padding with a hole cut in it the height of fashion?

But in this challenge, the judges asked for avant garde and for the garment to have some kind of function.

[meowmommy]

8 minutes ago, Token said:

But in this challenge, the judges asked for avant garde and for the garment to have some kind of function.

I guess I was really thinking wearable.  If you put a pocket in a garment, it's by definition functional, but if you're wrapped up like a mummy, it's not wearable.

[Audpaud]

1 day for this convoluted (avante-garde-invention) challenge? I don't know why I can't quit watching this mess.

Carpet and Dry Erase? GTFOH

[Lamb18]

I think the most recent avant-garde design with function I've seen was Under the Gunn. It was the one girl on Nick's team who made the Victorian-style gown with little cranks that the model could use to pull up the skirt.

[Diane Mars]

Yes ! Natalia Fedner ! http://nickverrreos.blogspot.com/2014/02/under-gunnnicks-take-episode-7.html 🤩

Edited February 19, 2019 by Diane Mars

[dleighg]

4 hours ago, Lamb18 said:

It was the one girl on Nick's team who made the Victorian-style gown with little cranks that the model could use to pull up the skirt.

that's one of the very very few designs I can remember from the past (the rain dress that leaked dye in the seams was another one).

[Brookside]

8 hours ago, Lamb18 said:

I think the most recent avant-garde design with function I've seen was Under the Gunn. It was the one girl on Nick's team who made the Victorian-style gown with little cranks that the model could use to pull up the skirt.

Thank you.  If I recall correctly she lost, for the only actual avant garde design.  That show was a travesty.

[Pepper Mostly]

@Ashforth, don't take my word for it, here's an article from the Washington Post on the first episode: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2004/12/03/project-runway-from-produce-aisle-to-banana-republic/a070f315-30e0-4d82-ba86-d5466c023c9a/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.0b3d1d7423fa

including:

"Another designer, Daniel Franco of Los Angeles, painstakingly tailored a jacket out of butcher paper and even trimmed it with aluminum foil piping. He layered it over a black garbage bag dress. The judges -- designer Michael Kors, Elle fashion director Nina Garcia and stylist Patricia Field -- called it unimaginative and cliched. Exactly how many butcher paper blazers have they seen in their lifetime?"

[Ashforth]

12 hours ago, Pepper Mostly said:

@Ashforth, don't take my word for it, here's an article from the Washington Post on the first episode: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2004/12/03/project-runway-from-produce-aisle-to-banana-republic/a070f315-30e0-4d82-ba86-d5466c023c9a/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.0b3d1d7423fa

including:

"Another designer, Daniel Franco of Los Angeles, painstakingly tailored a jacket out of butcher paper and even trimmed it with aluminum foil piping. He layered it over a black garbage bag dress. The judges -- designer Michael Kors, Elle fashion director Nina Garcia and stylist Patricia Field -- called it unimaginative and cliched. Exactly how many butcher paper blazers have they seen in their lifetime?"

Oh, that makes me want to re-watch Season One, the best season of Project Runway ever, bar none, with all of its rough edges and TIM GUNN! Austin Scarlett, Kara Saun, Jay, Morganza, Wendy Pepper, the mystery of who drew the mustache on the photo of Wendy's little daughter... for me it's the best season of reality tv ever (barely edging out the first season of Survivor).

But who am I thinking of who made the shower curtain dress? It must have been a different season. He basically draped it over the mannequin in about ten minutes. 

[Pepper Mostly]

There was the cheater, what was his name? Who had the reference books stashed away then ran off set to use the internet? The challenge was to use stuff from their hotel rooms to make an outfit. He made a dress out of a sheet--and WON the challenge. I'm still mad about that!

[Aulty]

20 minutes ago, Pepper Mostly said:

There was the cheater, what was his name? Who had the reference books stashed away then ran off set to use the internet? The challenge was to use stuff from their hotel rooms to make an outfit. He made a dress out of a sheet--and WON the challenge. I'm still mad about that!

Uh that was Keith, but iirc he was in season 2 or 3.

[Pepper Mostly]

Yes, I know he wasn't in the first season. Thanks for supplying his name.

[Lamb18]

Keith was in season 3.

[meep.meep]

On 2/16/2019 at 7:02 PM, Ashforth said:

I thought he used a shower curtain.

The shower curtain guy was on a different design show.  He was Chinese, from San Francisco (I see ads for him up in SF all the time).  He made a raincoat out of the shower curtain, and they cut him for being unimaginative.

[millennium]

That shimmery white dress put Alyssa's back fat in high relief.  

[raeb23]

19 hours ago, Ashforth said:

But who am I thinking of who made the shower curtain dress?

Was it Jerry Tam? He was auf'd for this shower curtain dress in season 5. 

Iirc, one of the judges compared it to something a serial killer might wear!

[leocadia]

2 hours ago, raeb23 said:

Iirc, one of the judges compared it to something a serial killer might wear!

Lol, it does look like the female version of a Dexter Halloween costume.

[Aulty]

Christina will be chuffed that Gaga wore her audio hips to the Oscars 😉

[auntlada]

13 hours ago, Aulty said:

Christina will be chuffed that Gaga wore her audio hips to the Oscars 😉

I saw that and thought, "I guess we know who does want her hips to look bigger."