S17.E13: One Elle of a Day

[Ilovepie]

2 hours ago, mightysparrow said:

And Christian was selective with who he helped.  He basically told Bishme 'sucks to be you' and moved on.

I didn’t see it that way at all. He was trying to give suggestions to Bishme, but Bishme just stood there shaking his head non responsively. I think he’s shown that he will give more support to the people who will work with him, but if they resist he just shakes his head and walks away. He doesn’t radiate warmth like Tim, but I don’t think that’s necessary in this environment. 

[mightysparrow]

1 hour ago, Tabbygirl521 said:

i read Bishme’s latest Instagram and was very moved by his openness. He received hundreds of positive comments and I replied to him, too. I think he will regain his momentum. He really was dealing with a LOT, all while participating in a national competition and probably running on sheer adrenaline and not enough sleep for months. He will recover and then I think he will do some amazing things. 

I'm happy to hear that.

[mightysparrow]

5 minutes ago, Ilovepie said:

I didn’t see it that way at all. He was trying to give suggestions to Bishme, but Bishme just stood there shaking his head non responsively. I think he’s shown that he will give more support to the people who will work with him, but if they resist he just shakes his head and walks away. He doesn’t radiate warmth like Tim, but I don’t think that’s necessary in this environment. 

'Suggestions' are different than designing a whole new dress which is what Christian did for Hester.  If he had let Hester sink, with that dreadful white dress, the way he let Bishme sink, the top 3 would probably look a lot different.  And they didn't want THAT.

[sasha206]

17 minutes ago, Merriwind said:

How did that look not get skewered on the runway? The model hid behind Hester and not one judge mentioned the ill-fitting white sheer blouse as a dress with knee socks. I was screaming at the TV!

I know most of these designs aren't practical for normal people, but that was particularly bad.  Were there any short shorts under that?

[Never Again]

2 hours ago, mightysparrow said:

He did that on several occasions.  Tim let a designer sink or swim on their own merit.  He'd make a suggestion or two but he NEVER reworked a piece for the designer.  And Christian was selective with who he helped.  He basically told Bishme 'sucks to be you' and moved on.

Wait what?  Christian went to Bishme’s studio.  There were only two pieces for him to critique,  so he couldn’t help him on looks that weren’t even started yet.  Then he went to Bishme’s design board, forced him to choose one, then choose a fabric, and told him he needed to start tomorrow. He tried to refocus him, tried to guide him... 

Then back in NY Christian tried to help Bishme with the Nina look, (do you really want that black trim) etc, but unfortunately Bishme was zoned out and was on a treadmill of getting worse and worse emotionally and in his work.  And he had only brought 8 outfits so he was going to get in trouble regardless 

It’s sad as can be and my heart broke for him, but the timing was wrong for Bishme, there were too many outside forces upsetting and distracting him, he was out of steam and out of ideas, and his Nina look got worse every time he touched it.  And he knew that.  He kept saying that.  It was beyond anything Christian could help him with, because Bishme couldn’t even hear it at that point.  Not for one instant did I feel that Christian somehow gave him less advice than he gave the others. 

Edited June 8, 2019 by Rbonnie

[Beaner]

21 minutes ago, mightysparrow said:

'Suggestions' are different than designing a whole new dress which is what Christian did for Hester.  If he had let Hester sink, with that dreadful white dress, the way he let Bishme sink, the top 3 would probably look a lot different.  And they didn't want THAT.

I have no doubt that Nina was trying to get Garo eliminated and would have succeeded had Bishme not fallen apart. She really seems to have it in for him. I don't know, I personally find him likable and talented.  Hester could have sent the white outfit down the runway and the judges would have loved that one too. I just don't get it. #teamSebastian

[Token]

3 hours ago, sasha206 said:

From your comments, I am led to believe you've never experienced what it is like to be a family member and have a relative with colon cancer.  Or you are just getting anecdotal information.

As someone whose husband had a 4 year battle with colon cancer when he was 48 and died at 52, I can tell you that in the early stages of diagnosis, you are in a real weird place emotionally as a family member.  The possibility of losing a younger person, sibling or husband, to a terrible, devastating disease is much different than losing an 84 year-old, like JLD did, that lived a long life.  Not to mention, an incredibly wealthy life.  I'm assuming Bishme's sister is not that old and in addition to the great toll a cancer battle takes on her and her loved ones, she may not  have the resources that a JLD family does so cancer could bankrupt them.   Good luck working through the pain, Bishme's sister!  He is likely facing a very real possibility of taking on a lot of her responsibilities in addition to trying to make money in a difficult industry. 

Also I quibble with your "won't have any effects for a week or two..."  When my husband was first diagnosed, he was already suffering pain from the cancer itself -- forget about the actual treatments.  And when he was diagnosed, he started radiation therapy shortly after and it has its own really unpleasant side effects.  In fact, after his first week of radiation treatments and other tests, he looked so awful, I broke down in tears in the bathroom.

I'm not exactly sure where Bishme's sister is in the treatment stage.  Maybe I missed that discussion.  But having lived through it, I would never downplay anyone's depression, fear over a loved one's cancer battle and how that impacted their work.   I can't even imagine being under the timeclock, competition pressure and being in grief over your sister battling the second highest cause of death.   His situation is far different from losing your elderly parent and accepting accolades.

Your other comment about Bishme being "pampered all of his life" is really galling esp. when you are comparing what you think is JLD's amazing perseverance.  JLD was born extremely wealthy.  She never had to be homeless to pursue her dream. I love JLD and she's very talented, but talk about someone who benefited from white privilege all her life! 

I'm sorry for your loss and what you and your husband had to go through.  The ignorance of some people is just mind blowing to me.

[WigglyJKitten]

Unpopular opinion here, but I liked the Nina challenge.

Far too many times during finale judging we hear them criticize the designers for not having this or that piece as part of their collection, as if including it would have pushed them over the top. Maybe it would have in some cases and winners might have changed. I don't know about going that far, but this way no designer is left with the "missing element" critique.

Also no one was asked to make anything they hadn't done before, so it really should not have been that hard to do. Hester's only criteria was single color; she could have made any crazy-ass thing she wanted aside from that fact. Sure Garo's tailoring was harder, but he had previously pulled it off during the regular challenges so there was no reason to expect he couldn't do it again. By the nature of what everyone presented to Nina there was going to be disparity in what she said to include, but it was something they as designers should have already thought to add to the collections on their own to make them complete.

I was rooting for Bishme, I'm sorry he got eliminated like that. He had some truly great stuff this season and should manage to overcome this setback. Dealing with family health issues is no joke but it sounds like he has a strong support system.

[RealityCreator]

On 6/6/2019 at 7:46 PM, terrymct said:

Bisme, poor soul, fell apart and for understandable reasons.  He didn’t even arrive with a complete collection.  He deserved to go home because of that if nothing else. Sending him home is also a mercy to him so he can be with his sister.

Yes.  His heart and head weren't in it for totally understandable reasons, but not even arriving with the requisite 10 outfits for the runway show put him in the bottom regardless of what the extra look was like.  I felt badly for him, but not because he was sent home.  

Edited June 8, 2019 by RealityCreator

[RealityCreator]

On 6/6/2019 at 8:05 PM, mightysparrow said:

I agree completely.  I've seen plus-size models who are fiercer than fierce.  But it looks like they picked the big girls on this show off the street.  It's so unfair to the designers. 

It's especially unfair when they're deciding who goes to the finale and one designer gets a very big girl with no waist, and another designer gets a super tall skinny model built like a traditional runway model. Big women deserve beautiful fashion, but in my experience (sewing costumes for a semi-professional dance company) tall skinny non-curvy women are much easier to fit than large very curvy women. 

[RealityCreator]

On 6/6/2019 at 8:13 PM, Archery said:

It’s official: I like Christian as a mentor more than Tim Gunn. Who’d have thought? 

Me too.

[tinderbox]

2 hours ago, Beaner said:

I have no doubt that Nina was trying to get Garo eliminated and would have succeeded had Bishme not fallen apart. She really seems to have it in for him. I don't know, I personally find him likable and talented.  Hester could have sent the white outfit down the runway and the judges would have loved that one too. I just don't get it. #teamSebastian

I agree.  My first thought when she told Garo to make a suit in 48 hours was that she wanted him eliminated.  So damn obvious!  

[RealityCreator]

On 6/7/2019 at 8:00 AM, jackjill89 said:

No, I don't believe she said she was outright doing Clueless. What I heard is that she was doing things that no one had ever seen before, which is why I am being so hard on the obvious derivative nature of what we've seen before. There is nothing original there. 

She definitely referenced Clueless, but said "It's Clueless meets something meets something" (I can't remember, and I don't want to rewatch the episode).

[carrps]

2 hours ago, mightysparrow said:

'Suggestions' are different than designing a whole new dress which is what Christian did for Hester.  If he had let Hester sink, with that dreadful white dress, the way he let Bishme sink, the top 3 would probably look a lot different.  And they didn't want THAT.

2 hours ago, Beaner said:

I have no doubt that Nina was trying to get Garo eliminated and would have succeeded had Bishme not fallen apart. She really seems to have it in for him. I don't know, I personally find him likable and talented.  Hester could have sent the white outfit down the runway and the judges would have loved that one too. I just don't get it. #teamSebastian

Thanks, Beaner, I was going to say the same thing. Even that horrible blood-bespattered (heh) white dress would have been praised to the skies. Nina is entering her second childhood.

[meep.meep]

44 minutes ago, RealityCreator said:

It's especially unfair when they're deciding who goes to the finale and one designer gets a very big girl with no waist, and another designer gets a super tall skinny model built like a traditional runway model. Big women deserve beautiful fashion, but in my experience (sewing costumes for a semi-professional dance company) tall skinny non-curvy women are much easier to fit than large very curvy women. 

If you watch again, each designer got one plus size model for the 3 looks.  The playing field was pretty level on that front.

Where it wasn't level was on the level of difficulty.  Garo and Bishme's challenges from Nina were much harder than Sebastian and Hester's.  

[RealityCreator]

8 minutes ago, meep.meep said:

If you watch again, each designer got one plus size model for the 3 looks.  The playing field was pretty level on that front.

Where it wasn't level was on the level of difficulty.  Garo and Bishme's challenges from Nina were much harder than Sebastian and Hester's.  

Thanks for setting me straight!  I hadn't noticed that.

[Ubiquitous]

14 hours ago, Ilovepie said:

 I am shocked, but I didn’t hate Hester’s stuff. Weirdly, her new outfit was my favorite that she showed. That model sold it, and the styling was perfect. I give her that - she is good at styling. I also think some editing would help make the other pieces look not so “Clueless”, like maybe eliminating the knee socks and using different shoes. I laughed when she said she was ready to “clothe the world” or some such.

I interpreted what she said as "Muhahaha! Now that I'm  a finalist, I can show all my ridiculous stuff! Muhahahaha!".

3 hours ago, Merriwind said:

How did that look not get skewered on the runway? The model hid behind Hester and not one judge mentioned the ill-fitting white sheer blouse as a dress with knee socks. I was screaming at the TV!

I didn't recognize that first outfit of Hesters' as being from "Clueless", but I thought it looked ridiculous.

[AuntieDiane6]

Quote

Thank you for your eloquent and moving comment.  I was so shocked by the callousness of the comment you quoted that I prayed it was sarcasm or a joke. 

I find it hard to believe that anyone who has ever lost a loved one or has lived with a loved one fighting cancer could be so casual.

I have had multiple history with cancer, including a sister who died at 46.

I appreciate your points about colon cancer specifically and THANK YOU for pointing out the differences with pain etc. with colon cancer vs. other cancers.  BUT IF I WERE BISHME, I would try EVEN HARDER to WIN THAT MONEY to support my sister.  For someone who went through so much, he really couldn't cope. When you are faced with cancer in your family, you either PUT ON YOUR BIG BOY PANTS AND DO EVERYTHING YOU CAN TO HELP THE SITUATION or you sit around feeling sorry for yourself.  I felt Bishme COULD have won it all but he fell apart.  He should have withdrawn.  

Edited June 8, 2019 by AuntieDiane6
To stay on topic.

[jackjill89]

6 hours ago, sasha206 said:

From your comments, I am led to believe you've never experienced what it is like to be a family member and have a relative with colon cancer.  Or you are just getting anecdotal information.

As someone whose husband had a 4 year battle with colon cancer when he was 48 and died at 52, I can tell you that in the early stages of diagnosis, you are in a real weird place emotionally as a family member.  The possibility of losing a younger person, sibling or husband, to a terrible, devastating disease is much different than losing an 84 year-old, like JLD did, that lived a long life.  Not to mention, an incredibly wealthy life.  I'm assuming Bishme's sister is not that old and in addition to the great toll a cancer battle takes on her and her loved ones, she may not  have the resources that a JLD family does so cancer could bankrupt them.   Good luck working through the pain, Bishme's sister!  He is likely facing a very real possibility of taking on a lot of her responsibilities in addition to trying to make money in a difficult industry. 

Also I quibble with your "won't have any effects for a week or two..."  When my husband was first diagnosed, he was already suffering pain from the cancer itself -- forget about the actual treatments.  And when he was diagnosed, he started radiation therapy shortly after and it has its own really unpleasant side effects.  In fact, after his first week of radiation treatments and other tests, he looked so awful, I broke down in tears in the bathroom.

I'm not exactly sure where Bishme's sister is in the treatment stage.  Maybe I missed that discussion.  But having lived through it, I would never downplay anyone's depression, fear over a loved one's cancer battle and how that impacted their work.   I can't even imagine being under the timeclock, competition pressure and being in grief over your sister battling the second highest cause of death.   His situation is far different from losing your elderly parent and accepting accolades.

Your other comment about Bishme being "pampered all of his life" is really galling esp. when you are comparing what you think is JLD's amazing perseverance.  JLD was born extremely wealthy.  She never had to be homeless to pursue her dream. I love JLD and she's very talented, but talk about someone who benefited from white privilege all her life! 

Thank you for sharing your story. I'm very sorry about your husband. 

I totally agree with you. You can't compare grief. It is deeply personal. You just don't know how you are going to feel regarding the death of a relative or the news that someone you are close to has been diagnosed with a devastating disease until you are put in that position. Bishme is handling his grief his way, it doesn't mean is has been pampered his whole life. I can only imagine how these life changes would impact his creative process. I know that for me personally, Brandon's "power through" advice wouldn't have worked. 

Edited June 8, 2019 by jackjill89

[chitowngirl]

There is no way that DVF will take Hester seriously, is there???

[mightysparrow]

2 hours ago, AuntieDiane6 said:

I have had multiple history with cancer, including a sister who died at 46.

I appreciate your points about colon cancer specifically and THANK YOU for pointing out the differences with pain etc. with colon cancer vs. other cancers.  BUT IF I WERE BISHME, I would try EVEN HARDER to WIN THAT MONEY to support my sister.  For someone who went through so much, he really couldn't cope. When you are faced with cancer in your family, you either PUT ON YOUR BIG BOY PANTS AND DO EVERYTHING YOU CAN TO HELP THE SITUATION or you sit around feeling sorry for yourself.  I felt Bishme COULD have won it all but he fell apart.  He should have withdrawn.  

I'm not sure why you feel the need to double down on this.  I tried to give you the benefit of the doubt by thinking you were joking but since you're serious, I have nothing more to say to you.

[dleighg]

4 hours ago, RealityCreator said:

She definitely referenced Clueless, but said "It's Clueless meets something meets something" (I can't remember, and I don't want to rewatch the episode).

she said "clueless meets 70s"

[AuntieDiane6]

Quote

My first thought when she told Garo to make a suit in 48 hours was that she wanted him eliminated.  So damn obvious!  

He could have made a corseted jacket and a pencil skirt... He did a lot of elaborate outfits for the other challenges.

[Token]

1 hour ago, chitowngirl said:

There is no way that DVF will take Hester seriously, is there???

I really hope not.  But the fact that Nina Garcia takes her seriously makes me have my doubts.  The world has gone crazy.

[sasha206]

3 hours ago, AuntieDiane6 said:

I have had multiple history with cancer, including a sister who died at 46.

I appreciate your points about colon cancer specifically and THANK YOU for pointing out the differences with pain etc. with colon cancer vs. other cancers.  BUT IF I WERE BISHME, I would try EVEN HARDER to WIN THAT MONEY to support my sister.  For someone who went through so much, he really couldn't cope. When you are faced with cancer in your family, you either PUT ON YOUR BIG BOY PANTS AND DO EVERYTHING YOU CAN TO HELP THE SITUATION or you sit around feeling sorry for yourself.  I felt Bishme COULD have won it all but he fell apart.  He should have withdrawn.  

If you've gone through it, I'm surprised how much empathy you lack and that you would chalk up someone's pain at a loved one's in a battle for their lives as "PUT ON YOUR BIG BOY PANTS."  

[Tabbygirl521]

6 hours ago, WigglyJKitten said:

Unpopular opinion here, but I liked the Nina challenge.

Far too many times during finale judging we hear them criticize the designers for not having this or that piece as part of their collection, as if including it would have pushed them over the top. Maybe it would have in some cases and winners might have changed. I don't know about going that far, but this way no designer is left with the "missing element" critique.

Also no one was asked to make anything they hadn't done before, so it really should not have been that hard to do. Hester's only criteria was single color; she could have made any crazy-ass thing she wanted aside from that fact. Sure Garo's tailoring was harder, but he had previously pulled it off during the regular challenges so there was no reason to expect he couldn't do it again. By the nature of what everyone presented to Nina there was going to be disparity in what she said to include, but it was something they as designers should have already thought to add to the collections on their own to make them complete.

I was rooting for Bishme, I'm sorry he got eliminated like that. He had some truly great stuff this season and should manage to overcome this setback. Dealing with family health issues is no joke but it sounds like he has a strong support system.

I liked the Nina challenge, too. It was thought-provoking to consider what each collection lacked, and I liked seeing how each designer rose (or not) to Nina’s directive. 

And she acknowledged that it was kind of unfair that Garo was asked to make a tailored suit, and her critique focused on his “taste level” even though his construction was not great. 

[Ashforth]

On 6/7/2019 at 8:16 PM, AuntieDiane6 said:

I agree.  I just think he just has been pampered his whole life... heck, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss ACCEPTED AN EMMY ON THE DAY HER FATHER DIED.  And he never said WHEN the "relative" died ... it could have been 4 months earlier as far as we know.  

I understand the concern about his sister ... but colon cancer treatments take MONTHS.  And she wouldn't have felt any effects for a week or two if she was going into her first treatment.  Hopefully, the oncologist or social worker would have explained how the treatments would go.  And I guarantee that she would feel AWFUL if she felt she was the reason he lost PR.

Edited June 9, 2019 by Ashforth

[Ladyrain]

On 6/6/2019 at 11:05 PM, mightysparrow said:

I agree completely.  I've seen plus-size models who are fiercer than fierce.  But it looks like they picked the big girls on this show off the street.  It's so unfair to the designers. 

I concur.  Some of them didn't know how to walk a runway, which I'm thinking has little to do with what size garment you're wearing.  

I'm certainly no skinny-minny, but it's just a fact that the clothes look better on the thinner models.  So, it's kind of unfair to the designers with the bigger women, just because of that fact.   I hate even saying that, because that's sort of derogatory to the plus-sized, of which I'm most likely one.  

Why don't they give all the designers models of more or less equal size for each challenge?   All skinnies, or all plus, or all in-between.  

[Jsage]

On 6/7/2019 at 7:06 AM, plurie said:

I think Nina really hates Garo and was trying to give Bishme something she knew he could do well (his previous jacket was good). She gave Garo an impossible task, hoping he'd fail and could be eliminated.

I am going to throw out another possibility. I'm sure the producers were aware that poor Bishme only arrived with 8 looks, now had an 11th to make, and was not in the head space to go to the end. They may have had Nina give the difficult suit challenge to Garo so they could show him struggling throughout the episode and be the obvious other bottom choice. This would allow Bishme to save face a little that some else's 11th look was so bad. (Of course, I hated Hester's look too but I knew the judges would love it no matter what.)

I read Bishme's instagram as someone suggested and it made me cry as well. I think he knew both when this filmed and now that it's aired that it just wasn't the right time for him. Garo isn't my favorite but I do believe he deserved to show his collection at fashion week.

On another note, all this talk about Clueless has now put "Rollin' with my homies" on repeat in my head. Thanks a lot guys😉

[millennium]

On 6/8/2019 at 1:32 AM, QuantumMechanic said:

It's not the judges being fooled, it's the "judges" doing what production tells them to do.

Also, there was no way the show, especially after just having moved to a new network was going to have no women in the final three.  Hester would have been a finalist no matter what she sent down.  They would have found some BS reason to advance her.

That said, thanks to poor Bishme's collapse, Hester turned out to deserve to advance on her own merit.

Finally, from what we've seen of the collections, if Sebastian doesn't win it's total producer shenanigans.

Hester for the win!  Because if it's gonna be a shitshow, I want it to be a total shitshow.   I give her an 80% chance of winning, solely on the basis of she dresses funny.

[QuantumMechanic]

1 hour ago, millennium said:

Hester for the win!  Because if it's gonna be a shitshow, I want it to be a total shitshow.   I give her an 80% chance of winning, solely on the basis of she dresses funny.

Unfortunately, you're probably right.

[millennium]

I wish there were some way to know what real designers and industry professionals think of the Project Runway farce.  

[carrps]

8 hours ago, millennium said:

I wish there were some way to know what real designers and industry professionals think of the Project Runway farce.  

Well, TLo aren't real designers and are only industry-professional-adjacent, but they are much more impressed with Hester than most of us here.

[Special K]

How do none of these people know that hydrogen peroxide gets out blood stains?  Doesn't every menstruating woman at the least know that?

I think they did Bishme a mercy in letting him go.  There was no way he would have been able to make two whole new looks in the time allotted.  He was so checked out, I'm sure it was a relief on some level.

I liked the concept of the Nina challenge, the idea of a balancing piece was interesting to me.  But she definitely was trying to throw Garo under the bus.

[mightysparrow]

12 hours ago, millennium said:

Hester for the win!  Because if it's gonna be a shitshow, I want it to be a total shitshow.   I give her an 80% chance of winning, solely on the basis of she dresses funny.

I agree with you.  This version of PR is NOT about fashion or design.  That's why Sebastian was basically ignored for so long.  The producers don't think he has enough of a STORY. 

I laughed my ass off when he threw out that he used to be a ballet dancer.  Even Nina was surprised that it hadn't come up before.  They're trying to make Sebastian 'colourful' which is pretty sad because the man's clothes should speak for themselves.

[SunnyBeBe]

Man, that was an unfortunate situation, but, here is my issue.  WHY couldn't they just have FOUR in the finale?  Isn't that a rule the show makes and so it could be modified. The producers are in charge.  It's not like there is some fashion police who would give them a citation.   What's the problem with letting all four show their collection?  What's the big deal?  Granted, Bishme would have been embarrassed to send that last piece down, but, he would have still be in it.  (I wonder if Bishme really didn't want to be in the final, though.  That's my take on it.)

[DaphneCat]

1 hour ago, SunnyBeBe said:

(I wonder if Bishme really didn't want to be in the final, though.  That's my take on it.)

I really believe he just didn't have it in him to do the last 2 looks.  While not all of his looks have been great, he has NEVER done a look as bad as the one for the Nina challenge.  He knew that at this point he is just not capable of continuing and think he really was looking for a way out.

[SunnyBeBe]

11 minutes ago, DaphneCat said:

I really believe he just didn't have it in him to do the last 2 looks.  While not all of his looks have been great, he has NEVER done a look as bad as the one for the Nina challenge.  He knew that at this point he is just not capable of continuing and think he really was looking for a way out.

Yeah.  He was capable of better, so, it was something inside of him that caused that.  I have compassion for him. That's a tough thing. I wish him well. 

[Jobiska]

Sure, people who are battling illness can do with money.  But they also need their loved ones around them.  Bishme knows better than anyone what his sister needs and what he wants and is best able to give her.  Stay around for a slim chance at winning (I'm sure he knew in the state he was in he was unlikely to beat either of the front-runners) and then having to go on the press cycle, etc., if he does, or be with his sister?  I respect him for making that choice.

It's over 30 years now, but I remember vividly sitting by my fiance's mother's side as she faded away while on hospice care with colon cancer.  Nothing else I would rather have done in my limited spare time from grad school.  She never knew my son, and he would have been the light of her life.  Darn, I was already teary from reading Bishme's Instagram and now this.

Early on, when they first started to flesh out Sebastian's story, I got a vibe that he would win.  I hope I'm right.  I wouldn't feel it was a "fix" if Hester won though.  She'd be better than, say, Ashley or Anya (and I actually really liked Anya in her season).  

I had no idea Garo and Sebastian were married.  Loved Garo's little hideaway in the woods.  

I really like how supportive all the designers were of each other.

Yes, we've definitely seen Swatch a few times--I specifically remember Kavanagh giving him scritchies when she came back to help.  Made me like her better!

[SunnyBeBe]

Yes, people handle grief differently.  I won't judge anyone for how they deal with theirs.  Life is so unpredictable.  

[carrps]

4 hours ago, Special K said:

How do none of these people know that hydrogen peroxide gets out blood stains?  Doesn't every menstruating woman at the least know that?

Especially on white where you don't have to worry about damaging the fabric.

[LeoLady]

As to the Tim Gunn vs Christian on mentoring debate, I do remember Tim giving more detailed advice on occasion. But in the last few seasons, as the judging got crazier than a sh*thouse rat (apologies to rodents and outhouses everywhere) Tim's advice would get them dinged by the judges and totally backfire. I think Tim started pulling back since his practical advice conflicted with the producer/judges impractical opinions. 

[mightysparrow]

7 hours ago, Jobiska said:

Sure, people who are battling illness can do with money.  But they also need their loved ones around them.  Bishme knows better than anyone what his sister needs and what he wants and is best able to give her.  Stay around for a slim chance at winning (I'm sure he knew in the state he was in he was unlikely to beat either of the front-runners) and then having to go on the press cycle, etc., if he does, or be with his sister?  I respect him for making that choice.

It's over 30 years now, but I remember vividly sitting by my fiance's mother's side as she faded away while on hospice care with colon cancer.  Nothing else I would rather have done in my limited spare time from grad school.  She never knew my son, and he would have been the light of her life.  Darn, I was already teary from reading Bishme's Instagram and now this.

Early on, when they first started to flesh out Sebastian's story, I got a vibe that he would win.  I hope I'm right.  I wouldn't feel it was a "fix" if Hester won though.  She'd be better than, say, Ashley or Anya (and I actually really liked Anya in her season).  

I had no idea Garo and Sebastian were married.  Loved Garo's little hideaway in the woods.  

I really like how supportive all the designers were of each other.

Yes, we've definitely seen Swatch a few times--I specifically remember Kavanagh giving him scritchies when she came back to help.  Made me like her better!

Bishme put his beloved sister's needs ahead of his own wants.  He didn't just focus with 'tunnel vision' on what he wanted.  I have no doubt that Bishme wanted to win this competition very badly and probably could have, based on his earlier pieces.  But his sister needed him and that, combined with the loss of a family member was too much for him to handle.  Some people might think that's 'weak', but luckily for Bishme (and the rest of us) what those people think doesn't matter much.  The people he loves matter to Bishme.  In my opinion, this makes him a better person than those that think that money or winning a reality tv show is more important than being there for someone you love.

I have a feeling that Bishme might be more successful, in the long run, than whoever wins this sad little show.

[violet and green]

On 6/8/2019 at 3:23 AM, dleighg said:

In the makeup studio Hester said "It's kind of like Clueless meets 70s glam"

Yes, she was describing the hair and makeup look she wanted, not her collection - which I (alone, apparently!) adore.

J'adore!

It is very tiring reading these threads without other Hester fans to balance things out.

I  hope she bloody well wins!

It was odd so much of the color palettes of the other designers was ochre, and orange, and reminiscent of Tessa's potter's studio look. Blech. I enjoyed the very brief visits by Christian, as opposed to awkward extended scenes with family and Tim. I thought his advice was good. And I also like the challenges Meana set, and seeing her so happy and in her element at work.

It was sad Bishme fizzled out like that, arriving with only 8 looks still, after so many months, and then that monstrous sequinned sack thing... but I would have been sadder if Garo left, he's worked like a demon and is so keen for the opportunity to show his million looks and have a chance at the main prize.

I think Sebastian will win, but I would be really genuinely more thrilled now with a Hester win.( It will be like the scene in the Exorcist where Linda Blair spews green stuff and her head spins around 180 degrees etc in here, though!)

On 6/8/2019 at 10:09 AM, Corgi-ears said:

I wish we had seen this Bishme outfit, even though -- or perhaps because -- it reminds me that I need a new shower pouf.

How is that not a Hester look, anyway?! The tulle, the frou-frou poufiness of it... He really ran out of ideas as well as steam, poor guy.

[HunterHunted]

On 6/10/2019 at 12:15 AM, millennium said:

I wish there were some way to know what real designers and industry professionals think of the Project Runway farce.  

It used to be really well respected during the first 7 or 8 seasons. One of the clearest signs on how far the show had fallen was the mistimed finales. Bravo was always really careful to limit the number of decoy collections. They'd often have only one or two. They would time the airing of the show with fashion week so that they'd only have five or six contestant make collections. Lifetime mostly cared about the tv show, which meant that they sometimes had most of the contestants showing at Fashion Week. I think they had 10 one year. Once that started happening, you got cynical contestants like Ven and Swapnil who tanked challenges towards the end of the competition because they knew were guaranteed $10K and a free fashion show at Bryant Park. Contestants had figured out how to game the show and the producers couldn't assed to fix the problem.

In contrast, Top Chef is still well regarded. It's had gimmicks, but they have largely stayed away from things that tarnish the brand and industry too much. Last Chance Kitchen came about because really good chefs were falling on their swords because they didn't lead their team well. They dropped the contestants having to shop for decor during Restaurant Wars because it took too much time away from the important aspects of the challenges.

[Tikichick]

My heart sunk when I heard the announcement that a capsule collection from the winner will be manufactured and sold.  It really worries me that constraint will work against Sebastian's very deserved win -- and hand it to Hello Rainbow Kitty Brite.

I have so many conflicted feelings about Bishme's situation.  Number one, I feel for his worry and heartache over his family's loss and health struggles.  That's so much on his heart right there.

When I realized his "surprise" challenge look wasn't going to be usable as a runway piece to boost his count to nine pieces and there was no time to make a tenth, let alone a replacement number nine, I realized he really needed to be the odd man out.

Watching the comments from the CFDA judge and his demeanor really made me feel that Bishme would benefit tremendously from the mentorship -- although some of his remedial skillset made me wonder if he's not really ready to capitalize on that quite yet.  

I do think Sebastian deserves the win, and can really benefit from the mentorship to enable him to translate his talent into a thriving business.  I actually think Garo could benefit from the mentorship in a very different way by being very directly prodded to fine tune some aspects of his work to appeal to a broader audience.  There's no way his "taste level" should be a barrier with his level of craftsmanship while Hester with little to no craftsmanship and beyond questionable taste level is being shown as poised to win this thing.  Ugh!

[Eulipian 5k]

Hester is way ahead of her Time And Relative Dimension:

[ItsHelloPattiagain]

On 6/10/2019 at 10:42 AM, Special K said:

How do none of these people know that hydrogen peroxide gets out blood stains?  Doesn't every menstruating woman at the least know that?

Even cold water works on fresh blood. Just stick it under a cold water faucet and flush liberally. But Hester was too busy screaming bloody murder (see how I did that lol?) to save her outfit. 

And I went down a brief rabbit hole and found a bunch of stuff that Hester wears is on sale on her own website. So she's pretty much just a walking advertisement for her own stuff, whether she wins or not. The rest of her website and blog gave me a migraine. 

[MartyQui]

On 6/8/2019 at 6:05 PM, meep.meep said:

Where it wasn't level was on the level of difficulty.  Garo and Bishme's challenges from Nina were much harder than Sebastian and Hester's.

No one said that Garo's suit had to be a pantsuit and a jacket with lapels.  He could have done a jacket with a zip front with a corset insert and a pencil skirt...he would have met Nina's challenge while keeping to his own esthetic, and it would have been way easier to draft and finish.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

5 hours ago, Tikichick said:

My heart sunk when I heard the announcement that a capsule collection from the winner will be manufactured and sold.  It really worries me that constraint will work against Sebastian's very deserved win -- and hand it to Hello Rainbow Kitty Brite.

My heart sank because earlier in the season, someone mentioned that the website (the same one selling the t-shirts from a few episodes ago)

Spoiler

had a dead link from Hester’s website, which made me afraid that they’re already set up to sell her capsule collection and they’re just waiting until the finale airs to let the links go live.