This Week in the Mercury
Friday, March 22, 2013
Gossip Project Runway Wrap Up!
Posted by Marjorie Skinner on Fri, Mar 22, 2013 at 11:44 AM
Things were looking up on last night's episode of the old "Proj Run," just by virtue of the absence of male strippers alone. As for Portland champ Michelle Lesniak Franklin, she had nowhere to go but up after her horrible stab at the horrible idea that is "steampunk." This is better:
- Lifetime
Hit the jump for all the spoilery details!
Okay so "better" doesn't mean "awesome." This time, the sleep deprived, overstressed, and increasingly whack-a-doo designers were tasked with making moderately priced womenswear (thank god) looks inspired by the Lord & Taylor rose, which is a bit of a matronly set of circumstances, but there wasn't a failed attempt at breakaway pants among them, so let's just count our blessings where we find them, no?
Once again the perma-judges dictated the teams, with Michelle paired with Daniel against a threesome of Layana, Richard (who have mutual animosity), and Samantha—the extra manpower was leveled out with a smaller budget. There was plenty of squabbling in the workroom with Stanley meddling in Patricia's affairs, Michelle making Daniel cry because she hates his pink fabric and nixed his vision of hot pants. Meanwhile Layana and Richard eye each other with suspicion as a result of past grievances and perceived betrayals... whatever. Richard takes the obvious "you can go flip your hair over there" dismissive route, which is lame because while Layana is very pretty and ESL, she is not fucking stupid, and she deserves props for being one of the more competent designers among them. Richard on the other hand has endearingly effusive enthusiasm and completely whack taste, as evidenced by a full-length gown that looked like formal wear for joggers.
Understandably, Zac Posen had better things to do again this episode, and so the final reckoning on the runway was leveled with the assistance of Rachel Roy and Lord & Taylor president Bonnie Brooks. Daniel wound up trotting out a boring dress with peaked shoulders, which would have been ok had it not A) been boring and B) had weird puckering issues. Layana got rightly criticized for her granny upholstery floral print but otherwise her leather-trimmed maxi was well done if a little too familiar from her. I wasn't a fan of Patricia's drapey top with capri pants, or Stanley's one-note pink dress, but they both earned themselves a pass to the next circle of hell challenge. Meanwhile, although it came out a little rumpled looking, I kind of liked Samantha's youthful, layered minidress, minus the corny and unpolished rear heart cutout. I'd certainly be more interested to see more from her than, say, Richard but alas, the judges did not agree.
:(
On a brighter note, guess who won?! Again! That's right, Portland designer Michelle took home her second win of the season with her easy little shift dress. Truthfully I was a little nonplussed by it, although it was refreshingly not pink, but who cares: it's always a crapshoot whether you be penalized or praised for playing it safe, and luck totally counts. Girl is cruising toward the finish line at the head of the pack. As it currently stands, next out should be Richard, but I fear for Patricia:
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