Friday, September 25, 2009

Project Runway 6, Episode 6: Well Knock Me Over With a Feather Prince


Last night’s show was a very rare example of the show living up to its catchphrase “In fashion, one day you’re in, and the next day you’re out.” Generally speaking, this is not true of Project Runway. Not only do they give designers who win early rounds immunity for the next challenge, meaning by definition they cannot be out the next day, but how many times have you seen a designer who clearly made the worst dress of a challenge get saved by their previous work on the show?

The Challenge
What exactly was this challenge? Make a dress in a movie genre, but it doesn’t have to be historically accurate or exactly right for that genre, but it has to be functional as a costume such that it could be shot from all angles and moves well, but make sure you keep your point of view, but make a dress that’s sort of maybe in a movie genre…? I never understood exactly what they were supposed to be doing, and I don’t think they did either.

The Loser
I will not dispute that Ra’mon’s thrown together reptile dress thing was the worst of the challenge… ok maybe I will dispute that in a moment, but I thought for sure his previous work would save him. I don’t know why I didn’t see it coming. I should have. He was over-confident in the beginning (“I know sci-fi inside and out”) and his previous success at pulling a design out of his ass at the last minute made him believe he could do it again. Hubris thy name is Ra’mon. Or maybe not hubris so much as risk taking, which the judges this year have clearly decided they do not want to see. Gordana played it safe and lived to sew another day. Ra’mon, Malvin, Ari Fish… anyone who’s gone out on any sort of limb or took a big conceptual risk has been shit-canned before their model finished her walk down the runway. Disturbing! (At least I’m content to know Ra’mon showed at this fall’s Fashion Week.)

The Should’ve Lost Her
Maybe that 40’s reinterpretation of the 20’s thing that Louise sent down the runway was well made. I don’t know. I couldn’t see it from the TV. But what the hell was that? Louise designs clothes that she would like to wear and doesn’t really consider how they look on other people. If she did, she would never put Fatma in those colors. She looked absolutely awful.

The Winner
It’s time that Daniel Franco’s clone steps out from behind the shadow of a previous contestant he sort of looks like and becomes his own designer: The Feather Prince. Clearly I was wrong. I must say I liked his gown and thought he deserved to win. Although according to his Project Runway video blog, the challenge was tailor made for him. Luckily he didn't express any over-confidence as a result.

Another "What Was That?"
Chris disappointed me with his “Victorian” dress that no one could possibly get away with wearing in any sort of Victorian Period Drama. It may have been a beautiful gown, but I still don’t see how it in any way fit in his genre or filled the requirements of the challenge (or at least what I thought the challenge was).

The Models of the Runway
Diana and I have been watching the Models of the Runway online every week, but the show is kind of pointless. The only interesting parts are the beginning, where you see the models reacting to who got sent home and who won, and the end, where you see which model gets sent home and which models the designers pick. The middle part serves no purpose because the models have no control over their own fate. It’s just 15 minutes of the models manufacturing interpersonal drama to keep from getting bored.

It’s also a little jarring then to see the models on Project Runway itself. It feels like one of those bad sitcom crossovers. What’s Urkel doing in my episode of Full House?

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

In 1789, the governor of Australia granted land and some animals to James Ruse in an experiment to see how long it would take him to support himself. Within 15 months he had become self sufficient. The area is still known as Experiment Farm. This is my Experiment Farm to see how long it will take me to support myself by writing.