9/23 Show Discussion *Spoilers*

[Endit]

This is the worst season and this episode is exactly why.

I just hate how they are like "Surprise! You need to ____________ now" halfway into a project. It ruins the show! They keep doing it more and more and if I worked at Lifetime, I would track down whoever had any part in "oking" these things and fire them all on the spot in front of everybody. They think it makes things interesting but it doesn't do anything except force the designers to put out less than their best and gives ammunition to the judges to be mouthy later. I don't wanna see crap coming down the runway, but that's what happens when these stupid surprises are introduced. I wasn't really impressed or wowed with a most of what was shown.

And what is up with this fugly cranberry color too!? Gretchen, Michael, Andy, and even Mondo all used close to it this episode. It's garish and there is nothing young, fresh, or interesting about it. It needs to die and be an instant bottom 3 color.

Ivy's colors are horrible too. Forget bright... they are full blast primary colors and that just doesn't work in general, let alone with her design aesthetic. They were s bold here was no salvaging anything in any way.

I loved Gretchen's purple print fabric but she did no justice for it. That piece in the front over the boob was SO bad and old looking. Her second look didn't even look related and was boring as bread. Who does she design for? Girls who want to look classy but have little confidence?

Valerie looks like wedding dress but I didn't hate it as much as the judges did.

It was funny that Michael Kors said that Michael C's clothes were "you're the only standing up here who the clothes are constructed well, sewn well, and tailored well." So much for everybody thinking he has no construction skills lol! It doesn't matter how many or little skills you have, as long as you get to a good place in the end. Some of the others get bogged down with trying to be too advanced.

[PhoneGrrrl]

And what is up with this fugly cranberry color too!? Gretchen, Michael, Andy, and even Mondo all used close to it this episode. It's garish and there is nothing young, fresh, or interesting about it. It needs to die and be an instant bottom 3 color.

I finally realized why I have such a visceral negative reaction to that color--bridesmaid dress circa '98. I still have it somewhere; I should burn it in protest to the wonky judging this season.

[Bearcata]

Yeah, Mondo won again. But I would have been happy with either Mondo or Andy winning. I did think Andy was number 1 and Mondo a very close second. That being said only April of the designers left had two good looks. I am surprised Gretchen was in the top 3, I thought she could have equally been in the middle. Michael C should also been in the middle. I thought Christopher's couture dress was horrid he made his model look hippy, however his ready to wear was very nice. Valerie and Ivy did deserve to be in the bottom. Valerie's white bride's dress was the best of the two looks either designer presented. Her black dress looked horribly constructed and fitted. Her model, and I really hate to say this, needed to lose a couple of pounds because she looked chunky in that black dress. Ivy was simply a train wreck, with the cocktail dress less hideous than the ball gown, but both dresses were a waste of fabric and time. I must add that the dress Valerie wore on the runway actually was as bad as her cocktail dress. I felt the proportions were off, making her look very thick waisted and the bodice and her boobs were indescribable. I honestly would have been OK with both Ivy and Valerie going home. No great loss at all to the competition.

After all these seasons of Project Runway and all the twists thrown as the designers so far why were any surprised at all that there was a twist thrown in?

BTW what is with Gretchen and those boots, that is at least the third time I have seen her use those same boots to style her model. Change it up girl. Oh, the hair on the high couture model was a complete mess.

[Bearcata]

Bit of a sidebar: Tim Gunn has taken of his vlog for episode 8 - the Jackie Kennedy Sportwear Challenge off his Facebook page. If you google it you can still find it on several other sites. He is being criticized for being too critical. I love his vlogs and I can be far cattier then he is and I don't think he deserves any of the negative comments he is getting. He is letting us know what is going on backstage and I for one totally appreciate it. It was an eye opening comment to find out that Jackie Kennedy was never known for American Sportwear, she is known for bringing European designers to America. She didn't wear sportswear. Nice to know as that makes the challenge one confusing mess and that is exactly what Tim was trying to get across.

It does seem that the production staff is deliberately trying to make things difficult for the designers. On purpose or because of incompetence?

Tim brings up a similar issue in his farewell interview with Valerie in his "Under the Gunn" interviews on Lifetime.com. Valerie mentions that the the measurements she received for the extra model were 4 inches off and that is one reason her ready to wear outfit looked so hideous on her. Tim and Valerie mention that they can't even get the model shoe sizes correct and how hard is that because all models have their stats available in their portfolios and on on the back of their cover shots.

[Cairon]

Gretchen should NOT have been in the top three.

Those dresses were made for 60-year-olds! People have gotten eliminated for looks that were less maternal-looking. Cassanova got sent home for a design that didn't look as old as this one.

HELL NO that Gretchen should have been even remotely in the safe-zone.

[Endit]

Bit of a sidebar: Tim Gunn has taken of his vlog for episode 8 - the Jackie Kennedy Sportwear Challenge off his Facebook page. If you google it you can still find it on several other sites. He is being criticized for being too critical. I love his vlogs and I can be far cattier then he is and I don't think he deserves any of the negative comments he is getting. He is letting us know what is going on backstage and I for one totally appreciate it. It was an eye opening comment to find out that Jackie Kennedy was never known for American Sportwear, she is known for bringing European designers to America. She didn't wear sportswear. Nice to know as that makes the challenge one confusing mess and that is exactly what Tim was trying to get across.

That is just ridiculous! I will refer to that challenge as TOTAL FAILURE now. Seriously. Aren't they supposed to do research first?

It does seem that the production staff is deliberately trying to make things difficult for the designers. On purpose or because of incompetence?

No doubt and both. I've been saying they need more money, more time, and less surprises. Any one of those will benefit the show A LOT.

Tim brings up a similar issue in his farewell interview with Valerie in his "Under the Gunn" interviews on Lifetime.com. Valerie mentions that the the measurements she received for the extra model were 4 inches off and that is one reason her ready to wear outfit looked so hideous on her. Tim and Valerie mention that they can't even get the model shoe sizes correct and how hard is that because all models have their stats available in their portfolios and on on the back of their cover shots.

OH that is RIDICULOUS. I am tracking down his vlogs now. I never thought of watching them before but he's like the whistleblower of this show. Seriously. How much crap is going down there? I knew they had huge photography problems since coming to Lifetime, but it seems like they can't even do the basic things like correct measurements.

Gretchen should NOT have been in the top three.

Those dresses were made for 60-year-olds! People have gotten eliminated for looks that were less maternal-looking. Cassanova got sent home for a design that didn't look as old as this one.

HELL NO that Gretchen should have been even remotely in the safe-zone.

If you cover up the model's face and the mousey part that covers the boobs, it looks interesting. But the RTW is still ugly. April should have been in the top instead.

I wish they had to get new models. It's not fair. Last season they picked models at the beginning of every challenge now that doens't happen, it's back to same boring "Winner, do you want to keep your model or not?" and literally 99.9% of the time they say yes, meaning everybody stays the same. Plus I kinda feel like most of the models don't look like the person they are representing.

[tinderbox]

How did Gretchen make it in to the top three?? I mean, really... Hmmm.... Must have been because of her ready to wear dress which was fairly acceptable. Her first look was just plain UGLY.

What happened to the "Models of the Runway" show? This season we know nothing about the models and I, as a viewer, have no vested interest in them at all.

[Bearcata]

Andy and Mondo deserved to be in the top two and Valerie and Ivy deserved to be in the bottom 2. I could see April being safe with Michael C. a little bit behind her. Because the format of the show is top 3 and bottom 3 someone had to go there and that was either Gretchen or Christopher. Because of the logistics of the show sometimes a designer undeservedly ends up either in the top 3 or bottom 3. Seriously, I feel Gretchen's aesthetic is very old.

[Debb70]

Gretchen should NOT have been in the top three.

Those dresses were made for 60-year-olds! People have gotten eliminated for looks that were less maternal-looking. Cassanova got sent home for a design that didn't look as old as this one.

HELL NO that Gretchen should have been even remotely in the safe-zone.

So true. I think there's some kind of weird stuff going on. Gretchen's designs were horrific and should have been in the bottom. IMO there were worse than Ivy's and that's pretty bad. When they put Gretchen in the top 3 I almost changed the channel. I don't know what they are smoking, but it is an insult to the viewers. Yuuuuck.

[Babbred]

Watching the episode now. Thoughts...


What about Andy's comment at the beginning (referring to Christopher and Mondo moving in with him and Michael)? "I'm glad I have somebody I can trust now." More snottiness, or another sign of Michael's "hidden" personality?

Hivy just commented that her model's measurements are off, too. WTH is going on with this show? Geesh.

Have these people never watched PR before? Whenever the designers are told they'll have two days, the producers throw in an extra challenge, usually ready-to-wear from couture.

I don't care how anyone tries to defend Gretchen, I still find her nothing but irritating. "How DARE you pick the same color as me? That's MY color." Oh, please, people. I work in a high school and that's exactly the kind of stupid behavior I see every week. And there's the big hug she gave Mondo last week after he won, but could only manage a sniping, petulant "Of course YOU won the judges like you best" for Michael. Again, please. Pure high school cliquishness. "I just feel in my heart that I should be in the Final 3." Are we channeling Sally Field here? If she wins will she gush on about how everybody really likes her? "I just don't understand Michael's dress. (sniff)" Funny that the judges did...and how quick she was to throw Hivy under the bus along with Michael! (Designer: "Do all three in the bottom belong there?" Without missing a beat, Wretchen says "Yes!")
For the last time, nothing but a high school mean girl who enjoys being head of a clique.

This deserves a special mention. What in heaven's name was that monstrosity that Gretchen called a couture dress? If that was "couture" then I'm the Jolly Green Giant. Somebody upthread called it "hippie." More like a bus full of hippies exploded. "I feel like it's a fantasy of who I am." Oh, honey, there's just so much I could say about that...Michael Kors just criticized the model's hair. True. She looks like a flapper who jumped into a time machine and crashed into the 60's. And they called Michael C old-fashioned? Says Nina "It looked effortless." Well, yeah, Nina, but not in a good way.