8/2 Show Discussion **West Coast Spoilers**

[Babbred]

I thought they said Elana, not Andrea, but that may be Buffi's accent to be fair. Not surprise though - I thought Christopher would've quit on the spot at judging and the bitching on the Runway even resident "bitch" (though I felt she was being more observant at times than the term) at times Mila looked uncomfortable.

I wasn't surprised, either, after the way Christopher let the cat out of the bag on the runway. I felt SO much sympathy for him during this episode. Good grief almighty, I wouldn't have lasted to the runway. I would have had a meltdown long before, probably in the sewing room when she just sat there giggling as she screwed up. And her nonchalant attitude in the waiting room would have driven me up the wall, too. Christopher might have gotten her words wrong, but he nailed her attitude. "Oh, well. I've had a good life. It doesn't bother me if I get eliminated." Excuse me? It's like you said, Critical. This is a flippin' competition. If you don't care or you can't handle it, then you shouldn't be here.

I didn't think Christopher would quit. He was vindicated by the judges. They clearly had sympathetic looks on their faces while they listened to his rant, and they called his name first. For a split second, I thought they were going to say Andrea was in the bottom. I wish they would have eliminated her and was disappointed that they didn't. I, too, would rather have had the menswear duo stick around. Yeah, their dress wasn't great, but at least they worked well with each other and didn't turn the runway into a blamefest. I would far rather have seen them get rewarded than Andrea.

As far as the designs (I'm using the model's names:

Lauran: I liked the structuring but not the coloring ideas. Glad they were safe though. It was a nice enough dress.

Basically how I felt. I didn't mind the color, but it was just a "good enough" dress for me.

Kenley's was so lovely and she looked lovely in it - much better than most of her retro gear she wears. Glad it won - it was IMHO hands down the winner.

Yep. Looks like Ven is going to cruise to the final/win, unless something really weird happens.

Valerie: Decent enough dress, but I didn't like the color on her. Did like the fact the team CORRECTLY used glittery materials though.

That was definitely a red carpet dress.

Anya: Oh dear, the dress was OK on her but the slit was NOT in the right spot. I actually liked this silhouette on her though and she seemed happen enough but not totally pleased.

The dress wasn't a total disaster, it just needed some tweaking. I actually liked it, and would have loved it without the split.

Irina: Dress looked good on her in spite of fit issues. She is still a major bitch though, and I felt bad for the pair who got her. I do think however it upped Koonan's game.

I've already gotten wound up over Andrea, so I won't spout off here. Suffice it to say that I had total sympathy for Kooan. I wasn't so sure about Gunnar; after seeing Mr. Drama Queen for the past couple of episodes, I have to admit that I chuckled a little bit at seeing someone confront him. And I thought the dress was lovely. Once again, despite not liking his personality, I have to admit he did a good job on the dress. He is going to drive me crazy before this season is over.

April: This made her look old on the front side (though the purple hair doesn't help out. The back was nice though. It was nice enough and well made to be safe, but something more youthful would've been better.

I wasn't particularly impressed. It looked like a big silver bedsheet, tied back so she wouldn't trip over it.

Mila: I have NEVER felt as sorry for Mila as I did last night. You could tell she was so unhappy with that dress and probably wished for the print regardless of it being "too casual" for Emmy. Personally I thought it was a subtle enough print to work, but that's me. Deserved to be the bottom look.

I know, bless her. She looked like she wanted to cry, or say a few choice words. You're right, though. The designers were going strong with the print and their idea, but Mila steamrolled over them and forced them to ditch it at the last moment. What did she think she was going to get?

Next week will be interesting in regard to who all quits. I do find it however disgusting that a designer would just up and leave without respecting the judges by saying they're leaving. Plus leaving in the middle of the night in NYC is dangerous - the cameramen ain't going to follow you when you quit until you get on a plane.

I won't shed any tears over Andrea, which is kind of sad since I liked her in the audition episode. But her attitude has just been a hot mess--couldn't agree with you more about respecting the judges. And slinking away just because of a bad critique? As my Brit husband would say, "That's just not the done thing."

[pikachu]

Episode Notes:

For this being a Lexus challenge, they sure didn’t focus much on the cars. They never did say which colored car each design team and only barely showed parts of some cars. It didn’t come up at judging, either. You’d think one of the judges would have bashed Alicia and Raul for hardly incorporating their color (red) or something like that. Maybe they did in the extended judging and it didn’t make it to tv. For what it’s worth, I looked up the Lexus GS and it comes in 9 colors—Starfire Pearl, Liquid Platinum, Satin Cashmere Metallic, Nebula Gray Pearl, Meteor Blue Mica, Riviera Red, Fire Agate Pearl, Deep Sea Mica, and Obsidian. Obviously 2 colors didn’t get used since there were only 7 teams. I tried to figure out which team got which car but there wasn’t enough to go on so I gave up. Not very good product placement for this challenge. The cars shouldn’t have even been brought in at all.

My critiques:

Alicia and Raul: These two seemed like a good match since they both specialize in men’s wear. I’m not sure where they got the notion that they had to make a gown. That tripped them up because they ended up choosing a style that didn’t fit either of their skills. I don’t think this was the worst outfit of the week and I don’t think Raul alone should have been held responsible for it. However, I do think Alicia and Raul were at fault for not choosing a more Emmy-worthy fabric (Why that red print??) and then in not being able to change gears when challenged on their original design. I think they should have either incorporated the red print somewhere, dyed the red print to mask its pattern, or dyed the black fabric to make it red. Their inability to think on their feet cost them the challenge. BTW, what type of designer doesn’t want to design for the red carpet??? I thought designers lived for that type of creativity and visibility of their product! Maybe that attitude is ultimately why Raul got auf’d instead of anyone else.

Andrea and Christopher: I knew right off this pairing wasn’t going to work and I hoped the outfit reflected more of Christopher’s style than Andrea’s. At least the good thing with Andrea being so slow working on the skirt was she didn’t have enough time to mess up the other parts of the dress. The main thing I don’t like about the dress is the color. Anya already has brown hair and dark skin so putting her in a brown dress makes her into a Hershey bar, like Michael Kors said. There are definitely tailoring issues. The bodice balloons out since it hasn't been structured to fit right, the back yoke appears to be off-center, the slit is a bit too high and oddly-placed. Anya is able to pull off the slit because she has a gorgeous figure but the average lady would not look so good in that dress. I’m puzzled over how it takes 12 hours to make a skirt with a slit in it. I’m a slow sewer but I think I could do that, even if I had to stitch by hand!

Buffi and the Vampire-Slayer Elena: According to Elena, it’s tough in the Ukraine so that’s why she eats nails for breakfast, washed down with battery acid, and snacks on her partner’s liver during the day. Buffi tried to be courteous to Elena but it’s clear that Elena can only work alone. I didn’t appreciate that Elena kept telling the camera that she was stuck with an inferior designer. It wasn’t Buffi huffing off to smoke and bitch instead of working. In fact, Buffi didn’t even eat all day because she was trying to keep things moving. Personally, I think Buffi should have stood up for herself and told Elena she was taking a break instead of asking permission. It wouldn’t break their schedule for Buffi to take a few minutes to eat and relax and Elena couldn’t very well say anything to her since she herself took a break. I thought their outfit was the worst of the week. Laura might have liked it, since some of the clothes she designed were considered dated and matronly, but nobody else would like it. Laura already has a short neck so putting her in a dress with a tall collar made her look even more stumpy.

Dmitry and Melissa: These two definitely won the partnership lottery. Melissa’s love for black coupled with Gunnar’s sleek contemporary tastes and April’s Gothic look was a merger made in heaven. I was absolutely shocked that they weren’t in the top this week. They showed a lot of technical skill in dealing with their difficult fabric, their outfit matches their client’s taste, and the whole ensemble is imaginative and complete-looking.

Fabio and Ven: Ven is the main influence in this outfit. If Fabio is represented here, I don’t know in what. Personally, I didn’t love this outfit as much as the judges did. It was nice but forgettable. Some accessories or detailing might have taken this look from ho-hum to oh-wow! I think it’s awful that only Ven gets to go to the Emmys with Kenley. I could see only giving immunity to the challenge winner but Fabio should have gotten to participate in the reward since he was on the winning team, too.

Gunnar and Kooan: Clearly this outfit had more influence from Gunnar than from Kooan (who I’ve decided to nickname “Kooan the Barbarian” for his wild, tribal style). The tailoring on this dress might have left much to be desired but overall I thought it was the most Emmy-worthy look. The floaty panels on the back of the dress, the high neckline and bare shoulders, plus the sophisticated shaping of the bodice and skirt made this a dramatic dress that would be noticed and remembered on the runway. The styling of their look was impeccable, definitely the best of the group. I was disappointed they didn’t win first place, despite the flaws on the basic of the dress, which were covered by the panels anyway.

Nathan and Sonjia: This was another excellent pairing. Both of these designers understand color and cut and have impressive portfolios. I was disappointed they weren’t in the top. Maybe the judges thought this look had been done upteen times at the Emmys and were looking for something different. I like how sparkly and rich-looking the fabric is.

[PhoneGrrrl]

According to Elena, it’s tough in the Ukraine so that’s why she eats nails for breakfast, washed down with battery acid, and snacks on her partner’s liver during the day.

And yet cries like a baby from a hot glue gun.

I think it’s awful that only Ven gets to go to the Emmys with Kenley. I could see only giving immunity to the challenge winner but Fabio should have gotten to participate in the reward since he was on the winning team, too.

Maybe Fabio's real reward is not having to spend an evening with Kenley.

The styling on some of the clients seems off. Laura's hair just looks messy and distracting--I didn't really get a good luck at the dress because the hair drew my eye. Valerie's hair looked like she just woke up, which is always busted at red carpet events by the Fashion Police. Irina had a LOT of makeup on, but then, on the other hand, Kenley looked good with the more understated lipstick. But poor Mila's ponytail was all on Raoul.

[Critical]

Kenley's was so lovely and she looked lovely in it - much better than most of her retro gear she wears. Glad it won - it was IMHO hands down the winner.

I liked it because it still had a retro feel to it, at least in the silhouette. It was beautifully made and elegant, but still felt like her style. I thought she looked gorgeous in it. Maybe a few accessories would have been nice, but the dress and her hair and makeup were perfect.

I think Ven is among the most talented designers this season, but he needs to learn a little humility and understand the difference between confidence and arrogance. I think he'll be there at the end, but I'd love to see him really blow it one week and end up in the bottom 2 or 3, just to knock him down a peg or two.

I'm still annoyed about Andrea quitting. I can understand if it was the first or second season of the show. Maybe you don't know what to expect in that case, but this is the TENTH season. She had to have known how hard it was going to be and, even if she didn't know how really difficult it would be, she had to know she'd actually be criticized at some point. I just have no respect for someone who bails out so easily. It's a slap in the face to the people who really wanted to be on the show and didn't make it.

I'm with Buffi - Elena sort of scares the crap out of me, but I think she's so talented. I hope she doesn't flip out on someone, because she's top 3 material for sure.

[cubsfan55]

DAGNABBIT! This is the second week in a row I've missed PR. >:-/
And until these Olympics are over, I may continue to miss out -- and on some of my other faves, too.

Thank heavens for pikachu's pictorial reviews!

[sweetpea]

Andrea's flippant attitude would have had me in fits as well, so I understand how upset Christopher was on the runway. Both the bottom two were a hot mess, but poor Mila looked absolutely mortified. At one point in a close up of the waistline, the belt was sagging about 2 inches below the waistline's ragged stitching. Just horrible, and really frumpy and not at all flattering for her. I don't think that Anya's dress was frumpy, just poorly made, and I think a plunging neckline or the original neckline they had chosen would have made her look more youthful and sexy.

Andrea leaving, if that really is the case, is totally childish and disrespectful. The designers who have been auf'd already would have killed to be there, and she skulks off in the middle of the night? I think her "I feel demeaned" showed she cannot handle any kind of criticism at all. Christopher needs to buck up though, cause it's only the 3rd challenge and if he keeps this up he's going to have a meltdown and be removed.

Elana can shut it with the 'I was paired with an inferior designer' crap. Buffy has a ton of patience, to put up with that crap. I'd probably be scared to death of her though.

Ven deserved the win, and that dress was all Kenley (voice still drive me mental) but I didn't care for the length for some reason. I was just thrilled that Gunner didn't win.

[NYCJUDE]

There are reports that later that day, after it was discovered Andrea had left....a second MALE designer had a meltdown, a shrink was called in, and it was decided it was in the designer's best interest to leave. I so hope it wasn't Chris...out of guilt he felt for telling about the experience he had working with Andrea.

[sweetpea]

There are reports that later that day, after it was discovered Andrea had left....a second MALE designer had a meltdown, a shrink was called in, and it was decided it was in the designer's best interest to leave. I so hope it wasn't Chris...out of guilt he felt for telling about the experience he had working with Andrea.

I could see that, unfortunately. He was already a basket case at the judging.

[ibot2much]

I hope it is not C. My money is on Kooan...he made a comment that he can work well when he is happy, but he was feeling sad at that point.

[ryansmommy]

Well, I differ in that I wish it is Chris that leaves. I saw him as a jerk during the critique, then, OMG, mantears ... too over the top for me!