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Big Sexy, The Bus And The Wow Factor
Episode 3 Recap by Jacob D
July 31, 2008
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Last week on Project Runway, the top 15 designers were hit with a trio of twists: their models are their clients, they had to make outfits using environmentally friendly fabrics, and their models would be the ones doing the shopping! Some designers, namely Joe, Leanne, and Wesley, ended up with the same fabrics while others, namely Stella, weren't sure how to accommodate their model's tastes with their own. At the runway judging, Suede was named the winner and Wesley was cut. 14 designers remain. Who will be eliminated this week?
It's the day after the latest elimination and Daniel was sad to see Wesley go because he felt they were connecting. Apparently they hit it off so well that they are now dating, according to the Project Runway website. That comes from the horse's mouth folks because Wesley said it in a clip after he was eliminated, but to get to that part of the site and see the clip, you need a credit card and I don't have one. I just read about it in a Bravo blog. Kelli says she is always excited to take on the new challenges.
On the runway, Heidi gives Suede, the winner of the last challenge, a chance to change his model. He can either stay with his model Tia, switch to Wesley's model Alyssa, or pick someone else's model. Suede decides to stick with Tia and Alyssa is the second model to be eliminated. Afterwards, Heidi tells the designers to head back to the Atlas Apartments where they will meet Tim for a night on the town. At the apartments, the designers speculate as to where they are going and some think about going to dinner or one of Tim's favorite places.
Tim goes around to the apartments and rounds up the designers to take them out and about, clad in ponchos and rain gear since it's raining. Tim leads them all to a double-decker bus for a city tour around New York. On board, Tim tells the designers that their next challenge is to create a night-time look inspired by New York at night. For a reference point, think of the challenge in season two where they took pictures around New York and used them as inspiration for their designs because this is pretty much the same as that. At various points around the tour, the bus will stop and let groups of designers off where they will have an hour to snap photos.
Driving around, the first stop is at Columbus Square where Daniel, Jennifer, Leanne, and Suede get off to take their pictures. The second stop is, of course, Times Square, where Blayne, Keith, Kenley, and Stella are let off for their picture taking sessions. Stopping off at the New York Public Library are Joe, Kelli, and Korto and the last stop is Greenwich Village for Emily, Jerell, and Terri.
There are 45 minutes left to take pictures and over at Columbus Square, Jennifer is inspired by a clock, what with the saying about New York being, "the city that never sleeps." Daniel is struck by a great picture of light reflecting around someone's shadow. Over at Times Square, Stella has a tough time getting started because she doesn't know how to work the digital camera and asks Blayne for help. At the New York Public Library, a black and silver fire hydrant catches Kelli's eye who likens it to a Mad Max sort of thing. Terri is looking for some form of graffiti and finds it all over what looks like one of those newspaper boxes.
There are 10 minutes left to take pictures and in a voice over, Keith tells us a little about his life. He says he was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah and all of his family members are practicing Mormons. He says it was difficult being gay in Salt Lake City. I always assumed he was straight, but Big Sexy is gay? Woo hoo! Works for me. Keith says he always considered moving to New York because he wants to be known by the world and New York would afford him that opportunity.
Talking smack for no reason is Kenley, who says Keith goes nuts when he starts thinking about the competition. When Keith accidentally steps in front of Stella while she's taking a picture, it inspires more bitchiness. If it was pre-meditated like, "Hmmm, how can I mess Stella up? I know! I'll block her shots," then yeah I can see their side of things, but it just seemed like an accident. I don't believe Keith intentionally stood in front of Stella just to sabotage her. Keith overhears the two girls talking about him, but doesn't care because he's not necessarily there to make friends with them. At 1:15 in the morning, the designers are all back at the apartments, getting some sleep.
Later in the day, the designers head to Parson's and begin looking through their photos. Tim comes in and tells them that they will have half an hour to choose a photo and then they will go shopping with a budget of $100. Kenley prints a picture of a mosaic-tile map and Blayne, of course, goes for a picture with a lot of neon colors. Keith, for some reason, goes for a picture of a tattered magazine on the ground and further confuses me by explaining that he wants something sexy with a lot of volume. Um, with Andrae in season two, who used gutter water for the challenge similar to this one, I got it because he explained that he wanted to try and make something beautiful from something most people would find ugly. Here, Keith says he picks an old, wet, worn out, stepped on magazine on the ground because he wants something sexy and voluminous?
The designers head to MOOD, for their first time, and Stella, as is becoming tradition for her, needs help. Kenley says she tries to incorporate the '40s and '50s into her styles and calls her aesthetic, "Modern Day Calendar Girl." Emily goes for bright, poppy colors and Jennifer picks out some charmeuses in white and midnight blue. Terri magically stumbles upon a fabric that perfectly applies to her photo just before Tim calls time on the shopping excursion.
Back at the workroom, Tim tells the designers that they will work until 1:00 and the winner of the challenge will gain immunity. Suede, who still won't stop referring to himself in the third person, doesn't want to just slack off after winning and goes with a shirt-dress silhouette with flecks of dotted here and there. Kenley feels her design will show the judges who she is as a designer, but Joe doesn't get where she's going with her choice of fabric. I notice that, once again, someone has chosen something similar to that purple and blue stuff Austin Scarlett used for his dress in the Grammy challenge in season one. Remember that one? And in season two when Santino made almost the exact same dress for their version of this challenge? Well now Kenley is working with a fabric similar to that, but she's also not working exclusively with that fabric so hopefully she won't pull out another, "Austin Scarlett Grammy Dress."
For some reason, Terri comforts Leanne in the sewing room. Terri tells Leanne that she is a great designer and just because she, Terri, didn't like her last design, it doesn't take away from Leanne's talent. Hmmm, I'm really liking Terri more and more as I see her. I've talked about it before in these articles when people starting acting like asses in an effort to, "keep it real." There is a difference between being honest and just being an outright jackass and Terri in this moment is a good example of that. She was honest to Leanne without attacking Leanne. Simple as that. Getting back to the situation, Leanne is afraid she'll over-design again. She tells us that she is going with a tree planter as her inspiration because of the architectural quality of it and wants to prove herself to the judges after appearing in the bottom two.
After a funny moment where Blayne scares Kenley with his weirdness, Keith tells us that he is going with his own idea of a progressive fringe dress by using a multitude of fabric cutouts. He further tells us that he comes from an abstract artist background and that's where his aesthetic lies. Stella notices that his dress just looks like a bunch of pieces of fabric pasted to a sheath and I agree. You better fine-tune that outfit or you could be going home, Big Sexy.
Terri tells us that she immediately knew she wanted a picture of graffiti and says she is going with an open back dress over flare length pants as her design. Emily is still figuring out the flow of her dress and Kenley notices that Emily's dress cliche and not very well made. Hmm, Kenley is showing herself to be quite opinionated. Could she be this season's villain? With eight hours left in the day, Stella tells us that she chose a horse's blinder as her inspiration. Why? Because it's leather. Seriously, Stella, what else can you do? Stella is making leather pants and a vest and says she's going to be rock and roll until the day she dies. Well, with all of that hammering she's doing with those grommets, she might not have that long to live, as Blayne tells us the hammering is pissing him off. The looks on the other designers' faces shows he's not the only one who thinks that way.
With three hours left in the workday, Tim comes in to make his rounds. He starts with Jennifer and worries that she may not have enough time to do everything she needs to do. With Keith, Keith explains that for his picture, he is making a dress with a lot of layers. Ahhh, now I get it, a magazine has layers, meaning all of its pages. So why take a picture of a dirty old crumpled magazine on the ground? Tim hopes that his outfit will be fitted and have shape. With Kenley, Tim likes her fabrics and the silhouette of her piece, but worries it may be costume-y. At Terri's station, Terri explains she's into street culture and Tim feels her inspiration comes through. Tim wonders about the, "wow factor."
Over at Leanne's station, Tim loves the skirt she is making. As for the top, Leanne wants something basic and simple that doesn't take away from the skirt and Tim is proud of her. Tim visits with Emily and Tim doesn't seem very impressed with her simple black dress and ruffles. He wants her to take it further, but Emily tells us that she has her own sense of style and is happy with what she has. Emily, that almost didn't work for Leanne last week, so please listen to Tim. On his way out, Blayne teaches Tim the phrase, "Holla at your boy." Classic.
There's one hour left in the workday and Keith, knowing that they have more creative license with this challenge than they did with the previous two, feels it's his duty to make something ambitious that shows the judges that he has a point of view. Blayne says everyone is pressed for time and is just done fiddling with his garment for the night. With that, the workday ends and the designers head to the apartments.
The next day, the designers scramble to get finished in time for the runway show. Tim comes in to inform the designers that they have an hour to get their models ready for the show and then tells Keith that he has no model. Apparently, Runa, Keith's model, dropped out of the competition and so she is being replaced by the recently eliminated Alyssa. The designers work and work and Jennifer is nervous about time. She hopes she can squeeze through to the next round. Time's up!
It's time for the runway show and the guest judge is, "New York nightlife aficionado," Sandra Bernhard. Keith's outfit is the first one down the runway and it looks exactly as Stella described it earlier: a bunch of bits of fabric plastered onto some fabric. Uh oh. I'm watching this for the second time as I recap it and I get the dress a little more and kind of like it, but it's still not his best work. Blayne's outfit is next and it's a black dress with large, ruffly rainbow adornments down the side. Another cute outfit from Blayne, though I wish he was more aware of the term, "understatement." At least, just a little.
Joe's outfit is next, a brown skirt with a brown-ish top which includes stripes and a choker, is nice, but I'm still not impressed. Emily's outfit goes out next and it looks just like a little black dress with big ruffles on it. That's it. Leanne's outfit goes out and it's a lovely, simple layered skirt with a black top finished to chic effect. Jennifer's dress is a layered, dowdy mess. I kind of like it because I can kind of see where she was going with it, but I would not pick this outfit to win the challenge at all. Jerell's outfit is a gorgeous olive colored dress with a layered, ruffled train. You finally have my attention, Jerell!
Kelli's outfit is some bizarre, shredded up black thing. Again, I'm not quite sure what she was trying to accomplish here. Daniel's outfit seems like a gold variation to the black dress he made last week, in my opinion. Kenley's outfit is a short, sculptural dress with exposed tulle over one leg and made out of a graphic print. I'm not sure if I really like this outfit or not. Suede's outfit is a chic little dress that almost has a militaristic feel to me. Stella's outfit is a too-tight vest and pants and Korto has made a black pantsuit. Terri's outfit oozes style, what with the breezy dress up top in graphic print and the simple pants underneath.
All the designs have been viewed and Heidi calls on Keith, Kenley, Emily, Terri, Jennifer, and Leanne for further scrutiny. Heidi starts with Kenley and Michael says it's very, "'80s Joan Collins," but thinks modern gals will appreciate it. Nina thinks it's an updated take on Lacroix/Ungaro and loves the play on volumes. Keith is next and Michael takes issue with the white fabric, saying it looked like toilet paper in a windstorm. Heidi is missing the shape and Nina doesn't think it looks polished.
Terri is next and I notice that she is very good at expressing herself and explaining her designs. This is the first time we've seen her as part of a runway judging so I'm impressed. Sandra says she wrote, "fierce, sexy, and in control," on her card concerning the outfit. Heidi gave her a good score because she thinks it's cool and Terri thinks outside the box. Michael thinks the outfit and model make for a girl you'd want to know.
With Emily, Sandra says her outfit seems very, "cha-cha," and over the top and wishes it were flatter as one dress. She makes a good point. If Emily took some fabric and made it as streaks within the dress, it could've been amazing, but as it is, it looks like she just stuck some big ol' ruffles on top of a black dress. Nina thinks the ruffles take over the dress and Michael doesn't like the placing of the ruffles.
With Leanne, Sandra thinks her outfit is very pretty and Michael likes that she made the outfit as two separates since not everyone wears a dress all the time. Heidi says she would wear it in a heartbeat and feels it looks as though it came right from a store. Jennifer is last and she talks about her taste for surrealism. Michael says he doesn't get a sense of that with her outfit and doesn't like the sewing at the hem. Heidi isn't wowed and Nina says it's on the boring side.
Now it's time for the judges to deliberate. Sandra loves Terri's vibe and Michael was intrigued by her. Kenley's dress had energy and it was different from what she did previously. Leanne's outfit was very wearable and the judges are glad that she took the lesson from last week, how to edit, and used it this week. Michael can't get over the placement of the ruffles on Emily's dress and Nina has no comment, inspiring shock in the judges. Michael says the worst review is no review. Wasn't Oscar Wilde the one who said, "there is one thing worse than being talked about and that's not being talked about?" The judges question some of Keith's choices in his design and they are non-plussed with Jennifer. Heidi even says she's not really interested in seeing more.
A decision has been made. Terri is in and Kenley is the winner. Leanne and Keith are in, leaving Emily and Jennifer as the bottom two. I was surprised by that on the first viewing as I thought Keith would surely be in the bottom two, but on my second viewing, I'm not as surprised. The judges didn't like Keith's outfit, but they were firing a lot more negative criticisms at Emily and Jennifer's designs. To Emily, Heidi says her look was a distracting cliche and her viewpoint as a designer didn't come through. To Jennifer, Heidi says her style is surrealism, but her look was boring and matronly. Heidi says Jennifer is in which means Emily is eliminated.
Coming up on Project Runway:
The designers have an Olympics themed challenged and design for Apolo Anton Ohno. Drama seems to explode and Joe says it's because there're so many queens around. Uhh, Joe, you gotta be careful when you start making comments like that. Hopefully, it isn't as bad as I think because I'm already slightly offended. Taking his comment just as he says it makes it seem like he's making a sweeping generalization of gay men in more ways than one, what with the drama stereotype and the term, "queens." If he had just said, "drama queens," it wouldn't be so bad because he could mean anyone who flies into a tizzy. I guess we'll find out when I see ya there.
Jacob D. is a twenty-something native of Austin Tx who spends his time
listening to music, posting on Austin based messageboards, playing
video games, and watching TV. Jacob also enjoys reading Shonen Jump,
Garfield and Calvin & Hobbes strips, playing Texas Hold 'em, drawing
cartoon chickens, and tending to his neopets. Though shy in real
life, he loves to sound off on his favorite shows and enjoys
interacting with other fans.
You can contact Jacob at Jacob@RealityTVCalendar.com
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