Season 12, Episode 4: Tie the Knot
Every week Project Runway promises "drama on the runway" but this week there actually was some. Sandro storming off in a camera-slapping huff. Jesse Tyler Fergusan fabulously talking about gay marriage and bow ties. Marriage proposals on the runway! Heidi offering to be a bridesmaid! It was a pretty great episode all around.
The Challenge:
It started* with the designers being tasked to make a women's wear look inspired by one (or more) of the bow ties from Tie the Knot, Jesse Tyler Ferguson's company that sells bow ties and uses the proceeds to fund the marriage equality lobby. Jesse was adorable and funny and gracious. I call him "Jesse" because I feel like I know him and we're old pals (Don't you?). What they didn't mention on the show was that the winning look would be auctioned off to raise money for tietheknot.org*I said that's how the show started but actually that's not true. The episode actually started with a clip of Sandro flipping out in the designers' lounge and getting into a big fight with Helen and Ken, then storming off in a mannequin-flipping hissy fit. Then the words "36 Hours Earlier" came up on the screen. So obviously this whole episode was going to be framed around Sandro's freak out. But more on that later.
The Workroom:
For this challenge, the designers had a "suggested budget" of $200 and most of them stayed well within it. Except Sue, who seems to be both stubborn and somewhat incompetent, who spent $400. Then she made two dresses. For no reason. And she chose the uglier one (by far) to send down the runway. People tried to tell her but...stubborn.
Miranda's "tough chick" exterior lasted its predictable 3 seconds before she once again turned into a crying mess of self-doubt and repetition. In the end she made the exact same pencil skirt and crop top combination she's made every week so far (except for last week when Timothy forced her to make something much worse). I can't imagine what an entire runway show of hers would look like. Actually I can and it's very boring.
The other designer who had trouble this week was Jeremy, who had just received the bad news that his grandmother had died. Well he kept saying it was his grandmother but then he said it was actually his husband's maternal grandmother. I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt that what he meant was that he is so close to his husband's family that his grandmother-in-law feels like his own "gran." Because the way he said it made it sound like he had married his first cousin. Just sayin'.
Sandro also struggled this week, trying to figure out what the judges want from him. Tim tried his best to remind him that you have to be true to your own design aesthetic and not drive yourself crazy trying to please the judges. But Sandro seemed only partially convinced. And completely drunk, once again. But I kind of liked his dress. Sort of.
Helen seemed to love her look...at first. In the workroom she had a body-con strapless dress in soft grey that she claimed was "menswear inspired" because of the colour and because she had a bow tie around her dress form's neck. When Tim told her it looked very feminine to him she flipped out and didn't want to do anything anymore. I don't know how she even managed to turn the promising dress she was working on in the workroom into the ridiculous pile of bland fabrics that came down the runway.
Sigh. Helen is so immature it's kind of annoying. She's like a moody teenager who wants people to think she's tough but who is constantly looking for validation. Her fantasy design is pretty wedding gowns which she has zero idea how to make (like many twelve-year-olds). When she hears even the slightest criticism, she flips out. Her behaviour is boring and childish and I can't wait until she's (soon) eliminated.
Not all of the designers faltered of course. Kate's look ended up being well received by the judges, despite it looking like a frumpier version of the same sweet little princess silhouette that she does ALL THE TIME, except with leggings. I was unimpressed.
Dom continues to be one to watch with her truly impressive sewing skills and taste level. Her look wasn't my favourite, but I definitely liked it and was glad she had spent her time making it perfect--as Tim suggested--rather than doing a half-assed job so she'd have time to make a jacket. Good choice, Dom. I bet her dress was one that looked even better up close than on TV because of all the pattern detail she did with the stripes.
But my favourite by far--and also the judges' favourite--was Bradon's look. His top made of bow ties was all kinds of clever, even though it could have gone bad fast. I think every art student that I've ever met has a "necktie skirt" somewhere in the back of their closet, so I was afraid it was going to look like student work (like Alexander's bow tie bib that he was inordinately proud of, for instance) but it didn't. Heidi was right though--part of it was because Bradon's model, Ya, has an AMAZING body. He's very lucky to have her as his muse.
The Runway:
Heidi announces that Bradon, Miranda, Sue, Dom, Kate and Jeremy are the top and bottom designers, which means that everyone else is safe. But the judges do want to point out that Helen is damn lucky to have immunity because based on her effort this week, they have serious reservations about her ability. Nina tells her she suspects Helen's win last week had more to do with Kate's ability than her own. This is a totally fair and reasonable criticism, which Helen must realize since she tries to hide behind the other designers (literally) when the judges call her. She knows she did a horrible job. But that doesn't stop her from being bratty and indignant backstage ("They had the NERVE to say I only won because of Kate?!").Sandro, despite being safe, demands the judges give him feedback on his design. Zac Posen tells him it looks like a woman doing a walk of shame the day after a red carpet event and that he has questionable taste. Sandro insists that he's learning, that he's a student, but Zac points out that it's not "Project Runway Student Edition" (ARE YOU LISTENING, HELEN?). (Note to self: Email the producers and ask them to do a Project Runway: Student Edition season. It would either be great...or truly terrible).
Back stage, Sandro stews over what the judges said while Helen cries and yells at him for not caring about HER feelings more. God I'm sick of Helen. People were right to criticize Sandro's outburst on the runway because it was awkward and inappropriate, but if you listen to Helen's actual criticism of him, it's all about her. She's crying because SHE WAS BARELY SAFE YOU GUYS and why don't people care more about that? Ugh. I'm not excusing Sandro's bad behaviour, but Helen isn't the good guy here. Basically they were just having their own separate meltdowns at each other.
Of course, only Sandro's resulted in him storming out of the building and punching the cameras on the way. I wonder what bar he ended up in?
But back to the runway. Dom, Kate and Bradon were on the top and Bradon took the win. I loved his look and was thrilled for him.
Bradon was thrilled with the win as well, but even more so, he was emotional about the marriage equality theme of the challenge. Which is what prompted him to PROPOSE ON AIR to his long-term partner, Josh. WOW! Heidi even said she'd be a bridesmaid (she won't, but it would be awesome if she went to the wedding)! I wasn't sure if Bradon intended to wait until the show aired and let Josh see the proposal on TV, but it turned out he didn't have to because in a video chat with him later that day, Josh proposed to him! YAY! I wonder if the producers thought to film their video chat from the beginning, just in case, or if they made them repeat their whole conversation for the camera. Either way, it was all kinds of sweet. It gave me the feelings in my mushy heart.
But let's get back to Sandro. What the hell happened? When Tim came out to tell Heidi and the other judges that Sandro had stormed off and had gone missing, did you see their faces? Nina was priceless. She looked like she was struggling not to burst out laughing at the absurdity and drama of it all.
In the end Sandro's behaviour led to his elimination (whether he quit, was disqualified or simply went missing was unclear...possibly a combination of those?). So that means that the bottom three--Miranda, Sue and Jeremy--were all safe. Miranda met this news with self-pitying tears. But I suspect that's also how she'd react if you told her she won a fruit basket in an office draw. She cries a lot is what I'm saying.
No comments:
Post a Comment