February 1, 2006

Project Runway.

We see Daniel given the choice to keep his model or switch to Tarah, whom Zulema stole from Nick last week, setting in motion the bad karma that took her down and put Tarah up for grabs. But Daniel sticks with his original model, and the charming Tarah must go.

The new task is to make something out of things bought from flower stores. It seems inspired by the wonderful first episode of Season 1, when Austin made a dress of corn husks, and no one else got seriously into the vegetable matter on hand in the grocery store where they had to do their shopping.

Tim Gunn tells them that the winner on this project will have immunity. We see Santino saying he really wants to win this one so he can do something "really offensive" on the next one and get away with it. Nice attitude. That's what immunity's for, isn't it?

Kara cares about helping Chloe, who's way behind. She's got this the theory that one woman must make it to the final three. Kara says she's amazed that she's made it this far, and she's generous about acknowledging that Chloe was the best of the women. Chloe doesn't have much of a design though. It's just an ordinary dress with a lot of leaves plastered all over it. Much is made of the fact that she doesn't have enough time to stick on all the leaves properly, but not the fact that there isn't much of an underlying idea.

And then it turns out that Kara made a terrific, detailed dress when we weren't looking.

Nearly everyone has focused on leaves and shied away from flowers, flowers being dangerously fragile. Daniel was the only one to use many flowers, and the judges really wanted to see that. So he wins. He now seems to be so much the frontrunner to win the whole season.

And Andrae must leave. Oh! I'd grown to love him. But his Spanish moss thing really was doormat-y. It didn't fit at all. And it was quite a cop out to just shape the whole thing out of moss. (Hey, remember the moss wall on "Trading Spaces"? Moss is doom!)

Andrae interviews that he thought he was an angel floating above all the problems, and it's tough to discover that he's a human being like everyone else. Ah! The men thought they were all safe and surely one of the women would go home tonight. So I guess I'm glad to see that they were the ones who sustained the loss. But I did really like dear, sweet Andrae.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ann, Ann, I know you're going to love this link, because as a former art student that has recognized that true art is a conservative trait, well, well, you will haveta click on this one to see a fellow conservatrd in action.

26-foot crap. Y'know - art. (via monkeyfilter) (NSFW! (not violent, not erotic, just Art))

Palladian said...

quxxo, that's so 1961. Still, you should be proud to see that the combined efforts of Marxist cultural values, 60s counterculture, plummeting educational standards, and generalized nihilism have brought Western civilization from the Sistine Chapel to a 26 foot turd. Way to go, keep up the good work! Maybe she'll get a MacArthur!

Anyway, back to reality, I remember the moss wall! Didn't it die? And didn't it turn out that the homeowner had some terrible allergies? God, they inflicted some awful crap on people on that show. I think Hildi was the worst. No, the gay old guy who always did some horrible country crafts thing was the worst.

I wish I got cable, Project Runway sounds like fun.

Joan said...

Ann, Bravo should be paying you for your rundowns of these shows. Tonight, faced with repeats of everything else, I watched Project Runway for the very first time and, between your posts and The Manolo's, I was completely up to speed. I was sad to see Andrae go, especially after the beautiful, beautiful gown he made last week (the gray bejewelled evening dress, inspired by the gutter water with sparkles.)

I actually watched this week's episode and then last week's, and was I ever happy to see Zulema go -- that red dress was just bad. It becomes obvious that the most important thing for the designer is fit over all. I think if Z's dress had actually fit her model, the crappy construction wouldn't have mattered so much. And with Andrae's welcome mat this week, if the cut had been closer to the body, it would have been tres chic instead of lumpy...

Now I'm hooked, of course! And I noticed my husband watching sneakily from the computer, too. We were just cracking up over Tim, he practically caricatures himself.

Craig Ranapia said...

Memo to Mt Tim Gunn: Take a heavy piece of equipment and hit Santino hard. He might think his "f**k off I'm an artist" attitude is really working for him. But every time he open his mouth I see someone who is unprofessional, doesn't understand people or the fashion market and would drive any investor into bankruptcy with unwearable, self-indulgent collections.

knox said...

I think Nick should have gone. At least Andrae sort of had a concept he was going for. Nick's was just ugly. And Daniel's was beautiful, but I think Kara's was better overall. It would have been nice for her to win one, although she did not deserve immunity this late in the game.

I think part of Santino's problem -- and I could be wrong -- is that he doesn't seem interested in women at all. I don't mean sexually, I just mean I never see him talking to, or even acknowledging the female designers. And he was hateful to Diana. I'm not trying to brand him a some misogynist, I just think that it's clear he doesn't "think about the woman" as Michael Kors says and that he has ZERO interest in doing that.

Palladian: Frank (the old "gay" guy on TS) is married. to a woman! I know, I know...

Quxxo: WTF

KCFleming said...

Much like the grocery store challenge last season, this one makes no sense to me.I agree with the "think about the woman" and "Ze Artiste" charges, but does anyone 'thinking about her' plus concerned about real purchasers create a garment totally out of plants? Huh?

Ugh. They all looked like "let's do some art". Meh. So Santino's leaves looked shiny? Who cares? An attempt to make a moss carpet act like a piece of cloth failed? Wow!

In this challenge, the show is bereft of creativity , but demands high style from its participants. Truly a silk purse from a sow's ear request. Ugly. The models were mortified, to a one. The judges faked it well, though; at least I hope they were faking.

Next week: fashion from decoupage!

The only good part this week was Mr. Gunn. What a masterful take-down of Santino. Yow!

Ann Althouse said...

I once saw a dress at an art museum that was made out of meat, sewn-together meat. It was pretty cool. I rather like art in the form of clothing -- some fantastical clothing. And part of the charm is when it actually looks -- to use a Project Runway word -- wearable.

David A. Carlson said...

Kara should of won

also, Santino needs to stay just so we can hear more impressions

knox said...

pogo, I understand what you mean in that the challenge does not let them use the most flattering materials possible... but that's why it's a challenge! The designers have to try to make something that is "wearable" under less-than-ideal conditions.

If they were able to use whatever fabrics they wanted every week, contestants could just plan their designs ahead before season even starts, and just execute them robotically week after week.

Palladian said...

"Palladian: Frank (the old "gay" guy on TS) is married. to a woman! I know, I know..."

Tilts head, looks askance. Oh dear. By "gay" I meant whimsical! Or something.

Having never watched the show but seen pictures and read your discussions about him, Santino sounds like your typical bitch queen in the fashion industry (I say this as a gay person, not a hater), who in some deep, psychological way, sees his opportunity to clothe the female body as something akin to a medieval hairshirt maker. Mortification and penance indeed. The Santino type tends to have a monumental arrogance covering a middling talent with a monumental insecurity about the whole thing. The psychological pain this causes often manifests itself in abusive, terrible behavior towards weak targets.

KCFleming said...

I understand the impetus for the challenge, and why it is a challenge, but it flits over more to arty rather than art. It seems to be trying too hard.

But what do I know? I have less fashion sense than the buyer at Sears. But anyway, gawd, whatta show, huh? Color me addicted.

Jinnmabe said...

We thought Kara or Daniel would win after looking at the dresses, and then, after hearing the judges' comments, it was obvious Daniel would win. I'm sorry, the plant thing was dumb, dumb, dumb, especially when you combine it with judges saying things like, "It just doesn't look wearable." No kidding! It's made out of plants. Sheesh.

Michael was right on about Santino (and so were the commenters here who mentioned it), he doesn't care about the woman. But I think it's larger than that, that he doesn't really care about anyone but himself. His designs have all been about him, and what HE can pull off, and what HE can design, and if they fit the model well, and look good on her, that's a happy coincidence. If I were a rich lady who wanted to hire one of these folks to design my clothing line, he'd be the last I'd pick. Even after some of the folks who are already out.

p.s. Heidi's white dress looked weird. I mean, I know she's pregnant (or was at the time) but it just didn't look good. And I say that as a sometime Heidi-worshipper.

knox said...

Palladian, don't fret, I'm not PC-ing you. I just thought you, and others who've seen the show, might get a kick out of that little factoid. Finding out Frank is married is not unlike finding out Corky in "Waiting for Guffman" is married!

And I have to give props to Frank. I adore him-- he is indeed cheesy, but in the best possible way. He (and Genevieve) were my faves when I was an old school Trading Spaces fan.

Mr Bearkins said...

in regards to heidi's weird white dress, it was a Viktor and Rolf, but not the best of the collection. i don't have a a good link to it, however, if you can get yr hands on any of the sheet/pillow collection, circa spring 03/04 ish, there is some really quality SH^T!