Thursday, September 11, 2008

Project Runway Episode 9: Odd Man Out

Yeah, so I guess the judges decided it was time to let Blayne go out in a blaze of glory, manifested by neon pink and turquoise poufs that cascaded oddly down his model's body-stockinged garment.

He was kooky, but self-consciously so. He was savagely tan, resembling a turkey ready to pop out of the oven. And he wanted to unleash the ideas that rattled around his head onto the runway.

Ah, Blayne, we hardly knew ye. Well, we knew ye enough.

Obviously talented, but very young. Just like Stella called it. "He knows nothing." Live a little, Blayne.

Kenley's model had triceps-on-steroids shoulders pumped full of air, the proportions staggeringly ridiculous. The plaid in the top and the tull-laden puff skirt were just awful. Bad fabric. Bad design. Bad self-promotion. I predict that Kenley's either getting auf'd this next episode or she's in for the long haul, and we'll have to suffer through her like we did Wendy Pepper. And we'll have to sit through her boring Betty Page-inspired collection [yawn!].

But enough of the baddies.

Sagittarius Saves the Day
Jerrell is hitting his stride with his textile mix-and-match skills, which were put to good use these past few challenges. His Sagittarius garment was far and away the best - he earned that win - and he obviously took inspiration from Tim's comment that the design was on the precipice between utter disaster and taking the prize.

And I give Jerrell a ton of credit: Rather than shrink back from his design, second-guess himself, and present something weird and half-baked, he looked like he just forged ahead. We haven't seen much of Jerrell's design process... I wonder if that's because it's being saved for the last 2 episodes. (Or it's just too boring to capture on film?). I couldn't tell what fabric that little jacket was made of, but the colors and just worked together.

My sister's a Sagittarius, and although she'd laugh to hear this, I could totally see her rocking that dress.

Leanne's exoskeletal Scorpio was interesting in concept, but in execution, looked a little, I dunno, flappy.

Korto, I loved the color interpretation of her Aquarius dress, but damn, it looked like a caftan and the same flowy shape she's done a kajillion times before. Is it me?

Other Hot Messes
Terri = disaster (Hello? What does shiny red have to do with a lion - I mean, other than offal?). Suede getting called out by the Duchess for his third-person shenanigans - ha-ha! - clearly zapping his delusions of grandeur.

Oh, yes, and Joe's ruffled rust mess made it all the more evident that he is employing the "I don't have to outrun the bear, I just have to outrun you" strategy. Which is kind of lazy. Or what less talented people do.

Really, if Blayne hadn't indulged in that fabric explosion and instead played it safe with a more traditional garment, we'd still be seeing his goofy betanned grin next week. Ah, well. Can't blame him for going for it, I guess.

Final Three
These are my hopes for the final three:
  • Korto
  • Leanne
  • Jerrell

4 comments:

Kitty said...

aaahh!! I am saving this post til after I see the episode. It's on dvr, and I'll find some time for it when Mark is occupied. (When I have it on, he says 'what is this?!')

Hope you're well Spandrel!

Anonymous said...

Doing well, thanks Kitty!

After you check out the recording, be sure to check some of the sites with coverage of the Project Runway Fashion Week shows... see if you can pick the "decoy designers" and figure out which were the real finalists.

Kitty said...

hm..I dunno. I have to wonder who will be left? Kenley is so annoying, but I suppose that happens when you're competing and isolated from the world. You're living in a fiction.

I don't find any of the designers consistently good or appealing to my own taste. It's a tough call.

I saw the show and I couldn't believe Terri's deceit at the end when she accused what's his name of walking away. She was mean and childish through the whole thing... but then, competition brings out the worst in people.

Anonymous said...

Terri really disappointed me, as the weeks wore on. I guess, too, once Jerrell called her on having "four patterns" in her bag of tricks, I was even less interested in her work.

While Keith annoyed the heck out of me, Terri really did treat him poorly. She only made herself look bad.

I'm rooting more and more for Leanne, despite the fact that I can't envision wearing any of her designs. My own style is must more subdued, whereas her garments are the type that scream "Look at me!"

The finale should be interesting, if a bit anticlimactic.