Wow. That “find someone to carry me” strategy didn’t really work out so well, did it?
Though I think Ra’mon might not have won if he’d had any partner other than Old Boar-tits–they seemed to like the other team’s work better overall, but a great look apiece just isn’t nearly so impressive as two nearly-as-great pieces all by yourself.
My reaction when Ra’mon won and then Efferson and whats’ername left the runway before Mitchell :eek:
I had my fingers crossed the next period wondering if they really were gonna really send him home.
My reaction when Mitchel was aufed 
Well, thank god Heidi got her wish and found a way to auf Mitchell in the most humiliating way possible-- by giving his teammate the win first. That elimination was totally justified, and a huge relief. What gall, to pick Ra’mon and then deliberately make him do everything, thinking that would make him safe. Heidi saw right through that shit. Awesome.
However… did not think Ra’mon deserved the win. How the heck were either of those outfits surf looks? I realize there was a bathing suit under the sea weed dress, but what was the point of that if we never saw the bathing suit?
The looks I liked best didn’t even make it into the finals, like Shirin’s. I’d have to watch again to be more specific, since they zipped down the runway so fast. I do think it’s funny, since Christian Siriano and Chris March made that amazing avant garde dress with the huge collar, everyone seems to think that avant garde = huge, weird collar on an evening gown, and nothing much more.
As for the model drama… I thought Fatma was bad news, but Vanessa is such a drama queen. Someone apologizes, just accept it and move on, even if you don’t like her. Don’t use it as an opportunity to crap all over her, cry, and then act like you’re the victim. Logan didn’t pick Fatma-- she is going to cut someone! I was surprised that Louise picked her, since her aesthetic doesn’t seem like the kind of thing that would go with Fatma’s look, but hey, more drama, so it’s OK.
Here is the commercial that Carol-Hannah’s model Erika left the competition to make, if anyone’s interested. Hey, it got her a SAG card, I guess.
I didn’t like Ra’mon’s green avant garde dress that much.
I thought some of the creations from the other teams were better:
Logan’s Design Modeled by Kojii
Irina 's Design Modeled by Kalyn
Yeah, but you could make that argument with a lot of the looks–most of them are specifically designed to look like a stand-alone dress, not a bathing suit with something over it. Even when you see parts of the bathing suit, it’s harmonized with the rest of the outfit so much as to just sort of visually disappear. Louise’s, for instance, looks like a shortened Uli dress in a solid color–a little beachy, but not really a surf look. Shirin’s design just looks like an Uli dress, though she does get points for actually taking off the coverup to show the suit underneath. Epperson’s look just looks like a sundress. Christopher’s design is closer to looking like a bathing suit with something over it, but it could just as easily be a bra. And as much as I loved Irina’s ensemble, there was nothing about it that said “surf” or even “beach town” to me.
Also, when scrolling through the pics, I noticed that the fabric in Ra’mon’s dress was a lot more sheer than it looked on television. You can see the bathing suit through the dress. It’s not very easy to see in the front view because of the layering of the fabric and it being a distance shot, but you can very clearly see the suit in the side view.
Besides, I’d like to see what any of the rest of them could do when saddled with Mr. “Find someone to carry me.” Most of the teams weren’t in the hunt even with two partners both busting ass. Ra’mon was in the hunt even before the judges realized he made everything but the bathing suit. If somebody can do twice as much work as everyone else, and do it so well that said work is still among the best…that person deserves to win at least as much as the person who produced half as much work and did it marginally better. If he’d produced those looks with an actual partner instead of a millstone around his neck, he would almost certainly have come in second, and I certainly wouldn’t have quibbled with that decision. But he didn’t produce those looks with a partner–he did them pretty much by himself, and as such I really can’t argue with them giving him the nod.
The challenge was lame, but the outcome was hilarious. Both in terms of what came down the runway and who got auf’d from the runway. And how.
The green neoprene dress was a monstrosity, but considering the circumstances…well, it was still a monstrosity, but at least the model was decently covered. I’m guessing the judges knew about what happened in the workroom and chose that team for “first” to make a point. I’m not sold on Ra’mon’s design skills, but I’m impressed with his interpersonal skills, work ethic, and ability to “make it work.”
By far the worst dress on the runway was that…thing that Q was wearing. Could it be possible to wear something more unflattering? Each breast looked like a flour sack sitting on her waist. And that color? Oy vey! When I saw her wearing it in the hair studio, I thought it was one of those salon bathrobes that happened to look particularly unfortunate on her. Her “taste level” is definitely “questionable.” I do think the designers should be (and are) judged based on their creations, personal presentation is always important.
Speaking of Q–I hated Epperson on sight, and last night confirmed my suspicions. He’s totally one of those guys that cultivates an aura of being really laid back, and then gets pissed off if you don’t follow his program exactly. I’ve known far too many people who were uptight about being laid back. That said, Q handled the situation badly.
I’m not sure who Rachel Bilson is. I’m loving Nina Garcia more with every season. I wish we heard a little more from Max Azria. I miss the Orange One. Heidi is starting to show her age a bit, and looks more gorgeous than ever. And is as fabulous as always.
Anybody watching Models of the Runway? I really liked it. I’m not interested in their interpersonal dramas, but I liked how it gave more insight into what goes on.
Also, I’d be really interested to know how and why designers choose the models that they do. What factors do they consider? What makes one more desirable than the other?
If you were a designer, which one do you think you would choose? Which one wouldn’t you choose? (Other than Fatma. And am I the only one who thinks it’s hilarious that a person who’s job it is to be as thin as possible’s name starts with “Fat?”)
For reasons unclear to me Nina was practically rhapsodic over the neoprene fabric.
Of the other two you mentioned I think Irina’s more clearly answers the surf aspect of the challenge. Truthfully though the notion of avant garde surf hurted my brain a wee bit. I wouldn’t last half an hour on a show like this, even if the focus were on a skill set I actually have.
I think Green Bean’s assesment of Epperson is spot on, and cracked me up. My husband had a roommate sort of like that in grad school. After he’d leave the house the other roomates would say “namaste goddamit!”
Why do so many designers think avant garde means “make one shoulder HUGE!”
I have a different perspective on this now that I watched Tim’s workroom conferences with the designers on Lifetime’s website. He actively discouraged pretty much everyone from exposing their bathing suits, which most of them had under there. In fact, Boris and Natasha, I mean Nicolas and Gordana, were going to make a bikini bottom to go with their macrame top, and he told them not to bother because the bathing suits weren’t important. So, you can strike that part of my criticism. The surfwear was supposed to be implied, it seems. I don’t quite understand why, but it’s not a mistake on the part of the designers.
I don’t think his work was among the best, though. The neoprene dress was a fugly mess IMO. I realize he pulled it out of his ass at the last possible minute, and in light of that it’s not the worst that could have happened, but I just did not get what Nina was kvelling over. They kept saying they would wear it “with a little tweaking.” No, with a LOT of tweaking, it might not be so ridiculous. Neoprene doesn’t drape so much as it folds, and it’s folded in some wear places (like her crotch!). I give Ra’mon full props for working his ass off to make two designs that were not a complete embarrassment, but there were a lot of designs that were much, much better that were completely ignored by the judges. That’s just my opinion, but having read the blogs on Lifetime (Chris March, Nick Verreos, and Andrae Gonzalo), I’m not alone in this view.
What the hell was Mitchell doing on the show on the first place if he has no skills?
I agree that the two winning looks were kind of terrible. I mean, I suppose they like when it looks like someone’s going to fail and then they win, but still.
I also agreed that the big collar has been done.
And I was also hoping that Shirin would make it into the final one, too.
I was wondering the same thing but every link I click on for Mitchell Hall Lifetime past-work locks up on me.
I know it can’t possibly be intentional (especially now that they’re on different networks), but I thought it was interesting (and hilarious) that for the first time ever on each show, the millstone half of the winning teams of both Top Chef and PR were on the chopping block this week. And while Mike the cook scraped by, Mitchell the Poser did not.
She was in The OC and a movie with Zach Braff, but more importantly for this, she’s considered a young-Hollywood type with a definite style who has a head for design and styling.
Well worth watching this week for the site of Mr Gunn in business casual attire on a beach and flip-flops.
Don’t know why the green Neoprene bag (that fitted where it touched, which wasn’t everywhere) was the winner? I figured that Ra’mon would be following Mitchell out the door with that one. It may have looked better on the runway, but when they started praising his work, we got the giggles.
Watched a couple of episodes of the Models show; the only added value is to keep track of which models are getting switched out. Other than that, it’s like high school clique dramatics again. I gave up around the time that the black woman was trying to apologize to the one who looks like Julia Roberts.
Mind you, I used to think that actors were the worst; now I know that models are
Heh, agreed. It reminded me of when he visited Ulli in Miami and they went to the beach, back in season three. His feet were so pale! I get the sense that those are probably the only two times in his life he’s worn flip flops.
Yeah. I wish they’d stuck with the wet suit. It wasn’t great, but this…this was heinous. Did ANYONE who wasn’t on the show like it? People have been saying that other fashion/PR related people have blogged about it saying “WTF?” about it.
ETA: Reading Project Rungay’s take. Lorenzo liked the avant garde winner, Tom hated it. They both thought the dress wasn’t surfwear at all and that it was boring and not super well-made–very first year fashion student.
ETA AGAIN: Mitchell was lame, but it was so painful to watch him get chewed out by Heidi. He deserved it, but that kind of stuff always makes me cringe!
She has a column in In Style magazine now, too.
Oh, any word on whether or not the Duchess, aka Michael Kors, will be returning? I loved that guy!
I missed the first two. Was Max Azria judging in those two as well?
Thank you, gigi. I never could keep up with who the starlets of the moment are.
I think the nature of this challenge is what led to the poor results. 15 minutes at Mood? That’s ridiculous. And if you’re going to do “avant garde,” you really need some time to do it. Creating a high-pressure situation is part of the game, but if they turn up the heat TOO much, then everyone is just left scrambling to send something down the runway and hope that someone else screwed up worse.
And the silliest part of it was that it didn’t even integrate the sponsor in any meaningful way! Perhaps a better alternative would have been for the Garnier folks to come up with some crazy hairstyles for the models first and then have the designers create outfits to go with the hairstyles.