Mondo. :eek: I sure hope he had a chance to sit down with his mother before the episode aired.
They brought back the HP challenge where they design a fabric inspired by something from their life. Some of the inspirations were a bit bland and others were very deep.
The promos keep bringing up accusations of cheating and now they’ve added a shot of Tim telling someone that they will not be returning to the show.
Three in a row for Mondo! He was already my favorite, both design and personality-wise, and my heart just went out to him last night. It must have been a big weight off his shoulders to open up like that. I could be cynical and wonder if his story influenced the judges, but I thought he was the clear winner in any case.
Maybe we’ll finally get the whole story about the mysterious “cheating” incident next week (I won’t hold my breath).
I was also very moved by Mondo last night. He was clearly the winner, even before he told the story. I was also almost moved to tears by Gretchen when she was saying how she didn’t think her mother would come, but then she did.
Valerie’s dress was ugh. Andy’s outfit didn’t seem like the train wreck the judges thought it was, but you could tell Andy was off his game. Christopher’s was very wearable although I wasn’t thrilled by the pants. I didn’t like Michael’s, but it wasn’t horrible.
I liked Gretchen’s fabric and her look was good. April’s was good and very April. Mondo’s was just outstanding. He has a great eye for creating combinations of patterns that work well together. Not to mention, he does a great job with construction. I really want him to win this season.
Wonder who the cheater is… Did I see they brought Ivy back?
On one hand yeah for Mondo.
On the other the episode was way too talky.
They’ve gone from too snarky to too maudlin. Middle ground please.
I thought this was a very good challenge but I was not pleased with most of the results. What was up there was largely mediocre and ugly or just plain boring. This was a really cool challenge and most of the contestants did not live up to it. I would have sent Christopher home because he’s never shown a look that wasn’t a snore. I knew they weren’t going to send Andy home because of his previous work. He has potential and that always counts. Sending Val home seemed more like a huge kindness and relief rather than a punishment. She was clearly exhausted.
This episode showed that it’s not necessary to have ridiculous contrived challenges and manipulative editing to create drama.
Andy was way off his game, and I’m glad he’ll get another chance. Valerie was going home soon anyway. Still, at this point it’s traumatic no matter who leaves.
I don’t understand the judges’ infatuation with Gretchen. Her blouse did indeed look like fried eggs on the boobs.
It may be my age, but I liked Michael C’s dress, and I liked the yellow shoes. “Matchy-matchy” should not be a crime if it’s done well.
It appears from the promos that the next challenge is to create a look for Heidi and that the allegations of cheating occur in the final episode. When it comes to drama, the promos are always misleading. The promos for this week made it appear that Gretchen went berserk, threw something at someone, and everyone screamed “Oh My God”. Gretchen actually did toss a piece of fabric in a small moment of frustration, and the OMGs were pulled out of context from when the moms entered the room.
I’m 99% positive that all of the final ten presented collections at Fashion Week, although of course only three of them were actually finalists. To me, this indicates that no one was thrown off the show for cheating.
I was about as moved as I was by Kenley’s tugboat stories. Which is to say, not at all. Perhaps I’m a cynical, cold-hearted bitch, but I have very little patience with the whole “Pity me, the pathetic unloved outcast” schtick.
And what in the hell is with Mondo telling everyone at PR about his HIV status before his mom? If I were her, that would upset me a lot more than him being positive, or even him hiding it for a decade.
His look was by far the best for the challenge. I didn’t like the cut of the pants or the pairing of the blouse (though it was a lovely blouse), but he has a wonderful eye for color and more importantly in a challenge like this, for getting the scale right on a print. That was what killed Gretchen’s look–her motif was nice, the colors were good, but the scale of the print was all wrong for what she was doing. Those motifs were so big and so spaced out that it looked like random stuff pinned on a white blouse. If she’d changed that, or even fussy cut her blouse pieces so the motifs were higher and further to the side instead of right over the nipple, I think it would have looked completely different. Hell, even if she’d done some tone on tone mottling in the background it would have made the whole thing look a lot more deliberate.
I would have been more moved if it hadn’t been for the call to her “mommy” a few weeks ago. Either she or the editing team undercut that moment.
Plus, I just don’t like her.
I didn’t mind her garment, I hated that print.
April is a 23 year old art student. And that’s all I can see. Her aesthetic is just reinforcing the stereotype. I’m half amused and half bored at how she can turn every challenge into “it made me feel like the color black…with strappy things.” I’m not interested. I think I would have liked to see her design work in 10 years - after she’s expanded a little.
Nina’s gasp when Mondo’s model pulled off the jacket to reveal print number 3 was hilarious. And I liked his top. I’d never wear those bottoms (even if I had the figure for it) but I wish I could have the figure for that blouse.
Chris’s was a bad print on a dull outfit. I liked Michael’s print (to me, it had dimension. I would have liked to see Andy work with it), but not his garment. I liked Andy’s print, but it wasn’t the right print for him at all.
And Valerie just got lost.
I got tears in my eyes when Mondo first revealed his HIV status. I know it isn’t a death sentence any longer, but I just hope he’s getting good treatment and responds well to it. He needs to work for a good long while. Anyone who can make me appreciate graphic prints in bright colors is talented. 
I thought Michael’s outfit looked like a cast off from She-Ra.
Mondo rocked again and I bawled my eyes out.
I actually liked Andy’s outfit, look well tailored, well proportioned, I would have ditched the vest but I liked it overall. Val’s and Micheal C’s we have seen a gazillion times before, Gretchens print was cool. Chris’s was meh. Mondo’s another clear winner with his wild wacky prints, they were gorgeous on the model. I wonder if he was trained as a graphic designer first?
Nobody would ever wear Mondo’s pants. Seriously. While I did like them as “art”, they’re not the least bit wearable. Anyone who put on those skintight high-waisted retina-searing pants would be on a worst-dressed list the second they left the house.
April is by far the biggest loser from Mondo’s revelation. Her “my clothes are black because my parents got divorced ten years ago” looks especially lame when the guy doing the crazy patterns and bright colors is HIV+.