74 replies to this topic

[TWoP Nikita]

From Zap2it:

The designers are allowed a day of sketching in Paris at the Eiffel tower; the designers must create couture gowns.

This thread will open at 10:00pm EST on January 10th.

[rustyspigot]

Did we see Cynthia Rowley's Spanx throughout judging?

Leave it to Josh to find the Golden Girls lanai furniture upholstery in Paris to use.

The Beautiful Georgina got upgraded to The Exquisite! She'll be deified by the end of the show!

And speaking of deification, the cult of Anthony Ryan has been rejuvenated on the judging panel. Frankly, I don't think anyone should have won.

Edited by rustyspigot, Jan 10, 2013 @ 10:07 PM.

[Leighdear]

Hey!....Georgina Chapman was "Exquisite" tonight! Hated her dress though. A very bad Cher "Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves" schmatta.

Line of the night, Josh getting the Valentino show invite...."I'm like a straight guy at a baseball game!"...*LOL*

Gorgeous stuff the Valentino folks were doing in their work room. Seriously, those florals & ruffles were just breathtaking. The Runway show clothing was stunning.

Josh & an ugly floral....*sigh* Like a moth to a flame. At least he didn't wear a neon tie-dye tank top to the show. The bodice of Josh's dress was pretty, but the skirt was ridiculous. Hated it overall, though the shape was nice.

Emilio's fabric choice was ok, but it just didn't stand out as unique or special. It looked very Nancy Reagan, circa 1986. Aminat looked GIGANTIC!

And sorry, but the darts in the bodice did NOT match up to the darts in the skirt. It was VERY obvious to me, so his tailoring was NOT up to par. I disagree that he's in the finale. He's a total one way monkey for me.

SO rare for Anthony Ryan to be frantic & unsure about his design after getting so far into construction. His "gut" was right to ditch it, because I thought the 2nd dress was amazing. I could SO see a celeb in it on the red carpet. Cynthia called it "Scary-Pretty", and I totally agree.

Hated Uli's dress. Just ugly in my eyes. Chop it off short, it could have been a pretty ice skating costume.

WOW, I LOVED the bottom 2 challenge between Uli & Josh. VERY unique, so kudos to the producers. Both looked better, I agree that Uli just rocked it to the max.

I feel for Josh, he did a lot of good work and gained a lot of "humanity" points in my books.

[CrumbyButtons]

Hated Uli's dress. Just ugly in my eyes. Chop it off short, it could have been a pretty ice skating costume.

For me, if you can't make a dress without using illusion netting... make a different dress. It's so lame. I hated Uli's dress too, but I couldn't believe of all the pedestrian dresses on the runway, Isaac singled out hers as one he's seen all over. Please. There wasn't a single original idea on that runway.

Loved Uli's commentary as her model walked the runway "She's not naked. She's wearing a dress." Well, I should hope so!

[bawarner]

Thought they got it right by choosing Uli to stay. But was pissed that Josh got cut when Anthony Ryan should have been long gone for last week's monstrosity.


Josh was giving me total flashbacks to Jeffery's cotton couture "winner" (in quotes 'cause it sucked just like him IMO.) I will very grudgingly admit that the asshole's fabric was prettier than Josh's though:)


I'm still holding out hope that this hasn't been a season-long set-up for a AR win. It doesn't feel as obvious to me as the Mondo disaster though so there's that I suppose.

[avecsans]

Did we see Cynthia Rowley's Spanx throughout judging?

Yes! I cracked up when she was talking about the lining on Uli's dress and said she thought she was seeing something she shouldn't see. I thought, kind of like me with your Spanx, Cynthia.

I liked Emilio's dress so much better before he put the sleeves on it. The sleeves took the frump factor up quite a few notches for me. It also needed a belt or some kind of contrasting band to cover up the seam at the waist.

Oh Josh. How could a person have so little taste? That "couture" gown was hideous and ill-fitting to boot. He improved it marginally when he cut the sleeves off and shortened it.

I am so glad Uli was safe but I fear nobody can beat AR, whose mediocrity never fails to amaze the judges.

[AwesomO4000]

What I saw may have been influenced by the hotel television I saw it on - it's one of those elongated TV's that makes people look short and squat - but I thought that Josh made his dress look a lot better in that hour, while I thought that Uli's looked worse. That front looked messy and the color drab. I would have picked Josh's myself. But I knew Josh would be eliminated before the show began, so it wasn't surprising.

It also may have been the lack of detail on the TV, but Anthony Ryan's dress just looked boring to me as well as totally obstructing his model's figure. And Emilio's fabric was nice (where did the yellow I saw him working with go so quickly? - likely a good idea, but all of a sudden it seemed to disappear.) and there was something interesting about it, but I didn't get all the oohing and aahhing over the "high" waist. Why was that supposedly young and fresh, when hasn't that been going on for a while now? And with the long sleeves and long dress, for me - and I admit my fashion knowledge is limited but... - a longer waist would have made the dress look less heavy on the bottom and more in proportion. Maybe look more fitted as well.

I'll be interested in others' observations on this as I suspect that with my bad cold I'm not thinking clearly.

I think mostly I'm thinking that even if it was colorfully tacky, a collection by Josh would have been interesting - even if an interesting train wreck - while I'm expecting Anthony Ryan's to be black and black and white (maybe some grey) block dresses with pretty much a rectangular type shape (i.e. boring in case that wasn't obvious). I would rather have seen the interesting train wreck myself.

And of course this week we have the elimination, when it should have been last week.

Bon voyage Orange Josh. I, for one, will miss you on the runway.

Edited by AwesomO4000, Jan 10, 2013 @ 10:28 PM.

[spaceytraci17]

I thought it was all ugly...but what the fuck do I know about fashion? *shrug*

[Anacharsis]

I knew when Josh trash-talked Uli's dress as mostly scraps before the final decision was made that he was out. He's such a pissy little misogynist. Those floral fabrics were hideous and I'm so glad he and his noxious, no-taste personality are out.

Again Anthony Ryan gets all kind of love. It's mystifying.

I don't care for Emilio and don't want him to win, but I do appreciate his love of color.

Way back in week 1 when they showed clips from the upcoming season, there was one with Isaac saying, "It's the best thing I've ever seen on Project Runway," or something similar. He didn't say that during the regular competition, did he?

I'm hoping for kick-ass, knock-out garments next week. It's been awhile.

[Bananabread]

Anthony Ryan's dress and model's hairstyle was giving me serious O'Brien from Downtown Abbey.

[Sedruol]

I feel like the designers keep getting hamstrung by these insanely short challenges. Would it really kill the production to give them an extra day to work on a *couture* gown? I feel like the designers constantly keep compromising their vision because there's no way they can get an ambitious design done in the time they have.

I wasn't wowed by anyone's design, but I adored Emilio's fabric, and thought his design made a statement on the runway. I didn't hate Anthony Ryan's design this week but I didn't think it was the second coming of awesome that the judges saw. Joshua's floral was just crazy bad; he apparently needs a client's input to reign in his taste level. Felt bad for Uli; her dress wasn't horrible, but you could tell that she didn't execute the vision she had in her head.

Thought it was cruel to make the designers work yet another hour for the final death elimination when everyone knows they were not sending Uli home before the finale.

Anthony Ryan's dress and model's hairstyle was giving me serious O'Brien from Downtown Abbey.

Too funny! I can totally see that now that you mentioned it!

[awaken]

So frustrating and disappointing. 10 hours to make a couture dress. And not surprisingly, we end up with a whole lotta nothing.

AR's dress must have looked completely different in person, because on my screen it was a long slightly sparkly black dress.

[IHateSpunk]

Josh! Go back in the box!

[Streya]

Why does every challenge need to be done in hours? God forbid they actually have TIME to make an outfit.

I just don't understand the continued fascination with Anthony Ryan. If last week wasn't the cincher, tonight's win surely is. I don't know... it's a wild guess, but I'm gonna go out on a limb and make the bold prediction that Anthony Ryan will win next week... (/sarcasm) I'm not even sure I want to watch the finale now, Mondo's win was boring enough.

[Maddingcrowd]

I thought Emilio's dress was lovely and if the designers had two days to make the couture gown (like they had in the past), it would be really amazing. I actually didn't mind Anthony Ryan's dress this week but it didn't seem original at all. Both Uli and Josh had really ugly dresses, but I liked Josh's remade one way better than Uli's, I like Uli and get it why she stayed over Josh, but if the challenge was meaningless why do it?

Continue to hope Emilio wins it all but it is clear that the judges are in love with Anthony Ryan so we will see him win next week,

[hunterhunted]

Why does every challenge need to be done in hours? God forbid they actually have TIME to make an outfit.

This is my endless irritation with this show, especially on Lifetime. They don't let the designers the time to excute their vision. It's completely egregious in the case of a couture challenge. Uli needed time to think about her design a little bit. Josh needed time, but probably in the fabric store more than anything. I liked Emilio's, but it needed something. Possibily to push the shape more and maybe a belt. And I think that the scale of the fabrics used in Anthony Ryan's were off. It was hard to tell that he was doing this geometric sculpted thing because the scale was so similar.

[Ketzel]

The instant A-R threw his first dress on the ground and declared he hated it and had to start all over with only six hours to go, I knew he was the winner. The PR producers are the one-way monkeys to me; every single time a designer is shown dramatically melting down with only hours to spare, that designer wins the runway.

I laughed at the subtle (?) difference between declaring this a "couture" challenge at the beginning, and declaring it a "couture-inspired" challenge later on. Somewhere along the line, I guess the producers figured out none of the contestants could sew to a courture standard, especially when they were only given ten hours plus jet lag to produce the look. At least they were given a suitable budget, but more time would also have been appropriate.

I was embarrassed on behalf of American fashion at the way the contestants dressed to tour The House of Valentino and to attend the show. Was Josh really wearing capris? At least A-R pulled the silly red string off his hair puff.

I am convinced that Isaac Mizrahi is doing Anthony-Ryan because I can see no other reason for his ferocious defense of anything A-R produces. Well, maybe A-R is a long-lost relative from the rich end of the family? Or has some means of blackmailing Isaac? Whatever.

When Josh pulled out the floral fabric, I had a flashback to the kitchen curtains in my grandma's house circa 1958.
Matching it up with black lace was a very, very, very, bad idea and I don't care what the judging panel thought about it. It was tasteless and unbalanced and not even ugly enough to be interesting. Just bad.

[bilgistic]

Georgina Chapman['s]...dress [was a] very bad Cher "Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves" schmatta.

Leighdear, I had this exact same thought during the show!

Josh's floral print was an assault on my retinas. We get it--he loves the 1980s. He was an infant then, so he doesn't remember how terrible everyone looked, and clearly isn't objective enough to see how terrible he looks in the style.

Emilio's dress looked like something a very senior senior citizen would wear. "Young", Isaac? No.

I laughed at the subtle (?) difference between declaring this a "couture" challenge at the beginning, and declaring it a "couture-inspired" challenge later on.

This. At one point, someone was hot-gluing, and I thought, "Since when is hot-gluing fabric 'couture'?"

[auntlada]

Emilio's fabric choice was ok, but it just didn't stand out as unique or special. It looked very Nancy Reagan, circa 1986. Aminat looked GIGANTIC!

I really liked the fabric (at least the look of it -- without feeling it, it's hard to say), but I thought it made Aminat look fat somehow, too. It almost looked like she was pregnant walking down the runway. It was weird. And then when she was just standing there, it was hard to see her waist at all. I thought maybe some of those black things he apparently discarded might have helped. Maybe it was just on TV, but the color of the dress just made it all blend together. It was too much.

It also may have been the lack of detail on the TV, but Anthony Ryan's dress just looked boring to me as well as totally obstructing his model's figure.

I'm pretty sure we weren't watching the same TV, but that's how it looked to me, too. It also looked like she had no neck, which I know from watching Next Top Model is one of the worst things a model can do (besides refusing to participate in one of Tyra's little teaching sessions).

[Bebecat]

Okay, I decided coming into this episode that I would have a wide open mind for all four designers and pretend that I did not know their previous work.

But poor Josh. He really grew on me.
Not crazy about Carolyn throwing in French words and phrases, kind of corny but it is is PR.
She looked good in the runway outfit, I like her with severe hair..
Joanna does not overwhelm me with her outfits for her position.

To the gowns...will not even talk about couture in one day, we are used to that nonsense.
The challenge for Josh and Uli was a shocker. Kind of stupid as a task to possibly send them home. Uli killed it, here, for me. But Josh did a good job too.

Oh the love for AR is boggling my mind. Yes, he is clever, and creative, but he is not the next Valentino, etc.
I liked Emilio's dress a lot, and Aminat looked like a Russian queen before the revolution. But I think that was due mostly to her.

Honestly, I never feel this way, but I wish all four could have made a collection. I would love to see one from Joshua. I felt really sad for him. i think this was one time when all four could have advanced without looking weird (like last week...)

For the limited amount of time, I think they all did better than we have seen on other couture challenges.

Uli's gown was disappointing, not just because of the lining. Just did not wow me. The only "wow" factor for me was Aminat hitting the runway. I hope this show helps her career in some way. I love her.

Now I do think an AR win is almost a given. The judges are in love with his taste and designs. You can't overcome that, if you are Uli or Emilio, unless their collection is beyond perfection and he somehow bombs.

Edited by Bebecat, Jan 11, 2013 @ 12:35 AM.

[PixiesSix]

Apparently I'm the only one, but I loved Anthony Ryan's dress. However, I wasn't impressed with it when it first walked down the runway, but decided it was awesome after they showed the detail in the contrasting fabrics in the closeups. It did the same things for me that Uli's Christmas dress did. AR himself, though, looks like an extra from an 80s aerobics video with his matching red "headband" and hair pouf. And I think it's the 2nd time he's had a headband.

Emilios dress.... I "got" what the judges were saying about it and understood why they raved over it, but personally it did nothing for me. It was cute how they were all running up to touch the fabric, but I thought that it did all the work for him. The shape was frumpy and the tailoring was so-so. I agree with Isaac (wtf?!) that had he made it shorter (or even a hi-lo hem) it would have been more interesting.

I liked Uli's dress, but it wasn't spectacular. I liked the front of the bodice (and don't mind the illusion netting), but the skirt looked too haphazard. She should have made a hot pant or something instead of using that nude lining (where's Ivy when you need her?), but I didn't think the lining was that big an issue.

I just can't with Josh and ugly his floral prints. I think I have a pair of Docs somewhere with that same print. Normally i'm intrigued by clashing fabrics, but not with THAT lace pattern with THAT floral, in THAT shape. Had he given his first dress the waist that he made for the 2nd dress, and either made the skirt much fuller OR really fitted (as it was, it was just kinda there, like a curtain), I might have liked it better, but that floral pattern was tragic.

I don't know why they bothered with the surprise challenge, since everyone knows Josh was doomed from the start and no way would they get rid of Uli before him. Josh really don't even do a whole lot for the 2nd dress.... he just ripped off the sleeves, turned it around, tucked the top in, and then chopped off a couple feet of fabric. Uli redesigned the entire dress and made two separate (rather cute) pieces. No contest.

[Ginandtonic]

CM is back to the fug I see, the pants & shirt she wore was blindingly ugly, but she rocked the red jumpsuit so I guess it’s a split decision this week.

“I’m like a straight guy at a baseball game!” LMAO, Josh was really funny when he said that.

I wonder how Mood feels listening to everyone fawning over the fabric store in Paris, it was like they were saying the place in Paris was couture, & Mood was the bargain basement.

I thought all 4 dresses were horrible this week:

Uli-Looked like someone gold leafed the model

Emilio-Dumpy looking, way too much fabric

Josh-Sooo friggin' ugly, the patterns together made me gag

AR-Is he designing for Elvira now? How the hell did he win again?

That was a very interesting challenge between Uli & Josh. I thought both new looks were much better than the originals, but I still hate Josh’s print, so I'm glad that Uli made it & Josh is gone.

I was embarrassed on behalf of American fashion at the way the contestants dressed to tour The House of Valentino and to attend the show. Was Josh really wearing capris? At least A-R pulled the silly red string off his hair puff.

That's exactly what I thought too, my first thought when I saw Josh's capris was "well, at least he isn't wearing the too tight shorts" I couldnt' tell, did he actually wear them to the show too? I got distracted by his sparkly jacket.

[whee whee piggy]

I was obsessed with what they wore to Valentino as well. Josh's exposed calves looked scabby.

I did note that Emilo 'dressed', keeping his hat off and wearing a suit. Thank you, from all of us.

[kelslamu]

Emilio's dress reminded me of "granny gowns" girls wore when I was young. Yep, I'm talking about when I was six and I'm 44 now. It's sooo not a new idea. AR just bores me to death. I'd rather see Josh in the finale just for curiosity purposes. Uli could have done better, but I'm hoping her mini collection shows her overall ability and not just three or four white dresses.

Edited by kelslamu, Jan 11, 2013 @ 2:58 AM.

[ICGS]

Apparently I'm the only one, but I loved Anthony Ryan's dress.

You are not. I thought it was gorgeous. But then other than last week's (which was horrible), and one other that I was meh on, I've loved all of Anthony Ryan's designs. I completely understand why the judges rave over his stuff, I liked him and his designs in his season, but this All-Stars, he's just been outstanding.

While I was gobsmacked by how wonderfully Joshua and Uli deconstructed their gowns, I didn't see how it was necessary considering that Joshua's original gown is one of the five most hideous designs I've ever seen on this show. And I've watched every episode of every season. Still, while I think he deserved to go, I am happy to say that where I completely loathed him in his season, he's come across so, so much better this time around.

Emilio? Eh.

I really want Anthony Ryan to win, but if Uli does (and she delivers as she has most of the season), I won't be disappointed. These two have just been so spectacular; they've made the season for me.

[seacliffsal]

It seemed to me that during the runway elimination challenge, that Josh really did deconstruct his 'couture' gowm while Uli just used fabrics that she had left over. It really didn't make a difference in the elimination results, but it just seemed interesting to me. I did like 'second chance elimination' challenge though.

I would probably wear something like Josh's second look, but not his first one...

[Streya]

I feel like I actually got waht Josh was trying to do (for once), so I didn't mind the dress; it was the choice of the patterns that threw it off for me. ITA that Emilos's dress looked so much cuter without the sleeves.

If Uli's dress was bad enough that they couldn't cut Josh outright, I don't understand why they didn't do what they normally do, and send all 4 back to make collections -- then have a mini show before the finale to make the last cut.

[Sabretooth]

The floral pattern on Josh's dress reminded me of something out of a Vera Bradley collection.And I doubt that Vera Bradley (as much as I love their stuff) is the first thing that you think of when you hear "couture."

[TerryMcT]

I'm glad Uli stayed over Joshua. Their orders were to take their gowns and create an entirely different look in one hour. Joshua used the hour to FIX his gown. His second look was much better than his first, but it wasn't an entirely different look. It was the same dress, edited down. Uli's couture gown was basically a longer (and less nice) version of her dress from the Christmas shop episode. In her hour, she changed it entirely...just what the guidance said to do. As with Josh, I think her second look was much better than her first.

AR and Emilio both went too severe, I think. Emilio's fabric was gorgeous, but he relied solely on that. Haven't contestants been dinged for that, even just a couple episodes back? His dress looked like a maternity ballgown, and a boring out (outside the fabric choice) at that. AR did some really neat things with those contrasting fabrics but I swear that model was having issues walking down the runway. I wish the neckline hadn't been so severe, as well.

Josh's floral print was an assault on my retinas. We get it--he loves the 1980s. He was an infant then, so he doesn't remember how terrible everyone looked, and clearly isn't objective enough to see how terrible he looks in the style

I kept thinking how different that fabric would have turned out in Mondo's hands, rather than Josh's.

Edited by TerryMcT, Jan 11, 2013 @ 8:10 AM.

[charmgirl]

I actually didn't mind Anthony Ryan's dress this week but it didn't seem original at all.

IMO it seemed VERY derivative of a few of the Valentino gowns, with all the peekaboo-psyche-she's-not really-naked elements. So, I wasn't too crazy about it.

It was cute how they were all running up to touch the fabric, but I thought that it did all the work for him.

But, I think that was half the challenge... being able to choose the right fabric. I believe that was the biggest mark against Josh --- one of the judges said something to the effect "Well, if you can even pick the right fabric..."

I think if all of them had another day ... and time to sleep all their designs would have been better.

I was obsessed with what they wore to Valentino as well. Josh's exposed calves looked scabby.

I did note that Emilo 'dressed', keeping his hat off and wearing a suit. Thank you, from all of us

I know, right?! I don't think Josh own's any big boy pants. And A.R. didn't do much better.