
By Leslie
It’s the Finale and my wine drinking friend, CJ Bomb, is not able to blog this episode! So instead of chiming in, I’m freaking the Bomb- lol! Big shoes to fill (yes as CJ wears size 9.5 and I wear a 7) and I’m a bit worried since Courtney is a Literary brainiac and I was a math major but I keep thinking of Tim Gunn and I find myself mumbling from 8:30pm to 9pm Thursday night – “Just Make It Work”! So here goes….
As a preview, I watched the Review of the Runway with prior PR contestants – Kelly, Laurence and Alex. Alex favored Hawwaa. Kelly picked Chris but was hoping to see Hawwaa’s model come out with a burning hula hoop in order to get the win. Laurence loved her Ninja girl – Chelsea. Interesting that there were no favors for Izzy – our sprout!
The finale gang is back at FIDM and laser focused on what just happened and what needs to happen to finish their collection for the runway show. Hawwaa is excited for her deserved win. All pipe in to say how sad they are for Tieler – truly a loving group of teens. Chelsea highlights how she is too young to process what it means to have made it so far. Sweet pea Izzy says this is all a dream come true. Chris is just so surprised to still be in the game and guess what – possibly for the win! Tim enters the workroom and acknowledges that this is The Final Four. The group has two full workdays before the runway show. Izzy is worried that her biggest competition will be Chris. Chelsea is talking to herself and discussing how she should keep doing what she is doing because it is so good???? The Ninja Lady indeed!
Stage right, Alyssa Milano appears and Chris is in mid-speech and his jaw drops – WHAT?????? The final four are in love with her and can not believe she is right in front of them. Then my jaw drops when my fashion crush airs from London – Georgina Chapman! What is going on????? I’m falling all over myself thinking that they brought in this pair to help with critiquing the garments since Tim was not afforded the opportunity to visit each finalist to review their collection. Great – it’s a 1-2 ratio vs 1-4 ratio to spend the most time with them to help edit. Nope. Disappointed again as they say their love and admiration for the final four and then fade away. Cheerleader budget wins over Tim’s ability to travel ahead of time to help them edit. Really! Thank the fashion gods that this visitation wasn’t an added twist.
Tim’s Critique
Chris’s look is inspired by New York. It has a lot of architectural vibe to it in a way that I have not really ever seen. However, Tim points out a certain fabric color – Tiffany blue. Tim tries to convey, in his own sweet mentoring way, that the House of Tiffany does not really offer up mesh. Tim is also concerned about the sequencing of the outfits. It sets off a sporty vibe when it really isn’t. Let’s keep reflecting on how to present.
Next up, Chelsea. She acknowledges that her best competition is with Izzy. Tim wonders, “Did you say video star android becomes human is your inspiration? I’m thinking it’s just a Cinderella story told differently.” I wish CJ was here. Tim becomes introspective which freaks Chelsea out. She is waiting for the foregone conclusion that he is about to break up with her. Tim points out that he is worried that it is not a collection. And then, the BIG REVEAL is sequined underwear. Yes, you heard me! This is officially the secret Tim Gunn Save #2 that no one was aware of all season long. He took that pair of panties and told Chelsea to focus. OMG!!!!!! I had to pick myself up at that point from laughter and humility for her.

Tim moves to Izzy next and learns that she is inspired by color and track and field uniforms. Unfortunately for Izzy, the presssure of being a finalist has sucked all the color out of her so she has turned goth at this juncture of the show. Tim is quite impressed with the level of polished relaxation that exudes from all of her pieces. Tim stresses that when he says relaxation he means in a good way! Tim also acknowledges Tilda Swinton would rock this look on the red carpet. Izzy has no idea who Tilda Swinton is. She is an amazing fashion forward edgy dresser actress. Please research her as she may custom order from you in the future! However, Mentor Leslie sees future U.S. Olympic uniforms in your future, if Ralph Lauren ever were to stop designing them.
Hawwaa follows up on her conversation with Tim. The other three feel somewhat at a disadvantage as she is redoing all of the critiqued items from the judges and having had Tim’s extra day of review.
Chris realizes that Tim is right again and has a ton of refitting corrections. Hawwaa is rocking and rolling through this model fitting and she is elated. Izzy can’t believe with how weird she is that all of the fittings are working out. Izzy, believe in yourself!!! Chelsea’s fittings are not going well as bubble butt issues are rising to the top.
Chris is overwhelmed with his laundry list with the limited time left before the runway show. Chelsea disagrees with Tim’s critique on her cherry blossom dress and keeps it as is. Izzy, whatever happens to you, I say the Spice Girls will hire you for their performance dresses when they do their reunion tour. Hawwaa just feels vindicated and strong. Go H! I’m most nervous about the work for Chelsea and Chris. Goodness, bless that Tim! He believes so much in each of these four winners that I find myself learning what a wonderful man Tim is. Not only does he say things at the right time but he truly knows how to elegantly not show any level of favoritism.
I am able to grab my daughter, Caroline, for her reactions and she says she likes Chelsea and Chris and then walks off! Really! Teenagers!
Caroline thought that Chelsea’s collection made no sense. It had too much black and then where did the flowers come from and why red? So clearly, my daughter did not hear the inspiration. For me, it just didn’t seem cohesive enough. Also, the Cinderella story has been told so many times. So it wasn’t quite inspirational enough for me BUT they are kids.
I think Chris’s New York theme is pretty cool and innovative. I love his vest in the first look. I think the sculptural effect is awesome. Caroline says it’s too black and white and too literal. Which is funny because that is who she literally. Back to Chris, I’m all about jumpsuits but in a collection of 6 items, why show more than one?

Izzy is rocking the track unis. If I could go back to high school and replay what I had to wear in track let alone what my daughter wears currently, I would want to be one with Izzy. Izzy’s look is so impressive and I do think she will be the creator behind our US Olympic team fashion. Does Las Vegas place those types of bets?
Hawwaa shows last and I say it is too costume-like. I say things like Little Miss Muffet and Batman’s Harlequin foe and it really is entertaining but nothing that I know people would buy.
The Judges
Chris received praises for his negative space design effect. Aya loved the floating kangaroo pouch and the vest. Christian did not feel the last look felt at all like New York. Hannah loved the first two looks and thought collection was great. Kelly loves it and especially that hoodie. Olivia loved the looks but thought it did not match the theme.
Hawwaa’s reviews included a bit too juvenile, funky and weird and a bit of a roller coaster effect. Again, circus like attire can feel like a Six Flags experience too. Hannah always loved her color and sense of her fashion evolution. Kelly wishes she had edited more and utilized the pieces separately as opposed to building two or three items onto one model.

As for Chelsea, Aya felt the cohesiveness was not there. Christian emphasized that daywear is her strength and not evening wear. Hannah loved her dresses. Kelly loves the true black Ninja aspect and Olivia loves it all!
Izzy is last up and Aya loves her construction but doesn’t like her fabric choices. Christian doesn’t really know how to respond to athletic wear but gets her vibe and especially the cape and how the air moves it like a runner. Olivia claims this is right up her alley and would sport these looks to the VMA and her own concert performances. Hannah only sings praises and Kelly adores her first look down the runway.
After the final discussion, the judges pick Chelsea to win it all! Congrats to Chelsea as this was no easy win.
Lastly, Congrats to Hannah and Derek for the baby girl that is due to them! I thought back to the episode that Hannah cried so much and I realized that she must have been in the very early stages of pregnancy because it was Kelly who always cried!
Do you agree with the judges choice of the winner? It was a battle for me on many fronts so please share your thoughts! Until next season!
First time watching PR Jr. I was really impressed by all the kids!! I felt some were so much better than the adults on original PR. I would have been happy with any of the last four wining. Just suprises with Chelsea’s since it didn’t seem by the judges comments that they were leaning towards her. Overall a great season! Thanks for the recaps. My choice of drink this week was a margarita!
None of them wowed! me.
Guess Chelsea’s was the best, but that’s not saying much.
I think the designers in the first PRJs were head and shoulders above this group, excepting Teiler. In the end though, I think he was way too committed to the hand sewn flowers and lost his critical eye.
Bottom line after Teiler was aufed, I was no longer emtionally invested. Wish they would let him be on a regular PR all stars show.
I was no longer invest either…I was so ticked off that Teiler was off and Hawaa was still in after placing in the bottom 4 times! I agree re: the cast…..
I thought all the kids did an amazing job and all had interesting shows. Of the final four Chelsea was my least favorite, so I kind of felt the judges wanted her to win no matter what she showed. Chris had a great collection and Izzy was my favorite all season. Very surprised with the
results and I was just talking with a friend who felt the same. I enjoyed seeing what Hawwaa would come up with, so I was glad when they kept her for the finale. All in all a great season, but I did not agree at all with the judges choice. The red dress they loved so much looked terrible in the back. I think they should have examined the clothes closer before making a decision and looked at construction details. One red dress that is too short and does not fit well does not make a winner. Come on guys! I feel Christian didn’t vote for Izzy because he doesn’t like athletic wear, but it’s very popular now, so that’s not really fair. Christ had wonderful fabric choices and the final outfit they didn’t like was my favorite. I want to buy that!
I actually agreed with the judges this week, and not just because my favorite actually won for a change. But Chris was a very close second. His last look that Christian hated was Great. NYC folks do travel to FL.
I would have switched the order on Izzy and Haa though. You have to love that everyone else had all these elaborate explanations about their inspirations full of drama and hardly any relevance to their collection and my little sprout says, ” I based my collection on track suits. Hope you like it!”
Thanks, Tamara – I was looking forward to this recap. I thought these were an amazing bunch of kids – such imagination and confidence for their ages. However, I really thought Chris should have won – his outfits were gorgeous and the colors were beautiful, plus they seemed very marketable. Chelsea’s collection didn’t do it for me, although there were a couple that I really liked. Ha’waa is adorable, but her choices were out there, and I don’t see there being a market for them. The outfit with the huge layered skirt grew on me – I wish she had stayed with more creations along that line. Izzy wasn’t really a favorite of mine, but she probably does have a future in design. I found her irritating but then I said to myself, “Self! She’s a litte kid for God’s sake – of course she’s going to be full of herself and irritating!”. All in all, fabulous contestants – the fashion world will feel the influence of all these young minds for many years to come.
Hi – Thanks for posting my blog Tamara! I was really trying to stay clear of my personal favorite choice. I must say that I loved Izzy and Chris the most. I also agree that the judges just let the wind out of my sail and I couldn’t deal with their decision in my blog because I felt that the TV editing was so poorly done. They must have cut out so many other “reasons” as to why they chose Chelsea and what was so wrong with the others. It did not add up at all. Keep the comments coming as we love to hear what you think too!
Thanks for the blog, Leslie! It’s your blog, you are always giving your personal favorites! That’s the whole point! I get it though. I tried(sort of) to temper the fact that Chelsea was my favorite but only because they all read here.
AND MY FAVORITE NEVER WINS! Until now. This almost makes up for bananagate! Shudder.
Now, I would like for you to take your device and find the dash key? Found it? Great. Now take a knife or something and pop it out of your device and never, EVER touch it again. I swear it was just like the first post CJ wrote before I made her do the same thing to her device, lol. SO MANY DASHES.
Has CJ seen the episode yet? I wonder what she will think.
Oh my! Is that why google docs is a must? Will learn, I promise! I know she read the document/blog that I sent to both of you and she texted today which makes me think she must have seen the episode. Will find out tomorrow : ).
Hawaa’s looks were fucking hideous.
Chris was robbed.
I still hate sprout, but she was good.
Chelsea was also good.
That’s all.