We are coming into the final stretch of Project Runway All Stars, people! Or Limping as it were. Les is joining me via text as she is home with a sick kiddo. Project Runway on Lifetime will soon be no more. Project Runway on Bravo is ready to go and we are READY.
Evan Biddell is the last International All-Star standing. Five designers are left and hopefully we will have a double elimination to finish this up. Les thinks Alyssa looks like she is wearing a fancy dog collar. Nina Garcia strolls about on the runway and everyone is excited and terrified at the same time. Les types that Nina is a badass. Truer words. She thinks it is a tease for the REAL Project Runway to comeback, not this dog and pony show.
Nina has just returned from Thailand and was inspired by the amazing colorful silks used in that country. So the designers have to create a luxurious look for a royal ball?? With silk? We think this sounds so dumb. Who the hell wears ball gowns anymore? I hope they paid Nina a lot of money to say this. The designers have three hundred dollars and one day to make this happen. Nina is sending the winner to Thailand.
The Workroom
Everyone goes to sketch in the workroom and Evan Biddell is fangirling over Nina. He’s happy even if she hates his look, he just wants to talk to her. Irina is going try and do a unique take on a ball-gown with a corset. Dmitry is going back to black as he is sick of color and prints. Well, that’s smart considering Nina just told you how inspired she was by color. He uses the word “appliques” and I still have PTSD from banana girl. I won’t say her name. I like Evan Biddell’s sketch. I’m worried about Michelle when she mentions the seventies meets neon concept. But, I like her sketch so I’m cautiously hopeful. Anthony Ryan is going to create an ombre gown with feathers.
Oh The Stress Of This Dress!
After the trip to Mood, Michelle realizes she has screwed herself. She has a lot of fabric that doesn’t match and none of it on its own will make a complete garment. She’s going to have to piece it together.
Les thinks there is very low energy in the workroom. She doesn’t understand why Dima is doing a black and white quilt-like dress. And, Why can’t Michelle leave the patchwork zone? Dmitry learns that “zig-zag” scissors have an official name. I used to use my mother’s pinking shears for school projects. Dmitry doesn’t have enough fabric for his look and now he’s getting stressed.
Irina and Michelle start sniping behind each others backs as usual. Anthony is trying to figure out how to be him while being successful in this challenge. No one has any clue what Michelle is doing, including, perhaps, Michelle. I have to say her look seems crafty NOT luxurious.
Anthony and Michelle are struggling and looking more and more panicked. Evan has chosen a silk developed over 100 years ago for Cristobal Balenciaga which creates volume without boning and such. Everyone tells Irina that this is her specialty so now she’s thinking if she doesn’t do well she will be seriously letting the judges and herself down. So SHE seems stressed.
Anne Fulenwider Arrives To Alleviate Stress (lol)
Anne is lovin Evan Biddell’s look once he shows her the direction he’s headed. His Kenzo/Mary McFadden/Issey Miyake looking structured dress that will flare out and float is looking amazing. The red he chose is fabulous.
Michelle Lesniak welcomes Anne to crazytown and proceeds to explain that she is trying to make a piece of art with her cut up starburst dress. Anne is getting 1970’s kitchen. She doesn’t want it to go kitsch. Too late.
Irina Shabayeva is annoyed with everyone telling her that this is her challenge. Anne tells her that she wants to make sure the dress looks like it belongs on a runway, not the top of a wedding cake.
Anne Fulenwider thinks Dmitry Sholokhov’s dress isn’t formal enough. He asks, “What is formal really? She says….um, a royal BALL?
Anthony Ryan Auld is in tears. Anne tries to help him out by asking him what HIS GIRL would wear and telling him to hold onto that. Then, she gives him a hug. My heart softens towards Anne. She says that ball gowns are usually not high fashion, which is why this is a good challenge. She has a point. Jovani ain’t high fashion. It’s pageant, prom and the occasional cabaret show.
Les points out again that Nina Garcia was raving about the colors she saw in Thailand and Dmitry and Irina are doing black dresses. Michelle knows she’s screwed. She says she just needs gasoline and a match.
Make it Work Moments
On the day of the runway and everyone is freaked out except Evan Biddell. He is done so he dances around and then goes to hang out until his model gets there. Never smart. In the words of the great design pixie Christian Siriano, there is ALWAYS something to improve upon until the very last minute.
Michelle admits she absolutely hates her look. Anthony Ryan and Michelle are not impressed with Dmitry’s Golden Girl shredded dress. Anthony Ryan is gluing feathers on for dear life.
Irina Shabayeva’s model is half naked. Les says since it’s a royal ball challenge, perhaps she was inspired by the Emperor with no clothes. When Irina’s model tells her her look is beautiful does she say thank you? No. Quote “I know it’s beautiful, the rest of the stuff here is crap.” Right in front of the camera. In the workroom. In a regular voice. I know it won’t happen but I hope Nina eats her alive.
Iris Apfel Is A Judge!
The best judges were wasted on the worst challenge. Who the hell care what Alyssa is wearing?? Iris Apfel and Nina Garcia are judges!! We use the word Icon far too often but a picture of Iris should be next to that definition in the fashion dictionary. She’s 97 now and Les and I both want to be her when we grow up. There is a documentary on her that I strongly suggest everyone watch. We have died and gone to heaven.
Disappointment Commences
Dmitry’s black and white dress with weird flowers dress doesn’t look like Dmitry. It looks like three different dresses. Les thinks the model looks like she’s wearing a dress to the ball before the Romanovs were killed off.
Les types Michelle, Michelle, Michelle. It doesn’t look finished. Les thinks it works for the I heart radio show ball. I think Michelle is headed home for this crafty felt patchwork dress.
Les digs Anthony Ryan’s look. Les is getting a middle eastern vibe and thinks it looks like something you would wear to a multi-million dollar wedding. I’m getting late sixties.
We both agree that Evan Biddell should win.
Les thinks there is too much skin showing in Irina’s dress. My hatred of Irina is messing with my ability to properly judge her. The bodice is good. The see through flowy tulle bottom makes it look like the model is going to the Headbanger’s Ball.
Again, both of us love Evan Bidell’s floor length red structured gown for the win.
We put both Michelle and Dmitry in the bottom for their patchwork messes, but Les thinks Dmitry will go and I think Michelle will be sent packing.
Judging
Georgina is torn on Anthony Ryan’s garment. She loves the idea, but hates the color story and thinks it is sad. Isaac doesn’t understand it and thinks it makes an awkward first impression, Iris is a feather girl but doesn’t get the patchy aspect of this dress. She wants full ON feathers, damn it! Nina LIKES the dress. She finds it elegant. Alyssa likes it, but doesn’t know if it’s appropriate for a royal ball as she has never been to one. Isaac assures her it’s not.
Iris thinks MIchelle’s dress could be fun for a summer evening but is inappropriate for a royal ball. Nina loves the colors but thinks the dress is more appropriate for a night out in Ibiza.
Isaac Gets Mad!
Isaac Mizrahi is MAD at Anthony Ryan and Michelle. He feels they didn’t get it, or try to get it at all. He thinks “his Michelle” is better than this.
Nina thinks Dmitry’s dress feels effortless but it’s not dressed up as it needs to be. Isaac thinks with a little “study” it could make it to a royal ball. Iris thinks it is the gown that is the most appropriate?? Huh?? She references Downton Abbey. Okay, twenties and thirties ball. Since she was actually alive then, I will let her have that one.
Isaac loves the effect of the top of Irina’sdress but is lost when he gets to the tulle bottom. Georgina agrees with Isaac and thinks the bottom should have been more filled in.Iristhinks it is beautiful and wishes she could wear it. Ninaalso thinks it’s beautiful and the work is well done.Alyssa thinks it is the most appropriate, which is not saying much.
Iris likes Evan Biddell’s dress but when Isaac asks if she would have worn it when she was young she says she doesn’t know because pleats can be a problem. She thinks it is a sad version of a Mary McFadden dress. Georgina has issues with the proportions. Isaac is getting daytime from the dress and thinks the waist could have been more fitted?? Nina thinks he took a risk and that he thinks outside of the box. Guess he shouldn’t have spent all that time dancing around.
Winners And Losers
Well, the only thing we got right was that Nina Garcia and Iris Apfel were wasted on this dumbass challenge. Irina wins for her heavy metal bridal gown and Anthony Ryan is sent home. Les is confused and we are thinking the colors he chose must have looked worse in person. So the meanest person won and the nicest person was sent packing.
As we limp towards the end of this season, please share thoughts and comments. Come back next week for of more disappointment in the Project Runway All Stars final four challenge.
We will be recapping Projects Runway’s return to Bravo where the winner will be working with the CFDA rather than JCPenney. Xoxo CJ and Les.
Don’t forget to watch the ninety minute premiere of Project Runway’s return to Bravo tonight at 8 p.m.!
I am very worried about Les. She needs to go to the doctor. I think she might have caught some sort of brain eating disease from the sick kid.
HOW IN THE HOLY HELL DO YOU LIKE A KAFTAN FOR A BALL GOWN CHALLENGE? I love me some Anthony Ryan but he gave up this week. He deserved to go home.
Loved Irina’s dress. Loved that she called all the other looks, crap. She wasn’t wrong.
Evan’s dress was… unflattering. But deserved to be in the top out of this lot.
I loved Michelle’s dress. But again, NOT FOR A BALL GOWN CHALLENGE. She deserved to be in the bottom.
Dimitry’s dress was fine until you got to all of that bunched up cloth at the bottom. If he had made that area white fabric with a bottom “ruffle” kind of like Irina’s bodice ruffles, he could have won.
No one made a ball gown. But Sonny went home over a piece of jewelry? SUNNY FONG WOULD HAVE MADE A GOD DAMN BALL GOWN AND WON THIS CHALLENGE! #NEVERFORGET
#NEVERFORGET cracked me up, and you are SO right.
Ladies, thanks for the recap. You always give us humor and taste.
I was flummoxed over the designs, and then remembered they had one stinking day! My heart hurt for AR. I didn’t hate the dress, but the feathers looked so haphazard. Michelle was rightfully upset because she felt she should have gone home, and had she not done so well this season, she would have. AR has been hit or miss. Still, he’s so sweet, and he made me tear up. And I, too, loved that Anne went from robot to human being in that moment.
Irina is a straight up witch, and her gown was half done. Evan did a gorgeous gown, but the proportions were wonky.
This is dragging on sooo long. I like all these designers, except for Irina. Wish Christina were still here.
I think Patricia would have appreciated Anthony’s dress. Older women rock a kaftan! Just throw some diamonds on that thing
Older women enjoy a kaftan at home, or out on the veranda, or over a swimsuit at the beach. Older women do not wear a kaftan to a royal ball.
I just saw a preview for the new project runway and the clothes they were showing looked amazing! So much better than anything I think we’ve seen on this all-stars edition. So excited for it tonight!
Also, we got caught up in the same traffic due to the avalanches on I-40 last week in Colorado. Took us 5 hours for a 2 hour drive! But the skiing was amazing because of all that snow!
Maybe they give them more than a day to create an outfit. I hope so. So much lost potential with these slapdash challenges.
Without Anthony Ryan, not sure I will watch anymore. I don’t care who wins. I don’t like any of them that are left. Snark.
I thought Irina’s dress looked like it had a big hairy spider clinging to it with its hairy legs hanging down. *shudder*
Thanks for your terrific as usual recap. Can’t wait for the Bravo PR!
I will never see it the same after this!
Oh how I look forward to Project Runway coming back home to Bravo. I wish we could get the Kors back yet am happy to have Christian back as a mentor. Someone who knows how the game is played AND how to run a business.
I came across this show yesterday while I was working and watched the second half. I saw the final looks and the runway. I LOVED Irina’s dress. Didn’t love her attitude though. Michelle’s photographed well but looked really “crafty”. I actually liked the caftan but it didn’t come close to the parameters of the challenge. I thought Dimitry’s was fine. I have no idea who Evan is but I actually really liked his dress, if he let out the goofy hip things. The color was beautiful on his model, I thought the pleating and shoulder structure was really nice. The hips ruined it all for me. If it had been super slim with those shoulders, it would have been amazing. IMO.
And I am sitting here watching the NEW Project Runway. 🙂 Love Christian Siriano! Loved him on his season. Love his as a designer. Hopefully, will love him as a mentor.
Have you guys never seen Isaac or Leon or any of those MEN talk shit about other designers? I think Irina is just fine trash talking the others. Have you never listened to the workrooms or the talking heads on all the PR shows? It’s what they do!
Plus, IMO she was right.
Release your pearls.
Irina is a bitch. Period.
You say that like it’s a bad thing…
Laughing
true…actually borders on drag queen bitch talkin…hehe
First: Iris. Agree a waste of her talents. I loved how excited they were.
I wish we could hear the entire comments of the judges. So often, they make good comments, then diss the dress in judging or the opposite.
I was surprised (but should not have been) that no one called Irina out for having a train on a ball gown. Ballroom DANCING … There still is dancing at a royal ball. If a person had worn that dress to a ball, whether dancing or not, people do mill. And Irina’s girl would have found herself wearing nothing but the “couture top.” I used to like you, Irina, but even when Michelle compliments you, you are a Big Bitch!
Oh, Michelle, ma belle, but not the belle of the ball. Those colors may have won Nina over. They are Thailand colors. If ONLY her appliqué had looked like a PRINT instead of patchwork and the style a ball gown… I am so happy she did not go home. (Thank you Isaac.)
I liked Dima’s, did not think Bea Arthur, but when Michelle is funny, I love it! AR said his girl would not be invited to the ball. Maybe not ADMITTED; I liked his dress but NOT appropriate. I thought Bidell’s dress — not a gown — was interesting. Silk Gazar is a dream to sew and to wear. Loved the color.
Anne gave her best advice all season as she was leaving and was nice to AR. We often bitch about the short deadlines here. (But for a GOWN. REALLY?) Perhaps even worse than the time was the budget. Ballgowns use a lot of fabric. Silk Gazar at Mood is about $35-40 a yard. Not sure about the other fabrics. That is a lot of money, but NOT FOR A SILK GOWN.
I can barely wait for tonight. REAL Project Runway. I am THRILLED you and Les are capping. TT is and has the best recappers. Magical Elves Production. ♥️ The Magical Pixie, Christian S.♥️ But no Tim Gunn.?
I don’t care what Irina makes, she has such an ugly spirit it filters into her clothes. I just love Michelle this season. She’s got such a happy personality, Not that personality matters , however….
When I hear Ball Gown, it makes me think that it should be beautiful and tasteful. When I hear silk ball gown, it should be made of silk. Irina’s was not silk nor tasteful. It was interesting but not appropriate for the challenge. Almost skanky. The judges are inconsistent in the reasons for sending designers home. The bottom of Irina’s gown was “tortured” around the hips meaning she was trying to make the fabric do something that it wasn’t designed to do. Not that I know these things but I have watched the PR since the beginning.
Anthony Ryan’s caftan? If that’s what he thinks his easy girl would wear to a ball, then he made the right choice. He made a silk flowy gown, he met the challenge. Yes, would have been much better if it were feather-free.
Dmitry? Another kluge dress where he sticks unrelated fabric to the bottom? That didn’t give me flashbacks of Downton Abbey. Neither Lady Edith nor Lady Mary would step into that dress. Pinking shear cutouts? Doesn’t get much more formal than that. Just as fabulous as his JCP dress being sold on ebay https://www.ebay.com/i/132986589410?chn=ps
Michelle’s had good color but looked like a nightgown, too many gaps, straps were too long.
Biddell’s was most appropriate though needed a tighter fit to the model’s body. and yes, like one of the judge’s said, proportions were off.
have fun on your Thailand trip Irina. Hope all that black silk you bring back is duty free
Links are not allowed. However I think we all need to see this. Because, “oh my.” I really didn’t think the JCP disaster ever really happened…
as soon as I had submitted my post, the hair on my neck stood up. I remembered no links were allowed!!
I gave it the evil eye. But then I looked at the link. It was necessary. 🙂
Irina is a nasty, nasty person. The “crap” comment was unnecessary and rude. Got an ego much?!?!?
I agree, but do you remember Christian S., during his season, calling all the other contestants work a bunch of crap? and it was all a Tranny Mess Up In Here? Christian was funny & young, but Irina is neither young, nor funny. She’s really mean spirited. I hope like hell she doesn’t win, because that would verify her bullshit, in her own mind, not ours. PLEASE NO!
As the sole Irina fan here, I’m pulling for her at this point. I kind of like Michelle too,
I have been an Irina fan from her season up until now. The stuff they say in the ITMs doesn’t bother me so much. It was the way she was in the workroom. I think her season was the worst. They didn’t even get to appear when their collections walked. (Even worse than all the decoy collections.) I think she wants this more than any of the others.
How could they screw up so badly on this challenge? Have they not seen Cinderella or Princess Diaries?
Come on! Silk ball gowns should have been FABULOUS, but man, what a fiasco!
Ryan’s caftan was butt ugly, fold fabric in half length wise and sew up two sides, leave arm holes and cut out a neckline, glue some feathers on it???? NO!
Michelle’s patchwork pepto bismol meets the pumpkin farm was crazy. UCK! At the very least she did work hard and tried to create her own fabric design, but it did not work as a ball gown or even a Schmutka (what Heidi Klum called a German house dress).
Dimitry’s 1960’s McCall Patterned dress looked like ghosts were shot out of a paint gun and stuck to the black fabric. Then he stuck some ruffles on the bottom. Wack-A-Doodle!
The red dress looked more avant guard and seemed really stiff, like when they glue car safety belts together to make a dress. Weird!
I don’t like Irina either. She’s such a bitch. Her dress looked like lingerie, but it was the closest look to a ball gown, sort of, ????
Anyway, thanks for the recap! This shit show is almost done, yeah!
Agreed. Silk ball gowns, what a fun, happy challenge! Instead we got morose messes. Wish the judges were tougher on blatant disregard of the challenge’s specifications. I liked the overall look of Irina’s dress, but it was black and needed more fabric ( silk ) on the bottom. Biddell should have won because it was better than Dimitry’s, Michelle’s and Anthony Ryan’s and it was a beautiful color. Color! Take that Irina.
I think Irina’s should have won by default. I liked it, and it wasn’t some prom or pageant look, as one could go, but I just think the judges should have brought up the problem of the train. Hers was the ONLY one that fit the challenge. Especially because QEII opened up the balls to anyone who could pay, I believe there is a dress code and IF there is that should have been given to the designers. The one day was ridiculous. Micheal Costello could have done one that fast. But he is special.
Biddell’s dress came closest to a ball gown, even with the squared off hips. Michelle’s dress resembles a mumu I bought from the Joan Rivers Collection on QVC. Dimitri’s gown was made for a black tie dinner at the VFW. Irina’s gown looked like something Lady Gaga would wear to an awards ceremony. AR, I love ya kid, but you failed big time.
ANTHONY RYAN WAS SENT HOME? What was this opposite day??? This is why I stopped watching this shitshow. That picture above is a slinky little physical manifestation of what elegance would look like if you could feather it and cut it on the bias.
ANTHONY WAS ROBBED.
I have quit smoking and am emotional.
C’mon, fight me.
You are drunk and hallucinating. Maude would not be caught dead in that caftan. Patti from Southern Charms polyester dog muumuus are more attractive.
LIAR.