The Finale

i have to agree w/ Joan - as long as PR isn't a popularity contest, Jeffrey deserved to win. that last green striped dress really sealed it. it was beautiful.

but i still hate the bastard.

the other big theme of the show is just how much Michael's collection sucked. Heidi was right that Michael seemed to grow so far beyond his initial portfolio, which i recall consisting of similarly whorish outfits. sadly, left to his own devices, it appears that Michael is destined for a job at 5-7-9. maaaaybe Bebe if he works really hard.

Uli & Laura both have solid shots at success. their collections will certainly have fans.

so is this it for another year?! don't know how i'll be able to bear it. although Season 2 of Top Chef has promise, especially since they've replaced that horrible first-season host w/ Salman Rushdie's white-hot wife.

oh michael!

i am sooo scared of watching the finale.  i have an aching feeling that michael's collection will be disappointing, and our favorite scum will take the spotlight.  i want michael to win more than i wanted santino or kara saun.

speaking of kara saun, it turns out that she showed at the mercedes benz fasion week back in mar: http://www.mercedesbenzfashionweek.com/fall2006/de...

this line is very "kimono" - and one of her pieces looks like a kara janx knock-off.

Meet Joan!

a belated intro to our new friend/fellow PR junkie, Joan, who's just about the cutest, friendliest chick one could hope to bump into at one's favorite boutique (Impulse!). sadly, she's just migrated from Seattle to Chicago. snif. but we won't let the distance keep us apart!

Vincent Is Psycho

ok, so the Reunion episode certainly provided plenty of fodder for commentary, but Vincent won the spotlight hands-down. WHAT A FREAKIN' PSYCHO. a hissy fit over a couple clubbing shirts from Express Men?? could he be any more of an AS*HOLE?

and where did my poor sweet Bradley go?? did Mr. Creepy Clean-Shaven Bradley kill off Sweet Innocent Bradley of old and take his place? ahhh, how cute Sweet Bradley was in the video-clip montage, clucking his tongue & daydreaming. watch out behind you, Innocent Bradley - Mr. Creepy Bradley's gonna get you! evil, mean Mr. New Bradley!

i've said it before, & i'll say it again: Jeffrey's such a shithead, & i hate him. wait, i think i hate him even more now that he refused to apologize for being mean to Angela's mom...yep, the Hate-on-Jeffrey-Meter's off the charts.

poor Malan - so unloved & misunderstood. Heidi's impression of his laugh was the best thing ever.

ok, so about that upcoming scandal: while Laura's probably right that Jeffrey cheated, how could they really prove it? it's probably just going to blow up in Laura's face like a bunch of nuclear sour grapes.

To Cheat or Not to Cheat

*****SEMI-SPOILER ALERT!*******

...ok, so it's not really cheating, per se, but i couldn't help but feel guilty while doing it - have a look at the final four collections from NY Fashion Week: http://nymag.com/fashion/fashionshows/2007/spring/main/newyork/womenrunway/jeffreysebelia/
i'm really sad to say that Jeffrey's is one of the better ones - along w/ Uli's. Michael's & Laura's are flat-out terrible. what was Michael thinking w/ all those lace-up tops?? it's like he decided to make a Kayne + Baby Phat collection.

Episode 11: WTF!

no new episode this week?! did i miss the memo? :(

Episodes 8-10: Playing catch-up

i finally got caught up on PR but felt like i missed nothing. the only minor surprise was that Angela & Vincent finally got kicked off, given that the producers have been so hellbent on keeping them on for as long as possible, so much so that it almost came as no surprise at all when they suddenly reappeared in episode 9. (ah, but if only they'd brought back Malan & Alison instead!) and couldn't the challenge have at least been interesting?? "a cocktail dress in black & white only," as if any of them would've used color anyway! "a cocktail dress for a gay cocktail party using rainbow colors only" would've been far more interesting.

speaking of which, what happened to the great, practical challenges of yore? "fake crappy couture" & "make an outfit for yourself" have nothing on the USPS uniform re-design, or the ice-skating challenge.

Gio, you're definitely right that it's Michael's game to lose at this point. he's got by far the best model, the best attitude, & the audience behind him. and what is up w/ how little they profile Uli? maybe the producers just really hate empire-waist dresses. or the whole "Miami/flip-flops/crazy patterns" thing, which i can kind of understand. but i will always, always hate Jeffrey. he's a giant douchebag - his meanness, unfounded arrogance, hooker aesthetic (his "cocktail dress" looked like a teenage whore dressed up in H&M!), and, that most cardinal of sins, his complete & utter lack of wit. Santino Rice he most definitely is not.

Maya, i was also kind of alarmed by Laura's belly. it wasn't there one episode, then it appeared out of nowhere the next!

back from hiatus - 2 episodes to watch!

jane & i just returned from our trip to Spain & London, & we have 2 episodes queued up to watch!! but i couldn't resist checking online while we were away to see who'd been Auf'ed...can't WAIT to get caught up!

Episode 7: Jeffrey is a giant shithead

Perhaps even more offensive than Vincent's win was Jeffrey's totally bastard behavior towards Angela's mom. Laura should've been mean to Jeffrey's mom just for birthing such a shithead. Yes, Robert's outfit looked like a hot-air balloon, but at least he respected his model's taste & tried to please her. Jeffrey's, on the other hand, looked like a giant bruise.

Uli clearly deserved to win - the judges are on such crack about Vincent! As Tim Gunn said in his blog - "Congratulations, Vincent, whatever you are." Michael's dress was good, but I miss the sassy Michael; b/t last week & this week, he's looking less distinctive. Laura's dress was her first big faux-pas, but her comments about popping out another kid more than made up for it.

So how weird was it to see Michael Kors's mom? She seemed sweet, but is it really ok for a son to be his mother's twin? There's something so Freud-meets-Psycho about it all. And did they really have to dress alike too? Btw, Maya, you're totally right - Michael's definitely had a little nip-&-tuck action recently.

P.S. Welcome, Laurie!

i miss season 2

last episode was too devestating.  poor allison. what are they thinking to kick off cutie allison?  everytime i hear about vincent and his 401k, i boil.  he continually is in the last 3, but i haven't seen him redeem himself to make it this far.  i fear he's a wendy pepper... they're keeping him just because of his wackiness.

why does everyone hate laura?  at least she designs and the feedback she gives (although harsh) is spot on.  and she doesn't whine like angela does.  btw, have you noticed that angela's gone quiet?

http://www.bravotv.com/Project_Runway/mashups/pick...

one of these days, i'm going to put together my own mashup video.  last season was such a joy to watch, the quality of clothing was higher and the judges kicked off the right people.  big sigh.

Episode 6: WTF, Project Runway?!

who the hell hijacked the Project Runway we all know & love & turned it into the most heartless show ever? sure, Alison's dress looked terrible, but my Gawd, did they SEE Kayne's?? how many more cute, endearing, moderately talented people are they going to cut for jackasses like bag lady/crackwhore Angela and future-serial-killer Vincent? i'm really glad that Michael won again, but hell, at this rate, they'll probably cut him next week.

Laura's dress, while a snooze, looked perfect as ever. but while i agreed w/ her critiques of Kayne & Vincent, she should really watch it w/ the vaguely Wendy-Pepperish, "Mommy knows best" attitude. Jeffrey made his least-offensive outfit yet, but i still wasn't impressed (that dumb "belt" looked like it was painted on by a mentally handicapped 2nd-grader with the shakes).

Episode 5: Hot Pants & Tinkertoys

noooooooooo!! poor sweet Bradley, banished forever, while Basket-Hat Vincent and Future-Bag-Lady Angela live to see another day...O, the injustice!

the outfits were pretty terrible across the board - Uli's purple-serpent nightmare, Kayne's ill-fitted Elvira dress, Jeffrey's bulletproof bustiere. on the bright side, Laura's Katherine Hepburn was, predictably, perfect, and at LAST, Michael got his due! the fuschia, the hot pants, the gorgeous model (she's easily the best Project Runway model ever) - sha-ZAM, it was just perfect. i'll be rooting for him now that - snif - Bradley's gone, & of course, for Alison, 'cuz i think it'd be fun to watch her use her powers of cuteness for evil by killing off her opponents one by one.

Episode 4: The Anti-Climax

i agree - as is so often the case, the end result didn't live up to the hype. Keith's being kicked off seemed so natural, & he seemed so ok w/ it, that i barely noticed. all the outfits were terrible too. how is anything right w/ the world when Angela wins a challenge? why was it yet another team challenge? & where is Michael Kors?? but at least my boy, 'squid-with-no-ocean' Bradley, is safe for another week.

Aside: i watched 'Queer Eye' for the first time in years this week. there is something absolutely godawful-wrong about that show now - it was horribly edited, felt like one long product-placement, & seemed completely smarmy. God, don't let that happen to Project Runway.

Episode 4 Previews!

T-24hr fun!

oooh - a very provocative clip where you see Michael, Kayne, & Robert scheming to turn someone in!

AOL preview - Bradley & Michael are so cute - I love it when Michael does the "kekeke" laugh.

& here's the other preview posted on YouTube:

Off-Topic: Penelope's massive boobies

whoa, Penelope! watch where you point those!

project runway on myspace

maya! you've got to work you magic with getting project runway on spaces. project runway on myspace has more hours of fun than i can squeeze in during work. jas, you can learn the milan's shifty eye impersonation with his video.

bradley was soooo adorable on episode 3. it was so cute how everyone felt sorry for him. btw, his website is beautiful: http://www.mountainsriversandpeacocks.com/. i want this dress:

Episode 3!

at last, my boy Bradley gets his day! his outfit turned out quite nice (if a tad dowdy), & he got about 300% more adorable when he did the peek-a-boo thing w/ his hands. awwww!

AA is turning into Bossy Mommy, but the fact that she totally hated her dog was pretty funny. Keith was, as usual, excruciatingly annoying, but at least he was nice to Bradley. i can't believe they kept Angela; her "slut learns to read & turns nerdy" aesthetic is so clearly worse than poor boring Katherine's booooring dress. i think the producers are worried about losing their most delusionally untalented contestants too early. and cutie Alison should've won this challenge - Uli's good but repetitive, & this was probably the best chance Alison will get all season of winning.

as an aside, someone needs to tell the Gap that their dancing-models ad campaign got old 5 years ago.

My Malan impression

i'm currently hard at work on my Malan impression. it's been surprisingly difficult, however, because his accent has never been heard before in the history of mankind. it's kind of like a more committed Madonna accent. some of the other necessary but elusive elements are his squinty, shifty eye movements, massive lips, and muuuuuwhahaha laugh. my absolute favorite line from him was after he was auf'ed: 'I don't want to say good-bye to people, because I've had to say good-bye to people all my life,' then he looks away from the camera coquettishly. that's the moment i'm gonna master.

my personal designers

if i could choose my own designers, they'd be michael, bradley, and bonnie.

i find michael so cute, especially his shyness. i can't wait to see more of his designs.

bradley is still a mystery to me. i want the producers to spend more time on him. which reminds me, i think project runway is focusing too much on the internal drama and not enough on the designs. ex: in the second episode, we hardly see laura's or keith's design progress.

bonnie is pretty forgettable, but when i look back at her first dress, i realize that it's really wearable.

i can't wait for tomorrow's episode!

Kara's collection

reading that Tim Gunn interview inspired me to go back & check out Kara's awesome decoy collection. i totally agree w/ him that hers was far & away the best & most inspired. i am definitely wearing turquoise tights & crazy hats this winter. just you watch.

Maya, did you hear that Kara has a trunk show in NYC on 7/27? you can RSVP at info@karajanx.com. please, go - take one for the team! & get one of those maya-licious dresses.

The Beginning

welcome, friends! we always have so much to say about each episode - why not blog it? i'll be adding the backlog of our comments on season 3 in the coming days. post away!

Episode 2: Maya responds...

AA's dress may have been nude, but it's her responsiblity as a designer to consider what it will look like onstage, on television, since the miss universe pageant will be televised.

Episode 2: Jasmine responds...

I read on the Bravo boards (ah-hem) that AA’s dress was actually a nude color, but that the lights on the runway made it look white, which is why it might’ve gotten dinged. And EVERYONE who posted said they felt so sorry for Malan – ppl are now coming up w/ theories about how he might be brought back if “the big scandal” where they kick someone off is during next week’s episode (they did this in Top Chef when one of the contestants had to drop out unexpectedly).

I can’t believe what an exercise in WAITING Project Runway has become. It makes me mad! Holding out for a week is so freakin’ hard. Plus Tim Gunn said in that interview that it’ll only air once a year during the summer now. :( Cherish it while we have it!

Episode 2: Maya responds...

i know! i felt so sorry for malan towards the end. he's just a lonely, friendless boy whose mother doesn't love him hiding behind too much hair gel and a fake english accent.

no seriously, i really, really felt bad for him. it was a really sad departure.

mr. basket is annoying, but i actually liked his dress, minus the shoulders. the color was interesting. for the challenge, i defn thought the pageant/barbie duo was right to win - it was amazingly pageanty. androgynous architect (AA) didnt' follow the rules - miss usa clearly said she didn't want white. AA should have been called out for that.

i can't wait for next week! my viewing crew consists of oliver, his mom and his dad. but i made a new friend named laurie who is also into it and she might start coming over on sundays to watch it with me (i'll watch it twice on wed still, of course)

Episode 2: Jasmine responds...

that interview's totally worth reading to the end. all the stuff he says about DanielV is incredible - Daniel sounds like a total a*shole now, & did you notice in the first episode that he's taken on a super-annoying accent? it all makes sense.

tonight's episode was great, but i was shocked that they kicked off Malan, who really grew on me w/ this episode - he seemed totally melodramatic & fake before, but i felt really sorry for him at the end. he's just a lonely Anglophile!

& i can't believe Mr. Basket-hat made it for another week. & i'm REALLY starting to hate Keith. we all DIED when Bradley did the "ohh, so Happy!" bit. i'm definitely rooting for him. i also really like the prom-dress & Barbie guys, & the chic androgynous architect chick - thought hers was the best dress tonight.

Tell-All Tim Gunn Interview!: Maya responds...

that was an awesome interview, but way too long for me to finish.

tonight's episode is pretty good... :)

Tell-All Tim Gunn Interview!: Jane posts...

http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2006/07/talking_with_ti.html

tim gunn is upset with his danielv!

Project Runway Scandal!: Jasmine posts...

Ah, if only! turns out it's a false alarm: http://bloggingprojectrunway.blogspot.com/

Project Runway Scandal!: Maya posts...

http://www.bestweekever.tv/2006/07/17/project-runway-the-copycat-is-out-of-the-designer-bag/

Episode 1: Jasmine responds...

so true. Tim Gunn: "Let me play the judges here. You need to use more stuff from the apartment. And bend over…yes, you should model the dress yourself. In fact, lose the dress altogether. Let's see you walk down the runway naked. Then I'll treat you to Red Lobster."

Episode 1: Maya responds...

i liked the guy who won. but i only think they selected him to be on the show because tim gunn got a hard on for him because he looks like jude law. i love tim gunn. i love that everyone calls him "tim gunn".

the coffee flter dress did look like chloe's. i wish we could watch the show together!!

Episode 1: Jasmine responds...

ok, this is really weird – i could've sworn that guy's name was Brandon, & on the Bravo Rate-the-Runway Results page, they call him Brandon, but in the Bios section, he's called Bradley. guess they don't even know who he is. but i liked his dress. in fact, several designers used down comforters effectively. i'm gonna strap on my down comforter the next time i need a ballgown. maybe i'll wear that to your wedding.

yeah, Malan was the other one i liked – plus he shit-talks in a funny, stuck-up way that i can vaguely relate to. i didn't really dig the guy who won who looks like jude law – too arrogant/defensive. i agree that the coffee-filter dress was cool – reminded me of Chloe's green skating outfit. but they really should've extended the 1st episode so we could get a proper intro to everyone. & Mr. Baskethat should've totally been kicked off – clearly they kept him on for his personality.

Episode 1: Maya responds...

do you mean bradley? and malan from taiwan with the funny british accent? or did we watch different shows?

i do like the red haired woman. i liked the black guy with his coffee filter dress. and blondie was cute. the granola patchwork girl from indiana or whatever - she should be designing for urban outfitters.

otherwise there were too many people to keep track of.

next season they need to make every contestant take a sewing test. it's bullshit that the h-bomb lady couldn't sew.

can't wait for next week!

Episode 1: Jasmine responds...

i love you, Project Runway!! my favs last night were the dandy-dude from Taiwan & the Seattle-looking bearded dude, Brendan, who was the only person they didn't give a proper intro to, so i still don't really know who the hell he is. i also like the elegant red-haired woman, although the coat she made was straight-up Cruella DeVille. & how cute was that little blonde chick! but her dress kinda sucked.

Episode 1: Maya posts...

i've already seen the first episode of project runway season 3. na na na na na.