Deja Fools

So when we last left our Project Runway designers, they said good-bye to Vincent with very little remorse, as he headed off to go design for Lazy-Boy. And as we tune into Atlas Apartments, Kayne "laments" Vincent's departure, but I believe the Sarcasm Meter is beeping. Meanwhile in the ladies' apartment, Laura is taking the criticsm she received last week pretty hard. Uli does her best to console her roommate.

At the runway Heidi pops out to offer...not much. They will find out their next challenge at a party being hosted by L'Oreal. All she'll say is there will be "special guests." You can tell the designers are suspicious, because a "party" has not always been a good situation for them in the past!

The designers head off to the party at a place called "The Pink Elephant," which is a name that requires no further comment. Interestingly, I think this is the same place they had the party last season with Nicky Hilton. Heidi enters, and says it's time to meet the first guest. And to their horror (and mine, and I'm sure yours), in walks Vincent. I start to have nightmare visions that they will be designing for Vincent as their client. "I want something that turns me on." Eww! And the other guest? Angela. To which I say - damn rosettes.

Clearly Angela has no idea what's going on, so Heidi explains. Throughout the season they have hinted that winning challenges would "have a benefit that will be revealed in a future challenge" - and this is it. All designers that won a challenge have the opportunity to return for this week, and if he/she wins, he/she will be back in the game, so to speak. What's interesting from Tim's podcast is that this was always the plan, so technically Keith would have been brought back as well, but due to his rules violation, he wasn't allowed to do so. Anyway, the final point is that three designers will be out after this challenge. So if Vincent or Angela wins (HA!) two of the final five will be out. This is a future too horrific to mention, and there are some really queasy stomachs in the room. Heidi then announces the challenge - create a cocktail dress using only black and white fabrics. Since this puts everyone on the same color palette, the real challenge will be silhouette and styling. Then she sends in the models so they can all reconnect and get drunk in the morning (SCORE!).

In the apartments (I guess they had a pit stop there), Laura and Angela are having a discussion/arguement. Laura points out (quite correctly) that unlike Vincent, Angela did not win an individual challenge. She thinks that "some people" (i.e. herself) could be upset about that. Angela looks all shocked and surprised and disagrees. But whatever, we know that despite her bitchy attitude here, Laura is right that she and Michael are pretty much the main reason Angela won the INC challenge.

Back at the workroom, Tim reiterates the challenge, and adds a final twist - they must use ALL of their fabric in their design. So they really need to plan carefully. Talk about ratcheting up the tension! I kind of hate this twist, honestly. Angela asks the pertinent question - "Do we have to use black AND white?" The answer is yes. Remember that. Anyway, they get 15 minutes to sketch, then it's off to the warm comforts of Mood.

And then it's...F1 time! They cut, they sew, they drape. The first thing is that Vincent discovers that he has half a yard more fabric than he asked for (or so he says). Wow, that just breaks my heart. Except not. You will be shocked to hear that Jeffrey rips on Angela while she's not in the room. Ah, back to old times. Meanwhile, Michael is looking at Kayne's outfit with a worried expression. He tries to offer some advice, but as usual Kayne listens, but doesn't incorporate. It's a little hard to tell at the moment what the issue is, but you'll see later.

Later in the day Tim brings in the models for an intial fitting. The main thing here is that Laura's model (Camilla) is trying to help her make the look younger - it looks like lace on fabric. They talk about changing the sleeves, and what I love here is how Camilla is really trying to help Laura improve the design.

Day 2, and a lot more F1. Not much to say throughout the day, except Laura seems to be getting pretty tired. Tim finally shows up for his critiques, which will mostly consist of asking them how they'll use their extra fabric. Tim responds well to Uli's design, and that she has decided to turn the extra fabric into a large necklace. Tim's definitely fond of what Michael is doing. With Jeffrey there is a question about leggings. LEGGINGS? Pardon me, but isn't this a challenge to design a COCKTAIL dress? Since apparently you've only been to beer bashes, let me spell it out for you Jeff - short, cute, and maybe frilly. Leggings are none of those.

With Vincent, Tim is exasperated, presumably because he thought he'd never have to deal with this freakshow again. He really pushes Vincent on the extra fabric, and Vincent eventually decides he'll do a shawl wrap. With Kayne, we get Tim's Furrowed Brow of Doom. The basic question - where's the white? The design is all black at the moment. Kayne holds up some wimpy trim, which Tim identifies as that - trim, not fabric in the design. Make it work, Kayne!

And then Laura. Although Tim doesn't really offer her any negative criticism, she starts to tear up, saying she "can't sit here designing for the Olsen twins." Well thank goodness, because you'd have a helluva lot of extra fabric. Laura then interviews in what turns into a total meltdown. And let me sum it up - hormones. This poor woman is finishing her first trimester, when a woman's body is raging harder than a Metallica concert. I think the combination of that, exhaustion, challenge stress and the recent criticism from the judges have created a perfect storm in the normally implacable Laura. Buck up, lil' camper!

Collier Strong is back to consult on their hair and makeup looks. It appears Amanda will be sporting purple eye shadow, and Camilla will have some really bright pink cheeks and lips to give a younger look.

Day 3, and a touch of F1. Then finally, it's time for hair and makeup, which we know is a bit more important this time. BUT - there's an issue. Vincent's model (Gia) was in an accident. She'll be OK, but certainly can't walk today. So at the last minute they got...Javi. Javi the she-man. This leads to some rather funny (for me) scenes of muscle-bound Javi trying to squeeze into the dress, breaking the zipper. Vincent feebly tries to sew it shut. And off to the runway!

Heidi introduces the judges, which include designer Zac Posen, who I feel like was a guest judge in a previous season. Michael and Nina are there, so the balance of the universe isn't off. On with the show!

First let's look at Kayne's dress. From the front, it's simple but nice. All in black, it covers her in a form-fitting way from the shoulders part way down the arm and to the knee all in one piece. Simple, but chic. The back is very open, and we see the problem. There is a simple ribbon-like ring of white fabric around the back that just looks arbitrary and odd. Not impressed.

Michael chose to do his dress mostly in white, as the others were focused on black. It's again a one-piece dress from shoulder to knee, but the top is asymmetrical, so it's an off-the-shoulder look on one side. Across the middle is a wide black belt with some detailing on it. Nazri is sporting huge hoop earrings, and carrying an adorable black purse. As usual, Michael has created a look that is hot, hip and "now."

Uli has chosen a print (of course), this time what looks like black and white paisley. The loose-fitting dress is tight in the bodice (there's some interesting construction with black fabric there), and the sleeves hang down the sides to match the length of the dress. They also bell out a bit at the wrist. And over it all is a large necklace that looks like the fabric has been twisted around balls of various sizes.

Laura's dress is babydoll shaped - with mini-cap sleeves and no waist, ending well above the knee. It looks like black lace on top of white fabric. At the bottom the detailing is quite nice - she has woven strips of black fabric that hang loosely below the hem, and there is a lot of shiny beading. It almost looks like the lace pattern is deconstructing into strips. Laura says it reminds her of Josephine Baker style, and I totally get that.

Jeffrey...what the hell? It makes no sense. I'm not sure I can even describe it. It's this print fabric that shifts from white on top to black on the bottom with dots in the middle. It's bunched at the waist with a huge white belt. And below that the (completely detached) black leggings. If anyone showed up to a cocktail party I was hosting like that, I'd tell them the whores walk down K Street at night, so head over there.

And Vincent's dress can go to the same place. The top is a reverse pleating (like a cumberbund) in white, over a far-too short skirt (which I think even on Gia would have been short). The wrap makes no sense and just is there. Heinous.

Angela had a good idea gone bad. The top is a bolero-type hood over a simple black dress. But of course she has put those damn rosettes anywhere she could. They line the trim of the dress in black, and a ton of them in white fill the hood. She looks like the inside of a coffin.

During the judges' comments, they like Laura's and Michael's pretty clearly. With Kayne, where's the white? Although they do like the front. With Jeffrey, it just doesn't make sense - can he do anything that's NOT rock n' roll? Where is the elegance, asks Nina. vincent's dress is called out as being for a streetwalker. Angela - no comment. Uli gets pretty harsh criticism for the length of her sleeves - even if they were shorter, the judges aren't sure it would work. And they really don't like the necklace. As for others and their extra fabric, Laura had just enough and covered her purse in it. Michael had extra, so he lined the purse "several times." Angela just shoved hers in her purse. She says it was to create volume and give it shape, but it's really just a cheap excuse. The fact that they don't really hold them accountable for these things is why I hated that twist. Dumb.

In the deliberations, Michael is once again praised for really considering the whole look from hair to jewelry to fit. They really like that Laura finally (in Nina's words) designed something that wasn't what Laura would wear. With Kayne they like that he listened to them about scaling back - but is it too little too late? Can Jeffrey do anything else? Will Luke marry Laura? Whoops - wrong show!

First up they announce the winner which is...Laura! Hooray! She really was on a roller coaster this week, and I'm pleased she came out of it so well. But that of course means Vincent and Angela will be out, again. Thankfully, for our collective sanity. Michael is in. Now I start to sweat bullets a bit - could my dear Uli be in danger? But no, she is not - she's in too. That leaves Kayne (Where's the white?) and Jeffrey (Me love you long time!). Kayne? You're out. Aww...but it was bound to happen. He gets a nice hug from Jeff, and graciously makes a classy exit. He certainly has nothing to fear, as pageant girls from across the country will be clamoring to his side for years to come.

Next week - the final 3 who will go to Fashion Week are selected! Who will it be? As much as I love her, I'm afraid that Laura's days are numbered. If Jeff pulls out something classy in the next challenge, I expect that will be all it takes to keep him in. Michael is a shoe-in. And despite some small mis-steps, I think the judges want to see what Uli can do with a whole line of prints. But who knows? I also thought Nick would make it last season. Stay tuned!

Question of the week - which of the other designers would you have wanted to see have a hand at this challenge? You can pick from Alison, Bradley, Bonnie, Katie, Stacey, Robert or Keith.

Also, I'd like to give a shout-out to a fun new blog I found written by Capitol Hill Barbie. We share a mutual love for Project Runway, and she writes some great recaps. Best line ever: "Then there is Vincent. First of all, there was so much glue on his dress that horses would be afraid to go near it." Hee! Check out her blog, I'm sure you'll love it like I do.