Pop Culture Princess

Pop Culture Princess
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Thursday, October 09, 2008

Project Runway's Final Four is now three,Top Design gets it's green on and Heroes redefines the nuclear family.



When we last left Project Runway,all four of the remaining designers were sent home to make their collections for Bryant Park,with an additional challenge tossed in to determine which three of them would be competing in the Finale.



The deciding challenge was for each of them to make a wedding dress,which would represent their line of work. Tim Gunn paid his at home visits(interesting that Kenley was the only person who didn't have any family or friends to introduce Tim to. Makes you wonder!)and then when everyone came back to NYC,another challenge was added on,to make a bridesmaid's dress as well.



As much as I can't stand Kenley,I must admit that her dresses were decently made. Her idea of a bridal gown,however,is not my style. It looked very costumey(especially with that hat!)and resembled something that Bjork would have tucked away in her closet.


The blue bridesmaid dress was very nice and helped Kenley get her shot at Fashion Week. She did try to stay on her best behavior but came close to slipping a few times. Her almost worst moment was when Michael Kors mentioned that her wedding gown had an Alexander McQueen look to it and Nina agreed,which nearly had Kenley at the edge of Poutsville until Kors put in a compliment right after that.

Kenley is like that old poem about the girl with the curl on her forehead;when she hears things that are good,she's very,very good. When she hears bad,she's horrible!



The best bride and bridesmaid's dresses clearly belong to Leanne,who used waves as the theme of her collection. The wedding gown was stylish and sculpted,with a feminine grace. Nina Garcia praised it for the feeling of romance along side the technical charm.



The bridemaid's dress featured the waves in the bodice and tied in with the main gown beautifully without upstaging it,which is what a good bridesmaid's outfit should do. Leanne is also in the Final Three and I couldn't be happier for her. Well,maybe if Kenley wasn't going there with her,then I would be elated.



An unhappy camper was Korto,whose bridal gown got a grave assessment from the judges. They felt that it was rather overworked and I have to say they're not wrong.

The ruffled trim on the neckline seemed to be fighting against itself,plus the way that the bottom half of the dress highlighted the rear end of the model was not flattering,to say the least. I really like Korto and was worried about her for a moment.



Fortunately,the judges let her go on to the Finale,even tho they thought the bridesmaid dress was the complete opposite of the bridal gown,in a bad way. I didn't think it was so bad,particularly because I saw it being pared down in the workroom just before the show(Tim Gunn suggested that it needed editing,since it seemed to be competing too much with the bride's gown).

Kors was right about it not appearing to be a bridesmaid's dress at all,just a regular off the rack number. I still feel that it was pretty decent and glad to see Korto be able to compete at Bryant Park.



Jerell had been the first chosen to go to Fashion Week but alas,he was the last one to be eliminated. Based on this mess of a dress,I can't totally blame the judges for that. Even if he didn't make his model wear those goofy flowers on top of her head,she still resembled a Dr, Seuss character on acid.

The top part of the dress was bedazzled to death,with beads and bangles and sparkles,oh,my! Not to mention that the crinoline had a dirty look to it,as Nina pointed out,and the whole thing came off as a outfit that would be considered over the top for the Greenwich Village Halloween parade.



He totally copped out on the bridesmaid dress,saying at one point to Korto in the workroom,"They're supposed to be ugly,anyway." Uh,no,they're KNOWN to be ugly but they DON'T HAVE TO BE,buddy!

The dress was very wrinkled and cheap looking to boot. The only connection it had to the bridal gown was the sash,which might've been more effective if the dress had been shortened in length.

That reminds me,Kenley did whimper off screen about how Leanne and Korto had made their bridesmaid dresses shorter before the show,which made her cranky,'cause Kenley wanted hers to stand out more. Yeah,Kenley,that was their master plan,to make their second dress shorter on purpose just to mess with you,right!(I so need to get over her being in the Final Three,seriously).



Anyhow,congrats to all three of the finalists(even Kenley)and sorry to see you go,Jerell. Next week,we will find out who is the winner of this last PR season on Bravo(don't know when it'll start up again-there's still some courtroom drama afoot).

My choice would be Leanne to take it all. As much as I do like Korto and greatly admire her work,she's not always consistent with her finished product.

Perhaps after I see her full collection,I'll change my mind about Korto. Kenley's collection won't surprise me,that's for sure. Leanne has made her missteps but manages to bounce back well from each one and has a lovely sense of elegance in her style. Good luck,Leanne!




Top Design gave Kelly Wearstler a break this week(to give the viewers some time to recover from her bizarre beehive look)and had a guest judge,Danny Seo,for an environmental challenge. The decorators were each assigned to make over offices for an environmental consulting firm,using what was available in the room and eco-friendly materials that were purchased at select locations.


Once the shopping was done,India Hicks had everyone line up and switch their rooms with the person on the right,making things a little more interesting. Some folks did very well with this one while others floundered,big time.



One of the stand outs belonged to Preston,who wound up with the conference room. He really pulled the room together with a cohesive look that didn't make such a business like area feel imposing. He really deserved to win but I think the judges were disappointed by the two little trash bins sent up for recycling in the room.



Eddie took the win here but it wasn't a clean victory. He was given Nathan's room and basically went with all of Nathan's ideas,including taking pieces of the carpet and creating fabric note posting sections on the walls. At the Judge's panel,Eddie pretty much took all of the credit for that right in front of Nathan.



Nathan did a good job with the room he wound up with and got praised for that,but you could tell that he wasn't thrilled with Eddie. Nathan rubs me the wrong way yet I have to give him major points for not going off on Eddie after that. Eddie's become a real jerk as time goes on,with his constant sniping about how "disgusting" or not up to Martha Stewart standards things are. Hey,bozo,you don't work for Ms. Martha anymore,get over it!



Wisit was dismissed,due to the drab office space that he created for a young lady who wanted bright colors. Natalie had been the original decorator but Wisit refused to use any of her lively elements and just dulled the room down. Also,the color scheme that he chose for a man's office(taken over by Ondine)came off rather feminine. So long,Wisit-this is the first time I've ever seen someone sing their own swan song before.



Heroes did some more time traveling,where Peter saw his other self get killed by Future Claire in a four years later reality and met up with a reformed Sylar,who reluctantly passed on his ability to understand how things work. That power comes along with a driving urge to kill,which Gabriel was keeping in check in order to be a good father to his little boy(named Noah,if you can believe it!).

That restraint was pushed to the limits as a showdown between Future Claire(it's very sci fi cliche of Future Claire to have black hair,btw)and Present Day Peter lead to a sad fate for Sylar's son. I know that some folks are still not thrilled with the show but come on,guys! The man went off like an atom bomb,literally! What more do you people want,jeez?:




RANDOM NOTES:



TRUE BLOOD: It's been great seeing supporting characters from the books get some major expansion on the series and Lafayette(played by Nelsan Ellis)is fast becoming a big favorite of mine to watch. Next to Sookie and Tara,scenes with him make me sit up and take extra notice.

On the most recent episode,Lafayette had to take a hands on approach to customer service when an unreasonable complaint about a hamburger platter came up at work. I've watched this bit about several times now and it hasn't gotten old yet.

A couple of lessons for good restaurant manners can be learned here;one,be specific about your food order and two,remember to tip your waitress(some very rough language in this clip,you have been warned):

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