The special guest judge on Project Runway this week was Natalie Portman-why,you may ask? Well,for a couple of reasons,a)being that the challenge theme for this round was going "green" with the fabrics and b)Portman is not only an environmental activist but has come out with a line of "vegan" footwear. I think Portman is a great actress and caring for the environment a nice idea but the term green had been insanely overused and reminds me more of Poison Ivy from Batman than anything else.
The challenge was to make a cocktail dress,with each designer's model as the ideal client,using only "earth-friendly" materials such as jersey,satin,hemp,etc. The kicker was that the models were the ones sent to Mood to shop for materials,which freaked out the designers but most of them managed to do well here.
Stella certainly improved from her trash bag dress mess last week,despite her constant bitching and moaning about how this isn't what she does,and how she wishes she could only use leather all of the time(way to pigeonhole yourself there,honey).
Stella wasn't listening to her client either-her model suggested making the dress loose and drapey but Stella insisted that skintight was better and more to her liking. The finished product did look good on the model(who said she liked it)but all of this attitude from Stella just sets my spider sense tingling for future disaster.
Another good dress came from Kenley,who whipped up a high collar number that really wowed the judges. I thought it was a strong front runner for the win and the special prize,which was having the top dress manufactured and sold online at BlueFly.com(no immunity given today,folks!)but that honor went elsewhere.
Suede took the win here,for his daring decision to use strips of fabric to create an amazing bodice for this dress and for not making the tulle on the bottom half look like "Ballerina Barbie"-said compliment came from Natalie Portman,who was pratically drooling over that outfit and will no doubt get her very version of that bad boy for herself by the time she needs to hit another red carpet event.
And for something completely different;Korto had given a great first impression with her vegetable garnished gown last time but she really stumbled on this one. The dress did look inside out,as Portman mentioned,and the back end had flaps near the rear which were so not flattering to say the least.
Korto took it hard,but was granted a reprieve. That should dry her tears and if she really needs more cheering up,just take a look at some of the other clunkers that your competition made there,sweetie.
Leanne's dress looked like it was created by someone with multiple personalities;it had ribbons and bows and sashes galore,oh my! Portman did find something nice to say about this hot mess but it was the equivalent of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic to me.
To be fair,the dress did seem to be going for a 1920s flapper style,which could have been very cute. However,Leanne has to learn how to edit her ideas for other upcoming challenges and not present something that resembles,in Heidi's words,"a school project" instead of fashion.
Speaking of school,one thing that we should all learn from Wesley's smooshed bronze dress is that satin has to look as if it was untouched by human hands(like Willy Wonka's chocolate). This thing,however,appears to have been severely manhandled enough to warrant a visit from Benson and Stabler over at SVU.
Wesley was auf'ed and since it's too soon in the game to root for anyone just yet,I don't feel so bad about it. If Stella keeps up her whinging and whining about not having leather for every damn challenge(Blayne mocked her very well for that),I may really,really not feel bad when she gets the boot!
The gang at Shear Genius had to have their Shortcut challenge outdoors this week,as they went to the beach to cut and style some surfer dudes. They were not able to wash the sea salt out of their client's hair,giving the challenge that extra bit of difficulty which all of the Shortcuts have had this season.
Nicole was the winner and gleefully happy to be so,since some of her fellow stylists are using her as their can to kick around,because she isn't as experienced as them yet keeps doing well(isn't that always the way of the jealous and insecure?). Any way,she had first choice of client in the Elimination challenge,along with the power to choose in what order the others went(a very enviable privilege that SG loves to hand out).
This week,the stylists had to work with ladies who have alopecia,an immunity disorder that doesn't allow hair to grow on it's sufferers. They need their wigs to be given flattering new styles that looked very natural. To their credit,most of the stylists took this challenge seriously and worked hard to give their clients a great look.
Nicole's client wanted a sassy blonde style,similar to the way Nicole's hair is,and despite Nicole's major league doubts,I think she succeeded. Even Rene was moved by her plight during the cutting session that he gave Nicole a much needed boost and some suggestions on how to make it work. The client loved her hair and the judges wound up approving it,too.
Paulo was the winner,with some bright pink tinged flippy hair that Jaclyn Smith said looked very Farrah(in a good way). He was thrilled beyond belief,since he's been in the Bottom Two for several challenges. Alas,he doesn't receive immunity for the next round,rendering his victory a tad bittersweet.
Gail was sent home,due to her giving the client a cut that aged her,with dull coloring that didn't make things any better. Personally,I think Nekisa's heavy handed 80's trim to her client's wig was a lot worse,plus she annoys me to death with her snotty attitude. Oh well,there's another chance to see her get sent home next time!
The Final Three contenders on Design Star had to redesign rooms for their family members,a challenge that was much harder than it looked. Jen had some trouble getting the carpeting down for her sister's living room,Matt took a long time shopping for chairs to complete the gameroom/crafting area for his parents and Trish's carpenter seemed to be learning on the job.
While all of three of them rose above their setbacks,Trish was the only one who didn't add much of her own flair to the room or make any exciting changes so she was dismissed. Matt and Jen are now the Final Two and their big finale challenge takes place in New Orleans,where each of them will makeover a home damaged by Hurricane Katrina. After that,folks will get to vote on the winner at the HGTV website. Both Matt and Jen are good designers and good people,so it'll be hard to choose between them. Guess their work will have to be the deciding factor here:
RANDOM NOTES:
THE NEXT FOOD NETWORK STAR: Who was kicked off this week? Nobody! That's right,the judges couldn't decide who had to go,so they kept the Final Three together for the finale,something they've never done before.
I'm rooting for Aaron,who was the best in the commercial challenge but bombed during his attempt at comedy during the Vegas buffet round. Lisa's singing for her supper saved her,in my opinion,and Adam's smokey menu rescued him from being shipped out. Aaron seems to have the best of both worlds,a likable personality and killer cooking skills,and with some mentoring,he can overcome his nervousness about performing on camera. So,go,Aaron,go!:
IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA: The wacky F/X show that gives Arrested Development a run for it's money in the underrated comedy category(yep,I said it)will be back on September 18 and has a 52 episode commitment from the network. Glad to see that at least one weirdly funny show will be getting the support it deserves:
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