The fifth season of Project Runway finished up last night with a nice first for the show on hand;having all three of finalists be females. The only major restriction given to them for their Bryant Park presentations was to showcase ten outfits instead of twelve,a true test of self editing and taste.
Kenley's collection was the first one to be shown,and she looked pretty nervous in her intro(not to mention that goofy looking plant piece on her head). Some of her tension may have been due to the announcement of a last minute replacement at the Judge's Panel.
Seems that Jennifer Lopez was scheduled to be the celebrity finale guest judge but had to cancel because of a broken foot. Therefore,Tim Gunn stepped into her chair(I think that's the first time he has ever been a judge on PR). Yep,the mighty Tim who has been taking alot of lip from Kenley this season,including a snippy session just before the big Fashion Week show! Not smart,Kenley,not smart at all.
She should have definitely listened to Tim about this dress with the roped off section of completely different material. He thought the rope didn't help it any and in my opinion,the whole look of it seemed to say "Oops,I ran out of fabric for my dress,let me just patch it up with this other stuff!"
Kenley also did some painting on a couple of her dresses,which did give her some points for creativity and technique. Alas,she once again fell into the trap of making a look that another designer(Balenciaga this time)has already put out there recently.
She got all defensive about it,as usual,but Kenley seriously needs to pay attention to what is going on in her chosen field. It's not a good thing when you present your latest designs and they right off the bat remind folks of someone else.
Korto was next and she dedicated her collection to her daughter and husband,which was very sweet. She even had her little girl join her on the runway towards the end of the show,a nice moment there.
Korto wound up ditching both the bride and bridesmaid dresses that she had made for the next to last challenge and created two new outfits within the two days before Bryant Park. A bold and savvy move on her part that paid off big time.
One of those new designs was this stunning halter gown,with a cool twist on the neckline. Michael Kors said it was his favorite outfit from her collection and I loved her carefully chosen use of color. Korto selected vivid greens and golds,along with crisp blue,white and touches of yellow thru out her line that enhanced the tone she was going for without being distracting.
Her work was strongly cohesive and truly wonderful to see. Korto was truly a major contender for the win here and rightly so.
Also,unlike Kenley,Korto listens to criticism and takes it into account when going over her designs and style choices. Her maturity as a person clearly has influenced her in her chosen profession and will no doubt draw in many people who appreciate some sensibility with their fashion sense.
Last but most certainly not least was Leanne. She was nervous,of course,but one of her concerns happened pre-show during a model fitting and was resolved quickly.
Her model had brought in her little dog to the studio and he chose to use the floor as his bathroom. The mess was cleaned up by the model,who was still in the gown meant for the show. Leanne was relieved that the dress escaped any stainage and cracked a couple of jokes about it.
Her other worry was about having a pair of pants completed in time to go along with this wavy blue top. She was tempted to drop the blouse out of the show but Tim Gunn suggested to her that having a two piece outfit like this featured in the collection would be worth the effort.
She wisely listened to Tim and that outfit helped to show the diversity of her line.
Leanne's collection was beyond lovely,it had an easy elegant grace to it that looked so simple but was truly complex.
The judges really had a tough choice here,between Leanne and Korto for the win. Kenley was finally kicked out(I have been waiting for that for weeks now!)but still,it was quite a toss up between the two remaining contestants.
Leanne was the winner and I was thrilled for her. She's talented and subtly stylish,plus a nice person to boot. I would have been just as happy for Korto for the same reasons. I hate it when obnoxious people with limited skills(*cough*Jeffrey Sebella*cough*) come out on top at the end of competitions like this and feel encouraged when good natured folks are rewarded for their efforts.
Congratulations to Leanne and best of luck to Korto,who was made the Fan Favorite(whatever happened to the reunion shows for PR?). It may be awhile before we see another PR season,since the courtroom battles are still raging on. Take heart,folks-a new season of Top Chef starts up in November and this time,they're back in New York. Should be tasty!
Top Design had no special guest judges this round(maybe Judge Kelly's wacky wardrobe and hairstyles are eating into the budget)which asked the decorators to create a "room of the future". Each one was given seven grand to design a futuristic living space and had a carpenter to help them out as well.
Eddie's concept was to make a waiting room for a cloning clinic. Interesting choice but splattering the walls with red pain is not exactly ideal for such a room. Even Eddie said the walls looked like something out of American Psycho,which he seemed to think was a good thing.
His couch was accidentally splattered by Ondine,who knocked some vanish over as she was hustling to get her room done on time. Perhaps karma decided to step in there,giving Eddie a little taste of payback for poaching on Nathan's designs last week.
Nathan had immunity again,thanks to a Pop Design quiz,and fortunately did not slack off on his room this time. He created a bachelor pad with a pretty cool bubble pattern on the main wall and plates mounted in frames. I thought it looked great but Judge Margaret wasn't totally taken with it.
The judges all agreed on Preston being the winner,for his one room that was made into two. He pulled off a polished and completed look that really seemed to be both modern and fashion forward at the same time.
However,the judges once again made a bad choice by tapping Natalie to be out. Yes, the bookcase was in an unusual position but that was due to the platforms she had had built for her hydraulic concept of the room. Judge Kelly complained about the "randomness" of the items placed on the bookshelf. Uh,hello,people tend to be random when they store things in their home,Kelly!
You want to talk about random,Kelly-what is with this wacked out hippie cavegirl ensemble you have on? Even Wilma Flintstone would have some serious reservations about an outfit like this.
Natalie's room was very well done and I think the judges just picked her because she's a newbie to interior design. Ondine's room was gloomy and claustrophobic(Judge Margaret pointed out that the fans mounted on the wall looked like the back of a city bus),Eddie's was a hot mess and Andrea's was pretty pale in pink.
Oh,well,there's more rounds to go. Hopefully Eddie will leave soon,he's getting so annoying with his attitude and smart mouth answers for everything.
A tough break for Team Comic Book on The Amazing Race,as they got delayed by the Road Block challenge which was to learn a fight routine to perform with a cholita(female wrestler)in the ring. Mark had to try three times(partly due to the high altitude in Bolivia that overwhelmed him)before he and Bill could move on.
The fellas made it in time to the Pit Stop but had to face a time penalty for taking a taxi when they were supposed to travel by foot to a Detour. Another team had started to make that same mistake but caught themselves in time. It cost them the race and saved another team in the process. Sorry to see you go,guys:
RANDOM NOTES:
UGLY BETTY: Gio's back and not happy about seeing Betty again. Hard to blame him after being rejected like that but hopefully,he and Betty can re-ignite their sparks without anyone getting burned too badly:
Kenley had maybe two nice dresses in her entire collection. I knew she would be in third place but the winner was a really close call. Glad Leanne got it but Korto's halter gown was gorgeous!
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