Project Runway: Episode 4, Heart-to-Heart

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Project Runway: Episode 4, Heart-to-Heart

POSTED: Friday, February 5, 2010, 6:45 PM

Filed Under: TV | Fashion | ProjRun Watch

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Amy's winning dress

This week was a bit of a snooze fest at Parsons. There was, for me at least, one highlight that came at elimination. It's just a shame I had to sit through the entire episode to get there.

In a boring attempt to come up with exciting new challenges, ProjRun brought in women who were in some way affected by heart disease as models. The challenge was to make something gala-worthy that must a.) red, and b.) incorporate the Campbell's soup branding somewhere in the design. Right, because when I think of high fashion I immediately think of condensed soup. To be fair, Campbell's is financially supporting a fight against heart disease and that's nothing to sneeze at. (The winning dress is sold at projectrunway.com, with all proceeds going to the Go Red Foundation)

Too bad there was no drama to speak of.

But, lucky for you, there were a plethora of hideous dresses to discuss. Remember that ugly jacket Mila made last week? That thing gave her immunity for this week's challenge. Looking back, that jacket was fabulous compared to this week's explosion of beastly fury. Mila stitched together a red dress that was probably perfect for her model's body — I'll give that to her. But then she decided she was going to put a huge white star on lower right side, and a smaller one above the left hip. "It looks like a cheap flag at the Thanksgiving Day Parade," said Emilio. Honestly, I can't think of a more apt way to describe it. Can I take one second here to just point out Emilio's growing bitchiness? He's got something to say about everyone, and it's less than constructive. I love a little drama in the sewing room, but it's boring when someone just talks trash in the confession booth. Emilio, if you're going to be a diva, let everyone know. Don't hide it, girl.

And speaking of trash-talking, none of the designers wanted to say anything about their "real women" models. How could they? These women have been through enough already with failing hearts and pacemakers, they can't mention arm flub or cankles. When Seth Aaron mentioned that this was "the largest challenge I ever faced as a designer" (emphasis on the largest part) it should have raised some eyebrows. Really, Seth? Maybe it wasn't intentional, but it seemed a little fishy. If you have a bigger body, you just have to work with it.

Take Jesse's dress, for example. While the cropped white jacket was, as Kors mentioned, a little marching band-y, the worse part about it was the fact that it covered up the perfect neckline of the dress, an aspect the judges all loved. When I say perfect neckline, what I mean is boobies galore. This woman had 'em, and Jesse showcased them wonderfully.

Amy was this week's winner with a floor length gown that hid the model's body. During the judging, Kors, Garcia and Klum kept throwing around the word "elegant." It was modern, too, they insisted. It's true. The dress had very delicate details, like the raw edges of the neckline, and the small amount of Campbell's branding at the waist. And although the fabric was swarming around the model, you could actually see her shape when she walked. None of the dresses were all that exciting this week (at least not for the right reasons) but this one was probably the most gala appropriate.

Poor, sweet little Anna made a dress that actually looked alright during construction, but looked dumpy as hell when it was on the model. What was supposed to be flattering to the model's body type ended up emphasizing the less than ideal parts (her broad shoulders) rather than accentuating the good parts (her legs). The bust portion may have been intended to be billowy, but it ended up bunchy. Anna tried to draw the eye in to the cinched waist of the dress, but it just wasn't working. She had a good idea, though, and that's what helped her just barely scrape by.

Who did she just narrowly beat out, you ask? The boy who should have been gone weeks ago, challenge-skirter extraordinaire, Mr. Jesus. Finally, right? Someone must have told him that the challenge was to make the tackiest, ugliest street corner dress, throw some Campbell's business in there, and call it a day. That's clearly the look he was going for with the tight satin mini and gaudy sparkly chain straps, or whatever. Yes, the construction of the dress was flawless. But that doesn't mean anything when the piece is horrid and painful to the eyes. And, as the great Michael Kors mentioned in judging, taste is something that cannot be learned. So goodbye, Jesus, you sub par designer.

Sossy

Posted 2010-02-11 21:48:59

The kiss of death seems to be when Heidi says she's 'not sure about your taste.'  Jesus was a weak player. It will be interesting to see if Mila can move away from her inset panels (the star/flag dress, and the bat-wing jacket from the week before).  It will also be interesting to see if Emilio keeps relying on his ribbon look. Having a signature look is great, but not when you end up being a one-trick pony.

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