PR All-St★rs 3, Ep 9: A Tribal Smackdown

So here it is, the last challenge before The Tents. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas preemptions this season of All-Stars feels like it’s going into Season Two. Seriously.

But, this challenge, the last challenge, is the ready-To-Wear Challenge. The designtestants have two days to create a ready-to-wear look for Michelle Smith's fashion label Milly; and they get to use Milly Fabrics! But, the catch is that the look must retail for $400, though the winning look will be sold at Milly’s and the proceeds going to support the Save the Garment Center charity.

So, Seth Aaron, Korto, Elena and Christopher trek off to the Fashion District and meet up with Michelle Smith, who calls her newest collection — into which their look must fit — as edgy, feminine and "urban tribal". Korto, who reminds us that she comes from an African tribe, picks a very tribal, neon-ish print, while Elena goes white and neon yellow—I guess the tribe is 70sa Disco vixens. Christopher goes for ‘vegan’ leather — whatever that means — and black-and-white tribal chiffon, while for Seth Aaron tribal means black-and-white and polka dots; his tribe is Barbie.

Let’s rip ….

SETH AARON

Fun and flirty, with a hint of neon pink that screams Seth Aaron. He lucked out when Zanna Roberts Rassi and Michelle Smith showed up to critique it and suggested he simplify the skirt.

WHAT I SAID

I’m not seeing tribal with this one, though it is a definite Seth Aaron look. I like the sexiness of it, and the flirtiness of it.

WHAT THEY SAID

She looks fantastic from head-to-toe. It’s exactly what I sketched, what I visioned. The movement in the skirt, the way it’s cut. It’s flawless.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Guest Judge, and Milly designer, Michelle Smith thought it was a spectacular special occasion dress. She loved the skirt, but the neon ruffle threw her. Nick Cannon, though, loved the neon pink because he just loves a pop of color. Fellow Guest Judge Kristin Chenoweth wants the dress, she loved it that much, while Isaac Mizrahi loved the v-design but hated the neon and thought there might be too much going on with stripes and dots and cut-outs and neon. The Beautiful Georgina Chapman™ — and welcome back! — called the look a crowd-pleaser and loved the skirt, though she wondered if it was really commercial.

WHAT HAPPENED

Just before The tents Seth Aaron scores his first win!

ELENA

Why bother with challenge parameters when Elena simply makes Elena dresses? It didn’t seem to have anything to do with anything she was told.

WHAT I SAID

Where is the tribal? It’s a sleek white dress — totally patch-worked and form-fitting like always — with a subtle hint of some yellow underneath. it screams Scuba Nurse to me.

WHAT THEY SAID

I have a dress that I really love, that’s truly me. I think that this could be a really special piece for Milly. It looks amazing.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Isaac called it fresh, and loved the coloring of the yellow beneath the mess, calling it chamomile ice cream, while Kristin said it looked like a forgiving dress … if one were to eat a burger before wearing it. I know; I have no idea what that means either. But she did love the color also. Nick Cannon said his wife — Mooriah Carey — would look good in that dress though I think she might look more like a ten-pound sausage in a two-pound casing. He also loved the zipper for the “easy access” — and yes, he’s a pig. The Beautiful Georgina Chapman™ hates the zipper, and would have preferred a matte white one or no zipper at all, but she loves the profile of the dress. Michelle agrees that the zipper looks wonky.

WHAT HAPPENED

The fix is in, Elena, who always does her own thing no matter the challenge, will be at The Tents.

CHRISTOPHER

So the point of this challenge was to meet the constraints of a set retail price point, but Christopher apparently has no idea what that means because he decides to forgo his approved design and make separates, with two zippers, even though both Seth Aaron and Elena remind him that two zippers means two production runs, and therefore more money. Chrissy pouts and then scampers around the workroom like a whirling dervish on crack to, ahem, Make it work.

WHAT I SAID

It looks pretty at first, but then the top seems like it’s folded in on itself and doesn’t fit, and the skirt comes all the way off, so it’s still two pieces, though just one zipper.

WHAT THEY SAID

This dress is the most Wow dress out of the whole group. It has an interesting neckline; it has this asymmetrical piece and it has a tribal print over a leather skirt. It’s a really cool dress.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Alyssa liked the soft-and-hard sarong over the leather dress, and Isaac agrees though he thinks the bodice is wrong. Nick likes the tribal print while Kristin loved the shoulders. Michelle hated the bodice, calling it messy, and didn’t think any woman would want to wear it, while The Beautiful Georgina Chapman™ likes it, says it a good concept, very commercial, though the execution is off. But she also says she has no idea who Christopher is as a designer. He gets that pissy look on his face because how dare an extremely successful designer critique him?

WHAT HAPPENED

Christopher goes into Design Off

KORTO

She’s the only one who seemed to have heard the word ‘tribal’ but I wondered about her print. She takes a racer-back and then whips it around the front as a belt, but Zanna Roberts Rassi and Michelle Smith visit and say maybe it’s too much print.

WHAT I SAID

I love the print, but the front seems kind of ill-fitting.

WHAT THEY SAID

I like my look. I think it’s a really great retail look for four hundred bucks. The fabrics are amazing, but not over-the-top costume-y.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Alyssa liked it and thought it the most wearable of all the looks, while The Beautiful Georgina Chapman™ thought the back was better than the front, but loved the mix of fabrics. Michelle agreed, saying she could design a whole collection around that racer-back. Kristin said it had a Democrat Back and a Republican front and, for the second time last night, I wondered WTF she was talking about. Isaac said the back was so good that it vibrated but that the front seemed like it was dying on the vine. Nick Cannon asked if pockets were in … I know.

WHAT HAPPENED

Korto is sent to the Design Off.

THE DESIGN OFF

With Seth Aaron and Elena assured of being at The Tents, Christopher and Korto are left to duel it out in the Design Off. They must take three of their old looks from this season and create a brand new look in just one hour.

I think it was just a time-filler, personally.

Christopher's reboot features part of a gown, part of a blouse, and a belt and purse. It looks like two different dresses cut off in the middle with a beige belt as kind of a demilitarized Zone.

Korto took a pant and turned it into a pencil skirt, and then just seemed to drape and belt other fabrics over top, but at least there was some design.

Isaac loved the roughhewn nature of Korto’s look, and called Christopher’s sexy and controlled. Alyssa loved that Korto made a skirt from pants and loved Christopher’s shoulder pad. The Beautiful Georgina Chapman™ loved Korto’s look and called Christopher’s sweet.

Names were written and, well, Christopher is out and Korto will be at The Tents.

MY TAKE

Did we need three guest judges? I mean I love Kirstin Chenoweth, but she was more jokey than critical, and Nick Cannon — why is he there? Did Mariah not have a sitter for a night out and sent him off the PR Day Care?

And why the Design Off? it was clear through the critique that the judges preferred Korto over Christopher, so this extra special segment just seemed like filler—more bread crumbs in the meat loaf if you will.

Now, for The Tents: I think Elena will probably win — it’s been played like that all season — but I’m glad Seth Aaron finally showed up and did the Seth Aaron kinda kooky kinda cartoony hip whimsical look. And, well, I just love Korto because she seems to have the most diversity of all the designers.

I’d like her to win though I don’t think it’s planned that way.

What did YOU think?