PR 13 Ep 12: To The Tents!

Can you imagine? Tim Gunn strolling into your home and waking you up with those dulcet tones? I think Tim should sell his voice for alarm clacks: Good morning designers, time to Make It Work! And for the record, if anyone comes up with this idea now, I came up with it first!

But, back to the PR. Tim wakes the Final Five! Final Five! and asks them to meet him on the roof for the ceremonial Tossing Of Korina. I kid! Tim’s up top with cutie Brian Bolain, Corporate Marketing Manager for Lexus, to  introduce their final task, and No, it has nothing to do with Lexus other than Lexus is one of the prizes.

The challenge is to design a "street chic" look inspired by New York City — which they will find while touring the streets for about a minute in a … you guessed it … Lexus. It can be a day-wear look, but it has to be fashionable and progressive, and finished in two days for $200.

Oh, and because it’s the PR, there’s a twist once the designers get started. On the second day of the challenge they come into the workroom to find five Auf’d looks from five Auf’d designers. With the Dreaded Button Bag™ Tim tells them they must take an Auf’d look and use that look to make a new look; a new look that need not be cohesive with the street chic look; they’ll have $100 and a second Mood trip.

And that had me wondering, Why? What’s the point?

Korina. Naturally, one of the five Auf’d looks was Korina’s and naturally Char picked it and naturally since the designtestants had so much work, they had help from the original designers of the Auf’d look which meant … you guessed it … Korina would be working with, and for, Char.

Let’s save that and rip ….

SEAN

After tooling around in the Lexus, and oohing all over it as part of the job, Sean steps out onto the streets of the Lower East Side and is instantly inspired by a man win a white caftan because it looks so clean and crisp among the grunginess of a Grande Apple street.

He has this,I think because his idea is different, but then … the Twist; and, because his name is last chosen from the Dreaded Button Bag™ he gets stuck with Sandhya’s Little Doll Ship Captain In Pink look. I would have thrown in the towel, but he tries to make it work.

When Tim comes by for the Critique, Sean has decided to make a white shirt with a green scrubs mesh fabric pant and Tim ain’t playing, He says it looks like a service worker uniform — and not the kind of service worker on the streets of New York but the kind of service worker who brings you Jell-O after surgery. As for the Sandhya Re-do, Sean is making a fringe jacket — because this is The Season of Fringe, remember — over a white dress. Tim hates the cheap looking white dress.

Sean is screwed; he says he can ramp it up, but can he? He scrap the white dress for pink Bazooka Bubblegum Shorts and scraps the green fabric for a crisp white skirt. All seems to be going smoothly in Sean’s world until … Zoinks … the new skirt doesn’t fit the model; through a trick of pre-commercial editing, you got the feeling Sean’s skirt didn’t fit just as they were headed to the runaway but that wasn’t the case. He had plenty of time to add more fabric.

WHAT HE SAID

Look # 1: It looms sharp and clean and exactly what I wanted.

Look #2: So fun and I nailed what I wanted to do.

WHAT I SAID

Look #1: It’s so clean and so crisp, and very edgy, though that back slit is dangerously pornographic.

Look #2: Uh oh. This time I don’t think the fringe will save the look.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Look #1: Heidi starts off with a “What is going on here?” And adorable Sean and I start to sweat until she adds, “It’s fan … tastic!” Huge sigh! She sys Sean’s a genius, and she’s never seen anything like it, and it’s spectacular, and the cutouts and the skirt are amazing — though, yeah, that slit in the back. It’s all love from The Kluminator. Guest judge, Pretty Little Liars star Shay Mitchell says it’s amazing and she loves the cutouts, too, and says it’s tailored to perfect. Nina Garcia says it’s the best thing she’s ever seen on the PR … EVER!! I faint; Carlos revives me and I hear The Adorable Zac Posen™ call it delicious and sublime, modern and original.

Look #2: Nina says it’s out of left field, and The Adorable Zac Posen™ gives it the Flamenco Rodeo Princess title. Heidi said the look was silly before and it’s silly now; she also called it crazy and cheap. When The Adorable Zac Posen™ said Look #2 made you smile and laugh, Heidi said, “Not me! It’s awful.” It appears her fringe phase is over.

KINI

He is all about fire escapes and stairs, and I’ll get to that in a moment. For his second look, he picks Mitchell's red carpet Emmy look; a safe bet because Kini loves gowns.

For his first look he makes a waxed denim trench coat because he’s all about the denim and he won a denim challenge; but then he adds a kind of basic mall shirt under that and a denim skirt with all kinds of frill on it … ♫♪In my Eater bonnet, with all the frills upon it, I’ll be the grandest lady in the Easter parade♪♫ … Sorry I drifted off because that’s all I could think.

At the critique, Tim adores the simplicity of Kini’s reimagining of the red gown, keeping it simple and chic, but he’s worried about the Street Chic look because it’s a lot, with the coat and the frills and the too-cute white shirt; and, he says it reads Michael Kors. Uh oh.

WHAT HE SAID

Look #1: She looks gorgeous … expensive … luxe.

Look #2: I turned that look totally around.

WHAT I SAID

Look #1: Why is wearing the trench over her shoulders? Doesn’t it fit? And the skirt also doesn’t fit with the look because it’s too much and it battles the coat. I see nothing stair-inspired unless it’s a circular staircase.

Look #2: Gorgeous.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Look #1: Heidi had mixed feelings about it; she loved the trench coat but hated the skirt and blouse underneath. Shay loved the coat and the white top—though she called it mature—but said the skirt was just too much. Nina said, “Less is more.” She said the pieces were well-made but there was too much going on. The Adorable Zac Posen™ said Kini needs an edit button because not every look needs every single bell and whistle.

Look #2: The Adorable Zac Posen™ loved the sleek clean lines, saying it was the exact opposite of the Street Chic look. Heidi also loved it, but she didn’t like the use of the horsehair to create the wavy hem—again, too much. Nina said it was the right color and the right fit. Shay loved the dress and loved the wavy horsehair hemline.

AMANDA

On the street Amanda focuses on graffiti and grunge because, well, she always loves graffiti and since this is Street Chic she has this one on the bag; she’s also giddy because she caught a couple making out on the street. Dear god, stop talking! For her second look, she picks Fade’s looks from the avant-garde “Rainway” ensemble because she loves the lines of the piece.

She tells Tim her Street Chic look is Matisse-Mondrian-maxi dress and I want to kick her in the teeth. Quit referencing other art pieces and tell us what you made! Tim loves it, and loves the expanse of volume in the back. As for her second look, she’s still playing with the yellow lines and has no real vision for it.

WHAT SHE SAID

Look #1: I feel very calm and very happy.

Look #2: I should have focused on the second look.

WHAT I SAID

Look #1: I like the color-blocking but it’s so big and baggy it looks like an upscale burlap potato sack.

Look #2: Slutty, and not Boho Chic at all.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Look #1: Nina called it amazing, and loved the way it walked; she said it was totally Amanda, but she loathed the styling, the makeup, the hair, and the accessories. Heidi loved it, and said it perfectly suited Amanda’s Boho Chic aesthetic. The Adorable Zac Posen™ loved it, calling it sophisticated, and somber, with a splash of color; l then he said as much as he wanted to hate it he couldn’t. That’s praise? But he loved what he called the inventive smart draping.

Look #2: Nina said, “Tarzan? Meet Jane.” That summed it up. Shay thought it was too bare and the yellow lines running top to bottom reminded her of Tron. Heidi called it Nightclub Hostess and said she couldn’t see Amanda in the look, either literally or figuratively. And she said the first look saved the second look.

CHAR

I worry about Char because her inspiration was nothing but the window displays in dress shops. Your inspiration is a dress in a window? Then buy the dress, honey! But, she finds on dress that is surrounded by a hundred or so flying paper planes and that gives her an idea: get on a plane and go home.

I kid. For her second look, well, we know she picked Korina’s look, but only because it had a lot of fabric. But, as we know, that means Korina must work with Char until her hissy fit, her tears, her Woe is me I’m so talented attitude gets her out of it, and then sends Tim back to The Gotham to get Alexander out of bed so he can help  Char. And, with no Korina in the workroom, it all becomes fun again.

For her Street Look, she’s creating petals — shades of Korina making petals a few weeks back? — on a simple pencil skirt. She’s added a pocket and Tim worries that the pocket makes it all too much, but Char ain’t listening to Tim and the pocket stays. For her second look, she takes very little of Korina’s fabric and makes an obi out of it for a basic black dress. Tim’s on the fence about it because it’s not much at all.

WHAT SHE SAID

Look #1: Bella looks amazing.

Look #2: I can see the bunchiness in the front.

WHAT I SAID

Look #1: Tim was right about the pocket. :::sigh:::

Look #2: She took Korina’s look because it had all that fabric and she used about a half-yard of it. Senseless.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Look #1: Nina liked Char’s use of color, but she, like nearly everyone, hated the pocket. She said it was too much. The Adorable Zac Posen™ said it was “crotch heavy” but that Char had great ideas, though she needs to execute them better. Shay loved the color and the energy, and called it a vibrant look, while Heidi said she might benefit from more time.

Look #2: Shay liked the simplicity but hated the way the hips looked heavy and wide. Heidi was not loving it or hating it, which is never a good sign, while The Adorable Zac Posen™ played with it a bit, grabbing the model, and making it look a little better.

EMILY

She had it in her head that she wanted to make a hoodie all season and so I don’t think she was inspired by anything other than her need for hoodie. I’m sure she took pictures, but unless they were of people in hoodies, she wasn’t changing her mind.

Emily got first choice of the Auf’d looks, and picked Samantha’s basic blue gown from the Jewelry Challenge.  She was going to keep the top and then make a patterned skirt, turning it into a simple cocktail dress.

Tim had very little to say about the Street Chic look, but he was plenty worried about the second look because he thought it was too ready-to-wear. Emily, all hoodied up, was more concerned with the first look and so the second look never changed.

WHAT SHE SAID

Look #1: She looks awesome, super cool!

Look #2: I should have focused on the second look.

WHAT I SAID

Look #1: It looks like someone who wears Street Chic clothing would wear, around the house when they first get out of bed on a cold day.

Look #2: Sears.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Look #1: Heidi doesn’t “mind” it but says it isn’t a strong look for the challenge that gets you to The Tents. She says the outfit beneath the hoodie looks like pajamas, though when the hoodie is removed, she likes the pajama design. The Adorable Zac Posen™ likes it without the hoodie, too, calling the outfit cool but the hoodie kind of homeless and scary. Nina said the outfit looked a little Cirque du Soleil, while youngster Shay was the only one who liked the Hoodie, though she wished the pajamas were done in all black.

Look #2: The Adorable Zac Posen™ said there wasn’t much to talk about, while Nina said the look was completely missing Emily’s POV; it’s fine, she said, but it’s not Emily. Heidi loved the skirt fabric, but hated the gifty-looking bow in the back.

WHAT HAPPENED

After all five designtestants says why they should move on—each giving the Because it’s what I wanna do and the It’s all I live for and the I could really put on a show stock answers, the judges settle on Kini and Sean.

Emily gets the Aufing and we’re left with Amanda and Char. 

I know, because of how they responded to the Potato Sack, that Amanda’s going — I think I knew that from Ep one — I wonder about Char. In the end I think she shouldn’t go because, while she was good at times he was never really great, but at the end, the judges pick Amanda and Char.

Quelle surprise.

MY TAKE

Enough with the unknown actresses as judges. I don’t care what they wanna wear “on the carpet” I think you need to have fashionsitas — yes, even actress fashionistas — and other designers, buyers, etc, as judges.

Char shouldn’t go. Sorry, I like her, and I like that somewhere Korina is wailing, but I don’t think she’s strong enough.

Amanda will show a modern day version of Gretchen’s Granny Pants Collection and everyone will ooh and ah.

Kini will do too much, and he’ll probably do a collection made entirely of bells and whistles.

That leaves Sean. I think he’s stepped up, and made some very cool, very new, very edgy and modern things. If he can do that again in a 12 pierce collection, he can win this one.

Next week, I won't be recapping because I'm getting married, if I hadn't mentioend that yet. I'll be in Washington, the designtestants are off to Rome! Who knew?

What did YOU think?