PR 14 Ep 14: The One Where I Thought I'd Be Mad But I Really Wasn't

We begin where we ended last week, backstage, with the designtestants all feeling torn apart — well, with the exception of Ashley who seems rather pleased with herself. Kelly needs to amp it up and bring the glitter, while Edmond needs to get sexier—his clothes, y’all, cuz he’s fine. Candace needs to tone it down.

And so, in walks Tim with his notes, and, as always, his positive thinking, reminding them all that they are in The Finale for a reason. He offers up another trip to Mood and Ashley says she could use some bits and pieces while Kelly simply asks for Glitter; Edmond and Candice say they have all they need.

And then it’s back to the workroom and beyond …

CANDICE

Off with the witch’s hat! Gone are the gloves! Lose the giant hoop skirt and the wooden skirt. And because the judges didn’t like the matchy-matchy look in the cherry blossom print, that goes, too.

Candace has a lot to do … perhaps as many as three new looks before The Tents. But when Tim comes by for an extra critique, he reminds her that if she feels the print is holding her back, then just ditch it.

And so Candice gets two new looks together and, at the last moment, decides to revive the cherry blossom print into a dress, hoping the judges won’t rip it to shreds.

WHAT SHE SAID

I knew I’d go far. I just didn’t know I’d go this far.

WHAT I SAID

I think she lost herself, and her badassedness — not a word, I know — by throwing out all the extravagant things she’d done. I think the collection could have used a bit, a bit, of theatrics.

I loved the new cherry blossom dress, and the black leather kimono-looking piece; the gown, now outta the hoop, was very pretty, while the leather gown with the red fishtails looked a little Satan Goes To Prom. But the rest — the leathers and the cigarette pants — gave me Sandy Becomes A Bad Girl in Grease.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Guest judge, country singer and now fashion designer, Carrie Underwood thought there was just too much leather for her liking, but loved the silhouettes, and the kimono, as well as, Carrie Underwood Goes Bad, the cigarette pants.

Nina surprises Candice  bay saying she loved the first look — the last minute cherry blossom dress — because it was feminine and yet still edgy. She also loved the red-sequin skirt and bustier, and was pleased that Candace had stripped away the more costume-y elements.

Zac loved her architectural sense of design — witchy, urban — but wished she’d found her own voice, seeming to suggest she was channeling other designers; he also pointed out he fit issues in the black leather dress.

Heidi felt that Candace’s collection was not at all cohesive, because it was super trashy ... the Halloween gown; super girly ... the new cherry blossoms; and super sophisticated ... the hoop-less gown.

EDMOND

Edmond is wondering about ruffles, after the judges’ critique, especially when he pulls a fully ruffled gown from a garment bag. But, after Tim reminds him that last year Sean was warned about going too much fringe, he still kept to his Gunns, er, guns, and fringed it out … and won.

Edmond keeps some ruffles, and then begins to sex up the rest of his looks, though he once again tries to create looks that show another side to him, not remembering that he got to The Tents by showing what he can do, not what he thinks people want from him.

WHAT HE SAID

This is mi shining moment. This is something I can be proud of … it’s my form of yelling.

WHAT I SAID

The first look was sex; the second look was pure fun; the third look was, well, a dress I’d seen before, many times. The rest had some good — I liked the white skirt and black ruffled top; and some that were off — the white ruffled gown was like a house I had tee-pee’d back in the day.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Heidi loves the first look, calling it a ‘Pow,’ and loved the draped look—and I’ll give her that the fabric looked like oil dripping down the model, which was cool. She also loved the bow dress, but she, too, played the toilet paper card with the white dress. I did love how Edmond defended it—love it or hate it, but say something about it!

Nina said Edmond appreciated women, had a respect for women, because he makes sexy, yet refined clothes; she loved the cut and proportion of the one-shoulder look, but agreed with Heidi that the last two pieces—the showstoppers—weren’t true to his aesthetic.

Zac said that by paring down the ruffles, the collection was definitely stronger, but the showstoppers are contrived and not sophisticated.

Carrie called it classic, sexy and glamorous.

KELLY

Her critique wasn’t so bad, so Kelly sets about glittering her shoes, and her headphones, and even her models’ lips.

She worries about the fit of the pantsuit, and tries it on several models, until she finds it fits on the last one — a Cinderella moment, she called it. She also said, and I love this, that she doesn’t care if people think she’s bananas because she can be apples and oranges, too.

WHAT SHE SAID

I have a bunch of Disco Barbie’s.

WHAT I SAID

Her collection is so totally Kelly — whether or not it’s anyone else, is a guess — that I love some of it. The first look ... the white pants look, the fourth look ... the flirty skirt; and the seventh look ... the woodgrain dress were all very cool and fun and chic; the rest kinda go a bit off for me, but it’s a POV and it’s Kelly and it’s certainly for a lot of girls out there.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Zac loves the glitter and the fact that Kelly went for it; he also appreciated her techniques with the cording and the zippers, calling the collection fun, flashy and trashy. He didn’t care for all of the spandex, though.

Nina was impressed and surprised that Kelly has a definitive POV and she stuck to it; she also loved the first look, but felt that the teal spandex triangle look was kinda Cirque du Soleil ice skating.

Heidi was impressed with the woodgrain fabric dress — and even the matching fanny pack — and liked Kelly’s ideas, if not all of the colors.

Carrie called it fun and funky, and called Kelly fearless.

ASHLEY

Ashley was pleased with her collection, and herself, after the critique with the judges, but Tim tries to rein her in because he says a lot of times, those most confident forget what they’re doing and fall … hard.

And she does hit snags, with the flowered headpieces — should she use them all — and with a zipper that busted as she tried to dress the model right before the show.

WHAT SHE SAID

This is a big deal to the plus-sized community. This has been a dream of mine since I was a teenager.

WHAT I SAID

Again, the hair and make-up are the best of anyone’s collection; those models were gorgeous. I loved all of it except the shorts looks because they didn’t seem to fit well. But the rest was fun and glamorous and chic and unexpected.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Nina loved the first look, the pink dress — now with a turquoise bra and not just a regular bra like Ashley has shown to the judges earlier. She loved that Ashley went for a plus-sized collection, calling it unexpected and courageous. And she loved that Ashley used so-called taboo forms — crop tops and sheer dresses — for full figured women.

Carrie’s favorite was Ashley’s last-minute challenge look — the purple lace dress; she also loved the styling and the colors in the collection, and the femininity of it all.

Heidi loved it, and wanted some of the dresses for herself — the sea-foam green one and the teal one; she wasn’t as happy with the romper, as the crotch was a bit odd.

Zac loved the teal dress, and that Ashley fixed some of the fit issues—there was still one wonky zipper; he loved that she didn’t do hats on all the models because, as with any good show, she left them wanting more. He also loved her plus-sized POV.

Heidi thinks Candice, who I think lost a bit of herself after the first critique, was the least impressive. Zac said she wasn’t as polished or edgy ass he had been while Nina called the collection derivative, and Carrie called it Nightmare Before Christmas. Candice is out.

Heidi thought Edmond’s collection was beautiful, and Nina and Carrie agreed; but Zac seemed to think Edmond needed more time to grow as a designer. Edmond is out.

Heidi loved that Kelly just kept getting better all season—and pointed out that she’d won four challenges, more than anyone else. Nina loved Kelly's attitude about her work and her designs, while Zac admired her passion. Still, Kelly is out.

And so that left Ashley. Heidi loved all her clothes and that they would look good on any women. Carrie loved that Ashley was so gutsy, while Zac said she has the most potential, and a great idea for a collection.

Ashley is In … and gets the win.

Candice. I felt so bad for her because she ripped the edginess right out of her collection. I think if she stayed truer to herself, and just edited down a few pieces. She might have had a better chance.

Yes, I was team Edmond all season long — I mean ... look at him over there — hot and sexy and talented and seemingly very nice. But he needs to rely on his own sense of design and create Edmond, not what he thinks people want of him.

And again, he does live in Atlanta, and he does design menswear, but that doesn't mean i'm heading out that way to stalk him or anything ... today.

Kelly is probably the one who may go the farthest because of her drive and ambition and willingness to listen and learn, and yet still be herself.

Ashley. I liked her collection; it was sexy and fun and, again, the models and the styling were stunning. But I was annoyed by the way Ashley appeared in her confessionals this week because she seemed almost gleeful that the other designers were struggling or suffered bad critiques.

Still, I agree that she should have won; cohesive and fun and fashion and full-figured.

Now, about the constant commercials for next week’s premiere of Project Runway: Kids Sew, or whatever. Seriously, cut out all the ads and the introductions of those designers from this show and the finale might have been an hour, maybe an hour-and-fifteen minutes; not two hours. Too much filler.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, I won’t recap the PR: Children Sweatshop Designs, or whatever. I don’t like the idea of kids on competitive reality shows.

So, for the last time this season … what did YOU think?