Friday, December 16, 2016

PR 15 Ep 13: Color Me Less Than Impressed

Okay, so this is a filler week on the PR as we ready ourselves for the finale. In the Filler Episode, Tim visits each designtestant to see a peek at their collections before they head back to La Grande Apple and The Tents.

Do we really need to see this? Well, if you’re a diehard PR fan, probably; otherwise it’s like, C’mon get to the finale already!

But first, each designtestants must present a three look sneak peek to the judges and endure another week of criticism from the judges ... and me!

Let’s rip ...
LAURENCE
Tim’s first stop is at Laurence’s space in LA where she shows him a collection about finding the light in the darkness; she tells Tim it’s based on her own experiences and, after a season where she barely said five words—and those words were I don’t like to talk—Laurence tells Tim the story of her becoming pregnant at sixteen and how her father cut her out of his life and how she never spoke to him again.

It sounds grim, but the show ends with the light, so there’s a bright outlook I guess because Laurence is doing nothing in black this time, and Tim is happy about that and completely unconcerned about her collection and its direction.

WHAT SHE SAID
My collection represents me as a designer.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID
Bob—uh, that would be me!—thought the first look was a fun sack ... or a horses feeding bag worn as an outfit. The Second look he thought was way too tight and too dated; it looked like something Fallon Carrington wore on Dynasty, As for the Third Look, he did not like the dropped crotch because it made the model seem very long-waisted, but he loved the sexiness of the bare back.

Michael Kors thought it all looked schizophrenic; he loved the pearl top on the Third Look, but hated the sack look of the First Look. He thought Laurence is a good tailor but the sack didn’t belong.

Heidi liked the freshness of the Third Look, AKA The Sack, but also felt the Second Look was very dated; she loved the pearl top and it’s sexy back, but felt, all in all, that there was no cohesion.

Zac Posen also liked The Sack because it brought a freshness that differentiated it from the remarkable tailoring of the other pieces; still he felt the collection needed an impact.

Nina Garcia loved the jacket on the Second Look, but not the pants and the bare belly button; she said it cheapened the look. She said Laurence’s girls were cool, but the makeup was far too severe.
RIK
A hop, skip and jump from Laurence’s work space and Tim is at Rik’s—well, at a neighborhood bowling alley with Rik, his mother Delia, and his cousin Mayra.

Bowling? Tim Gunn bowling? It looked a little like Fred Flintstone tip-toe bowling but Tim was surprisingly good and thrilled that he was, ahem, “becoming a jock.”

But then Tim and Rik head over to Rik’s massive workspace—it’s lofty and cabin-y and warehouse-y and I want to move in—to see what Rik has been working on and Tim is less than impressed.

It’s not cohesive at all; with inspirations from “Sgt. Pepper”, from paisley, and from punk. Rik also included some optical illusion prints that, well, I do so like Rik, but these pieces were a bit of a cheese platter. And do not get me started on the glasses he made; why do designers try and make wacky accessories when they must know that’s all Nina will focus on? Why??
Tim says he sees “at least three collections here” and begs Rik to mix it up a bit and cut some stuff out.

WHAT HE SAID
I’m extremely happy!

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID
Bob loves Rik, he thinks he’s so sweet; he wants to be Rik one day, but ... the First look reminds him of what the murderer might wear in a slasher film, while the Second Look seems like it was stolen from Lucy van Pelt‘s closet in a Charlie Brown comic; as for the Third Look, he liked the fabric, but it was just so much; high up on the neck, saggy at the bottom, er, on the bottom, and just kinda sad all around.

Zac Posen thinks Rik needs to raise the octane; he thought the collection was fun and eclectic but needed more; he also thought the Third Look needed to be opened up to show some skin.

Heidi said it all lacked cohesion, and her favorite was the simplicity of the Second Look; as with Bob, she was frightened by the First look.

Michael Kors said Rik had a good hand with leather—the Second Look was great----and he thought the glasses were freaky, though they worked; he also agreed about the cohesion, feeling the collection was all over the place and needed focus.

Nina Garcia hated the glasses and the childish little purse; she felt there were ‘too many messages” and it all needed a good edit. She thought the simplest piece—The Lucy van Pelt number—was the best, and she agreed that the Third Look needed less. In fact, she and Kors and Posen then directed Rik to roll up the sleeves, open the collar and raise the length and suddenly the Third Look appeared better.
ERIN
Next up, Tim is in Boston to meet Erin in her workspace at MassArt. Erin is back to embellishments and bits and pieces of sequins, and fabrics strewn about, and woven pieces—she was clearly perturbed when Tim called them ‘knits’—but she hasn’t made one single look!

Oy, girl, get it together. But Tim doesn’t seem concerned by the lack of a single look because, well, that’s been Erin all season ... last minute designer, I guess.

WHAT SHE SAID
I’m definitely a little more playful and whimsical.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID
Bob hated how stiff the First look seemed and felt it was too much of a cartoon. The Second Look seemed like cruisewear had broken into the building and forced itself on the runway because it didn’t look like an Erin piece at all. As for the Third look, he couldn’t shake the feeling that the sleeves looked like brushes for cleaning the insides of bottle and the skirt was cool—loved the color—but didn’t work with the top. He also felt the “So Clutch” clutch was kinda dumb.

Michael Kors thought the First look was adorable and had a good, fresh attitude. He also hated the bag.

Nina called the Second Look the “odd man out” and suggested it didn’t belong in the collection—Kors said, “Keep it in the showroom.”

Zac Posen loved the First look but he wanted more sparkle, and he thought the Third Look was top heavy; he also suggested murdering the Second Look.

Heidi thought the skirt on the Third Look was too long but loved that Erin continued with the unconventional design embellishments on the First Look.
ROBERI
Tim ends back in NYC to meet up with Roberi who reminds Tim that he’s been in the US for just four months having left Caracas because of rampant crime that forced him to close his business.

But then Tim gives Roberi the business about his collection because Roberi describes it as the travels of a woman through different places. But Tim says none of it looks like the same woman would wear all the pieces, and that Roberi has too many ideas.

Roberi says the cohesion will come in the silhouettes and shapes, but Tim says those are too simple and then tells Roberi his collection if that of a dressmaker and not a designer. Ow!

WHAT HE SAID
It looks beautiful; it looks well-made.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID
Bob said the first look was fun and flirty, but the fabric felt like a window shade. He thought the skirt on the second look was a shiny freezer bag tied at the waist by a length of rope ... or a twist-tie. The Third Look, ah, the Third Look, felt like nothing at all.

Zac Posen liked the My Little Pony-ness of the first look, but felt the Second Look was “trashbag chic.” He did like the mix of fabrics from the iridescence of some to the matte looks of others.

For Heidi there was no drama; the collection looked dowdy and wanted Roberi to “sex it up.”
Michael Kors disagreed about sexing the collection up and said it only needed some more juice ... okurrr. He loved the textures of the First look but said the Third look was nothing.

Nina Garcia also agreed that it doesn’t need sex, it needs luxe. And she hated the styling which made the models appear sad.

I was pleasantly surprised that there were no bitches in the finale this year; these designers seem to lik, and respect, one another, which is cool, if it does make for a more boring show.

That said, I wasn’t really impressed with any of them, which is a first. They all had some cool pieces, but as a whole there was nothing Wow about anything.

Erin’s a cartoon.

Rik’s optical illusion choices seem juvenile.

Laurence’s journey from dark to light doesn’t work when the “dark” is olive green.

Roberi’s is a mish-mash of things that I’ve seen before, even if he chooses fresh fabrics.

I’m hoping they step this up or the finale will be a d-i-saster.

What did YOU think? Who will win?

5 comments:

  1. Anonymous3:55 PM

    I agree...All were a hot MESS...The judges nailed it....COHESION ...Either a thread of the same going through each....Or an IMPACT that relates to one another...I did not see any standouts and am wondering what the end will be...My favorite designer of all time is Seth Aron Henderson...Season 9...He was strong all through the competition and his runway was breathtaking...I loved it when he had Tim on a trampoline...Funny as hell...

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  2. Anonymous5:02 PM

    Well, Bob, right now I couldn't care less who will win. Uuugly is uuugly (pronounced yoogly). It seems like the more time these guys have the more slap dash the looks are. That middle thing of Erin's looks like it belongs in a collection with that kitchen curtain, tablecloth jumpsuit of an earlier episode. I think Heidi would try to sex up a diaper!

    Deedles

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  3. Tim home visits makes for more Tim which is good. And usually Tim doing something fun...
    Agree - not seeing 'collection' with these looks.
    Good recap, as always. xoxoxo

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  4. New rule: No more bowling!

    I am really rooting for Laurence or Roberi, though I have like some of Rik's designs. I think Erin needs to go back to the mother ship and do a couple more orbits of the sun.

    I absolutely don't know why Erin is in the finale and not Mah-Jing. Mah-Jing could have strayed a little from the denim but please, his stuff didn't make the models looks like handcrafted totes with legs.

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  5. It seems like everyone agrees: these "collections" were just an assembly of individual pieces that didn't relate to one another, and there was no 'Wow!', no drama, no surprise, and to be honest, no real 'design'. This is going to be one of the least exciting finales in PR history I'm afraid. They should have Googled "Christian Siriano" before they cut their 1st textile.

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