PR 16 Ep 5: The Good. The Bad. The Fugly.

This week the designtestants meet up with Tim at the Lyndhurst Mansion, where he introduces them to Descendants stars Dove Cameron and China Anne McClain—apparently it’s a Disney Channel show about the offspring of Disney villains.

At any rate, the designers must create an eveningwear look that is either “Good” or “Evil”, with Michael, last week’s winner, doling out the cards to each designer. And Michael smartly splits the twins, with Shawn getting Evil and Claire getting Whiny Can’t Finish On Time Good, but, even better than that is that they will have $300 and two days to complete their looks.

It’ll be good and bad this week, so let’s rip ...

SAFES

clockwise from top right

AMY—Good

I didn’t quite understand the cape. It didn’t seem to do much, and certainly didn’t help when it revealed a rather simple pink dress beneath.

AYANA—Good

I kind of understood her idea of dark to light, top to bottom, but it was kind of "janky." Tim’s suggestion to overlay it with the mesh fabric helped ... a little.

BATANI—Evil

I don’t know why this wasn’t a Top Three—though I don’t know who I’d have taken out to put it there—but I loved this dark and sinister look.

KENTARO—Good

He once again stayed away from black—though deigning ‘Good’ had to be free from black—but this was kind of  amiss. The hem was off and it seemed too basic.

MARGARITA—Evil

It was nice, it was evil-ish. I did like the feathers. That’s all.

SHAWN—Evil

A basic black leather halter dress with yet another long sash on the side. Seriously? Enough!

TOPS AND BOTTOMS

GOOD AND BAD

CLAIRE—Good

The twins’ separation didn’t affect Shawn, but Claire was a d-i-saster. She works and reworks and reworks her top, and continually questions her fabric choice—again, her choices—until Tim comes by.

Tim looks at her fabrics, and winces when she suggests doing the top in silver, and tells her to “beat back the costume.”

Claire doesn’t really listen because she made that one dress that Katy Perry once wore and so ... when her model comes in for the fitting there is yet another iteration of Princess Prom. But she does take time out of creating nothing to declare that Brandon’s look is a “smock, with sleeves, and side boob.”

Hey, at least it’s a “look.”

What She Said

I’m so pleased ... there’s so much femininity ... ease ... grace ... gorgeous.

What I Said

It looks like a Walmart Princess Costume from the bin of Walmart costumes that didn’t sell at Halloween and are sitting on a back shelf by the hammers on Christmas day for those last minute shoppers.

What The Judges Said

Heidi Klum calls it forgettable and snoozy and then she actually fell asleep in her chair!

Zac Posen said it looks like “Cinderella on her day off” and could have used some bibbety-bobbety-boo. He adds that she looks like a princess who had her credit card taken away and then says he has no idea what kind of designer Claire is; she has no voice.

Nina Garcia is, as always, more blunt, saying she’s seen this look a trillion times on Project Runway; it’s cliché, it’s not good enough, it’s boring.

Dove Cameron says Claire went contemporary where she should have gone fantastical ... and vice versa.

China Anne McLain says she doesn’t hate it—High praise? No.—but also says she wouldn’t wear it because it’s like a prom dress.

BRANDON—Good

Brandon does what Brandon does; his own vision of menswear translated into womenswear ... with a twist of madness. His look, which Tim called unexpected, but great, was kinda naughty and nice, in that sexy but prim way.

And, unlike other designers, see above, Brandon has yet to falter; he creates an idea and then just gets it done, without drama and heartache and starting over at the last minute.

What He Said

She looks like a little princess ... diva ... gorgeous.

What I Said

I kind of agree with other designers who felt it was “evening” but the challenge wasn’t evening gown, so back off!

What The Judges Said

Heidi Klum called it a modern straitjacket and fashion forward; she loved it and she loved the “peek-a-boob.”

Zac Posen loved the fabric choices and the color, but worries that Brandon make be a “one trick pony” with the shirt-dress madness. Still, he called it excellent.

Nina loved that it wasn’t a literal interpretation of “good” or eveningwear. She loved the ties at the wrists and the color palette, but agreed with Zac that she’d like to see another side of Brandon. Hmm, which side is she thinking about ... ?

Dove Cameron said Brandon really made this challenge his own, and called the look fantastic and current.

China Anne McLain loved the back of the look, calling it “good but kind of bad.” She also said it was very “Disney Street Princess.”

SAMANTHA—Evil

Once again, Samantha says she has this, because she loves the evil vibe, and the Disney vibe, and yet, once again, Samantha seems to struggle. She says she was inspired by poison fruit and flowers which seems like a cool idea, but don’t really translate into the fabrics.

Tim sees the look and calls it a craft project—never good—and worries she can’t evolve the look to a higher place. So, Samantha removes some of her fabric pieces to kind of tone down the hippie dippiness of the dress.

What She Said

My dress moves very easily and it’s staying up.

What I Said

The bottom seems like an ‘I ran out of fabric afterthought’ and is way too short; mismatch!

What The Judges Said

Heidi Klum wasn’t a fan of this “80s prom” look; she said it wasn’t new or fresh and that the model looked uncomfortable in it.

Zac Posen wonders what happened to the bottom, though he kind of liked the intricacies of the top portion.

Nina Garcia said the dress Samantha wore—which she designed—was better, and more evil, than the look she made for the runway.

Dove Cameron wasn’t a fan of the knit, saying it made the dress look heavy and dowdy.

China Anne McLain wishes the top part of the dress had been better integrated into the bottom of the look, and hated that the model kept having to hike up the top.

AARON—Good

After nearly getting axed last week—and not just for his own see-though bloomers—Aaron decides that this week he’ll just go crazy. But then he stays safe and begins to create a look out of muslin because he doesn’t want to ruin his fabrics by cutting into them so early.

Probably a wise decision because when Tim sees the look he created—the shirt is tied at the bust and then untied and allowed to fall to the ground, Tim calls it gimmicky. So Aaron starts over, basically at the last minute and really doesn’t have much of anything to try on Monique ... who is clearly not pleased, and even less so when she finally tries on the final look, with is a sea of red and pink haphazardly cut strips of fabric!

What He Said

It’s pretty messy, but fun and funny.

What I Said

Bye!

What The Judges Said

Heidi Klum lets loose a sigh ... not good ... and then calls it messy, with bad, lumpy seams, and being unfinished, with a wonky zipper; she ends with, “I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Zac Posen goes all Nancy Reagan and Just says No ... though he wondered if all the strips were hiding a huge mistake.

Nina Garcia says it looks like a child made it, and then snaps, “This is Project Runway, not Project Kindergarten.”

Dove Cameron loves Aaron’s personal style—she clearly didn’t see the bloomers last week—but thinks his design is cheap. 

China Anne McLain had no words; none.

MICHAEL—Evil

Michael picked evil for himself because that’s his vibe, and fits more into his sexual fluidity aesthetic, I think, than goody-goody. He picks a lace fabric and basically lets it decide how to lie on the model’s body; he literally didn’t have to cut it at all, though he did line it.

Tim wasn’t a fan of the lining and told Michael that since his model was Liris, he should amp up the sexy because that girl can walk. Michael tones down the “matronly” for Liris, who loves the new look.

What He Said

It definitely reads evil.

What I Said

Oh.My.God. This is sexy evil, and Liris worked that catwalk.

What The Judges Said

Heidi Klum called Liris "Queen” and said it looked like she was channeling Beyoncé—Beyoncé wishes she could look that fierce. She loved the sheerness of the dress and the sexiness of it without going overboard.

Zac Posen called the fit spectacular and loved the feathered crown.

Dove Cameron said she loves a cape, and the feathers and the wicked crown.

China Anne McLain says she wrote “Fabric Slays” on her card and also loved the feathers, especially because Michael didn’t go too far with them.

KENYA—Evil

Kenya wanted good, so badly, but Michael gave her bad; not good. Then she picked out this odd looking red baric—not good; and she couldn’t get as much as she wanted; bad.

Tim took one look at her tuxedo-inspired look and suggested maybe a few more ruffles at the neckline might help and that maybe it could do with some more bare skin.

Uh oh. But then Shawn called it an “oxblood Mariachi band” and said it was “heinous.” That was good because Shawn is almost always wrong.

What She Said

I couldn’t be more happy ... I really felt good.

What I Said

Slinky evil.

What The Judges Said

Heidi stammers; she says it couldn’t be more bedazzled, with the odd fabric, and the ruffled top, the side pinstripe, the ruffled sleeves, the peplum and the bare back ... but it all worked and she loved it, declaring that Kenya was back!

Zac Posen called it excellent work with risky fabrics, but it was smart to use the black as a textured accent.

Nina Garcia loved that it wasn’t a gown, calling it smart and chic and balanced.

Dove Cameron literally wanted to eat it, and said the ruffled sleeved which looked like melted records helped make the look seem like a work of art.

China Anne McLain says ‘Girl,’ well, she actually said, ‘Gurrrrrllllll.’

I kinda thought that since Michael was Top Three, and had immunity from elimination from last week, that he would win this one, but the judges gave it to Brandon, who smiled, whose eyes twinkled, and my world suddenly lit up.

Too much?

As for the bottom, well, c’mon, anyone who thought Aaron wouldn’t be hurled off the runway had their eyes closed to this travesty. It was a no brainer to send him packing.

But Heidi mentioned that maybe two people would be Auf’d and then she saved Samantha; I began murmuring to the TV, ‘Send Claire home! Send Claire home!’ But, alas, she, too, was safe.

I thought Margarita would be going because she got the Cry Edit and the Phone Call Home; she also worried about designing for a plus-sized model—even though she said she designs for the average woman—and didn’t do evening and didn’t do this or that; but it was all a ruse, or else, Aaron’s was just so awful, he had to go.

Yeah. That’s it. But I just loved Tim Gunn all the more when he boosted Margarita’s confidence. I ♥ Tim Gunn.

Shawn telling Tim, who liked her look, that she really hadn’t shown herself before and that this week was her true aesthetic? I call BS, because she walked around all proud and self-assured every week that hers was the best and yet if it wasn’t her POV what the eff was it?

The twins; Oy! Separating them did nothing. In fact they still ran around the workroom like fools and coo-cooed one another. The only upside was seeing Kenya’s face as they freaked out; I seriously think she may hurt one or both of them and if she has to go to trial, I’ll be a character witness for her.

Kentaro and Brandon, the ‘Brothers’, are just adorable. Brandon’s smile, his twinkly eyes ...  gosh, am I crushing on a straight guy ... again?

Claire’s visor. Perhaps if she took it off she’d be able to see how hideous her designs are.

Line of the Night ... Tim to Claire, about that silver fabric:

“This takes you to another country. You’d have to clear customs.”

And hopefully she won’t?

Liris gives great face; her own style helped this look a great deal.

Aaron’s loss wasn’t a surprise, but he gets props for knowing he had to go and admitting he had “room for growth”—though hopefully not in those bloomers.

Claire, on the other hand, was a whiny little b-i-t-c-h about her being in the bottom, and actually said:

“I’m not going to grovel and say ‘Thank you thank you thank you’ or ‘I’ll do better next week.’ I don’t think I deserved to be [in the bottom] in the first place.” 

Um, lemme recap it for you honey, the judges called your look boring and snoozy and bad and cliché and been done a trillion times and a prom dress.

There was no place for you to be but in the bottom. Siddown.

Next week the models become the clients and get to choose their own designer. I see drama!!!!

As for The Tents ... Brandon and Michael seem highly likely, with maybe Kenya and Batani. Samantha and Kentaro are long shots, Amy, Margarita and Ayana are longer shots. The Twins/ I am begging the Fashion Gods ...... NOOOOOO!

What did YOU think?