PR 18 Ep 7: ♪ ♫ Some Day Your Prints Will Come ♫ ♪

This week is like any week at the penthouse. Sergio’s being misunderstood; Brittany’s in front of a mirror; Victoria loves being a top. But wait; a message has arrived “suddenly” and “without warning.” The designtestants are ordered to the basement of Bergdorf Goodman to meet surprise guests. I’m all a’tingle.

Once there, they discover Christian Siriano, fabulous pop artist and bigger-then-life personality, Ashley Longshore, and fashion director for Bergdorf Goodman, Linda Fargo. I have no idea why Fargo is there—the competition has nothing to do with Bergdorf’s; maybe since it was early morning, she was the only one with a key to the basement?

But here’s the challenge … each designtestants will choose an Ashley Longshore print to incorporate into a high-fashion look. And because the prints are big and bold and brassy, like Ashley, this is a two-day … with a quick trip to Mood for supplemental fabrics. As last week’s winner, Chelsey picks her print first and then chooses who picks second, and they pick the next designtestant and so on. The last chosen is Sergio, and Delvin, who stepped up the personality this week—perhaps to match the vibrant fabric—threw the first shade:

“Sergio gets chosen last, and I don’t think it needs to be explained.”

It does not, Delvin, so let’s rip …

SAFES

left to right

CHELSEY stepped out of the Big Pant Box and created a rather nicely tailored, slightly asymmetrical suit. It was nice and Safe.

GEOFFREY picked the Nipple Print and made a Puffy Dress; it was kind of a punk play on Baby Doll.

SERGIO created a butterfly dress under a cocoon coat; to show what transgender Americans go through when they go outside in a cocoon coat and butterfly dress. Being safe, we didn’t have to hear him explain it to the judges.

TOPS AND BOTTOMS

DAYOUNG

At BG she picked what I thought was a safe print; but she picked it because it seemed traditional far away, but up close it was not; we never really learned what it was though, so I’m sticking to her explanation.

During her meeting with Ashley, Dayoung explains her backwards mullet coat design—the party is up front y’all—and Ashley dubs it “badass” and “chic.” Maybe Dayoung will win this week, or maybe …

Day Two she wakes up feeling cold and out of sorts—like a well or a fountain she told the EMTs—and she struggles. It may be nerves, and the balls to the wall challenges, but it also may be that Dayoung doesn’t really seem to eat much. Still, she soldiers on, and when she shows the look to Christian, his one critique is that since she shows a lot of coats, make this a standout with an exaggerated sleeve.

Dayoung’s energy is completely depleted and again she is struggling. Victoria, who finished early because she’s a winner, helps Dayoung get a finished look for the runway.

WHAT SHE SAID

I feel really happy…I have a lot of ideas.

WHAT I SAID

I do love her Asian aesthetic, and love that the coat is in a sold purple to break up the print.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Nina loved the look, and loves the silhouette, and how it worked with the print; she called it minimal but modern. Karlie appreciated the more-is-more approach with the details of bowties and pops of green in the cuffs, but Brandon thinks the bowtie is too much and that the dress under the coat was really an afterthought. Ashley loved the way the solid fabric of the coat played off the print and loved the movement of the look.

MARQUISE

God, Marquise is a handsome man; and when the designtestants, as they are apt to do, did a runway walk contest between themselves, his was fierce and touch and masculine and got my motor running. But then why did he pick such a drab print in that sea of over-the-top color? And why, once again, was he going to make a bomber coat? And why, when he was doing pull-ups in the penthouse, did he leave his shirt on?

He first chose some gun-metal gray sequined fabric to pair with his print, but then felt it didn’t and switched it up to a skirt …in.the.same.print. …and a white top with bejeweled Ashley Longshore bees [wasps] pinned to it.

Christian is not happy because the shirt fabric has no stretch and self-taught Marquis is having trouble with the darts to make the top sit right on his model.

Marquise tells her not to open the coat too much so the judges can’t see the top, and I shout at the TV:

“Marquise! The judges are gonna ask the model to take off her coat! And I’m gonna ask you, again, to take off your shirt.”

Nobody listens.

WHAT HE SAID

I’m feeling pretty nervous about the fit of the darts.

WHAT I SAID

It’s the print, y’all. I get it that they are killer birds, but it reads drab …oversized drab.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Nina doesn’t see Marquise in the design because Ashley’s print is all there is; she calls the coat a “heavy tent,” and wants the model to take it off. Damn you, Nina, and your perfect eye. Brandon thinks “the darting is unfortunate. When Elaine suggests Marquise “wasn’t that bad” Brandon offers her his glasses. Ashley thought it was cute, but nothing like the original idea. Karlie liked the bees ... wasps.

VICTORIA

She hates prints. We know this because she said it 4,000 times during the show, even telling the print designer, Ashley Longshore, that she hated prints and flowers … while choosing a flowered print.

At Mood, Victoria hides from Christian because she hates her print and doesn’t want him to see what else she’s buying. The idea she presented to Ashley was a very oversized cargo pant in the print; Ashley loves the structure of the look but wonders why the whole top is white. Uh … because Victoria hates prints.

Christian thinks Victoria needs to incorporate the print more into her piece, and even shows her some cools ways to do so, but she still whines about prints and about how she’s always in the top. He walks away muttering:

“I don’t know what we accomplished, but good luck.”

Victoria gave up on this challenge in the basement at Bergdorf’s. And as she fits her model and slinks a length of what appears to be bicycle chain around the waist, Christian is even more worried. With good reason.

WHAT SHE SAID

I’m trying to look calm, but I know I didn’t do enough to succeed.

WHAT I SAID

It’s the same top every week, but this she paired with pants! In a print!

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Brandon asks if she finished early, and she says, ‘Yes.’ He then adds, ‘You thought you were done?’ And he finishes her off with, “You can really, really kill it with the hardware, or you can kill it with the hardware.” Karlie then drops the bomb—“You’re in the bottom”—and questions the use of so much white. Ashley thinks it’s cool, but it’s “not your banger of a thing you have inside of you” and not the pant Victoria showed in her sketch; she thought it was “a bad waitress at a really cheesy restaurant at South Beach.” Nina is “disappointed” because Victoria didn’t even try, and she says she didn’t recognize the look as Victoria’s; Brandon is stunned—“Another bandage cutout top, you didn’t recognize it?” Elaine thought the styling was all over the place with the single weird earring and chain-link belt; she thought this was the worst look; she also pointed out that this was the second week in arrow where Victoria basically ignored the challenge and did what she wanted.

DELVIN

For some reason Delvin picks an exuberant print because it reminds him of his battle with depression. But then he explains to Ashley that it reminds him of all the chaotic thoughts running around in his brain; and that leads him to an oversized—what’s with the oversized theme this week—suit, with a ruffled collar. Ashley is worried that he might be taking too much on.

I’m worried he thinks of ruffles and depression together. And Christian is also worried, because one look at Delvin’s pantsuit, and he gets a “Golden Girls pajamas” vibe. But then he suggests a few tweaks; shorter coat and pant; a little snug tailoring. Bam! It’s still ruffled, but it looks more modern.

On Day Two, while Victoria tells him to add more ruffles, bigger ruffles, because she knows the Top, Chelsey thinks maybe less is better. Delvin, thankfully, listens to Chelsey and the ruffles disappear.

WHAT HE SAID

Asia looks amazing. I did the print justice by letting it shine.

WHAT I SAID

It’s still a lot of print, but it’s actually pretty cool. And there are no ruffles.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Ashley says “I looooooove what you did” with a simple design; it has joy; it sings. And best of all? Delvin smiles. Elaine loved the color and print choice and seeing him happy on the runway. Karlie admired the Delvin Double Lapel™ signature and all the “amazing details.” She says he nailed it. And he smiles. Nina thought the model looks incredible and told him that color and print are his friend. Brandon thinks tailoring is his strongest suit—he could recognize it in a sea of crap—and he should stick to that.

NANCY

Nancy picked a fabric with some “bad” words, er, “naughty” words; but the print also featured a dildo. So, Nancy opts to make a Dildo Pant and an Oversized Coat. She’s also going to add hidden pockets which might be fine but if they’re hidden how do the judges see them?

Her consult with Ashley thankfully put the kibosh on the Dildo Pant—she opts for extra baggy ones—with a reversible oversized coat that Ashley loves. But Christian doesn’t love the coat because of its size; he says it swallows the model. He points out there is a difference between oversized and just plain too big. But Nancy ignores him because she’s fresh from design school and he’s just a little whippersnapper. Or something.

Christian does like the idea of a hidden wine pocket…a hidden cell phone pocket … and a hidden dildo pocket … because, as he and Nancy sing together:

“Every coat needs a dildo pocket.”

WHAT SHE SAID

My look is very bold. It shows no fear.

WHAT I SAID

It also shows no model because it’s all coat and pants.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Ashley loves Nancy’s look, but is the first to point out that it doesn’t fit right. Elaine thinks the model “is getting swallowed up in this fabric.” They all want to see it without the big coat, and then Ashley loves the pants, and says the whole look “became chic as hell.” She then adds that, ahem, “the pants flood my basement.” But she also called it the biggest design fail because of the coat. Nina liked the pant, but when you like one piece of a three-piece ensemble, that’s not high praise.

BRITTANY

I’ll start with this: I don’t care for Brittany. This week, at Mood, while the salesperson is cutting her fabric, she says, “Hurry, hurry, hurry.” As a designer she should learn not to be a bitch to those who cut your fabrics or, you know, two yards is suddenly, inexplicably, one yard. And I also loathe her because, most weeks, she thinks she’s much better than she is, and most weeks she thinks the others are worse.

But this week … She lives for Ashley Longshore, and she lives for the butterfly print she chose. And she knows just what to do; she cut out some of the butterflies and turn them into a 3D effect on her finished look. It’s a great idea, which Christian calls “divine” and yet she turns suck up, because she embroiders some of Ashley’s best hashtags and uses them on the look as well.

Desperate thy name is Brittany.

WHAT SHE SAID

I personally feel like I nailed this challenge.

WHAT I SAID

While I feel like this is a copy of other things she’s done—Asymmetry? Check—I love the 3D butterflies.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Ashley says Brittany celebrated the print and loved The Butterfly Effect—buy it on DVD—while Elaine called it her favorite look of the night. Brandon loves the pleated skirt but thinks chiffon might have moved better. Karlie says this was the most passionate she’s seen Brittany and Nina said, “This is what a successful collaboration looks like.”

All three of the top looks have a champion among the judges, but it boils down to Delvin and Brittany, with Ashley making her vote clear:

“It’s Brittany, bitch!”

As for the losing designer? Personally, I think Victoria should be off because she does the same look week after week, and she doesn’t follow the parameters of the challenge. If not her, then Nancy because that jacket was an oversized joke. But, no; who listens to me.

The judges opt to send Marquise home. And he is gracious in his loss, saying he thought that as a self-taught designer he wouldn’t last past the first week.

I’ll miss him most of all.

After winning, Brittany cheered herself and said she wasn’t going to get cocky; too late, I say. During the show, she told us that she’s always been “extra” and when she isn’t the center of attention, she gets mad; we know, I say.

Delusional Sergio, Part One: after being a Bottom for two weeks—and I think it’s longer—declares that he’s “living his truth” and if no one gets his political deigns then they simply don’t get it. Trouble is, Serg-Ego, it’s not your politics they don’t get, it’s your designs and aesthetic.

Delusional Sergio, Part Two: he says his look is about trans people becoming themselves and being true to themselves, and yet all he did was make a dress under a coat that his model took off. I saw no evidence to a trans struggle in the look. He’s reaching too far.

Delusional Sergio, Part Three: as his look walks, he says, “I really think I should be the winner.” And when he’s marked Safe, he sits backstage dumbfounded. Design yourself a clue, Serg-Ego.

And howsabout Victoria? She doesn’t follow the challenge; everyone tells her she’s not following the challenge. Christian shows her how to follow the challenge. But she knows best until the judges put her on blast for … not following the challenge. And she goes backstage and pouts and whines and plays the victim. I’m over her One Design Pony™ and her ego. She the Moldovan Sergio apparently.

This week I loved Delvin. He wasn’t such an ass; he smiled; he actually laughed a couple of times. And I loved how, when he was helping Chelsey with some boning—mind out of the gutter people, it’s ‘fashion boning’—and Sergio tried to butt it, he ignored him, and in his confessional he said, “Move along.”

LINES OF THE NIGHT

Geoffrey looking at his print:

“These are pancakes?... Are They? …Oh, balloons. Balloons. Balloons. … Are they nipples?”

Why, yes, they are.

Christian, looking at Geoffrey’s dress:

“It kinda looks like an oven mitt.”

And it did.

Christian and Geoffrey, while Geoffrey is getting into his personal runway drag:

“Wow. You’re giving us a look.”

“You know I’m gay, right?”

“You can tell.”

What was it that gave Geoffrey away? The rainbow flag suit?

The Tents? Dayoung is coming on strong though … Brittany looks to be there, though I hope her ego stays home. Geoffrey is still strong, though safe. I’m liking Delvin more, in both designs and personality. Victoria might go if she comes up with a new trick though … Nancy? I don’t think she has an oversized chance in Hell unless she listens to people. Chelsey? Perhaps; she does have the one win. Sergio? I bet he goes because the producers want the drama.

Next week the designers make an editorial look with sheer fabrics.

Next week Dayoung once again sees the medic.

Next week, Victoria stomps off.

What did YOU think?