PR 12 Ep 10: Superfans. Super Meltdowns.

This week is yet another Product Placement PR Episode — the L’Oreal Paris Challenge — with the twist of, no, not regular people, but PR superfans who will not just be getting a dress but a whole new hair and makeup and outfit makeover. Plus, they get to meet Tim Gunn, take a tour of Parson’s, strut the runway, collaborate with the designtestants, go to Mood and, AND, meet Swatch.

I wanna be a superfan!

The designers also get the added bonus of a $200-400 suggested budget, forty-five minutes at Mood, and two days to complete the look. This will be an easy breezy drama freezy episode and … Wait. What? Yeah, Ken has yet another meltdown? Well, we’ll get to that.

For now, let’s rip …..

THE SAFES

KATE

She designed for Altagracia, who really knew how to work a runway though, unfortunately for her, Kate decided to create a Senior citizen Costume for the Old Folks Home production of Peter Pan: The Later Years. 

What is with the flapping, napkin-looking, handkerchief like pieces, and the patchwork top? This was so costume, so wrong, and so should have been in the bottom, but it’s quite clear the producers want Kate at The Tents so she gets a pass.

DOM

She picked a big, bold, should have been used to create the drapes at a seedy motel on a backroads interstate in Nowheresville, USA, print for her model Jane-Sarah. 

Plus, the dress had a mullet hemline, made her model look bigger than she was and then Dom tossed onto it some sort of utilitarian, military-esque jacket. There was no cohesion between the dress—which was kind of, KIND OF, flirty, and the man’s jacket. It’s the look a woman wears after dinner at Ihop when it’s cold and her husband says, Here’s my coat. Oh hell no.

THE TOP THREE

JUSTIN

He could have had the most difficult time of all, because his model, Tristen, is a Mormon who recently lost over a hundred pounds. There was extra skin to deal with, and sever modesty issues—no low neckline, arms must be covered, and not above the knee hemline.

This could have gone so tragic, but then Justin got the idea to have Tristen give him an autograph which he then used to create a simple—or not so simple—line pattern down the front of a basic black dress.

But the dress, while black and modest and simple, was also fun, and kinda flirty, and very personal.

Guest judge, Senior Fashion Editor at Marie Claire — and sitting in for Nina Garcia — Zanna Roberts Rassi thought it was the perfect look for a woman who’d undergone extreme weight loss, and that it perfectly suited her modesty restrictions. Heidi loved the idea of the signature front, because it created what is truly a one-of-a-kind piece. The Adorable Zac Posen™  loved that it was such a personal dress, while fellow guest judge, fashion designer Erin Featherston said it was well done.

UP CLOSE

Zanna Roberts Rassi loved the detail in the signature, while The Adorable Zac Posen™  loved how the signature related to the cut of the dress. Erin Featherston liked the seaming details, and Heidi loved that it was new and different.

Justin is safe.

BRADON

His client Jennifer — clearly the one who least seemed in need of a makeover — wanted something New York chic, "intimidating, powerful, and classy, with a major edge." And Bradon gave her exactly that with a sleeveless dress with patent leather details and leather vest.

Heidi thought the transformation from cute blond girl to sassy sexy pixie chic was fabulous. She loved that Bradon made two pieces and that the look could go from safe and chic to sexy and flirty with just a zzzzzip.

Zanna loved the jacket, but was concerned about the patent leather stripes; she’d wished he’d used the same leather as the vest. The Adorable Zac Posen™  loved the vest, and was also unsure about the “plastic” stripes.

UP CLOSE

Heidi disagreed about the shiny stripes, saying they gave the dress some pop and sparkle, and Tim agreed with her. Zanna still whined about the stripes, but loved the powerful epaulet shoulders, while The Adorable Zac Posen™  agreed that the patent leather, up close, was a good choice.

Braden is also safe.

HELEN

She got the wallflower; the girl who hasn’t changed her look, or cut her hair, in decades. And she took this Sister Wife and turned her into a Red Carpet Diva. Both Braden and Helen had the most stunning makeovers for their Superfans.

The one thing Jamie, the client, didn’t want was a bridesmaid looking dress and Helen gave her that with a strapless, corseted, mini-skirt-beneath-a-longer-skirt dress.

Heidi instantly called it a great Oscar dress and was stunned by the transformation of Jamie. The Adorable Zac Posen™  loved the color and the corset, and Zanna agreed that it was the perfect dress for the makeover.

UP CLOSE

Heidi called it great, and The Adorable Zac Posen™  saw that great and raised her an “immaculate.” Zanna loved the sweetheart neckline and the lace detail. And while I loved Justin’s ‘new’ look and special dress, and loved Bradon’s sexy chic number, this dress was the clear winner.

Expect Helen at The Tents

THE BOTTOM THREE

ALEXANDRIA

Her Super-fan is a twenty-year-old art history major, Stephanie, who wants something to wear to job interviews and internships. But she’s young, so she wanted something kind of fun, and Alexandria picked a graphic arty print and then, well, she misfired.

The skirt seemed fine—it was a great print—but the odd black waistband seemed wrong and the jacket was an ode to Chairman Mao. It wasn’t young or fresh or arty, but it was Alexandria, sullen and kind of dull.

Heidi did not like it, saying it was neither fresh nor modern. The Adorable Zac Posen™  called the jacket sad, the waistband weird, and thought it was far younger looking with the jacket open, though his first thought as it hit the runway was ‘maternity librarian.’ Zanna wished Alexandria had taken the inspiration of the modern art print and used it in the design of the jacket to modernize the whole thing.

UP CLOSE

Heidi likes it even less up close and The Adorable Zac Posen™  says it’s an ‘off-the-rack’ piece. Zanna said it was definitely not a cool look for a cool girl and Erin said it had no visual impact.

Alexandria is safe, though.

ALEXANDER

His client, Andrea, recently got a new job in an office and wanted a suit. My first thought was, Please god, not a suit, no one ever does a good suit on the PR. But then I thought, They have two days, what can go wrong  …. That was before the Ken Laurance Rage-a-thon, which we will get to, I assure you.

So, Alexander is making a suit, and he’s got lots of ideas, but he’s running out of time, and the added stress of Ken is making him think and re think his look. So much so that his suit becomes a vest and skirt with pieces of fabric seemingly glued randomly to it. It is, by far, the worst thing on the runway — yes, worse than Peter Pan Kate and Dom Dullsville.

The Adorable Zac Posen™  stares off with a question: Did you finish it? And Alexander admits he did not., Then Posen proceeds to slam the construction, the detail, the oompa loompa skirt, the unflattering organza graphic pieces, Alexander’s choice of hair color, the plight of the LGBT community in Russia, the racism of Big Brother and the lunch that the production served that day.

Let’s just say The Adorable Zac Posen™  wasn’t happy.

Zanna called it boring, with a bad fit; she also wasn’t happy. Erin, I guess because she was a guest judge and felt the need to say something, ANYTHING, positive, said it was a great idea on paper. But too bad Andrea couldn’t have modeled the paper.

UP CLOSE

Heidi lamented the unfinished edges; she wondered if that was an accident, or if Alexander wanted that look. She did like the silhouette. And she liked that there was some skin showing, but she hated the flaps.

Alexander was safe and he rally dodged a bullet.

KEN

The drama continues.

Ken, who I thought would be the one to make his model cry—because doesn’t every real woman challenge include a model who cries because the designer is mean?

But Ken bucked up, and even watched while his client picked a green fabric that he just hated; and she watched while he picked leather pieces to make the green seem even more vomit-like. And I guess his distaste for the green, and his distaste for the leather, and his distaste at being asked to do something different — as in having Braden and Alexander move into the room with he and Justin — set him on edge.

And we know Kenny doesn’t play well when pissy. As Alexander knocks at the door, Ken—in a deep coat of face cream—is ironing his Daisy Dukes and doesn’t answer; he’ll make them wait. As Alexander asks him to move—saying his luggage is bigger than Ken — Ken says he’ll be finished soon. As he stops, Alexander pushes into the room, pushing the ironing board back, and then knocks the iron to the floor: "I can throw drama, too, honey.".

Uh oh. Ken goes off on a screaming rampage — so bad that a producer tries to get him to breathe and to calm down and to sit down — but Ken ain’t playing. Get.Someone.Up.Here.NOW!

Luckily Justin has turned his hearing aids off and he’s sitting on the bed thinking of what he has left to do the next day. And, speaking of the next day, Tim confront Ken about his anger issues — and Ken pouts — and then the decision is made that Ken will get his own room — a cell on Riker's, Island, I think, soon enough — so they can stop the madness. I say the madness will stop when Ken goes home.

And he will. His dress is a safe, simple, unflattering dress. It’s neither here nor there, really, though his model Susie had the best strut on the runway last night,. That girl worked it.

Even Heidi commented on the walk though she said the dress had no fashion, and was a bad color, and the boobs — Heidi is The Boob Monitor — looked like two different sizes, thanks to the leather detail; she also called out Ken for the hem that was coming undone. The Adorable Zac Posen™  thought the lines were bad and the proportions, too, while Zanna said simple can be good when its meticulously done, and this was not that dress. Erin wondered about the neckline. Was it a V-neck or a scoop? And she pointed out to Ken that the materials were bad and the usage of said materials was also bad.

UP CLOSE

Heidi again said, No fashion! Badly made! The Adorable Zac Posen™  noted the buckling fabric in the back and the zipper running rampant up the back. Zanna said the model was much better than the dress.

Ken is out. Out of mind, and out of time, and out of the show..

MY TAKE

I think the producers of the PR need to add psychiatric evacuations to their list of requirements next season. While people like Ken and Sandro might make good TV, they are also a danger to the other contestants because you never know what they might do.

I did like the fact that we didn’t have a single designer call their client fat or make their client cry because they weren‘t a size-0.

And I’m placing bets that designer Erin Featherston will never be back because she either said very little during the critique or what she said was so dull that it was cut out. Especially on a Nina-less episode, you need some good snark, and. What kind of neckline is that? is not good snark.

It’s clear that Kate will show because her look tonight was stupid. Just.Plain.Stupid. Dom’s, on the other hand was stupid and ugly. It all makes me think that the producers want an all-girl tent show with Helen, Kate and Dom because why Dom and Kate were safe is beyond me.

Alexandria’s look was sad and bad, and Ken’s look was sad and bad and he’s cray-cray, but the Bottom Three should have been Alexander, Kate and Dom with Alexander going home.

I’m still Teams Bradon and Justin and would love a Bradon-Justin-Helen finale.

Finally. congratulations to Tim and Heidi who just this week took home the 2013 Emmy for Outstanding Host For A Reality Or Reality-Competition Program. They really made it work!. 

What did YOU think?