PR 14 Ep 2: It's In The Cards

We start off with the designtestants in their cages, reminiscing about week one. Ashley wonders who will be her competition, and I wonder how badly she’ll screw up this week since she’s already thinking she’s showing at The Tents.

Blake whispers and sings about how amazing it was to be in the bottom; he reminds me of a cartoon deer in a Disney flick and, well, I want to be the hunter. Luckily, before I pull out a cartoon gun, a card, a Hallmark card, magically appears in the cages, and the designtestants rush off to meet Tim Gunn and Amy Merchant, the Director of Branding for Hallmark’s Signature, at a ginormous Hallmark store.

Yes. An Unconventional Challenge! Tim tells the designtestants that they’ll be using Hallmark cards as inspiration and textiles, though they must make something wearable. Luckily, these ain’t your Grandma’s Hallmark cards; these cards have 3D elements, fabrics, inserts, and ribbons … all kinds of embellishments for the designers to use.

Tim shouts ‘Go’ and the chaos ensues, though Edmond — and he is just so hot — keeps in mind this is a competition and when he realizes the others will all rush forward, he goes to the side where he can look and grab without fear of hurting anyone. He’s a smart, hot, cookie.

And he may need the smarts because this is a one day challenge so, let’s rip ….

THE SAFES — clockwise from top left

ASHLEY She cried again, and I hope this isn’t a trend. Nor do I hope she makes another poncho because this was a hot mess of mostly muslin and a couple of card pieces. Luckily, as Heidi pointed out, she has immunity because she might have gone home for this disaster.

CANDICE I loved her silver warrior dress; it was all Hallmark but didn’t look it.

GABRIELLE Well, she stepped up from the Invisible Edit™ of last week and made a dress that Ashley said looked “vagina” while I thought it looked more Flamingo Hotel in Vegas.

HANMIAO She did what she does, which is whatever she wants. The model pulling a card from an envelope was kinda dumb, but the look was kinda cool.

JAKE Tim was worried his cards looked like roof shingles, but the finished product, while still kinda shingle-y, was a cute, no-big-deal, Little Black Dress.

JOSEPH Oh, that skirt. It looked like a pink sack the model carried to cover up the fact that she has not underwear. Not good at all.

LAURIE It was cute and gold, and had a wonky boob thing going on. Other than that it wasn’t memorable at all.

LINDSEY This reminded me of some sort of costume for a grim, end of days, sci-fi flick made on a budget …. A low low budget.

MERLINE I didn’t get manatee penis — as Amanda said — but I did get WTF-Flap. It looked like cards … stuck together. And points off for making a dress that left Tim wondering how the model would get in and out of.

THE TOPS

BLAKE

I loathe him. I loathe his breathy giggle and his ‘aren’t I fabulous’ attitude.

I also loathe his racism masked, as he says by either being dumb, mean, or naïve, while I figured he was just dumb and naïve.

Of course he went glitter because he’s a stereotype, and picked the cards that say “fabulous” — something he has yet to prove with his designs, by the way  — and ends up giving us the biggest Glitter hot mess since Mariah’s starring role in that film of the same name.

WHAT HE SAID

All the light is catching all the glitter

WHAT I SAID

It’s a prom dress from Party City

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Guest Judge, actress Ashley Tisdale liked it, and loved the fit, but thought it was a lot of glitter. Nina, to my shock, thought it had great color and great presence, and loved the mosaic detail in the middle. Heidi also loved it—wait, is this Twilight Zone Project Runway?—and called it fun and sparkly; she loved the ombré effect and the high-low skirt. The Adorable Zac Posen™ asked Blake if it was better on top—wait, is this Queer As Folk Project Runway?—and called it sparkly, fun, playful Easter which I took to mean, Let’s find a bunny to hide this thing in the yard.

WHAT HAPPENED

Blake is :::ugh::: safe. Cue annoying giggle.

KELLY

She is a hot mess of styles, featuring everything from 80s New Wave Punk to 90s workout clothes, to thrift shop scavenger hunt to, yes, a fanny pack. But, with all that, also comes a POV that thinks outside the card box.

She decides to use the envelopes because no one else is, and shreds them into fringe that she crinkles up to add texture. Then she tosses in a mosaic crop top with a hoodie and a cut-out. I thought, out of everyone, she really took to the challenge and worked it out.

WHAT SHE SAID

I feel so good. It’s totally me.

WHAT I SAID

I liked it, but I thought it looked like either a concert costume or something a guide at Lion Country Safari might wear.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

The Adorable Zac Posen™  really loved her technique in using so many pieces of different cards; he loved both the texture and the fit. Ashley loved the crop-top because, ahem, it’s so ‘now,’ or is so fifteen minutes ago? Heidi, while she loved the top, thought the skirt a little too much, and a little too Katy Perry in concert—and, yeah, she nailed that critique. Nina thought that with the fringe and the crop=top and the cut-out and the hoodie and the sparkles that it was too much, and it made her question Kelly’s taste level. We ended with The Adorable Zac Posen™  saying “it ain’t my taste but it is” Ashley Tisdale. Ouch. That was kind of a dig.

WHAT HAPPENED

Kelly is safe because she really ran with the assignment.

SWAPNIL

He gets props for deciding his look would be Alice in Wonderland … On Acid. And then he gets props for really mastering his look from head to toe … well, maybe not toe, because I didn’t like the boots.

But he really thought about the look, and kept the top simple in black and white and then tossed a garden explosion on the skirt.

WHAT HE SAID

I’m literally seeing butterflies fly through the air from the skirt

WHAT I SAID

It’s both whimsical and chic, which is a hard thing to accomplish

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Heidi said it was a lot, but it worked; and she loved the way the flowers pop off the skirt, and loved the black-and-white top with the colorful skirt. She called it magical. The Adorable Zac Posen™ called it wonderful, whimsical, practical and wearable. Ashley said it was her favorite and loved the edginess of the top with the femininity of the skirt. Nina called it fantastic, and loved the details of the polka dot front, to the stripes and chevrons on the back. She gave it a Bravo, and Heidi reminded her that this was Lifetime now.

 WHAT HAPPENED

I think he missed the win by thatmuch.

EDMOND

He’s a thinker and a planner and a competitor; and he’s coy about his designs.

I loved the way he shut Blake down when Blake pranced over and whisper-hissed, ‘What’cha makin’?’

He kept it sly until Tim showed up and then he gave away his hand, in marriage, by making a wedding dress out of wedding invitations, meaning he was the only designer last night to use a particular card and message as his inspiration.

WHAT HE SAID

It turned out exactly the way I envisioned it

WHAT I SAID

Wow. As in most fashion shows, the wedding dress is the finale and it played out like that on the PR. Show.Stopper.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Heidi loved the volume and the fit, and the fact that Edmond made the jewelry and the bouquet out of cards. She also loved that there was no conventionality to the look. Nina called it a special moment, and then took a special moment to give us a fifteen second Hallmark commercial, before going back to calling it a celebration of execution and depth and volume. Ashley was also a fan of the shape, calling it a risk that paid off, while The Adorable Zac Posen™ thought it cool, and loved the rose and the execution.

WHAT HAPPENED

Showstoppers win, especially well-made showstoppers from hot designers.

THE BOTTOMS

AMANDA

She was kind of a hot mess last night. She started with lace cards, white lace cards, and an idea for a giant hoop skirt, and somewhere along the line she painted the white lace black and completely forgot about a skirt at all until the last minute or so.

She’s lost, and that ain’t good.

Finally, though, she decides to create some loopy fringe effect for a skirt, but runs out of cards and sort of has a Make It Work moment that actually doesn’t, you know, work.

WHAT SHE SAID

I think it’s fun, it’s playful.

WHAT I SAID

I think I need to buy a new O-Cedar mop head and I wonder if they come in pink.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

The Adorable Zac Posen™ called the skirt frou-frou, and not as a compliment. He did like the top, and the use of vivid color beneath the black lace, but the skirt was no Wow. Nina called the skirt a party supply store piñata and then took a stick to it, while Heidi said none of it worked and called it silly. Ashley thought it didn’t match top-to-bottom and the weird hemline freaked her out.

WHAT HAPPENED

Amanda dodged a bullet because…

DAVID

He’s lost, too, but then that’s what happens with the Unconventional challenges; they separate a designer from a seamstress.

And it gets no better for David when Tim comes by and calls his look stiff and constipated. David says he usually does very urban black-and –white clothing, so Tim wonders why he’s going pink and girly. He tells him to start again but first …

David calls his husband :::sue ominous drumming::: and cries about how hard this is :::cue ominous horns:::: and says he wants to come home ::: cue Project Runway calling the airport to make a flight reservation::::

David starts over, but ends up making a muslin sack jacket upon which he glues some 3D words … Hot Damn. No, that’s not my opinion, those are the words he hot glued to the sack. Merline warns him that he’s using too much fabric — she doesn’t say muslin, I assume, so she doesn’t make any more mistakes … Muslim — and Kelly and Candice agree, but David is not to be deterred.

He already has someone back at the apartments packing his bags.

WHAT HE SAID

I’m happy because I see the glitter and it’s casual urban and modern and sophisticated

WHAT I SAID

He’s out. Too much fabric.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Heidi loves it; she loves the shape and the design and the use of the words, but she hates the fact that he didn’t fulfill the challenge and used too much fabric. The Adorable Zac Posen™ Also loves the text, but says, while it’s sophisticated, that doesn’t mean don; use the cards. Nina disagrees, and calls it just okay. “Is it horrible or hideous? No.” High praise, Nina! Ashley said while it was cool,  it wasn’t flattering.

WHAT HAPPENED

You break the rules of Runway, you go home.

Blake’s racist remark to Swapnil, met with groans by everybody else in the room, including, I imagine the entire crew, was a low point, though Swapnil’s decision to ‘build a wall’ to shield himself from Blake was priceless. Blake is an idiot.

LINE OF THE NIGHT: Amanda, on Blake’s look: 

“Glitter on glitter on glitter on glitter on glitter on glitter  or wha-a-a-a-t?”

Not a great quote, but since she said it while wearing a t-shirt that said: “Glitter Is Always An Option,” it deserves a moment of its own.

I liked how well the designers played with one another, when they all agreed to share cards if anyone needed something specific. I also loved the Hot Glue Gun incidents with everyone shrieking as they glued their fingers to each other to their looks.

I didn’t get the Four High Scores this week, because Blake had no place in the Top. Plus, that would have opened up a slot for Joseph and His Amazing Stiff Grocery Sack Dress to be in the Boot.

Next week: Team Challenge and, fingers crossed, fisticuffs.

What did YOU think?