PR 14, Ep 8: The One Where Lindsey Is Pan[ned]

Finally! They get to see a Broadway show. Sadly, it’s ‘Finding Neverland;’ and not Michael Jackson’s Neverland because at least there might have been chimps.

No, this ‘Finding Neverland’ is the hit [?] Broadway musical; sure, it’s making money — some $800,000 a week — but it isn’t making, say, ‘Wicked’ money because that’s around $1.5 million a week after running on Broadway for 13 years. But, and this is important, and this is why they used this show,  ‘Finding Neverland’ is a Harvey Weinstein production and he is also a producer of Project Runway. Yup, he’s using his TV show  to promote his Broadway show. Just sayin’.

And so, at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre Tim introduces Matthew Morrison, the star of ‘Finding Neverland’ and they explain that the designtestants will first see the show and then use it as inspiration for this week’s look. There are no limits this week; they can do anything they choose with $250 and, finally, another trip to Mood. Hello Swatch!

Let’s rip …

THE SAFES

MERLINE

She goes dark and almost simple, but then creates a kind of armor on the sleeves. I’m liking this more Goth Merline.

SWAPNIL

He decides to smoke less and work more — it took him weeks to decide that? And he creates a flowing skirt with a very sculptural — think Butterfly wings — top. It’s pretty but not great.

THE TOPS

THE ADORABLE EDMOND™

He wants to make something colorful and dreamy and at Mood he goes for every color imaginable and prints and feathers and … then in the workroom he tosses them all out the window — not literally — and settles on a sleek black cigarette pant and bustier top beneath a billowy purple cloud. Tim loves his idea of the cloud top and the nighttime bustier and pant idea, but is worried that the cloud will go unfinished.

WHAT HE SAID

I do feel as if I’m picking up momentum.

WHAT I SAID

Love the pant; love the bustier. As for the purple cloud? I like it, but wish it had been a different color, perhaps more cloud-like?

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Heidi loved the pants and the sexy top but she hated the cloud; she was impressed by his ability to create such a great pant in one day though. Guest judge, and fabulous model, Coco Rocha also hated the cloud, but loved the rest, though she called it two different looks in one. Zac called it strong and sporty and sophisticated, but asked that The Adorable Edmond™ ‘lose the Muppet.’ Nina loved the drama of the look, and called it polished and balanced and loved the reveal of removing the cloud.

WHAT HAPPENED

The Adorable Edmond™ is gathering momentum; he’s also safe … and so adorable.

KELLY

She is less inspired by the show, and more by the photos she saw on the wall while waiting in line for the restroom. And so that means bringing old-fashioned yet updated modern glamour to the runway … with gloves.

And Kelly actually made gloves, though for a moment I was worried that they looked like something Minnie Mouse might wear to the opera, but in the end they turned out fairly well. Tim likes her taking a risk — she has immunity so why not — and loves the idea of the lacy long vest over a mini-skirt.

WHAT SHE SAID

I wanted to add flirty and playful.

WHAT I SAID

I hate the idea of a mini under a floor-length anything; and I am not a fan of green pool tile fabric.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Zac loved that she made gloves — later, he showed the model how to work a glove … seriously — and loved the color and loved that Kelly stepped out of her urban raver comfort zone. Coco thought it too costume-y, while Heidi didn’t like that it looked like a dress — with a center seam for the love of Chanel — under a negligee; she also questioned who might wear it and where. Nina said it was editorial and perfect for photography, though she also didn’t care for the mini dress; she did love the fabric and called that the star of the whole look.

WHAT HAPPENED

Kelly is Safe, though even if she’d fumbled this week she’d still have been safe.

CANDICE

It was a quote from Hook about embracing your darkness that inspired Goth Candice — go figure — to do a bustier in leather under a big, wild coat and a skirt that actually morphed into a bustier coat dress worn over pants. Tim loves her fabric choices, and the mix of textiles, but when Candice says she wants to use white to signify heading into the light, Tim cautions her against it. In the end, there was either no white, or maybe it was hidden from sight.

WHAT SHE SAID

I’m a bit worried about the arms [looking] like bat wings.

WHAT I SAID

I like it, though I could have done without the Capri pants. I think it would have been better as a dress.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Nina loved that it wad dark and romantic, and loved the leather bustier and the draping and mixing of the fabrics. She called it beautiful and editorial and dreamy and fantasy and drama. Nine like. Heidi loved the sexy hardness of it, while Zac said, Brava! And he also called it a great interpretation of the play and Candice’s aesthetic while being original, with just a hint of costume. Coco loved that Candice embraced the darkness and said this was ‘baddie gone goodie.’

WHAT HAPPENED

With raves from Nina it’s clear: Candice scores another Win.

THE BOTTOMS

ASHLEY

She decides that since Peter Pan is like a guardian angel to the children, and since her grandmother is like her guardian angel, she’ll do an ombré gown that is either mermaid or flowy; or both. I didn’t get the connection either, unless the grandma was a mermaid who liked a body conscious ombré gown? At any rate, Tim urges her to do both mermaid and flowy, but Ashley gets so far behind in time that it gets scary. And, after she adds boning to her top, it doesn’t fit the model and so, yeah, it’s kinda rough for Ashley this week.

WHAT SHE SAID

I kinda lost what my inspiration was for this design.

WHAT I SAID

It’s so sloppy and raggedly and completely unfinished looking.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Zac liked the ombré and the purple — he was dressed as The Joker last night — but called it droopy and messy and pointed out the awful unraveling hemline. Heidi liked the ‘idea’ but not the construction, especially of the rabbit eared bodice; up close, however, she found it shockingly bad.  Coco loved the color against the model’s skin but said it looked like Ashley fought with the drapes and the drapes won. Nina simply said it was ‘prom gone wrong’ and when Zac said he liked some of the ideas she added, ‘I hate it.’

WHAT HAPPENED

Luckily Ashley has done better work, and luckily she at least had an idea, because she’s Safe.

LAURIE

She’s inspired by her own childhood — she says she has wings — and so she’ll make hot pants. I don’t get the correlation unless it is the idea that under the hot pants one can still wear a feminine hygiene product that has wings? I don’t know. Tim is less concerned about that and more concerned that her choice of fabric for the jacket looks too mature, but that is the least of Laurie’s problems.

She is running out of time — she opts to do three pieces and then mentions in the comments that she’s never done that before — and so her model’s ass hangs out until scrap of fabric are tacked onto the skirt. There is no lining for the top, so Laurie uses nipple pads — who knew there was such a thing — to cover the lady bits, though they don’t really help.

It's all so tragic ...

WHAT SHE SAID

At this point I’m hoping to be safe.

WHAT I SAID

Keep hoping, because this hodgepodge of crap is so far from safe you can’t even see safe in the rearview mirror.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Zac said it was a lot … of bad construction, glued on bustiers with no coverage of boobies and such. Nina said, and I quote, “Oh.My.God. It’s not Tinkerbell, it’s Tinkerhell!!!!!” She called it a mess from head to toe with bad proportions, floppy sleeves and too many issues. Heidi said there were some good ideas — Nina snapped, “Like which?” — but was amazed by the see-thru top and nipple pads; she liked the coat, but said it was crooked; she liked the silhouette because it was different, but maybe different is bad in this case. Coco shuddered at the idea of having to model this mess.

WHAT HAPPENED

I guess because she had an idea — even though it was an Epic Fail — Laurie lives to die another day.

LINDSEY

She wants to make a magical evening gown and selects a variety of dark fabrics and prints, and then settles on using just one: green. Tim seems to like her idea of a high-necked, backless mullet dress in Kelly green and I’m beginning to wonder if Tim isn't secretly working to get Lindsey Auf’d after so many weeks in the bottom. And Lindsey, like Ashley and Laurie, her Bottom Three counterparts, also struggled with time and the fact that her model has actual breasts. 

I didn’t get it because the dress seems so simple and yet she could barely finish.

WHAT SHE SAID

My dress is my kind of fantasy where it’s still wearable.

WHAT I SAID

It’s boring and one-note and doesn’t fit very well.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Heidi loved the color … that’s all. She hated the high front, the mullet skit, and the slit up the back. Coco called it nice … ouch … and pretty plain, and pointed out that the waist was so awful it made the model seem short. Zac asked if it was supposed to be symmetrical and Lindsey said, ‘Yes, in concept, but in practicality there was a question mark.’ Zac snapped back, ‘Oh there’s no question about it.’ Nina liked the color and the back, but hated the front.

WHAT HAPPENED

After so many weeks in the bottom, bad construction wins out over boring and Lindsey is Auf’d … and thankfully not given the Tim Gunn Save™.

Tim gives a little Tough Love to Swapnil for coasting through each challenge but never winning; he tells Swapnil he’s been working at 40% and needs to amp that up, and stop taking a hundred smoke breaks a day. Otherwise, no matter how good he is, he will end up outside The Tents.

I loved when Merline said: “You’re telling me I can go outside of the box, but I go back in because now everybody is outside of the box. Maybe that’s the problem.”

But the best line goes to Tim, who said this to Laurie: “I feel as though you have two different people here. You have this modern warrior of sorts, and then you have her mother. You need to beat back the old lady.”

The Tents: The Adorable Edmond™, unless he totally screws up. Candice, too. But that third spot? Swapnil, if he steps it up or perhaps Merline if she continues with her Goth-chic-cool POV. I’d say Ashley has a chance but she’s flailing and Laurie is failing. Kelly could be a long shot.

All through the PR there was a timer in the corner remind us that Rachel Zoe’s new show, Fashionably Late, was on after the PR. I stayed up to watch it and found it so awful and so try hard and so full of itself that I might just have to watch it every week. Zoe says that’s called ‘I Can’t Even’ when something is so bad that you can’t even watch it, wear it, see hit, hear it, but you do.

I.Can’t.Even.

What did YOU think?