PR 14 Ep 11: The One Where Kelly Literally Wins ... Again!

We begin with the designtestants cheering the Top Five! Top Five! while bemoaning Swapnil for just giving up.

But, hey, it’s a new day and a new challenge, and Heidi, dolled up in 3D glasses … hint, hint … sends the designers off to meet Tim at the Queensboro Bridge.

The challenge? To take inspiration from three iconic New York City Bridges — the Queensboro, the Manhattan, and the Brooklyn — and create an avant-garde look with the addition of a 3D-printing element in their designs. And the winner gets a Cube 3D printer; Kelly is ready because, as she tells us, she doesn’t even have a 2D printer.

Also, as the winner form last week she gets her pick of bridges and she goes Brooklyn. The Velvet Bag is taken out and, at random, Candice and Merline get the Queensboro and The Adorable Edmond™ and Ashley take Manhattan.

There are $200 and two days for this challenge, so let’s rip …

THE TOPS

KELLY

She opts to go literal and remake the Brooklyn Bridge as a dress, adding in a brick 3D textile. I, along with all the designers, seem to like it, but worry that it will border on costume. And it doesn’t help that she chose a kinda cheep looking poopy-brown crocodile textured vinyl, but Kelly has a vision, and the vision is a bridge … walking.

Tim likes it, though he warns Kelly not to over-design it into a costume. I did love how Tim pointed out that the skirt was a play on a pannier dress from the 18th century. And Kelly agreed, though we all knew she had no idea what a pannier dress was—of course, until they showed a picture of one, I didn’t either.

WHAT SHE SAID

This is probably my favorite dress I’ve ever made in my life.

WHAT I SAID

It’s fun, but is it a costume?

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Guest judge, and former Spice Girl, Mel B said she wasn’t sure when she first saw it if she liked it, but it grew on her more and more; she loved that Kelly took the risk of going literal. Heidi loved the unusual silhouette, but wanted more 3D bricks other than as a waistband, Nine said avant-garde is innovative and creative and that’s what Kelly had done; she loved the fabric—for this look—and loved the cording detail on the front and sides, though she nitpicked that she would have liked it on the back as well. Zac said something about suspension and form and the bridge going up, and ended with a “Good work.”

THE ADORABLE EDMOND™

He was inspired by the trusses along the Manhattan Bridge that formed an ‘X’ design, and used the 3D printer to recreate that image, with his last name, ‘Newton’, added to it. He chose to go all black, in a gown with sheer bits and cut-outs, to recreate the airiness of the negative space on the bridge. At the last minute, as he does because he likes a good accessory, he creates a veil for the model.

Tim liked the look, but when The Adorable Edmond™ mentioned using a nude fabric on the back, Tim pushed him back toward going all-black; nice save, Tim. Tim also questioned the use of The Adorable Edmond™’s name in the piece and how he might explain it, and The Adorable Edmond™ very nicely said his name was all over the design so why not be all over the dress.

WHAT HE SAID

I have the perfect model for this look.

WHAT I SAID

I love the veil, but the dress is kind of simple and, even though I loved his explanation for it, I don’t know why his name is literally all over the dress.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Heidi loves it and she wants it. She calls it a perfect red carpet dress — and one she should have worn to the Emmys instead of that hideous Big Bird yellow mess she wore — and says it’s sexy and sophisticated; she loved the sheer bits and the cut-outs and the volume. Mel B called it subtle and sexy and said she’d fight Heidi for it. Zac loved the color and the sophistication, but he wasn’t keen on the 3D design or its application. Nina said it best: there was drama, but no avant-garde and she expected more from The Adorable Edmond™ this week. Oh, and she hated the flounce, but noted that without it, it was just a black dress.

CANDICE

Her inspiration was in the triangle shapes on the bridge and so that was her 3D design; her dress design would not be black and leather and corseted, but red — though, with time running out at Mood she dashed back for some black — and tight, with a kind of mermaid flounce, and 3D breasts and hips.

Tim loved it, and called it compelling.

WHAT SHE SAID

Avant-garde, to me, is over-design.

WHAT I SAID

It’s a gorgeous color, though not over-designed at all, and the model has a hard time walking in it, and so I was reminded of Lucy at the Country club in an old I Love Lucy episode where she couldn’t sit down in her too-tight dress.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Heidi called it stunning, and loved the 3D appliqués which she said gave it a lingerie feel. Nine thought the color was more of a Spanish motif — and I did too, as soon as Nina said it — and said, like The Adorable Edmond's™ it wasn’t avant-garde enough and she wanted more; she also said it had no relation to a bridge. Zac agreed that it wasn’t avant-garde, though he said it was the best use of the 3D technique. Mel B called it her favorite and loved the silhouette and the 3D effect.

THE BOTTOMS

ASHLEY

Ashley loved the “curveness” of the bridges cable system, and the way the curves moved when looked at from different angle, so she chose that for her 3D effect. She also chose to skip the pinks and lavenders in her color palette and went for blues and sheers and polka-dots; Tim called it a rich color palette, which is a good thing. But she was going to make a cigarette pant with sheer details and I didn’t see that as avant-garde.

Apparently neither did Tim, because he said she needed something more; he also wasn’t fond of her 3D textile — which she had done in bright white — because it didn’t seem to fit with her color choices. Ashley heeded his advice, while she complained about it, and added a sheer poncho, which was, in fact, actually a sheer cape. She also missed the mark by designing just one 3D image while Candice did several different pieces.

WHAT SHE SAID

I was able to construct these pants and make them form-fitting.

WHAT I SAID

I’m not impressed. It’s pants and top — though well made and sexy — underneath a sheer Superman cape with sharp white fangs on the top.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Heidi liked the drama and said the look walked beautifully; she loved the sexy pants but said the 3D textile looked the clipper blades you put on a set of hair clippers. Mel B also loved the drama of the cape, but called out Ashley because the cape doesn’t go with the look beneath it. She did, though, like the white 3D textile. Nina loved the look beneath the cape, and loved the drama of a cape … I guess capes are ‘in’ now … but said there was no bridge inspiration in it. Zac loved her color choices, and liked the white 3D fabric, and loved the dotty sheerness of the pant, and called it a mix of all kinds of fabulous things.

MERLINE

This is Merline’s challenge considering her love for architecture and structure. She was inspired by the negative space of the bridge, and used 3D and 2.5D — that’s what she called it — and 2D effects in her look. I loved her Mood Board, and the way she used it to work out her ideas, but some of the deigns on the wall were far better than the design she made … which we’d seen last year I might add in another avant-garde challenge.

Tim is worried that the skirt is wonky, and if it’s meant to be wonky it needs to be made wonkier. He also has concerns about the jigsaw puzzle of a top Merline is making.

WHAT SHE SAID

I love it … I see the process of 2D to 3D.

WHAT I SAID

I see last year’s look by another designer and not done nearly as well. I also don’t see a lot of the 3D.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Heidi likes it but then calls out the ‘K’ word: Kini! Kini who made the umbrella dress last year that this dress seems to mimic. She did like the silhouette and the volume, but said it wasn’t as impressive at the others. Zac liked the idea of the negative space as a 3D textile, and said the technique and shape of the dress were exciting if not very well constructed. Mel B liked the vibe and the peek-a-boo at the back, while Nina called it a more polished and more elegant Merline design, though not at all avant-garde.

The Adorable Edmond™ and Candice and Kelly are the Tops, with Kelly literally winning this week because the two more avant-garde designers played it too safe.

Ashley and Merline are the Bottoms and Merline gets Auf’d for being too safe and, perhaps, to copycat.

The right person went home, though I wouldn’t have said any different had it been Ashley. I liked Merline’s style, and her aesthetic, and even her wacky energy, but it was clear early on that she wouldn’t show at The Tents.

Ashley stepped it up this week in her color choice and, as The Adorable Edmond™ pointed out, in not creating a box-pleated circle skirt again, but I don’t see her at The Tents unless the show goes with four designers this year.

That leaves The Adorable Edmond™, of course, and Candice, of course, and Kelly, who has come on strong these past weeks. And I think the winner will be either Candice or The Adorable Edmond™, though y’all know who I secretly want to win … okay, it’s no secret, The Adorable Edmond™.

Speaking of which, how adorable was it when The Adorable Edmond™. came over the girl’s apartment to hang out? And he brought food? Adorable.

Best Line: Kelly, on the avant-garde idea:

“I’m a little lost with the whole avant-garde thing. I’m a self-taught designer so I don’t think I’ve ever made an avant-garde garment. I’ve definitely made some wacky things …”

What did YOU think?