PR 17 Ep 4: Into The Woods and Onto The Catwalk

This week is Good News/Bad News. And Worse

The good news is that the designtestants are told that they will be going to “where fashion started” and they all reach for their passports, thinking London or Paris. Then the bad news; they’re going into the woods, as in nature, as in wildlife and trees and bugs and no room service or penthouse apartment. I feel like Lisa Douglas on Green Acres! And the designtestants feel like the Donner Party.

The badder, er, more bad, er, worse news? At least for the designtestants? It’s an Unconventional Challenge! And to that end, the designtestants are packed into vans, driven across a bridge and dropped off in the wilderness!

They must create high-fashion looks for outdoor conditions; it’s cold’ rain threatens; the wind blows; where’s the food truck and the hot chocolate?

Let’s rip before someone succumbs to the elements …

THE SAFES

Top row, left to right

BISHME He had issues with eh skirt, by which I mean, it ripped and there was Bare-Assed Model. But he fixed it and created this warm jacket and very cool, nature-inspired skirt that looks like a work of art. I was impressed.

GARO His model werked this look, or bungee cords and fishing lures. I’m not sure she’d survive, but she’d look fabulous dying, er, trying.

JAMALL I’m not feeling it. It looks a little Wood Nymphet hooked up with a roll of aluminum foil.

LELA also used cording and some tarps. But, for me, the shoes ruined the look. Herman Munster would never wear orange!

Bottom row, left to right

SEBASTIAN created a look from leaves and duct tape. It was stunning, but stiff and hard to walk in, and doesn’t read ‘survival’.

TESSA made a loom! And then she made her own textile! And then she made a bark bra! But that was it, except for netting and the model’s underwear. It was a little ‘less than’.

VENNY look says Lost on Kilimanjaro! And that’s a good thing. It’s stunning, chic and edgy.

THE BOTTOMS

AFA

He stars off like everyone else, using sleeping bags as a jumping off point. But then he gets a visit from Tessa, who convinces him that he needs to stick to his Samoan roots, and create something Waterworld-y, even though they’re supposed to use these northeastern woodlands for inspiration.

 Afa flips, and goes island-y, and floral, and grabs netting—a lot of it—and plastic flowers and rope and I’m instantly getting Aquawoman vibes.

WHAT HE SAID

I feel excited …she is like a queen … sunshine in the wet, cold weather.

WHAT I SAID

It’s like a test costume for ‘The Little Mermaid’ and doesn’t read survival, especially since his model was literally freezing.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Elaine thought the design was a less island girl and more of a “shipwreck” reminiscent of a “souvenir shop.” Nina thinks it’s a little too skimpy on actual clothing—a map, a rope, a hammock—and Karlie is only thinking of the shivering model; she and Brandon offer up blankets, which kinda make the look better. Karlie also thinks he could have better used his material, while Brandon thinks there are … literally … too many loose ends and not one positive thing.

KOVID

Kovid is skipping through nature and meditating when he should be thinking about his design and meditating on how to save it. He wants to do a galaxy of different colors and shapes and I instantly question if he knows what he’s doing.

Christian and Marni Senofonte warn him about too many ideas and suggested he rein in his fabric choices and embellishments, so Kovid skips over to Renee and trades her a cowhide for a yellow tarp; that works more in Renee’s favor.

WHAT HE SAID

The vibrant yellow …complimenting the orange … beyond goddess.

WHAT I SAID

Oh Kovid. This is a head-to-toe mess. Yoga mat arms? Ropes dripping from the sleeves? A sleeping bag tied around her? No, honey. No.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Brandon says it “looks like the Tin Man and the Scarecrow are in a straitjacket and I want to click my heels and go home” but loved the makeup. Small praise, indeed. Nina, who loves a pant, likes the yellow pants but she does not understand the top. When Kovid declares it functional, Karlie looks stunned; if she wasn’t so chipper all the time, I’d swear she was about to slap him; she says it looks unfinished and points out the hem of the coat that is left undone.

SONIA

I liked where Sonia was going, but she took a wrong turn at the Mylar expressway. Her look was duct tape, cargo netting and Mylar gown, wrapped in twigs and branches, which stylist Marni Senofonte thought was the best part.

I loved the cargo netting as it flowed behind the model, but then for some reason Sonia, who at first said the Mylar would go under the netting, used the Mylar as the outer part of the skirt; the texture was lost and replaced with tin foil. Then, in an omen of what was to come, her model trips over the too-long front of the dress as she cat-walked.

WHAT SHE SAID

The one thing I did not want was to have her trip in the dress.

WHAT I SAID

I like the idea of the cargo netting skirt but thought the Mylar was going under. With the Mylar on top I kept thinking there was a turkey cooking under all that foil.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Brandon loved the dress when the model was walking away, but thought the front was more baked potato. Nina thought there was too much uncontrolled fabric, and noted how the Mylar was ripping, but Karlie thought it was Sonia’s best look on the show so far, though the fabric choices were wrong.

THE TOPS

RENEE

Renee isn’t an outdoor girl, though she raised a combination of Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts among her nine children. And she took that idea—Be Prepared—to task, creating a look that was the very definition of survival … a utility dress.

Christian cautioned her to keep her utility jacket from being too practical, but she had a vision and she stuck to it. And when she got the cowhide from Kovid, and used it as assort of sash on the look, it really came alive.

WHAT SHE SAID

She looks fashionable and innovative … though I worry that I took the challenge too literally.

WHAT I SAID

It does read the most survival, as in end of days, apocalyptic survival but it also read mish-mash to me.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Nina exclaims “talk about editorial” after seeing the model’s water jug purse—that was a high point indeed—and loved the pleated skirt. Elaine points out that Renee sometimes goes a bit matronly but loves this true survivor look and all the gadgets. Karlie raved about the Troop Beverly Hills realness and loves the accessories and styling. Brandon called it covered and warm and tailored to perfection and wanted it for himself.

HESTER

Hester is sure this is her challenge, and like Sebastian from last week, she wants a second win even though she has immunity. But then, while foraging for materials, her little stockpile is ransacked by other designers who thought it was “just a pile.”

But never fear, she has a thought … a modern color-blocking, sleeping bag tarp thought that both stylist Marni Senofonte and mentor Christian Siriano aren’t really thrilled about. And when she shows them a sketch of a gown with bustier and net skirt, they send her down that path.

WHAT SHE SAID

The skirt has so much drama.

WHAT I SAID

This is how you use cording and cargo netting to make something fabulous. I’m not sure how long she’d survive in the wilderness, but she’d leave a good-looking corpse.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Nina thinks the use of unconventional materials was very smart and meticulous, playful and joyous. Elaine called it gorgeous and loved the Afrocentricity of the design—I got that too, but couldn’t describe it until Elaine said it. She loved the use of cords as a stacked necklace, but warned about the thin line between cultural appreciation and cultural appropriation. Brandon thought the execution took his breath away. Karlie admired Hester for stretching when she might have coasted in this challenge since she had immunity.

RAKAN

Rakan, who struggled last week, is also going the sleeping bag route, which both Christian and Marni Senofonte find a bit lacking; but when Rakan shows them his gauze bandage top, they are more intrigued and suggest he make that more of an asset than an undergarment. And this week Rakan listens, slowly, and takes it all in and follows their lead. He combines a sleeping bag and the gauze for an asymmetrical modern look full, and then adds gauze to the model’s leg for extra punch.

WHAT HE SAID

My model looks fabulous. I’m really glad Christian gave me the advice to add the gauze to the legs.

WHAT I SAID

While this also seemed a little safe—slap a sleeping bag on the girl—the colors and patterns and styling gave me Goth Survivalist and I’m down for that.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Brandon loved the look, saying he wanted “to Goth rave with her in the forest” and loves the styling. Karlie calls it a “chic sleeping bag,” and wants it for herself, while Nina loved that Rakan took something practical and turned into something fashionable. It’s Elaine’s favorite look from him, and says he has been hit or miss, but she loves this “amazing, voluminous” look.

It looked like anyone’s win, and I would have been happy with any of the Top Three, but the win went to Renee for being fashionable and utilitarian.

On the down side, Sonia was saved because she had “something” in her look that could have been improved upon. Afa and Kovid, however, were a pair of hot messes. I thought Afa would get the save since Kovid had bottomed once—at least on the show—but in the end the judges couldn’t deal with Afa’s barely there look.

Afa is out. I agree because his look really missed the mark. But Afa gets major points for is graceful exit—after Nadine’s bitchy stomp off last week—by saying:

“I did this for my wife and my baby and my family, but it was good enough for me.”

Class.

Kovid’s shock at Afa’s Aufing was mine, as well. I really thought that Afa’s had design and style while Kovid’s was more “throw shiz at the girl and see what sticks.” Plus, once again, Kovid has a near breakdown by not getting kicked off. He’s very needy and I’m growing bored.

And while I loved the challenge, and the outdoors—though I was happy to watch from my cozy living room—I was shivering along with the models as many stood nearly naked in the woods being fitted in their looks.

I loved Rakan talking about the struggle of designing, but then saying he’s been in worse places … like war-torn Syria. That must make the PR seem like a cake-walk.

LINE OF THE NIGHT

Christian Siriano, when asked by the designtestants if he would be camping with them, said he’d be camping at a hotel down the road because:

“I’m a little bit of an indoor cat.”

Me, too!

Asia, Garo's model, came to slay the runway. He may not have made Top Three, but his model worked that look. If I were him, I’d do whatever I could to keep her.

Jamall made another puffer look and says it because off his childhood and how he felt safe in those big coats. Well, Jamall, keep it up and you won’t be safe much longer. I need something new!

One thing that annoys me about the Unconventional Challenges is how so many of the designtestants end up using the same materials and therefore creating similar looks. This time it was the cording in the corded corsets or the cording in the dripping corded skirts. If I was on the show, I’d see all those folks using the same shiz and instantly change direction to stand out.

I’m watching Sebastian—and for more than just his Adorable Cuteness—along with Hester, who’s coming on strong, and Renee and Bishme—his art skirt was stunning. Jamall needs to step up and out of his comfort zone; Lela needs to really step up and be seen; the same goes for Venny. Coasting time is over. Sonia needs a comeback, and soon. Rakan needs to keep improving; Kovid needs to stop skipping and start getting down to business. Tessa, for me, really stumbled this week, and should have been in the Bottom, because her look was a woven top and a bark bra and netting; that doesn’t get you to The Tents.

Next week … urban luxe streetwear, whatever that means.

What did YOU think?