PR 18 Ep 2: The Cat In The Street

Oh, Project Runway, how could you? Cats? Seriously? Of all the films I do not wish to see, well, this is the only one I doubt I will ever set my eyes upon, and you make a challenge out of it?

I should have known when I spotted the giant door, and out came Karlie Kloss to tell it was a prop from … ahem …That Movie. And then a preview? Judi Dench? Idris Elba? Jennifer Hudson? Ian McKellen? How could y’all? Taylor Swift and James Corden, I get, but the rest of you? Have you no shame?

Luckily this turned out not to be about cats, per se, or the film, but about animal prints. The challenge is to create a chic street style look that is a fresh take on animal prints; not necessarily Cats, thankyouverymuch!

They have two days and $250 bucks to make this … and sorry in advance …  purrfect …so let’s rip …

THE SAFES

Row 1

Alan Christian called his first try ‘Yoda,’ and his second try ‘Beyoncé.’ Guess which one he went with? It’s more party down the block than street, though.

Brittany She didn’t buy an animal print, but she painted one on a safari jacket.  Not street wear, even with the loose straps.

Chelsey This is street and cool and animal. It’s kinda basic but she did it.

Dayoung Drama with her this episode, so she had just one day to make something. And it looks like it.

Row 2

Melanie She bought a print with actual cats on it. I can’t; I mean, y’all know I love me some cats, but not Cats!!

Nancy She also did Cats in creating what looks like day wear for Grizabella. It’s edgy and catty but not really street.

Sergio A f**king gown? Is she on the street in front of the Met Gala? This man is so fond of himself and I’m waiting for the takedown.

ShaVi I like that he took the print, then cut it into strips and made a whole new print from it; but, again, it’s not street wear, is it?

TOPS AND BOTTOMS

GEOFFREY

In the first episode he went crazy at Mood looking for fabric, but he rallied and created a top look. In the second episode he went crazy at Mood looking for fabric—he doesn’t use prints at all—but he rallied and created … that.

He’s the one who will always second-guess himself and believe that a raised eyebrow or a question from Christian means “Change everything.” The boy needs to chill.

At Mood, when  Christian suggested that his caftan idea wasn’t street enough, he flew off the rails and went into sportswear pants and a poncho. A poncho, y’all!

He said he felt “like I'm in the litter box" and he’s right. His look is not good, so what does he do? Throw on a choker and some gloves with claws and boots.

Yeah, that’ll help.

WHAT HE SAID

I wished I loved it but …

WHAT I SAID

It’s too much with all the stuff. And the poncho … a poncho y’all … looks a little negligee. A negli-cho?

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Guest judge Marni Senofonte, who never met a detail she didn’t put on, thinks it’s over-styled; and when she says that, you bettah listen! Nina said …choker, gloves, boots, poncho … it’s a lot of ideas, but “it’s not really working.” Brandon told him to calm down! The nerves pushed him to do well last week, but they turned on him this week. Elaine was stunned that Geoffrey stood behind this mess, but Karlie gave it some praise: “At least it was finished.”

DELVIN

I’ll give LabCoatDelvin™ props for finding an animal print that wasn’t cat-like. His was a close-up of parrot feathers that he painstakingly cut so that both sides matched, in creating a silk gazar—that even sounds rich—coat dress.

He called his look “luxe street” but I call it “rich lady getting out of a limo and barely crossing the sidewalk to go into the Four Seasons for lunch.”

Christian loved the fabric, and the way it was cut, but also felt it wasn’t really street wear.

WHAT HE SAID

This bright green parrot feather stands out. I’m blown away.

WHAT I SAID

It ain’t street, but it’s gorgeous and really stands apart in a sea of cheetah and leopard and zebra.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Karlie loved the fabric, the fact that it was cut to match perfectly, and called it timeless and fresh. Brandon loved the tailoring, saying it was uptown street, and added, “Bless you.” Nina said it was beautiful, but pointed out that it was “very lady,” and the opposite of street. Elaine has a crush on the dress …or Delvin … and put him in the Top Spot. Marni loved the snake detail belt and pocketbook and thought Delvin should win.

TYLER

Tyler is an origami-making drag queen, which, if I’m not mistaken, is a first for the PR. What is not a first, however, is a designer who hears Christian’s critique, and then disagrees and does his own thing anyway.

It doesn’t always end well. Christian suggests Tyler’s crop top and animal print drop crotch pants aren’t new or exciting or street and, well, Tyler politely disagrees. What’s worse is that he actually had his model do a karate punch at the end of the runway. 

Seriously. I can’t.

WHAT HE SAID

Nora [his model] has such a great energy to her. It’s new; it’s fresh.

WHAT I SAID

New and fresh? Like Cats?

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Brandon gave him props for having a well-made look but dinged him because it was not … wait for it … no one saw this coming … new or fresh, but dated, but safe. Elaine also liked the workmanship but felt it was a little too Spice Girls … Old Spice Girls. Nina noted that street is not a matchy-matchy look, and this was that; it was a costume, she said, pointing out the ears that popped up on the model’s shoulders. Marni gave it praise as a showpiece for an entertainer … in a lady-boy club in Thailand.

MARQUISE

Marquise is self-taught, or as he puts it, a graduate of YouTube University. He also says he was not accepted to design school, so he took his style and his designs to the underground ballroom movement where he honed his skills.

And his body; did y’all see him in some of those outfits? Damn; he’s scorching. Too bad this isn’t Project Marquise because I’d DVR the shiz outta that.

Marquise mixed animal prints to create a bold top, with a flirty skort to go with it. I like Marquise, because he’s hot, and he’s good, and unlike Delvin and Sergio, he just works and lets his creation speak for him. Not a lot of drama, at least so far.

WHAT HE SAID

I love it from head-to-toe. Every stitch.

WHAT I SAID

Finally, real street wear, and a different use of different animal prints.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Elaine said his was the only look she could see on a modern woman in New York; or a man, because Brandon wants it; he said Marquise nailed the challenge with this fresh look. Marni also wanted to wear it and called it the “most street.” Nina said he took a risk by combining different animal prints for his top, but it turned out modern.

VERONICA

She’s inspired by Hollywood movies and glamour, which, yeah, ain’t Cats. And she also had trouble at Mood trying to find a flowy, flimsy animal print fabric that she would then pair with black leather.

A Domina-cat?

She explained to Christian that she wanted to bring the dance and movement to her look, and he was all for that, but wondered about the silhouette, and the idea of blouson shorts. Veronica wondered how she might explain the fact that her black leather bolero top was unlined and hoped “no one wants to discuss it."

Good luck with that.

WHAT SHE SAID

Despite the nagging voice in my head telling me I’m going to have to defend this, I like it.

WHAT I SAID

It’s a dominatrix poncho over a diaper. Yeah, that screams Hollywood glamour.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Right out of the gate Elaine asked why the top was unlined; so much for hopes. Nina called it bloomers and lingerie … under a tarp; the hair; the heels; the silhouette was confusing, as was the styling and the fabric choices. Marni gave the look high marks for being fun and playful, while Nina checked her contract to see if she was allowed to ban Marni from appearing again.

VICTORIA

She was less interested in an animal print street look and more into a ginormous yellow purse. But her dress was shiny silver snakeskin and white … which her model thought made her looks like a “stewardess for Air Wakanda”, or a Wakandan bride.

That can’t be good.

Christian warned her that it looked like an evening dress and told her to play with it, fix it, change it, and then work on the bag and the tiny hat, but Victoria was already “in the bag” so to speak. And as it walked the runway, backstage Christian stood at a monitor, muttering, “That bag. Lord.”

WHAT SHE SAID

I want to show the judges my sewing and construction skills.

WHAT I SAID

Sewing? It’s a bandage dress in bad fabric. Construction? It’s straps.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Brandon thought it looked like a snake tangled in toilet paper—forget Snakes on a Plane, this is Boa in a Bathroom—and said it was “definitely on [the] street leading right into somewhere with liquor.” He also noted it was unlined and showed all the seams. Nina warned Victoria to pay more attention to the execution of her many ideas. Marni pictured Serena Williams playing tennis in it. Karlie called it “after party” street wear and, well, liked the bag. Elaine called it ten-year-old Hervé Léger. Elaine and I are simpatico; bandage dress.

It came down to Delvin and Marquise for the Top Short, and Geoffrey and Veronica for the Pack Your Bags section.

Marquise took the win for fully embracing the challenge of modern streetwear.

As for the, well, loser, Brandon said that while Geoffrey’s look was Cats, Veronica’s looked like the girl who had cats.

And that sealed her fate. Bye-bye Veronica.

Dayoung suffered stress-related exhaustion so severe that the paramedics were called. Yes, it’s one week in and already a designer is so stressed it requires a hospital stay. Not a good look. That said, I was sort of put off by Karlie’s lack of interest or concern that Dayoung was carted off to Bellevue.

Once again Delvin finished early and spent the rest of the show hiding from Christian. And when the other designers helped Dayoung, who had just the one day, he stood on the sidelines, not helping, and not liking that she was getting help.

I’m not really liking Delvin.

I loved, and loathed, Victoria’s infatuation with her yellow bag, but I loved when Delvin, in that precious Lab Coat, called it a piece of cheese—and not the good kind—and Victoria said:

"You don't, maybe, understand fashion. Maybe?" 

Ouch. But Yassss.

LINES OF THE NIGHT

Christian, to Nancy at Mood, and her fabric choices:

“You’ve narrowed it down to 3,4, 5, 6, … 8 fabrics? What are you making? A collection?”

Christian, again, to Alan, who raced through Mood asking how getting buttons worked:

“You grab a box and you give it to them.”

And then Alan, who described his animal look like this:

“An old cat, but stylish. Like, the cats gonna die, but stylish.”

And finally, ShaVi, who discovered an obstacle in his way at Mood … Victoria:

“You be suing that hair as a weapon.”

 And Sergio? A gown? Streetwear? Yes, because as he told Christian he only designs for 45-to-60-year-old women because “young people can’t afford expensive things so why design for them?” And when his not-ready-for-the-street-wear gown walked, he insisted his work was so much more advanced than his competitors that “I’m probably never going to be in the bottom.”

Rude awakening Alert.

I am still dying over the image of tiny Christian Siriano walking through the gigantic Cats door.

Back to Sergio and his stories about his looks; this week the political activist designer says that we’re not taking care of the planet and will soon be left with animal prints but no animals. And Tyler is not having it, suggesting Sergio came “with a character to play.” Tyler dubbed it “Saint Sergio.”

#IStandWithTyler

And who didn’t see Veronica going home when she got the Phone Call From Home Edit? That’s an old PR trick, and it never fails.

Next week: The Unconventional Materials Challenge. Yes, please!

What did YOU  think?