I'm still a little confused about last night's crowning of Jeffrey as the third winner of Project Runway. On the one hand, his collection didn't make me shake my head the way Michael's did, and there were even a couple of pieces in there that I thought were OK. On the other hand, even the judges said that Uli's collection was something every woman could wear and would want to wear, and it showed a lot more range than I'd seen in her earlier designs. Plus, she didn't go over budget, nor did she have any pieces disqualified. So of course she doesn't win! I just don't get it.
Going into the penultimate challenge, I thought this competition was Michael's to lose.
And, damn, he lost it fair and square. That is some Kimora Lee shit right there. When called on the sheer tastelessness of his collection, Michael acknowledged that he's still pretty young and still has more to learn. I honestly wonder what he might have created if he had been assigned a rather obscure inspiration, like Neck-Boy's inspiration of Japanese demon prints.
The backstory of the collection, that it's about a woman searching for herself, sounded great. But the clothes made it clear that what she found was a skank who shops from the Frederick's catalog. Just looking at the stills of this collection makes me want to shake Michael and wail, "Why, why, why?!" Maybe he could use the money he got from winning the fan favorite competition to attempt the impossible and try to buy good taste?
Speaking of which, I'm no longer convinced of Laura's impeccable taste. The fourth outfit is just inexplicable, while the fifth outfit looks like the "Hollywood Wives" lingerie that got Daniel Franco auf'ed in Season 2. And what happened to the colorful items Tim Gunn saw when he visited her in part 1 of the finale? I'm not sorry to see the chartreuse nightmare disappear, but there were a couple of red dresses in there that might have added a much-needed punch of color to an almost aggressively neutral collection.
Another example of taste that I'd love to have seen from Laura is an actual apology to Neck-Boy for calling his entire collection into question. Of course, she was partially right in that those awful pleated shorts didn't meet the competition's guidelines, but removing them from the competition was almost doing him a favor. This episode gave me the distinct impression that Laura might well believe that her poo doesn't stink, and that's not a great impression to leave the viewing public with.
You know what else isn't a great parting gift for the audience? Those "sound bites" from PR that aired after the show, during the premiere episode of Top Chef. We heard from Neck-Boy that he still thinks Laura is crappy and that Michael played up his good-boy persona while talking about strip clubs and ass. Given that these interviews were given in his runway-show outfit, they were either the last things he wanted the public to know before judging -- or the stuff he couldn't help but say even having won the damn competition. Either way, it reinforced my impression of him as an utterly graceless winner, and left a really bad taste in my mouth concerning the entire show.
To my own surprise, Neck-Boy's actual line didn't leave a bad taste. I loved the fabric of the long dark blue dress, even if the shape of the dress was ridiculous. And the green striped blazer is pretty sweet, as is the green striped dress, although I'd never wear horizontal stripes, especially below the waist. However, the first dress has the approximate shape and structure of an octopus; skinny pants are nobody's friend and what is up with that short dark blue dress?? With the possible exception of the green blazer, none of this stuff looks terribly wearable unless you're a six-foot size 0, nor do I get the feeling that it would scale up to average sizes very well.
The judges kept calling his line "innovative," but I don't see any terribly revolutionary silhouettes. Nor do I really see the Japanese demon inspiration, except in that gorgeous fabric for the ninth outfit. I mean, I was relieved that it wasn't flat-out hideous, but I'm just not sold on his genius. Just because someone is a self-aggrandizing, shit-talking abrasive dingus who's convinced of his own greatness doesn't mean he's right. Besides, a talented asshole is still an asshole.
Anyway. To my own surprise, I liked Uli's line the best. I saw a variety of shapes here, a nice range of color, even some pieces that would scale nicely to my size and eternal need for a bra.
(Is Nazri just amazing or what?) I've never been a fan of the strapless dress with the keyhole neckline, so I was irked to see it appear twice in this collection. But the dress that converted to a bathing suit deserved all the applause it got. I'd totally wear the purple outfit, although I'd probably break it up and wear the pieces separately. A few weeks ago, I said that Uli had gotten me to rethink prints and actively seek them out in my own wardrobe, which means she's already had some influence on at least one viewer.
I'm not madly in love with any of these collections; none of them provoked the "Wow!" that Jay McCarroll's line in the Season 1 finale did. This season's culmination prompted a couple of "hmmm"s, a "meh" or two, a "Michael, Michael, Michael" and a final "aw, man, him?" Honestly, I'm just kind of relieved that it's over so I can start forming my hopes for Season 4.
I would have thrown my wine glass against the wall when Jeffery won except I was at my neighbor's house. As it was, I screamed. For a while. Then I punched my head.
I didn't loathe everything in his collection to the degree my hatred for him would dictate but I certainly don't get the "innovative" tag. It is so seriously time for new judges.
I wanted Laura to win but thought Uli's collection certainly showed more range than she'd shown before. And she got applause. So did Laura. I heard no applause for Neck Boy. And Michael? Seriously disappointing.
I could rant about this all day. I won't. I am not happy with the outcome. Neck Boy sucks. That's all.
Posted by: Lorraine | October 19, 2006 at 06:26 PM
I never watched this, so all I can say is, is there any less flattering or more nauseating dress than the baby doll? Seriously!
Posted by: Cheesemeister | October 22, 2006 at 01:00 AM