*snf* Auf Wiedersehen, Princess Austin

Before we get into it, let us just pay pictorial homage to the fabulous, otherworldly creature we lost this week:

"I would just love to sort of set an example to any dreamer, maybe not the most popular kid in school or just anyone who's different but who has a dream to always stick to that dream."

"No matter how many times people tell you to walk a certain way or to talk a certain way, act a certain way, dress a certain way, design a certain way... You can't listen to that. You have to be true to yourself. No matter what."

Brava, Princess SissyFag. Bra. Va.

Having said that...

This dress was unfortunately not very good.

You can't let the fabric dictate the design totally, beautiful though it may be. Otherwise, the fabric is doing all the work. It appears that he was so in love with the way it drapes (and it drapes beautifully) that it wound up looking like nothing more than something pinned to a dress form.

In our memory, we may have elevated this dress to heights it never reached, because looking at it again, we're noticing for the first time that there's not much "there" there.

Knowing what we know about Martinique's body, look at how thick her torso looks in this dress. Taking a light, flowy, airy fabric and twisting and layering it to such an extent that it looks heavy and bulky just isn't a good idea. Let's not even get into how sloppy it looks.

It's funny. Looking at S1 with a more critical eye than we have in the past, Austin's output for the competition wasn't nearly as good as we remembered. Hand him something that fits within his design philosophy, and he produces some great work (Banana Republic, Sarah Hudson, the bathing suit, even the cornhusk dress), but give him something that challenges him and he crumbles (the 2055 challenge, the postal uniform challenge).

As easy as it is to blame it all on Nancy O'Dell, the fact of the matter is, all of the designers dropped the ball this week. If there had been more competitive work from Jay or Kara Saun, or less competitive work from Wendy, things would have turned out differently. Yes, it might have seemed more "fair" for Austin to be in the final 3, but they would have had to auf someone for no other reason than to keep Austin in and that would have been even less fair than the outcome we got. Yes, Wendy's dress was pretty unremarkable and tacky, but it was more wearable and more in line with the client's dictates than this dress - than ANY of the other dresses, in fact.

Austin is a good designer. His post-show career is among one of the best of all PR alums. It's just that he's not a very good reality show contestant. More than anything, it was his highly distinct personal style that kept him afloat in front of the judges for so long.

"Hey, Austin, will you design my dress for the Oscars?"

"I'd love to, Nancy.

Just as soon as hell freezes over and your implants crack and fall off, you tacky bitch."

Don't we all climb up on a table to take off our shoes?

"I don't think anyone of you are hearing the last of Austin Scarlett yet."

And he was right. Good luck to you, you gorgeous creature. We miss you already.


[Screencaps: projectrungay.blogspot.com]


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