Patricia Field's Swimsational Disco Soirée

It's swimsuit season, poodles!

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PR on the RC

That's "Project Runway on the Red Carpet," for those of you not up on our hep cat lingo.

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Irina in Marie Claire

One last look back at Season 6 before we dive into Season 7.

S6 winner Irina Shabayeva got her Marie Claire spread and had a few things to say. Highlights:

"So many women are afraid of the bitch word, but you've got to go for what you want. It's not going to be handed to you."

"The workroom was always tense, but then Kalyn would come in all smiles, and I was like, 'I want to live in your world!' She gave me a sense of relief and hope."

"I am fascinated with flight! Planes, birds, butterflies — I love the freedom that they symbolize."





The pics are gorgeous. Kalyn looks great. But you know us, we just had to contact Irina ourselves and get some scoop.

How was the experience?
The experience was great!! I had so much fun particularly because I didn't have to do anything except sit pretty.

Best part of the photo shoot.
The best part was getting to share it with Kalyn.

Were you nervous? Did it go as you expected it?
I wasn't nervous at all. It went really well, actually. Way better then I expected!

Did you pick the pieces featured?
I did pick the pieces featured with suggestions from the photographer plus the dress that 's being auctioned off.

Congrats, gals!


[Photos: marieclaire.com]

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Ripping the Collections: Irina - Part 1

Alright, bitches. We're all well rested, so let's get to this.

The thing is, hate us if you want, but we really love this collection; more each time we look at it, in fact. For all the talk of how low the talent level was this season in comparison to previous seasons (talk with which we don't entirely disagree), we think this collection could stand next to any of the previous winning collections and hold its own. Sure, she could have used more color, although we're not entirely in agreement on that chez T Lo. Lorenzo loves the collection as is and Tom thinks while there's nothing inherently wrong with so much black, it served to lessen the impact of some of the amazing detail on the pieces.

Let's start the show. If you're a hater, you might want something to bite down on.

After an intro like that, you thought we were going to rave about every piece, right? Well, we hated this look. It's a strong opener, but when you look at the rest of the collection, a bit of a head-scratcher. Sure it fits thematically, but the severity of this look is off the chart in comparison to the rest of the collection. Too stiff and shiny and textured. Too weird for weirdness' sake. We absolutely hate how it sticks out so stiffly near the bottom. Forget about sitting down in this thing.

Now this, we loved. So much detail here that you really need to stop and take a look to see it all. Love the proportions and the softness of the look, which stands in stark contrast to that armor-like opening piece. And we're gonna say it: we love the hats.

Another piece showcasing some amazing technical work. It skirts right up to the border of overworked, but the simple silhouette and neckline along with the lack of color, keep it from veering into that territory. The gloves really make it.

We absolutely love the top half of this and wish she could have left it there, as a jacket. It's soft and luxurious-looking. Unfortunately, she went coat length and the instantly screwed up the proportions. Worse, it makes the model look quite a bit bigger than she actually is, which is of course a big no. Still, we do love that collar and those sleeves.

Sometimes, what a designer thinks is their signature piece, isn't. Some other piece captures the crowd's imagination and for Irina's collection, that would be this one. Partially it's because it's not black, which is a relief, and partially it's because it was the perfect combination of look + model, but mainly it's because it's a fantastic piece, full stop. Again, love the sleeves and the collar/hood. And while we are COMPLETELY talked out over the whole t-shirt text controversy (and hope that you are too), we think pairing this luxurious sweater with a t-shirt was a bold idea that paid off. Love those closures she used.

CLUNK. We're assuming this is faux fur (looks like it). She clearly doesn't have the facility with this material that she does with the heavy knits. This just looks shapeless and colorless and unflattering.

Okay, we're gonna say something about Kalyn that was weighing on us all season. She's a pretty girl and there's no reason to think she can't be a successful model, but to our eyes, she doesn't look like a fashion model. She's got the conventionally pretty, beauty queen looks that would make her perfect for say, hair products and makeup modeling. She's just not striking enough for runway walking. Nothing illustrates this more than this look, which was Irina's surprise 13th-look. Why she picked this look for Kalyn to wear is a mystery to us. She can't pull off the edgier stuff. Blow out her hair and put her in one of those fluffy sweaters and she's your girl.

As for the look, love the lower half, but the upper half is WAY overworked. We hate the silhouette from the side and the way it makes her look like her boobs are blooming from a flower. Plus, the fit up top is weird. We no likey.


[Photos: firstVIEW.com - Video: Youtube/myLifetime]


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Irina

Dun Dun DUN!!!! VILLAINY!!!!

So the villain of the piece chose as her inspiration the painting Mischief and Repose, by John William Godward. Not pointing it out for any reason other than it goes with this screencap.

Because, did you know? Irina is the VILLAIN. Such is the extent of her villainy that when it's combined with the sheer blandness of the rest of this season, it turns out she's not much of a villain. She's apparently the best they could rustle up.

She's just a smack-talking girl who thinks she can smack talk because the judges like her. Fine. Okay. We think the judges have surrendered themselves to the sweet embrace of crack, but it's not like they didn't give her reason to think that her shit does not, in fact, stink.

Just one question.

Model: Kalyn Hemphill

WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?

What is this "Fiddler on the Roof of Studio 54" bullshit?

UGLY. OLD FASHIONED. STYLE-LESS.

Seriously, we think the worst you could say about most of Irina's stuff is that it's good basic yeoman's work when it comes to dress-making. We thought she could at least always fall back on the "sense of style" defense of her work. But this? It looks old.

And WHAT IS GOING ON with Kalyn's drag queen makeup and Leontyne Price styling?

We'll give her some tiny credit for the back. It's at least a little interesting (in a Stevie Nicks kind of way). But those shoes?

And that headband! And that frigging half-assed sash she puts on everything?

It's all so tired looking. She sure was talking a good game to the cameras because any other designer sending this out on the runway would have at least had the presence of mind to say, "I think I'm really screwed here." At least Tim talked her out of draping the dead animals all over her.

Then again, the judges only gave her the mildest rebuke, it seemed to us. Not that they didn't criticize it extensively, but we'd bet a donut that if certain other designers had ever sent this out on the runway, they would have been barbecued for it.

Extended Judging:


Tim Gunn's Workroom Critique:



[Photos: Mike Yarish/myLifetime.com - Videos: myLifetime.com - Screencaps: Projectrungay.blogspot.com]


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Meana Irina

She's not here to make friends, you know!

Kittens, should you ever find yourself on a reality television show, please, we implore you, do NOT haul out that tired old "I'm not here to make friends" line. It's so cliche that it'll only make you look stupid. We suggest the following: "I'm totally here to make friends! I have a long emotional history of fucking over the people closest to me! I'm a sociopath!" It means the same thing but it's got a little more panache to it.

Not that we think Irina's a sociopath. She's just a relatively talented designer who's received a bit too much love from the judges and thinks everyone else around her is miles behind her and doesn't deserve to breathe her air. We have to say, for all her bitchiness, we tend to agree with her points about half the time when she assesses the work of the other designers.

And come on, who didn't love her little crash and burn on the runway when she thought the judges were going to back her up on her plagiarism charge?

Model: Kalyn Hemphill

This wasn't a bad entry. No, wait. Scratch that. This was one of the better entries. There. That's a little more accurate. We do like that sweater.

But man oh man, do we ever hate that belt.

It just looks sloppy and the fabric adds yet another texture to a look that has too many as it is.

Look at all that crap on the ass! It looks like an upholstery sample book.

And that laceup on the back is tacky, tacky, tacky. In fact, Nina pointing out that the dress was a little cheap and slutty was just about the only part of the judging with with we totally agreed. We're all getting used to the crack-assed judging this season but we're getting damn tired of the judges failing to point out the obvious flaws in the pieces they deem their favorites. Look at how badly this is executed. Not a word from the judges about that.

And look at the weird fit issues on this thing! Nina! We know you were fighting a losing battle against the tacky brigade but why didn't you point this out?

About the only thing we can compliment (aside from the sweater) is the fact that she did manage to make the pieces look like companions.

In the end, she earned her second place finish. But the only reason it scored as high as it did was because there was so much ass on that runway. All we can think is, if this piece had appeared in, say seasons 3 or 4 and had to stand next to pieces by Laura, Uli, Jeffrey, Rami, Christian or Jillian, it would have wound up on the bottom easily. That's a sad statement on the quality of the judging this season. Nina tried her best, but she was overruled by the "I would wear this" judges.

Extended Judging:


Tim Gunn's Workroom Critique:



[Photos: Mike Yarish/myLifetime.com - Videos: myLifetime.com - Screencaps: Projectrungay.blogspot.com]


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