Adieu, Cheroin.

Before we get to our grief...guess who came over to watch the show with us last night!



Go on....guess!

You're jealous right now and we don't blame you.

Anyway...

Our reason for watching is now gone. Blog over.


Oh, alright. We'll keep blogging, but out heart's not in it. By the way, if you want a refresher, we looked at DVF's Fall 2008 collection here.

Y'know...all things considered, this really isn't a bad effort. The Salvation Army cape is all wrong, but the rest of it isn't that bad.

Execution issues aside, of course.

And the cape itself wasn't terrible; it just didn't go with the rest of the outfit nor did it fit the challenge all that well.

The rest of the look almost makes up for it. It's modern, but it has some throwbacks to 30s and 40s glamour to it.

And inexplicably, it still looks like Stella. We'll keep saying it: that was her greatest strength as a contestant and designer, the ability to mold her aesthetic to the task at hand.

Of course, that was somewhat overshadowed by her big weakness: tailoring and execution. We have no doubt that Stella can design the shit out of leathuh, but she floundered in the more traditional realms of fashion.

Stella seemed to know that her time was coming to an end and she faced it well. We're gonna miss her terribly. It's rare to find someone that comfortable with themselves on camera and she always, ALWAYS had something to say that made us laugh. A true original in a sea of wannabes.

"If you like my stuff come buy it, if you don't, keep walking, I don't care"

Stella, you fucking ROCK.


Exit interview:







[Photos: Barbara Nitke/Bravo - Videos: Bravotv.com - Screencaps: Projectrungay.blogspot.com]

Stella & Suede

Stella, too cool to run:

"I'm not even dealing with rushing around like a fool. I'm embarrassed, like, rushing. I'm not moving."

She is so Tuscadero.

"I don't want to make a leather dress because that's not innovative."

Okay, you lost us on that one, girl. We would have rather you stuck to your strengths on this one, but we can't blame you after Tim gave you the full range of his bitch powers.

"This challenge, like the first challenge, is about innovation. Frankly, for that first challenge, many of you did not rise to the occasion. I won't get any more specific than that.

But it rhymes with "smash smags."

"..."

So Tim publically shamed her into trying to be something she's not, which makes for great reality TV fodder and she gets the "I'm struggling but I'm learning so much" edit. Complete with Ratbones!

Of course her dude's name is Ratbones.

Is there no one out there willing to give this lady her own show? Come ON. She is a fucking STAR.

We really hope Ratbones has a great sense of humor and doesn't break a beer bottle over our heads at the finale party because we were mean to his lady.

We love your lady, Ratbones!

We just don't love this look.

Not that we hate it, either. It had a couple things going for it and a couple going against it.

The skirt is a decent design. We like the proportions on it.

The problem is it just wasn't executed as well as it should have been.

That's just bad. It wasn't the most earth-shattering design in the world, but if it had been done well, the judges probably would have raved about it.

The top isn't bad. We like the color blocking and the closures.

We have a problem with the proportions in relation to the skirt. This would have looked better if it was more fitted.

We also have a problem with the design. It's not a bad looking top, but it doesn't feel like it goes with that skirt.

And it didn't help that the top also had execution issues. The panels in the front don't match up at all. Not a bad try, but too many issues to call it a good one.

"My favorite memory involving a car is when my father gave me my great uncle’s 1966 Buick Electra."

Okay, what the fuck. Why don't we just put Suede's worktable in the cemetery, where he'll be more comfortable?

We felt a little bad making fun of the dead grandfather story last week, but Suede honey, enough is enough. There's nothing wrong with getting on a reality competition and "playing a character." More often than not, most of the rest of them are too, to varying degrees.

But if you're so clearly playing to the cameras, then you're not doing a very good job of portraying your character and we're forced to point and laugh. More than normal.

Suede was so busy blowing kisses to dead relatives that he didn't hear the brief on the challenge and thought he was supposed to make a look for a car crash victim.

It's really the only explanation.

And can we just say that we're getting a little tired of this silhouette from the Suedester? We saw this in the "green" challenge and the Olympics challenge.

Tight little sleeveless bodice with a low waisted, full mini skirt. Done, done and DONE. The added bonus of rubber flooring does not improve upon it.

And the skirt itself: cheap and obvious.

In short, we are not amused. Suede phoned this one in and we're getting a little tired of Story Hour as a replacement for actual designing.

More pics:




[Photos: Barbara Nitke/Bravo - Screencaps: Projectrungay.blogspot.com]
[Additional Pictures: Courtesy of Lisa Gilpin/Saturn/Rethink Design]

The Final Lap

THREE more to go?! Let's knock this shit out so we can all head to the bar.

Kelli:

We don't even remember this one.

Kelli says: "I love it. Maybe not 110% relevant to the Olympics but she looks fabulous." Oh, honey. You're making 3 points here and only one of them is accurate.

This isn't even 10% related to the Olympics. And she doesn't look fabulous. She looks like a '50s housewife running errands.

We believe you when you say you love it, though.

If we pretend that it's not supposed to be an outfit for the Olympics, it's not horrible. The skirt's kind of nice and the blouse isn't bad, but we hate both the bow and the fabric.

And it's at least well-made.

To recap: A little boring and a lot unrelated to the challenge. Next!

Keith:

Wow. This is wrong on a lot of levels. Once again, we're going to have to pretend that this wasn't made for the Olympics because it's so clearly not appropriate for it. Bubble skirts for the Olympics. Honestly.

It's interesting to note that he changed his idea/concept completely. Why, we don't know, because that sketch looks a lot more interesting than the end product.

The proportions are all wrong on this.

That scarf is way too huge, the skirt is way too short and the vest is way too long with a collar way too large.

Tone down the collar and the scarf and turn the skirt into a pair of shorts and he could have had something there. Next!

The general consensus seems to be that Stella doesn't belong here because her aesthetic is so narrow. To be fair, we made that point too. Well, we're prepared to backtrack on that. Stella really does deserve her shot. Why? Because she's actually very good at sticking to her guns while at the same time molding her aesthetic to fit the challenge.

Because y'know? This isn't bad at all. No, we can't really see Olympians wearing this. Not really. But it's still a sporty look that looks like Stella.

Before anyone jumps on us, we have to point out that we really hate the exposed belly button.

On the other hand, we really love what she did with the red, white and blue. Sure it's all a little roller derby, but again, that's a case of her marrying her aesthetic with the dictates of the challenge. She was never going to do simple sportswear and we shouldn't expect her to, but she did make something that fits the challenge a hell of a lot better than most of the others.

Stella says: "This outfit had to be sleek and cool. It represents the country in a bad-ass way."

You know what, girl? Mission accomplished.

It's a strong look and an athletic look and with the metallic strips it's even a patriotic look. Do we love it? Not really. Okay, maybe a little. Full length pants and an unexposed navel would have made a huge difference here.

You wanna hear something else shocking? She reminds us of someone. You'll never guess.

Laura Bennett.

We'll wait for the screaming to die down so we can explain. Like Laura, she works in a narrow range and like Laura, she's very good at making that work within each challenge.

But what really makes her seem like Laura's dark twin is that she has that extremely rare quality of being 100% comfortable and 100% herself on camera. She doesn't give a fuck what people think of her and that's not only refreshing, it's really entertaining. We'll say it again: Bravo, give this lady her own show. She's gold.


More detailed pictures:




[Photos: Barbara Nitke/Bravo - Screencaps: Projectrungay.blogspot.com]
[Additional Pictures: Courtesey of ProjectRunway.com]