*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]


Post a Comment

Life In Scarlettland

Apparently, in Scarlettland mail carriers look like blueberries. Or Paddington Bear. We suspect Scarlettland is a magical place with beautiful people.

Oh, honey no. This was another instance of Austin being handed a challenge that was completely outside his milieu. Just not his thang. That poncho looks awfully impractical. It would also look downright comical on anyone over a size 2, which is of course incredibly rare in the Scarlettland Postal Service where everyone is willowy.

It's cute...kinda. But it's not a mail carrier uniform. A Tastee-Freeze uniform maybe. In 1966. But USPS? We don't see it.

It is quite beautifully tailored and fits her well. The colors are pretty. This concludes the nice things we can say about it.

Seriously, it's a cute if uninspired little outfit. It's just totally wrong for this challenge.

They look like some uber-fabulous, multicultural version of Karen and Richard Carpenter, don't they? The Carpenthiers. Now that we think about it, if Martinique had broken out in an impromptu rendition of Close to You on the runway, it just might have sold it enough to the judges.



[Screencaps: projectrungay.blogspot.com]


Post a Comment

Seeya, Kevin!

We don't get this one at all. In another collection, this look might have worked, except there's so many problems with it that we're stuck scratching our heads and trying to figure it out. The biggest mystery of course, is what the hell he was thinking producing such a tailored piece when the designers had all agreed to less constructed pieces.

We kinda like the overall design and some of the elements - the colors, the quilted bodice, the somewhat extreme tailoring - but it just doesn't seem to come together somehow. It seems pretty clear that Kevin simply couldn't handle being both a team leader and a designer at the same time.

There just seems to be all this weird and unnecessary frippery, like the goofy stuff he did with the sleeves...

...And that mega-goofy collar thing which just sticks out at a weird angle. We can't tell if that was a deliberate design element or just a construction issue. And what's with that extra flap of quilting on the top? And that skirt is fitted terribly.

All in all, Kevin's something of a mystery to us. We can see that he has talent but it was always hard to find things we liked about his work. Sometimes designers get aufed because they just don't have what it takes to be a designer and sometimes they get aufed because they just don't have what it takes to survive in a reality television competition. We suspect Kevin is an instance of the latter.



[Screencaps: projectrungay.blogspot.com]


Post a Comment

The Rest of the Rest

Look! A sports car! Oh wait, that's a woman. We get the two confused so often.

Oh Robert, if women are like sports cars, you just sent a Pacer down the runway.

For someone who's whole schtick seems to be how sexy he finds women, he sure has problems highlighting their natural curves. The fit on this is terrible. It looks like Olga accidentally got booked for a plus-sized show.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE ASS-FITTING IN THIS GROUP? We are far from aficionados of the girlbutt, but even we could tell at a glance that that's not how it's supposed to be shaped. It looks like she has the suit on backwards.

We understand the concept of a bathing suit that's more for socializing than actually swimming, really we do, but this is a dress, pure and simple.

A cute, sexy, fun, on-the-beach or by-the-pool kinda dress, but a dress nonetheless. If Martinique hadn't offered to wear her own thong, this probably would have been a disaster.

Look at how constructed that thing is. We at first thought it was a simple wrap of some sort, but that has as much detail as your average bridesmaid dress.

The colors are pretty, though. A little sherbet-y, but this would look great in St. Tropez or South Beach - so long as it never gets wet.

And THAT

is an image we could have done without, thank you very much.


[Screencaps: projectrungay.blgospot.com]


Post a Comment

Robert & Wendy

We wanted to break these up as the "Best of the Rest" and the "Rest of the Rest," but really, there wasn't enough of a difference so we're doing it kind of arbitrarily.

Lorenzo nailed it. He said she looked like the bride on top of the cake and he's right. This is completely unimaginative.

Maybe we're just too focused on the upcoming Dreamgirls premiere, but doesn't she? Look like a Supreme? Just a little bit?

There's nothing wrong with being a sexy bride, but the removable skirt was a little too stagewear, too "Like a Virgin." Bleh. Gimmicky.

We actually didn't hate this dress. We didn't exactly love it, but it was competently made and she at least tried to do something a little different and interesting. The red was a nice touch but the overall design is so bland that it doesn't even register as a wedding dress. It looks more like a coming out dress.

That's....way off. It just doesn't go with the front of the dress. And again, it looks decidedly un-bridal.

But hey, it's a hell of a sight better than her makeup this week.

For Christ's sake, she looks like Witchie Poo.


[Screencaps: projectrungay.blogspot.com]


Post a Comment

Kara Saunderful

See what we meant when we said the garments suddenly got better with this episode? Not an art camp project among them. This is a 100% impact dress and while it's not for every woman, the woman who can wear it is going to turn heads in it.

We'll grant you that a bright yellow is a hard color to pull off for a lot of people but there's no denying the color looks stunning on Martinique - and the dress fits her, in the Duchess's words "like a dream."

That back is gorgeous, although the little Minnie Mouse gloves aren't really working for us. We also have the same criticism we had for Wendy's dress; there should be something to break up the wall of solid color, although since this is more of a va-va-voom dress than Wendy's Mamie Eisenhower getup, it's less of an issue.

The ruffles on the skirt are what makes it a tough dress to sell because like we said, not every woman can pull it off, but put it on a gal who's proud of her trunk and just stand back and watch that thing move.


[Screencaps: projectrungay.blogspot.com]


Post a Comment

The Best of the Rest

The PRGayBoys were in mild disagreement over this one. Lorenzo liked it a lot more than Tom did. It's definitely bold and eye-catching. But penis envy, Robert? Puh-leeze.

It wasn't an original concept, but against what the other designers were doing, it stood out. It's a little pucker-y but for the most part, it's well-executed. It's just the color choices we're not crazy about more than anything.

Wow, that bitch from e-bay really tore this to shreds. We didn't think it was that bad. Conceptually, it was very weak. You don't really get the envy vibe off it. It looks more like a wedding dress than anything else, especially with the bound hands resembling a bouquet. We're not sure if that was deliberate, but if it was, we'll give her points for being clever.

And the back makes a little more sense than the front, in terms of her explanation. Simplistic, sure. But did you have to make Nora cry, e-bitch?

Martinique, you slinkyfabulous thing, you.

Don't get us wrong, it's definitely costume-y and maybe not even pretty, but we were talking about this last night and we decided that this really is how Austin envisions envy. It just felt like pure expression of vision to us. The green heart is clever and the whole "Evil Queen" thing is totally Austin. Plus we loved the way he directed her to slink down the runway.



[Screencaps: projectrungay.blogspot.com]


Post a Comment