Irinology

Meana Irina's turn.

Um...well, she's got range, we'll give her that. And we like quite a few of these pieces. In fact, collectively, we like her work more than the other two designers. But it's really hard to discern a commonality here. She likes lacey, lingerie-inspired looks and she likes to occasionally play with volume on the upper half (collars, capes, big sweaters). Oh, and sashes. She's really big on sashes. Like the other two finalists, she's not all that big on color, returning to browns and neutrals most often. She also has a bit of a retro, late '70s/early '80s feel to her work, but that's trendy right now so we don't know how much of that is her expression as a designer or just her following a trend.

But mainly, it's about her range, which is broader than any of the other finalists and which makes her the strongest of the finalists. Gowns, dresses, skirts, jackets, vests, sweaters, pants and blouses rendered in the widest range of materials out of the three; fur, knitwear, lace, silk and brocade. Also of note is that she has the best technical skills of the finalists. Like the other two, her point of view isn't as strong as it should be, but looking at this collection of looks, we have to say she's clearly the one to beat at Bryant Park. She may have acted like she farts ice cream throughout the competition, but like her or not, she really is the strongest designer out of all of them.


[Images: myLifetime.com]



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Altheology

Next up, everyone's favorite gigantic blonde.

Y'know? Seeing it all like this? We're a little surprised at our reaction. The first word that comes to mind is "strong." By that we mean her work taken as a whole has been a lot better than we realized. When you spend every week nitpicking the details like we do, it's easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. It's tough to assign an easily boiled down sound bite to describe her point of view, but she definitely has one and it tends to revolve around modern looks, with more than a little sexy attached to it.

Let's get the elephant in the room out of the way first: her execution has always been lacking and it's probably the main reason we failed to realize just how good her designs were. She obviously has an issue with fitting a bust and that was exacerbated by having a model with an unusually large rack (for a model). She also has what we would consider an ill-advised aversion to color. It's all blacks, grays and neutrals with an occasional pop of blue. Once again, prints are off the table.

But look at the range here. Gowns, dresses, skirts, pants, shorts, jackets, and blouses. That's commendable. She goes for that high waist a bit and she likes that paper bag waist way more than we do. She made too many tank tops, though. Along with loving a big floppy pair of boobs, she also clearly loves to emphasize the hips quite a bit. You could argue that her clothes aren't always flattering, but there's something a little earth mother/fertility goddess about an aesthetic that loves to make a woman as curvey as possible.

All in all, she's been a much stronger competitor than we gave her credit for.

[Images: myLifetime.com]


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Carol Hannology

Hit it, CH!

If you're new, this is the part of each season where we look at the output of each finalist to see if we can divine themes or weaknesses. First up is Alex's favorite designer, Carol Hannah Whitfield.

There's a point we want to make when we wrap these ologies up, but we want to touch on it here because it's relevant to Carol Hannah's work. It's this: she has a somewhat weak vision as a designer. Can you sum up her aesthetic in a couple of words? We can't. That's not to say that there aren't themes and motifs here. First, let's talk about what she doesn't do: pants, sleeves and prints. Oh sure, there's one of each in her entries, but for the most part, she went to the "sleeveless dress" well a couple of times too many. In terms of color, she appears to be drawn to blues, golds and blacks, for the most part. In terms of design elements, she clearly likes to manipulate fabric through twisting, draping, and pleating. There aren't any looks that we could classify as "clean" or "simple" except for #7, and that one stands out like a sore thumb next to all her other looks.

If we had to sum up her flaws, we'd say that she tends to overwork her looks and she occasionally (not always, but occasionally) demonstrates an inability to consider the body wearing the clothes. She'll put these sashes or exposed seams or layered hems in odd and unflattering places. It's like she's so caught up in her techniques that she's losing sight of the woman wearing her pieces.

If we had to sum up her strengths, we'd say one word: unexpected. She does very feminine clothes, but they almost always have a twist to them (oftentimes literally). If she learns how to develop that skill and marry it to wearability, she could really make something of herself.

[Images: myLifetime.com]

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Controversy! (Spoilerish/Updated!)

Look, we have to find SOMETHING to talk about, don't we?

So, here's the deal. Irina shows Tim her silkscreened "Conney" Island t-shirts when he comes for his visit.

Later, in a totally spontaneous and not at all staged scene, Tim calls her to tell her that:

"I just learned from the producers and their attorney that the Coney Island images that you're using, those are trademarked [...] therefore, you don't have the right to incorporate them into your clothing collection [...] I want you to use it but with images that are your own."

When she shows up for Fashion Week, she shows Tim her revised idea, which is to write all the reasons to love New York on the pieces. Tim quotes one: "'Reasons to love NY'...is that Madonna is back?"

Now, to fully explain, we're going to have to show you one of the pieces from her finale collection. If you don't want to see it, don't scroll down.







Now, using our crack CSI team here at T Lo International, here's some of what we can make out on the shirt:

"Because Robert Moses would have a coronary if he could see our streets now."

"Because people will still do crazy things to live here."

"Because [something something] is our play pen."

"Because just when you take the Empire State Building for granted, it seduces you again."

"Because even in these times, [something something]."

"Because we're resilient."

The problem? Every single one of these sentences was lifted from a December 2008 article from New York Magazine entitled "Reasons to Love New York."

We're not attorneys, but it would seem to us that this material falls under the same protection laws that prevented her from using the Coney Island image. Further, because she was told not to use the image, she can't really claim ignorance on this matter. Which means she deliberately used copyrighted material a second time after being told once by the producers that she was forbidden to do so.

What does this mean for the outcome of the contest? Time will tell, but since she was allowed to show these pieces in her collection, it would appear that she wasn't caught at the time. If she turns out to be the winner of the season, the producers could have a problem on their hands.

Discuss.


[Photos: firstVIEW.com - Screencaps: Projectrungay.blogpost.com]


Related: Reasons to Love New York 2008 [NYMag]
UPDATE: Irina’s Project Runway Shirt Knocks Us Off [The Cut]


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The ONE Burning Question from Last Night's Show

What was Nina wearing?


Along with the several hundred comments that filled our inbox this morning, all bemoaning how boring last night's show was, we received a couple dozen asking us about Nina's striking top. Well, you can't say we don't deliver the goods:

Requiem Spring 2009 Collection
Model: Samira Bento

This may have been one of the best things she ever wore on the show. We love it and we think she looked great in it. And in pure fashion editor style, she put her own twist on it, pairing it with pants, which we thought was a great idea.


[Images: Projectrungay.blogspot.com/Style.com]


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We Smell Emmys All Around

Oh, Tim.

The things you'll do for a paycheck.

There was much frantic discussion at T Lo International Headquarters both last night and this morning, the upshot of which was "Um...what the hell are we going to write about?"

In an episode where the height of drama was Carol Hannah puking in a hotel room, what the hell are we going to say about it? But for you kittens, we'll soldier on.

We found ourselves wishing they'd spent more time on the cat.

Blahblahblah...Tim critique. Who guessed the collections correctly? We did!

Boy, Carol Hannah does have a tendency to go a little far, doesn't she?

Tim, you couldn't take your jacket off?

A note to any potential season 7 finalists who are reading this: when Tim visits, make him do housework. Apparently, he's open to it. We look forward to future scenes of Tim vacuuming and folding laundry.

Hey...y'know? There might be a series in that. We're on the phone with Lifetime just as soon as we're done writing this. Instead of prissy gay men coming into your home to redecorate or re-dress you, they'll just come in and quietly do your housework. The gays won't watch it, but we bet a lot of women would.

This is to remind her of her name when she wakes up every morning.

Ahhh, Tim back in his element.

We actually kind of loved the t-shirt idea.

And is it us or is it a little disconcerting that all the women in the Shabayeva family look EXACTLY alike?

Later, Tim goes to rescue a young senator's daughter who has been kidnapped and forced to live in a hole in a basement, where she rubs the lotion on her skin.

Oooh! Another brainstorm! A TV show about prissy gay men who hunt down serial killers! As soon as we're done writing, we're calling the FOX network.

Because what television genre wouldn't be improved by the addition of prissy gay men?


It looked like Althea needed the most hand-holding out of the three of them because none of the pieces she showed Tim impressed him (or us) all that much.

Anyway, it's Fashion Week!
And what happens when you put two competitive girls in a room together?

Absolutely NOTHING! Not once did either of them say what they were thinking. BORING!

Carol Hannah's illness would have been a lot more dramatic if she came in and threw up all over her competitors' collections. It was the only time we were a little on the edge of our seats, hoping it would happen.

Again, this scene would have been improved if CH just spewed all over the table, Exorcist-style.

...Or all over Nina and Michael...

And ESPECIALLY all over Heidi's sparkly top and shit-eating grin. We were REALLY hoping to see that.

Surprise! SHOCK!

Bleh.

This concludes our commentary on the penultimate episode.


[Screencaps: Projectrungay.blogspot.com]


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T LOunge

Belly up, bitches!

China Doll Club in Beijing, courtesy of Planet Fabulon

Your daddies have had a spectacularly shitty couple of days and all we want right now is to watch some fashion and some bitchery enhanced through a wine-soaked haze. Who's with us?

Once again, in lieu of a contest, we're all going to have to talk to each other. So...cold enough for ya? How about this: what are your plans for Thanksgiving? What's one weird dish your family always puts out on the table? We're spending it with Tom's sister (and about 30 other family members) and while we don't normally have anything we would classify as "weird" on the menu, Tom feels the need to point out that his cornbread dressing has been among the most popular side dishes for about 20 years now. The trick is to make a very dense cornbread and then cut it up into croutons and dry it out in the oven. After that, it's just a matter of figuring out your favorite ratios of cornbread, buttermilk, chicken stock, onions, peppers of every color, and sage. It's a foolproof dish, which is why Tom's been making it for 20 years.


Episode 13 Preview:

Uh-oh! We have an issue! And why are any of the designers surprised that there's a last-minute challenge? Have they never watched the show?



[Video: myLifetime.com - Photos: PlanetFabulon.com]


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