All-Star Sweet P

Alright poodles, we're rolling up our sleeves and getting back into it.

This is the part where we talk about her personality on the show and blahblahblah. Nothing against her, but except for a minor and highly edited storyline about a rivalry with Uli, there's nothing to talk about, so let's jump in.


Let's start off by admitting one thing: Sweet P has an aesthetic; a sort of shabby romanticism of faded flowers and hippy chick girliness coupled with an ever-so-slight L.A. edge to it. It's not our thing at all but it's a perfectly commendable aesthetic and you can do a lot of interesting things with it. We're going to try and bear that in mind in our critiques. It's only fair to admit upfront when something's just not your thing.

This was a pretty nice dress. Somewhat plain, and we don't like the color, but cute nonetheless.

Our main criticism is the fit on this garment. Generally speaking, Sweet P shies away from fitted garments. That's fine, but this is clearly a dress that's meant to fit the wearer a little better than this. Admit it, if your girlfriend came out of the dressing room looking like this, you'd say, "Let's go down a size and see how that looks."

Still, a good first entry and one that made us and the judges sit up a little bit because it was different from what we'd expected.

Okay, here's what we're talking about. That faded, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, rocker chick thing she does. Definitely not our thing but if you're going for that, this is a very good design.

Again, it's very away from the body and floaty, but with this dress, it makes sense because she clearly wasn't going for a fitted or tailored look like the previous dress.

It's also not a color that we particularly like but if you like that sort of thing, if you're one of those airy, poetry-writing, flowers-in-your-hair, boyfriend-rides-a-motorcycle types, then this is the dress for you.

A pretty dress, no doubt. Main criticism: technical. Look at that side seam. You can hide that kind of sewing with a lot of frayed ruffles but you can't hide it in a basic seam.

We should add that we DO like those frayed ruffles as well as the frayed and ripped fabric roses. A nice touch.

This look got a lot of criticism in the comments section but honestly? We have no problem with it.

Except for the fact that it doesn't hide that it was made from unconventional materials and therefore could never "pass" as "real" clothing, it's still a kind of cute, kind of witty design for her.

A costume? Sure. But a cute, well-made one. There were certainly entries a lot worse than this one in this category, including the one from the winning designer.

The silhouette, the colors and the flowers all tied it in nicely to the rest of the collection.

If you read our previous posts on the show, then you know we felt this collection received higher scores than we felt it merited. The three previous looks deserved whatever praise the judges wanted to heap on them, but we were totally befuddled when the judges all praised this look.

It's not awful, mind you (at least this part of the dress isn't); it's just so incredibly basic and style-less. Plain Jane. And regular readers know how little we like big floppy bows as embellishments for grown women.

It's a pretty fabric, even if we don't like the color (again), but it doesn't remotely look like a red carpet dress, which, at the very least is supposed to look expensive.

This, at its best, looks like a home-sewn bridesmaid dress. Put her in a big floppy hat and she'd be right at home in a 1978 wedding party.

The absolute worst part of it is that awful dust ruffle on the bottom. Unfortunately, there aren't any good shots of it, so if you can't see it or remember it, trust us. It's bad.

It's really not a bad collection at all. As we said, it showed some growth and expansion on her part (as well as some improvement) while remaining totally within her aesthetic and identifiable as her work. We have no doubt that she has or could have a decent sized customer base to build a line on. We just think the judges over-praised and over-rated it. In our imaginary judging, she would have rated a solid 5th place, possibly 4th, but definitely not ahead of Uli's.

Which, come to think of it, is probably why the editors worked so hard to create an Uli/Sweet P rivalry.

[Photo: David Russell/myLifetime.com - Screencaps: Projectrungay.blogspot.com]



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Project Runway: All-Star Sneak Peek

They don't offer much in the way of spoilers, but for the PR-starved, they're certainly fun to look at.

You can see more pictures of the Project Runway All-Star Challenge here. Let the speculation begin!



[Photos: myLifetime.com]


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Project Runway All-Stars, poodles!

Fun idea or overkill?

Lifetime is airing a Project Runway All-Stars Special on August 20th. It's going to be a 2-hour special before the premiere of season six.

And here are the designers:
Chris March - Season 4
Daniel Vosovic - Season 2
Jeffrey Sebelia - Season 3
Korto Momolu - Season 5
Mychael Knight - Season 3
Santino Rice - Season 2
Sweet P - Season 4
Uli Herzner - Season 3

We're coming down on the side of "fun idea." It's only a special, after all. Besides, we get to see some old favorites like Uli and Chris March and Daniel V. and Michael Knight again. Jeffrey and Santino occupying the same space at the same time? The world may never recover.

What amuses us to no end is that at least 4 PR alums called us over the past year to ask whether we thought it was a good idea to do it. Opinions varied, but none of the people who called us wound up doing the show. When we started this blog three years ago (Today! Happy Birthday, us!) we never would have imagined that any of the designers would be looking to us for advice. Power, bitches. The world is lucky that we wield it so responsibly.

Anyway, what do we think of this? And what's the format going to be? Multiple challenges? Let the opinionated speculation begin!


From myLiftime.com:
"Get ready for a fashion face-off on the runway like you’ve never seen before! Eight of your favorite designers from past seasons of "Project Runway" will go head-to-head in the workroom in a two-hour special "Project Runway: All-Star Challenge," airing on Thursday, August 20 at 8 pm et/pt.

The competition will be fierce, as almost all of these designers made it to Fashion Week during their seasons, and one stole the whole show. Plus, these designers won’t just be sketching for glory — they’ll have a shot at taking home a $100,000 cash prize too. It’s also their opportunity to show Heidi Klum, Michael Kors and Nina Garcia what kind of lines they can create ... the three judges will be on the sidelines, ready to critique every last stitch. The good news for the designers is they’ll have mentor Tim Gunn by their side in the workroom to help keep them from committing any fashion faux pas."

[Photos: Getty Images/myLifetime.com]


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A-List Awards - The Fashion Show

Well.

That was kind of a bust, wasn't it? Not that it was completely without entertainment value. Certainly, Kathy Griffin could keep us entertained by reading her insurance policy. And Lorenzo says that the live version was a hell of a lot more entertaining than the broadcast one. For one, Kathy came out and started off by reading a list of the words that Bravo wouldn't let her say and she did it in her inimitable Griffin style. Also, the wardrobe malfunction bit she did with Lance Bass was not ready for prime time but it sure as hell was funny. What you didn't see were her gigantic rubber boobs and his gigantic rubber penis. Since the whole joke hinged on that, it came across pretty flat when they blurred the offending body parts out.


Still, how much fun was it to see an All-Star Project Runway challenge?


It was so weird to see Laura and Mychael back in the work room alongside Nick and Sweet P and Chris and even (god help us) Daniel Franco. Of course we were thrilled because it gave us .... MORE DRESSES TO RIP! YAY!



When there were rumors floating around a couple of months ago that there would be an All-Star PR season, we rolled our eyes and declared the idea lame.


But after last night, we've definitely warmed up to the idea. Come on, who wouldn't want to see Laura's maribou feathers go toe to toe with Chris's human hair skirt? Or Sweet P vs. Alison? Nick v. Christian? Ah well. It's probably for the best.


The dresses from last night are all being auctioned off for relief efforts in Myanmar. How cool is that? You can own a Laura Bennett original AND help out your fellow man.

As for the dresses themselves, well...


Let's just say there were varying levels of fabulosity. You want more? Then continue to Page 2.

You can watch the whole runway show here, first:


[Photos: WireImage/Bravotv.com/Project RunGay]

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Ripping the Collections: Sweet P, Part 2

And the clunks just keep on coming.

Ignoring the ugly plaid (which is nigh-impossible for us), that top doesn't seem to go with it at all, and the silhouette just ain't all that. The pants are weirdly balloony. Had they been a full straight-leg trouser or a skinny pant, we could have gotten behind this look more, but as it is...nope.

And the gloves just don't work with this look.

Lorenzo really liked this look, but Tom was only halfway there. It's...interesting. A nice shape and color, but that's about it. We kept waiting for her to unzip and show us what's underneath but apparently that's the entire look.

OhmiGOD. This is AWFUL. The hat, gloves and black hose coupled with that color call to mind a bad eighties bridesmaid look. The length and silhouette are unattractive and for god's sake, why would she send this girl down the runway in this dress sans bra?

Back on track. A very pretty dress in a very pretty color. We like the detail on the neckline. If it didn't have those weird saddlebags that Sweet P insists on, it would be perfect.

An almost-but-not-quite. A nice design and a beautiful fabric, but that bust seems way off to us. It camouflages her chest rather than highlighting or enhancing it. And again, the gloves do nothing for the outfit.

Leah's a good model but even she couldn't make this work. Again, it's those horrid saddlebags. We don't get that at all. No woman in the world would want that effect. Even without them, the design is fairly plain and uninspired. A strange look to end the show on.

In the end, the collection had some serious problems but her high points were enough to surprise us. Sometimes Sweet P makes pretty clothes that woman would want to wear and sometimes she heads off the rails into ugly town. Like her work during the competition, this collection was highly erratic and left us wondering just who she is as a designer, which is exactly the opposite result one would want from a collection.

[Photos: WireImage/Getty Images/Elle.com - Slideshow: Projectrungay.blogspot.com]


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Ripping the Collections: Sweet P, Part 1

Poodles, now comes the time when we give the decoys the RunGay treatment. Stepping up to the plate, that inked little darling from L.A., Miss Sweet P.

Sweet P's kind of hard to pin down. Her work during the competition was (at best) erratic and when she walked out on that runway to tearfully introduce her collection, we didn't know what to expect. Turns out she has a late '70s/early '80s aesthetic with a twinge of the typical L.A. punk vibe thrown in. She has a strong color sense, even though we think some of these colors were misses, and there's a girliness such as you might find in, say, a Betsey Johnson or Cynthia Rowley collection.

As for styling, we have to say it's not her strong point. There was little in the way of accessories to be found anywhere and the hair and makeup were somewhat uninspired.

Let's start the show.

A good opening piece. As we indicated, Sweet P didn't really establish a "brand" while she was in the competition so almost anything could have come out from behind that scrim. This piece gives you a real idea of who she is and what direction this collection's going to take.

Purple and gold make up the "it" color combo this season and it's to her credit that she's not only on trend, but managed to find two shades we hadn't seen on the runway yet. It's not a color combination that many can pull off but it feels unique and a little chic. We like the proportions on this, especially the sleeves, and the button detail is a nice touch. We're never gonna get behind the socks-with-a-skirt look, though.

The dress is cute, even if it typifies Sweet P's predilection for giving women saddlebags. We like the gold trim. That jacket, on the other hand, is a whole 'nother story. She went from using an unusual gold and purple combo to using one that hurts the eyes. That lemon yellow looks awful.

"Kinda free, kinda WOW! Charlie!"

It's got a "Lauren Hutton at Studio 54" vibe that we kind of love. We think that's a great-looking fabric as well as a great use of it. On the other hand, it doesn't look well-fitted and those shoes and hose are totally wrong for it. A simple open-toed sandal would have made this look more chic.

It's at this point that we were sitting in our seats thinking "Wow, this is kind of a nice, cohesive collection with some interesting twists." This dress is chic and different and has some nice details, like the ruffles on the sleeves and the wide sash. It looks a little poorly fitted, though.

Then this look came out and we though "Okay, maybe this isn't as cohesive as we thought." The cape and the dress were nice on their own, but we don't think they work together and we don't think they look right with the three previous looks. The cape is dramatic and beautiful. The dress is only so-so and the length seems a little short.

Gloves, shoes and hat: all wrong.

*sound of a needle scratching a record*

Hunh? This feels like it just came out of nowhere. This is just wrong on every level. First off, the fabric looks like an old camping blanket, the SILHOUETTE, dear GOD is that wrong, and the styling is just plain weird. Those patterned tights and leather gloves just make her look she was playing dressup in a vintage store. Terrible look - and definitely the moment when the collection started going off the rails.

[Photos: WireImage/Getty Images/Elle.com - Slideshow: Projectrungay.blogspot.com]


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