After a strong debut that gave us an idea what the designers were all about (if not who the hell they actually were), the second episode of Project Runway's fourth season was even better.It started off with the designers getting to actually pick their models, and they all chose to work with the model they'd had the week before — except for Ricky, who rather randomly dumped his. Is it one of the show's secret rules (like that pattern-making debacle from Season 3) that there has to be SOMEONE who changes models, just to mix things up? I wouldn't be surprised.
A few moments later in the workroom, Tim Gunn announced that they would be working with a fashion icon this week. And what do you know? A real, live fashion icon walked through the door: Sarah Jessica Parker. I mean, who's more fashion icon-y than her? I think she's probably more of a fashion icon at this point than she is an actress. Mostly, I was glad it wasn't a fakeout and the subject wasn't Miss Piggy or RuPaul or someone like that.
Then came the "challenge" part of the fashion icon challenge. The contestants were to design a two-piece outfit for Parker's Bitten line (targeted for everyday women) using a $15 budget. After they all picked themselves up off the floor, they got to pitch their ideas and SJP would then pick seven team captains.
Among the highlights of the pitch meetings were Chris being endearingly nervous upon meeting SJP, Kevin seemingly snubbing Parker's handshake at the end of their meeting (though I think he just really didn't see her), Carmen like the opera and Webber like the baller being herself, and Elisa actually being named one of the captains.
She ended up being partnered with Sweet P Vaughn, who couldn't have been less thrilled. Actually, she went on to become less thrilled when she started working with Elisa, who actually spit on her garment to mark her work. Eww.
What happened next was surprising and refreshing for reality TV. Instead of shutting down, sabotaging her team and letting Elisa take the fall, Sweet P stood up for herself and reined in Elisa's kookiness. By that same token, Elisa, to her credit, was not above listening to Elisa's ideas, and the two produced one of the evening's top ensembles against all odds.
Not doing quite as well were pale Marion and pseudo creepy Steven. I finally realized who Steven reminds me of — a young John Malkovich. I don't believe I've actually seen Malkovich when he was young, but this is what I like to imagine he was like.
On the runway, Victorya and Kevin joined Elisa and Sweet P in the top two, while Christian and Carmen joined Marion and Steven in the bottom. Victorya and Kevin won the challenge (though I personally liked Elisa and Sweet P's design better).
Then there were the losers. Sure Christian completely missed the mark of the challenge and designed some sort of retro-futuristic motorcorss jacket that no normal woman would ever fit in (if she'd even want to wear it), but he was outdone by Marion and Steven's ensemble, which was described by the judges as "sad Pocahontas", "Cousin Itt", and "absolutely awful" (ok, that last one was my reaction). I mean, the fabric was too clumpy, the fit was bad, and the color was depressing. It may have been the worst thing I've ever seen on this show.
No surprise then that Marion went home, treating us to another week of Christian's hair and giving Steven another week to creep everyone out and Carmen to act like the conceited/sassy black woman we expect her to be.
So what'd you think of this episode? Why wouldn't Victorya just spell her name with that second "I"? To me, people like that just scream "notice me!!!" Perhaps it's because, other than the spelling of her name, she hasn't distinguished herself as a personality at all. Do you have any favorites so far? Finally, honestly — is there anything more depressing than Marion's design?
No comments:
Post a Comment