Project Runway: Even Designers Get the Blues

For weeks, I (and I’m pretty sure you) have been clamoring for the return of Michael Kors and he absolutely delivered last night.

He was so entertaining and it was so good to have him back (we need you too, Nina) that I don’t even mind that he (and his fellow judges) made one of my favorite remaining contestants cry.

After Logan moved in with the rest of the remaining male designers (I guess the ogling women couldn’t bribe the producers into having Logan move in with them), the contestants received their challenge from Heidi. They would be pairing up and designing two blue looks for Macy’s Inc. brand. After last week’s, “Do we make a costume or not” confusion, I was grateful for clear-cut guidelines.

Each of the remaining 10 designers presented their conceptual sketches to Macy’s rep Martine Reardon, who selected Carol Hannah, Irina, Louise, Althea and Christopher as captains. The teams ended up being Carol-Hannah/Shirin, Irina/Gordana, Althea/Logan, (obligatory sexual tension!) Christopher/Epperson and Louise/Nicolas. It’s still unclear to me why Louise thought it’d be a good idea to select Nicolas as a partner (not so much because of his immunity, as his overall douchey-ness), but it would soon become clear she was just not thinking straight throughout this entire episode. (Congratulations on becoming the first person in 5 1/2 years to misplace an envelope full of cash on camera.)

Somewhat predictably, all the designers complained about working in teams. Still, most of them actually got along. Althea and Logan probably spent most of their time making googly eyes at each other (I know we’re all distracted by his hotness, but do we have ANY idea of Logan is actually any good?), Carol-Hannah and Shirin were basically team Girl Power, and Christopher referred to himself and Epperson (who was mostly glad to NOT be working with Qristyl) as “the Dream Team.” (My reality-TV antenna for editing tricks said, “Uh oh.”)

To the surprise of absolutely no one, the teams with the most conflict featured the bitchiest contestants. To his credit, Nicolas was overtly a good soldier throughout the challenge despite his obvious and stated distaste for ruffles and basically everything Louise was trying to accomplish (also to his credit, he was absolutely right).

Irina was even pricklier, especially when it came to working with partner Gordana. I mean, nobody LIKES working in teams, but only Irina decided to act like a closed-off, condescending dictator. Irina also had plenty of darts for her competition, referring to team Girl Power’s design as something you’d find in a $10 discount rack for $5.99. (I DO admire the specificity of her disses). As I wrote a few weeks ago, another thing I admire about her is that she backs up her tough talk with results on the runway.

The top two teams ended up being Irina/Gordana and team Girl Power. Girl Power’s tunic combination was pretty, but the clear winner was Irina and her dress, which the judges fawned over. I couldn’t see the blue in Irina’s patterned dress on TV (I guess I need to get HD), but looking at the pictures the day after, I can definitely see what the judges were raving about. Even Gordana’s top ended up looking good. For her trouble, one of Irina’s designs ended up on Macy’s Web site. (No immunity this week.)

The bottom two were Louise/Nicolas and the Not-so-Dream Team. (Personally, I would’ve considered sending Logan and his too-short skirt and Althea and her weirdly shapeless top and funky-crotched pants instead of the Dream Team, but what do I know? I actually kind of liked the shiny shirtdress.)

The rest of the judges absolutely did NOT, likening it to a 1970’s librarian (at least it wasn’t 1870’s, right?) Tim Gunn had told the team (pictured, right) that it had “serious potential for re-invention” and I’m afraid Christopher misinterpreted his comment. Christopher took it to mean they were reinventing the shirtdress. I took it to mean, “You guys should seriously think about potentially re-inventing this look.” Whoops.

They weren’t much kinder to Team Nightmare’s other look, a shiny contraption with what looked like a bib that Michael Kors compared to a “charmeuse disco pumpkin.” (Cue tear from Christopher.) This was seriously painful to watch because Christopher is such a nice guy. I won’t lie though — it made for compelling TV.

Fortunately for him, Louise’s looks were MUCH worse. I was trying to think of what her blue-ruffled dress reminded me off and, hallelujah, Michael Kors to the rescue! That dress really did look like it had been ruched with my dark blue shower loofah. (Seriously, I have that exact same shad of blue.)

Louise going home was a no-brainer, but Heidi warned that “one or more designers” would get the boot. Normally, I would’ve assumed Christopher — with his appealing personality and strong track record in the competition — would be safe, but then I remembered they sent Ra’mon home last week, despite his appealing personality and strong track record in the competition. The show decided that outraging its fans two weeks in a row would be too much and hung on to Christopher.

So what’d you think of this episode? What exactly is so bad about leggings? (Enlighten me, please.) Do you agree with Irina that the Macy’s challenge is, “the best challenge any designer could hope for”? (Methinks she needs to aim higher.) Finally, is there anyone on the show who DOESN’T think Logan is hot? (Maybe Heidi is lukewarm on him.)