Project Runway: Where Da Party At?

I’m going to try to get this recap done before Gretchen stops by to give me (completely unsolicited) “advice” on tone and sentence structure.

The latest episode of “Project Runway” featured an “unconventional item” challenge — my favorites on this show — and, in my opinion, boasted the strongest runway show in recent memory. (Especially impressive with so many designers still in the mix.)

So I’m not going to dwell too much on the show’s efforts to turn Gretchen (pictured, left) into the season’s new villain now that Jason is gone. You can probably detect my reality show cynicism (that’d be my belief that editing on one of these shows could make Gandhi look like a self-absorbed jerk) seeping in. On the other hand, editing can only go so far, and there are irrefutably more than a few designers getting peeved with Gretchen’s self-appointed mother hen act.

I mean, pretty much any designer who wins the first two challenges is going to get a certain amount of hate. However, Gretchen’s two victories had the unfortunate side effect of convincing her that she’s qualified to give other people her advice. (Or that they even want to hear it!) I’m no A.J. fan, but I found myself cheering him on when he stood up to her near the end after someone directed a question at Andy, but Gretchen started speaking for him. Also, there’s absolutely no editing required to make her “keep your stations clean” proclamation seem annoying. Girlfriend needs a bottom 3 wakeup call, pronto!

It doesn’t seem like that’s coming any time soon, especially since Gretchen actually delivered my favorite outfits of hers to date.

But let me back up a bit. The task was to create a look using materials from a party supply store. Before letting the designers loose inside the store, Tim warned them that the judges don’t take kindly to using tablecloth or any other material that is basically fabric (because it’s a copout).

Casanova, as always, seemed absolutely perplexed by the challenge of creating a look NOT using fabric (do they not have “Project Runway” in Puerto Rico?), and decided to grab a bunch of tablecloth anyway to go along with his plush puppies. (I loved the “2 Minutes Ago” flashback to Tim warning them not to use tablecloth.) I know that crazy generally equals entertaining on this kind of show, but I’m getting tired of Casanova’s “no-speaky-English” shtick.

Other than a Tim Gunn giggle fit involving “wooly balls” and Gretchen’s talking, things were relatively quiet inside the workroom. Things were so quiet that we actually got to see the designers briefly hanging out on a buffet line and eating. (Due to the inhumanly stressful nature of these challenges, I sort of just assumed these people never ate.)

I mostly remember Tim and others insisting that A.J. should absolutely excel in this challenge (since it’s what he does), and A.J. lamely trying to defuse those expectations. My boy Michael C. put things into perspective brilliantly during one of his confessionals by mentioning how A.J. is always bragging about being the master of the glue gun. Michael C. has been so spot on and funny these last two weeks that I really hope he sticks around and records confessionals for the entire season, even if he gets eliminated.

If he keeps churning out designs like the one he did last night, he should be around for a while. Personally, I thought his dramatic red dress (and April’s jagged, glass-like gray look) was top-3 worthy. However, with such a strong runway show, I can see how he got left out even if I would’ve happily subbed in his look for Gretchen’s. (Though the fact that she’s pretty annoying might have something to do with that.)

Then again, Gretchen’s outfit (especially that “leather” jacket) was the best thing I’ve seen from her. Still, I think she was surpassed by both Valerie (for her sexy black and white dress that can also be used to clean up messy hors d’oeuvres) and Andy (for his ridiculously stylish braided black dress). Andy deservedly picked up the win (despite guest judge Betsey Johnson claiming it was “too beautiful”), but I would’ve given it to Valerie because I don’t think there’s any way Andy would’ve finished without help from Peach and April. (Obviously, the judges weren’t privy to this, so it wasn’t really a factor.)

The bottom 3 was comprised of choke artist A.J. (beads drooping down from a crotch is never a good look), taste-challenged Casanova and Sarah, who made a sad boring gray dress with palm tree leaves taped on it.

A.J. was deemed safe, and when it came down to Casanova and Sarah, I wasn’t even a little surprised that Sarah (sad and boring) went home over Casanova’s schizophrenic dress which Michael Kors described with the instant-classic transvestite flamenco dancer at a funeral. Even though I don’t completely disagree with the judges’ decision, I feel bad for Sarah. At least she KNEW that her dress was sad and boring. Casanova appears to have no idea what he’s doing and the only way he could land in the judge’s good graces is if he makes something good by accident or if the stuff the judges are smoking that week is particularly strong.

So what’d you think of this episode? Is anyone other than Valerie your favorite? (Michael C. is hilarious, but Valerie is funny AND has shown major design chops.) Do you, like Tim Gunn, prefer wooly balls? (How great was it to see him crying from laughing so hard?) Had we ever seen the designers eat food before? Why are Mondo’s shorts so short? Finally, oh yeah — do you think Ivy’s going to be ok following her trip to the hospital?