The one where everybody cries

So Project Runway may not be leaving Bravo for Lifetime. Hallelujah! I don’t want my fashion tainted by association with women in danger and endless Tori Spelling movies.

The four remaining designers were really stressed out this week, in their final runway show before New York Fashion Week. Their challenge was to create an evening gown, and everybody felt the pressure. There were tears and mini breakdowns and bleary eyes and glasses instead of contact lenses, and it was pretty much awesome. All of anti-Kenley hostility that has been simmering for the last several weeks kind of exploded tonight. Leanne, Korto, and former Mean Girl Jerell all made very little attempt to hide their contempt for Kenley. As usual, it was pretty impossible for me to feel bad for her, since she caused a lot of this with her poor attitude and misplaced sense of superiority.

The other designers and the judges all made mention of her attitude, and she basically acted as though the lot of them were making it up. Top American Designer* Michael Kors had it right – how well is Kenley going to in an industry where one’s creative vision may not be appreciated or shared by those on whom one depends for one’s livelihood? Not everybody is going to agree that Kenley is a genius, and she should probably be prepared to think about criticism and evaluate its relevance before dismissing it completely. I like how the guest judge this week, Georgina *married to one half of the bazillionaire duo who produces this show* Chapman was like, “I do not see what I thought I would,” about Kenley. There were no floral prints or 50’s shapes, but the defensiveness was there and Mrs. Bazillionaire still seemed singularly unimpressed.

So what did I think about the way the judges chose to end this challenge? I thought it was pretty darn awesome. Why? Because it’s tv! Drama is always appreciated, as long as it’s is somehow justifiable and not just for the sake of being dramatic. Kenley and Korto have made enough great things on this show that it makes sense that neither of them would be easy to send home. I think that I have been inspired by Heidi Klum, Nina Garcia, and Top American Designer Michael Kors, who have been on the receiving end of several of Kenley’s eye rolls, sighs, and ridiculous responses, and still thought that she deserved a chance to compete for a spot at Fashion Week. I also like that nobody gets to rest on his or her laurels. It would have been easy to do what they did last year and only have two people compete for the final spot, but this adds intrigue and an extra bit of motivation that Jerell and Leanne might otherwise be without.

I always like to see what the designers can come up with when they have much more money, time, and sleep to bring their vision to life. I can’t wait for next week, because it’s always fun to see how time away from each other and watching the episodes at home influences how the designers interact when they reunite for the clip show.

The designers:

I really am impressed with how un-ridiculous Jerell’s stuff is of late. Sure, his dress tonight did need a bit of work, but compared to what he was cranking out the first few weeks of this season, his improvement is nothing short of inspiring. Like Kenley, Jerell has been known to talk smack and offer a mean running commentary about others’ work. Unlike Kenley, Jerell’s work mostly backs up that talk.

There’s a special place in my heart for Leanne, who managed to fight her way out of thin, brunette anonymity to become recognizable not only by her face but also by her interesting designs. She’s another one whose first few weeks of work definitely didn’t seem promising, but I’m glad that she’s stuck around. Her designers are infinitely wearable and show a lot of thought and work. Plus, she seems to dislike Kenley quite a bit, which only makes me love her more.

Nobody needs to be told that I am rooting for Korto, right? I love her sense of color and style, and would happily wear whatever she chose to put me in. She’s funny, but knows how to shut a person up when that is called for. I think it’s telling that Kenley hates Korto’s stuff, since the things that Korto makes often seem like they did actually originate in the twenty-first century.

Last, both in my affections and this wrap-up, is Kenley. The girl’s got talent; I’m not going to lie. And I’ve got the shape to rock a 50’s style frock, so I really do appreciate her designs. My main problem with her, aside from the fact that she only ever produces some slight variation on one pattern, is that she has the worst attitude of any Project Runway contestant ever. EVER! And this is the show that gave us Wendy Pepper and Santino Rice. I’ve never seen anybody so unwilling to accept criticism and responsibility for her own choices. Self-confidence is great. It’s necessary, and it’s how you advance yourself through life, but too much is just as damaging as too little. Why can’t she just think about what people say to her, instead of mouthing off? If I mute her while I’m waching the show, I am usually much more inclined to like what she’s done.

* I love this designation and will never again say this man’s name without using what is not doubt a contractually-obligated phrase.

What does it take to get rid of that girl?

Kenley is like the Teflon Don, the way she keeps flirting with elimination and annoying the crap out of the judges, only to be reprieved before getting auffed. Why is she still on this show? She’s ungraciously defensive, moderately talented, and supremely annoying. And, of course, I just saw a preview for next week where she dishes up more of the same petty, juvenile behavior that she has exhibited all season. I would be happy to see that promo and take it as a harbinger of her doom, but the other designers were also expressing anxiety and crying on the runway, so it’s too soon to take the pins out of my Kenley voodoo doll. Plus, after last week’s episode, I just knew she would be toast, and she wasn’t, so I have to make an effort not to get too excited.

I didn’t necessarily think that Suede should have gone home for the boring rock and roll outfit that he made Jerell, but I would not argue that, cumulatively, his missteps outweighed those of the other designers. Despite his relentless use of the third person, somehow Suede wiggled his way into my heart (just a little), and I was actually slightly sad to see him go. He’s like that annoying, boozy barfly whose futile attempts to speak in complete sentences and be taken seriously are so funny that you’re a little sad when the bartender finally cuts him off and pours him into a cab before the night is over. Now who’s going to entertain you?

Still, it’s not so much that Suede’s talent is one that I’m going to miss (I’m not saying that he isn’t talented, but I’m not going to lose sleep next week wondering what he would have made if he’d remained on the show instead of Kenley). It’s just that I hate Kenley’s attitude so much, I’m not inclined to be fair or reasonable about anything related to her. Her sense of entitlement is making me ill. I’m all for self-confidence and pride in one’s work, but she takes these perfectly good qualities to unreasonable levels. In Kenley’s world, any time that somebody doesn’t just adore her stuff, it’s not because she’s made a mistake or interpreted the challenge incorrectly, it’s because that person JUST DOESN’T GET IT. She cannot conceive of a universe where her best effort isn’t right the first time out, and doesn’t understand why others don’t love her as much as she loves herself. She lacks perspective and cannot accept criticism in the spirit in which it was intended. How does she expect to learn anything from 1) a well-known desinger, 2) a former fashion magazine style editor, 3) a pretty freaking awesome supermodel, and 4) any number of guest fashion luminaries if she won’t listen to their advice long enough to see how it might apply to her designs? I really admire Tim for even trying to explain to her how her attitude is getting in her way, but I am in no way surprised that she immediately discounted everything that he’d said to her. She’s a brat, and I use such a childish word because she seems to have an attitude more commonly found in 15-year-old girls.

I continue to be impressed with Jerell. He really has made such great strides from where he was at the beginning of the season, and although his attitude sometimes resembles Kenley’s, at least he has the talent to kind of back it up. It would have been really interesting if he’d won four challenges in a row, and his work is such that I would not have felt that Korto was slighted if he’d won tonight. I’m glad that Korto won tonight, if only because that meant she actually cracked a smile on the runway. Usually, she looks like the judges just offered her a choice between the dungeon or a day in the stocks.

Also, I know it’s not fair, but I’m unreasonably excited that there will be at least two female designers officially going to fashion week this year (as opposed to being decoys). It seemed like the women of of season five really had the chops that were mostly lacking in their male counterparts, and I’m excited to see who wins. [Full disclosure: thanks to the wonderful Jezebel, I have already seen the collections of the five designers (those still in the competition, plus Joe and Suede) and know which are in my personal top two, but I don’t pretend to be able to guess what the judges will think.]

Other thoughts:

I’m not even remotely interested in that design show after Project Runway, but the tiny Asian guy with the horrible little voice makes me want to do damage to my ear drums. I know it’s horrible to make fun of somebody for something that he has no control over and that he cannot change, but his voice just bugs me so much. I program my dvr to continue to record for a couple of minutes after Project Runway is over (I’m paranoid about missing something), so this isn’t the first time that I’ve gotten this particularly unpleasant surprise.

Poor, dumb, Joe

I always get concerned when people blithely dismiss what Tim has to say, because he often seems to know how the judges are going to feel about a garment. I cringed at Joe’s confidence in his design, in the face of so much serious criticism. Even if he wasn’t willing to listen to Tim, he really should have been concerned at the way the Mean Girls (Kenley and Jerell) gleefully mocked his suit. Would they have done that to a piece that could be considered strong? Doubtful. They were so confident that his design was hideous, and that alone should have made him go back and make some changes.

Kenley seems to be all about trashing people, and it’s hilarious that she has the nerve to talk about anybody else having a limited vision or talent, when she’s clearly making the same thing over and over, too. She has no room to talk, and I like that Heidi sort of called her out on that. The mean girl in me thinks that it will be very satisfying to see what happens when Kenley and Jerell end up turning on each other. That expression on Kenley’s face when she didn’t win was definitely a step in the right direction.

AND WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT MESS ON JERELL’S HEAD??? Dear god, that man is nuts. I can’t believe that he allowed himself to be photographed for a national magazine wearing that crap. It looks like a vine attacked his hair. I hope that gets photoshopped out.

I don’t usually remember what happens in the previews from one week to the next, but I find it amusing that everybody’s commenting on how off the mark Kenley is. I also think they even showed a bit of one of her overly defensive responses, coupled with Tim telling her to ditch the attitude and sarcasm, and I seriously just cannot wait.

Other thoughts:

I kind of loved Nina’s “I will say no more” to Suede. Maybe she’s also sick of his tendency to speak of himself in the third person and knew enough not to engage him in conversation.

Will Korto ever win? I think that her consistent excellence seems to work against her; maybe the judges have come to expect amazing garments from her, and they’re not as highly valued as they might be from another designer.

It seems to me that, in their individual interviews, this group of designers is more likely to focus on the other designers than themselves. I guess a lack of self-absorption is nice, but they don’t ever have anything nice to say about the competition. It gets a little difficult to see such negativity every week. Where’s the love??

Blayne, I get; Terri? Not so much.

Ah! So this is about the episode of Project Runway that aired on September 10. I wrote most of this while I was watching the show for the first time and then finished and forgot to publish it!

The challenge this week was to create an avant-garde outfit based on the astrological sign of one of the two designers on the team. Just judging by their reactions upon being told the theme, I sort of doubt that a lot of these people understand what avant-garde means. And I think that Tim understands this. I think the producers are kind of evil geniuses, so their idea of having people who lost work with people still on the show is pretty hilarious. The tension in that room must be almost unbearable. I would hate to be Keith. Poor Keith. He just never catches a break, does he?

Kenley and Emily are so annoying together. Kenley by herself is a lot to take, and giving her a sidekick in her cockiness is not helping matters. What are you so chipper about, Emily? When this is done, you go home. Suede must have been really really stressed out. He forgot to use the third person when talking about himself. For this reason, and this reason alone, I will acknowledge his existence today.

I am not impressed with Kenley’s outfit, and the way that she gets so defensive whenever the judges off any criticism makes me cringe. 1) It’s totally unprofessional to argue with people who are offering their opinions on your item and 2) sometimes I respond that way to criticism, and it’s humbling to see how immature and ugly a reaction it really is.

I felt that a lot of the items made for this challenge were pretty fugly, and I guess I’m biased because she was hilarious and talented, but I’m bummed that Terri had to go home. Also, her items consistently received very high marks, and even if they were disappointed by her outfit and her inability to play nice with Keith, I think she was deserving of another chance. Blayne has been making weird and unflattering outfits almost from the get-go, and I think that he was being kept around for entertainment value, until the producers realized that everybody has a really leathery friend whose brain has been fried by the tanning bed. Being tanorexic is not entertaining for more than 5 seconds (although Blayne’s stock did rise when he unironically called Stella “leatherface”). I didn’t get Jerells’ dress at all, and though that Leanne should have won. I guess they didn’t want to give it to her three times in a row. Leanne makes great clothes pretty much all the time now, and I think that this is her competition to lose.

STELLA!!!

It’s kind of funny that I got traffic last week based on my post about Keith. I’m strangely flattered that, of all the people out there snickering at Keith, a blogger at the SL Tribune found it in his heart to single me out. I doubt that any New York sites are clamoring for my take on Stella’s exit, but I’m going to give it to you all anyway.

The loser: I thought that Stella’s earlier outfits were really interesting, and I’m sad that the quality of her work decreased so appreciably. Also, I like the way she says “leathuh.” Have you noticed that the last three people eliminated had been in the bottom two the week before their departure? Or was it four? There was the boring “surrealist” person who I refuse to look up and she went home at some point in recent memory, so I’m just going to say four here. So at least the judges are paying attention to who isn’t bringing the awesome. If pattern holds, I guess Joe might be out of here next week, but his previous work was was kind of all over the place in quality, so he might bounce back and end up winning the challenge.

The Winner: I was happy for Leanne, because at the beginning of this season I couldn’t figure out which one she was, and now I recognize her before they put her name up on the screen. Progress. Plus! Her dresses are really cute and I would wear some of them. Not the one that won tonight, though; I am an Amex cardholder, but I’m 99% sure that dress would not look any good on me. Also, she’s funny, and the previews for next week make it seem like she was kind of pissing off Kenley which, in my eyes, can never be wrong.

Everybody else:
A lot of people are getting sick of Terri, and I guess she may be more annoying than they edit her to seem. But two of those people are bitchy Kenley and bitchier Jerell, so what does that mean? While I’m not sold on her being annoying, I do find it easier to see what the other designers mean when they talk about her not having many looks. Everything she makes is excellent, but all really similar. I wonder if the judges are going to mention that soon. I think that if it all hadn’t been so well-executed, she would have had problems before this. They don’t usually let designers coast on the same design for this long even, so she may be overdue, or maybe her stuff just isn’t as similar as I think it is.

Korto makes me really nervous, because during the runway shows she gets heaps of praise and doesn’t seem at all happy with it. What does it take to make this woman crack a smile? She’s often really excited and hopeful about her designs in the workroom, but not so much later on. I wonder how much enthusiasm helps your case, and whether she isn’t doing herself a disservice with the extreme stoicism. Blayne isn’t as orange as he used to be, and his designs have also improved as the show has progressed. I believe that these two facts are related. I refuse to give Suede any serious thought until he stops using the third person so frequently.

Keith, with the crying and the Utah

Keith is the most realistic crier in Project Runway history. Of course, unlike some reality program contestants who cry at the drop of a hat (Ricky, I’m looking your way), we only saw Keith bawl once he’d been eliminated from the competition. And cry he did. There was the scrunched up red face, fluid leaking from several places, and the choked up voice…it was enough to make me like him. I still don’t really like his stuff, but I liked him as a person. This show is at least 50% about personality (why else would Blayne still be there??), so I feel fine in saying that his likability should have been enough to keep him on the program. Plus, just about everybody else seems to find him hot, and while I definitely do not, I am shallow enough to also take that into consideration. During the episode, I almost felt really really bad for him, what with the self doubt and the Utah and all, but then he started talking about how much more he wanted this than everybody else, and I remembered why I used to find him insufferable. Why does every reality show person somehow think that their own desire is stronger or purer than that of everybody else? How exactly would one come to that conclusion? The self-absorption and sense of entitlement that I’ve seen this season is pretty staggering.

What is Kenley’s deal? She laughed at Daniel last week (ON THE RUNWAY) when he was talking about his taste, but then this week said that he was her best friend and she was sad he was gone. If Jerell thinks that Terri has two faces, how many does Kenley have?