Project Runway: (recap)

By Jen Smith
Fancast.com

Last night’s Project Runway was all about fashion icons. Back to the simpler times… you know, when fashion was still appreciated by average-sized woman. Diane Von Furstenburg was in the spotlight last night. The challenge is to create a look for her fall collection, which revolves around a Marlene Dietrich in “A Foreign Affair” theme. It’s all about being a glamorous spy in the ‘30s and ‘40s. And the added bonus: whoever wins this challenge will have their look sold exclusively for American Express members. Kenley is so excited she starts to cry because, as we all know, she’s pretty much obsessed with this kind of look. Diane’s collection is all about prints and colors, so she doesn’t risk it and lets the contestants rummage her sample room for their fabrics. I’ve never seen such glee. She’s also way into layered looks, but since the designers have only until midnight to complete the outfit, they have to decide if they want to do poorly constructed layers or focus on a fewer pieces that are better crafted.

The Challenge
Kenley decides to focus just on one piece, a dress. Terri decides to roll on the androgynous wagon again this week. Stella is being a bit secretive at first with what she has planned, but later reveals a pant, vest, and cape look. I’m slightly intrigued. Korto is doing a bold evening dress. Joe is doing a backless Oriental top that has me worried. Leanne is doing a silk gown with a cropped trench coat that already looks sleek.

Make It Work
Tim appears with 3 hours left in the day and talks to Suede first. He’s going for a Berlin camouflage dress thing. Tim doesn’t get it. He warns Suede to think about the shape and fullness of the dress. On the other hand, he’s loving Leanne’s dress. He says the deep blue color is beautiful. The trench isn’t exactly working for him but she has plans to sharpen it. Joe went literal with the Shanghai look and Tim thinks it’s too ambitious. Korto has a layered look and Tim loves the volume but warns her about her bright yellow trim. Tim also reminds Stella to keep her look cohesive, unlike last week which was all over the place. He likes the simplicity of Kenley’s look but warns that the judges could go either way with it… it might be too simple.

One Of You Will Be In…
Because Kenley only had one look, she’s done pretty early. Everyone else is pretty frantic and Kenley hopes their desire to overachieve will bite them in the ass. Some of the looks aren’t looking right once on the models and the designers are forced to do some minor tweaking. Everyone manages to pull it together to get out to the runway. Once again, Nina Gargia is MIA (was this filmed around the time she was fired from Elle??) but filling in for her is Fern Mallis from IMG. Dianne Von Furstenburg is back as well. The show was actually pretty good. I only cringed a couple of times. Terri, Jerrell, and Blayne are all safe.

Bring Out The Models

Korto- Her black and white print dress with yellow trim wowed the judges. Fern says it’s very international and all of the judges loved the black jacket that went with it.

Joe- His Shanghai-inspired creation was a dud. Heidi and Diane didn’t like the backless aspect of the top and think the look is messy. Michael Kors thinks it’s odd and a “What was she thinking?” moment.

Kenley- She naturally thought she had it in the bag with her simple design and her love for the era. She fought about her Asian-inspired dress tooth and nail. Diane actually agreed with her and thought that Kenley stayed true to herself as a designer. Heidi, however, thought it needed another layer to it. Michael liked how it didn’t look like a costume.

Stella- She was going for a 1940s traveler from Berlin to New York. Diane liked her idea of mixing tweed with leather but is disappointed in her cape, which wasn’t a ‘40s cape. Michael points out the poor tailoring and its lack of edginess.

Leanne- Her slinky, seductive evening gown and matching cut-off trench give any spy the perfect disguise. Dianne thinks it’s pretty and Heidi thought it was something new and different. Fern sees a lot of work in it.

Suede- He’s mad about camo. And mad. He thought his dress was sexy, but according to Diane it’s too much fabric on the hips. None of the judges like the slit up the back and the vest also throws them off.

Auf Wiedersehen
For once I was actually rooting for Kenley. I know what it’s like to want something so bad and put your whole heart into it only to fall up short. Not that Leanne didn’t deserve to win, because she did. I’m just thankful that Korto didn’t win. Meanwhile, it came down to Joe and Stella to go home. I knew at that point that it would be Stella because she has more history of being in the bottom three than Joe did. And… I was right. Stella’s out of there. But she leaves with her middle fingers raised and her head held high. ‘Atta girl.