Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Sixteen Candles

I was totally jealous of the models this week -- how awesome would it be to have a prom dress custom-made by Project Runway? I bought my senior prom dress at the last minute -- it was $25 on sale at Kohl's. A cute dress, but not designer (or custom-made) by any means.

Many of the designers expressed severe trepidation about designing for a gaggle of high school students from New Jersey. Clearly they've memorized Project Runway Challenge Rule #1: Designing a dress for any of life's milestones is bound to create major drama (see Season 1's wedding dress challenge.) And Project Runway Challenge Rule #2: The drama doubles if you're dealing with emotional teenagers (again, see the wedding challenge.)

Unfortunately not enough attention was paid to Project Runway Challenge Rule #3: Keep the drama off the runway. And Christian, I'm talking to you.

The biggest diva of all the designers, Christian got stuck with the most diva model, Maddie. With all her demands, Maddie seemed like a prime candidate for another popular reality show -- MTV's My Super Sweet Sixteen. There was no way she was going to be satisfied with anything Christian made for her. But that seemed to defeat Christian rather than motivate him to try harder.

Christian's creation really wasn't all that bad. The dress was cute and age appropriate, if a little busy. But he totally shot himself in the foot by trying to blame all of the problems on Maddie. Nina seemed more upset by Christian's actions on the runway than his actual dress. He was lucky to make it through this week.

Here's Maddie working it for the camera, even though she looks like she's got doilies covering her dress:



Meanwhile, Kevin was voted off, which is at the very least a loss in the personality department. Kevin projects a very likable, down-to-earth persona on screen and I'll miss him. But why or why did he not hem his freaking dress? I don't think there was a question in anyone's mind -- Kevin's included -- that the judges were going to slam him for it.

Nina and Co. also said the dress was cheap-looking and too old for the model. Not being there in person, it was hard to tell if the cheap comment was true. But the dress and styling made the model look like a pageant contestant from 1955.

In this photo, the dress also makes the model look really short and squat. Considering the judges' unflattering comments, do you think she and the rest of the Bottom Four actually wore their designs to prom?



Kevin pushed himself under the bus but I really wanted Ricky to go. All of Ricky's designs have been mediocre at best. Michael Kors mentioned that very fact during deliberations but the judges still opted to keep him around. Why? Don't they want to stop going through tissues at an alarming rate?

The runway was a weird place this week. Why didn't the judges name a third front-runner? Both Jillian and Chris made beautiful dresses -- particularly from the back. And Kit's design was very kicky and age appropriate (although the colors were a little 80s.) They definitely deserved to be in but I think at least one should have been allowed to stay on the runway for some praise.

I would have put either of these in the Top Three. Chris' dress is on the left and Jillian's is on the right. Has anyone noticed that Jill's model kinda looks like her?


After a lackluster showing last week, Victorya emerged the winner. Her dress was cute, particularly the color and the multi-colored crystals on the neckline, and the model looked great in the design. I thought she deserved to win but the dress also proved Victorya to be something of a one-note. The prom outfit had the same basic babydoll minidress design as Vic's Sarah Jessica Parker dress and her entry in the Episode 1 "Expensive fabric" challenge.

Here's some proof. This week's dress is on the left and the SJP dress is at the right:


Also treading on old ground this week was Rami. He was called out for making a dress that was too old for the model. He really should have gotten slammed for essentially recreating his entry in the "expensive fabric" challenge. Come on people -- change it up!

Again here's proof. Prom on the left, Episode 1 on the right:


Next week: Whatever it is, Christian's not happy. Again.

No comments: