Boris, Natasha and Bullwinkle and...Oh No, Another Team Challenge!!
To Start, What Does Boris and Natasha:
Bullwinkle:
And 90's Ripped T-shirts:
Have to do with Project Runway? Keep reading kids...
Last Thursday's Project Runway episode dealt with a Team Challenge in which they had to design two looks--in teams of three--for Fall 2012. As expected, there was lots of DRAMA, I-have-no-time excuses, and direct-to-camera, nasty one-liners...and for the most part some rather unexciting fashion.
Headmaster of Arts and Crafts: Tim Gunn and the Season 10 remaining designers
To begin with, in order to get their "Mood Money" for this week's challenge, the remaining designers--after the teams were announced--had to make and merchandise t-shirts created from of all the art and craft supplies that awaited them at the Parsons workroom.
There was so much puffy paint, hot glue and glitter that it looked like a 70% off sale at Michaels Arts and Crafts...or like a Kindergarden classroom. One team made cute t-shirts with fashion croquis, others went for the predictable and tacky ripped 90's t-shirt look.
Meatpacking $2 Hookers: Team Gunnar/Sonjia/Christopher hawking their merchandise
They also created some necklaces, bracelets and whatever other "Whickety-wack" they could come up with to then sell to unsuspecting NY fashionistas, hipsters and tourists that happen to be walking by. Team Christopher/Gunnar/Sonjia were GREAT "$2 Hookers" and also made up signs to advertise what they were doing...They get ATTAGURL points.
Now to the DRAMA:
Boris and Natasha of Season 10: Designers Dmitry Sholokhov and Elena Slivnyak who were on one of the teams, got on each other's nerves. Dmitry is a former professional ballroom dancer from Belarus and Elena, well, she's just a Ukrainian-born Diva. Throughout the episode they were both very "Boris and Natasha" from "Rocky and Bullwinkle" cartoons. Elena said nasty things and Dmitry verbally threw it back at her. Elena made fun of his accent and Dmitry called her designs "coffin-like". It just went on and on.
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Alicia Bullwinkle: Designer Alicia Hardesty--their team partner--poor thing was caught in the middle (or on sidelines) of their "Boris and Natasha Show" during this challenge. She was their "Bullwinkle". As a result of their negative un-team-like working relationship, their designs on the runway suffered.
The Runway:
Guest Judge fashion designer Ana Sui (far left) with Nina Garcia, Michael Kors and Heidi Klum
Fall Dressing: Team Gunnar/Christopher/Sonjia got along swimmingly and created the best looks of the night--Gunnar's dresses (above) were very Fall/Winter, directional and sleek. I especially LOVED the leather and wool felt fabric blocking.
The looks also included two other standouts: Sonjia Williams' jacket and Christopher Palu's camel coat seen above. Both were Paris Fashion Week fabulous. The winner--and rightly so--was Sonjia with that perfectly tailored jacket. I was SWOONING over the roll of Sonjia's jacket sleeve cap: AMAZING! The styling, fit and look of the jacket was very...
Armani Prive Haute Couture
Team Monotony: Team Melissa/Fabio/Ven were one of the two teams with the lowest scores. Their looks were very bland and uninspiring to the judges. I kind of agreed but at the same time, they were like something one would see from a FAB Danish, Finnish or Swedish fashion designer...
Hello Stockholm: The looks were very "Scandinavian" in terms of their clean lines and pseudo modern styling. Melissa Fleis' cropped jacket was well received by the judges but the rest was not-so-mucheey, including Ven Budhu's dowdy dirndl skirt.
Team Boris and Natasha: Team Alicia/Dmitry/Elena were also one of the lowest scored teams. The judges said that because they argued and didn't work well as a team, it showed on the runway with their designs. I thought Dmitry's (Boris) asymmetrical neckline dress was so "Robert Palmer Girl--2012"and Elena's (Miss Natasha) coat was a wonky mess. The front lifted up and it wasn't up to par with the work that I remember seeing from her back at the LA Castings. (I D.I.E.D. over her AMAZING coats!).
But it was Alicia "Bullwinkle" who went home because the judges thought her top and pants were a "yawn". It's a perfect example of one of the Project Runway credos: Go BOLD or Go Home. In my Recap (starting below), I wrote that her denim "cool girl" jumpsuit was much "fresher" than those stovepipe pants and jersey top...
Speaking of my Recap...here it is:
The Boris and Natasha Show
Last week, there were NINE designers, and
this week ... there are STILL Nine Designers. If you have been keeping
score, NO ONE was out in last week's DRAMA-filled "Lord & Taylor
Challenge" episode. The designers were asked to create a dress for the
iconic department store and the winner was Christopher, who made a
blush/nude and black gown which won praise from all the judges. On the
bottom — vote wise — were Alicia and Gunnar, yet Miss Heidi K. said that
because there were no real "train-wrecks" and, according to her, they
all did a good job, EVERYONE stayed. We all realize it was because of
the two designers who quit early in the season, but let’s just all play
along, shall we?!
Auf This and Auf That
In the beginning of the episode, the winner, Christopher, was riding
high on his winning horse and declared that someone should have gone
home. Gunnar was his target, and we all know, it wasn’t because of his
design, but mainly because he is Christopher’s Gay Arch Nemesis! I also
agree that someone should have been eliminated but I felt that it should
have been Alicia. I feel that the sooner the show can rid itself of the
not-so-talented designers, the quicker the TRUE designers can really
make this a competition. I know it sounds mean and heartless but I'd
rather see a bunch of FAB competing against other FAB. But I digress...
Team Kumbaya: NOT
Now, with this good news that NO ONE was out, one would hope that
there would be a communal Kumbaya atmosphere prevailing through the
walls of Parsons and less melodramatic fits of negativity. Well, kids,
not so fast ... After getting their "Hellooo!" from Heidi, they're off
to meet Tim. He's in the Parsons Workroom, which has turned into
Michael's Arts & Crafts depot with a bunch of glitter, glue, and
paint. Gunn tells the designers that as of now, they have NO BUDGET to
shop at Mood so ... they must create merchandise to sell on the streets
of Manhattan to raise the money for their as-yet-to-be-mentioned
challenge. That's the first bad news, here comes the second: this will
be a Team Challenge and they will have to sell in teams of 3. The teams
are named: Team 1 is Christopher, Sonjia and Gunnar; Team 2 is Dmitry,
Elena and Alicia and Team 3 is Ven, Melissa and Fabio.
Arts & Crafts Parsons
The designers get to work on their Art Doodle projects, making
t-shirts, necklaces, etc. Team 1's stuff is looking cute — croquis,
fashion illustrations and well-sketched faces on T-shirts. On the other
end, however, Team 2's creations are looking like something a First
Grader made after drinking too much "Honey Boo Boo Go Go Juice." Soon,
time's up and they take their merchandise — and go try and sell their
"whickety wack" to the unsuspecting hipster Meatpacking/Chelsea/East
Village public. After much haggling and pleading to people that "You
Really Need A 90s, shredded, Puffy-Painted T-shirt,” the teams return to
Parsons to let Tim know how much money they made: Team 1 made $648;
Team 2 $500; and Team 3, a whopping $800.48. So now, the teams have
their Mood shopping money, but what about the actual challenge? Mr.
Gunn??
Next on Ukrainian and Belarus TV ... The Elena and Dmitry Show
Tim finally announces that each team must create 2 cohesive looks for Fall. They go to Mood...
Click HERE to read the rest of my MyLifetime.com RECAP for this past week's episode--and don't forget to let me know what YOU thought!!!! PLEASE! I LOVE reading YOUR "Two Cents"!
