you have to pick and choose your buttons

I want to first start by apologizing. I know this Project Runway recap (sometimes mine are more rants than recaps, but whatever) is more than a week late. And I really don't have any good excuses, so I'll just apologize to the 4 people who read this so we can all move on.

We are now in the "moving on" phase.

Phase complete.

Sooooo, Project Runway! Episode 6! What WILL the challenge be this week? Well to start, let's go back to what happened last time. Remember? Team challenge? Gretchen went nuts? Everyone hates Michael C.? So the designers are still in recovery from that traumatic incident. Gretchen was hurt that Tim spoke of her in such a way-AND IN HER PRESENCE. And everyone still hates Michael C. You certainly can't knock some of the designers for consistency, can you?

But no matter; new day, new challenge. Out walks Heidi (hello!) onto the runway and she soon warns the designers that they will have different models to work with. Project Runway is now on its eighth season. For those of us who have been watching from the beginning or at least from way back, upon hearing "different models," I'm sure a lot of us immediately thought, "OOOOOOH, IT'S ONE OF THOSE CHALLENGES!" And it certainly was. Out walks 10 lovely ladies of different shapes and sizes, all wearing a......BRIDESMAID DRESS. Yes, the challenge is to take a woman's bridesmaid dress and incorporate it into a design she can wear again--everyone knows the stigma of bridesmaid dresses, yes? To confess, I didn't find this challenge all too exciting because I found it a bit too similar to the wedding gown challenge a few seasons back. Bride, bridesmaid; they're kind of in the same family--don't you think Project Runway could have come up with something else involving new models? The possibilities are endless (comments!)

Well, the designers picked their models and basically started crackin'. Working with normal, everyday people instead of actual models is slightly different. For the most part, the model just stands there and listens to the designer and pretty much agreed with everything that is said about the design. When the designers have actual clients to work with, it's a whole new game. The designer stands there, giving out ideas, but also taking into consideration what the client wants--because after all, she's the one who will be wearing it and (hopefully) taking it home with her. And as veteran watchers of Project Runway, we all know that there is at least one pairing of client/designer that doesn't go as smoothly as the others. Well, April had a few issues with her model. But in hindsight, it wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Just the usual "my client knows what she wants and it is way too much and I want to make sure I'm still able to show my aesthetic so I don't lose myself" kind of thing. And to be honest, up until this episode, I've thought that April isn't that great. Yeah, she has a lot of opinions, and I like the way she wears her hair but she has yet to wow me. Just saying.

One person who needn't worry about his design is Casanova, seeing as he won the challenge last week and therefore, won immunity. And a good thing too, right? I love my Casanova but I'm afraid this challenge may not have worked out so well for had he not had immunity. Don't get me wrong--in the end, without immunity, he would have been fine, but I have a feeling that immunity gave him a little confidence boost and in turn, helped him execute a decent ensemble. Remember his breakdown in the last episode? "AND I'M GETTING FAT!" But no matter, I wasn't worried about Casanova this week. I'm sure he knew "EXAAAAAAACTLY" what he was doing. However, some other designers were at a bit of a loss. Peach was just, kind of a mess. Michael D. had a lot of shiny, dark pink fabric to work with. On top of that, he had to focus on making an outfit that would be flattering on his model, who happened to have more curves on her than any of the other ex-bridesmaids. And on top of THAT, Tim walks in for his usual walk-through, with a little surprise for the designers. Before they have their models walk the runway for the judges, they will first show off their designs at a designer showcase, where the models will, well, model the design next to its designer and the general public will say if they like said design simply by throwing a button in a jar designated for the designer. Wow, was that a terribly unbearable run on sentence, or did you get through it OK? The more you read it, the easier it gets.


So here we are at the designer showcase and everyone's FAVORITE designer has a jar full of buttons: Michael C. And you know what? He should be getting buttons. He took a woman's black and boring bridesmaid dress and turned it into a sexy (but not slutty) night-on-the-town look. Mondo is also getting a lot of buttons. His look has a cool, 1960's go-go dancer thing going on. What's more is that he turned the hideous pink dress inside out and used the softer pink--hooray for creativity!


Now, I have yet to touch upon any drama from this episode. Let's take care of that now, shall we? Ivy. How do y'all feel about Ivy? I'll tell you how I feel. I think she's mean, opinionated, controlling, conceited, rude, and in no way as amazing as she lets on. But, hey, that's just me. I could be reading her the wrong way. She could be totally awesome! My opinions aside, a rumor got out during the designer showcase that Michael C. was telling people that Ivy is the bitch of the show this season. While I 100% agree, I'm not sure if the rumor is 100% accurate. Or is it? Did he say that or not? A question that will never really be answered. Well, the rumor got Ivy steamed, and you could see her eyes light on fire--I'll admit, it was kind of scary. Though I did have to laugh at her when she first said that Michael was "picking my buttons" before correcting herself. So, in case it wasn't clear before, Michael C. and Ivy are officially enemies.

So here we are on the runway, and as it turns out. Mondo's dress received the most votes--so he's obviously safe. But the judges didn't really go for his styling. Michael Kors was pretty much spot on when he likened his model to "Snooki in The Flintstones." The judges also went gaga for Michael C.'s design--much to the chagrin of all the other designers. It looked polished, clean, and expensive, and the styling was just right. This all lead to Michael winning yet another challenge--cue Gretchen's head exploding. The other Michael (Michael D.) did not do so well. The judges just thought his dress looked like another bridesmaid dress. But it was Peach who got the ax. Her design looked cheap and just not fashionable at all. If it was in a different, more vibrant color, it might've looked a bit better but the olive green just looked blah--and "Holly Hobby Halter," according to Michael Kors. I will say though, that Peach is one of the most winning losers Project Runway has ever seen. Even though she was leaving, she didn't shed one tear. All she did was excitedly tell everyone what a great time she had, and I love it! Everyone should leave with that kind of attitude. Pull a Peach!

Michael Kors Quote of the Night: "I mean, she's got an avocado goiter." -on Peach's ensemble.