Project Runway- Week 3

So, after last week's candy craptastophy, we are given the. most. boring. challenge EVA' on Project Runway. Also, the most pathetically obvious example of product placement in reality show challenge history.

Contestants were taken to a lot of Lexus cars and given a key. The car to which their  key fit was to be their inspiration for this challenge- creating an Emmy red carpet look for a Project Runway alumni. And by "inspiration," we totally mean your dress must be the color of of your car. I'm sure the designers could barely contain their creative brilliance... and yet they DID. It would have been far more entertaining to watch them use car parts to create accessories for their red carpet look (yes, I realize that's another show).

Oh, but it gets better! Not only must designers dampen their creative mastery and deal with some major Diva issues from PR has-beens, they must also work in teams. Assigned teams. Surprisingly for a random draw, the teams were rather well-balanced with a designers of a higher skill set and a weaker contestant. As Elena pointed out again and again. And again.

My fave Ven won another challenge.

I love Kinley and I love her style. This dress is very much her style but I don't think it speaks "red carpet" at all. Sonija said Kinley could go to church in this dress and no one would even notice. Well, I do think it would be awful nice for church, just not for rubbing elbows with Tom Cruise. I like the detailed pleating. I just wish they had done this in at least a quarter-length gown. Of course, the greatest factor in this design's success was Kinley's attitude because her love for it was evident coming down the Runway.

The same cannot be said for Irena in the Kardashian bride gown created by Gunnar and Kooan. She obviously didn't care to go to the Emmy's.

It's an insult to the judges for this dress to have made the top two. As they are leaving for the runway, Gunnar says this is an "awful white dress" and the judges are going to eat it up. Kooan is traumatized to have to fix the Frankenstein stitching across Irina's backside because the dress makes him "sad, not happy." We learn two things with this creation- a train can cover bad workmanship, and the well-placed accessory and make a bland design appear more extraordinary.

Maybe I am just dazzled by sparkles in this bland, bland challenge, but I like the designs made for April and Valerie. Valerie obviously does not have a model's body, but they really could have done something a little more elegant with her hair. April's dress was original but modest in the front, then caught you with a sexy surprise in the back.

Unsurprisingly (and thankfully), the challenge of teamwork lent drama to this week's episode (since the dresses had so little). First there were Elena's psychotically-laced temper tantrums towards Buffy. And her reason for being such a mean wench? "Because in the Ukraine you have to fight daily for your food to survive." Yeah well... the food during the production of the show is free, so nice try... wench. And as she was sketching out her design, what did we see? The exact same dramatic shoulders silhouette used for hr last two designs. Buffy does lack skill and will be leaving soon, but you have to pity the poor lil' leopard-headed chick for having to put up with the evil brat this week. Hopefully the teaser is not misleading and Elena really has disappeared from the show.

The other candidates for "Cutest Couple" would have to be Christopher and Andrea. Oh, how quickly that showmance faded away within one episode. Christopher went from saying how much he wanted to learn from everyone on the shaow, especially the most experienced member that has dressed celebrities, to not having the ability to be rude enough to say about Andrea what he wanted to on the runway. And, with reason! I wanted to like her... but I just can't. I don't know how any student is going to cinsder her a capable mentor after this show. She laughs about spending all day "doing really crappy work." She knows that she's close to kissing Heidi goodbye, that's why she's playing "sour grapes"- saying before the critique, "If I get knocked out it's a relief at this point." I hate-hate-HATE when anyone on a reality show says that. It's such a cop-out, an effort to look like you don't care when you know you are about to lose. I think Andrea is the one that should have went home.

The dress that Alicia and Raul made was frumpy. It was bland and not the perfect fit, but the basic construction far exceeded that of Anya's gown made by Christopher and Andrea- a Hershey bar interrupted by a studded belt according to Kors. The slit is too high. The seam for the slit is crooked and poorly stitched. The cowl neck is obviously a make-shift add-on, and the eye-hooks were grossly visible on the back of the neck.

Unfortunately Raul said he "hated every single minute of this challenge" and it shows. It would be quaint to say that this week's episode was a good lesson in seeing how attitude affects work, but that fails when Gunnar's "awful dress" that makes Kooan "sad, not happy" is praised on the runway.