Fashion

I miss Christian Siriano. When I stop and consider this season of Project Runway, that’s really the only thought I have. As much as I love it, Proj Run may have jumped the shark (extra points if you can tell me in the comments what that phrase references), because as far as amateur designers go, I don’t think they’ll find someone with more raw talent and ability than he has. This season has certainly been anticlimactic, and I think that having Chris March and Rami along with Christian last season set up expectations that no normal group of designers could be expected to meet, let alone surpass. Last season was simply too good, the designers too talented.

This is the part of the review where I usually try (and sometimes fail) to be funny, but PR doesn’t have me feeling funny right now, for whatever reason. The entire existence of the show is in jeopardy because last week, a judge issued an injunction against the Weinstein brothers’ company to stop them from moving the show to Lifetime (and, lord knows, they’re too prideful to go back to Bravo). My contempt for Lifetime has been well-documented, but I’m also kind of sad that this may be the last season of this show that we get, and my love for the show might outweigh my distaste for the network to which it might move.

Or maybe I’m just really pissed that I have to listen to Kenley yammer on about her toughness and struggle. Because, really, doesn’t her mere existence suck all the fun out of life? In either case, we’ve got Part 1 of 2 of the season (series?) finale tonight, so I’ll play through the pain and give you the roundup, after the jump!

It is a grey, grey nasty day here in Georgia. It’s been raining since I drove to work ay 7 am and it will continue to rain, it seems, until the gloom slowly kills me. So what’s the best way to cheer myself up? Fashion shows! We’ve done Gucci, Marc Jacobs, Hermes…but right now, I want to draw everyone’s attention to a smaller show: Hervé Léger by Max Azria.

The iconic Hervé Léger bandage dresses have been around for quite a while (finding one at a vintage store is a major core) but have experienced somewhat of a resurgence in popularity in the past year or two, with shapely young celebrities from Hayden Panettwhatserface to Kim Kardashian (we’ll leave an explanation of my bizarre love for Kim for another day…) wearing the brand, which is now fronted by Azria (of BCBG fame). Click here to see some of the trends...

So, we’re kind of getting to the end of this whole thing, aren’t we? Tonight, we’ll narrow it down to the Final 3 and hope that someone kicks Kenley in the face. We know from the limited previews at the end of last week that they all go somewhere, and then they all come back, and then they all cry for one reason or another. Which tells us…exactly nothing. So what was their field trip? Why are they all blubbering? What in the world do they have to do?

As it turns out, they go to the New York Botanical Gardens. Collier Strong, paid shill for L’Oreal, gives them their challenge: take pictures and make nature-y dresses. I’m kind of…underwhelmed? Although it seems like they have a habit of throwing a softball to the final 4 – last year, it was the “art inspired” challenge. I like that they give them a somewhat vague task to let them really show what they do before they make the final elimination, but still, I want a TWIST of some kind! Keep reading after the jump!

Blake Lively as Serena, Leighton Meester as Blair, Amanda Setton as Penelope, Nicole Fiscella as Isabel, and Laura-Leigh as Amanda star in Gossip Girl on The CW.

Honestly, ladies, I love me some Gossip Girl. And now, by popular demand, you’re going to have a weekly recap from none other than, uh, me!

This week finds Serena, not-so-lonely-boy Dan, Chuck “I’m Chuck Bass” Bass, and Queen B (oh, and cougar-humping gigolo Nate, whose name on the show I had to Google, despite having seen every episode of the series at least once. He’s that boring) returning for their senior year of Upper East Side quasi-high school. Oh, and Lil’ J and Eric probably go back to school too, but their story arcs are going nowhere at the moment (although I really want Eric to have a cute little boyfriend!). As always, the good stuff (and spoilers) are after the jump. Read the full Gossip Girl review below...

Yes, YES, they switch models this episode! I love it when they switch models! It’s so much drama! I can’t remember a voluntarily switch since the “M-Fing WALKOFF,” as Daniel V. called it, a few season back. But then it didn’t matter that they switched models this week, because the extra drama also comes from the fact that they’re designing for the OTHER DESIGNERS! Is this an original idea? Have they not done this yet? I don’t think they have? Am I wrong? Has this really not been attempted, like, season ago? Why not? Were they really waiting for when the Weinstein brothers would sell the show out from under them or something? And what is this I hear about musical genres? Answers to, uh, maybe some of these questions after the jump.

So I came in to this week’s episode ten minutes late today…kinda forgot it was Wednesday, honestly! So, uh, what in the world is the challenge this week? Mothers and daughters? But are they designing for both? Seems like only for the daughters, and possibly a job-hunting outfit…and Suede is still talking in the third person. And he’s still, you know, on the show. Hmmph. This will never do. You know how this works by now – good stuff happens after the jump. More after the jump...

Hello again fellow Project Runway-ers, it’s that time of the week again: Amanda’s post-Runway roundup!  I’ve been following the pros at New York Fashion Week for the past few days, and now it’s time to take a moment to watch the amateurs try as hard as they can to pretend that they’re pros, too.  We didn’t get a whole lot of clues about the new challenge in last weeks preview – only that all of the designers go “awww” at some point, about something.  In commercials since then, we’ve learned that two of my all-time Runway FAVORITES (Christian Siriano and Daniel Vosovic) and, also, that other guy (Jay?) come back as guest judges and Heidi says, “Ooooo, dat’s baaad” in an adorably German way about something that is, surely, hideous.  So what in the world happened?  Find out after the jump.

I have kind of mixed feelings about Diane Von Furstenberg. Her clothes are usually beautiful, she’s a legend, but she can tend to rub me the wrong way when I see her in interviews. Plus, a bunch of season back on America’s Next Top Model, she got all appalled at plus-size Toccara for being a size 12, which kinda made me want to punch her in the face, ya know? Ever since, that’s what I think of when I see her clothes or something about her on TV, so I kind of snarled when they announced at the end of last week’s show that she was going to be this week’s gimmick. So here I am, a day late (I ate some bad seafood Wednesday night…I’m going to be staying away from scollops for a while), to tell you if this ‘fashion legend’ made me like her any better this week, who sucked, who didn’t, who cried (spoiler: Kenley. A lot.), and who went home.

I’ve got to say, I loved what they showed of her collection. I love pattern, particularly black and white pattern, and I love retro from the era that this challenge involves (the 1930s and 40s of the film ‘Foreign Affair’). So, points for Diane. I will also say that, as someone that loves fashion, going through the DVF fabric room must be kinda spectacular. Keep reading...

Bad Mommy is BA-ACK! (Did I do the BA-ACK thing recently? I feel like I did. It all runs together). Unfortunately, she’s just the extra judge, not a fixture on the entire episode, which is unfortunate since she would have been a FANTASTIC critic during Tim’s rounds. On this week’s Project Runway, Laura Bennett returns as our designers make outfits out of car parts, and I’m not even joking. On a pop culture blog that I read, a commenter joked after last week’s episode that the only thing left for our designers was car parts, and as it turns out, he or she was right. There’s nothing witty to say about making clothes out of car parts. The joke is already there. So talk amongst yourselves. Or, read the roundup after the jump...

I’m sober this week. Huzzah! Because there is absolutely, positively no way to take in this week’s challenge except absolutely clear-minded. Because….drag queens! Chris March! Fabulous, spangly, larger-than-life costumes dunked in glitter! I may do a cartwheel in the middle of my living room, I tell you. That’s how excited I am about this week. This is the week that could potentially redeem the entire season, the week that I may actually walk up to my TV and hug it. So does it make up for the crap we’ve seen so far?

Make the jump to find out!