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No, really, hats off, please, because most of their outfits didn't do the hats justice!
This week was a pretty fantabulous opportunity for the designers to show off their most conceptual, high-fashion proclivities, as they were each paired up with a model wearing a big, bold Philip Treacy hat. These hats made statements. Being a SF Bay Area native, I kept wondering when that gal with the city of San Francisco on her head (from Beach Blanket Babylon) was going to show up.
The challenge was to make an outfit inspired by (and that could stand up to) their chosen hat.
Most of them made perfectly nice dresses.
Do you see the disconnect?
So, with 15 minutes to sketch and $150 to spend at Mood, the designers were off to execute on a creative vision t match Treacy's.
What did we learn in this week's episode?
-Well, I think we may have learned that Lifetime likes to sprinkle in more references to homosexuality, as long as they're somewhat snarky. There were a number of comments, from Ivy's "You expect that from a queen" to other cracks, that felt a little schoolyard to me.
-We learned that Kristin needs a little spanky to get her creative juices flowing. Especially if working on being inspired by an orchid hat which looks like "a big vagina" to her.
-We learned that Michael C. is this season's straight guy, complete with child at home. And thus leading to a couple of the gay cracks that stuck out to me.
-We also learned that the new 90-minute format means we get more of Tim's visits, and that's all good!
Image courtesy Lifetime
So because of that, we learned that:
-Short shorts continue to not be appropriate for the Project Runway runway, particularly when they actually look like a diaper.
-Peach is not comfortable enough to say "vagina," so she refers to "down there" as "the good china." Which was a new one on me.
Mad Men is definitely influencing these designers; at least that's my impression.
Apparently, cats only have seven lives, not the usual nine, in Puerto Rico -- or maybe in Astoria, NY, where Casanova now lives. I also lived in Astoria, NY for a time. In fact it was the Greek and Italian butcher shops of that neighborhood that help turn me vegetarian back in 1989, since they have the tradition of hanging the carcass of the whole animal in their shop windows, and that grossed me out. A lot. Now, I can't say for certain I ever saw cats hanging in those windows. But you gotta wonder. maybe Casanova knows something I id not.
-And finally, we learned: Sometimes you just gotta start over. It can spell disaster, but if the inspiration strikes, it can be the only route out of designer hell.
Heidi comes out to the strains of my boyfriend's biggest hit, "Kiss from a Rose." Because she is wearing a big rose on her head. Well, it's really a big rose hat by Philip Treacy, but it was pretty outre. It was all a bit cheesy, to be honest. Now, if my boyfriend had been there, singing the song live, maybe it would have been good. But since he was here with me, cooking me a scrumptious vegan dinner before rubbing my feet while serenading me, he really wasn't available.
Heidi is joined by MK, ninagarcia and the hat-man himself, Philip Treacy, on the judging panel, so let's get on with the show. As always, click on the designers' names to see their creations:
1. Michael C.
Michael created an ochre and gold handkerchief dress. Or "dance at the gym" dress. Or maybe Saturday Night Fever dress. I agreed with Casanova that this dress didn't seem very original. It did seem very well put-together, particularly given Michael started over only a few hours before the challenge was to end. But just as in week one, with Gretchen's boring black dress, it didn't seem worthy of singling out.
2. Gretchen
Oh, this was an outfit to loathe. She took the worst elements of the hat and emphasized them, creating a drab, overly matchy-matchy, snakeskin-patterned Robin Hoodette outfit. And yes, that's as bizarre as it sounds. And I don't even really understand what was going on with those boots/leggings. The model looked like she was in Alien Nation, but with those patterns on her legs, not her head,
3.
