Project Runway -- Week 5 Recap

Tim takes the designers on a field trip to the Los Angeles TIMES. Their challenge is to make a garment out of newspapers. Yippee Kayee. This is my favorite Bridal Shower game. You know – “make a wedding dress out of toilet paper”. Okay, so it's not very original -- but it could be an excellent challenge…

Back in the workroom, they’re given an assortment of Dyes, brushes, and markers. Tim tells them they’re allowed to use muslin, but it cannot show.

During his progress check, Tim tells Johnny his red dress with the origami birds is a mess. Johnny immediately took it off the mannequin, crumpled it up and threw it away. Maybe that dress had possibilities – we’ll never know. But it was disturbing that Johnny gave up on his vision so quickly. 17 minutes into the show, Johnny was doing a crossword puzzle…Here’s a clue, bud: Johnny Sakalis, or somebody who gives up way too easily: L _ _ _ _.

When the models came in for their fitting, Johnny told Emarie that his first dress got “ruined by a steamer” Wha?? Then, in the apartment the morning of the Runway show, Johnny told that same lie to his roommates. The difference here is that they were IN THE ROOM when he crumbled the red dress – so, of course – they knew it was a lie…but Johnny seemed to almost believe it…

At the Runway show, we find out the judges du jour are: Tommy Hilfiger, Zoe Glassner, and Eva Longoria Parker. Really? What’s next, Paula Abdul??

So – here’s what the designers did with the challenge:

Althea A short dress that was pleated, using the color of the newspaper to create “stripes”. Then, it fanned the folded papers to one side, and as the angle of the pleats changed, so did the “stripes”. It was a longer skirt, and it fit her model to a “t”. Eva said she wears this dress all the time. Tommy thought it was genius, the execution was well done. Zoe called it “exquisite.” (once again – are they judges or are they sheep?)

Carol did a long dress with a strapless top. The skirt was large bunches of crumbled red paper at the bottom. The dress was long and elegant and it didn’t look like paper. Isn’t that the point of the challenge? Hey – anybody who didn’t make a ‘short dress” should be in the running for the win.

Christopher HE ROCKED IT. From the very first moment, he wanted a “show stopper” and he created that. AND MORE. He designed a circle skirt that didn’t look one bit like paper. He must have cut out 10,000 little “feathers” that floated on that skirt as his model walked the runway. As great as the skirt was – the top was equally as amazing. He made a gray shell that looked like armor. Kate did an amazing job of walking the runway in Chris’s outfit – the skirt moved and flowed. It was AWESOME.

Epperson His outfit had very big sleeves that morphed into a shawl-collar around the back. The whole thing had a very kimono look to it, with a big stiff skirt that was neither long or short. It looked like an outfit made out of newspaper.

Gordana Made a short dress. A great outfit that had NO MUSLIN – and I have no idea how she made the paper move the way it did. It fit the model beautifully, and with all the intricate pleating in the front, it almost looked like a zipper closure. Heidi said, “when it came down the runway, I was a little bit bored, because it is so real looking…..so wearable.” What?? Heidi – ISN’T this challenge all about trying to make the paper LOOK like fabric? To make Gordana feel better, Eva said, “your only fault is that everybody else is soo amazing.” Thanks, Eva. I’m sure that made her feel MUCH better…

Irina She made a trench coat with a shawl collar and cuffs that, from a distance, looked like fur trim. Making a COAT instead of a short dress was sheer genius. I loved the way she treated the newspaper – by tearing it into small pieces, then crumbling it until it was soft, gluing the little pieces onto the large shawl collar and cuffs. The finished coat looked fabulous coming down the runway and was very unexpected. Eva was blown away. So, of course, then Tom and the other judge also said they loved it. (I simply cannot remember the names of THREE musical-chair judges every week – c’mon, Heidi – bring back Michael Kors and Nina Garcia!!)

Johnny Did a nondescript short dress. He didn’t like it. Neither did anybody else. The thing is, he worked with the newspaper by making “tiles” repeating the graphic of a woman’s face over and over again. It could have been very interesting. But, he spent a total of 20 minutes on it, and it looks slapped together. Eva said she “liked the idea, but felt it was not executed…I like classic dresses…”(yes, we know that). Heidi thinks it looks like a hooker dress. Knowing he’s in trouble, Johnny tells them the “steamer ruined my first fabulous dress, it was all draped, like a Christian DIOR” lie. Nicholas started to laugh and when Heidi asked him if there was “more to the story– he said there was no steamer.

Okay – let me say that this is the most interesting bit of Episode #5. Johnny’s lie. The first time Johnny made up the big story about a steamer ruining his beautiful dress, it was for his model, Emarie, and I thought he did it because he was embarrassed not to have much for her to try on. Of course -- he knew it was a lie. However, by the next morning – when he told the same lie to his roommates, he seemed to almost believe it himself. And by the third time the lie came tumbling out of his mouth – as he was standing on the runway, I think HE COULD HAVE PASSED A LIE DETECTER TEST…

Logan – Did a short dress that looked, overall, white with a lot of random blue stripes. It fit his model, but was unremarkable. I liked the print-fabric look of the finished garment. Logan seemed surprised by how much Oriental influence came through in his finished garment.

Louise/Kenley Made a short dress. She made some very interesting small tubes for the neckline treatment and Fatma looked wonderful in the dress. It had a short circle skirt, made out of tubes inside of tubes, all very color coded. I thought her garment was very architectural and the judges didn’t give her much credit for the way she worked with the newspaper. My issue with Louise is -- WHAT WAS SHE WEARING ON THE RUNWAY?? OMG. Where did she get that limp, washed out 1956 housedress?

That would be an interesting challenge, don’t you think? After two or three days of sewing their garments, the judges could decide to judge WHAT they’re wearing themselves instead!! Anyway – I digress…

Nicholas Another short dress. He said he was going for “90’s punk rock”. It had two overskirts – with folded pieces of paper making the straps. The judges hated it -- looks like an insect – shell casings. The one no-name judge said it reminded her of New York City cock roaches.

Ramon – Yet another short dress. It looked like a two piece. There was a Yellow/green short kicky skirt with some kind of flanges in the back. The top was red and very stiff. Forgettable.

Shirin Her short dress had a strapless bodice that was molded to her model. Although the top was predictable -- the skirt was very interesting. She built it with huge folded pieces of newspaper that created an accordion affect – and stood out about 2’ all around the model’s body. When Ebony moved, those huge folds moved and flowed -- it was original and interesting.

At the end of the show, the judges liked: Althea, Christopher, and Irina. (I would have picked: Christopher, Irina and Carol). They did not like: Nicholas, Gordana, and Johnny. (My picks: Johnny, Nicholas and Ramon). They declared Irina the winner and Johnny was sent home.

For me -- Christopher’s outfit was the absolute show-stopper. He was instantly inspired by the challenge and stuck with his vision, which was clearly a TON OF work. Although I loved Irina’s coat, her creative fake-fur collar and cuffs was a simplistic treatment that should not have beat out Christopher’s impeccable realistic feather skirt. NOT TO MENTION his gray armour-like top which was different than anything else on the Runway.

I totally agreed with the judges’ decision to send Johnny home. Maybe he was a victim of vicious editing -- or maybe he really needs to get back into rehab. It's just possible that he left too soon. (Rehab, not the show...)