Screen: Lifetime
'Alyssa Nailed It With The "Penis" Comment About That Cut-Out In The Front...'
Project Runway All Stars has the designers making bridesmaid dresses, but whose should get laughed out of church?
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Hello, I'm East Coast Editor Sarah D. Bunting.
Hello, I'm West Coast Editor Tara Ariano.
The Talk
Another strong week for Alyssa Milano, style-wise! ...Excuse me: "Reverend Milano." The whole challenge felt like a big old gimmicky informercial for Marchesa -- design bridesmaids' dresses for this bride, who is wearing Marchesa; the winner gets...Marchesa stuff; Marchesa Marchesa Beetlejuice -- culminating in Milano marrying the couple on the runway, BUT Milano was obviously tickled to be doing it.
I think it energizes everyone when they throw real people into the mix: it raises their game to have people to impress and please who don't get to do this all the time. That said, I was a leeeeeetle dubious about this crop of bridesmaids who all "happened" to have model proportions. It's not that a "real people" challenge has to shake up the designers by making them deal with non-model bodies (and since usually that results in one or more of them complaining about it, I was okay not having that element present this time). But I thought there would be something of the bridesmaids talking about the bride, their friendship, their excitement, whatever. The fact that there was none of that just made me suspicious that these women actually WERE models with no connection to the bride. But then again everything about the "wedding" was fake so why am I that worried about it?!
Oh, I just assumed they were models, the bride was a Marchesa employee, etc. I was a little surprised at how meh I felt about all the looks. Either they seemed totally estranged from what bridesmaid finery is about, or it was a dress I saw in the J. Crew catalog in 2008 (Dmitry).
I agree, and so do the judges, apparently, since they had wildly opposite reactions to all of them. I actually liked Fabio's look the best this time...from a distance.
I also get why he got sent home -- it was evident when the camera got up close that he had serious construction problems and didn't know how to deal with that fabric -- but from far away, it was pretty and elegant and his girl looked thrilled to be wearing it. Not as thrilled as Michelle's girl, mind you: her runway stomp killed me, and even though Alyssa nailed it with the "penis" comment about that cut-out in the front, Michelle's girl sold that look like nobody's business.
I never thought I'd say this, but I was relieved that Michelle got to stay -- not just because the cumulative excellence of her work merited it, but because the judges talked specifically about that metric as they made their decision. I liked Michelle's idea, and the woolly look of the fabric was different and fun. But I will miss Fabio, and I love that he carried his bitchy-fabric comments onto the runway. Le Miz was like, yeah, it totally is.
Which was your favourite look?
Sonjia's. I thought it pushed the idea of the traditional silhouette; it provides more coverage for 'maids who don't love going strapless/showing their upper arms, but it's still sexy and fun.
I liked Helen's as well, actually, but it seemed a little Ann Taylor Loft office-to-evening and not quite on point for the occasion.
See, this is what I'm saying: I hated both of those! I was so into Sonjia's on her dress form before she added the sleeves and the belt thing, but when it walked it looked like Chico's to me. What about Dmitry's? After Helen said he just remade the dress the bride had been wearing when they met her and we saw them side by side...he kind of did. (I guess the "neck piss" was a little different, hee.)
My notes on Dmitry's: "zzz too long Crew '08." Never mind seeing it on the bride earlier; we've seen it on Boden models and Gossip Girl. And the color didn't read at all, a problem I also had with Helen's.
Yeah, I figured they were trying to be subdued because they'd be for a winter wedding, but they both took that too far, I thought. And now we're down to four, on the eve of the finale! Let's do Will Win/Should Win: though I think Helen's been getting a winner edit the past couple of weeks (and way overpraised for work that's very boring and samey to me), based on what we've seen from her this season I would love to see a two-peat for Michelle. When she was talking in this episode about Helen's three crayons, I realized how true it is that Michelle seems to have really pushed herself to innovate not just in relation to the other designers, but to try stuff that's different from what she's done in the past, and I appreciate that she's using her second time through to showcase her versatility.
Interesting that you think Helen's getting a winner edit, because I think Sonjia's getting the comeback-trail variation on said edit, and I think she's getting set up to win, so my prediction is that's what happens. Should win, I'm with you: Michelle. Also gets the Turned It Around Award on the social tip.
Speaking of comeback-trail, I can't wait to see what they put Alyssa in for the finale.
I love that, as she's gotten more and more pregnant, she's wearing more and more body-con stuff and it looks SO much better on her.
And they way calmed down her hair, too. Just because it's "fashion" doesn't mean you need an updo all the time!
Amen.