Anya wins!
Really, who didn't see that one coming? More than a few of you called it from the first voting episode. From a seasonal perspective, she certainly deserves it. She has vision and a point of view and talent up the ying yang. But from my view of the runway? Meh. Oh she pulled it around at the last minute, for sure. But don't tell me you weren't at least a smidge underwhelmed. She showed 5 versions of basically the same dress, albeit beautifully. I was glad someone finally pointed out those dresses can be worn by only a fraction of the population. But you and I and Nina realize that there is more to Anya than flowy caftans. And frankly, I didn't love anyone's collection. So go ahead and give her the $100,000 and lets see what happens.
There was something to hate and love from everyone, so let's get down to business.
Josh
I still don't get why the judges love him so damn much. I also don't believe for a second that he can maintain an edited version of his aesthetic without the judges or Tim Gunn putting the squeeze on him. And I'm sorry, he did not persuade me to wear plastic or neoprene. I still love his jacket and would probably carry it around Macy's with me for an hour, but ultimately, I would put it back. Why? Because it's neoprene. It will be hot and I will sweat and no amount of clinical strength deodorant is going to make me less uncomfortable or pleasant to sit within sniffing distance. On the plus side, it might make me slightly more likely to try surfing if I could accessorize my wet suit with a snappy jacket to camouflage some, shall we say, extra curves. I will leave it to our two resident outdoor clothing manufacturer fantasy leaguers to get on that with a reminder that I'm also available for paid consulting.
Surprisingly, I really liked the florescent green skirt, but the same colored shorts were horrid. Ew. I feel blessed to never have to see his clothes ever again ever.
Kim
As stated previously, though unnecessarily by anyone who's met me, I am not Kim's urban street girl demographic. Still, three of my favorite pieces were hers. I absolutely adored her ivory outfit, found her gown stunning and irrationally loved the teal lamé dress (irrational but not unprecedented. I have mentioned my past gold lamé bathroom, have I not?). The woman knows her way around the shiny fabrics. That's a fact. I also would like to take this moment to take away Josh's "Most Improved" declaration from Nina and give it to Kim. She had some funky tailoring going on last week and yet these same pieces fit and draped beautifully on the runway. Plus, I like taking things away from Josh and giving them to people who aren't jerks. Could she have been classier or more appreciative when given the boot? No.
The rest of Kim's collection just wasn't my bag and I believe she needs a bit more time to refine her designs. I also pretty much hated the heavy black wedge shoes she chose for all the models. Too clunky for my taste. But I enjoyed her looks much more than I dreamed I would and am glad they gave her a runway shot.
Viktor
Oh Viktor, you did pretty much what I expected you to do. I believe what we have here is a man who can make impeccably tailored clothes in classic silhouettes but is limited in vision. Whenever Viktor tries to push it, he goes off the rails. I don't think this makes him a bad designer, but it does restrict his potential. Personally, I hope he embraces what he's got and creates his own commercial line. There's no disgrace in becoming a designer for the masses. Banana Republic sure isn't breaking trends or going broke. And I want that first dress. Like, now.
Anya
Is it wrong that my favorite dress was the one she was wearing? The last minute addition of black and white prints surely saved her collection, but I wish she could have pulled herself together earlier. I loved the new direction she was exploring in the last two challenges and would have liked to see more - or at least some - of that in the finale. Disappointment aside, she is clearly the best designer and deserved the win.
So there you have it. Thanks for joining me for another Project Runway season. Carry on.
First of all, this was not the Nina Garcia episode I was led to believe it was going to be. No early critiques, no stress-inducing work room visits, no endless repetition of an emphatic "no". Total let down. However, as far as team challenges go, it was actually interesting-ish. The collections were pretty cohesive and I thought it was very efficiently clever of Team 6 to divide the workload by garment (finally, Man-Pants represents). And of course, no team challenge is complete without some drama and Elena took it upon herself to BRING.IT. Christopher is right. She does have a feral quality about her. Sadly for her, that may be her most interesting quality because her clothes, not so much.
