Ándale! Ándale! Arriba!

Team Challenge! My favorite. And 6 people per team! That's a delicious recipe for disaster.

First off, Heidi specifically said no team leaders...I'm looking at YOU Gretchen. That was the most bizarre 180 from tearfully declaring "we all worked so hard and are so proud of our collection!" to "I feel I had to style a crappy collection and was just trying to save it". Gasp! And I still don't understand why they were all pointing fingers at Michael who had immunity. What was the point of that? I must say, out of all the cool choices on the nifty velcro board I was surprised that Team Luxe picked "camel" and "menswear for women". I can't say I liked the other team's collection much either, but they made it work with a challenging combo: "military" and "lace". That's no joke.

Shocker of shockers the "fantaaaaaastico Casanova" pulled it out! Heidi even wanted to wear his outfit herself which should help boost his fragile ego. I thought his "major diva moment" was hilarious to watch. Kudos to his model for being the only one able to convince him not to quit (there's no way he would've gone through with that threat, IMO). Pull yourself together, hombre!

The final outcome of this one was obvious once the bottom three were standing on the runway. As if the producers would let Gretchen go this early for drama factor alone! We love to hate her. Although Tim Gunn is having none of it. That was quite a Team Luxe scolding at the end for "allowing Gretchen to manipulate, control and bully you". Wow, go Tim! I think he set the tone for next week and we can probably expect to move from passive aggression and quietly hurt feelings to full-on, claws-out, cat fights and total breakdowns. Something to look forward to! ;)

My Hats Off To.....

Who knew designing an outfit to showcase a hat could be so challenging? Legendary Mad-hatter Phillip Treacy was this week's guest judge and with a twist, provided the inspiration to be followed by each designer as his head-adorning creations became the muse for the designer's look this week--leaving most of the designers perplexed in this challenge. More confused, though, was myself after the judging table had its way with the designers.

To start, those who were excused as safe should have been anything but! Peach, you are sweet and all, but you have to start being a little more creative because I keep forgetting you exist each week when I sit down to contemplate the episode. Can we please see a different color than pink? You had the coolest hat of the whole collection--a whirlwind of black and white feathers, and you chose pink and cream upholstery fabric, AGAIN. A.J, where did you get polka-dots from that amazing hat? And, to quote past PR contestant Nick Verreos, "Gretchen's design looks very Zara...on sale." Mondo, I just love you so I'm find with you being safe, but your color pallett reminded me of the ugly color scheme Tully's chose to paint the old Rainer building in Georgetown.

Now to get to the winner-happy Father's day Micheal C, but you did NOT deserve to win this week! Did the judges feel bad for snubbing your fab red dress last week and decide to just hand over the top spot this week? Or did they perhaps confuse you with Michael D who did an amazing job and whose color scheme actually MATCHED his hat? Michael D, your use of shape and color was impeccable and truly inspired!

Now back to the winner Michael's golden gypsy dres--the whole handkerchief hemline is too small town Shakespear int he Park "Midsummer Night's Dream' for my taste. I have to assume that something was lost in translation from runway to tv because I don't see where the color of the dress complimented the hat--nor did the shape seem appealing to me. I don't get it.

As for Valerie, still a bridesmaid! Come on, Valerie you are due for a win! Your outfit was cute and managed to work with the mask quite well. And last but not least, Christopher. Christopher, I agree with every other designer back stage--you were a winner in my book. I thought for sure you, Michael D, and Valerie would have been in the top 3. As for your outfit making Heidi sad?! What? Heidi, where does that hat look any sort of happy? Huh? I thought he did a great job and at least deserved to be in the safe cateogry as opposed to the bottom 3.

As for our losers this week: April. Why did you choose white for the diaper shorts? WHY?! And Kristin, we are sad to see you go, you were wacky and nice but that Orchid dress was a mess.

I'm looking forward to the large group challenge next week! Tempers are sure to fly! Bless the souls who get stuck with Gretchen--It is sure to be an entertaining episode!

-Caitlin

It's My Party

Greetings everyone! Well, today it is MY PARTY because I am the guest blogger for Week 3 of Project Runway!

I love Betsey Johnson and hate Gretchen, so frankly I couldn't have had better luck this week. *Caitlin

I think this was the best "after the runway" segment in the history of PR. I've never witnessed so many deserved eye-rolls as were directed at Gretchen after her ego-rampage this episode. While her outfit was very normal and "cool", as Nina mentioned, it was not creatvie AT ALL. Come on, it isn't THAT HARD to make what Gretchen kept boasting to Tim as "hand-cut cheverons" into tinsel material--BORING. While the "leather" jacket was cool, the undershirt did look like paper.

Besides the ever-aggravating Gretchen showing her true colors this episode (those being tan, black, grey and conceited) I think there were a lot of standouts that went un-noticed. Christopher's beautiful brown dress was stunning, as was Michael C.'s red dress. It was a CRIME, a CRIME I tell you that Michael was not in the top two when he clearly deserved to be a winner along with Andy's stunner of a little black dress. The "always a bridesmaid" Valerie also created an awesome dress made of 600 napkins--I believe Betsey when she said she would wear it AND use it to freshen up at a party if needed.

God Bless the ever adorable Betsey Johnson for not completely smashing A.J's dreams. That dress was a cotton candy nightmare. While Sarah's dress was the least finished and professional looking (thanks to Gretchen steering her astray) I don't think she should have gone before Casanova. When are the judges going to wake up and realize he will never produce a nice piece of clothing?

What will happen next week?! Will Gretchen continue to villain-ize herself? Will Valrie finally take top honors?

70's trump 80's

I imagine the internet is a flutter with hoo-ha over Gretchen winning again, but gosh darn it, she deserved it. Lovely as Valerie's dress was - I loved the neck line and pockets - that stupid zipper did her in, in my opinion. You may recall my aversion to most things 80's retro (see post: A Little Help) so this shouldn't come as a surprise. I would not have been exactly outraged had Valerie took top honors. But to my sensibility, the pant suit was better. And believe me, that is a sentence I never thought I would type.

As for the rest of the crybabies (seriously, what is up this season?), there was a lot of misplaced confidence rolling down the runway. I have to hand it to AJ for being one of the few to admit his garment looked not-so-hot. Peach, of course, took the mea culpa cake. I'm still not sure what she's about design-wise, but god bless her Midwest accent. I'm just waiting for her to go to Moods or run to Paneras for a quick bite. Or is the random pluralisation of names just a Michigan thing?

Taking self-delusion to grand new heights, however, was the also semi-creepy Jason. Holy jeebus, that man would annoy the CRAP out of me in real life. He is one of those people that would make me want to quit my job if I had to work with him. Or punch him in the face. The man will never suffer from self confidence issues, that's for sure. So kick him to the curb and let him get on with his life while I watch Project Runway in peace and without the need for blood pressure medication.