Seth Aaron wins!

What a great finale! All the collections had their strengths but it came down to who had the best show, and that was Mr. Henderson. The designs were pure Seth Aaron with a touch of added elegance and sophistication. Sure the purple get-up was a bit much - and a surprising inclusion given he had 24 looks to choose from - but overall, his collection was the most exciting.

I was also happy with Mila's collection. Out of all of them, hers is the one I would most want to wear. That said, there are still elements that need polishing and she would be doing herself a favor by forcing herself out of blocking if only a few times. But considering she's spent the majority of career styling and not designing, she's still working it out.

As for Emilio... meh. I loved his jackets. LOVED THEM. But the dresses were so underwhelming. Each time the judges talked about the sophistication of the collection, I wanted to throw my macbook across the room. They were basically colored versions of the Addicted to Love video. Michael Kors correctly pointed out he showed a line, not a collection, and I do believe we will see the ESOSA print in stores at some point. But you won't see it on me.

Thanks to everyone who played this year and congratulations to Sarah K for the win!

Why so drab, people?

Let's just get this out of the way. Jonathan won because the French love romance and he has yet to win a challenge. Not that I didn't like his design. I did. I thought it captured his element wonderfully, showed real innovation with the fabric and as Jonathan said, "pale gets pale" (and I, sir, am pale). But it also felt incomplete. Or maybe just too short. Seth Aaron's design should have won. The end.

The four elements was an interesting challenge. It gave everyone enough creative room to really show their perspective or, in many cases, cave to the pressure. Ben's jock strap pant deserved to go, but I wouldn't have cried if Amy went home either. A hairy boob does not a lady make. And why so glum everyone? Apparently they all decided to dress a funeral for our Mother Earth. Even Maya's pretty water concept was more Detroit River than blue lagoon. Though Lord help me, I actually liked Mila's pedestrian mall outfit, sucker as I am for asymmetrical design. Not as much as I loved Michael and Nina recognizing that she is lost without a crisp black and white block, however.

Other random highlights:

Tim Gunn announcing that Anthony is on fire.

Anthony pointing out that Amy's model needs a Nair affair up there.

Losing count of the times a look was declared weird or odd.

French judge defending his opinion with the statement, "But hey, I'm French".

"Jock strap pant detail". I just like saying it. Try it!

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Allison, are you ready for the circus?

Kids say the darndest things. I actually liked this episode much more than I thought I would. And oh the surprises! Jonathan threw a roll of toilet paper down the runway, Emilio tried to bore me to death, Mila busted out her one trick and Amy got... creative? The clown pants were shocking, no doubt, especially coming from her. But I can't bring myself to say anything bad about them because 1. she took a risk and 2. she handled herself impressively on the runway. No excuses, acknowledged the risk and poor decisions while standing firm on the choices she still believed in. Plus, take away the black and make it a skirt, and hey! it's actually not bad.

What wasn't so shocking? Bad ass Seth Aaron making two bad ass outfits (outfits?! Is that even a real fashion term? What is this, Garanimals?). Seriously, Seth Aaron brought.it. That jacket was amazing. And good on Michael Kors for giving him the props for tailoring. Good tailoring that made Jesse's well intentioned but horribly executed designs look all the more sad. Do they not teach basic construction in fashion school anymore? Is it like art school and all you have to do is declare it fashion to succeed. That and constantly tell your professors how genius they are. But I digress...

I did actually like Jesse's design and Jay Nicholas' was pretty chic, though honestly also a little boring to me. And not fair that his child model appeared a good 4 years older than some of the others. But maybe she's an early bloomer. You looked beautiful kid!

Janeane is finally gone. Girl is lucky she lasted this long. She seems nice and I may even buy a dress from her in Portland one day but high fashion, she is not.