Season 8: Electric Boogaloo

Holy cats, kids! It's time for another season of Project Runway. Which means it's go-time for another official unsanctioned state university-sponsored Project Runway Fantasy League. Consider it team building. I'm sure I read this in 365 Ways to Motivate and Reward Your Employees Every Day: With Little or No Money.

The first episode is tonight and will be a 1.5 hour commitment people. This game is not for the faint-hearted (or the socially popular, apparently). As always, we'll take the first episode to measure up the competition so there will be no picks until next week. There are some slight scoring changes this year, mostly to match the scoring of another online league because I am lazy and can't slip anything past Nate P.'s eagle-eye anyway. Hopefully this will cut down on the endless emailed revisions of the scoring sheet each week, though I wouldn't bet the farm on it. You have this week to look over this year's rules (see following post) and submit your best persuasive argument to change something. The inclusion of iTunes gift cards will only help your case. Empty promises will not.

Here's to a season that doesn't jump the shark. Now get to work already!

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!

Does anyone else find it weird how darn nice the judges get at the end? Heidi, less so, but Nina looked beside herself with worry over who to choose for Mercedes Benz Bryant Park Fashion Week. And Mr. Kors was abnormally generous with his accolades. Or at least less forthcoming with the catty smackdowns. It's disconcerting.

In any event, it is going to be quite the runway show next week. Seth Aaron's collection was fantastically him, but Tim was right to advise him to push it. Project Runway history, however, shows that directive tends to result in a hot tranny mess (aw, I miss Christian). Emilio's collection was downright dreadful. Matronly doesn't even begin to describe it. So obviously his designs will be pretty amazing by the time they hit the catwalk.

As for the third runway designer, Mila was the right choice, though I think her singular vision will be her downfall. Still, given the time she had in her own studio, she actually produced clothes I would like to wear (I loooooved the jacket). Hopefully the aubergine she is gambling her dream on will pay off.

Jay Nicholas is doing interesting things, but it's still a little too interesting, if you know what I mean. I really liked the gators but there's was a whole lotta lotta going on there. Dial it back and focus, kid, and then you'll have something.

My money's on Seth Aaron. And I will pay money to make it happen just to see the sucker punch of humility hit Emilio's face. Meow ladies!

Now it gets exciting

Nothing like waiting until the last minute, eh Lifetime? Finally, it gets interesting. It's the 11th episode hoo-haw. The ol' switcheroo. Up is down. Black is white. Maya is out. Anthony is in. The final confirmation that we are in bizarro world? Emilio wins again. For the 3rd time. In a row. What the what?!

I would like to give the judges the benefit of the doubt that perhaps it looked better in real life, but that dress was not worth fawning over. I will give him excellent tailoring props, but the fabric is tacky. It is glorified copper lamé, for the love of pete. Anthony's was no show-stopper either but I do believe Jessica Alba can work it.

Speaking of Miss Jessica, what makes her so special that she gets to walk out on the runway like Heidi? I do not think I have ever seen a guest judge do that and I have to believe in the hierarchy of celebrity fashion icons, that if anyone gets to be introduced on the runway, it would be Carrie Bradshaw. And if you recall, she did not.

If I had my druthers, there would be no challenge winner. Maybe the pressure of dressing Heidi got the better of them, but the "best" were merely "ok" and the worst were, well, the worst. Poor Jonathan went home with his head held high. Now help me Nina and send Mila home.

"SethAaronEmilioSosa"

I'm with you Tim. I STILL don't see "E. Sosa" on that print but I was admittedly blinded by his ego. Yowza. That man does not suffer from insecurity. I will hand it to Emilio, the print wasn't bad from far away but I personally have never been fond of designer-logo'd clothing. Never owned a Vuitton bag and never will. Not even the cute Murakami one (much love Takashi!). However, the juxtaposition of eras and style did work, even if it was a little on the plain side, and I would have chosen Seth Aaron for the win. Again.

In other repetitive scenes, Maya played the bridesmaid once again. I would feel bad for her but you know, she hasn't done anything win-worthy. Her designs can be interesting, but not generally desirable to actually wear.

Jonathan's disco straight jacket was a pretty spectacular fail but was his print really so bad? I thought it was pretty but maybe I am in the middle of a bad bought of Seasonal Affective Disorder. I'm here for you buddy. Bring those pale teardrop mud stains to mama.

SAD or not, I can tell you Mila's design made me MAD. Poor dress design, poor textile design, poor stiff fabric. Consider that mess the next time you call one of your colleague's taste into judgement.

As for Anthony, you will be missed. I humbly offer my apologies for predicting such a short lifespan on this show for you and am grateful for the laughs and good sportsmanship you brought.

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!

This post brought to you by Garnier Fructis Style Flexible Control Anti-Humidity Hairspray, which must always (ALWAYS) be referred to in its entirety.

MacGuyver would have trouble with this challenge

This was one of those love/hate episodes. On the one hand, if you can rise to the challenge, you are sure to elevate yourself far above the competition. On the other hand, asking people to stretch their creativity with mediums that are not only completely foreign to them but may actually require some level of materials science education to use, isn't even a train wreck worth watching. Case: Emilio. WTF? Nice save on the "everyone else was making dresses and I wanted to be different" excuse, regardless of its truthiness. But while the bathing suit was wildly hoochie, the greater sin was it was just plain ugly. And if he had more money, it would have been an ugly dress. Though it did make me wonder if they still make silly string.

All of the designs had that 1st-year art school vibe to them. And believe me, as someone who had no business taking sculpture classes but enrolled in three, the end results were all too predictable. Jesse's was very tin-man but not worse than Emilio's. Even Maya's design, while laudable, was only impressive because it fit. I'll give her the necklace, but considering 90% of jewelry is inherently hard ware, it was really more of a savvy choice of accessory to make than amazing display of talent. I'm not even going to go into Color-Block's design. I would have picked Jonathan's instead, though I was distracted by Oscar gossip on the internet while Mila's design went down the runway and didn't notice the fantastic flow of her blocks of white and black plastic. Was it as bedazzling as guest judge Stephen Webster thought? Also missed, why were there four judges this episode?

Jay Nicholas unmistakably owned this runway. It was a dicey start but he perfectly executed his vision. Kudos to you, sir.