Stella & Jennifer

Darlings, before we continue with our witty and insightful critiques, we must take a mo to tell you that, thanks to the good graces of the fine folks at ProjectRunway.com, we are receiving high quality, highly detailed pics of each dress from each episode. As we get them (and when we have the time, you demanding bitches!) we'll be updating each of our posts with these highly detailed shots, starting with Kelli's vacuum cleaner bag dress here. Check back often if you're a stickler for details!

Onward.

Dear Stella,

Darling, had we known our little nickname was going to cause such distress, we would've written it in much larger letters.

We kid, of course. We are saddened to hear that you took our little joke as an accusation that you are some sort of drug user. Why, it couldn't be further from the truth! The fact is, when we call you Cheroin, it's because you remind us of Cher, who is our heroine. Ask any gay. She's a survivor.

Nicknames are a decades-long tradition here at PRGay and all who are bestowed with one eventually come to see it as one of the greatest things to ever happen to them. Just ask Princess Puffysleeves, SissyBear and The Angry Little Peanut. They love being saddled with those names.

Love,

T Lo

P.S. Also:

You look much better when you take a little time to apply your makeup. Just sayin'.

Now.

This.

What can we say about this? We think it's pretty obvious that the only reason the judges gave it such high points was because it was such a dramatic improvement over last week's trashbag couture. This, at least, is a dress. A completed, wearable dress.

It's a dress to go along with a pole and some lucite heels, but it's at least stitched and hemmed and fitted to her body, so for that, Stella gets major increases in her score this week.

Stella wants to work with her beloved "leathuh" and she doesn't care who knows it. She just wants to "burn it up, dye it up, grommet it, pyramid it, stud it, spike it, I want to make my leathuh." We, on the other hand, simply want to shake her and wag our finger in her face and say "What are you doing here? Did you really think you were going to get to put spikes on everything week in and week out? Snap out of it!"

But y'know? Credit must be given.

Why? Because design-wise, she stuck to her guns and didn't do the dress that the fabric cried out for, didn't do the dress that the model asked for, and didn't do the kind of dress the judges normally go for.

She did the kind of dress that adheres most closely to her own aesthetic, given the constraints of the challenge, and she deserves some major props for that. She stuck to her own style and interpreted for the challenge and the client. That's the essence of how this game is won.

Don't get us wrong, we don't love the dress and we are revolted by the lace-ups, but she played the game well and while the judges may have slightly over reacted to it, she earned her way to the next round.

Jennifer took some time off from Narnia or Oz or Middle Earth or wherever the hell she spends her daydreaming time and made a dress this week.

And y'know?

It's not a bad dress.

It's not a perfect dress or even a great dress, but it had a couple things going for it. We really liked the color-blocking and the flowy, drapey quality of it. It moved beautifully and there was an immediate visual impact.

The skirt appeared to be in several pieces, and more of the gray was revealed depending on how she moved. Again, creating a visual impact with some tension to it.

There were some slight problems with the execution and parts of it looked a little sloppy. In addition, as much as we like the color-blocking, some of the proportions were off in those straps and that sash.

Plus, the way-too-prominent zipper.

The eye is drawn directly to her center and there's too much going on there.

As a look, it's definitely got some things to recommend it, but it could have used some editing (we hate those geegaws on her shoulders - totally unnecessary) and some more time in the technical areas.

If we had to sum her up, we'd say Jennifer has something to offer as a designer, but in terms of the competition, she's going to need to seriously step up her execution.

[Photos: Projectrunway.com/Bravo/Barbara Nitke - Screencaps: Projectrungay.blogspot.com]