Pasta Joe and Judy Noodles

Once again, Joe skates in under the radar. It's too early to tell if this is an actual strategy on his part, but for the most part, he makes decent, reliable clothing. Not good enough to be noticed and not bad enough to be, well, noticed.

And once again, we're looking at something that's a little boring, but spiced up with a little tackiness.

Credit has to be given for fully realizing his inspiration. Sure, it doesn't say "night out in NYC" and as a dress, it's way too literal an interpretation, but there's something elegantly simple about being able to draw such a straight line from inspiration to realization.

Silhouette, proportion, fit - all fine. Basic, but fine.

It's the style that loses us. The shiny fabric in that bodice, although it exactly matches the quality of light in the photo, looks cheap. The shirring in the bust kind of bumps up the cheapness effect. And chokers should be used sparingly, if at all.

Oh, did we say we liked the silhouette? We did. Until she turned around. There's just no need for that tulle tail.

Judy Bernly knocks one out of the park by revisiting the design element that almost got her kicked off days before. We have to say, she may be quiet, but little Judy's got balls.

This was a very chic, understated look that was pretty much perfectly presented.

It seemed that she really needed to get those noodles out of her system. We wonder if she felt she needed to prove her vision to the judges since she clearly felt they didn't get it the week before.

Well, there was a difference. The week before, her noodles looked sloppy and half-assed. Now they look well-executed and thought out.

We think it was wise to downplay the top and let the skirt do all the talking. We also think playing around with different fabric finishes to get her effect showed that she's inventive and has a clearly defined sense of understatement.

Also, good job on the styling. Chic and simple.

If we have one criticism, it's that the skirt needed some fine-tuning so that all the pieces could lay correctly. We're willing to cut her some slack due to time restraints, but we were puzzled when the judges were all "It looks like it came right off the rack!" No it doesn't. It's close, but it's not quite there.


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[Photos: Bravo/Barbara Nitke - Screencaps: Projectrungay.blogspot.com]
[Additional Pictures: Courtesy of ProjectRunway.com]