Alex Goes to the Olympics

Further introductions unnecessary.

Click to make big, bitches!



[Illustrations: Alex Cox/Projectrungay.blogspot.com]

Blayne and Leanne

"I'm beginning to like get paler and paler, weaker and weaker, and probably by the end of the season I'll be, like, frail."

Try as we might, we just can't hate him.

Oh, don't look at us like that. We didn't say we loved him, did we? Yeah, he's trying too hard and yeah, he's annoyingly young, but as reality show contestants go, he's harmless and he seems to be enjoying himself.

And speaking of annoyingly young...

...we can understand Tim's reaction to his not knowing what "Sgt. Pepper" means, but honestly, how many of you at 23 were all that aware of the music scene that predated your birth by 2 decades?

Still, the argument could be made that a fledgling fashion designer should be a little more aware of the trends of the past and the figures that drove those trends. Certainly, we found it annoying in S3 that Alison didn't know who Farrah Fawcett was and Bradley didn't know anything about Cher.

It's notable that he apparently took Tim's advice because what's on that dress form isn't what walked down that runway.

Unfortunately, this is. Starting from the bottom, those pants are awful. We're not sure what that fabric is but it looks cheap and it's way too clingy and wrinkly.

Working our way up, we guess it's commendable that he didn't want to do a typical red and blue, but going for pink and a metallic teal doesn't strike us as a very wise choice. The design of the stripes was an okay idea, but he didn't do such a hot job of implementing them. They're not consistent in their lines. They look like they were pinned on and left that way.

On the other hand, we kind of like that collar treatment he did, even though we're not fans of the Wilma Flintstone look.

It's not that he's to our tastes, because he's not, and it's not that we think he's all that innovative, because he's not, but he's a lot better than we assumed he'd be going into this.

We don't love the look, but it's sporty and a little different and a lot closer to appropriate for the challenge than most of the other looks.

We both liked Leanne's entry a lot, Tom more so than Lorenzo. We think it looks sporty and patriotic and interesting, which, on paper would make it the perfect entry for the challenge, but it wasn't without its problems.

Tom loved the collar but Lorenzo hated it. We both agree that the proportions of it were a little off, though. Slightly smaller and slightly better executed (what's going on with the blue part?) and it could have been perfect.

Lorenzo doesn't like the off-center buttons either. Tom thinks they add a little visual interest.

We both agree that the massive peplum was a big no. We can understand wanting to add some flair (no pun intended) to an outfit that looks a little "tennis court" but it actually makes it look less sporty than it should and we doubt it would have complimented a lot of those athletes' bodies.

Still, it was a pretty good entry, despite the flaws with it. Leanne's shaping up to be more of a designer than we realized going into it.


More detailed pictures:




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

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.


More detailed pictures:



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

Toonarama!

Roving PRG toon reporter Alex checks in with the contestants this week:




[Illustrations: Alex Cox/Projectrungay.blogspot.com]

Joe, Kelli & Leanne

We're praying for a triple elimination tonight because we're just too exhausted having to rip so many dresses for you bloodthirsty attack poodles.

And Joe, you're going to need to have a crying fit or a fight with the judges or make a vow to destroy one of your competitors because we have trouble remembering you're even there.

Of course, making a memorable dress would help too.

Well, props need to be paid for using the fabric that tripped up two other designers and not torturing it.

It's not an innovative or memorable or even vaguely interesting design, but at least it's fairly well executed. Kinda hate the port hole.

Kelli had immunity this week and made a dress like she knew it.

How else to explain this?

It's like it started off like a good idea - matching skirt and ruffled shrug with a bodice in a contrasting fabric - and then somewhere in the process she was like "Fuck this, I have IMMUNITY! Bring on the assiness!"

It looks like that bit of contrast over her left boob is supposed to be actually covering her left boob instead of timidly creeping towards it. Even if that effect had been perfectly executed we still wouldn't have liked it. It's the very definition of a titscrepancy.

Also, she needs a belt or a sash or something to transition that contrasting blue into the skirt.

And that's just a lot of hoo-haa. Doesn't add anything and the big cutaway in the back looks like it belongs on a different dress. Step it up, Kells. You don't have immunity this week.

Has anyone else noticed the little Judy Bernly blouses that Leanne's been wearing every week? We're actually getting together with some gays to watch 9 to 5 before the show tonight in her honor. There's nothing like a little 1980 secretarial couture to get us in the mood to watch PR.

As for little Judy's dress...

That's a lot of bad.

It seems to us that it could have been a chic little number if Judy had done some editing, but more importantly, it might have worked if she'd had some sort of game plan. As it is, she was all "Maybe I'll make some fabric noodles and stick them all over it."

The basic design concept isn't bad. We like the silhouette and the proportions. We hate the fabric but that's not her fault and besides it doesn't look like she ran it through a mangler like Wesley's.

It's just so...noodley. And the noodles don't have any rhyme or reason. They're just stuck all over it.

And another thing...

Many of you have convinced us that pockets in skirts are cute and fun and even sometimes necessary. We don't 100% agree in all cases, but we're starting to come around to that point of view little by little.

We CANNOT, though, under any circumstances, get behind pockets in a mini-skirt. Sorry noodle poodles, that's just stupid.

And the head noodle is dumb.

Don't forget T LOunge this afternoon, darlings! Wear something that transitions well from day to evening and get there early because you just may win a door prize today.

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