Project Runway After Party

First off, can I just say I am getting sick of Daniel V.'s crab walk in the opening credits?

Okay. Now that I've got that off my chest, let's dive in.

Episode 8: Inspiration
What drives your creativity as a designer? That was the question posed this episode to the contestants.

But wait - we have to boot off a model. And since Zulema won the last challenge, she gets to pick her model. Leave it to her to mix it up - she wants to change her model, and she wants a walk off between Danielle (Andrae's), Tarah (Nick's), and Shannon (Emmett's). She picks Tarah. Feel the drama! And it looks like Tarah AND Nick look like they're going to cry. Like they're Romeo and Juliet about to get separated. And Nick looks at Zulema like he wants to cut her.

Anyway. Seven models left. And all of them go to visit Michael Kors at his studio. How ... last season. Welcome to the "Michael Kors Mentorship" episode. He talks to them about taking an idea and turning it into a whole collection.

All the designers get a digital camera (Olympus, in case you were wondering). They are tasked to take pictures, pick one shot, and design an outfit based on that photo.

Sounds interesting enough. Here's what some of the designers took pictures of:

• Kara - Street signs
• Zulema - African woman
• Chloe - Architecture
• Santino - Graffiti
• Daniel V - Orchids in the Michael Kors lobby
• Andrae - Dirty water in the gutter

Nick's not taking any pictures. He's still pissed Zulema jacked his model. And he says that he gets most of his inspiration from his models. Ooops. Now he's stuck with Zulema's stiff-ass, model with not-such-a-great-walk instead. Damn that Zulema!

Tim comes in and gives everyone the "tough love" talk. Shape up or you're ass out, is basically what he's saying. Santino needs to be less argumentative with the judges. Daniel V. starts out brilliant, but then he loses momentum. Chloe doesn't push the envelope enough. Zulema needs to take more risks. Kara has never won a challenge. Andrae and Nick need to be more ambitious.

Nick is totally pissed and "over the whole show." He thinks he's ambitious enough, thank you very much. Sensing Nick's despair, Daniel V. comes over and gives him such a great pep talk and totally lifted Nick's spirits. Okay. I love me some Daniel V.

Zulema thinks everyone thinks she's sheisty for what she did to Nick. But she insists that she'll continue to change models every time she wins.

"It's nothing personal. It's just business," she says.

Maybe it's that yellow Grace Jones shirt you're wearing that's sheisty. I'm just saying. I still love your earrings though, girl.

Fifteen minutes before the deadline, Zulema still has nothing. And basically has to pull something together real quick.

Tarah and Zulema's ex model, Rachael, pretty much say in their interviews that they love Nick and like Zulema not so much. Rachael is pretty pissed that she got switched, and so she vows to work her shit for Nick, because he's her favorite anyway. Rowr!

Jay McCarroll, last year's Project Runway winner, is this week's guest judge. Yay!

I didn't really like Santino's dress. It looked like a maternity gown. Not to mention it was that same tie-dye-looking fabric Austin used last season.

Kara's dress - a black, stretchy, tube dress with a yellow and black "caution tape" running diagonally down the bodice - looked pretty plain and simple. Disappointing. And Daniel V's tweed skirt and pouffy, silk organza blouse. Oh my god. Loved it! And Chloe's puffy, pleated, and ribboned dress actually made her model - the redhead anorexic one - look beautiful. I didn't really have the urge to give her a sandwich this time.

So the question remains: On the runway, will Rachael nail the walk for Nick?

Yes, chile, she sure does. There were hips, there was sexiness, there was a come-hither pose at the end. Take that, Zulema!

Okay. Jay thought Andrae's dress was the most inspiring? How could Andrae's dress, made out of fine fabrics, match the "you turned something ugly into something beautiful" theme? Burlap? Cotton? Muslin? Maybe. But silk charmeuse? Give me a break.

Jay was not even trying to hear Nick and Kara's stories.

The judges totally rip apart Zulema's dress. Michael Kors says the dress looks like it was a debutante dress gone bad, home sewn by the girl's mother who's not such a great sewer. Nina Garcia says that the dress was poorly executed. Karma's a bitch!

Santino gets props for not putting all that bullshit on his dress this episode, even if it ended up looking like a maternity evening gown. Ironically, Heidi says that if he did put all his usual trims on the garment, it would have actually WORKED this time.

Daniel V. wins the challenge. And he deserved it. And I love his hair.

Zulema's gets The Auf. Which only goes to prove that bullies never win out in the end. SNAP!

Santino is spared again! But for how much longer?