Project Runway After Party

Episode 14: Finale Part Two
The final runway show is here, and I am as happy as a little girl. And even though I’ve already seen the clothes, there’s nothing like watching the models prance and traipse and flutter down the runway, breathing life into the designers’ creations. I just hope the music on the runway is better this year!

So last week, we saw the Final Three designers return to Manhattan after five months of working on their 12-piece collections for Olympus Fashion Week. Then Heidi Klum bum rushes them with their final “surprise”: To design a 13th garment to fit into their collection.

Why?

The better to make my homegirl Lil’ Chlo cry again, of course.

So here we are, at the last episode, and we see the final three designers with their ex-cast member partners rushing to make the now-infamous 13th outfit.

Chloe leaves the draping to Diana, but she’s taking too long. If Diana continues at this pace, Chloe’s gonna have to bust a “I don’t care if you cry and drape, but you got to cry and drape.”

Back to the BR workroom. Santino and Andrae are making a dress, and Tim tells them that it’s “gorgeous.”

Daniel “Don’t Call Him the Golden Child” Vosovic says his 13th garment “invigorates” the rest of his collection. Oh. It’s that beige sack dress that I saw a few weeks ago. Yawn. I’m underwhelmed.

Did you see that? I channeled Michael Kors just then.

Tim calls the designers to gather around to pick order of presentation: Daniel, Chloe, and then Santino.

Ten hours before the show, finishing touches are made, shoes and accessories are sorted, and emotions are running high. Blah, blah, blah.

It's 5:30 a.m. the day of the show, the designers entered the empty tent. The gravity of the situation - the realness of it all - begins to sink in.

Ooh. I want an Elle goodie bag. I hope the folks at Blogging Project Runway are able to get the low down on what’s in those goodie bags. You KNOW it’s gotta be some great stuff. (UPDATE 3/9: Christine at bliu blog was there at the PROFW show - yes, I'm jealous - and she mentions not only what was in the goodie bags, but she has nice candid pictures with celebs and PR cast mates from seasons 1 and 2. Drool.)

Chloe’s having issues with makeup and hair, and she is NOT happy.

“Oh my God. Lack of sleep is making me a diva,” Lil’ Chlo says.

Go on, girl. You BE a diva. It’s your day, homegirl.

Daniel V. is missing his arts-and-crafty handbags. Tim tells him “Everything happens for a reason.” Hmm. Tim Gunn sabotage?

They show Santino’s mom in the audience. She’s verklempt, of course. Cut to Daniel’s parents, but they find the purses, so let’s talk about them instead!

The runway show starts. Heidi looks like she’s been fake n’ baking. She introduces the judges, Nina Garcia, Michael Kors, and Debra Messing from “Will and Grace.”

Let’s start the show.

Daniel Vosovic
I know I’ve bashed Daniel’s collection for a few weeks now. I still think he’s produced better garments during the course of the show, but I really found his Project Runway collection to be pretty safe and quite frankly, nothing new that I haven’t seen anywhere else. I liked the seafoam green (?) wrap/kimono top, but then again, I think I liked it because it reminded me of Kara’s trademark kimono dress. However, seeing Daniel’s collection come down the runway improved my final perception of the it by about 20%. Except for the 13th garment. I’m not loving that at all. It’s a shapeless sack.

Daniel’s model during the show, Rebecca, comes out in the final dress and gets her feet tangled in the fishtail hem. She trips on it, but doesn’t fall. Oh, the drama! This is like, the equivalent of fumbling the football or something. You just know Kors is gonna give Daniel shit for this.

Lil’ Chlo
So homegirl comes out on the runway, thanks everyone for coming, points out her family and thanks them, etc. Ooh. Chloe has a boyfriend. He’s hot! You go, girl!

I enjoyed the sexiness of the long green dress with the floral print. The high-collared suit/blazer was kind of stiff, but its other counterpart (the pants outfit with the lace shrug top in the same color scheme) was a lot more “Chloe.” I also just loved the long blue print dress with the wide blue trim. Her 13th look was cute too, but there was something very “pre-teen” about the bust. Like it was too small or something. That wouldn’t even cover my girls if I wore that dress.

And the final gown made Grace, again, look like she’d had a few decent meals, finally.

Santino Rice
After giving his mom a shout out (“My mom’s the shit, y’all!”) his collection starts.

Santino's collection - to me, anyway - totally succeeded in conveying the 40’s Hollywood glamour/boudoir theme – even down to the 13th garment. If I had to get rid of one piece, it would be that black Queen Elizabeth-Virgin-Queen-Gone-Goth jacket, only because it came off as a bit heavy, and wasn’t as light and airy as the rest of the other garments. It was a cool jacket and created an interesting silhouette, but that one was a bit of a wild card. Overall though, I thought Santino did a great job.

AND, to top it all off, Santino created his own original music for the runway!

Think of it this way, Santino: If the designing gig doesn’t work out (or if Nicky Hilton doesn't hit you up for a dress), you have a promising career in electronica.

Judging time!
Debra Messing asks each designer to describe the inspiration behind their collections. Michael Kors says that he wants to rip that patch off of Rebecca’s dress. And he liked Daniel V.'s 13th dress. He thought it was great. WHAT? Losers. And the judges mention that the whole Asian and military theme didn’t play out. Agreed.

Nina and Michael say that Santino’s collection was out of character. Nina thinks it was too safe, but she appreciates this aspect of a more “mature Santino.” Thank you. But then, they criticized the fit of his clothing: “The boobs weren’t where they were supposed to be,” says Heidi. But Nina assures him that he has a place in fashion and for him not to be discouraged.

The judges move on to Lil’ Chlo and question her choice of doing all evening wear. Heidi criticizes the “matchy matchy” shrugs. Heidi says she’d never wear that, but maybe they love to rock that look in Houston. Who knows? Debra Messing absolutely loved Chloe’s 13th dress.

Each designer now has to defend why they should win. Santino thinks he’ll create timeless pieces even if people think he’s crazy. Chloe says she has a great business mind. Daniel says he has a unique point of view.

So who wins? And more importantly, do I get a carne asada burrito out of this?

Damn. Santino is out. No burrito for me.

Lil’ Chlo wins! And so does Grace, she gets her spread in Elle! Congrats, ladies!


P.S. to Daniel V.: Take the Kors job offer.