Project Runway All Stars - October 25, 2012 | Golden Skate

Project Runway All Stars - October 25, 2012

Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Yes, I watched! I put a message at the bottom of the other Project Runway thread, silly person that I am. Thanks for starting this fresh thread! I'm so glad to see Ulli back, and Kayne, and many of the others. I always enjoyed Althea's work, and Andrae can be wonderful. Wendy Pepper, despite her rep as a vixen, is a designer whose work I actually like. I should probably blush when I admit that I liked Suede's scarf skirt, despite the fact that he was in the bottom three. And Ivy is wonderful. Hope she continues to do strong work and gets to remain.

Mondo is a find. Not only can the guy design, but he can explain beautifully. I hope he comes back on the show frequently. I wonder if he's back because the show got good audience feedback when he was a guest judge in the regular season. I sure hope so. For whatever reason, he's splendid, so articulate about what works. without being flashy about his statements.
 

heyang

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Yes, I watched! I put a message at the bottom of the other Project Runway thread, silly person that I am. Thanks for starting this fresh thread! I'm so glad to see Ulli back, and Kayne, and many of the others. I always enjoyed Althea's work, and Andrae can be wonderful. Wendy Pepper, despite her rep as a vixen, is a designer whose work I actually like. I should probably blush when I admit that I liked Suede's scarf skirt, despite the fact that he was in the bottom three. And Ivy is wonderful. Hope she continues to do strong work and gets to remain.

Mondo is a find. Not only can the guy design, but he can explain beautifully. I hope he comes back on the show frequently. I wonder if he's back because the show got good audience feedback when he was a guest judge in the regular season. I sure hope so. For whatever reason, he's splendid, so articulate about what works. without being flashy about his statements.

Mondo's always been a fan favorite, especially since he lost his 1st season to the witch, and then came back to win the 1st All-Stars. I'm sure his experience as a contributing editor has been helpful.

I wasn't surprised the Peach went home - she was definitely the least interesting.
 

Dee4707

Ice Is Slippery - Alexie Yagudin
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Country
United-States
Laura Kathleen finally got the boot. I didn't like her designs or how she put the other designers down as if all her designs were the best. I actually thought Uli should have won instead of Anthony Ryan but the judges like his design the best. I'm not sure that Josh should still be there.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
I'm with you in loving Ulli's dress best. The Twenties are one of my favorite eras, so I was especially eager to see these dresses. Ulli's had the drape that I always hope for with a Twenties inspiration, plus its texture was delectable. I actually thought Josh's dress this time around was very nice. I love its wrap silhouette; I think I've seen that style in books and costume exhibits.

I think Ulli has grown greatly since she first appeared on the show. Her dresses were always graceful, but they were variations on the same theme: caftan-like draped garments with a wonderful mastery of prints. Now she has a variety of silhouettes and creates a lot of diverse surface textures. I also enjoy her personality. She is certainly able to compete, but she doesn't seem to want to put anyone else down just to make herself look good. She behaves civilly to everyone without making a big production of it. She also seems to enjoy creating clothes that make women look good. Gee, what a concept!
 

Dee4707

Ice Is Slippery - Alexie Yagudin
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Country
United-States
I think Ulli has grown greatly since she first appeared on the show.

I totally agree that Uli has grown...I love her style & design. Too bad Laura Kathleen didn't grow...she just got on my nerves soooooo.....much.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Since Jeffrey won (he was unusually obnoxious as a contestant), I have tried to be Zen about the outcome of the competition. One just hopes that the really good designers who seem to be nice are able to use the publicity from the show to advance their careers and businesses. Someone who seems to treat women with respect, such as Rami Kashou, might derive longterm career benefits from a second-place or third-place finish if the stars align in his favor. Ulli is one of those. If I suddenly became a splendid actress and beautiful besides, I would be happy to have Ulli or Rami design me a dress for the red carpet. (I know. I should be so lucky. But it's fun to contemplate! Something in a deep rose, I think.)
 

heyang

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I, too, am glad that the obnoxious Laura Kathleen was finally eliminated - I never thought of her as an All-Star either.

Ivy was totally shocked to be staying. While I'm sure Ivy is still somewhat snarky at times, I think she saw herself during her last season and realized that she had to tone herself down, which is a part of 'growing up'.

I think Uli didn't win her season because her collection was more ready-to-wear while Jeffrey's was 'high fashion'. I'm still bummed that Michael Knight had a brain fart during the final project and for his collection - I think he thought he had to do high-end, when his best work was in sportswear. The judges really wanted him in the finale, which is why they made it a final 4 that season.....
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
I just loved Michael. He was smart, creative, and civil to the other designers. I disliked his final collection as you did--definitely the design part of his brain shut down--but his earlier garments were grand. The reversible dress he did for Robert Best's sister should have won that family designing round, I thought.
 

heyang

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I also thought Michael should have won the unusual materials challenge. The winner made a dress out of curtains - he was the guy who got removed from the competition for having design books in his room. Michael made a really cute dress out of coffee filters.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
It's me again. They had a new episode tonight. Has anyone seen it?

I love that when one of the guys skyped with his boyfriend, Ivy skyped with Casanova. Apparently they've become friends.

I think Ulli has developed a magic touch. The dress she started making was a disaster, and by the time of the runway show, she had a gorgeous garment. How does she do it? She regretted using white fabric yet again, and she managed to make it interesting nonetheless. Look at the way she cut and draped it! And Anthony Ryan: what he did with that black-and-white fabric was fascinating from every angle. He's a masterful designer.

One of this week's guest stars was Stacy Kiebler. She's so appealing. I've liked her since her stint on Dancing with the Stars. Though she could come across merely as perky with that blonde cuteness, she always projects smarts and steadiness that balance her out. Next week's celebrity guest is Katie Holmes. I wonder how she'll come across.
 

Dee4707

Ice Is Slippery - Alexie Yagudin
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Country
United-States
I saw the episode and again I thought Uli should have won. I thought her dress could be worn by many sizes of women while Anthony Ryan may not...oh well. I thought Josh should have been eliminated based on the zipper...you don't know that you need a special zipper when using knits??? Ivy's dress was OK, not the greatest but not as bad a mistake as Josh's.

Just a question.... is Isaac Mizrahi in the same league as Georgina Chapman??

Elie Tahari was so inspirational. He came to the US with a dream...wow!!

Anthony Ryan's dress on Elie Thari's site.

http://www.elietahari.com/womens-de.../ED8J9602,default,pd.html?cgid=project-runway

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elie_Tahari
 
Last edited:

Dee4707

Ice Is Slippery - Alexie Yagudin
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Country
United-States
I was gearing up to be really mad if they sent Emilio home versus Anthony Ryan. I can't believe the dress Anthony Ryan made for his person. Some designers just can't design for a little larger person. I remember Christian Siriano had difficulties too.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
In defense of Anthony Ryan and Christian Siriano, they are probably not taught that in school, and I don't know A.R.'s background, but Christian apprenticed with Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen--cutting-edge couturiers who don't really design for ordinary folk. By contrast, people like Ivy and Rami design for actual people who walk in the door. Unfortunately, Anthony Ryan's soldier was unusually curvy, and she asked for strapless. He had everything going against him! It would have taken some demon tailoring to make that combination work, and I'm not sure he had the time or the inner resources to see it through. I was terrified that they'd send him home, because he's been so good, but thank goodness the judges and the producers thought better of sending anyone home.

Ulli had a kind of easy time this week, because her soldier had a nice figure and specifically asked for a dress like the one Ulli had made for herself! On those grounds, though I love Ulli, I'm glad they gave Joshua first place this week, because he came up with such a felicitous dress for his soldier and managed to comply with her wishes as well as to reflect his own personality.

One thing that really pleased me was that despite the problems with Anthony Ryan's dress, the judges were so supportive while the women were standing there, and they were completely diplomatic about how everyone looked. In a situation with real women as opposed to models, this is how the judges should conduct themselves. I am always a bit anxious about how Heidi, who tends to want to stir up a bit of drama (for ratings purposes I'm sure, not because she's a mean person in everyday life), will bring up these issues, and that often leads to the designer saying something tactless. It happened with Venn, and it happened years ago with Jeffrey and Angela's mother. In this situation, they absolutely made the veterans feel like princesses on national TV, and that was the way to do it.

By the way, I thought Katie Holmes did a good job. Remember that she filmed this segment quite awhile ago, just after she had split with Tom Cruise, so this was one of her first public outings. She definitely showed maturity and poise. I'm not particularly a fan of hers--I've not seen anything that makes her a standout as an actress--but if this appearance is any indication, she might grow on me.
 
Last edited:

Dee4707

Ice Is Slippery - Alexie Yagudin
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Country
United-States
Did you notice Isaac's eyeroll when Katie was talking???
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
No! I totally missed that.

It must be tough for a hardworking garmento like Mizrahi or Michael Kors to be introduced to these celebrity "designers" who supposedly have a clothing line but don't really know what it takes to grind away day after day on the details of a real design business: choice of fabric, what's selling this year, which jobbers to use for supplies, how to tailor a collar or a sleeve. I remember once watching one of those real housewives shows because our Michael Knight was announced as a guest on that episode. One of the pampered women acquired a consultation with Michael. She was starting a clothing line. It turns out that someone else sewed the clothes and even chose the fabric. I'm not sure whether this woman's "designing" went past a few pencil sketches. Of course things turned out poorly. Michael, ever the gentleman, said in a restrained voice that if you're going to design a line, you should at least choose your own fabrics.

I don't know how active Katie Holmes is in the execution of her own line, but I'm sure she couldn't walk into Mizrahi's atelier and create a frock on the dress form. But Mizrahi could probably walk into Holmes and Yang and run up a little something on the machine.
 

Dee4707

Ice Is Slippery - Alexie Yagudin
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Country
United-States
No! I totally missed that.

I remember once watching one of those real housewives shows because our Michael Knight was announced as a guest on that episode. One of the pampered women acquired a consultation with Michael. She was starting a clothing line. It turns out that someone else sewed the clothes and even chose the fabric. I'm not sure whether this woman's "designing" went past a few pencil sketches. Of course things turned out poorly. Michael, ever the gentleman, said in a restrained voice that if you're going to design a line, you should at least choose your own fabrics.

As I started reading your post, I thought of the same scene. I don't remember if Sheree Whitfield even sketched. If she didn't I don't know how you could call those your designs. How do you get your vision across??? How do you birth the line???

Olympia said:
I don't know how active Katie Holmes is in the execution of her own line, but I'm sure she couldn't walk into Mizrahi's atelier and create a frock on the dress form. But Mizrahi could probably walk into Holmes and Yang and run up a little something on the machine.

So true...and I think Isaac let her know that in a gentle way. I found her to be a little arrogant about the designs. I thought Anthony Ryan's dress was terrible....I think cinching at the waist made her look even bigger. I think even with her larger bust an Uli type dress would have looked good.
 

heyang

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I think some celebrities are more involved in their lines than others - i.e. Jessica Simpson, the Oleson Twins, etc. Katie Holmes doesn't have the same level of experience as Isaak, but I do think she's more than a figure head. Also, she's collaborating with someone else who likely has more design experience. Fashion is in the eye of the beholder; so, disregarding someone else's differing opinion isn't cool either.

Anthony Ryan's dress design was not good. It didn't do what she wanted and it didn't make her more attractive. Definitely a miss-steop by AR. I thought Katie's comment that the straps could've used some embellishment was correct as it could've brought the eyes up towards her face - away from the banding above and below her bust line. Without the banding below the bust, it would've looked like she ws wearing a curtain - the dress really need to be more fitted through the body to be attractive on her. Big and baggy makes you look bigger.

Emilio's dress had some technique flaws, but it was exactly what she wanted.
 
Top