*-*-SPOILERS THROUGHOUT-*-*

I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with Project Runway.

Love because, hello…. I love clothes, I love fashion, I love those shoes models wear that make them walk in that long, lean, painfully swaybacked way.

Hate because when I say I love clothes, what I mean is I love clothing made from fabric, and not something you can throw together using materials obtained strictly from the local produce market and items left in the bus station lost and found. Which there’s been a little too much of on Project Runway in the past.

Not in the fourth season premiere, however, and that’s got me hopeful that we’ll be seeing what these designers can do with their talent instead of their sheer pluck and ingenuity. I’m sure the ability to make a fabulous gown out of Mama’s old drawing room drapes was a huge boon for Scarlett O’Hara, but I prefer to see fashion designers design without all these artificial constraints.

The only challenge this time was that they were limited to all the high-end designer fabric they could grab out of three tents in the park in a ten minute time period, and had to be finished with their designs by 1 AM the next morning.

The designers all made a mad scramble for the tents, with the one lone straight male contestant, Kevin, getting there first, and out gay Chris getting there last. In between were the other six out gay male contestants and all the women, who plundered and plucked at the remaining fabrics without any evidence of hair-pulling, screeching, or attempting to trip the other competitors. As a woman and a queer, I was gratified at the lack of carnage.

So, what did this seasons’ crop of designers produce with their fifty thousand dollars worth of textiles?

The winner of the first competition was Israeli-born out gay designer Rami. He crafted a truly beautiful charcoal gray draped dress that screamed Lauren Hutton, except for an unfortunate blobby fabric rose at the shoulder. I’d been grumbling about it all night, and was totally pleased when out gay designer and judge Michael Kors commented that it was just too “Mother of the Bride” for the dress.

Still, anyone who can get fabric to fall like that should win. It was stunning.

Out gay lingerie designer Ricky got criticized for being boring, but the shimmery little lace-edged baby doll dress didn’t bore me at all.