Video Blogs
TV Shows:
Find Articles On:
Who's onlineThere are currently 37 members and 1263 guests online.
|
Project Runway 406 Recap: "Eye Candy"Elisa breathlessly told the judges she wanted her dress to be sexy and amazing, and Michael cut her off, saying "Where's the joy?" and that it looked like a brown velvet dress from a flea market with shower caps on the arms. Zac Posen looked very sad when he informed her that "it's not wearable and it's not fabulous." During the judge's commentary, Michael said, "If she wants to be this avante garde, which is what she keeps stressing to us, then don't send us a sad brown dress that's boring."
Another low scorer was Victorya, dismissed by Kors with, "This to me doesn't look wearable or fanciful, either." She was, however, safe for one more week. Chris wowed them, as well he should have. Part of the "wow" factor was clearly that he had confounded expectations, but the judges also simply loved his design. Michael gushed, "I think this was a really smart editing choice, and it's also made well." Nina went even further, saying: "This girl could go into a studio and be shot for the pages of Elle." Tim Gunn mentioned in his blog that Chris was the second-highest scorer. You go!
Sweet P was obviously one of the low-scorers, and the word "boring" got tossed around a lot. As did "sad." And she and Elisa were the two who ended up on the runway at the end, waiting to see who was going home. Since no outfit could possibly be more boring than Elisa's "sad brown dress" was bad, Sweet P scraped by, and Elisa was out.
"We'll miss you," said Tim, not actually sounding all that sincere. Or maybe that was just me.
Submitted by on Thu, 2008-01-03 16:01. |
 Recent Comments
Recent blog posts
|
Welcome to AfterElton.com!
- Login
- Join Now!
News, Reviews & Commentary on Gay and Bisexual Men in Entertainment and the Media
Elisa, car accident
I'm surprised you made virtually no mention of Elisa's car accident in London, which was brought up this episode.
I'm trying not to be morbidly curious, and I don't think Elisa's unconventionality warrants any kind of justification; but speaking as someone who knows something about comas and car accidents, here are the facts:
She states that her skull was cracked open almost 4 inches; her neck almost broken; she was in a coma for 5 days.
Usually, the first 24 hours after a patient slips into a coma are critical - after that, the risk of never waking up or the occurrence of brain injury upon awakening (the brain experiences inadequate oxygen circulation during a coma) escalates.
The fact that she suffered severe head trauma and was comatose for 5 days - that wouldn't bode well for any patient. In all likelihood, she spent her period of hospitalization in London learning how to walk, talk, eat, think and remember. And since all this happened three years ago, I'm thinking she spent the bulk of the last three years undergoing rehabilitation even as she (re-?)established her career as a multimedia artist.
I bring this up for two reasons: firstly, while the lasting effects of her coma remain speculative on my part, it is almost indisputable that Elisa's aesthetic is disjointed. There was that gorgeous azure gown from the first challenge - derailed by a train meant to "cascade" behind her model "like water, or magic" but ended up dragging the garment down and tripping the model up instead.
Then there's this Hershey's challenge, where Elisa came up with a velvet brown slip-dress (undeniably well-constructed even if it wasn't to everyone's taste)... and adorned it with those where-did-they-come-from? silver pouffy shower cap sleeves. Like the train of chopped-up fabric from the first challenge, these were completely incongruous embellishments - ostensibly added to elevate the design from "ready-to-wear" to "avant-garde", but really just making the whole thing look bizarre.
In both cases, the "avant-garde" appendages seem tacked on by an entirely different designer. I'm trying not to made some baseless explanations about why Elisa and her designs are the way they are - but if her car accident really did happen as described, this isn't just baseless speculation on my part.
I bring this up also because: if Elisa went through what I think she went through, my respect for her multiples. I've always admired how Elisa was perfectly content with being viewed as "different" or "strange" but never went out of her way to play up her eccentricities the way some reality TV characters have. The fact that she downplayed her accident, only mentioning it once in a single interview where other reality TV contestants might have tried to milk it for all its worth, makes me look up to her even more. She might not be to everyone's taste, but I think the lady deserves a little respect.
Elisa
I'll be honest, I debated how to handle her mention of her accident. I was not a fan of her personality or her designs from the very start, and found her eccentricity to be kind of affected -- while acknowledging I could be wrong about that. But it felt that way to me.
When she said that about her accident, I wasn't sure what to make of it. It was in her interview portion, so I don't even know when, chronologically, she told the PR folks about it. And of course, my feelings about her were formed before I ever heard it. I agree that overcoming that kind of adversity deserves respect.
Re: Elisa + "unrealistic/fake challenges"
I'm pretty sure this specific interview occured earlier, based on what she wore and also how it seemed very "introductory" in its "why I applied for Project Runway". Then it was probably held back and spliced into the very episode of her elimination, like in most reality TV shows. Just thought it was worth bringing up.
Also, I have to add - while I used to be as exasperated as you seem to be about how some of the challenges on Project Runway are extremely unrealistic, I'm now trying to look at it this way: Yes, making clothes out of grocery store supplies, plantlife, recycled garbage and things you can find in Hershey's Times Square are probably not assignments that designers face very often in the real world. But this isn't the real world! It's reality TV, and part of the jobs of the producers is to make the tasks as challenging and dramatic as possible, which sometimes means resorting to "fake" constraints (last season's "you have to use every last scrap of fabric" in the black/white cocktail gown challenge springs to mind).
[And they aren't always as unrealistic as we think they are. As per Wikipedia, this week's guest judge Zac "Posen constructed a gown entirely made from thin leather strips and dress-maker hooks and eyes that delivered a powerful commentary about the female figure".]
Beyond that, while the challenges and contraints are in themselves unrealistic, they do serve the purpose of separating the better from the best. Would Austin Scarlett's fourth-place elimination be as hotly contested if he hadn't made that ingenious
outfitcostume out of corn husks? Chloe Dao's worth as a designer (and not just "pattern maker" the way Santino branded her) was proven when she managed to fashion something entirely wearable for her giantess model out of the tiny amount of clothes she wore in Season 2's second challenge, and again when she was the only one there who thought of using tiny leaves to make a print during the Garden Party challenge.Jeffrey Sebelia, love him or hate him, created what was the most functional design out of recyclables by taking newspapers & magazines and pleating & painting them onto a muslin infrastructure, something that again no other designer thought of (I define "functional" by whether or not the model can sit in the garment). And this week, Jillian and Rami both made an impact on the judges and viewers: Jillian by showing she could sculpt, sew and be inspired by Twizzlers when no one else even touched the edibles; Rami with how he was able to envision a complete design in his head, gather whatever was necessary to form the fitted bodice and pleated skirt comprising his outfit within five minutes, then drape candy wrappers so artfully. C'mon, even you were impressed!
If that still doesn't convince you, try to think of it this way: a showing at Fashion Week is an amazing opportunity for these designers. The reward money and misc. prizes that come with winning are the giant cherry on top. But to get there, they have to prove exactly how versatile, innovative and skilful they are with tasks that range from "make Nancy O'Dell a dress for the Emmys" to "fashion something out of home furnishings from the apartments you just moved into". And after they've done all that: complete freedom to design their very own 12-look collection and display them at Bryant Park. Where they might not win, but they'll definitely face bigger opportunities just by showing in the Big Tent (last year's runner-up Uli received multiple buyer offers during an interval, before the Big Tent shows were even over).
And no matter how ludicrous some of these challenges may be, they've always boiled down to impressive collections being displayed at Bryant Park and a deserving winner. Bottom line: how the Project Runway tasks are structured works for this competition. One could argue against Jay McCarroll, Chloe Doe and Jeffrey Sebelia winning their respective seasons, but no one can deny their individual skills and worth as fashion designers.
Elisa
I'm not a fan of her design either but i think fashion as art(maybe it's mainly an industry but it still has some art aspect right) is totally subjective and there will be someone who like it. if everyone dress as what the fashion guru think is perfect the world will be so boring.
but I like her personality a lot. like Novarro said she knows she is different and she's totally cool with it. in chinese it's called 不卑不亢 ( not self-contempt yet not too stimulated(?))and it's not easy to be that way. i feel a sense of peace in her. i don't know if that comes from her accident or not but it's attractive. it didn't feel affected to me at all but maybe i read it wrong. seems like lots of people don't like her. i hope we hate her for reason better than being different. maybe i was way dropped behind, cause i'm from china, we barely begin to review our position and claim our rights. but like in the case of Ricky, isn't blaming a crying fag cry too much a bit homophobic? it's interesting why he can't control it, but as long as he's showing true emotion and not faking, i don't see that to be a problem. what matters is his design.
oh and i just remember in a previous episode, when Elisa use spit as some mark on a dress, everyone freaks out. that's so overreacting to me and shows just how unhealthy a image the fashion industry has about human body. hello it's just human spit, how disgusting can it be?