I didn't think anything could outshine an
episode of dresses made of plants. And nothing can...except maybe Santino's Tim impression. I love the Tim impression!
It's the greatest thing about Santino. They seriously should have featured it on the show way back in week one. If they
would have, I probably wouldn't have built up this hatred towards Santino. Well, I don't hate him...it's just so hard to
completely love him. He is Santino. But the Tim impression was absolutely marvelous, and I love the fact that
the extended version featured a fictionalized love quarrel between Tim and Andrae at the Red Lobster. Not enough gay
fashion fights happen at the Red Lobster, but they should!For this week's competition, the designers were given a $100 and a hour in the Flower District to buy enough plants to design a dress composed of flowers and plants. Weird. They never really explained why this is a challenge, but it was a challenge last year and it's a reality show on Bravo, so just go with it. But there was a special twist this week (like always). The person who won this week's challenge would be given immunity on next week's challenge. I sooooooo wanted Santino to win this one. Not because I wanted him to win persay, but because he promised that with immunity he would go buck wild on his design next week. A total FU to the judging panel. It would have been awesome, but alas...he didn't win.
Daniel won! And he did deserve it. That makes win #4 for Daniel. Who knew that he was going to be such a designing titan? Not me. I figured he would be "out" by week 3. Don't get me wrong, I knew he could design, but I didn't peg him going this far. Speaking of "outing," Daniel spoke about how he just came out to his parents a year ago. Apparently, he was raised in a very religious home and coming out was a big obstacle for him. Sigh. He's gay. I suspected it, but secretly hoped he wasn't. No make-out session for me and Daniel, but he can design me a garden party dress. His design was mostly made out of ferns and featured a purple orchid top, with a lattice mid-section. I thought it was spectacular.
Chloe was a close second with this simple, but time consuming number. She took holly leaves and glued them on one-by-one. She almost didn't finish. I actually didn't really like this dress too much and I hated the swimming cap, but I understand why she was a runner-up. That did take a lot of work and patience. About half-way through the show, I thought it was going to be Chloe who was going to be out.
But it was Andrae who got the boot this week with this moss-covered dress. I actually thought his dress was sorta cute. Kors said it looked like a door mat. It was basic (and door mat-ish), but I think that was the point. In fact, I think that all the designs this week were really good and creative. We are really getting down to some talent here. And it sorta pissed me off that the judges were sooooooo upset that the designers didn't use more flowers. First off, they only had a $100, so they obviously can't afford to buy bushels of roses. Hell, they barely could afford enough leaves to make a dress (i.e. Nick). Secondly, flowers wilt and fall off. What were the judges expecting? Adam and Eve only had leaves to cover themselves and we see how well that worked. I think the designers did a marvelous job. All of them.
Nick was probably my least
favorite. I can't believe I'm saying that, but it's true. He made a banana leave bustier, and it looked quite nice, but
the dress had sort
of a Judy Jetson look that was unflattering. But still, I thought it was hot! The judges, of course, thought it was
vulgar because it was so short. But, once again, the only reason it was so short was because he didn't have enough
leaves to make a longer skirt. I think that's the fault of the producers who expect miracles with $100-worth of plants,
not the designers who really came up with some great stuff this week.
Kara's dress was also very nice. I thought it looked like crap on the mannequin, but it looked magical on the runway. She created a bodice out of raffia, dried flowers, and moss that looked amazing. Something out of a Cindy Lauper video, circa 1985. And I don't know when she made that moss skirt! Every time they showed her mannequin, it was totally naked from the waist down, but on the runway, it was complete. Ahhhh, the magic of television.
Even Santino's design was great. I thought the off-the-shoulder number was stunning. The judges (minus Heidi) didn't like how shiny is leaves were (were they happy with anything this week?), but I thought it looked good. I do think that it would have looked better with some flowers around the bottom of the skirt, but once again....money, money, money. Roses don't grow on trees. Well...they sorta do. But not in Manhattan.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-02-2006 @ 11:05AM
Liza said...
There never was a plant-themed episode last season. Perhaps you're thinking of the supermarket challenge in which Austin made a dress of corn husks?
Reply
2-02-2006 @ 11:29AM
Lacy Hall said...
That's exactly what I'm thinking of.
Reply
2-02-2006 @ 11:50AM
JSimmons said...
This episode was hysterical; especially, the "Red Lobster" story.
If that weren't hilarious enough, Tim Gunn overhears Santino and implores him "to tell me more, Santino."
Kudos goes to Santino for not trying to cover up the story and act like he didn't know what Tim Gunn was saying--of course, Tim Gunn had already overheard him, so there wasn't any possible way to hide it!
I think the lesson to be learned here is NEVER gossip, or say things that might embarrass yourself because someone ALWAYS ends up overhearing you. :)
You should read Tim Gunn's blog because he says, "See you at the Red Lobster, Andrae."...LOL...This being a joke of course.
I think Nick should have been cut because his dress lacked creativity, inspiration and was downright dull!
I completely concur that $100 is hardly enough money to buy flowers. The judges tend to get too nit picky with the contestants. As expensive as flowers are; especially, in New York, the likelihood of you going wild is not very likely as expensive as flowers are and in New York, to boot!
The final three are most likely Santino, Chloe and Daniel V.
Ironically, Kara's dress should have won because it was much prettier and well-constructed versus Daniel V's. Daniel V. had those ugly purplish-blue Orchids, which are just blah! I like purple and blue just not those particular Orchids. The Orchids; while real, looked like they were fake.
Nina Garcia said that she would have liked to see roses or some other types of flowers. Clearly, she needs to have a reality check of her own because roses are one of the most expensive flowers. The designers hardly had enough money to use roses, or some exotic flowers that would have cost a bundle. Incidentally, I don't like her. She has an attitude problem & always seems to have more negative comments than positive ones.
I personally believe that the flower shops should have given discounts to the designers because they only had $100 and after all, the shops were receiving free publicity. Shame on the flower shops for being cheap!
Since the flower shops apparently didn't give the designers discounts, then PR should have extended their allowance. If they're going to give the contestants an extremely daunting task, then at least, prepare them with the proper funds, in order, to accomplish the task, at hand.
Bottom line: Kara should have won this challenge because her design was the most beautiful, Nick should have been eliminated and Chloe, Daniel V., and Santino are most likely to be the final 3 w/Daniel V. winning the whole enchilada!
Reply
2-02-2006 @ 11:53AM
Jennifer said...
I agree with the flowers wilting and all that - but Daniel did achieve a nice blend of both flowers and plants. He was smart in applying the flowers last and also as a highlight to the dress.
Reply
2-02-2006 @ 11:58AM
Emily said...
I agree with you Lacy. What the heck did the judges think you could buy with $100? Plus, they made them use real plants, not silk, so the designers used stuff that could survive being aired out all night.
I personally thought this was a stupid challenge. I would much rather see them design something different like coats, hats or shoes. Save this crap for the Rose Bowl parade.
Reply
2-02-2006 @ 12:51PM
Malcontent said...
Video of Santino-as-Tim here:
http://malcontent.typepad.com/malcontent/2006/02/a_helping_of_re.html
Reply
2-02-2006 @ 3:01PM
Evadne said...
I think it might have been $150, but the principle is the same--actually, in the podcast, Tim sounded annoyed with the judges for being so hard on them for not using flowers they couldn't afford anyway. He thought that while Daniel's dress was good, it clearly won because he'd used flowers so prominently (Tim's take on Santino's impressions of him is kind of hilarious--he was trying really hard to sound like he was cool with it, but he was clearly pretty bewildered by it. C'mon, Tim, I love you, but it was -hilarious.- "Make it work, Andrae." Red Lobster. Jesus, I'm still laughing). I liked Santino's dress, and I thought it was pretty unfair for them to rail on him for the leaves looking shiny or the skirt looking sculptural when the whole challenge was a gimmick anyway. I thought all of them, with the exception of Andrae (and who was with me in thinking that Andrae was a dead duck as soon as he told the other guys in the suite that he didn't think any of the guys would be going home?), did their best work in weeks.
Reply
2-02-2006 @ 3:04PM
Evadne said...
(Hope this doesn't come through twice; having some trouble.) In the podcast, Tim sounded annoyed with the judges for being so hard on them for not using flowers they couldn't afford anyway. He thought that while Daniel's dress was good, it clearly won because he'd used flowers so prominently (Tim's take on Santino's impressions of him is kind of hilarious--he was trying really hard to sound like he was cool with it, but he was clearly pretty bewildered by it. C'mon, Tim, I love you, but it was -hilarious.- "Make it work, Andrae." Red Lobster. Jesus, I'm still laughing). I liked Santino's dress, and I thought it was pretty unfair for them to rail on him for the leaves looking shiny or the skirt looking sculptural when the whole challenge was a gimmick anyway. I thought all of them, with the exception of Andrae (and who was with me in thinking that Andrae was a dead duck as soon as he told the other guys in the suite that he didn't think any of the guys would be going home?), did their best work in weeks.
Reply
2-02-2006 @ 3:29PM
Bex said...
Did you know that you can get 90 large single-stem carnations for $65 in New York? I found that out the hard way. The vendors must not have been allowed to give the designers discounts, that's my guess. And what was the big deal over Daniel's dress? So boring. Kara's was the best by far. She paid such wonderful attention to detail on every part of her dress. I wish that the outfits translated better to TV. *sigh* I don't think that the judges really know what they're looking for. Nina wanted more color in the dresses and then she didn't like Santino's which used the most color. Ugh, I can't stand her. I'm actually surprised that Andrae lasted this long. His dress, although really cute in an Audrey Hepburn kind of way, was ill-fitting and looked bad on the runway. I give you, Andrae, my best wide-eyed salute!
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2-02-2006 @ 5:48PM
Annie Wu said...
I absolutely cracked up over Santino's Tim impression. I love the one they have online even more...
http://www.bravotv.com/Project_Runway_2/Episodes/Episode_8/Videos/bonus_3_ep8.shtml
Santino as Tim singing Nine Inch Nails' 'Closer'. Priceless.
And I'm glad Daniel is winning so many things. Go Team Vosovic!
Reply
2-02-2006 @ 7:40PM
Z00phile said...
Nina Garcia is not so bad but I think Michael Kors is a real vulgar jerk and he should be OUT. Did he design Heidi Klum's dress? The white "number" - looked like pinned-together cloth diapers. The back was unbelievably ugly - could it have been the King of Arrogance, the aforementioned MK? Heidi needs to say Auf Wiedersehen to him. I thought the Badgley(sic?)/Mischka team was refreshing.
Reply
2-02-2006 @ 7:47PM
Z00phile said...
Nina Garcia is not so bad but I think Michael Kors is a real vulgar jerk and he should be OUT. Did he design Heidi Klum's dress? The white "number" - looked like pinned-together cloth diapers. The back was unbelievably ugly - could it have been the King of Arrogance, the aforementioned MK? Heidi needs to say Auf Wiedersehen to him. I thought the Badgley(sic?)/Mischka team was refreshing.
Reply
2-02-2006 @ 7:57PM
orimental said...
This isn't the first time that he was caught by Tim. Santino was doing an impression of Tim a few eps back and you can see the convo the two had about it as part of the Extra Videos online.
Kara should have one. Nick should have been out. Santino's creation kind of made me think of some sort of forest nymph or something. Check out America's Next Top Model's Cycle 6 page because their whole theme is based around faeries. Chloe was alirght, but it just didn't seem finished to me. Daniel's dress wasn't terrible, but it wasn't too good either. Poor Andrae. At least he and Tim will always have Red Lobster.
Also to point out, if any of you happened upon the first episode of Project Catwalk (UK Version hosted by Liz Hurley), you would have seen them take on a similar challenge. Designers had to do all of their shopping at a house & garden center (a la The Home Depot/Lowe's). There was actually a designer who used patches of sod to construct a skirt.
Reply
2-03-2006 @ 11:38AM
Lacy Hall said...
Good point about Heidi's dress, ZOOphile, I forgot to mention that. That dress was absolutely hideous and it looked like a diaper. I guess once she has her baby, she can just use that dress in case of baby poopy emergencies.
Reply
2-03-2006 @ 2:12PM
Sherryl G. said...
I loved Kara's dress, but I think she didn't win because she is clearly the least talented of the designers who remain, and the judges know that. I loved Daniel's dress. I would have rather seen Nick go than Andrae. I thought it was going to be Daniel, Chloe and Andrae, now I think it will be Daniel, Chloe and Nick. I think Santino is smart, but he's has too much wildness to his stuff. It's not usable.
I love this show!!!
Reply
2-03-2006 @ 2:44PM
Sherryl G. said...
P. S. I love Tim, too!!
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