(S03E04) The designers were challenged to create a three-piece outfit for the INC clothing company. The winning outfit would be sold in Macy's stores nationwide. Surprisingly, they had to work in teams of three. Gosh, we're only four episodes in and half of the challenges have been in teams! I'm not sure I like this trend... I prefer individual challenges because it's easier to judge talent. With these team challenges, one of the biggest factors in winning is being able to pass the buck.Anyway, Mehmet Tangoren from Macy's stopped by and picked the four team leaders: Robert, Bonnie, Keith, and Angela (!!!).
The guest judge was Mehmet Tangoren, and Michael Kors was substituted by Vera Wang again (he'll return next week).
Follow along by checking out the designs on "Rate the Runway".
Robert; Kayne, Vincent: [ALMOST OUT -- Robert] Robert and Kayne did extremely well with the Miss USA challenge, so I had no doubt that they were going to collaborate smoothly there. But then, Robert threw me for a loop when he selected Vincent to join his team... and Vincent wasn't even the last choice. That blew my mind. Well, I guess Robert saw something in Vincent that he liked. The three of them created a really sloppy three piece. The jacket was really awkward (a parka-like thing with lots of drawstrings) and the inside outfit wasn't fitted well. I expected more from Robert and Kayne. In the end, Robert was almost Auf'd because of the strange proportions of the outfit.
Bonnie; Uli, Bradley: [OUT -- Bonnie] Bradley was last to be picked, which made him very sad. I couldn't help but "aww" at him. He really does look helpless all the time. Anyway, the final outfit they created looked like it was right out of the 70s (that was my immediate thought; Heidi said the same thing a few minutes afterward) and their model's big afro didn't help either. Bonnie was kicked off and she promptly set fire to the workroom. Okay, she didn't do that. She was really sweet (as usual) and wasn't bitchy about it at all.
Keith; Alison, Jeff: [BOOTED -- Keith] Ahh! So Keith was the naughty designer! They were hinting at it throughout the whole episode, but PR has been known to hint at one thing and do something else ("Keith is a sneaky bastard... Laura, you're too classy. We're going to have to ask you to leave"). He was caught using design how-to books and the Internet, which are both explicitly against the rules. After Kayne consulted some of the other guys, he tattled to the producers, who had Tim ask Keith to leave. Keith apologized and left, leaving poor Alison and Jeff to do all the work. Well, it's not like Keith was doing much in the first place (he had pretty much assigned the toughest parts of the outfit to Alison and Jeff when they began). Alison and Jeff worked their butts off and executed a lovely outfit (hot pants!) that had a great chance of winning. Bravo!
Angela; Michael, Laura: [WINNER -- Angela] Yeah. Angela. ANGELA. Angela was chosen as a team leader and that blew my mind. And then she freaking WON and my brains started leaking from my ears. Although her determination was admirable, I'm sure she wouldn't have done as well without the guidance of Michael and Laura (who were both initially horrified that they were working with Angela). She kept wanting to put those stupid rosettes all over the outfit, but her teammates successfully coaxed her to tone it down a bit. Their final result was actually quite nice. I adored the sleeves on the jacket.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-03-2006 @ 10:16AM
Robert Gordon said...
Angela got the redemption she was looking for. I loved the collaboration on that team, they really worked well together. I knew the other team wouldn't win, since the designer of that outfit was kicked off in shame. I hated it anyway...the bottom looked like an inverted wifebeater...huh?
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8-03-2006 @ 10:30AM
Akbar Fazil said...
Angela only won because M and L were there to make her outfit look good. I do have to say that her overall concept was nice. I think she realized from her previous train wrecks she needed to make something less outthere. However, that still don't make like her or think that she is not crazy.
As for the Keith situation, I knew the way they were hyping it that I would be let down at the end result.
The conversation between Kayne, Micheal and Robert seemed very staged to me. I almost feel as if Kayne went to the producers first and they said "oh, we need to get that on camera" Also, was it just me or when Tim was doing the voice over explaining why Keith was being let go, when he mentioned leaving the production and using the internet was his voice different? It sounded like that was recorded at a later time and added in to help trump up the charges against Keith. Conspiracy?
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8-03-2006 @ 10:41AM
reb said...
If you're interested in more backstory on the elimination, Tim's podcast is *well* worth a listen. Actually, it's always well worth a listen, but this time particularly so!
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8-03-2006 @ 11:00AM
Valerie said...
No conspiracy Akbar, they actually redub the voice over in almost every episode...and on almost every "reality" show made. It was added in to keep the viewer up to speed, because Keith's internet use was not on camera.
Good riddance to bad rubbish...he even said it was too bad because he had other "tricks" up his sleeve. Puh-lease.
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8-03-2006 @ 11:06AM
Akbar Fazil said...
Then why not just mention those facts at the same time Tim was recording the other voice over? Something is fishy about that whole thing no matter what else happens on reality tv shows.
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8-03-2006 @ 11:10AM
Akbar Fazil said...
link to Tim's podcast for those who want to directly get it
http://www.bravotv.com/_content/projectrunway/podcasts/Project_Runway_Tim_Gunn_Podcast_304.mp3
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8-03-2006 @ 11:30AM
Evadne said...
No, really, Valerie's right; there's nothing fishy about it. Heidi gets redubbed practically every episode. It just means that however they cut the episode, the information they wanted to get across wasn't there in what was originally said or the mics didn't pick up the sound well enough. What would the "cover up" even be here? Tim's very, very candid in his blog, podcasts, and interviews; if there was more to the story, we'd have a better hint of it than a poor-quality voice over. Hell, Bravo wants as much drama at possible too.
As for Keith, dude clearly thinks that rules don't apply to him (he even said that straight out) and it's about time he got nailed on it. Also, I love Laura Bennett more than ever.
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8-03-2006 @ 11:34AM
corbett said...
The outfit is already on the Macy's website at: http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=213742&PartnerID=email&bhcp=1
For the low-low price of $257 you can get the jacket, pants and tee.
What was the amount they got to buy the materials on last night's show? $100. Now if this thing is made in China or Mexico, you know that's one hell of a mark-up!
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8-03-2006 @ 11:35AM
Evadne said...
Er, what I should have said was: Bravo wants drama and if they were going to make up a story, it would have been better than that.
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8-03-2006 @ 1:07PM
Emily said...
Angela only won because of her teammates good taste. We all know if it was left up to her it would have been another street walker's delight. Is Angela the one that was comparing herself to YSL in her application tape? YSL on acid, maybe.
Up until last night I thought Keith was a prick, but a talented designer. Now I think he is a cheat as well as a prick. It always bothered me that he thought all the challenges were beneath him. Last night showed he thought the rules were beneath him, too. Good riddance.
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8-03-2006 @ 1:10PM
Akbar Fazil said...
Corbett, 100 dollars was only for the material. You have to factor in design cost as well. That markup does not seem that bad to me. Macy's also could have decided on a different fabric as well than what Angela and her team got.
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8-03-2006 @ 8:30PM
Blooper said...
Re: Teams
Annie, in previous seasons the team challenges have also been in the first half of the series. The reason the editors/directors do this is because the camera people find it difficult to track the creation of 12, 13 or 14 outfits. Also they worry that viewer could loose track of which design was by whom. By reducing the number of outfits, the editors can put together a less hectic runway show. And, of course, it makes for some dramatic TV when personalities clash. I think that there will one more team challenge this season, if that.
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8-04-2006 @ 11:07AM
Gordon Boddington said...
I think angela has some of that homespun that was what let Jay win season 1.
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8-04-2006 @ 5:52PM
Jesse said...
Kicking Keith off of Poject Runway is the end of this show as something interesting. Clearly Project Runway has shown it's true colors, it's really about finding safe media savy mediocrity instead of true talent. I think this show was well respected before for it's attempt to offer something real. Having been through architecture school and gone through similar situations, I can safely say that almost all of the people on show are most likely guilty of something along the lines of what Keith was booted for. He was a true talent, and not a cheat. The producers of this show are clearly the cheats.
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