Project Runway: Past, Present, and Future
August 8, 2014 9:16 AM - Season 13, Episode 3 - Subscribe

In celebration of Marie Claire's 20th anniversary the designers have to design a look for 20 years in the future. It's also our first trip to Mood!
posted by Arbac (22 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Been waiting for this post.....I like the winner (no spoilers), I think they have a vision and promise but I cannot BELIEVE that won!!!
posted by pearlybob at 10:14 AM on August 8, 2014 [2 favorites]


I agree with Tom and Lorenzo's theory that it only won because everything else was just so basic and not future feeling.

I was excited when they announced the challenge, but then no one really did anything that interesting with it. So that sucked. I still love this show though. I started learning how to sew because I watched this show so much and figured I could do it too! I start my advanced pattern making class next month at LA Trade Tech which I learned about when I read Jeffrey Sebelia's bio back in season 3. It's even more interesting to watch now that I actually know how much work is required.
posted by Arbac at 10:21 AM on August 8, 2014 [5 favorites]


Would the designs would have been better if they had two days instead of one?
posted by drezdn at 10:52 AM on August 8, 2014


I thought the aquatic one had some promise, but the end result didn't really live up to what I was hoping it could be. The little pink suit, on the other hand, seemed doomed right from the start. (Has she not even seen the other seasons? that idea has been tried 1000 times, and with better execution).
posted by likeatoaster at 11:13 AM on August 8, 2014


Ok, I see it more after reading T-Lo (love them!!) But I really thought Kristine had it.
posted by pearlybob at 11:31 AM on August 8, 2014


I think I fell asleep partway through this episode. Not sure if it was because I was tired or because it was uninspiring.
posted by sciencegeek at 11:32 AM on August 8, 2014


I also REALLY liked Fade's.....I buy that today.....
posted by pearlybob at 11:34 AM on August 8, 2014


I was surprised the Ewok one didn't win. I was not surprised the potato sack–rug lost.
posted by cribcage at 12:26 PM on August 8, 2014


Would the designs would have been better if they had two days instead of one?

Probably, but that would be true of any challenge. The time constraints really limit the type of techniques that can be used and you need to keep everything pretty simple to be able to design, cut, and sew everything in a day. I always think that the challenges that give them more time result in better looking garments from everyone. But the time constraint is an important part of the challenge I suppose.

Instead of having multiple unconventional challenges each season, I wish they'd do more multi-day challenges.
posted by Arbac at 12:41 PM on August 8, 2014 [1 favorite]


OH MY GOD, SHUT THE FUCK UP, AMANDA!
posted by MsVader at 1:08 PM on August 8, 2014 [10 favorites]


Amanda's was so bad. I don't know her brother, I don't care, I don't know why she's there.

There was this guy on AVC who was "what's so hard about a man's shirt? It's just a hole in a piece of cloth" that got super offended when I told him to look at a shirt, because unless he lives in Ponchos Only-ville-- seriously, do people somehow never look at their clothes?

So glad Frageelay is gone. Damn, they be walking some crap down the runway.
posted by provoliminal at 3:40 PM on August 8, 2014 [1 favorite]


OH MY GOD, SHUT THE FUCK UP, AMANDA!

AND please stop wearing creepy rum-raisin-brown lipstick. Yuck.

I'm so glad on who went home. I just felt like she can't handle life.

I too feel like this didn't go as far as it needed to. Maybe the setup was too vague with the guidelines? I like the promo for the next episode and that seems pretty exciting.
posted by Crystalinne at 6:09 PM on August 8, 2014


I'm getting tired of one day challenges being the norm. As I remember it the one day challenges used to be a dreaded element like the team and unconventional challenges, something pulled out once or twice in a season to shock the designers. But maybe I'm romanticizing the past. I wish they'd get two days, because even that is still a short time to make a look (keeping the time pressure) but at the same time it would give the designers a little more breathing room to think about what they're making instead of just going with whatever idea they come up with first and then scrambling to complete it.

Am I the only one who felt like Sandhya's was a bit of a reprise of last week's winner? Simple dress with junk tacked on? I think she can have some neat ideas and seems to create a narrative for everything she makes which I think shows that she gives thought to what she makes, but I'm totally unconvinced by what she put on the runway.
posted by bjrn at 5:33 AM on August 9, 2014


There must be some mystical magic of Sandhya. While I get that she's doing some weird and innovative things, someone needs to show me how I'M going to wear that to work.

I'm tired of the other contestants slagging her though. She's producing top three looks, so what if you don't get it? It's not for YOU to get, it's for the judges to get.

I think it's hard for young people to see the influence of the past on current fashion, and to extrapolate that to what fashion would look like in the future. To that end, you'd think that someone would actually study this shit before showing up with their stupid made up names, blue hair and eye rolling contempt for other contestants. Oh, and don't you think it would be a good idea to take a turn or two around Mood before the show starts? (I'm looking at YOU Fade to Gray.)

I also don't need to see any more 'fabric manipulation' or 'technique'. How about you design something beautiful and sew it competently?

I miss seeing fashion.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 9:33 AM on August 9, 2014 [3 favorites]


don't you think it would be a good idea to take a turn or two around Mood before the show starts?

Amen. The lack of prep by some reality TV contestants at this point in the genre's history astounds me. Jeff Probst solved the problem on Survivor by openly mocking the idea that anyone would show up without having learned how to start a fire. Then you have the current season of Next Food Network Star—its tenth—and people arrived clearly having never performed in front of a camera. How do you get cast for a show like that and not immediately find a broadcasting school, professional, or even student who's willing to help you prepare?
posted by cribcage at 10:28 AM on August 9, 2014 [2 favorites]


OH MY GOD, SHUT THE FUCK UP, AMANDA! = WORD. Oh, you've been to Mood? GOOD FOR YOU. I honestly could not even remember her look after the runway show, which made Heidi saying how much they hated it even funnier.

I loved Sandhya's dress; loved the color, loved the "metallic" detailing. The styling felt off to me, but I did agree with the judges that it was the best. Kristine's coat/white outfit was cool, too, though it looked a little sloppily sewn to me.

How did Mitchell's look make it to the middle? So terrible. Nobody in Miami wants to wear that, they'd die of heat exhaustion, now or in 20 years. Ditto Hernan; bad, bad, bad, bad, bad.

So long, Angela; loved that Tim basically came out and told her, oh honey, this ain't for you. How did someone so fragile survive Wall Street? You think she'd be used to the pressure and high-strung personalities.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 6:00 PM on August 9, 2014 [1 favorite]


"Twenty years" into the future is just such a nothing amount. I liked Sandhya's portfolio and her design sense but her win was completely undeserved. Tacking shit to a basic sheath is not futuristic. The judges were falling all over themselves to praise her foresight to not continue it all the way down the back. Seriously?

I look forward to the future when we'll all be wearing sheaths with appliqued random metallic loops.

Nope, the designers were sidetracked by all the references to Blade Runner *and* Marie Claire which is a mall magazine if there ever was one. Ya want a better result? Give them two days, make it 50 years in the future, and say it will be published in Vogue.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 9:51 AM on August 10, 2014 [3 favorites]


I can't get that they raved over Sandhya's color and trashed Angela's and they REALLY weren't that far apart. Maybe a few shades?
posted by pearlybob at 9:59 AM on August 10, 2014


I'm getting tired of one day challenges being the norm. As I remember it the one day challenges used to be a dreaded element like the team and unconventional challenges, something pulled out once or twice in a season to shock the designers. But maybe I'm romanticizing the past.

That's my memory of it too. It seems just in the last couple of years they've gone to defaulting as one-day challenges, which kind of pushes everyone to produce crap, and a few amazing designers can make headway into some ideas, but I really wish they did two-days as the norm so we got better looking runways. This week's entire show was terrible. I don't know if the time constraint is mainly to blame but it does rush them way too much into walking junk down the runway.
posted by mathowie at 4:13 PM on August 12, 2014


The entire show seems collapsed in terms of time frame: multiple single day challenges and the amount of time given for the final collection (trying to find the numbers for this but striking out on early morning googling).
a
My +1 and I went back and watched the old seasons a couple of years ago and it was hugely enjoyable. We might have to go do that again sometime soon.
posted by sciencegeek at 3:11 AM on August 13, 2014


Someone commenting on TLo's site said they were surprised that Amanda didn't say "20 years in the future? I have an advantage here because I've already been 20 years in the future."
posted by drezdn at 7:50 AM on August 14, 2014


I'm commenting in this thread! I've only started watching this show, and started with the latest season since you guys are discussing here, and I'm only up to episode 3, so here I am! What I wanted to say is that I was really surprised that none of the contestants had any ideas about "smart clothes" with wireless functionality of some sort... of all these designers, none have spent time thinking about this – a thing that will definitely be a feature in future fashion?

Obviously, they wouldn't need to make a workable version, but a bit of appliqué, beading, piping (or even LEDs if available from the fabric shop) to signify readouts or controls would have made interesting detailing with a story and real future slant. Kind of amazing it was entirely overlooked!
posted by taz at 7:15 AM on August 30, 2014


« Older Adventure Time: Nemesis...   |  Major Crimes: Sweet Revenge... Newer »

You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments

poster