Project Runway: The Klum of Doom
August 22, 2014 10:05 AM - Season 13, Episode 5 - Subscribe

The designers face their toughest customer yet- judge Heidi Klum, who needs a special gown for a special red carpet event.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero (31 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
I'm watching the episode right now! I'll be back to discuss when I'm done. Thanks for taking the initiative getting the post up ThePinkSuperhero!
posted by Arbac at 10:08 AM on August 22, 2014


I watched this episode "live" (staying up past my bedtime, even!), and it was SO WORTH IT! Ahhhhh, the drama, the drama, I love it. How much does Heidi love being mean? Too much. It was wonderful. I was cackling. Also cackle-worthy: Zac Posen's face during the runway show. How did so many designers get it so horribly, horribly wrong?

Having seen the winning gown on Heidi before the show aired, I knew as soon as we saw it who would win, but that didn't bother me too much; I really wanted to see who was going to get kicked off! So sad it wasn't Korina. She should've gotten the boot just for buying the same sad green color TWICE! I would have rather seen Mitchell stay; not because he seems like any better of a designer, I just like his sass and the fact that I didn't have to see him cry all episode long.

How sketchy was sweet little Sandhya, going around scooping up everybody's money for the 2nd Mood trip? She's no dummy, that girl; makes some of her past behavior seem a little more suspect, doesn't it? Tim's face and question about what she spent at Mood was great; I was hoping he would call her out on it later on the runway, but alas, no.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 10:13 AM on August 22, 2014 [1 favorite]


Oh, and and and- how can Heidi complain to Korrina that she would NEVER wear snakeskin, and then wear that terrible mishmosh of old-lady satin and random animal prints to the runway show? The "Pretend Heidi Has Taste" challenge, indeed.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 10:31 AM on August 22, 2014


Also, I would like to see about 10,000 times more Heidi + Faze speaking to each other in German. Because that was awesome.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 10:37 AM on August 22, 2014 [4 favorites]


Great episode! Heidi just hated on everyone. When Korina was explaining why she was buying more ugly green I wanted to scream at her "HEIDI ASKED FOR JEWEL TONED GREEN NOT MUTED UGLY GREEN!"

I liked Fäde's design again this week. I thought he had the best last week and was annoyed the judges didn't even place him in the top three. Fäde hasn't been in the top 3 or the bottom 3 so we've never really gotten to hear what the judges think about his designs.

You'd think for a red carpet challenge they'd give the designers more than a day to complete it. Are there going to be any 2-day challenges this season?
posted by Arbac at 11:43 AM on August 22, 2014


Amanda in the top AGAIN??!! I want to smash her smug fucking face in. That looked like a craft project. Heidi wouldn't even wear that monstrosity for a dare. I can't for the life of me understand why the judges like Amanda so much. Does she have secret video of Nina blowing Zac or something?

I loved the winning design. It was classy and well-made and I was so glad to see Sean not fail this week. In less skilled hands it might have looked like a car wash with those spinning blue brushes. I'm guessing Sean has a hairdressing background to create such subtle layering. Also, I cannot believe I'm heaping praise on a dress that had fringe. But it was good fringe, not Amanda-fringe.

I was also sad to see Mitchell auf'd, if only for his facial expressions. Sandhya is very sly (although she does play a good game) and I think if she'd been in the top 3 the cost of her fabric might have been a factor in deciding whether or not she should win.

My dislike of Korina has lessened slightly from week 1, but I still think she should have gone over either of the two eliminated designers. The way Fade laughed when Heidi spoke to him in German, I think something might have been lost in translation in the caption about Korina's colour choice.

I don't understand why people say "I don't do evening wear". You're auditioning for PR, you know there's going to be red carpet challenges. Wouldn't you learn how to make an evening dress before you go on the show?

I loved Fade's dress. Heidi would've looked great in it. Remember in Season 2 when Daniel kept being in the safe group until midway through he started winning challenge after challenge? Yeah, I think Fade is in the Daniel Zone. His day will come.
posted by essexjan at 12:18 PM on August 22, 2014 [4 favorites]


I don't understand why people say "I don't do evening wear". You're auditioning for PR, you know there's going to be red carpet challenges. Wouldn't you learn how to make an evening dress before you go on the show?

Heh, somebody on ONTD compared it to going on Top Chef and whining, but I don't liiiiiiike cooking with ovens.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 12:21 PM on August 22, 2014 [4 favorites]


I honestly thought Amanda would be in the bottom. Heidi would NEVER wear that dress. It looks like a bad 70s craft project on Regretsy and Heidi is short, tight, 'n' shiny. Add glitzy to that.

I am wondering if Korinna's drab green fabric choices were influenced by the dark teal that Amanda bought. Most of her colors so far have been much brighter (reds, stoplight yellow, florescent green).
posted by TWinbrook8 at 12:51 PM on August 22, 2014


Why is everyone hating on Sandhya asking for money? Tim said that people who weren't going back to Mood could give their money to another designer. They didn't have to give her the money but she asked and they did. She was the smart one.
posted by amapolaroja at 2:58 PM on August 22, 2014 [4 favorites]


- How sketchy was sweet little Sandhya, going around scooping up everybody's money for the 2nd Mood trip? She's no dummy, that girl; makes some of her past behavior seem a little more suspect, doesn't it? Tim's face and question about what she spent at Mood was great; I was hoping he would call her out on it later on the runway, but alas, no.

- (after all, she admitted she was doing it as much to keep the money out of others’ hands as to keep it for herself)

- Also, I would like to see about 10,000 times more Heidi + Faze speaking to each other in German. Because that was awesome.

Is Hulu cutting large swaths of programs out? The version I saw didn't show any of this.

So many bad dresses in this episode. Agreed that Korina's choice of green the second time around was mystifying - to say nothing of the terrible construction - and that Amanda's dress looked like a sloppy craft project. (I was super unimpressed with her winning dress in the last show, too.) The bust draping on Char's looked awful to me, and the thing hanging down off Samantha's made it feel disjointed. I thought Alexander's would be in the bottom for sure.

Loved Fade's. Kine's looked beautiful, if unimaginative. I think Sean's fringe dress looked great, but it wasn't my favorite.
posted by moira at 4:36 PM on August 22, 2014


Yes, Hulu is cutting bits and pieces of the program out. For instance, the Lifetime site version (I don't have cable so I keep up by watching it both on Lifetime and Hulu) has Heidi tossing a comment in german to Fade about the color of Korina's green dress. Another Hulu cut is, after Tim announces that the designers who don't use the $100 extra are allowed to give it away to another designer, there is a few seconds of Sandhya promptly going round and asks a few designers if she can have theirs.

So, if you can access the Lifetime site, episodes are a bit more complete.
posted by tipsyBumblebee at 8:41 PM on August 22, 2014


Sandhya has great strategy. She offered to buy things for other people, she didn't push anyone to give her money, and she doesn't show off. She's getting pushback for not rolling over and being "nice" in a competition. Like Char said, that's admirable.

The safe dresses were all that: safe. I felt like Kini's dress would have won if he'd gone for amazing colours to go with the strength of his tailoring and fitting. Horsehair! He's got skills, but his designs tend to be safe too. Amanda's dress was interesting, and that counted. Fade's and Char's dresses both had those beautiful trains when the models walked, but they were both kinda dull - Fade seems stuck in these beautiful interesting yet monotonous clothes. I love them, but they're like amazing office clothes in Japan.

I can't figure out why Korinna survived. Her dress was the least worst I guess of the three terrible dresses.

And points to whoever got Zac Posen groping the models way more than necessary! He was tugging away at the necklines and backs like crazy.
posted by viggorlijah at 11:21 PM on August 22, 2014


I think this was a great example of the problem with one day challenges. If you set people up to fail, you can't be surprised when they do just that.

I'm glad at least Amanda didn't get the win. In case any of you read Tom & Lorenzo and wonder what they mean by the "gretchening" of Amanda. Some seasons ago a designer named Gretchen had the judges favor and got glowing critiques no matter what she did. Eventually winning over the much more talented Mondo. Although to Amanda's credit, Gretchen was a manipulator and a bully and I haven't seen anything that nasty from Amanda.
posted by bjrn at 3:57 AM on August 23, 2014


It was interesting that we saw Sandhya offering to buy something for [purple-hair woman] and Tim nixing that. Yet in the workroom they seem to borrow things from each other all the time.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 5:45 AM on August 23, 2014


You know who I think is classy? Char. She gives props for good designs and she's not all bent because Sandhya had the good sense to ask for everyone's money. I also didn't hate her dress, although it was pretty much a 'middle of the pack' gown.

Gunter (I REFUSE to call him...Fade,) had an interesting dress, although I'm not sure it would have been right for the red carpet, it seemed more editorial to me.

I'm really tired of Amanda. She IS smug, and has NO reason to be. Her stuff looks like it was done in Home Ec to me. Also, it's usually ugly. Must we hear about her famous brother as frequently as we do? What's that got to do with the price of tea in China?

I admire Kini's ability, his skills are excellent, but he's not bringing anything interesting or innovative to the table. He's Austin all over again. Sure, the dresses are pretty, but at the end of the day, we've seen it all before, and we'll continue to see it forever.

I miss the drama of the old PR. At least the clothes were interesting.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 6:15 AM on August 23, 2014 [1 favorite]


Amanda has a famous brother?
posted by Madamina at 6:43 AM on August 23, 2014


Her brother is one of the guys in Maroon 5. I can't remembering them mentioning it more than once or maybe twice in the first episode.
posted by bjrn at 8:02 AM on August 23, 2014


I hated the winning dress. There was nothing at all high fashion or innovative about it. The 1920s called. They want their flapper dress back. Seriously...it was a simple sheath covered with fringe. What part of that was in any way something novel? None of it. Ooooo he used black on the bottom though! Ok. Boring. Next.

I guess I don't dislike Amanda as much as everyone else does. Not a huge fan, but no hate. I see her schtick as trying to be self-deprecating and overly humble to get the other designers to not hate her. Which it seems they do anyway. So she may as well stop the false humility and just be who she is. Yep, she does have an advantage, having been there before. She may not be sweet or nice, but she doesn't have to be. She isn't freaking out on anyone or being verbally abusive or physically intimidating like Ken or the other crazy guy with anger issues from last season so she's ok with me.

I actually liked her dress, but with some refinements. It didn't look finished. If you look at the recap over there ---->
I find that Amanda's dress is actually the most flattering on, and would look crazy good on Heidi. I would add encrusted cap sleeves and a train, to make it insane. I liked Fade's as well. None of them slayed. I think the judges should have just said fuck this, no winners or losers. Let's just pretend this never happened.
posted by the webmistress at 10:58 AM on August 23, 2014


Somebody on ONTD said Amanda looks like a Simpsons character and now it's all I see.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 12:52 PM on August 23, 2014 [3 favorites]


If there was ever a week where I thought there would be a triple aufing, this was it. Alexander was very, very lucky that those three dresses were so much worse than his, considering his model had visible butt cheeks. (That's usually a guaranteed ticket to the bottom three!)

I did like Sean's and Kini's dresses, but I would have put Sandhya in the top over Amanda. Her dress was stunning. (Yes, her fabric was significantly more expensive, but we've seen people get gorgeous fabric and do hideous things with it.) I liked Fade's dress a lot, too. Good for Sean for redeeming himself after last week.
posted by SisterHavana at 3:40 PM on August 23, 2014


Well, vinyl lined crap balls, the Lifetime ones are way more fun. After struggling with their player for the premiere, I gave up and used hulu. I knew I was missing stuff. I don't know if I can deal with rewatching earlier shows, because some of those people are way too annoying to watch again, but with this one, they cut out all the little fun bits. Then some line about $120 lace doesn't make any sense.
I would like to figure out what kind of dye or technique that Carrie girl used to get purple/blue shifting hair.

I do not see a lot of talent this season. I think I may like the one guy just because I'm pro New Zealand and Fade just because good use of patterns always looks impressive on camera. I like Char as a person. Amanda is embarrassing. I expect her to get excited about ric-rac next. I'm glad they're shedding people quickly but I wonder if the grey haired girl had some ideas.
posted by provoliminal at 11:10 PM on August 23, 2014


I agree with the lack of talent. But even more striking is the lack of vision. I wonder if it has to do with the decreased price value - last season it used to be ~500K, this season it's half of that or close to 300K. I wonder if a lot of talented, cool designers revoked their application after hearing the price value was less than what it used to be, and are holding out for next year, in hope some better sponsors come along.

As a result, this season is left with inexperienced, directionless people like Angela, Mitchell, Kristine or Korina. I don't necessarily dislike them, and I am not criticizing their sewing skills, but it's clear that they have not fully developed their aesthetics yet. Think back to Anya (S9), who had a hard time to properly construct a garment, but she had a vision. One of the best designers to come out of Project Runway is Mondo (S8). Mondo always had clear ideas about his designs. Whatever the challenge, it always looked like a Mondo-piece. Same with many others like Michelle (S11) or even Dom from last season.

Some designers don't do evening wear, and it's totally legitimate (remember the chiffonies? Who always did evening wear-esque pieces? They couldn't handle street wear or avant-garde challenges and always ended up with glamorous gowns. It was a running joke!). Designers have their focus on different areas of fashion design - And that's fine. But then they have to be smart about what they do for challenges that are not their forte. A good designer who is not strong with evening wear picks non traditional fabrics like knit, poly blend or even neoprene instead of silk, satin, charmeuse or chiffon. Less pitfalls that way.

Amanda's critique this week was ridiculous. The judges pointed out every bad seam, puckering or crooked hemline on any other garment. For Amanda's dress the worst they said was: "It's an idea, COULD be really sophisticated."
posted by travelwithcats at 6:02 AM on August 24, 2014


In case anyone is interested, Lifestyle has several blogs covering the show. They have a main one with recaps of each episode (which I've added to the sidebar here), and then they have guest blogs with previous contestants of Project Runway: Nick Verreos, Mila Hermanovski, Althea Harper and Alexander Pope. Although I'm not sure any of their recaps add much unless you're a fan of one of them.
posted by bjrn at 2:54 PM on August 24, 2014


Didn't Tim Gunn do recaps at one point? I wish he still was!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:46 PM on August 24, 2014


Heidi called that original color of green a "Lodenjacke" green, which refers to the traditional German walking/hunting jacket depicted here -- the hunter green details are one of the traditional bits. Anyway, the joke is that you usually see jackets like that paired with lederhosen or breeches and worn by goofy retired men carrying walking sticks and sporting bizarre Tyrolean hats like these dudes here. I'm not sure Fade got the joke, because I doubt he grew up around lots of pudgy retired dudes who went on Volksmarches all the time.

Also I'm so relieved you all thought Amanda's dress was ugly too.
posted by brina at 7:49 PM on August 24, 2014


Oooo those Tim Gunn recaps were priceless. I find the former contestants' blogs to be disappointingly bland but Tim was naming names. The assumption is that the producers shut him down. We'll just have to wait for his tell-all autobiography.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 8:05 PM on August 24, 2014


Tim Gunn is exceptional, and I doubt I would watch Project Runway if he left. But man, are there many times where I think: Why didn't you leave already? He's such a distinguished, classy gentleman, I sometimes cringe at what he is put through on the show.
posted by travelwithcats at 5:08 AM on August 25, 2014


He's had two other shows which I've not been able to watch. How did they fare?
posted by TWinbrook8 at 7:20 AM on August 25, 2014


There was the makeover show and the "Tim Gunn mentors mentors of unknown designers" show; I caught an episode or two of both and thought they were boring. Tim has given interviews about some of the behind-the-scenes drama of the makeover show; sounds he was often at odds with the producers about basic structural and tone issues. I think it showed.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 9:39 AM on August 25, 2014


Here's one of the interviews I was thinking of, start down around, MR: Moving on to “Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style,” what’s going on with that?

Interview also contains some fabulous dirt about the season he was promoting at the time; you're definitely right that he loved to name names! Too bad that's over.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 9:42 AM on August 25, 2014 [2 favorites]


Wow, everyone should read that interview. I learned more about PR in one article than from watching nearly every season. Fascinating!
posted by TWinbrook8 at 8:28 PM on August 25, 2014


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