Project Runway AllStars

Time for thoughts about PR All Stars.
First, are you watching? Is that a silly question? Do you move right from PR to All Stars and not miss a beat?
Kathy and I are watching, but I got behind. (With the move, I suffered 2.5 weeks with no cable and internet in my house. Now, compared to world hunger or educating girls in Afghanistan, I hardly have the right to use the word “suffer”. But let’s remind ourselves that I am a blogger and Facebook devote. And I am raising a Princess Water Fairy who sings and speaks fluent pirate. No TV and no internet was not a happy time for us)

Now, I have caught up, and watching the episodes back to back was a wonderful treat. At first, I was watching and I thought “this feels cheap”. Mary Kay make-up and what kind of hair product is that again? And now that I have BEEN THERE, I just missed L’Oreal, and Johnny Lavoy.And then, as I settled in, I was pleasantly surprised. What started off feeling cheap, ended up feeling more organic. The show got back to it’s roots.

“Design something that references the bugs”. That was the brief. It is not “Hello, Yoplait is sponsoring this camping trip in the Lexus! Cheers to the water company! Please design something based on the way the yogurt made some customers feel, using Lexus colors and these new eye shadow trio’s with a bird as your muse.And this will be a double elimination challenge for Scorpios and ugly garments.” It really feels like the show did 4 years ago. We didn’t anticipate what each judge would say. We don’t have 12 other seasons of history to look back on to reveal the formula. They even took them out of the work room. Now, that did not end up being a hand-sewing challenge, but it still rocked them a little bit off their axis. And it probably made them actually USE the stuff that they are always shown “packing up ” when they are sent home. I would LOVE to see all the tools they carry, and how they use them in their process.

I have to say, nothing makes me happier than an Avant Garde Challenge. We are treated to things like this

Project-Runway-All-Stars-Season-3-Episode-2-Avant-Garde-Challenge-Irina-940x1384

And because it’s All Stars we witness construction like this

Project-Runway-All-Stars-Season-3-Episode-2-Avant-Garde-Challenge-Elena-940x1384

That was done in “two days”. Nevermind what ever you think about the dress. The construction alone is MASTERFUL.

I miss Tim. The show is the lessor when Tim is not involved. And I will always miss Michael. But I am enjoying the show in a way that I had not anticipated. In a good old fashioned way.

What about you? What do you think about this season?

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6 Comments to Project Runway AllStars
    • Ros
    • Oooh, I had not been watching, but now I think I will. I love it when they have interesting challenges that they aren’t all expecting. And TWO DAY CHALLENGES? Yay!

      • Ros
      • It’s so good! Like old-style PR. Thanks for the heads-up!

        I can’t believe they got Anya back to judge, though. I would be pretty insulted by that if I were one of the designers.

        • Kat
        • I know! I was like how does someone who can’t sew and only makes caftans get to judge?! I thought Blondie was pretty spot on as the judge for the punk rock challenge but she was less vocal than I expected.

          So, I have to pipe up about the avant garde challenge. I thought Isaac was really off base with his comment about Jeffery’s woman not being about to drink a martini in his look. You know, an odd head covering is not off track for a runway show, especially an avant garde one. Nothing in their brief said they had to wear the look to a cocktail party. That said, Jeffery’s looks have been weaker than I expected. You can tell he has been designing kidswear and not sewing for awhile.

          • Ros
          • I completely agree. Being able to drink a martini is not a requirement for avant garde. I didn’t love his look but it was absolutely avant garde. Unlike, say, Melissa’s look which was a LBD with a weird craft panel on the back. I did like Michael’s look but I kind of wanted Elena to win again – I thought her dress was stunning.

            • Kat
            • The avant garde challenges are always so difficult because no one seems to really know how to exactly define what it avant garde.

    • Cindy deRosier
    • I like All Stars, but I don’t LOVE like like I do the regular PR. I think part of the magic is Tim, Heidi, and even Nina. Without them, it falls a bit flat to me. I do like that I know the designers from the get-go and don’t struggle trying to figure out who is who for the first few episodes.

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