Colorful Confections and Clothes from Strangers

PIC OF DAY

They told him to smile for the camera

The fashion challenges on Project Runway All Stars continue to get both more difficult and a little bit offbeat. Contenders continue to get eliminated and the possible winner begins to emerge.  As of this writing, there are nine PR All Star contenders left.  So far none of the remaining female contenders impress me enough to predict a winner.  Of the male contenders left, I'd tentatively suggest that Rami and Austin seem to be the most consistant and if I had to make a guess of a winner of these two I'd go with Rami.  Austin gets a bit full of himself sometimes and on some challenge I predict it will be his downfall.




In the latest episode in January the challenge was for the contenders to design an outfit based on a flavor, using the color and design of the frock to show the contender's interpretation of the flavor.

Most of the time I agree with the judges on their choices regarding bad and good but sometimes I am on a different planet than the judges.  The judges loved Mila's entry, which she called milk and sour cherries.  I thought the dress looked sour all right and I can't imagine any happening young woman would wear such a thing.  The judges didn't put Rami's design in the bottom three but they put it in the top three either.  I thought it was the best of all the entrees for this challenge.
Another design I quite liked and thought should be at the top was Austin's entree which he called "vanilla Madagascar".  I thought it very feminine and it was one of my faves.  The judges declared Austin's design safe but it wasn't in the top three.  I did agree with the judges on Anthony's "Green Tea" submission, which they put in the bottom three.  The top was confusing, the overall design not pleasing to the eyes.

Two designs I agreed with the judges completely.  April submitted a blueberry confection, a perfectly good choice for a color.  But her skirt was uneven.  She'd ran low on material and as a result the back of the dresses' hem was shorter than the front.  Michael submitted the design declared the winner by the judges.  It was also my favorite, a grapefruit concoction as he called it.

The first episode in February had the contender's going to a nearby park, selecting strangers, and asking for the clothes off their back.  The challenge had rules, as they all do though the viewers aren't given the minutiae of the boring details.  In this challenge the rules were violated and it mattered very much.

Anthony's violation of the rules surely saved Michael from being "out" because that thing submitted by Michael is hideous.  What the hell was he thinking?  It looks like women's underwear!  Not that Anthony's submission was all that pretty with essentially a scarf for a blouse.  But Anthony didn't use the required amount of material from the stranger whose outfit he acquired.  As I understand it, Anthony only used the "blouse" material and the red pants were from purchased material.

The judges like Austin's submission of a black edgy biker type outfit.  I think it has entirely too many zippers and froufrou to be elegant.  The winner of this challenge was Mondo.  I do think his design is clever and there had to be some difficulty putting this geometric thing together.  Despire Mondo's efforts, I'd never pick such a complicated design to wear.

Rami's outfit was my favorite.  The judge's liked it enough as well to put it in the top three but I think it should have been the winner.

Rami even added strips of fabric that matched the blouse to the pocket slash the the leg hems.  The furl on the blouse is pretty and the addition of the black vest is just perfect.

So the eight left continue on and we'll be continuing on watching as well.

Keep an eye on Rami.

Project Runway All Stars airs on the Lifetime network, Thursday nights at 9 pm.