Project Runway 4, Episode 2 Unbuttoned: Spit-Take

Poor Marion. The quiet, newsboy-cap-wearing, Oliver Twist-inspired designer somehow managed to impress Sarah Jessica Parker on paper, but when he and Steven tried to put his design into practice, it didn’t quite translate. It wound up looking like Marion grabbed a blanket from the couch and put a belt on it. I’m not sure what Sarah Jessica Parker saw in the design in the first place. Maybe she just likes capes? After all, she did pick Elisa’s design, too. But really, was anyone surprised that Marion was out over Christian? Christian’s the villain, after all, and like Elisa, he makes good TV. I expect him to stick around for a while.

Speaking of Sarah Jessica Parker, I wouldn’t have pegged her as a style icon. I know her character on Sex and the City is considered stylish, but Sarah Jessica (do people really call her that all the time?) wasn’t in charge of the clothes - Patricia Field was. I guess Sarah Jessica is considered more of a style icon now that she has her own clothing line. And she turned out to be a great choice - not only did she seem to know what she was talking about, but she was encouraging and incredibly nice. I’m sure it made the designers feel better to have someone supporting them rather than ready to tear their ideas down like the judges often do.

I wonder why one of the designers thought the style icon was Snow White. Wasn’t she dressed by birds?

For the most part, I wouldn’t have worn any of the clothes the designers made, with the exception of Ricky and Jack’s dress. It was very versatile - a woman could wear it to work or out for a drink. I also love that the second piece was a belt. Most of the other teams made two-piece outfits, but Ricky stuck with one dress and made the second piece an accessory. Points to him for originality.

Oh, and I like Ricky a lot, but he’s going to have to stop crying. He’s like Big Brother 8’s Amber without the racism.

Kit and Chris’ outfit, while well made, was pretty boring. They stuck with one color, black, and didn’t do much to make it stand out. However, they did well with the point of the challenge - to make an outfit people will actually wear, and which costs little money but looks more expensive than it is. And their model rocks, so there’s a bonus.

Once again, I don’t get Victorya the way the judges do. Her vest didn’t do anything for me, and I thought her dress was too short. I just don’t get what the judges see in her. Obviously she and Kevin put a lot of work into the outfit, but the finished product doesn’t look like it required that much effort. And I’m not sure where someone would wear that dress - certainly not to work, but probably not out for the night either. Maybe Victorya will make more of an impression on me in the future.

Speaking of not impressing me, I didn’t like Elisa’s outfit at all. I’ve never understood the poncho craze, for one thing. I think there are just a few women who can pull that off. And the dress wasn’t that interesting to me. I’m also surprised the judges didn’t note that Elisa used the same color for this dress as she did last week. She’s going to need to start changing that up. And, you know, stop spitting on things. (Note to self: when buying one of Elisa’s outfits, wash before wearing.)

I wasn’t too surprised, though, that Sweet P and Elisa wound up working well together. They got the “these people are going to crash and burn” edit, which often results in the team either working well together or making a great design. I was surprised, however, that Sweet P kept Katie, the model with the horrible posture. What was she thinking?

Christian not only designed a weird-looking outfit, he didn’t keep one of the points of the challenge in mind - make an outfit that average people will wear. Not many people would look good in that tight dress, and even fewer would wear it on a regular basis. And the jacket… I’m not sure what inspired it, and I’m not sure I want to know.

I’m not sure what Rami was trying to express with his outfit. I looked kind of ‘80s (even more so than Christian and Carmen’s outfit), what with the oversized shirt, the leggings, and the headband. I just don’t see a lot of “everyday women” wearing it.

Speaking of Rami, I must give him points for remembering that not all women are a size 2. He wanted to make sure his design would be wearable by women of all sizes - which is exactly what the challenged called for. I think the designers often forget that when designing for the mass market, you can’t just make a dress a tall, thin person will look good in. Most people in America aren’t thin and many aren’t tall. You’re going to lose a good portion of your target audience if you design something only Heidi Klum would look good in.

Michael Kors brought this up again when critiquing Marion and Steven’s dress - he noted that it wouldn’t work on short people. Speaking as one of those short people, he’s exactly right. Of course, the designers are usually come up with outfits that will fit their models, but when they come up against a challenge like this week’s, where they had to design for the “everyday woman,” they need to remember that hemlines might need to be adjusted for average people. Otherwise you once again lose part of your target audience.

I leave you with this thought: someone wrote on the blackboard in the guys’ apartment, “Heidi is really hot.” Either there’s another straight guy in there, or we now know Kevin’s true feelings for Ms. Klum.

Jenn Brasler is an Associate Editor of Reality News Online and an aspiring writer from Falls Church, Virginia. By day she works for a court reporting firm, and by night she’s a spy for a covert branch of the CIA. You can e-mail her at luckyjenn@hotmail.com. Cartoon birds braided her hair this morning.