Leann Got Robbed and Other Project Runway Travesties

By: Julie S.
RNL Writer

Don’t get me wrong, Project Runway is one of my favorite television shows. I’ve faithfully watched every season over and over again. Halfway through last night’s show, I felt like I was watching some of those reruns. The challenge was to create a nightlife look for New York City. Contestants were all given cameras and dropped off at different parts of the city with an hour to photograph their inspiration. This inspiration reeked of the season two episode based on inspiration. But in season two we were dazzled by great talents of Santino, Chloe, and Daniel V (whose orchid inspired outfit was ripped off by Kenley last week)., no such talent has surfaced this season.
To steal from Michael Kors…”I was underwhelmed”…Perhaps the lack of creativity in the theme carried over into the designers creations. We saw the same…”I’m inspired by cement motif” in Daniel that Andrae did (and in a much better way) in season two. We had our trash inspiration and the lame light streams as seen in previous seasons. Perhaps PR should stop worrying about product placement royalties and re-emphasize the cutting edge fashion and creativity that made this show such a hit.

My picks for the best….

1. Leanne…Wow what a turn around she completely redeemed herself from the previous challenge. She took inspiration from a mundane tree planter and created a smart two piece outfit that Heidi herself claimed that she would wear. Leanne’s was definitely the best this week.

2. Terry… She hasn’t had much camera time in previous episodes, but tonight we saw a smart innovative look. She took from a very abstract idea and created a very well thought out modern outfit. I can’t wait to see what she creates next.

3. Kelly… She had such a strong showing in the first week, but has had little camera time since. Kelly has an urban chic “Mad Max “inspired outfit perfect for NYC Night Life. She should have been in the top three. Kenley rode off of last week’s glory and slipped into this slot.

And the worst…

Worse than any of the fashion, was the sad attempt by Blayne to get a catch phrase. Look Christian’s fierce was bad enough, but it did give something fresh to the show. Even more lame was Suede and his speaking in the third person…Julie thinks that Suede needs to rely less on gimmicks and show some talent.

Though she was declared the winner, I would have put Kenley’s dress close to the bottom three. Maybe I am just not supposed to get it. All of the judges agrees that it was totally 80’s. I’m over it. Kors thought that maybe the girl who wasn’t around in the 80’s would want this. If you know where anyone like that is, I have a closet full of my old prom dresses that had much more style than Kenley’s creation. But, Kenley has a cool style about her and the judges are in loved with her, so she gets immunity in the next round. (Completely undeserved)

In the bottom two were Emily’s 80’s Vegas Showgirl and Jennifer’s snooze fest. Jennifer had so much potential at the beginning. I mean the woman lived in Italy. How cool is that? Luckily Emily went outer limits with her lack of taste. Nina’s “No Comment” showed that their wasn’t much else to say… It was just butt ugly. In the end, she was auf’ed and we are off to spend the week hoping that the creators stop recycling old challenges and give us back the creative bliss that is Project Runway.