All right...
Let's do this. Minions?
We did not love this dress.
Actually, that's a little harsh. We liked this dress just fine, but we didn't think it was a contender for the win. A solid third.
It's graphic and eye-catching and stylish as hell, sure. No arguments from us.
And we applaud the perfect execution and intricate details.
But, well for one, we didn't love the top of. Once again, she made exclamation points instead of cups. It gave her a look that was at the same time revealing and unflattering.
Lorenzo has a special dislike of the braided straps. Just one of those things.
And ultimately, the most damning of all in our opinion, she made a dress that looked like, well, a dress made out of napkins.
There's a lot to like about this look and like we said, she deserved to be in the top 3. We understand the impulse to whine a little about always being a bridesmaid but she's in a really good place to be. The judges all know and like her work this early in the competition. That means they already think favorably of her and will be prone to excusing missteps later on. Besides, winning challenges has absolutely nothing to do with what this competition's all about. It's about getting to Fashion Week. Yeah, yeah. Immunity's a nice perk, but come on. Show of hands: who doesn't think Valerie will be showing next month, either as a decoy or a finalist?
Tim Gunn's Workroom:
Extended Judging:
"The group is very caring and loving. It seems like everyone really understood why I won before they even knew I was going to win and were really rooting for me."
"We're drawing straws to see who gets to push Gretchen out a window."
What is it with this season? Last week, Jason was all "I'm going to be all creepy and scary and weird like this show's never seen!" Then this week, Gretchen took one look in the mirror, squinted, tilted her head, and said, "You know what, mirror? I think I'm gonna go full-tilt ASSHOLE this week! Yeah!"
We said she was getting the edit treatment, but still. You don't get the treatment if you don't give them something to work with. We don't mind the "everyone clean up your space" line or even the offering of unasked for opinions. It's the overwhelming sense that she feels she's a reward to the other designers just by being in the competition with them. "The bar has been raised in a manner that is intimidating, but also I think it's going to push everyone to really try to maximize their own capabilities." "Valerie is definitely going to be on the top with me." "I'm a force to be reckoned with."
Oh, please. Get over yourself, honey. You won the first couple rounds of a gameshow.
But kittens, you are going to be the bitterest of bitter kittens when we tell you...
This was a total knockout and really should have won.
We KNOW. Believe us, when this came out, we looked at each other and said "shit" in unison. We didn't WANT her to win a third time, but this was head and shoulders above everything else, even Andy's ribbon cocktail dress.
Not only did this look like real clothes, which, let's face it, is what the judges like to see with these challenges, it also had great style. Like, magazine cover style. We think that's a lot of what the judges have been responding to with her previous works. That plain black cocktail dress and plain blue jumpsuit weren't the most innovative things they'd ever seen, but they were very much in style and that's naturally something those three judges will respond to.
Granted, she made a misstep with the boots, but it looks to us like these were the only boots available on the Piperlime wall and the outfit really called for boots. A mistake, but not a fatal one.
And the screencaps and pictures don't do the skirt justice. In motion, it looked incredible. And it fit her perfectly.
In fact, everything fit perfectly.
And she made great and stylish use of her materials. No, poodles. This was a clear home run.
You could tell the judges wanted to give it to her, but three in a row would have been excessive - and demoralizing to the other designers. We're far from drinking the Gretchen kool-aid. We weren't a hundred percent behind either of her wins, but this is the one time, in our opinion, she was head and shoulders above the rest.
And she styled it to perfection (except for the boots). It really did look, as Michael Kors said, like something Kate Moss would wear.
Tim Gunn's Workroom:
Extended Judging:
[Screencaps: projectrungay.blogspot.com - Video Credit: myLifetime.com - Photo Credit: Barbara Nitke/myLifetime.com]
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Labels: Gretchen Jones, Project Runway, Project Runway Season 8, Project Runway Season 8 Episode 3, Valerie Mayen