At the runway, Heidi tells them that they will be designing for the every day woman, but tells them that there’s more to it. She brings the “models” out, and, as I suspected, they are family members (mostly mothers – Robert’s sister was flown in from England and Vincent’s sister was brought in, too). But then Heidi lets the designers know that they get to pick the model; however, they can’t choose their own mother or sister.
Laura chooses Jeffrey’s mother, just to torture him. And, because his name was drawn last, Jeffrey got stuck with his arch enemy’s (Angela) mother.
Back in the work room, the designers and family members say their hellos. Uli hasn’t seen her mother in four years, so this is especially sweet for her. Tim comes in and gives them a surprise. They have been invited to a special party being held by the special guest judge. They are taken to Tavern On The Green, where Michael Kors and his mother (the special guest judge) are waiting. They crack open some champagne and the mothers start showing off pictures…I mean, come on, what are mothers for if not to embarrass their children? We get to see a pic of Jeffrey with dyed hair and braces. We also learn that he is a recovering alcoholic junkie that used to live on the streets. While I’m not surprised, I have a lot more respect for him knowing that he’s pulled himself up into a successful designer. And Laura accidentally lets it slip that she is pregnant with her sixth child. She had found out after shooting began and hadn’t even had the opportunity to let her own husband know, so she wasn’t particularly thrilled about spilling the beans to her mother.
Then they go back to the work room to get to start planning their designs. They are given 30 minutes with their clients to discuss and come up with a design, and then they have a day to produce the actual outfit.
Kayne chose Michael’s mother because she had the brightest clothes and rhinestones on her shoes, so he knew that they would get along VERY well. Jeffrey’s mother says she hasn’t eaten in three days so she would look good for the challenge. And Uli’s mother appears to be getting along quite well with Vincent, as hard as that is to believe.
Jeffrey is really challenged with Angela’s mother. He has never worked with someone of her size and she doesn’t really fit his style. So, when it comes time for them to go shopping for fabrics, he hasn’t really even come up with a design.
They pick out their fabrics and get to work, but it isn’t smooth sailing for a lot of them. Those with the larger women are completely stumped. They are used to working with size ‘0’ models, and have no idea how to design something for someone with larger proportions. Robert, especially, has a lot to worry about. His model has chosen red and black for her colours, so he afraid it’s going to be yet another boring dress. And he’s right, it is from what they show. It looks like a tomato when they show it.
Tim brings in the moms and sisters to go over the designs. Vincent is fairly confident with his since Uli’s mother is so comfortable with him. Laura’s mother is very opinionated (big surprise). Tim finds out that Angela’s mother is not happy with the colours, so he brings it to Jeffrey’s attention. Jeffrey ends up feeling that Darlene (Angela’s mother) is setting him up because she tells him after he bought the fabric, but, to be fair, she told him the colours that she wanted and he didn’t listen. He tells her that he isn’t happy that she isn’t excited about the design, and then tells her he is offended that she is even standing there by him.
Darlene rushes to a back room, and Angela goes in and comforts her. She goes on about how she has never been talked to the way that Jeffrey was talking to her and then starts crying. Angela is obviously upset, so she confronts Jeffrey while they are in the sewing room. He tells her that he feels that her mother went out of her way to embarrass him in front of Tim and doesn’t feel sorry at all.
The next day, Tim sends the models in for their fittings. Jeffrey is being nice to Angela’s mom, but you can tell it’s painful for him. Despite this, Angela helps her mother into her dress, but basically tells her to tell the judges she hates the dress. Meanwhile, Angela dress isn’t safe either. Laura thinks it is dreadful and eclectic…in a bad way.
Going into the runway presentation, I really have no idea what to expect. This hasn’t been a typical show, because they have been focusing primarily on the Jeffrey/Darlene drama and have kept the designs nearly out of sight.
It’s time for the runway, and Heidi is wearing yet another WTF dress. I swear, these outfits they have her wearing are straight of the rack of a Macy’s department store.
Laura was worried about her garment. It really isn't all that flattering to Jeffrey's mom's body. At least she has, once again, tailored it well.
Kayne’s mother worked Uli’s outfit. She seemed happy with the end result and strutted her stuff down the runway with pride (mostly to embarass her son, though).
Vincent, naturally, loves his design. Personally, I think it is a little too reminiscent of Robert's dress for the Macy's I.N.C. challenge...but what do I know?
Kayne was worried since Michael’s mother didn’t smile when she was on the runway. The judges might take that to mean she isn't absolutelly thrilled with the outfit. To be honest, there's a just way too much orange/gold or whatever going on.
Robert’s design wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, but it isn't much better. Way too simple looking. And, despite revealing later that she actually likes the outfit, Vincent's sister looks absolutely miserable. I could say something really mean here, but I'm going to censor myself.
Michael was lucky that he was first to pick, cause he got the one that was both the youngest and the most slender. I say lucky only because that is the body type these designers are more accustomed to working with.
Despite not liking the dress at all, Darlene decides to make the most of the runway and has fun with it. It doesn't look all that bad and probably is far better than it would have been if Jeffrey had gone with the colours she had wanted.
Angela's just wasn't pleasing in any way. She was aiming for Audrey Hepburn, but was way off on this. This nutjob of a designer is not consistent. You just never know what to expect, although, more often than not, chances are it won't be something you like.They divide the designers into two groups, as they are going to ask them all questions. Kayne, Michael, Robert, Uli and Vincent are in the first group.
Michael reveals that his dress is completely reversible. Kors thinks the idea is great, despite the matronly bow in the front.
Kors thinks that Uli’s outfit is both understated and chic at the same time. The other judges agree that it also drapes well and is very flattering.
Nina is not happy about the matchy matchy goings on in Kayne's piece, and Kors believes it would have benefited from a little more skin.
I still don't believe it, but Uli’s mother actually loves the dress Vincent made for her. Kors thinks it’s chic and Nina thinks he did a great job.
And then there's Robert. Nina thinks he took the easy route. Robert tries to get off by saying he thought the challenge was to make the client comfortable and happy, but tt’s far too basic and B-O-R-I-N-G in the opinion of the judges.
Those four are sent to the back, while Angela, Laura and Jeffrey are brought out.
Nina says that Angela’s dress is too young. Kors sees more Stevie Nicks than Hepburn. Basically, it's a mess.
Since Jeffrey's parents like to travel and sail a lot, Laura incorporated the sailor outfit (you know the one mothers always dress their babies up in) into her dress. Jeffrey's mother says she would wear it to dinner, but Kors feels it makes her look older.
Jeffrey explains that Darlene stressed that she wanted to be covered. Darlene counters that by saying she feels matronly in the outfit, and, if it were hanging on the rack at JC Penney she would walk by without giving it a second glance. Heidi asks Angela how she thinks her mom looks, and, of course, she says she hates it and says it is embarrassing. Come on, do you really think Angela would have said she liked it even if it had turned out to be an amazing dress? I think not.
At this point, the top three seem to be Uli, Michael and Vincent. The bottom three are Angela, Kayne and Robert. Laura would be included, but they loved the tailoring. It's hard to tell where Jeffrey stands in all of this, but we are about to find out:
Michael had immunity, so he’s in and is asked to leave the runway. Laura is also in.
Now for the winner - SURPRISE - Vincent. I still don't get it.
Uli is told she is in. Kayne is also in. Angela is in.
That leaves Jeffrey and Robert on the runway. At this point, I’m feeling like Robert is out since his was such a basic design and he has been consistently boring. Plus, he hasn't really seemed too into it all for a while now. AND….I’m right.
Backstage, everyone seems to be more upset than Robert is, but that’s probably because he’s been ready to go for since a few challenges ago.
NEXT WEEK: The challenge is to design for a hip jetsetter. Of course, we are left hanging in suspense, cause Tim comes in and tells them that there is something Heidi left out about this challenge. I’m dying to know now because Uli says she is shocked! Of course, it probably won't be as exciting as I'm hoping for, but at least they have me anxious for next week.
And, for the record, I still miss Alison!
1 comment:
Great play-by-play. I watched with Kel, Kalvin, and JR and we had similar opinions.
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