guest post by chronicler

Shocker this week. I was not prepared to say goodbye to two designers! The real winners this week though, were the judges. It was a rare version of a snarkfest for those in the bottom four. Best line of the night - Michael Kors - “I mean come on, she’s pooping fabric!” And to be completely honest it is exactly what I thought in that split second shot of Blaine’s model before the runway. Then the bit about Suede talking about himself in the third person - priceless. “You’re certainly not ready for this third person kind of thing going. There’s a lot of self delusion.”

What was it the made them run amok? Working with losers? Oh wow, did Stella look jaded when they first walked out or what? The producers pulled a fast one on them and didn’t allow them to pick their team. It was the luck of the draw. And Terri lost. Or did she? Terri surprised me with her disdain for Keith. Yes, he’s a cry baby, and possibly a bit self centered, and still likes to cut fabric into little pieces, but man could that not have worked for the Leo look? Bad attitude Terri, and it bit you in the behind.

Avant Garde:

The French word for vanguard. A group or work that is innovative or inventive on one or more levels: subject, medium, technique, style, or relationship to context.

An avant-garde work pushes the known boundaries of acceptable art sometimes with revolutionary, cultural, or political implications.
So who really knew the difinition of the word? Insert line from Sleepless in Seattle here “I don’t even want to think of what they’re not teaching you in school.” Twice, it seems, we have seen the use of the word avant-garde this season and twice most have missed the mark. “Avant-garde does not equal costume!”, I presume, Tim yells in his sleep!
Most of the teams seemed to have a cohesive enough team that they could have pulled this off, except some don’t know the meaning of the word team either. Which is a universally accepted problem with PR. The teams were pronounced and it either made them or broke them this time around. I think it has been the best combination of angst and ego of all five seasons.

Team Leanne. Team Korto. Team Jerrel. Team Joe. Get it.

Team Kenly. Team Blaine. Team Terri. Team Suede. Not so much.

And then enter the cruel twist of fate. Past contestants and winners be your judge! It was good to see all the former contestants. Even a few that were forgettable. Oh Jay looks like he’s taking himself a bit more serious these days. Am I the only one thinking that being a designtestant is not a vad thing at all? It’s a gig that keeps surfacing in surprising ways.

Can I say I was shocked at the winner of this one. I never would have chosen Team Jerrel as the winner. My girl Korto gets the by one more week. Jerrel did exactly what Tim predicted. Win it all or lose horribly. And win he did. I just wish we could have got a better look at the design. From what I saw it was not avant-garde enough for me.

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Team Leanne’s design was very good again this week. The exoskeleton choice was fab! I love the red and black too. Their choice of Scorpio was obvious, then with the use of just two color choice it also was defintely Libra.

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Team Korto. Love the dress. Great concept of Aquarius. There was not a question of which sign it was and it was just fashion forward enough to grab the win. But fellow designer’s can be the best judges. They saw what we didn’t and didn’t think it was, unfortunately.

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Team Joe. Wow what a dress! It was my fave. They were really a team and the dress showed. The was the perfect balance between Joe and (what’s his name???) to pull of a dress almost anyone could wear.

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Now for the losers.

Team Blaine. One legged monster. Costumey. I like oddly beautiful but this is just, odd.. I remember making something like this for a barbie doll once.

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Team Terri. Leo/Saggitarius, oh you guys are perfect together! Voodoo Princess in Hell (Insert smirking model laughter here) Taste suddenly flew out the window.Nina’s lack of comment concerned me.

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Team Kenley. What puzzles me is the fact that I think it doesn’t have anything to do with the zodiac. Not shocking, I have actually seen clothes like this. Listen Kenley avant-garde means something we haven’t seen. Bleh. I just thought aquarius was really more blue, teal, shiny green. Plaid????!! rate_509_kenley.jpg

Team Suede. Bordering on what’s expected. Tailored. It really needed to be brought to the next level.This wasn’t I need to make this and put it in a department store challenge.Tacky. Brutal, the judges were brutal. Boring. Sigh. I had such high hopes for Team Suede.

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Nina looked spent. Worn out. Not surprising after that article last week.
(photos courtesy of BravoTV website.)