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Project Runway Post-Show Chat, Week 4

After each episode of Project Runway's seventh season, a gaggle of Slatesters will gather to dish about the show. This week, the challenge was to design a signature dress for Campbell's "adDRESS your heart" program, and the clients were women whose lives "have been impacted by heart disease." Amy Sarabi was the winner; Jesus Estrada was sent home.

David Plotz: Can we just pretend that episode never happened? All that shiny red fabric. All that crass-even-by-reality-TV-standards shilling for Campbell's. All that phony do-goodism. And then all those extremely ugly dresses. Give me burlap any day. 

June Thomas: Amen, brother. I just feel bad that this week's Project Runway was pre-empted for an hourlong Campbell's soup commercial. There were too many elements to the challenge—the dress had to be suitable for a fancy gala, be predominantly red and incorporate the Campbell's logo, and, as they mentioned so many times, the designers were working with "real women." (As wonderful as those real women no doubt are, I gained a new appreciation for the way the emaciated professional models make clothes look great.)

Hanna Rosin: I actually had hopes for this one. Remember a few seasons back when they did the shameless promo challenge at the Hershey's store? That produced some of my favorite dresses ever, made of layered candy wrappers and licorice. The problem here was that they weren't shameless enough. They should have gone Andy Warhol on them—made them incorporate actual tin cans and limp noodles.

JT: Hanna, you're making me wish Ping was still around. She could've made a kick-ass tin-can dress.

HR: After the endless reminders that these were "real women," I wasn't sure if we were supposed to pity them more because they had heart disease or because they were "real," which in fashion just means fat, right?

DP: The real women Campbell's chunky soup challenge. Rearrange those words as you see fit. 

I will say this for the real women: They do reveal which designers can't actually, uh, design. That thing--that extra-wide load thing--that Anna sent down the runway was evidence that she and her wispy la-di-da pretty face need to go home. She can't make a dress. 

JT: I would love to pick a fight with you, David, but I agree completely. Anna's dress was the opposite of flattering. I would've sent her home before Jesus--sure, his tacky little number looked like something from the opening ceremonies of the Sex Worker Olympics, but it fit and it was flattering, which is more than could be said for Janeane's, Anna's, or the really vile ensemble from this week: Jesse's shiny white majorette jacket and paneled skirt

HR: I think disease is a real problem for reality television, because it sucks the life out of the show. Deep in their hearts, the designers were pissed that they had to design for these frumpy non-famous post-ops. But because they had "heart disease," nobody could say that. So, except for one bitchy Mila comment about her model being a "really tough fit" (again, fat), the episode was a dud.

And did Jay actually say, "I've never met anyone in my life who died"?

DP: Be fair. He did caveat it: "I've never met anyone in my whole entire life who died and came back to life." 

June, what are the events at the Sex Worker Olympics? And will it be carried on NBC? Actually, in their horrific bloody red ugliness, a lot of these outfits could pass for genuine Team USA Olympic uniforms. 

JT: Let's just put it this way: If Jesus' model had carried a tray of drinks in one hand and a pingpong ball in the other, she couldn't have looked any trashier.

Did either of you see anything that you liked tonight? I agree with the win—Amy did manage to create movement and elegance, but it was still a pretty boring design. Other than Jonathan's silk layer cake of a dress, which stood out mostly because he eschewed bright scarlet, the others all seemed ugly.

DP: I disagree about Jonathan's, which, except for being eggplanty rather than bloody, was bad wedding-store dress. I liked Mila's star-spangled fire engine. I worry that Mila is going to poison Amy before next week's episode, but I still think she's the best designer they've got.

I wasn't gaga over Amy's winning dress, but I am gaga over her. It's been a long time since there has been a PR contestant I really liked. Amy has a dignity and charm about her. It may not win her the competition against ax murderess Mila and quietly vicious Emilio, but I am all in for her. 

JT: Ugh, I hated Mila's dress. The story of the stars—the classic Campbell's branding elements—was great, but the dress itself was horrid. Those puckered old stars made me weep for old glory.

HR: I think they can't kick Anna out for the same reason they can't complain about the heart disease patients. It's like kicking a puppy. (And they can't ever kick Janeane out, because she will threaten to jump off the roof of Mood.)

I have become kind of interested in Emilio, though. He's been offstage since the first episode, but he's been amping up the bitchiness at an alarming speed. I feel like they are preparing us for an Emilio showdown. But I'm not sure with whom.

DP: Janeane and Anna remind me of the girls I tried desperately to avoid dating in college. And Maya reminds me of the girls I tried desperately to date. And Mila—a grown-up Maya—is a very useful reminder of how lucky I was that the Mayas wouldn't date me. 

HR: So, David, am I an Amy or a Maya?

DP: You are a total Amy!

Previous chats: Weeks 1, 2, 3

Another Joss Whedon World Ends

Project Runway Post-Show Chat, Week 2

After each episode of Project Runway’s seventh season, a gaggle of Slatesters will gather to dish about the show. This week, the challenge was to make a party dress out of burlap sacking. Jay Nicolas Sario was the winner, and Pamela Ptak was sent home.

Hanna Rosin: Now that's a Project Runway. A fantastic challenge, executed in many interesting and surprising ways. A little bit of hating and drama. Ass flaps and a flash of nipple. Plus, I think they made the wrong decision on both sides, which always gets me exercised. But before I get critical, didn’t you both think that was the best challenge in a long, long while? 

David Plotz: I totally agree. Those were stunning dresses tonight, and so environmentally friendly. It was locavore fashion, consuming low on the food chain.

June Thomas: I wish it had been one step further from "make a pretty dress," since it was basically "make a pretty dress in a difficult fabric," but I agree that it led to some gorgeous garments (and a few monstrosities). And it was worth it to see Tim Gunn's full-body shudder when Jay did a cartwheel in the muddy field.

H.R.: What do you mean, one step further? Isn't it always effectively make a pretty dress? That was burlap, for God's sake, as old as Moses, as Emilio said. And it produced a handful of amazing dresses in many shades.

J.T.: I like an unusual materials challenge, but I prefer it when they have to make a beautiful garment out of something that isn't fabric—like groceries or parts of a car. One definite upside of the challenge was that the material took dye so well—some of the colors and effects were truly spectacular. I really loved Amy's petal effect, for example. The trick of making a really sophisticated look from a very basic fabric was a good one, but I wanted to see them braiding fronds that they grabbed from a florist’s stall or the sweepings from a hairdresser's salon.

D.P.: Michael said of Mila's dress, "The boys will like it," and speaking for the boys, I certainly did (though I found the repeated blurring of the model's right nipple irritating). Mila has the potential to become reality-TV royalty. Her apparently vast talent is inextricably knotted to a seething, passive-aggressive fury. Did you catch that moment, after her model abandoned her for Anthony, when she hissed at him, "It's funny she would pick you over me." Anyone who says "it's funny" like that is someone who would push you under a truck. Yet that very reservoir of rage must drive her, because she certainly made a knockout dress.

H.R.: Oh, David, you are so harsh. A girl needs to process. It's humiliating, having your half-starved, no-talent wench of a model leave you standing out there in the hayfield, the wind whistling past. She had to take it out on someone.

J.T.: At first, I thought that Mila was wasting energy stressing out about something a model had done (and taking it out on Anthony was smart if you're "playing the game" and messing with your opponents' heads, but it’s not at all fair—Anthony hadn't done anything to make Mila's model bail), but I agree, it helped her get to her rageful place, which is apparently where her creativity resides.

D.P.: And it sure didn't hurt Anthony, whose red dress was a legitimate contender for the top three, I thought.

A moment about my favorite dress of the night. Amy's burlap flower was incredibly brave. It made the fabric do all the work. And the dye job—a frame of black, fading into a mist of brown, fading into the tan burlap—mesmerized me. That was the coolest bit of work of the night.

J.T.: I also would've given the nod to Amy for the petals, the subtle styling on the halter straps that Lauren Hutton pointed out, and the way she made this very stiff fabric seem soft and flowy. I was not as wowed as the judges were by Mila's look—there sure was a lot of burlap covered up on that dress. Of course, it was tight, short, and shiny, which are Heidi's three favorite qualities in a garment. Jay's feathers did nothing for me—partly, I think, because his dye job was so dark, so the fiddly bits really didn't show up well on television.

Seth's hooded dress was exquisite. And I speak as someone who does not care for his self-presentation (though his hair was less offensive this week). I know I shouldn't be so affected by the way the designers dress themselves on the runway, but I can't help it. I loved Jonathan's vesty look—very Simon Baker in The Mentalist—and Jesus' bow-tie was adorable.

H.R.: I'm with you on Seth and Amy. Especially Amy. I was way more impressed by her ability to transform burlap into something flowy and subtle than by those tedious black feathers. And you have perhaps hit on why they did not kick out Jesus—that cute baby Elvis meets Pee-wee Herman look.

I'm still a little puzzled about why the judges are giving Ping such a wide berth. That was a tedious, ill-fitting dress. And the model's crack was showing, a fact the camera emphasized several times. Is it just the comic relief? Or is there some potential there?

J.T.: Ping not being sent home for that garment is one of those decisions that makes me doubt the integrity of the competition. That skirt was an abomination. I am grateful for the new insult "ass flap," but I don't ever want to see another. That was not "edgy," as one of the judges suggested; it was ugly, amateurish, and ugly again. (And her model was an idiot to stick with her—she had the chance to go with another designer, and she should have.) It must be producer manipulation. Next week is a team challenge, so the producers knew that whoever was paired with Ping would be in for a whole world of drama. I can see no other reason to keep her.

D.P.: It is mysterious that they booted Pamela Ptak (I just like writing her name), when they could have booted the ass-flashing nursery-school project that Ping made, or the second astonishingly tedious dress from Jesus. Incidentally, Jesus has now referred to himself in the third person two weeks in a row, which is in itself justification for expulsion.

J.T.: Third-personification apart, what did you think of the judges' critique of Jesus' dress? It's legitimate to ding him for covering up too much burlap, but I thought they were wrong to say that his dress was "mundane and matronly" and to complain about the colors. Maybe he used too much ribbon, but I thought it looked great—the undulating layers of that beautiful green color really popped against the brown. It felt very painterly to me.

H.R.: Jesus is not going to rise to the occasion, designing as he does for his mom's friends. His future is at the neighborhood hair salon. I felt the same about the winner. I understand the value of the trickery—making burlap look like feathers. But the final result was not all that interesting—not nearly as edgy as Mila's, or as nice as that pair of red dresses, or even that bitchen Red Riding Hood get-up from Seth.

D.P.: Seth. I'm beginning to hate that guy. Did you catch his snigger at Ping's bare-ass dress?

H.R.: Also, the dude wears nail polish. David, could you ever love a man who wears nail polish?

J.T.: I would've kept Pamela over Ping, but the ass-magnification powers of Pamela's dress were spectacular. Too. Much. Butt. And I know she was very proud of producing a color that evoked denim, but many of the other contestants created more interesting shades.

H.R.: Well, June, you can't complain about Pamela's dress and forget what Michael Kors said about Jesus' dress. Too. Much. Butt. juxtaposed with No. Butt. At. All. The colors were fine by me, but I hated that ass-ymmetry. Especially on the back side.

JT: I was not in love with the back of Jesus' dress. All that focus on the zipper was a very bad idea.

D.P.: Not to reveal my mannish ignorance too much—keep in mind that I did not know the difference between a skirt and a dress until I was 21 years old—but what the heck is hambre or ombre or hombray? And why were we supposed to be so impressed that Ptak was ptakking it?

H.R.: Well, hombre. It's o-m-b-r-e. And here's a video demo. It's sort of like making Jell-O, and then dipping fabric in it. I've tried it before, but I ended up with colors nothing like those nice reds and grays.

D.P.: Is it too early for us to predict our top three for the season? I don't think so. I have my money on Amy, Emilio, Mila, and Seth. You ladies care to join me?

H.R.: Uh, that's the top four, David. Harder to pick three. I'll knock Mila off your list, since Tim Gunn complained about having too many women last time.

J.T.: My ridiculously early pick for the top three would be Emilio, Seth, and Amy. How spooky that we all predict the same Fashion Week finalists, but remember, there are lots of designers whose work we really haven’t seen yet.

Previous chats: Week 1

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Ripped From Which Headline? “Blackmail”

We all know that Law & Order rips its stories from the headlines—but which headlines? Every week, Brow Beat matches L&O's plot points to the events that inspired them.

Jan. 15, 2010: "Blackmail"

These Are Their Stories
When freelance journalist Megan Carrick is murdered, Detectives Bernard and Lupo discover that she was investigating daytime TV host Vanessa Carville. The host had engaged in consensual affairs with several women on her show's staff, including Carrick. Suspicious, the detectives decide to question Carville. They find her mid-meeting with District Attorney Jack McCoy, explaining that someone is trying to blackmail her. A habitual early riser, she had gone to her car at 6 a.m. and discovered a packet full of incriminating photos, e-mails, and diary entries, along with a blackmail note. The detectives arrest the would-be blackmailer when he picks up a check from Carville. She later apologizes to her show's audience and tells them she has done "some pretty kinky things."

This Is the Real Story
In early October 2009, late-night TV host David Letterman shocked his studio audience by confessing to some "creepy things," including a number of consensual affairs with female employees. Letterman had found a blackmail package in the back of his car when he went to make his customary early morning drive to the studio. He took the information to the district attorney, and the alleged blackmailer, Robert Joel Halderman, was arrested when he attempted to deposit the check Letterman gave him. Until shortly before the sting operation, Halderman was involved with Stephanie Birkitt, Letterman's one-time personal assistant and one of the women with whom he'd had an affair. According to Time, "Extracts from her diaries were reportedly in the package in Letterman's car."

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Project Runway Post-Show Chat, Week 1

After each episode of Project Runway’s seventh season, a gaggle of Slatesters will gather to dish about the show.

June Thomas: The first week of Project Runway is always a bit of a blur. The producers have to introduce 16 designers—and get them down the runway. That doesn't leave a lot of room to signal who's the kook, who's the no-hoper, and who's the bitch. But this episode was particularly turbo-charged, and it was great.

There was a lot less of the manufactured suspense that we're used to having in the announcement phase. Instead of a lot of shots of Heidi looking sadistic and the contestants looking nervous, Heidi just announced the winner (congratulations, Emilio Sosa), and a minute later, it was “auf Wiedersehen, Christiane King.”

Hanna Rosin: I have to say, I could have used a little more tension. As a challenge, "make a dress that reflects your design aesthetic" was a little flat, the equivalent of my editor telling me, "Write something." It's as if, after the disaster of last season, they have to remind us of the original formula, "make it work" and all.

That said, they did wring some drama out of Janeane Marie Ceccanti and Seth Aaron Henderson. She is like a walking Abilify commercial, and you can't imagine her making it through the season. Her outfit was also utterly forgettable, practically institutional.

Seth was the surprise of the evening. The whole episode I was trying to pin him down. Is he Pirates of Penzance? Vegas lounge lizard? Dan Zanes? It never occurred to me he would make a fine dress. Did you guys like the dress, by the way? The back was lovely, I thought, but the front was straight out of the Delia's catalog.

David Plotz: June and my beloved wife, Hanna, I'm honored if a little scared to be permitted to bring my Y chromosome to this discussion. Lifetime's commercials—vitamins specially formulated for women, weight-loss pills for women, calcium for women, cereals for fat women, hair-care products for women, based-on-a-true-woman’s-story movies (The Pregnancy Pact!) suggest that I am not Project Runway's target audience. But if Slate can have three women write about Friday Night Lights, it can certainly allow a guy into the Project Runway conversation.

Seth's gingham milkmaid hooker dress didn't interest me as much as his architectural hair, which was not even the most vertical of the Season 7 men’s, suggesting we have finally reached the grim cultural moment when men spend more time on their hair than women do. 

Heidi, who seems to be a one-person pregnancy pact (what is this, her fourth kid?), seemed a little more robotic than usual in the premiere. She's surely bored with saying exactly the same thing week after week, season after season, and I felt like her boredom was showing. I don't know how many more seasons they can do with exactly the same formula, same words, same catchphrases, same everything.

J.T.: David, I think it can go on forever as long as they sign up talented contestants and the judging makes sense. After all, we tried change last season, and look how that worked out.

I did not think that Seth deserved to be in the top three, but perhaps that's because I'm sad that the judges like him. One look at the way he styles himself—I swear his runway outfit made him look like the ringmaster in a satanic circus—and I immediately took against him. But every reality show needs someone viewers love to hate. (I did like the back of his dress, well, other than that monstrous red zipper. I hated the fabric, though. It read very old-lady to me.)

Let's talk about the winners and losers. In every Week 1, only six of the contestants count: the top three and the bottom three, whose dresses we actually get to see for more than a millisecond. The rest are just extras.

I was glad Emilio won. He seems like a nice guy, but most important, he made a beautiful dress that was lovely to look at and showed off his technical skills. It was another short challenge, which is something I don't care for in general—would it kill the producers to give the designers enough time to think and to make properly finished garments?--but it did separate the contestants. In just over a day, Emilio managed all manner of braiding and appliqué and complicated inlays. The dress looked like something young women would want to buy, but it also had an expensive, high-end look. In fact, it was one of my all-time favorite Project Runway dresses.

D.P.: Totally with you on Emilio. Loved the dress. The other designer I wanted in the top three was Anna Lynett, the artist who made that very sunshine-y cute dress.

H.R.: June, you say only the top and bottom three matter. But I thought there were some real doozies that got away. Jay Nicolas Sario—one of three people on the show to refer to himself in the third person—had that dress with poof-balls stuck on it, an homage to paint-ball victims everywhere. And right after that came Pamela Ptak's pink flying nun. Those two definitely stuck with me. 

J.T.: At the bottom of the pack, I would have been fine with any of them going home.

The judges were right about Jesus Estrada’s dress—not sexy, not fashionable, dated—but I kind of liked the chiffon train. Anthony Williams was safe because he brought the sound bites—“I’m sweating like a Baptist preacher”—and made a naked appeal to demographics when he described himself as "black and gay in the ghetto" and started ragging on the Miss America pageant. But he got the worst note that the judges can give: They questioned his “taste level.”

D.P.: I am already over Anthony, who seems like a character in a canceled sitcom. Ping Wu, too, is going to wear out her welcome soon; she’ll probably be auf'd by Episode 3. I'm most looking forward to either the success or failure of Type A egomaniac supervillain Pamela Ptak (who probably fired the other vowels in her last name just to keep the "a" in line). Her pink dress, with its gasp-inducing absence of a back, had the odd effect of making her model look simultaneously naked and fat.

J.T.: Ping is clearly this season's wacko—and although I can't see her lasting too far into the show, she's interesting and amusing, and she certainly has a point of view.

H.R.: I was sure that Ping was going to end up like Elisa, that yoga freak from Season 4 who spit on her fabrics. Especially after she started dancing in front of the mirror and giggling into her wrist like a Japanese teenager. And that weird tea cozy head thing? Her outfit did not translate on TV at all. It was impossible to discern its construction; it could have been strung together by that single suspender for all I know. But then the judges decided it had a kind of eccentric Rei Kawakubo charm and declared her the artiste of the show. To me, it was a lesson on the arbitrary nature of taste. It really could have gone either way.

J.T.: I totally thought of Elisa the spitter when I saw Ping. Despite being the contestant who appears to have the least-developed command of English, she spun a good story about her clothes. That always wins over the judges—and it does feel like a necessary talent for someone who wants to be a "real" designer. High fashion can be very conceptual. If you can conjure a whole world for your clothes to fit into, you can get around that whole "wearability" question.

H.R.: Yes, June, but isn't that where Brüno comes in? ("My collection is all about stones and hopping toads ...") And remember what happened to Malvin the egg man from last season? He was high concept, too.

J.T.: Christiane was the first person to be kicked off the show. Her dress was just too generic (and the blue fabric was garish—that old "taste level" thing again). Project Runway is a tough place for black women—I'm still feeling bad about Korto’s fate in Season 5—but Christiane’s outfit was boring and badly made, and that should earn you a ticket home.

H.R.: I have to bring up the subject of ethnic hierarchies on the show. They do seem to prefer the Persians. The woman who sewed my wedding dress was a Persian seamstress, so I understand it’s in the blood. But the show seems to accord the Persian women a certain authority and respect. Other ethnics, meanwhile—Ping, Anthony, Jesus—are played for comic relief. 

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The TV Addict's Holiday Hell

Anyone who claims that this is the golden age of television should page through the anorexic new TV Guide, which covers Dec. 21-Jan. 3. It's a fortnight in which the highlights include Little Chocolatiers, "a pair of pint-size confectioners whip up chocolatey treats"; Durham County, "a Canadian-made crime drama" that is apparently about to begin its second series (a televisual koan: If a show premieres on Ion and no one watches, does it deserve a mention in TV Guide?); and What I Hate About Me, in which "women gripe about themselves, then get help fixing their flaws."

What is a TV junkie to do? (Remember, the average amount of time viewers spent watching television during the 2008-09 season was four hours and 49 minutes per day.) Personally, I'll be performing the DVR equivalent of spring cleaning, catching up on the shows that have piled up on my TiVo. I started out with Leverage, a corporate revenge fantasy in which a gang of grifters channel Robin Hood and Karl Marx, and then I plan to take in Season 3 of Big Love before new episodes begin in the New Year. But what comes after this weekend? There's a limit to the number of Law & Order reruns a New Yorker can watch without getting paranoid.

So, Brow Beat readers, what should I watch? Amanda Hamilton of South Carolina is attempting to catch up on the entire Lost back story to prepare herself for the final episodes in spring 2010. That seems like a summer's worth of work. If you have any ideas for how I can get through the holidays without resorting to Hoarders, please send them to browbeatTV@gmail.com or message @junethomas on Twitter.

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Ripped From Which Headline, "Fed"

We all know that Law & Order rips its stories from the headlines—but which headlines? Every week—at least every week when there's a new episode and June's DVR doesn't fail—Brow Beat matches L&O's plot points to the events that inspired them.

Dec. 11, 2009: "Fed"

These Are Their Stories
Nicholas Landy's body is found with the word "FED" scrawled on his chest. The police immediately suspect that he was targeted by an anti-government activist.

This Is the Real Story
According to the Los Angeles Times, "The body of William E. ‘Bill' Sparkman Jr., 51, was found in the backwoods of Clay County [Kentucky] on Sept. 12, with his hands, feet and mouth bound with duct tape, a rope around his neck and the word ‘Fed' written on his chest." Authorities initially considered that Sparkman, a Census Bureau worker, might have been targeted because he worked for the government. Investigators eventually concluded that he had committed suicide and attempted to disguise it so his insurance policies would pay out.

These Are Their Stories
The cops discover that although Landy worked as a door-to-door canvasser for the Rights Alliance Foundation, a nonprofit group of community organizers, he was a conservative activist who was secretly recording his work. The police find hidden-camera footage of Landy manipulating RAF workers into talking about how they might extort a restaurant chain.

This Is the Real Story
On Sept. 10, 2009, Fox News reported that "[o]fficials with the controversial community organizing group ACORN were secretly videotaped offering to assist two individuals posing as a pimp and a prostitute, encouraging them to lie to the Internal Revenue Service and providing guidance on how to claim underage girls from South America as dependents." Filmmaker James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles, who, according to the Washington Post is "the eldest daughter of a conservative Christian minister in Miami," made the videos—described by the Post as "a major strike for conservative Republicans who for years have accused ACORN of voter-registration fraud during presidential elections"—to discredit the organization.

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Project Runway: We Have a Winner!

"It'll be better next time" is a phrase that rarely brings the reassurance the speaker intends, but it's the best thing that can be said for Project Runway. The book is now closed on Season 6, which was beset by legal problems, second-rate contestants, uninspired challenges, inconsistent judging, absent judges, too many one-day contests, and the wrong venue. Let's pretend it never happened and hope that Season 7, back in New York and with Michael Kors and Nina Garcia guaranteed to be on hand for all the challenges, will induce a case of selective amnesia.

But first, the formalities: Thursday night brought the second part of the finale (and someone needs to tell the folks at Lifetime that "finale Part 1" is like "a little bit pregnant"—it is or it isn't the finale), and there was only one question left unanswered: Who would win? The collections had been out there since the Bryant Park shows back in February, and Tim Gunn had explained the meltdown shown in Lifetime's promos for the finale in a fabulous interview with the Los Angeles Times. After an avalanche of faint praise (Nina Garcia, "I thought they all put a lot of time and effort into their collections"; Heidi Klum, "It really looks finished"), Heidi named Irina Shabayeva this season's winner.

Despite Irina being the clear favorite going into Fashion Week, her victory was by no means assured. The judges praised Althea's coolness and her talent for connecting with "the street." They enjoyed Carol Hannah's impeccable draping and tailoring and her willingness to play with color (at least in comparison with the others—the whole show was like a scene from Pleasantville). What won it for Irina was that her collection was the most cohesive. Too cohesive, perhaps—every single garment was black, which doesn't photograph well. As Nina Garcia observed, "It gets very little editorial, black." Still, Irina had a story—"My collection is all about New York. ... What it takes to survive in this city as a woman. It's about comforting and shielding yourself"—and she paid attention to detail. She was the only designer who had made hats to accompany her looks, for example, and, overall, her pieces looked as if they belonged in Bryant Park rather than at a high-end fashion show in a suburban mall.

Still, there is one unresolved issue. As Tom & Lorenzo, the kings of Project Runway commentary, revealed earlier this week, the T-shirts that garnered Irina so much praise weren't exactly all her own work. The slogans were copied from "Reasons To Love New York," a December 2008 piece in New York magazine.

Oh, Gucci, maybe Season 6 isn't over yet after all.

Previous Project Runway Recaps: Week 1, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10, Week 11, Week 12

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Ripped From Which Headline? "For the Defense"

We all know that Law & Order rips its stories from the headlines--but which headlines? Every week, Brow Beat matches L&O's plot points to the events that inspired them.

Nov. 13, 2009: "For the Defense"

These Are Their Stories
The episode begins when Maggie Hayes is killed before she can testify in a murder trial. The detectives discover that Hayes' employer had mob connections and convince Paige Regan, a co-worker with whom Hayes was romantically involved, to testify against their boss. While Regan is in hiding, an attempt is made on her life. Eventually, the detectives and attorneys realize that the common element in these and other cases involving violence against potential witnesses is the involvement of defense attorney Marcus Woll. Woll, who started out in the ADA's office, was the lawyer whose drug-cartel-connected clients were freed after a witness was intimidated in the Nov. 6, 2009, episode "Boy Gone Astray."

This Is the Real Story
On May 20, 2009, the Newark Star-Ledger reported that Paul Bergrin, a former-federal-prosecutor-turned-defense-attorney, had been indicted for orchestrating "a racketeering operation out of his Newark firm that regularly intimidated—and, in at least two cases, plotted to murder—witnesses scheduled to testify against drug dealers and gang members" whom he represented." According to the story, Bergin's mantra was "No witness, no case." The charges filed against Bergrin included witness tampering, racketeering, mortgage fraud, and murdering a federal witness.

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Ripped From Which Headlines? "Boy Gone Astray" and "Doped"

We all know that Law & Order rips its stories from the headlines—but which headlines? Every week, Brow Beat matches L&O's plot points to the events that inspired them.

Nov. 6, 2009:

"Boy Gone Astray"

These Are Their Stories
In the first act, a female drug dealer is murdered by two 14-year-old American boys who learned how to use firearms at a training camp in Mexico.

This Is the Real Story
According to an April 2008 story in the Dallas Morning News, Mexican drug cartels operate military-style camps "to train cartel recruits—ranging from Mexican army deserters to American teenagers—who then carry out killings and other cartel assignments on both sides of the border." A June 2009 New York Times story described how Mexican cartels recruit American teens "with promises of high pay, fancy cars and sexy women."

These Are Their Stories
One of the teenage assassins seems completely unmoved by his actions; he laughs about the victim and sings a song about "la gringa brava" to his parents when they come to visit. The detectives discover that the song is a narcocorrido tribute to a Mexican gang so badass it has "hot Yankee blonds" selling its dope. On the day of the murder, a group associated with a rival cartel releases another song about la gringa brava's death, mentioning details the police had not released.

This Is the Real Story
Elijah Wald's 2002 book Narcocorrido: A Journey Into the Music of Guns, Drugs, and Guerrillas recounts the history of corridos from anti-colonial ballads to a sort of musical newspaper educating listeners about the drug world. In a 1999 New York Times story, an accused trafficker explained the purpose of the songs: "[T]hrough the corridos comes the philosophy, how the members of the cartel have to behave. They tell you what they did wrong. Why they were killed. You learn what you have to do so they won't kill you."

"Doped"

These Are Their Stories
Brenda Sawyer is driving four children—two of her own and two nieces—to a weekend getaway when she becomes disoriented. She drives erratically and enters the highway in the wrong direction, where she crashes head-on into an oncoming vehicle. Only her son survives.

This Is the Real Story
On July 26, 2009, Diane Schuler drove her minivan the wrong way onto an exit ramp and rammed into an SUV. She was killed, along with her daughter and three nieces; the three men in the other vehicle also died. Only her son survived. According to the New York Daily News, tests revealed that Schuler had smoked pot and drunk at least 10 ounces of liquor during the 90-minute drive.

These Are Their Stories
The detectives find alcohol in Brenda's system and in her car and assume she was drinking, but then they realize that her allergy medicine had been spiked with Propofol, a powerful anesthetic. They discover that Brenda and her boss, Zack Marshall (Mad Men's Harry Crane, looking just as ineffectual in a straight tie), had gathered evidence proving that a highly profitable but medically ineffective drug manufactured by the pharmaceutical company they worked for was being marketed illegally. Whistleblowers can receive a slice of settlements, and Brenda was threatening to donate their cut to charity, so Marshall poisoned her nasal spray and slipped booze into her smoothie. He had no idea there would be children in the vehicle.

This Is the Real Story
Under the False Claims Act, whistleblowers are entitled to between 15 percent and 30 percent of recovered damages, and according to a Gannett story from Nov. 4, 2009, "Of the top 20 False Claims Act cases, measured by the amount of money recovered, 12 involved judgments or settlements against pharmaceutical companies, accounting for billions of dollars in recoveries." In September, a whistleblower earned $51.5 million from Pfizer as a result of a suit alleging the company had promoted pain drug Bextra and 12 other drugs for unapproved uses and doses.

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Project Runway, Week 12: The Final Challenge

The final challenge involved a trip to the J. Paul Getty Museum, where the designers were told to create a look using the Getty Center as inspiration.

Only three of the five remaining contestants could go on to Fashion Week in Bryant Park, and they didn't make the judges' jobs easy. John William Godward's sexy 19^th-century painting "Mischief and Repose" inspired Irina to create a dowdy below-the-knee dress in what looked like sea-foam crepe; an ornate French bed led Carol Hannah to design a full-length gold gown; and the Getty's architecture drove Althea to produce a pleated-pattern skirt that, according to Tim Gunn, looked like "a panel of puckering." Nevertheless, they won the right to show 12 designs in New York.

Christopher stared at some algae-spotted rocks and conjured a garment typical of his style: a cute top paired with an unnecessary corset and an absurdly heavy stiff long skirt. Gordana was inspired by Monet's The Portal of Rouen Cathedral in Morning Light to make a gorgeous dress in silk organza that everyone agreed was both beautiful and clearly connected to the original painting. They were the final designers of the season to hear Heidi intone the words, "You're out."

Stats
Number of times Tim Gunn said, "Make it work!": Tim was far too busy reminding the designers how much was on the line to utter those three little words.

Number of crying contestants: Even Irina got a catch in her throat. Who would've thought that Althea was the most tear-resistant contestant!

The Contestants
Gordana may have lost her grip on the fan favorite prize this week. She and Irina ganged up on Carol Hannah, and she didn't thank the judges when she bade them "Auf Wiedersehen." But her biggest error was to make too much of her humble origins in the former Yugoslavia. Believe me, I know very well that the race of life has a staggered start, but her rivals were a self-taught gay man from the sticks of Minnesota; an autodidact from Charleston, S.C.; a big-haired bottle blonde from Dayton, Ohio; and an immigrant from the Republic of Georgia. Not exactly the Harvard Sewing Class of 1999.

The Judges
Talk about womanpower! With Michael Kors absent, and only one male contestant in the final five, Episode 12 was an estrogen explosion. Fashion designer and former Design Star judge Cynthia Rowley and "supermodel and style icon" Cindy Crawford took their places next to Nina Garcia.

The panel didn't make much effort to disguise their true feelings. The praise for Irina's ugly dress was comically faint: "I liked the inspiration that she chose" (Rowley); "She had a very clear vision, and it definitely did refer to the painting" (Crawford). Nina didn't even dissemble, declaring it "very old lady." Irina is the clear leader of this year's middling pack, but if this had been a normal week, she would have made her first appearance in the bottom three.

I hear America screaming: When Nina confessed, "I don't know who Gordana is as a designer," you could hear Project Runway viewers across the land yell, "Maybe that's because you missed five weeks of judging!"

Did the judges send the right people to Fashion Week?: Yes. It has been a mediocre season, but the three designers who are heading to Bryant Park are the ones with the strongest points of view. I haven't liked a single outfit that Althea has made, but aesthetically and trendwise, she fits into the fashion world far better than Christopher or Gordana.

Bold prediction for who'll take the big prize: At this stage, the smart money has to be on Irina.

Previous Project Runway Recaps: Week 1, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10, Week 11

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Ripped From Which Headlines? "Human Flesh Search Engine"

We all know that Law & Order rips its stories from the headlines, but which headlines? Every week, Brow Beat matches L&O's plot points to the events that inspired them.

Oct. 30, 2009: "Human Flesh Search Engine"

These Are Their Stories
The first act of the episode, co-written by Slate contributor Matthew McGough, focuses on the murder of Sid Maxwell, the founder and CEO of Skintight Apparel, a company that "sells $5 T-shirts for $40." In the early stages of the investigation, the detectives suspect a former employee who sued for sexual harassment. (The company's lawyers countered that she should have understood she was working in "a highly sexualized work environment.")

This Is the Real Story
Sid Maxwell bears more than a passing resemblance to Dov Charney, founder and CEO of American Apparel, a purveyor of sweatshop-free skintight apparel. According to the New York Times Magazine, in 2005, "three former employees and an independent contractor filed three sexual-harassment lawsuits against Charney and American Apparel." Workers are now required to sign a document that acknowledges, "Employees working in the design, sales, marketing and other creative areas of the company will come into contact with sexually charged language and visual images."


These Are Their Stories
The detectives soon discover that a photograph of Maxwell texting while driving had been posted to Flashposse.net, a Web "forum for corrective social action," along with exhortations that he should be killed before he kills someone else. Flashposse community members identified the make and model of the car from the photo and hacked into DMV records to find the owner; Maxwell's address and his building's security entry code were also posted on the site. A schizophrenic Flashposse.net member used the information to enter the apartment and kill Maxwell.

This Is the Real Story
The episode's title is a reference to the Chinese nickname for "virtual mobs" that strike back at corrupt officials by bringing online attention to cases censored by Communist Party officials. According to a June 16, 2009, New York Times story, in several recent cases, "the Internet has cracked open a channel for citizens to voice mass displeasure with official conduct, demonstrating its potential as a catalyst for social change." As the article notes, some online vigilantes have posted personal information about alleged offenders.

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Project Runway, Week 11: The Creative Juices Runeth Dry

June Thomas is out of the office today, so Torie Bosch is filling in for this week's Project Runway recap.

Is it almost time for Bryant Park yet? Everyone seems to be running low on fresh material this week. The bad-tempered designers are accusing one another of swiping ideas, and the challenge itself is to "create a new look based on your best look." That's "best look" as defined by the judges, and a dreary collection of garments it is. There's not a single vibrant outfit, as each is gray, black, or brown. Surprisingly, no contestants quibbled with what the judges determined to be their best work of the season. I expected more whining.

Althea's high-waisted black pants, which bloused out before hugging the calf, gave her the win. Logan's attempt to complement his silver-and-black gown from Episode 1 resulted in something from a bad sci-fi movie, and he was booted.

Stats
Number of times Tim Gunn said, "Make it work!": Nada! Though we did get a clipped "Use your time exceedingly well." Maybe he's testing new catch phrases.

Number of crying contestants: None! Carol Hannah spent much of the episode looking on the verge of bursting into tears at any moment, but perhaps her eyes were just irritated by mounds of liner and eye shadow.

Was Logan shown sans shirt? Nope! The PR gang didn't even give us a chance to say goodbye to the pecs. 

The Contestants

Each voices some variant of the phrases "The pressure is on" and "It would be awful to make it this far and be sent home," which is a bit of a head-scratcher. Hasn't the pressure always been on? In the early episodes, doesn't everyone say how terrible it would be to get auf'd before showing what they can do?

Our designers can barely stand the sight of one another at this point. Althea and Logan bicker about whether her pants look like the jodhpurs that got Malvin canned. (They do, a little.) Irina asks of Christopher's look, "Why is one dress throwing up the other?" Althea accuses Logan, without actually saying it to his face, of copying the zipper collar she created for the Christina Aguilera challenge. During a meal break, she and Irina engage in a low-voiced hate-chat about how much they loathe Logan while shoving food in their mouths, but Althea apparently realizes later that she overreacted. In a talking-head, the fury seems to have passed: "I was a little annoyed, but I personally like how I used it better anyway, so. ..." Later, Irina complains that Althea stole her idea for a voluminous sweater and refuses to help Gordana locate a hook-and-eye.

It's clear Gordana is going to be at the bottom from the moment pictures from her childhood in the former Yugoslavia are flashed on the screen. Those forays into the designers' personal lives are a clear indicator that someone's struggling. Touching back story = weakness.

The Judges
The game of musical chairs continues. Michael Kors is nowhere to be seen, but Nina is in town and cranky as ever. Sitting in for Kors is Season 2's Nick Verreos, whose orange face I'm happy to see again. And as guest judge we have actress Kerry Washington. Her critiques are thoughtful and on point, but she can't match Nick, who's been practicing his zingers. Gordana's black skirt and gray blazer, he says, would look right on "an office worker in Warsaw, Poland." Yikes.

In a heated exchange, Nina and Heidi disagree on Irina's luscious brown outfit, with a brocade dress and oversize cardigan. Nina thinks the dress is too tight, making it look a bit cheap; Heidi would beg to differ. While the exchange was perfectly polite, their faces were chilling. Perhaps the tension was merely an expression of how fed up they were with the crabby designers: Althea and Irina made veiled, passive-aggressive references to the Great Collar and Sweater Idea Theft of ‘09, and Logan committed the fatal error of admitting, before being asked a single question, that his look was "on the brink of costume." Have you learned nothing, Logan? Don't feed the judges their lines!

The Results
Garment of the week: Irina's. I'm a sucker for that warm brown, and the too-snug brocade dress was pretty. Plus, the other five looks were drab, ugly, or both. The fatigue from sleep deprivation, total isolation, and constant demand to come up with new ideas-and the awful challenge of revisiting old looks-is showing on all of them.

Should Althea have won? No, those pants were dreadful. While the judges praised Carol Hannah's little black dress as something "we all could wear," perhaps a dozen people in the world could sport Althea's look without appearing foolish.

Should Logan have been eliminated? While his look wasn't quite as "innovative and out there" as he claimed, Gordana should have gotten the boot for her "sad, drab, and dated" creation, as Heidi said.

Bold prediction for who'll be auf'd next: Gordana. She seems to have given up-just let her go home.

Previous Project Runway Recaps: Week 1, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10

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Ripped From Which Headlines? "Dignity"

We all know that Law & Order rips its stories from the headlines, but which headlines? Every week, Brow Beat matches L&O's plot points to the events that inspired them.

Oct. 23, 2009: "Dignity"

These Are Their Stories:
Dr. Walter Benning is shot and killed in church. As one of the few doctors who performs legal late-term abortions in New York, Benning had been shot before and was wearing a bulletproof vest. The man who shot him is a loner unaffiliated with any pro-life groups.

This Is the Real Story:
On May 31, 2009, Dr. George Tiller, described by the Washington Post as "the nation's most prominent provider of controversial late-term abortions," was shot and killed while attending church in Wichita, Kan. He had been shot in both arms in 1993 and sometimes wore a bulletproof vest. Scott Roeder, the man accused of shooting him, is an unaffiliated loner. (Roeder's trial is set to begin in January 2010.)

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Project Runway, Week 10: Tim Gunn and the Seven Dwarfs

For the "Michael Kors challenge"—so named because the assignment was handed out in Kors' Rodeo Drive boutique—the designers had to choose one of seven possible locations and design a look that "embodies who you are as a designer and also embraces that locale."

Irina won for an outfit fit for an Aspen ski lodge—brown jersey pants; a knit top with three-quarter sleeves, a huge cowl neck, and an open back; and a faux-fur vest. Nicolas was eliminated for a wrapped white shirt and tight gray pants that evoked nothing whatsoever of Greece.

Stats
Number of times Tim Gunn said, "Make it work!": Zero. That phrase is, like, so Bravo!

Number of crying contestants: Christopher is perpetually on the verge of tears, but guest judge Milla Jovovich came closest—she broke down at the very thought of sending someone home.

Logan sex object watch: This week, there were way too many design disasters to waste screen time on a silly subplot.

The Contestants
The judges didn't see Santa Fe in Christopher's ensemble, but they also failed to spot the subconscious inspiration for the white shirt, blue top, and beige skirt that he produced: Snow White. Meanwhile, the contestants turned into the seven dwarfs: Bitchy, Peroxidey, Greasy, Raccoony, Sexy, Self-Deprecating, and Lost.

The Judges
Hallelujah! For the first time since Week 2, the dream team of Klum, Kors, and Garcia reassembled. In the guest spot, actress and designer Milla Jovovich was constructive and informed.

The designers must be physically and creatively exhausted, because many of them sent very basic, uninspired clothes down the runway. And the judges certainly noticed. Nina asked Nicolas, "Why would I want to go into a store and spend my money on this?" Faced with Logan's bland white jeans, tank top, and vest ensemble, Michael Kors declared, "They're clothes. They're not fashion." The same outfit drove Jovovich to declare, "Listen, if this was called Project I Didn't Mind It, he would win."

The Results
Garment of the week: Carol Hannah's Palm Beach look was striking, though I liked that dress even better the first 10 times Uli made it on Season 3.

Should Irina have won? Eh. Her symphony in camel was a very literal interpretation of Aspen luxe, but she produced three well-fitted and impeccably finished location-inspired pieces, which is at least two more than the other contestants managed.

Should Nicolas have been eliminated? For sure. He completely ignored the assignment. Michael Kors was right when he told him, "You got the wrong Greece. [This was] Grease the movie."

Bold prediction for who'll be auf'd next: Christopher. Even with this season's wackadoodle judging, a string of four consecutive bottom-three finishes has got to be considered foreshadowing.

Previous Project Runway Recaps: Week 1, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9

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Ripped From Which Headlines?

We all know that Law & Order rips its stories from the headlines—but which headlines? Every week, Brow Beat matches L&O's plot points to the events that inspired them.

Oct. 16, 2009: "Reality Bites"

These Are Their Stories:
Larry Johnson, the father of 10 adopted special-needs kids, comes home to discover his wife, Joy, dead in the living room. On the afternoon of the murder, a "bouncy Hispanic woman" was seen leaving the house; she is Belinda Alvarez, the mother of 10 children—three singles and a set of septuplets—and the Johnsons' main rival in the competition to star in a reality TV series about large families. Helped by the publicity surrounding the murder, Johnson gets the show, Larry Plus 8. But after the police discover that Larry was having an affair with one of his babysitters and that Joy had refused to sign the TV release forms, he becomes a suspect in the murder case.

This Is the Real Story:
If you need to be told what inspired this episode, your television, if you own one, must be stuck on C-SPAN. Indeed, America's most famous megaparents were name-checked in the episode. Belinda Alvarez (Nina Lisandrello), who bears a striking physical resemblance to Nadya Suleman, says the show she hopes to star in will be "like Jon and Kate, you know, only less depressing." She also confesses, "I was hoping for octuplets, but God decided to bestow that blessing on Nadya Suleman."

As of this writing, Jon and Kate Gosselin are both alive and well, though after revelations about extramarital affairs, their marriage is coming to an end. On Sept. 29, the Hollywood Reporter broke the news that Jon & Kate Plus 8 was also a thing of the past, to be replaced by Kate Plus 8. Late last week, however, the New York Times reported that Jon had "banned the camera crews from his property, effectively halting production."

Unlike the fictional Belinda Alvarez, Suleman got her reality show (check out the promotional materials for My Life as the OctoMom), though filming is currently on hold, pending court approval of the contracts.

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Project Runway, Week 9: Beware of Flying Sequins

This week's challenge was to design an extravagant stage look "in the style of Bob Mackie" for Christina Aguilera. Mackie—the designer of over-the-top costumes for Cher, Tina Turner, and many more—told the designers to create a "staggering" look that could be seen from "miles away."

Carol Hannah won for a long black dress that combined sequins and feathers. Shirin was eliminated for a long black dress with white sheer and sequin inserts that Tim Gunn dubbed "Guinevere meets Vampira."

Stats
Number of times Tim Gunn said, "Make it work!": Zero.

Number of crying contestants: Zero. Shirin was too stunned to so much as sniffle.

Logan sex object watch: Carol Hannah admitted to being distracted by the man at the other end of her work table. She gushed, "Logan's my friend ... who's really hot." (If only he had a personality to go with those looks.)

The Contestants
Apparently, excessive exposure to sequins and shiny fabrics can be detrimental to designers' judgment. Only Nicolas and Irina seemed to realize that Aguilera's performances might involve dancing. Nina accurately pegged Christopher's bustier and sparkle pants as a tame retread of Aguilera's 2001 "Lady Marmalade" look.

Nicolas' first nondeluded observation of the season: "Irina's a really good designer. The problem is she's such a bitch."

The Judges
Qué alegria, Nina Garcia was back! Bob Mackie warmed Michael Kors' chair, and Christina Aguilera was a gracious guest judge.

Most passive-aggressive compliment of the evening: Nina to Althea, "It's a nicely made dress. I don't know if you thought if she might have to move and that a train might be cumbersome?"

Bob Mackie's philosophy in brief: "Onstage, a short dress can go right up to the crotch and be perfectly fine. Put diamonds on the crotch, and you're home free." 

The Results
Garment of the week: This challenge played to Nicolas' costuming strengths. He clearly understood Aguilera's taste and needs, and after a parade of somber, black numbers, Aguilera seemed grateful for his "fun" outfit. Mackie praised Nicolas for making a dress suitable "for a singer who needs to get around the stage fast and dance and move."

Should Carol Hannah have won? No. Her dress was too dark, too heavy, and too figure-concealing. The combination of textures Mackie enjoyed so much wouldn't be visible three rows back, much less from the third level of a stadium.

Should Shirin have been eliminated? No. Her dress was completely inappropriate for Christina Aguilera, but this was her first stumble in the competition. Christopher's cheap, poorly fitting, ill-conceived ensemble marked his third consecutive appearance in the bottom three.

Bold prediction for who'll be auf'd next: All those bottom-of-the-pack finishes would suggest Christopher is doomed, but recent eliminations have been so random, the judges may as well be pulling names from the button bag.

Previous Project Runway Recaps: Week 1, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8

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Ripped From Which Headlines?

We all know that Law & Order rips its stories from the headlines—but which headlines? Today Brow Beat launches a recurring feature that matches L&O's plot points to the events that inspired them.

Oct. 9, 2009: "Great Satan"

These Are Their Stories:
The first act involves "virtual kidnapping," in which extortionists steal cell phones from well-dressed young people, then call up the parents and claim their beloved children are tied up in a basement. Next step: Demand a speedy ransom.

This Is the Real Story:
On April 29, 2008, the New York Times reported that "virtual kidnapping" was Mexico's "latest crime craze." One day in November 2007, "more than a dozen members of Mexico's Congress received calls saying that their children had been taken." (Stealing the victim's cell phone so that parents see their child's caller ID seems to be a smart L&O flourish.)

These Are Their Stories:
When detectives Bernard and Lupo interrogate one of the virtual kidnappers, they discover he has links to a possible terrorist organization. The perp, Sameer Ahmed, agrees to help the police gather evidence against a group of Muslims who are planning to bomb a synagogue in Queens. But after the sting operation, the authorities wonder if Ahmed egged on the conspirators rather than simply passing along information about their plans.

This Is the Real Story:
In May, four men were arrested after they parked cars that they believed contained explosives outside synagogues in the Bronx. As in the Law & Order version, the bomb-making materials, which the FBI had supplied via the informant, were fake. The Associated Press later reported that the alleged plotters claim they were "lured into the conspiracy with gifts including cash and fried chicken."

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Project Runway, Week 8: Send in the Divorcées

Finally, the designers were untethered from their models. They were tasked with transforming the wedding dresses of recently divorced women into hip, cool outfits. (Tim Gunn's announcement, "Designers, I'm sending in your divorcées," was funny only the first three times he said it.)

Gordana won for a pieced dress made from the lining of her client's gown, which she dyed gray. Epperson was ejected for a garment that looked like a shortened wedding dress with a few strips of black binding sewn in the middle—it reminded one of the judges of "a pirate's wench."

Stats
Number of times Tim Gunn said, "Make it work!": Two. (Shirin said it twice, too.) This episode's theme was recycling, after all.

Number of crying contestants: One. Shirin, who had the least yardage to work with and a fabric that couldn't be dyed, wept through Tim's pep talk.

Logan sex object watch: This week no crushes were revealed or flesh exposed, but the only possible explanation for Logan avoiding elimination is that his pheromones befuddled the judges.

The Judges
Hallelujah, Michael Kors was present for the second week in a row! Marie Claire's Zanna Roberts and Jimmy Choo founder and president Tamara Mellon rounded out the panel.

Heidi must be feeling homesick: Epperson's and Logan's outfits both made her think of Oktoberfest.

The Results
Look of the week: The most striking outfit from this challenge was a bad one: Nicolas created green trousers, a brown top, and a white vest: an ensemble that would've looked passé at a Mormon Relief Society supper in 1975. He called his look "a hideous thing," and for once his self-assessment was accurate.

Should Gordana have won? Yes. As the judges said, her look was "edgy and chic," and her divorcée adored it. (So much for recent complaints that she's "just a dressmaker.") Shirin's dress, which used stitching to create a pattern, was creative and flattering, but her client found it a little too safe.

Should Epperson have been eliminated? No. His design was boring, but it was the least offensive of the bottom three. Logan's trouser look was poorly made and ill-conceived, and Michael Kors was dead on when he described Christopher's monstrosity as looking like "a metallic garbage bag tied in the middle."

Bold prediction for who'll be auf'd next: Nicolas. We're past the stage where contestants can be kept around for their loose lips.

Previous Project Runway Recaps: Week 1, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7

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Project Runway, Week 7: Orange You Glad He’s Back?

After a run of vague challenges, this week's assignment was pleasingly precise: Design two looks that are blue and consistent with Macy's INC International Concepts brand. The designers worked in teams of two—but unlike Week 3's tempestuous pairs challenge, the collaborations were relatively drama-free.

Irina won for a blue-and-white dress that Heidi declared "flirty and feminine." Louise was sent home after she and Nicolas—who had immunity—sent two ruffle-heavy garments down the runway.

The highlight of the show was the return of much-missed judge Michael Kors, which is a sad commentary on the bland designers.

Stats
Number of times Tim Gunn said, "Make it work!": Zero. That old, tired catchphrase is but a distant memory.

Number of crying contestants: One. Christopher was so verklempt that he couldn't defend his garments against Michael Kors' vicious onslaught. Louise's eyes were slightly damp, but she seemed relieved to make her exit.

Logan sex object watch: Mr. Neitzel didn't get much air time—but enough for Gordana to confess: "We all think he's hot. The boys like him as well." At this point, Epperson is the only human being in greater Los Angeles who hasn't declared his lust for Logan.

The Contestants
Strangest revelation: Louise makes chicken noises while she works.

Irina's audition for the role of "bitchy guest judge": "[Carol Hannah and Shirin's] stuff looks like it was bought in a discount store. It's very '$10 shirt on sale for $5.99' kind of thing."

The Judges
Michael Kors was back and oranger than ever! Sitting alongside the top American designer were Marie Claire's Zanna Roberts and Macy's executive Martine Reardon.

Those five weeks in spray-tan seclusion brought out Kors' mean streak. But give the man his due: Every barbed arrow was right on target.

How Kors saw the outfits: "looks like a bridesmaid's dress with a shower loofah ruched up the front of it"; "looks like a tablecloth"; "looks like a librarian's shirt dress from 1979"; "looks like a teal charmeuse disco pumpkin."

Not to be outdone, Heidi harshed out. Her most devastating critique was of a detail at the neckline of Christopher and Epperson's disco pumpkin top: "It's kind of like she was eating lobster, and she put this in there, and she forgot to take it out." (For me, it was more like the ruffs that Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg pulled from the Supreme Court accessories wall.)

The Results
Garments of the week: Althea and Logan were ignored in the workroom, so it was clear they were safe, but why? The tarty business suit with the skirt that slowly insinuated itself into the model's butt crack was the tackiest and most inappropriate outfit of the challenge, and their ill-fitting trouser look stretched the dictionary definition of blue.

Should Irina have won? Absolutely. She combined textiles and fabrics to create a gorgeous pattern, and she made a well-cut dress that looked fresh and seemed appropriate for the INC brand.

Should Louise have been eliminated? Yes. Her designs didn't reflect the brand aesthetic. After noting that the line was simple almost to the point of austerity, she produced a ruffle-fest.

Bold prediction for who'll be auf'd next: Gordana. The "next week on Project Runway" teaser showed her on a tearful phone call with her family, which is often a foreshadowing of doom. Nicolas deserves to go, but the producers love his demon dishing.

Previous Project Runway Recaps: Week 1, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6

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