A Farewell, A Celebration and Project Runway Spoilers

Did you wave good-bye to the Cassini spacecraft yesterday morning? After a final 22 varying orbits around Saturn, moving through the rings and skating past several of the moons, the final instructions to Cassini were loaded and it plunged into Saturn, immolating itself in the thick atmosphere of the planet it had been photographing and studying for almost twenty years. The Cassini mission began in 1997, one of the last major programs launched by NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The photos and information sent back by Cassini were breathtaking - heartrendingly beautiful images of what could easily be called the most stunning planet in our solar system. Shed a tear for this little spacecraft, and send out a heartfelt "thank you" to those with the vision to design, build, engineer and program this amazing mechanical explorer.

Cassini introduced us to the glories of Saturn. The ringed planet had always
been a mystery, but this brave little space craft flitted about above, below and
through the rings, showing how thin they truly are. We also got our first
close-up views of most of Saturn's moons. It was a twenty-year project,
but it ended yesterday morning. 

A short note about happier things - today DH and I celebrate our 38th wedding anniversary. We're pretty low-key about these things, but it is a VERY long time. When asked about how/why we're still together after all these years, all we can say is that we are both extremely stubborn people. I figure I've gone to all of the trouble of training him appropriately, I don't want to go back to square one!

Now on to Project Runway's Episode 5 - Red Carpet Wear for Good and Evil. As I said yesterday. this challenge split the designers into two camps of design - that of Good and that of Evil. For the first time, the Twins were separated - at least via floor space. But the fact that one was working on good and the other on evil didn't seem to change the constant interchange of ideas and actual work between them. Meh! Here are the top and bottom looks.

The fabric of the dress was unexpectedly heavy with a
soft shine. The stripe itself was understated and
perfectly placed. 

Brandon bought a subtly-colored stripe reminiscent of his menswear background, and made a long shirt-dress paired with a pure white long-sleeved half-moon crop top. He brought the striped fabric back into the top via a broad pipe down the outer arm seam and an elegant tie at each wrist. It was beautifully made and well liked by the judges, although Heidi did mention that he's done that shirted design several times now and he really needs to branch out.

Claire missed the mark in this princess gown. Was it
the worst look? No. But it certainly wasn't one
of the best looks. It's been five challenges so far
and I still have no sense of her as a designer. 

Claire offered a frothy, shiny, cinch-waist gown with a translucent skirt and shorts underneath it. Unfortunately it was a fail for the judges. They declared it boring, a gown seen 1000's of times before, and cliche. Claire pretty obviously didn't agree with their criticism, but she really didn't have to worry about going home - there were worse looks to come.

This design wouldn't have worked on a larger woman, but
it was perfect for the lanky body of her model. The tiered
black cuffs were balanced by the ruffle at the bodice
front and the stripes up the outside of each pant leg.
Elegant and beautifully made, Kenya was back in the
top with this design. 

Although Kenya had originally wanted to be assigned to the Good side, Michael assigned her Evil and she embraced it. She purchased this luxe minimally-pleated and scrunched fabric and added a lovely shiny black, smooth silk for accents. She made a very elegant tuxedo top with a black ruffle down the front, tiered ruffled cuff sleeves beginning below the elbow, and a backside flounce below a bold, large peek-a-boo cutout from her shoulders down to her lower back. The top was paired with cigarette pants featuring a smooth elegant stripe up the side seam. It was a beautiful and refreshing change from seeing gown after gown.

Samantha might have had a win if she had allowed
herself to keep the gown fitted and long. The place
where she made her cut was a poor decision and
didn't flatter her model at all. 

Samantha pieced together a conglomeration of angular designed fabrics with an emphasis on a dark emerald green and a rust inset stripe. Tim Gunn critiqued her initial design quite harshly, telling her to back away from the craft aspects of her design. Frustrated, she changed the design of the bodice quite drastically and clipped the gown off just above the knee, adding a flouncy black kick skirt. It didn't work. It's one of the rare times I disagreed with Tim Gunn; this design would have been better left as a long, pieced and fitted gown. Yes, she needed to minimize the crafty aspects, but the choice to cut was a bad move. My hometown girl was in the bottom with her altered look.

Liris rocked this outfit by Michael. From the bottom
of the cape to the feathered crown headdress, she was
a force to be reckoned with in this gown. Love, love, LOVE! 

If anyone wanted a fierce spokesperson for Evil, they would have been pounding at Michael's door and borrowing Liris in this absolutely fabulous golden lace design. Just look at her! Michael wasn't afraid to allow her body to be the spotlight and Liris looked stunning. She had a plunging neckline, a slit in the skirt allowing her a bit of leg, and check out the hip-length lace cape over her shoulders. See the feathered trim around the edge? It's duplicated in her feather crown. Evil, meet your Queen! Michael was safe from elimination this week by winning the previous challenge, but he didn't need immunity with this design.

I have no idea what Aaron was hoping to accomplish
with this design, but it was one hot mess. Aaron was
another designer who just hadn't made a statement
for his own design aesthetic over the five episodes.
This was a fail. 

Finally, Aaron, our problem child who actually does know how to design but who has real problems editing and with time management. He failed totally with this red design. He was throwing the finished fashion together at the last minute, having spent almost all of his two days making a muslin mock-up. He was so rushed that if he hadn't had some help cutting his pieces and sewing, he would have had nothing. As it was, the neck strap broke as the model was preparing to leave for the Runway. No time to fix it and it was a poor fit all around - way too loose in the bodice. A total fail.

So, did you guess who won and who was sent home?

Brandon won his second challenge with his "modern straitjacket" design, although Michael was breathing hard down his neck. The ties around the wrist battled with the feathered cape border and nudged out the win by the barest of minimums.

Aaron was sent home. I have to admit there wasn't any surprise there. Samantha's gown was fugly, but well made, and Claire's gown, although boring, was at least well designed.

There you have it. Our landscaping begins on Monday, so I'm going to try and enjoy my Anniversary weekend with DH at the Renaissance Festival. Have a wonderful weekend.