Project Runway - Upcycled Style From Goodwill

I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday season and a safe and happy New Year. Now we're jumping right back into the fire with the latest installment of Project Runway, now starting at its new time of 1/2-hour earlier. That makes my life a bit easier and gives me closer to six hours of sleep instead of the skimpy four I was getting for the first four episodes. Let's settle down for the play-by-play. Thank goodness Dreamwidth resolved their cross-posting issues. I'll just have to write the text once, proofread, and plug in the photos tomorrow morning before putting this up for all of you. Then it's time to work off some of the six pounds I ended the two weeks of holiday with. So ... here we go! (As always, the designers are in alphabetic order of their first names in my photos.) 

Brittany Allen made the cute shirt from a variety
of pants, but for my tastes, it was a bit "flamenco"
and touched on costume. 

Chelsey Carter designs a lot of very cutting edge
clothing with a younger flair. She's been upset that
she hasn't been in the top yet, but really, this is
only Episode 4. She made these wide-legged pants
and fitted top from more than a dozen pairs of jeans. 

Dayoung Kim, after her hospitalization stay a couple
of episodes ago, has hit her stride. There were a lot
of things I liked about this, but those shoes have
got to go. 

This is Episode four, and the first one-day challenge for the designers. What's the challenge? They are supposed to dress their client - the one and only Karlie Kloss - using materials from Goodwill. It's the Ultimate Upcycle. Karla Welch is introduced to the designers as a top stylist of many, including Karlie, who will be attending a CDFA event in Paris wearing the winning design. Karla will meet the designers at Goodwill where she will help them with specific stylist questions while they spend their $150 budgets.   

I'm pretty sure that Delvin McCray was the designer
who was horrified that they would be shopping at
Goodwill and using previously owned clothing to
make something new. 

I rather liked Geoffrey Mac's design, although it
wasn't very cutting edge and Karlie would be wearing
the design to a Fashion Design conference. He
finally seems to be settling in, though. 

Marquise Foster did layer upon layer upon
layer. Although things were styled nicely, I really
didn't like the deconstructed blazer over everything,
and he had bunches of double-stick tape holding
things up. Bad idea on the Runway. 

Most of the designs seem to center on a pair of wide-legged pants with a fitted top, which would look great on Karlie. The designers have all kinds of reactions to Goodwill - as a well-loved store of materials and ideas on one hand, vs a place where a person would normally never set foot because previously owned is a total no-go on the other. In the workroom the next morning, the designers are ripping, ripping and ripping apart every seam. Who will make an outfit that will make the "Top 10"
 instead of the "What Was She Thinking" bottom list? 

Melanie Trygg's design was soft and flowing, but
showed too much breast on the sides. I couldn't
see Karlie wearing this as she ran to this event
or that one. 

Nancy Volpe-Beringer turned a shirt backwards and
deconstructed numerous pairs of jeans in a circle
skirt. I wasn't sure about this in the workroom, but
I liked the final result on the Runway. 

Sergio Guadarrama's contribution was beautifully
tailored, but I really didn't like the showcasing of
the breast through the fitted jacket keyhole. It wasn't
a bad design, but he was out of his wheelhouse. 

An army of Karli look-alike models invaded the workroom for fittings. Nancy's model has a 23-1/2" waist! OMG, I haven't seen measurements like that since the pulled-in corsets of the latter 1800's. Crazy skinny! The designers stop for the night just as Shavi puts a scissors through his pant fabric. He has that repair plus his top to do on the next day, plus Karla will be touring the workroom alongside Christian, plus it's Runway day - no time for those extra things like holes in pants, right? 

Shavi Lewis cut his shirt shorter to avoid the pierced
fabric from the previous day, and the skirt was so
tight that the model could barely walk in it. I don't
know why he didn't make a back or side slashes
to facilitate movement. 

Tyler Nesloney had an idea for a ruffled shirt under
a darker jacket with gold buttons, but was
talked out of it as too "costumey". So, he came up
with this for a Kennebunkport breakfast. Then he
dropped the "Kushner" word bomb and the Runway
fell silent in shock. Bad play. Very bad play. 

Victoria Cocieru did some unusual treatments on
a blazer to make something fresh and different. I
loved that she made her sleeves from pant legs that
she pleated into the final shaping. With a little help
from Karla Welch and Christian, she presented a
very polished look. 

The designers use every second of their 2-1/2 hours in the workshop on Runway day, as well as the ten minutes of fine-tuning they get behind the Runway stage. Karla was really helpful to them in the workroom, probably helping forestall some fashion disasters but there are still some really awful clothing choices that will be walking the Runway. Who will win and who will go home today? The reveal follows below. (Oh, and in case you didn't know, Karlie Kloss is married to Joshua Kushner, brother of Jared Kushner, husband of Ivanka Trump. Yeah - that Kushner and that Trump.) 




SPOILER AHEAD - DON'T READ BELOW UNLESS YOU ALREADY KNOW! 



So, it has to be unusual to see yourself walk down the Runway, but Karlie is up to the task. Laverne Cox joins the judges as a guest judge. As a star and a Trans, she's going to give a wonderful look outside the box for these upcycled fashions. Who won and who went home? It was an intense Runway and if you have a chance to watch just a little bit, watch the last half-hour for the Runway walk and the judges discussions. My guess, Victoria for the win and Tyler for the loss - augmenting boring fashion by his opening his mouth and putting his foot into it with a totally unwelcome political dig. Ouch!. I might have to watch the aftershow - this one should be good - LOL. 

And, I was correct. Victoria pulled out the win and Tyler was sent home. He apologized for his unfiltered words on the Runway and Karlie and the judges graciously accepted his apology, and he was hoping Christian would use his save, but no. He's out and heading home. On that note, have a great day and I'll be back tomorrow. I'm heading out to the gym to work off some of my holiday weight gain.