Have A Ball - Project Runway All-Stars (SPOILERS)

Yesterday I reviewed the challenge, parameters, problems that the designers faced while working with the materials and their design choices. Today we're going to take a look at the three top and bottom looks and at the end I'll reveal who won and who went home after this episode. To recap, it was an unusual materials challenge - "Make a ballgown from materials found within the castle." Of course the castle was a bouncy house, and the materials consisted of a huge variety of balls - multicolored, multiple sizes, and varying from beach balls to volleyballs to hackey-sack balls. How many balls could you have gathered within their five minute time frame? Probably not as many as you think you could, and most of the designers ended up with a shortage of materials in the workshop. 

Here are your top and bottom three ballgowns ...

Amanda's dress was really cute from the back,
but the front made her model look pregnant.
I liked her shoulder treatment, but that U-shaped
cutout at the leg just didn't work. 

Amanda made a column gown, not a ballgown and it didn't walk down the runway well. Although the back was adorable with hacky-sack balls ornamenting the back bodice, the front fit poorly. I distinctly saw a "pooch" when the model was walking the Runway, making it look as though she was pregnant. I liked the shoulders, but not the exaggerated side cutout of the skirt. For me this was a fail. 

Fabio's design looked like modern armor, and his
choice of shoes reminded me of gladiator sandals.
It was a really cute design, despite the "fembot"
echoes. 

Fabio used gold volleyballs to construct a short, fringed gown reminiscent of a suit of armor. I really liked a lot of this design, but didn't care for the larger panel of black across the model's abdomen. My friend, Chickie, said that the outfit reminded her of the "fembots" from the Austin Powers movies. I can see the resemblance. Still, despite the futuristic movie reference, I did like Fabio's "gown". 

Kimberly would probably have placed higher if
her gown had more movement, but she was safe.
I found it rather uninspired, but loved the choice
of shoes - a perfect mirror to the gown colors. 

Kimberly used the lighter weight of beach balls for her dress. It moved beautifully down the Runway, but didn't present as well standing still. Although Alyssa liked the dress, Georgiana hated it. I thought it was cute and that she had done a great job pairing it with the perfect shoes. 

Candice's outfit just didn't come together, and
the skirt didn't drape well at all. Pair that
with a dress of granny squares that she
is wearing, and you've got a design disaster
all around. 

Candice was another designer who had chosen beach balls, even though her top kept tearing apart and fighting her throughout her session in the workroom. She chose a large yoga ball for the skirt because she ran out of time after fighting with her top for most of the day. That lack of time and polish for her design showed through glaringly. 

Stanley's golden/orange gown flickered and sparkled
under all kinds of lighting. The judges liked various
parts of the dress or jacket, but all agreed that it was
a wonderful design. 

Stanley worked with a glue gun and deflated balls to create a flowing and glitzy gown with a small, sleeveless bolero jacket. It moved well on the Runway giving motion from each individual petal, and still gleamed and glimmered even while immobile when being judged. It was a smart design, and did you catch the full balls on her shoes? Too cute! 

Helen certainly knows how to make a gown, but
this one was boring. Although she had the shelf
bodice, she just added a pencil skirt to it, allowing
for no flow or movement. She might have made her
fabric, but that didn't mean a lot in the end. 

Helen provided the dramahhh for this episode. Refusing to use glue guns for her ballgown, she constructed her dress entirely by stitching her ball fragments into fabric, then designing and stitching her gown from that new material. Conceptually it was a great idea, but her design was boring and uninspired. She contradicted the judges by pointing out that she didn't want to make a "clown dress" like the ones around her using purple or orange. The contestants who were using the purple and orange, in fact, all of the designers who had used glue for their construction, felt dissed by her and raised their own objections. Things came to a head in the waiting room, with Helen storming off to sit in the separate lounge on her own. She was late rejoining the others for the final decision of the judges. I think the damning comment on her dress was that the colors reminded the guest judge of "Best Buy" - a well-known national electronics store whose logo is blue and yellow. 

So, you've seen the gowns and heard about the judges critiques. Who won and who was sent home? The winner was Stanley with that wonderful golden orange glimmering gown. The designer who was sent home was Candice - not a surprise since I don't think she had found her balance in the competition. What do you think? Did the judges choose who you would have picked? 

Have a wonderful weekend. Although the Pro Bowl will be played on Sunday, I think DH and I will be taking a week away from football since next week's Super Bowl, (which will be played in our own stadium), will be crazy and exhausting enough. Have a great weekend and I'll be back on Monday.