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| Brittany Allen was on Team One. She made a corseted bodice top that was integrated with the jacket. Not super innovative and the color wasn't her friend either. |
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| Chelsey Carter made a jodhpur-styled jumpsuit with detailing on the front making it appear like outlined breasts. Add the huge platform shoes to it, and this was not really a great design. She's a Team One designer. |
As I had told you yesterday, the guest judge is the iconic Cyndi Lauper. The designers are randomly split into two teams and assigned to make outfits based on Cyndi Lauper's iconic 1980's style, merging pop and punk. Each designer on a team has to make their own look, but the looks need to be cohesive within the team. It's a 2-day challenge. Victoria, last week's winner, is given the option to choose to join either team, and chooses the team with Nancy, Brittany, Geoffrey, Dayoung and Delvin. I'll call them Team Two.
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| Dayoung Kim's design relied on strategically placed zippers, boots and a mini length. The keyhole collar was totally 1980's, but the rest was a bit "meh". She's a Team Two designer. |
Team One, Chelsey, Marquise, Melanie, Sergio and Shavi settle who will make what type of outfit, as well as what types of fabrics and patterns they will look for at Mood almost immediately. They're clicking together as a very functional team. Team Two, on the other hand, seems to be all over the place. This should be interesting. When the two teams hit Mood, the Team Two members scatter to all corners of Mood, and only decide on a group look for their fabrics during the last five minutes at the shop. Are they cohesive? Will they work for all of the varied designs? I have my doubts, but there are some strong designers in that group, so I have hope.
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| Delvin McCray's flowing handkerchief skirt was totally 1980's style, but was it Cyndi Lauper's 1980's style? It just didn't seem cutting edge enough to me. A good contender for Team Two, though. |
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| Geoffrey Mac did some intense styling on his outfit, that really doesn't come through on this smaller picture. I recommend you take a closer look on the Bravo website because it really was a stunning outfit. I'll give you a link here. His usual Mood panic didn't help Team Two, but he still ended up with something strong. |
Back in the workroom, Team One is really pulling together, helping each other with their designs, sharing tips and techniques, and focusing on having their outfits be cohesive, but are they too similar? After all, a cohesive grouping doesn't mean copy-cat. Their main focus is a bold black and white stripe coupled with a fuchsia pink fabric. It's pretty bold, but I'm not sure it really works well. I think a less harsh stripe or a softer pink might have worked better.
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| Marquise Foster's white shorts weren't horrible, but they weren't great either, and he didn't have a white zipper for the shorts. He used a black zipper and hoped it would pass, but the judges caught that and called him on it. Pretty obviously this is a Team One outfit. |
Christian enters and critiques each design, working with each team as a group. Towards the end of his visit he states that he won't be attending the model fitting because of a previous obligation. He also throws a twist - Cyndi Lauper's sense of style wasn't only clothing, it was the whole outfit. Each designer will be responsible for making their own accessories in addition to the outfit. They will be taken to a major notions store first thing in morning with a budget of $200/each. Christian than walks through the workroom, collecting belts, necklaces, handbags, etc. Not a single accessory was left in corner or under a table after he was finished with his sweep.
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| Melanie Trygg couldn't quite wrap her head around 1980's styling and kept changing and changing again. She ended up with an outfit that was completely uninspired, and told the judges that she wasn't inspired by anything from the 1980's. That's a lot of fashion to be pushing under the bus. She's a Team One member. |
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| Nancy Volpe-Beringer lost her way a bit in this challenge. I really didn't like the top cape thing she had, and the final design didn't really flatter her model. I don't think her design really helped her Team Two chances. |
The models enter and are fitted. All of the black and white stripes on Team One are making Delvin think of 'Beetlejuice'. I've got to admit that had me chuckling. Do you remember the movie? Here's a quick picture just to remind you.
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| Those black and white stripes worn by Michael Keaton as the star character in "Beetlejuice" have become iconic. It did seem as if the Team One designers were channeling their inner Beetlejuice. |
Chains, zippers and safety pins abound for embellishment. . The designers are making their own handbags jewelry, especially belts, and hoping they have enough differences between each outfit to make the collections spark. Nancy is feeling outside her group because her repeated calls for cohesion are pushed off by the rest of her team, but she rationalizes it by reminding herself that the top team will have the winner chosen from the designs presented, and she intends to be in that winning group.
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| Sergio Guadarrama minimized the black and white striping and used the fuchsia color in minimal amounts, but he had this stiff cape-like thing that stretched out behind the model and didn't do her any favors. He was on Team One. |
Runway day dawns and the designers have a limited time to work in the workshop followed by hair and makeup appointments, then the final "press and dress" behind the Runway - ten minutes to make sure everything is perfect for the presentation.
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| Shavi Lewis had this flared sporty dress with a set-in panel and a dropped band across the back. It seems to be his iconic style, and I think it's a rather annoying one. The dress was a Team One contribution. |
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| Victonia Cocieru pulled a very well-done and put-together outfit with just a hint of the plaid green sheer appearing as a petticoat. You can catch a glimpse of it there on the right. She was criticized by the other designers for doing the "same thing" again, but I think it was fresh and interesting and a good addition for Team Two. |
Remember the parameters this time. There will be a winning and a losing team; the winner will come from the winning team, the loser will come from the losing team. First the winning and losing teams will be decided, then the top and bottom looks will be chosen. One bad look can doom a team and one exceptional look might elevate a team to greatness. Who made the best and the worst? Who won and who was sent home? The winners and losers are below the spoiler alert.
SPOILER ALERT - DON'T PASS THIS POINT UNLESS SPOILERS ARE OK WITH YOU!
The winning team was Team Two - the group who never seemed to jell actually managed to put on a successful and cohesive runway show. On the bottom team, Team One, Sergio put his foot in his mouth, saying to the judges what he had been telling his fellow designers for weeks now - that he designs for the 40+ crowd and therefore his designs are more 'sophisticated'. Melanie also talked herself into the bottom by saying that there was nothing in the 1980's of fashion interest at all. Probably an ill-advised comment. It could easily be either one of them going home.
As for the winner, I'm giving that to Geoffrey on Team Two. His tailoring was perfection, his design was fabulous, and even though Victoria gave him a run for his money, I think he'll take the win this week. Those are my guesses, let's see if I'm right - Geoffrey for the win, Sergio or Melanie - neck to neck for the loss.
The winner was indeed Geoffrey, who was practically in tears and asked for and got a hug from Cyndi Lauper (Victoria got a hug also). Who was sent home? One telling statement from Nina Garcia stayed with me. She said as she reflected back over the previous episodes, there was nothing from Melanie that really stood out. I have to agree - Melanie's body of work has been frankly, uninspired. Sergio might be too full of himself, but Melanie is a shadow on the wall. Melanie was sent home.
Hope all of you have a wonderful Friday. Although exhausted, I only managed four-and-a-half hours of sleep, so I'll be a zombie by tonight. I'll be back tomorrow, though, so have a fashionable Friday.
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