Althea
Well, gladly I think my pictures ended up alphabetically so this is first and I can get it out of the way.
I absolutely hate this outfit. I fully believe it should have been one of the bottom two on the runway at the end, and that it's execution problems were on par with Johnny's rumpled mess, and Althea deserved to be called out for a shoddily made, poorly fitted, disastrous garment. As many people have pointed out, the jacket is really nice. Okay, sure.
But who can see the jacket over the bunched up wrinkled skirt? Over the tank top that doesn't even fit the model as well as my pajama shirt that I wear when I'm not feeling well and want to wear something frumpy and comfortable?
I've pointed out problems with the craftmanship on Althea's garments before that goes unnoticed and it just serves to remind me how ridiculously biased the PR judges can be, and that doesn't make me happy. It makes me grumpy with one of my favorite shows and who wants that?
Even if you don't believe this was a bottom tier outfit, at the least it should have been on the level of "safe." Who cares how good the jacket or the model were, it just wasn't as good as half of the other things that walked that runway, no matter what the guest judges had to say.
Some people have taken umbrage at Irina's catty comments about it in the episode that ran this week, but I can't help but agree with everything Irina said, so I can't hold her accountable for it.
Carol Hannah
This dress reminds me of Rami, in the best of ways. I love the purple fabric of the top, and how it works with the black. Actually, I would absolutely love to see these fabrics and this idea spread out across an entire collection.
I can't say I'm crazy about the model's styling, her hair really bothers me. But in the end, it's a great dress. The bit on the back is a little much, but I digress.
Christopher
On the one hand, I actually like this idea and the execution of it is pretty cute. On the other hand, it does look an awful lot like a sushi wrapper.
The fabric is also suffering from some of the same rumpling and messiness that Johnny's did, so not the best fabric choice for color or style.
But the shape itself is rather nice, maybe if he had done it with a more subtle green, or a blue, it would have been lovely. Not winner lovely, or anything. Safe, middle of the road, "you can leave the Runway" lovely.
Side note: I love his model, I think she's one of the most beautiful ones this season.
Epperson
This dress is not even a little bit within my style of clothing, but I like it. I think it fits Matar very well, and it flatters her coloring in an amazing way. This is a great dress for her to wear to an industry event where she'd like to impress people and be hired.
I think that Epperson is becoming one of my favorite designers, though I don't know if I picture him going to the end of the competition. But he's juts got this steadfast GOOD quality about him. He works, he does what he's meant to do, and he just gets it done. There's not much fuss or muss, no drama aside from his interactions with Qrystal. He just makes really good clothes.
There's a lot of room for that in the world.
Gordana
While I agree with some comments that the color of this dress when matched with the model's hair and skin tone makes her wash out a lot, at the same time I think it's just a really fabulous little dress. It somehow manages to feel mod and hippy at the same time. The detail on the front is really well done, especially considering how much time and effort it must have taken.
I wish this dress had been in the top three, because I think Gordana deserves a bit of respect and she doesn't seem to be getting it just yet.
All I'm going to say in conclusion is that if I wore skirts this short, I'd wear this dress. I really like things that use something other than lace, ruffles, sequins, feathers, or whatever to accent the garment in a non-traditional way.
Irina
Irina has been the dark horse of this competition, because nobody seems to be noticing the fabulous looks she's sending down the runway week after week. Well, at least they weren't noticing at this point. But look at this! That pattern could have been a complete disaster, and yet it works so perfectly on the model. The shrug tames the pattern just a smidge more, and makes it all much more elegant and classic.
I have a tiny problem with the giant lapel going on here, but in the end it's a really solid effort and I think it absolutely should have taken Althea's place in the top. It's a great piece.
Johnny
Well.
I think the judges did a good job describing this on the runway, so I won't really add to it except to say I'm pretty sure I knew girls who owned that dress and wore it to homecoming, or a spring wedding as a bridesmaid. There isn't a single interesting or innovative thing about it.
Also, the purse and the shoes don't really match each other, let alone the dress.
Logan
WHY did all the designers pick up that type of fabric? Christopher, Johnny, and Logan all had this stiff satin-y stuff (I'm not good with fabric names, personally, I know what I'm talking about but not what it's called). That stuff is terrible for wrinkling up and looking like this, and they all did it.
I can't put my finger on what doesn't work about this. Is it the styling of the model? Well, yes, but that still fits Koji very well. Is it the thick lace? Well, it doesn't do the dress any favors, but it's not a disaster. The shape? No, the shape is really fine, in the end.
Maybe it's just putting it all together that leaves something to be desired. I don't know, but it just doesn't work and I don't know why. I don't like it, but I don't hate it either. Maybe it's the fact that this particular shade of blue doesn't look good with Koji's skin tone, in my opinion.
Whatever the reason, it's good that Logan didn't go home for this because I don't think it's an intentional disaster, it just feels like one of those projects where you get started and you have no idea what's wrong or how to fix it, just that in the end it might be better to scrap the whole thing. I think almost all creative people know what that's like.
Louise
Well, it's nice. Okay, it's a personal opinion but I hate big collars like that. I've rarely seen women who can actually pull them off and make them look even the least bit comfortable or wearable. And it's not just that, because something can look unwearable but still fabulous, but it just doesn't work right with the shape or something. It makes women look like their heads aren't attached or something, I don't know. Can you imagine trying to talk to Fatma at an industry party while she's wearing this? Her head all cozied down in the middle of this ruffle? How do you have a conversation with somebody in this type of thing?
That said, I think if you took the collar off of this dress, it would be a fabulous little black dress, and it would be something most women would want to have a version of in their closet.
Listen, I don't understand Nicolas. I just don't, I don't know why so many bloggers love him, I don't know why everybody thinks he's fabulous. He's yet to make anything that I thought looked well fitted or desirable, and he seems to have about half the imagination of some of the former contestants of the show. Could you imagine him in a showdown with Daniel Vosovic? Daniel V. would wipe the floor with him without even trying too hard.
This is one of those garments that looks good on a runway, but not anywhere else. Think about it, imagine you're at an event looking for someone to work for you and represent you. You see someone wearing this. Does she stick in your head? Do you remember her at all?
Not to mention these were supposed to be tailored specifically for these models as a client, and I see no real match going on here. When you saw Matar in her dress, you saw MATAR in her dress. You don't see the model here. If this was in a runway show for a collection, I would think they picked the wrong model to wear the garment because somebody dropped out.
As for Nicolas' comment that the dress fit his model wonderfully, was he watching the same garment I was? From the bottom of her bust down, yes it fit great. Around her neck? Sure, it's fabulous.
But her bust wasn't even a little fitted, and it poofed out and folded with her every movement. Which is an innate problem with halter tops, actually. It's pretty darn difficult for it NOT to do that, especially with a fabric like this instead of say, a thin cotton. So normally I wouldn't really call attention to it, since it's an inherent issue with the style, but he's the one that said it fit her perfectly.
Qrystal
Valarie looks really unhappy in this picture, and I start to wonder a little if the judge's reaction to this garment isn't a little more influenced by her expression and performance.
Yes, it's safe. Yes, it's boring. But it's still pretty stylish, and maybe it's for an older crowd but I think there's a huge market for this particular dress. I bet she could make a dozen of them and sell out of them over a weekend.
In other words, Johnny made something that looked like something a high school girl would sew as an early project as she learned to make clothes (a talented high schooler, sure, but one without much attention to detail) and Qrystal made something that was at least put together well and didn't look like her model had just gotten out of bed.
Ra'mon
I think this angle and this photo highlight the absurdity of this dress quite perfectly.
Listen, I'm not against it. I think it actually could have been a great answer to the surfer avant guarde challenge. But it's not a cocktail dress for a model to wear to a party where she's trying to get a job. Again, we go back to the "how do you talk to her" scenario. When they showed her at the event itself, she looked completely strange and out of place.
The color is beautiful, and it's well made and all. But it doesn't fit the challenge, really. So middle of the pack safe makes sense.
Shirin
I love Shirin, I really do. And I think she did well with talking her model away from a jumpsuit and such. But there's isn't the first thing about this dress that stands out in any way.
It's boring. I can't even remember seeing it on the runway, I keep seeing the pictures of it again and going "Oh...is that from the same week?" It's a good dress, she could sell it in a store. It would be a great dress for going to a party where you want to look good enough to impress. But it's nothing to write home about either. Executives at the end of the party might turn to their friends and say, "You remember the girl in the blue dress?" and their friends would say, "What blue dress?"
Unless they responded, "The one that was being eaten by the ruffle-flower?"
