Episode Report Card Jeff Long: A+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT "Oh My Lord of the Rings"
By Jeff Long | Season 9 | Episode 14 | Aired on 10.27.2011
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.Josh is, naturally, a complete bitch about neither of the girls being eliminated. Tim tells them that they get to go to Mood with 500 bucks each- they get to do whatever they want with it in order to advance their collection. Josh starts just making new stuff wildly and then he has a complete meltdown because of all of the pressure and who comforts him? Yes, Anya. A) Because she's amazing, and B) Because she's human. Anya decides to make like three new looks, but she doesn't freak out. If this correlates with the history of Anya, this is a good sign, yes? Please God, let this be a good sign. Well, it's a good sign for her sanity. During her consultation, she tells Tim that she's not showing her best work, but she is trying to look at what she has gotten from the experience and has released herself from the pressure of performing at such a large venue. Viktor rightly points out that it sounds like she's saying goodbye to the competition. I am sad.
Tim tells Josh that his collection is a confusion of uptown/downtown. He decides to trust his gut, though I'm not sure what that mean? Kimberly has a ton of work to do in the final day. Anya keeps making new stuff. Like, she's making almost a completely new collection. In one day. For Fashion Week. That's kind of brilliant. Anya leaves behind all of her worries about her own skills and starts to just try to make things the way that she knows how. It's kind of cool, but it could spell disaster.
The next morning, they are all feeling the Fashion Week jitters and awe. At the runway, Kimberly can't find a kit of hers that is important and she sort of loses it, but everything seems to work itself out with some help from Anya. L'Wren Scott, who is like seven feet tall, is the guest judge. Kimberly's collection is first and it looks a lot softer than it did at Parsons. Even her weird bubble skirt seems less labored. Nothing seems to really wow the crowd, but she has a lot to be proud of. Josh emotionally dedicates his collection to his mother. His stuff looks pretty good. It's certainly bold, which is fun to see. Backstage, Tim says it's great that the collection doesn't look like he's trying too hard. No one applauds anything while it's walking, but no one did for Kimberly either. Viktor's collection is beautiful. Nothing super bold about any of the shapes, but the fit is really beautifully feminine and the construction and colors are lovely. Still no spontaneous applause from anyone. I love Anya's collection. There's nothing rigorous about any of the silhouettes, but it is all gorgeous. The judges praise Josh for finally editing himself. Nina thinks he's most improved. They criticize Viktor's overuse of sheer fabrics. They criticize Anya's lack of urbanity in her collection, but it almost feels like they forced themselves to say that. They kind of love it.
Back on the runway, Kimberly is eliminated. Then, Viktor is out. Oh GOD. It's either the best of times (if Anya wins) or the worst of times (if Josh wins). IT IS THE BEST OF TIMES. OH MY GOD. Yes!!!!!!!! People. This is the best. Ever. Ever. Ever.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Previously: The designers presented their collections. No one escaped the critiques unscathed, though Josh got props for pulling back a little. It looked like this was Anya's swan song, but they chose all four of them to show at Fashion Week! It's not over folks.
It's morning at the Hudson Hotel and Anya and Kimberly are putting their faces on. They are marveling at the events of the previous day. Anya says that she is thrilled to be there but doesn't feel that she showed her best work to the judges. Kimberly asks if Anya thinks that the boys are genuinely happy for them. She's not sure -- she thinks Josh seemed a little upset, however, "that's Josh." Cut to Josh telling Viktor how great it would have been if the chances of winning had been increased from 25 to 33 percent. I don't really understand the logic there. This isn't a game of math. He interviews that, crap, you know, he's in this to win this and now he has to knock yet another person out of the game. Viktor is focusing on implementing the judges' critiques into his collection. He understands that this is a competition with himself, not the 75 or 66 percent of other designers. Viktor says that he just has to concentrate on editing.
It's two days before the show and they get to work in a fancy workroom. Anya says that she feels like she's had a little bit of an identity crisis in the course of creating this collection. We see Nina tell her that some of her pieces weren't "her." Anya says that she completely agrees with the judges, so she's just thinking of how she can rework things to look exactly as she wants them. Tim greets them and says that the critique from the judges was hard, even for him. He tells Viktor that the evening look/leather jacket of his that got criticized, was one of his favorites. He also says that he loved the pantsuit thing of Josh's. Come again? That thing was busted from the back. He says that Anya was all over the place and she knows it. That has to hurt.
Tim says that the show is giving them a special gift -- 500 bucks to spend at Mood any way they see fit. OK, I don't particularly mind, but this seems designed to help Anya, doesn't it? Her collection, as it is, stands no chance of winning and there's only so much that you can accomplish with styling. Kimberly is going to take her bubble skirt and make it in black. Josh wants to rethink the jumper that he made. Everyone seems like they're on the right track here. Anya jokes about the fact that she's already had 6 months to make these decisions, insinuating that another few bucks and a couple f days isn't really going to make a difference. Viktor has decided to work on his gown, or rather, a new gown. They go to Mood. Anya interviews that she's going to buy whatever pops out at her and she's not going to think of shape or color at all. She says that it's the craziest strategy she has ever used. We see her grab a lot of black and white prints. Tim stops Kimberly from buying to many embellishments and tells her she's gilding the lily. No offense, but I think that lily was gilded a while ago. Viktor is thinking that a sheer look will work for him. I think this is his attempt to be more bold.