It's the morning after the fashion show. Jeffrey asks Dominique how it feels to win two challenges in a row and she is, of course, happy. She says that she sees herself progressing straight through to the finals and then the moon.
The note with the location of the challenge is slipped under the door and they all hit the road. They meet Iman at New York Vintage, which is freaking beautiful. Jeffrey rightly says that it's like a museum and he wants everything. I guess he needs some vintage stuff to match his dusty old virginity. I don't know why I just did that.
Before explaining the challenge, she tells Jeffrey that he's returning to the House of Emerald. He's back with Cesar, which makes him happy because they have great chemistry.
Now, it's time to meet their very special guest. It's Fashion Legend Simon Doonan! He is creative director of Barneys and a wearer of loud shirts. Calvin is very excited and says that Simon is a celebrity to him. Simon says fashion is just a bunch boring clothes without great accessories. For their challenge, he will hand select accessories from the vintage store to be the inspiration for a collection. He gives Dominique a pink pig handbag and an old bustle. Eduardo gets a furry black hat a la Audrey Hepburn and a silver belt. He's confused because the belt is rock and roll while the hat is old school and he's not sure about how to pull them together. Simon chooses a neck ruffle for Calvin. Cesar gets this amazing crocheted coffee mug and bird hat. That's the best thing that has happened on this show all season, that hat. Jeffrey gets this old Dior cape of feathers that's way over the top and pretty freaking fabulous.
They each have to make two looks -- one for each of the accessories. The fashion show is the day, which should mean that all of the garments are TOP notch. Dominique is all "holy shit" with a smile on her face, so I'm not sure if she's really nervous or possibly losing her grip.
The winner of the challenge gets closer to winning the whole competition, says Iman. That has actually always been true. She says it would be heartbreaking to make it this far and not go further.
It's storyboarding time (which I almost accidentally described as "waterboarding"-- there's a Freud/This Show joke in there somewhere) and Cesar leads with trying to pull his and Jeffrey's ideas together. Jeffrey is excited to be working with Cesar, but when he suggests tie-dye for his garment, Jeffrey balks.
Eduardo and Dominique are on the same page, but Calvin is quiet. He interviews that Eduardo makes the same dress over and over. Dominique says simple and chic is the way to go for their collection, but Calvin says no -- it's couture and should be theatrical. He's right but he's such a bitch.
They're shopping for fabrics at not-Mood. Dominique says Nami's basic concept is old school glamour -- black and white. Calvin doesn't know what he's looking for. He trusts his taste but doesn't know what he wants to do. Story of my life and I'm not even joking mostly.
Jeffrey is looking for fabrics that he loves. Cesar is not afraid of painting, he says. Holding onto that tie-dye idea.
At the workroom, Isaac meets everyone for a consultation. Nami explains their inspiration as My Fair Lady but avant garde -- black and white. Isaac says they should go graphic and bold if they are doing black and white. He says that Eduardo needs to do something besides a pretty cocktail dress, maybe pants. Dominique has a Judith Lieber purse. She wants to make a pig coat. Isaac is in love with the idea. Calvin has a lot of ideas, but says he hates what he's doing. Isaac tells him to focus, because he thinks he has a real germ of a great idea.
At the House of Emerald, Cesar tells his idea about the dyeing and Isaac doesn't like it. Why make something difficult when they already have a lovely ivory fabric there? Jeffrey says he wants to make an oversized caftan for the cape and a dress to go with the earrings that he has. Cesar insists that he's dyeing and Isaac is really opposed.
Emerald starts working. Jeffrey's caftan look has pants. Cesar makes a one-shouldered dress to be complemented by his brooch. Jeffrey is still worried about the prospect of dyeing and Cesar seems annoyed.
Dominique is making her pig coat and she can't seem to stop saying the words "pig coat." She's going to make a humpback with the bustle and to that I say "hell yeah." Eduardo is going to make a pencil skirt and it will have a ruffle. Calvin obviously doesn't like that. He says that he really wants to win. If he does, he'll donate everything to the Gay Men's Health Crisis. What? His partner of ten years, the love of his life, is dying. The center has helped and educated him and he wants to give back. Jesus, this makes it awfully hard to just hate him now. FINE, nuance, I get it.
Jeffrey says that he can't shoot Cesar for dyeing his clothes. It's good that he knows that. Eduardo is making pants and it's bad. He doesn't know crotches. Neither does Jeffrey!
It's time for the fitting. Calvin thinks that Jeffrey's cape look is a chicken outfit and not eccentric. I'd argue that a chicken costume is, at the very least, eccentric. Emerald decides to keep everything ivory. Cesar agrees that if something is beautiful, why eff it up with hippie shit? That took long enough. Eduardo's hat look is looking good and Calvin likes it too. He doesn't know what to do with his neck ruffle look. He's open about not liking it which is interesting for him.
Eduardo wonders if Jeffrey is becoming his biggest competition. Dominique asks Calvin how he's doing and he doesn't answer. She thinks he's lost. He doesn't think his neck ruffle inspiration is eccentric enough. He is trying to match the theatricality of Dominique and Eduardo's work. Eduardo says that Dominique gets better with every challenge. He's glad that she's feeling confident, but hopes that she's right about her choices. Calvin says she could still go home, even though she won back to back challenges.
Calvin remembers a fabric that he bought and starts a new dress moments before the day is over. Dominique thinks he's crazy.
The day, Jeffrey says everyone is nervous as they wheel their stuff down the street to the fashion show. Eduardo is not finished with his blouse. Stefan's there! Simon and Laura are in the audience, along with Iman and Isaac. Dominique's pig coat is first and she's thrilled. Calvin's is and he has shoes on the model's head. He loves it. Iman's whispering to someone, possibly orders to have Calvin killed. His second look works better with a collar than his attempt, but it's still not his favorite. Isaac gasps, which has to be a good thing
.Eduardo has made pants for the silver belt and Isaac seems to like it. His look with the hat works well, but it's not much of a departure for him. He's surprised to have finished two looks in one day. Dominique's bustle look is also cool. Cesar thinks their collection is not cohesive. It's true that the geisha makeup of the bustle look model is totes dissonant with the rest of the collection.
For the commercial break fun time, Jeffrey and Cesar are acting like turkeys and making each other laugh. I guess it's easy to make people laugh in prison.
Emerald's show is about to begin. Stefan seems less crazy with them than with Nami. Jeffrey's tunic and leggings are first. Meh. I don't know. The train is cool. Cesar's dress for the awesome crochet hat with bird is cool. He made a one-shouldered gown for his brooch. He says that their looks are all bird-inspired. He adds that he and Jeffrey are the gay birds of the show. Jeffrey's look, for the earrings, is really cool. Cheers from the audience. Calvin says that with ruffle, hunchback and pig, Nami should win. It sounds like he's kidding but he's not.
It's time for the judging. Iman and Isaac congratulate House of Nami. Isaac says that Emerald was awesome as well. In fact, the winner is Emerald!!! Cesar and Jeffrey hug and it's very sweet. Isaac says that they felt sure-handed and there were no steps backward. Isaac loved Cesar's structure and loved Jeffrey's signature on his pieces. Iman says it was beautiful, cohesive and eccentric. The winner will get to choose an accessory from New York Vintage for the challenge and an extra 500 bucks for final collection if they make it to the finals. And, the winner is JEFFREY!! He totally tears up and is arm in arm with Cesar. Isaac says that he is proud. Iman wants the earring dress and Jeffrey tells her to take it and they laugh about ripping the clothes off of the model who is standing there silently. Isaac says it's the best dress of the competition at this point and it really does accentuate the earrings. Poor Jeffrey seems just overwhelmed. Iman tells them to get some rest and Isaac says "in separate beds." OK, weird.
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It's judging time for the losers. Iman says that this will be a hard choice. Isaac says they gasped at the clothes. I remember that. Eduardo describes his stuff. Simon doesn't think the hat dress is eccentric. Iman doesn't think it answers the challenge. They all think the ruffles were eating the dress. They liked the pants though. Isaac says he might be surprised to know that all of the stuff that he has made is very similar.
Dominique says that she had fun. Isaac says that it was brave and he adored her work, though the designs were flawed. Simon says that they are brave, but not cohesive together. Iman says that imperfections were obvious, but she loved the risk taking. She gets slammed for using cheap fabric. Laura thinks that she's brave and really has no other criticism. Isaac wanted to see more of the ribs of the bustle and thinks it's almost a visual joke.
Calvin says that he was worried about blending/disappearing. Isaac thinks he did the best job that he's done on the show, but didn't like the long ruffle dress. The cuff dress could be sold in Barney's, says Simon. Isaac says he's not fond of the shoe on the head, but Calvin says it was because he felt like people were stepping on him. The action figures in the other model's head were because people were attacking him.
It's the final countdown. Dominique was eccentric, but her execution was not good. Eduardo made great pants, but the other look was too much like his other stuff. Calvin's work was clumsy and overdone, though the cocktail dress was eccentric and accessible. Calvin...CAN STAY. Iman says he stepped up. Dominique rubs his back as he reels from shock. Eduardo tears up because you know that he knows he's going home. Dominique grabs Eduardo's arm as they wait for the verdict. Eduardo is going home. He's out of fashion. Dominique hugs him. He interviews that he was confused because he thought he should have made it to the finals. What a nice guy.
Jeff Long is writer/performer living in Brooklyn. He can be reached at jeff.long75@gmail.com
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