By Jeff Long
The challenge for this episode is to create a look for a toddler. This seems crazy. The winning outfit will be sold as part of Heidi's new clothing line for babies, which finally capitalizes on the seeming decade that she was pregnant. They get assigned some sick cute babies, but really who cares when that cute baby is standing between you and Fashion Week.
They have consultations with the mothers, some of whom are very specific about what they want, which seems a little pointless to me since the object is to fit the look inside the collection of Heidi baby stuff. But, Tim did tell them to listen to the mothers' advice, so there you go. Then, they get back to the workroom and have these baby dolls that cry and stuff and they have to take care of them. They cry a lot. Elena names hers "Asshole." So, here they are designing while babysitting. Fabio is super sweet and attentive to his fake baby, which is really disturbing to Dmitry. Yeah, it's a little weird, but also very attractive. Go figure.
Seriously, all the babies cry at once and they never seem to stop. It's really stressful viewing. Heidi comes in and explains that they torture was so that they would understand the need for functional baby clothes. She also participates in the consultation. During the first pass, it seems like she's a big fan of Sonjia and Elena. And, she's not so fond of Dmitry and Melissa. Then, she tells the designers that they will be required to make a companion piece for the mothers. They emphasize though that it's the baby look that is most important.
They go to Mood again and have to take those damn dolls with them. Then, they go back to Atlas and have to take the dolls with them. Seriously, this feels a little cruel to me. Christopher brushes Fabio's teeth while he's holding his fake baby. Tim comes in that morning and takes the babies away to day care. They finish the baby clothes in the morning and move on to the mom clothes, but Melissa is really slow with the baby clothes. The mothers and children come in for a fitting. Christopher's mother client person is really difficult. Also, side note: has anyone watched anything online at the Lifetime TV website that didn't freeze every, I don't know, 30 seconds? Sonjia advises Christopher to not worry about the mother, because this isn't about her. All of the guys decide that they can't help Melissa anymore.
Hilary Duff is the guest judge, a new mom and still alive -- all things surprising. The babies are so cute on the runway. We're down to six designers, so they all remain onstage after the show. It's frankly ridiculous to hear the judges evaluating the fashion of babies. Michael Kors doesn't know that baby boys like to play like superheroes and that not all of us were pretending that we were Doris Duke's butler. After the judging, it seems like only Elena and Melissa get a majority of poor reviews. There are winners -- one for boys and one for girls. Sonjia wins for boys and Christopher wins for girls! Dmitry is in, as is Fabio. Wow and it's Elena who is out. I kind of feel bad for her at this point.