| Season AS3 | Episode 8 | Aired on 12.19.2013
The episode starts at the runway, because we can't afford helicopters every week. Alyssa brings out Nina Garcia, which excites everyone. It's like a visit from the real show! Nina will bring out five fashion bloggers from something called Style Haul, which is not something I have previously heard about. But the only fashion bloggers I know anything about are the Fug Girls, so you shouldn't go by me. Each designer will be assigned a blogger and they'll work as a team to create an outfit that represents their guess at a big trend for 2014. Then the blogger will be the model, which means it's an "everyday woman" challenge. That phrase is Christopher's, and I think it's an interesting way to describe the non-model models. And there's one more key piece of information: the Pantone color of the year for 2014 (which is its own fascinating subject) is "Radiant Orchid." Everyone claims to love that color, which they have to include in their designs. Incidentally, Seth Aaron does an interview in here wearing the stupidest giant glasses ever. I don't think they have lenses, but even if they did, they'd be going out of their way to look ridiculous. Nina will shoot a video with the winning look for the front page of Style Hall, and Pantone is kicking in a stay at the Pantone Hotel in Brussels. Did you know Pantone had a hotel?
The designers return to the workroom and select their bloggers. Korto goes with Carli from Jackson, New Jersey. Christopher gets Fleur from London, England. Seth Aaron takes Gigi from Toronto, Canada because he likes her androgynous facial lines. Elena takes Dulce from Los Angeles, California. And Viktor gets Jarmaine, also from Los Angeles. All of the bloggers appear to be attractive young women. They watch videos, where the bloggers say things like how they sometimes put their hair in buns instead of combing them. I'm not convinced this woman's name is really "Fleur De Force," but I'm willing to go along with it. Dulce Candy is a "beauty blogger," which I'm also not convinced is a thing. Jarmaine goes by the name "jlovesmac," which I assume is a reference to the make-up line. I hope so, anyway. Carli runs the Beauty Byble Blog, and we see her explaining hair care. These people are getting a huge signal boost for their blogs, aren't they? Style Haul was down for the entire time I was writing this recap, so I can't even tell you what the site looks like. It's just a grid of "loading" icons for me. Gigi is "Gigi Gorgeous" and is transgender. I only mention that because Seth Aaron said it first. I think I've seen Willam (from RuPaul's Drag Race) make fun of Gigi's videos, so that's something.
| Season AS3 | Episode 8 | Aired on 12.19.2013
Once the videos are done, the actual bloggers walk into the workroom. Hi, bloggers! And "vloggers" and whatever else! Jarmaine and Viktor seem to be getting along and she loves everything he suggests. Korto is going to go with black and white, which is an interesting change from her usual colorful designs. Carli is already wearing toenail polish that's roughly the color of this Radiant Orchid they're supposed to be working with. Fleur is taking the lead with Christopher, and she definitely wants a dress. Dulce tries to avoid tight dresses, and Elena is going to do a brightly colored jacket, which seems a lot like what she always does to me. Gigi agrees with everything Seth Aaron says, and it seems to me like she's not giving a lot of direction.
Mood. People run around and look for quilted fabric and belt buckles and whatnot. Christopher is making an "Army green lace trench." That's what he says, anyway. I'm sure he means something else. Right? And he's making a clutch in the radiant orchid. He has trouble finding the right color of lace, though. Seth Aaron finds a huge bolt of the radiant orchid, and he's going to combine it with black and grey on the theory that the Pantone people know what they're talking about. Christopher settles on olive green as being close enough to Army green.
Back to the workroom. Elena complains about how everyone else has started using neoprene because she's been using it for three years. Christopher and Korto complain about Elena using a noisy device on her fabric. It's pretty early in the episode for everyone to be complaining about everyone else.
So far, no one's mentioned what new fashion trend allegedly predicting for 2014. And that's supposed to be the challenge. Viktor is doing a leather jacket with a jumper. Christopher says he wouldn't usually use radiant orchid, which is why he's hiding it in the accessory. Elena is designing a peplum not because she thinks it will be the hot trend of 2014 but because she figures Nina is going to be a judge, and she believes that Nina likes peplums. She also believes that Nina hates her. Seth recommends against showing fear, because Nina will sense it. Just make something nice, you know?
Zanna's here. She starts with Korto, who claims the trend for 2014 will be "the white suit." Zanna thinks Nina will love it. Viktor thinks it's boring. Seth Aaron predicts "color-blocking, but it's all within seams." It's black and pink (well, black and "radiant orchid"), which Christopher thinks is weird and "very Avril Lavigne." Christopher is doing "a trench dress with a popped-color clutch," and I like how he's already claiming that his clutch is an integral part of the outfit. He claims he's never seen a feminine trench and Zanna immediately says, "Burberry." He admits that she has a point. Viktor claims that his trend is "good girl gone bad," and Zanna's only objection is that it doesn't seem very "Viktor." Elena's trend is "um, texture and color." I guess there will probably be textures and colors in 2014. Zanna recommends that everyone "think like the great designers do," and she leaves.
| Season AS3 | Episode 8 | Aired on 12.19.2013
The models come in and I wonder what they've been doing all day. Did they get tours or were they frantically shooting crossover-episode videos? Carli brings shoes to show Korto and already has plans for hair and makeup. Jarmaine wants her outfit tighter, but Viktor is concerned about turning her into a sausage. Dulce seems a lot smaller than Elena was expecting her to be, so there's a lot of space between her and the garment. Fleur comments to Christopher that she's never seen olive-green lace before. Seth Aaron is very confident that he can tailor his dress to perfectly fit Gigi.
The models leave again to go to whatever they're up to. Viktor decides to start over with one hour left in the day. People have been doing that a lot this season haven't they? He's making a dress out of neoprene and warns everyone that his blogger will be doing some gluing tomorrow. He's gluing squares of radiant orchid to the inside of the dress so they show through some holes, and he claims that the trend for 2014 will be "creating your own textile." Seems like a stretch.
The day ends and the one begins. Just like Regular Project Runway, everything is a one-day challenge. Viktor's now doing a strapless '50s-style dress. Christopher is very confident in how little he has left to do. Dulce's jacket fits better now, although I don't think it works with the black skirt underneath. Korto has a lot left to do, and she's working on not letting people know that she's freaking out. In my non-professional opinion, Viktor's dress is maybe a little too heavy on the cleavage. And when the jacket is added, it covers up the little specks of radiant orchid that were peeping through. Christopher thinks the jacket doesn't go with the dress at all.
Hair and makeup is probably pretty neat for the bloggers, since they know a lot about this sort of nonsense, and they'll be interested in the various products and techniques used by professionals. So naturally, this is the shortest hair-and-makeup segment yet.
Viktor's zipper breaks and Elena fixes it for him because she's the "zipper queen." On a show like this, I don't mind when people help each other out. It's not like The Amazing Race; it's more like Face Off, where it's just taken for granted that everyone will pitch in on the more complicated steps. Man, I like Face Off. That's not strictly relevant to this show. I just thought I'd mention it.
Alyssa welcomes everyone back to the runway to do the usual recap of the challenge. I actually like this week's challenge, because "predict a trend" is something designers have to do in the real world, and "include this weird color" is a cool wrinkle. The fashion bloggers haven't gotten to do much, though. And now, the judges! Georgina Chapman is out again. In her place is Christian Siriano, who's a million times better than any of these alleged All-Stars. Isaac Mizrahi is here, though. And Nina Garcia has, indeed, stuck around because she likes judging people. And there's Francisco Costa from Calvin Klein.
| Season AS3 | Episode 8 | Aired on 12.19.2013
First up is Gigi, modeling Seth Aaron's dress. It looks great. There's kind of an hourglass on the front, which gives it a black widow vibe. Her shoulder flaps are a little weird. Dulce's modeling Elena's thing and I do not like it at all. The jacket is big and blocky and doesn't go with the skirt underneath it. Jarmaine is in Viktor's jacket and dress. It looks like a jacket that's been arbitrarily thrown over a dress. Viktor says it looks like something a blogger would wear, which is not a compliment if you look at it closely. I, for example, am wearing a Snuggie right now. Fleur is in Christopher's dress and it's weird. It's olive drab. Meh. Korto's model Carli walks out and I like what is being done with the radiant orchid. It's a white suit and there are peeps of the color behind the flaps of the top.
The models stand by the designers and it's time for some nonsense. Viktor goes first and Nina tells him that the leather jacket is having a moment now, which means it won't be in 2014. Christian likes the layered textile effect. Francisco is the only one who likes the jacket. Jarmaine thinks it's a cute outfit. Alyssa wishes Elena's peplum were about half the size. Christian likes the texture, but suggests that it would work better shaped like a blazer. Nina thinks it looks like armor, and that's because it doesn't move at all when the model walks. Seth Aaron makes sure people know the big pink sections on his dress aren't appliques, and Nina's bored by it. Isaac thinks it doesn't grow on him. Francisco points out that there's no trend here, and I have that problem with pretty much everyone. Korto purposely avoided big colors and I think that's very smart. Isaac likes how the radiant orchid forces the viewer to look for it. Nina hates the bag and shoes, but she loves the vest. Christian likes the structure, and he's nice enough not to say how much better he is at structure than Korto is. Christopher claims that his dress is "new-vintage-Paris-soft-military."
Okay, I'm going to have to unpack that a little. He started with "new" and "vintage," which cancel each other out and mean nothing. Then he said "Paris," which has nothing to do with anything. That leaves "soft" and "military," which mean that it's a military color but a soft shape. Actually, it just looks like a tent with that camouflage netting thrown over it.
Okay, back to the judging. Isaac claims he likes the dress now that he's heard Christopher explain it. Christian says something very complicated that I can't summarize, but I liked it a lot. Nina thinks the dress looks like "seaweed that's come out of the swamp." Christopher: "Thank you." Nina: "That's not a compliment." Christopher: "I didn't take it as a compliment." Nina: [ICY STARE OF DEATH]