In the words of those sages, Cinderella (and I had to check, because I thought it was Poison), you don't know what you've got until it's gone. I didn't think I cared. But, I did.
For this challenge, the designers are sent to the landscape district, or something of the like. Their designs for garden-party dresses must be made entirely of plants. Honestly, everyone does a pretty great job; we are clearly coming to the end, because everyone remaining is really talented. I say that thinking that Kara would leave; however, she does her best job yet for this challenge. Daniel wins his 800th challenge. Sadly (oh God, I'm actually sad), Andrae -- though his design was quite lovely and only not as good as everyone else's -- departs. I. Am. Sad.
Previously: Per Zulema's request, there was a mutherfucking walk-off. She ended up taking Nick's model, Tarah. He could not believe the bitch did that. Their challenge was to take pictures around New York City and then use one of the photos for inspiration for a garment. Tim warned all of the designers that their poor performance during the last few challenges had left them in "serious jeopardy." Nick contemplated just going home, and Santino performed his mighty impression of Tim Gunn. In the end, Daniel won the challenge and Zulema was sent home. We're down to six designers!
At the Atlas apartments, Nick and Daniel are standing together in the kitchen. Nick says that there's a new rule: "Do Not Go Out Like Zulema." Nick interviews that when Zulema picked his model, it created tension for all of the designers, so he was "relieved" when she was eliminated. Over in the girls' apartment, where it's getting quite roomy, we see Chloe taking pictures of the skyline with her cell phone. She interviews that Zulema had never been in her top three, so she was not surprised to see her go. She also thinks that Zulema's garment for the last challenge was poorly constructed. For Kara's part, she's too busy being excited about being in the final six designers to worry about Zulema. "I've been pinching myself."
At Parsons, Heidi greets all of the designers on the runway. She jumps right into challenge talk -- the challenge is to create an outfit for a garden party. Hmm. Okay, so I'm thinking about how they're going to twist that. Madison Square Garden?
Now, for the time we've been dreading. Model-choosing. Tarah and Rebecca enter the runway. Tarah is a terrific model, says Daniel, but Rebecca is his "angel." He's sticking with Rebecca. As Tarah leaves the runway, Nick looks devastated. We see Tarah get her hugs from the models backstage. Not only is Tarah a lovely girl, but it seems like everyone really likes her personally as well. Nick interviews that he's really sad to see her leave and that she "kind of looked up" to him. After she has left the runway, Nick says, "She's gone." He looks like he's fighting back tears. Poor guy.
We see another choppy NYC montage as they are leaving Parsons. There's that mannequin in the middle of the street again. It's been out for two weeks now. What's it doing for food? An innocent mannequin on the streets of New York? There's no telling what will happen.
Back at the Atlas apartments, the boys decide to go to the rooftop deck. As they are waiting for the elevator, Daniel says, "The 35D boys. Still intact." Then, they all do a hands-in "Go Team!" sort of thing. Nick sees through it, though. He interviews that there is a "definite competitive vibe" because it is becoming clearer that they are each other's competition. It doesn't seem to be dampening their moods, though. Santino interviews that the competition has become "hardcore." "I will not be happy until I am the fucking winner." No confusion there.
It doesn't look like the girls were invited to the rooftop party. We see Kara cleaning her and Chloe's kitchen. Chloe interviews that she hopes either she or Kara makes it to the final three, because "there should be one woman in there." Just to rub in how much more fun the boys are having, we see them getting ready for lights out. "Good night, John Boy" is heard from several of the guys as Daniel turns off the lamp. Okay, seeing it written, it doesn't sound like they are having some wild party or anything, but they're clearly all in pretty high spirits.
The day, Tim Gunn arrives at 35D. Andrae opens the door and is really stunned to see Tim. Let's be real, though -- from what we've seen, it doesn't take much to stun Andrae. Tim tells them that they are taking a field trip. Nick thinks that maybe they are going to one of "those fabulous Park Avenue apartments where people actually have gardens." Then, he goes to the girls' apartment. Chloe answers and is happy to know that they will be spending the day with Tim.
They start walking. Daniel interviews that he is unsure where they are going, because there are no fabric stores in the area where they are. Well, Tim's already thought of that. They are in the flower district. Now it becomes clear. They have to design a dress using plants and flowers. Ohhhh, Garden Party! Chloe interviews that she was like, "God, I don't want to deal with this." They will have $100 and an hour to shop at one of three flower shops on the same block. Nick says that he was dreading the challenge, but kept a smile on his face. I guess you want to keep a positive face in front of Tim, 'cause I'd be all, "God! Why? I'm tired!" Nick continues, saying, "I had to stay long enough for the damn 'Make a dress out of flowers' challenge."
Daniel seems to know what he's doing straightaway. This is juxtaposed to Kara, who seems thoroughly confused. As Nick is perusing a wall of flowers, we hear him interview that he was "looking for something that was bendable." Then we see him accidentally break the stems of a bouquet of flowers. Those don't bend. He says to the camera, "You didn't see that." Thank God they're not making clothes out of babies. You get in trouble if you break babies. Nick says that he is not sure what to do.
Santino looks like he's doing fine. Besides flowers, he also grabs some mesh and other supplies. Chloe says that she doesn't want to work with anything too delicate, so she chooses leaves.
We see Daniel talking to a salesman at one of the flower shops. He tells the guy that (post-plant supplies purchasing) he only has $65 remaining for actual plants. The guy tells Daniel that he's in trouble. Nick also remarks that flowers are expensive.
Andrae tells us that he worked at a florist's as a child. "I don't feel like I'm in the deep end of the swimming pool." When Tim tells Andrae that he has thirty minutes to finish shopping, Andrae announces that he has finished getting everything that he needs.
Kara doesn't know what her "idear" will be; however, she has bought flowers so there will be "more flower to the structure." Santino stretches his budget by doing what appears to be some negotiating. In return, he gives a shout-out to Plant House in his interview. With seconds remaining in the shopping hour, Chloe is buying ribbon. Then it's back to the workroom.
At Parsons, Chloe describes how she will be placing leaves on top of each other for a "cascaded print" effect. We then see Daniel walking down the row of winning designs that are on dress forms. He counts one, two, three of his designs that have won. He interviews that he will keep doing what he has been doing, because the judges obviously like it. He continues, telling us that he has just graduated from college, making his greatest weakness a lack of experience. In the workroom, we see Chloe say, "You're pretty good at everything you do. That's kind of sick, Daniel." Starting to sound a little like The Daniel Show, wouldn't you say? Well, forget what you thought about Daniel, because now it's getting dark. Daniel tells Chloe -- and seriously, I don't know why he thought this was all right to say out loud -- that once he tried to play basketball and he wasn't good at it. I don't know about you, but I'm disgusted.
Tim enters. He tells them that the winner of this challenge will have immunity for the challenge. Andrae interviews that he would love to win since he has decided that his goal is to make it to the final four designers. There, he is hoping that God will "sort it out." I also hope that God has the chance to take a break from his busy schedule and make sure that Project Runway turns out the way it should. Forget Hamas -- who's going to Fashion Week?! Tim tells them to "Carry On" and he's out of there.
Kara says in an interview that she cannot "play it safe" for this challenge. Santino hopes that he will win, so that he could do something "really offensive" for the challenge and still be immune. I couldn't really think of a reason to miss immunity, but that's it. If at least one person were designing each week without the judges in mind, some really cool stuff could happen. Commercials.
Chloe seems really confident with her design. Kara is having a harder time. She's braiding some grass, but is not sure what she is going to do with it. She says, "Now, I have a pile of green. The main thing I want to do with it is smoke it, to tell you the truth." Now, things are starting to make a little sense. Kara forgot her stash in South Africa. That's why she been such a pill a great deal of the time. Lady just needs a little refreshment.
Santino is using ferns and fichus to make his design. He wants it to be "pretty and sophisticated and sexy, but also definitely whimsical." That's a lot of things to be.
Daniel is doing his Jane Fonda while hot-glue-gunning some green stuff. It's kind of show-offy to casually work while in a two-thirds split. It's working, though. I'm impressed. He describes how he's going to make most of the bottom of the dress with ferns, but will use purple flowers on the bust line. Andrae is using "dead or half-dead things. Or things that would die beautifully." Dying beautifully is a lovely concept. But then he tells us that he's using baby's breath. I hate that flower, dead or alive. It's the penny of flowers. His design is based on late-1950s couture. The sketch is lovely.
Tim arrives to talk to everyone about their designs. He and Chloe discuss her leaf dress and she assures him that none of the leaves will fall off on the runway. He thinks it seems really ambitious, but Chloe seems totally relaxed. I have to say, several of the designers have grown on me this season, and Chloe is near the top of the list. She seems like the real deal. Plus she's a cutie and she seems like a genuinely kind person. I mean, she's had her moments of ragging on people in interviews, but it's always about the work. And she's always pretty much right. Anyway, loving Chloe.
Kara, without much crying or gnashing of mandibles, tells Tim that she doesn't really know what the hell she's doing. Tim seems a little freaked by this, but Kara (who may have discovered a way to smoke that grass) just says, "It's happening organically." Tim is left with nothing much else to say and leaves her alone.
Daniel explains his design to Tim. There's some fancy stuff that he's planning for the bodice that I don't really understand (something about a croissant weave…mmm, croissants). Tim seems worried that Daniel might not have time to finish, but he's forgetting that this is The Daniel Show.
Nick doesn't have a lot of materials. Tim seems worried that Nick may have to make his design a "micro mini." All we need is to see poor Rachael's ass all over the runway again.
Santino has some really colorful foliage for his design. Tim likes the plant, but seems a little wary of the mesh stuff that Santino has on his dress form. "I'm just playing with this right now," he tells Tim.
"What happened to Andrae?" asks Tim, provoking Santino to laugh. Tim goes outside to find Andrae, and the segment is a hilarious mix of Andrae and Tim talking and Santino imitating Tim inside.
"What happened to Andrae?" says Santino. Really, it's pitch-perfect Tim. "Designers, look out for Andrae. He's our little lamb, okay?" The other designers are loving this. Outside, there's some discussion of whether Andrae's materials will "hold up."
Scurry techno. Chloe's dress is taking a really long time. To pass the time, she asks the designers when they came out to their parents. Daniel says he came out to his parents only a year ago. This stuns Nick, because he thinks it should be easier for people to be themselves these days. He reminisces about his high school days when he was a "rent-a-date" because he was a good dancer. It is true that a man who dances really well usually throws people off of his gay scent. I can think of nothing more heterosexual than a sixteen-year-old busting a move to "I've Got A Crush On You" by The Jets. Excuse me while I download that song.
I'm back. Daniel tells Nick that he grew up in the Bible Belt, in Michigan. His family was really Christian. We see an interview with Daniel where he says that it "was hard…to be labeled a fag in upper middle-class white America." Where is it easy? The Minnelli and Streisand households would seem to be the only places. Daniel then says, "There are certain things you're going to get in a guy and certain things you're gonna get in a girl." He also reveals that his ex-girlfriend doesn't know he's gay. Has she not talked to you since you went to fashion school? Not to cast aspersions or anything, but… Really, do I need to even finish that thought?
Chloe reveals that one of her biggest fears is dating a gay man. This gets a big laugh from the guys.
Daniel asks Santino to "do Tim again, but create more." It's just a tiny little moment, but I love the way Daniel told him to "create more." Because you know Santino can. And he does. "'Andrae, you really embarrassed me tonight at Red Lobster. There's already a big age difference, Andrae. And you acting like a big baby and throwing a plate of lobster in my lap at dinner is not appropriate.'" Even Santino is dying laughing. If the fashion thing doesn't work out, who thinks Santino might have himself a future on SNL? Santino interviews that he has created a scenario where Andrae and Tim Gunn are carrying on a romance. "'Andrae, but I still think we can make it work.'"
"Why are Tim Gunn and I together in your sick, twisted world?" asks Andrae. This shit is funny. I don't know if I'm doing it justice. They all seem a little out of it right now. It's that late-night studying laugh that could almost turn into tears at any moment.
Chloe interviews that she wonders if Tim Gunn would approve of this joke. Oh, come on! He'll love it! "'If we continue to fight in front of my colleagues at Red Lobster, we're gonna have to break up.'" Santino explains that, in his scenario, Tim and Andrae have gone through the honeymoon stage and are now squabbling constantly.
Andrae says in an interview, "Is there anyone out there like Santino in the world? I don't think so. And if there is...don't call me."
That night, Tim comes back. Kara says she still doesn't know what she's doing. Tim is shitting. Kara, admirably, is still cool. Nick's design seems to be in trouble. Tim likes Daniel's design. Tim and Chloe discuss that she is pressed for time. Andrae has made quite a mess, but he seems content with his design.
Tim goes to Santino and says, "What happened to Andrae?" Santino, confused, replies, "What happened to Andrae?" Tim says, "I hear you're doing a devastating impersonation. And I wanna hear it." The other designers are howling. Santino sheepishly tells Tim the Red Lobster set-up. "'Andrae, stop doing this. Every time we have a little tiff, you go and run in the bathroom. What happened to Andrae?'" He tells Tim that it's "with love." Tim seems to handle it pretty good-naturedly, though he kind of stumbles away and says, "I'm verklempt." Andrae says that this is probably the first time that Santino has ever blushed.
They get back to work. Nick decides to shorten his dress. Chloe is freaking out about time. Santino sprays his dress with shellac to preserve it, and Daniel acts like he passes out from the fumes. His hair looks really pretty mid-faint.
At the end of the night, Chloe is still not finished with her dress. Commercials.
The morning, Kara interviews that she wants to "get through another challenge." Santino says that he wants to win immunity, because he'd be taking it away from someone who "doesn't deserve to be in the room." I was kind of thinking that the wish for immunity was a jerk-proof sentiment. I was wrong. All the guys think that Chloe is in trouble, because her design is not finished. Daniel says, "It could be any of us." "I'm not going home," replies Andrae.
Kara asks Chloe how she feels. She's worried. Kara says that she's not nervous. What has happened to her? She's suddenly so Zen. I like her a lot better this way.
At Parsons, the designers are scrambling. Chloe is keeping her wits about her as she is racing. Tim enters and says that the theme for that morning is "Don't Stop Working." The models should go to the hair and make-up rooms alone. He mentions that Chloe in particular needs to work fast.
We see all the designers tell the models what hair and make-up to get. Chloe interviews that, if she doesn't finish, she won't blame anyone. She "just didn't have enough time." Daniel is gluing on blue flowers at the last minute. Kara says that she and Chloe are helping each other. There's a nice moment when Kara is helping Chloe and Chloe tells her to work on her own design instead.
The models don't seem really comfortable in the designs. Nick mentions that everyone's designs look really great. Chloe's design is still not finished in the end. Commercials.
Heidi greets the designers onstage in an interesting white dress. She introduces our judges: Michael Kors, Nina Garcia, and Mark Badgley and James Mischka of Badgley Mischka. Damn. They are not playing around with our guest judges this week, are they?
The show begins. First down the runway is Daniel's, and it's gorgeous. I'm not sure what it is about his stuff -- it just looks good. For one, I'd say he's great with color. There are lovely blue flowers all over the bust of the strapless dress. The bodice is fitted and drops into a skirt that ends just above the knee. There's a belt of green at the bottom of the waist. It's just lovely. There's some muslin or something peeking out of the top of the dress in straps. I guess it's holding up the whole contraption. Daniel interviews that, if you were far away from Rebecca, you might not know that the dress was made of plants.
Nick's design is interesting. Glossy leaves are wrapped around the hips and waist of the model, and meet in the middle to form a seam. There are leaves for straps, creating a v-shaped plunging neckline. Along the bust are what looks like stems and stones. Peeking out from below the leaves on the skirt are brush-like plants. A lot of different textures are happening, which looks pretty cool. Rachael has a little crown of yellow flowers, too. Pretty cute. The back of the dress looks a little like a stuffed grape leaf (mmm…stuffed grape leaves). Nick interviews that he was just hoping that his dress wouldn't fall apart.
Up is Chloe's dress. It's not bad. First of all, hers is fabric covered in leaves, so it moves like fabric. That's a plus for her. The leaves have a dark green center, with a white border. So, since there are many many leaves on the dress, it looks pretty damn cool. Also, Grace (her model) has leaves all over her head, like a skullcap. It's a simple dress with an A-line skirt and spaghetti straps. There's a string belt at the waist, with a small flower at the hip. Chloe interviews that she likes the dress, but wishes she'd had time to finish it.
Here's Santino's dress. It's a one-shouldered affair with a fitted bodice of green leaves. The green leaves fade into leaves of more vibrant reds and oranges. At the bottom of the bodice, the leaves fade entirely into a light green mesh fabric that flares. It's really pretty. The placement of the leaves is very intricate. Santino interviews that he was just hoping that nothing would fall off the dress.
Andrae's dress is . His looks like grass. It's sleeveless, with a high neck. At the neck is a collar of baby's breath. There's a belt of baby's breath at the waist, and there's a trim of baby's breath at the bottom of the dress. Then there's a lavender fringe. The inspiration for this dress is really pretty. This, however, does not fit Danyelle well at all. It makes her look wide and thick. Andrae interviews that he loves the dress. In a French accent, he says his dress is "like the topiary in a French garden."
Now, we have Kara's dress. She worked it out. It's a short dress with thin straps of the braided grass that meet at the center of the bust and wrap around the model's neck. Over the bust are purple flowers. There's a triangle of light green foliage that fades into the darker green grass skirt, which flares into a little A-line. The back is really cool too. It almost looks like a bamboo corset or something. There's a smattering of purple flowers around the waist. Kara interviews that the dress looks exactly like she wanted it to look.
The show is over and the designers are called onto the stage. They all stay for the talkback. The models return. The first thing that Heidi says is that she thought they would using flowers and sewing petals together and whatnot. Who the? What the? For $100? Plus, petals are delicate. Everything would die. Mark and James ask Nick why he didn't use more color. He says he was looking for plants that would bend. Nina harps on the color thing too. Nick adds that he was trying to stay away from his usual "Paris Hilton at a resort" look. Michael says that he doesn't think Nick's look is sophisticated.
Mark and James like Chloe's design. They mention that it's very "cloth-like." Can I get an "amen"? Nina says that she likes that Chloe puts a lot of thought into her interpretation of the challenges, and that her design is "very beautiful." Michael, though you wouldn't know it for the hemorrhoid grimace that he's sporting, thinks that Chloe's design is professional and, "in a strange weird way," wearable.
James and Mark think that Kara's is the best-fit design of the bunch. They school me on what was happening on the back of her design. It's called "raffia." The close-up of it is awesome. It looks really nice. Mark says that it looks like it's built on a "little pristine corset." Michael says, "You definitely used the materials," but it you replaced his words with, "And I will not rest until you rot in hell for eternity," he would have still had the appropriate tone and facial expressions.
Mark asks Andrae about the materials that he used. Though I don't hear an audible gasp when he says "baby's breath" (save my own), Michael says that if he was going to use simple supplies, he needed to pay more attention to fit. He mentions the boxy fit and also says that it's stiff and "not joyous." Oh shit, you're trying to push Andrae's buttons. If Andrae's not afraid to show his butt at the Red Lobster, you sure as hell better believe he'll make a scene on the runway. Again. But he's keeping it together for the time being.
James and Mark like Daniel's dress. They like that he used color. They mention that it looks "WASP-y," to which Daniel responds, "Exactly." Nina loves the flowers. "I am crazy about the basket weave you did on the bodice." Okay…I swear to God he said "croissant" earlier. I've never heard of a croissant weave, but I swear he said it. Maybe I should just have a snack. Michael thinks it's adorable.
Mark thinks that Santino's design looks like plastic. Nina asks him if he did something to it, and he admits to shellacking it. She disapproves. Heidi, and I love her for shit like this, says, "I have no problem with it being shiny." Michael responds, "Because you're German," expecting a bigger laugh than he got. Heidi says with a hair toss, "Maybe your plants at home need some dusting off." Slam Kors! Dust your plants, go on. The designers leave the runway.
James absolutely accurately remarks that the designers saw Austin's cornhusk dress from last year and didn't want to use delicate plants that might die. Heidi says that she likes Kara, Chloe, and Daniel. Michael thinks Daniel's dress was charming, chic, and wearable. Mark says that Daniel captured the "spirit of the project." Heidi says that Chloe's dress really looks like fabric. Michael likes Kara's use of texture.
Nina says that Andrae and Nick are her lowest scored designers. Michael laments that Nick can't ever explain his idea for a design "in a logical way." James says that, though Nick said differently, his design was the "most Paris Hilton"-looking design he had seen on the show. Michael says, "It's hard to make leaves look vulgar." No it isn't. Heidi thinks that Andrae's dress was boring. She's hating it. Nina defends him, saying that you could see a "Audrey Hepburn" influence and that he "thought about it." Nina thinks that Santino needs to think more "about the woman" who would be wearing his design. Mark thinks that he's trying to make "wearable art." And that's a bad thing in this case.
The designers return. Santino is "in." Kara is "in." Daniel is the winner. Nina says that it is "fantastic" that he used flowers. He's immune for the challenge. He interviews that his heart goes out to the designer who will be leaving. Chloe is "in." It's Nick and Santino. This sucks. Heidi tells Andrae that his dress fit poorly and was not innovative. She tells Nick that his "taste level wasn't there." Nick is "in." Poo. He hugs Andrae and whispers something, which provokes Andrae to say, "Oh, shut up. Only one person's allowed to cry on the runway." He, bless his heart, kind of still flails a little bit, but makes it off of the runway with his composure intact. He interviews that when he was still in the competition he felt like "an angel -- floating above the street." But now, he's just like us common mortals. Tim seems sad to see Andrae go, as do all of the designers. "This is what I do." Those are the last words we hear from Andrae. Now, I'll tell you that I saw Andrae two nights after this episode aired, at a bar in the East Village in NYC. Because I'd had my third gin and tonic, I thought it would be a Great! idea to say hello. Um, Andrae's familiar with us. And maybe not all in good way. He was absolutely adorable, though, and completely nice. Just remind me not to introduce myself to people I've publicly compared to Von Trapp children. Andrae = good sport. Me = dumb.