This week, the designers partake in what may just be the most creative overall challenge in the series' history. Nina Garcia visits them in the workroom (who knew she could stand?) and presents them with 12 different fashion trends that are no longer in vogue. Names are drawn, and each designer picks one of the dead trends. Then they are told that they will be working in groups of three, and will be required to incorporate each of their dead trends, while also creating a cohesive collection. Expansive, yes?
Jillian, Rami, and Kevin work with overalls (which Jillian was wearing when Nina visited the workroom…awkward!), poodle skirts, and '70s flares. Chris, Steven, and Sweet P have shoulder pads, dancewear (that's a dead trend? Tell that to my closet), and baggy sweaters. Christian, Kit, and Jack worked with zoot suits, pleather, and fringe. Ricky, Victorya, and Elisa use cut-outs, underwear as outerwear, and neon. Jillian was the leader of her team and was freaking the entire time that Kevin was not going to have enough time to finish his design, but he did, and it was great. Victorya and Ricky, meanwhile, did not enjoy each other's company. Victorya passive-aggressively blamed Ricky for not stopping her from making mistakes, and Ricky just barely controlled his rage (which I'm sure would have been followed very closely by tears).
On the runway, Jillian's and Christian's teams were the clear winners. Their stuff was modern, cohesive, and really incorporated the elements required of the challenge. In the end, Jillian was named the winner for being the leader of her team. She declared that she would always be in the top from now on, and would continue winning. Ricky and Chris were the bottom two: Ricky had the worst design of the three looks in his group and was an ineffective team leader (and it's probably a little because he's such a basket case); and Chris made some old-fashioned shoulder pads that everybody (including guest judge and cougar Donna Karan!) hated. Ultimately, Ricky was given yet another reprieve and sweet Chris was sent home. I have a feeling this isn't going to sit well with everyone.
Previously: Carmen and Ricky landed in the bottom two for their menswear designs for Today show bore-respondent, Tiki Barber. Carmen was deemed the greater offender for not even making a shirt for her model and was sent home. Ricky cried.
It's morning time at the New Gotham apartments, which I just realized last week are down the block from the Crunch gym in New York with the swimming pool. Kit explains to Sweet P that she was probably saved from elimination because the judges liked what her design "could" have been, while even if Carmen's outfit had been completed, the design wouldn't have passed muster. I guess that's true, but I still sorta liked Carmen's design. Tiki Barber is a snore.
Sweet P interviews that it's sad that Carmen left, but the apartment is more comfy with three people. And of course she prefers Carmen having gone home to herself having gone. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along.
Chris and Rami are having their morning conversation in the boys' apartment. They think there should be a Project Runway perfume that is a mixture of sweat, tears, and Chinese food. Sounds delightful, and a little like the smell of my apartment post-Oscars 2001. Julia was a shoo-in, but it was still an emotional time.
We see a quick shot of what appears to be Steven...dusting. Doing the dishes, I can understand, but they don't send in a maid for these guys? Maybe he spilled something.
At Parsons, Heidi greets the models and presents a model-choosing technique more complicated, and possibly pointless, than the Electoral College. Because they used male models for the last challenge, Jack's model is brought onstage along with the models of the last two eliminated designers, Cheron and Annelita. Jack can stick with his model, Christina, or choose from all of the others. He decides that he would like to swap, so all the models come out. He would like Lea, Ricky's model. Ricky interviews that now he sees Jack for his "true colors." Colors that he perhaps shares? Seriously, though. How stupid is that? He did the same freaking thing. Ricky automatically gets Jack's old model, and Cheron and Annelita get the boot. Much ado about not so much.
Heidi tells the designers that Tim is waiting for them in the workroom with an "old friend" who will help deliver their challenge. We see Sweet P get really tickled, and she interviews that her first assumption was that they'd be designing for senior citizens. You can actually see that flash across her face when Heidi says it -- it's kind of funny. Hey, senior citizens need clothes too.
At the workroom, they discover that Nina Garcia is the "old friend." On one of the worktables are twelve pictures of what Chris calls "hideous fashion trends." I see dancewear and cutouts. Ew. In other news, Nina has a serious issue with fly-aways. It's not just the lighting at the runway shows.
Nina greets the designers. She tells us that Elle has been charting the evolution of trends for decades, and the trends featured in the workroom are all "out." Jillian interviews that it was a little weird, because one of the dead trends was overalls and she was wearing overalls. Jillian has this high, airy voice and a halting delivery that sounds kind of funny, but it appears that she's sort of humorless. This could be a winning combination for our reality television viewing purposes.
Then Tim says that each designer must choose one of the dead trends. He has the button bag, and the first designer chosen is Jack. He interviews that all these trends are dead "for a reason," so he chooses pleather, which he calls "Britney Spears on crack." First of all, redundant. Second, Jack's in his mid-thirties; why does he insist on talking like he's a twelve-year-old mall rat? To each his own and all, but...it ain't cute anymore. Victorya chooses "underwear as outerwear." Damn, these are good. And the photos on the posters are hideous. Christian chooses "zoot suit." Rami chooses "poodle skirt." Kit chooses "fringe." Elisa chooses "cutouts." Jillian gamely chooses to bring back overalls, which gets a laugh from everyone. Ricky chooses "neon." Kevin chooses "'70s flare" and says, "John Travolta." Chris grabs "shoulder pads" and invokes "Joan Crawford." Steven has to choose from the remaining two dead trends. He says that he could never make a baggy sweater work, so he goes with dancewear. That leaves Sweet P with the baggy sweater. Sweet P wonders why she is always the last chosen. She thinks that perhaps her button is stuck to the bottom of the button bag.
Nina tells them they'll be working in teams of three. Each team will have to create a collection of three looks that incorporates all three of the team's outdated trends. This is hardcore. I kind of love it. Christian interviews that the challenge makes him nauseous, because all the trends are so over the top. Nina adds that the collections need to be cohesive and relevant for today. Ouch. Tim says that the designers will choose their own teams, and they will have one minute to do so. Go. Steven, Sweet P, and Chris think their dead trends would work together. Victorya interviews that she knew who she would need to work with based "strictly on their trends," and it looks like those trends belong to Ricky and Elisa. That was a little bitchily passive-aggressive, no? Kit wanted to work with Christian and Jack because they are tons of fun and that's why she's here. Jillian, Rami, and Kevin get together. Teams completed.
Tim tells them that each team will have a budget of $250. They will have an hour to sketch before shopping at Mood. Each team will need to choose a leader. Chris is chosen by Sweet P and Steven as the leader of their group. Chris interviews, "Okay," and punctuates it with a nervous laugh. Steven suggests to his group that each of them sketch a design based on each of the trends. He interviews that there is no way to blend the three trends into one design, so they'll each focus on a different trend and tie their collection together with color and silhouette. I don't think he's right about mixing the trends. Dancewear, shoulder pads, and baggy sweaters all come from the same era -- you could update that. And all three of those trends seriously define the silhouette, so how does he expect to have cohesion via the silhouettes while using trends that create three different ones? I guess they could add a hump to the back of each design.
Jillian is chosen as the leader of her team. We hear Rami tell her that he thinks of her as very '70s. She doesn't seem insulted. She interviews that they decided to incorporate all three designs (overalls, '70s flares, poodle skirts) in all three looks, which sounds very smart. And that's what's cool about this challenge -- due in part to the randomness of the button choosing, here we're going to see these collections that are all new and interesting. I just like that.
Elisa says that she doesn't want to be the team leader. Victorya says she doesn't care, so Ricky says he will be the leader. He says that Victorya will be the "mediator," and he'll lead by making sure everyone is on task. He means "stage manager," not "leader." Also, what does he mean by "mediator"? He interviews that he has not worked with Victorya, but she seems a little bossy. He feels that if she were team leader, her micromanaging would keep them from finishing. I'm not sure him being leader would stop a bossy person from attempting to micromanage, but whatevs. They're working with cutouts, neon, and underwear as outerwear. We see Victorya leading the team. At one point, she cuts off Elisa and tells her to focus on cutouts. Ai, this is going to be good.
Christian is the leader of his team. He's from the Jillian school of thought, and says that they need to incorporate each of the trends (fringe, pleather, zoot suit) into each of the designs. We hear them agree that they like that their "fringe isn't really fringe." Zoot suit is the one trend where I cannot imagine HOW they're going to make it relevant. It just seems like such an ugly look for today.
At Mood, there's the usual shopping mayhem. I wonder if any civilians ever get trampled in the stampede? Team Christian is a happy bunch. Christian interviews that, because they are all so very fierce, he is calling them Team Star. Because "Team Star is like hot, like star, like celebrity." What have we become, America? He's funny and all, and maybe I'm 100 or something, but that's so fucking stupid. Paris Hilton, what have ye wrought? I feel somehow that I can blame her for this. Ricky interviews that he decided they should use duchess satin for their collection, because it will look "sharp" and "fresh." Chris is really taking the Joan Crawford thing seriously, and has chosen to channel her. "Sweet P, answer me!" he screams across Mood. Also, Steven reports that Chris rejected a patterned fabric that he chose for looking too much like "Grandma's goddamned couch." Yikes.
Back at the workroom, everyone gets to work. Kit worries aloud to her group that the fringe for her design will resemble armpit hair. Christian and Jack get really tickled by that. Team Star looks like it's going to have a lot of fun.
We see Team Chris getting to work. He describes their three looks: Sweet P is making a sack dress, Steven is making a wrap dress, and Chris is making a long dress with a jacket. Did anyone hear anything about cohesion? Yeah, I didn't either. Chris interviews that everyone has him in this costume-y box. Being team leader will give him a chance to show that he's as good a designer as anyone else. Steven asks Chris about the "twirly girly" jacket that he's making, and Chris describes it as having flying arms. Steven's response? "Sweet merciful crap." He interviews that Chris keeps telling him his jacket is going to be great. Experience has shown that we should now officially start worrying about the jacket.
Team Ricky gets the goofy "something's funny" score treatment. Elisa is describing something to Victorya as Ricky looks on like a Russian dance mistress. Ricky interviews that his modern dance training allows him to talk to people like Elisa. He likens her to teachers who seemed like they were "high on pot" and talked about things like "feel the crease" and "center." Ricky and Elisa seem a little warm and fuzzy together. It's also kind of gross, and I'm not even sure why. He seems like he's patronizing her a little.
More Team Star shenanigans. Christian jokes at Kit that she should "make a fucking dress." In slo-mo, Christian twirls in a pretty jacket.
With one hour remaining in the workday, Team Jillian seems to be having a crisis. Jillian doesn't feel that Kevin's work is coming along well enough. He interviews that the pattern was very difficult. She interviews that she's ultimately responsible for his work, so she's nervous.
The day, the designers return to the workroom. Everyone seems a little nervous, because the challenge is so difficult design-wise. Steven does what I guess is some sort of Tim Gunn impression: "Designers, I'm afraid I'm here to tell you that you're screwed. There's nothing you can do to fix what you're working on." Big laughs at this. Why does this dude freak me out so much? I think he's cute as a button, but his delivery is just disturbing. Too much conscious enunciation and breathing. It's just unsettling.
We see Elisa asking a question about some darts on her design, and the camera pulls back to reveal Victorya as the person being questioned. Without hesitation, she answers Elisa's question. Elisa then asks if she should use the stitch "that you like?" Yes, she should. Victorya interviews that she doesn't like to be a "bossy cow," but, you see, she's a bossy cow. She has "serious ideas about fashion." She interviews that her team is trying to incorporate all the trends into each look. We see her looking over Ricky's shoulder and critiquing his work. He interviews that it bothered him. Victorya continues, and Ricky interviews that she needs to work on her own design or they're going to be in trouble. He'd probably do better telling her that than the interview people.
With seven hours remaining in the workday, Tim returns. He says that "in the spirit of wanting to help you succeed," he's sending in the models for a half hour of fittings. Everyone is very happy about this. On the negative side, Sweet P feels that Steven's design doesn't feel like part of the same collection as hers and Chris's designs.
Kevin's design doesn't fit his model. They'd fitted it on Jillian, but apparently she's thinner than the model is. She's freaking out that the design doesn't fit, but she's probably also like, "Could you make sure this part gets on TV? I'm thinner than the model. This needs to make the show." Kevin is pretty frustrated, but does a good job of keeping it together. It looks like he decides to re-cut the fabric for his design.
After fitting her model, Victorya feels that her look resembles something a "harlequin would wear to festival." The mannequins are like, "We'll just take your word for that." She further interviews that it was clear to her that the design would have to change. She tells her model, Jacqueline, that the design will be completely different for the runway show. Jacqueline responds, "I trust you." She's not your customer. When all the models are leaving, Elisa calls out, "Bye Aviva! Have a great day!"
With three hours remaining until the end of the day, Ricky asks Victorya how her design is coming along. She says it's fine. There's such a palpable tension between them that it almost seems fake. His frustration seems barely masked, and her passive-aggression is really showy. Ricky interviews that Victorya told Jacqueline the design would change without consulting him. He shares a concern with Victorya about some criss-crosses on the bust of design, and she responds without looking at him, "I don't know. I'm kinda liking the criss-crosses." Ricky thinks that they're in trouble because Victorya is giving no consideration to his ideas.
Jillian has gone to another place. A bad place. She mumbles, "I just can't believe it right now." She interviews that Kevin should be further along with his design than he is. Rami tells her that Kevin has to finish. That's it. Rami then interviews that, when you have people working under you, you have to push them. He doesn't want the miscalculation of time to ruin the vision of the collection. That's a very nicely worded thought.
With two hours remaining, Tim comes in for a visit. Team Star presents. They used a pinstripe pattern to represent the zoot suit. Crafty bitches. I'd say the silhouette was the most important part of zoot suits, but way to get around that. Tim feels that it looks very modern.
Team Chris presents. Tim's not feeling the cohesion, and he doesn't like Chris's jacket. The dress underneath the jacket is sleeveless, as Sweet P's and Steven's designs are, so that would at least suggest cohesion. He also feels that Chris's dress looks more modern without the jacket. Steven, with a misty eye, interviews that he prays that the judges "get it." That's cute. He thinks that the judges won't "get it."
Tim feels that Team Jillian has a cohesive collection. He says they all look like Jillian, and then he laughs with Kevin and Rami. No laugh from Jillian, who just responds that her team felt comfortable with her as the leader because this is her style. Tim says that they have a lot to do, and suggests that they "make it work."
Tim tells Team Ricky that their collection doesn't look finished or refined. Victorya says that "in a perfect world," she would have changed the silhouettes of the collection. Ricky looks pissed. He starts to say something, and Victorya says she wants to finish what she was going to say. She tells Tim, essentially, that she had two designs in mind, and convinced Elisa and Ricky to follow her lead. Tim, confused, points out that Ricky is the team leader; he's so confused, in fact, that he was just voiced over for that part. That's always disturbing to me. We see Team Ricky nodding while Dubbed Tim says, "I'm confused. But I'll leave it to you all to figure out. Just make sure it's cohesive." Ricky interviews that Victorya's statements to Tim threw him for a loop.
After Tim is gone, Ricky and Victorya have a little talk. Ricky says that he can't lead the team and make sure that their collection is cohesive if she's changing her design without consulting him. She says that the design was "wrong" and had to be changed. He reminds her that it was wrong to her, but not necessarily to the rest of the team. Then he tells her that sometimes it's better to not fight about things. She says, "I don't believe that. I will never send something down that runway that I don't believe wholeheartedly in." That's not really what he suggested, but way to make him sound like a sell-out. Victorya's being a jerk right now. Then she says, "I, in fact, wanted to ask you why you wanted to be team leader." Okay, Ricky has been completely overemotional for almost every moment of this season, but I have to give him credit right now for keeping it together. I would have lost my shit on her if she'd said that to me. She's completely trying to make him the bad guy right now, and you can still see how mad it makes him, but he doesn't freak out. He says that, if she feels like she's been leading the team, why don't they just call her team leader from now on? She says she wanted someone else to be team leader, but she expected him or her to fulfill the duties of leader, which apparently Ricky didn't do. She's blaming him for not guiding her, when she won't even tell him how/when she's changing her designs? Seriously, she is ruthless. Kind of amazing, but WOW. Ricky interviews that he thinks that Victorya wanted to be team leader but didn't have "the balls" to do it. Enh, I'm not sure balls are the problem here. She's got a set of brass ones. She didn't take leadership for precisely this reason; if something went wrong, as it appears to be doing now, she wanted someone to blame (as she appears to be doing now). Victorya tells Ricky that she needs to get back to work, but she wants to continue the conversation later because she wants there to be no misunderstanding. I'd say that Victorya definitely left this conversation with the upper hand. Ricky looks like he's about to burst -- but, again, points earned for not actually bursting.
Everyone is rushing to finish. Rami tells Kevin to just finish his garment, because they are behind schedule. Chris makes a puppet out of one his sleeves and talks to Rami at the sewing machines. Rami responds, "Poor thing, he's losing it." We see Rami and Jillian whispering to each other. She says that there is no excuse for Kevin to not finish a pair of shorts in one day. Rami interviews that Jillian was more concerned with finishing her own look than with leading the group. He tells her that he asked her to pay attention to Kevin's progress, and she responds with, "I was definitely concerned." She interviews that she's not going to stand over someone and demand they finish, like...like a leader. Rami says they'll have to agree to disagree about leadership styles.
Victorya and Ricky have another talk, and this time Ricky's got his game face on. She says that she felt like he couldn't make a decision about a single detail. He says that she was so concerned with his performance that she had to make her garment twice. That doesn't really make much sense, but at least he's trying. He interviews that this challenge is a disaster (of course, for Ricky, this interview could be taken from any challenge so far). Their collection is not cohesive. He and Victorya end their conversation with both saying they stand by their opinions. Gah.
The morning, Jillian interviews that she's nervous about the runway show because Kevin is not finished with his design. Elisa says that she is excited, but there is a "conflict of communication" between Victorya and Ricky. Um, I would say they're communicating just fine. Maybe a conflict via communication is what we're dealing with here. Elisa also thinks that their collection is not really cohesive.
In the workroom, everybody's dealing with last-minute details. Ricky interviews that he and Elisa are finished with their designs. Victorya, however, changed her design and didn't ask for help from Ricky. He says that you can offer to help, but you can't make people listen to you. Very true, Ricky. Don't cry. Yet.
Kevin interviews that Jillian wasn't happy with his progress. He tells us that he's going to try to pull a magic rabbit out of his ass, in order to make all of this work. Well, if it's been up there all along, he should have pulled it out earlier. It would have saved all of us a lot of heartache. ["Not least the rabbit." -- Sars]
Tim enters and sends in the models. Steven thinks the jacket for Chris's outfit is going to be a problem. Meanwhile, Ricky thinks that the bodice for Victorya's outfit, which is flattening the model's bust, is wrong. Victorya likes things to be flat, because that's what she's used to seeing on other runways. I had kinda pegged Victorya for the winner of this season, or at least a super-strong competitor, but she's sounding a little weak now. Ricky makes a few changes, and Victorya interviews that, after she sat with them for a few minutes, she liked Ricky's changes. Well, at least she's big enough to give credit where it's due.
Hair and makeup time! Afterwards, we see that Kevin has finally finished his look. Jillian interviews that she feels bad for doubting Kevin, because his work was great. He tells her that he knows it's hard to trust that last-minute-magic stuff. It's also hard to trust that Kevin's head won't leave ink stains on his pillow at night.
Christian thinks his collection looks "ferosh." He kind of creams over his collection in his interview, and I hate him for it and I don't know why. Why do I begrudge Christian his silly talk? There are certainly worse things a person could do. I don't know what to say. I just have a very hard time taking him seriously when he talks like that.
Tim enters and has everyone gather round. Meanwhile, we hear Christian's critiques of the other collections. He finds Ricky's "horribly ugly." He's right. He doesn't think Chris's is any better. He also thinks the jacket on Chris's look is "pure costume." He's right, but he's so not the person that should be saying this. His eighties look from the SJP episode would have been over-the-top in Dune. Christian doesn't get to tell us about what's costume. But then he says, "But you never know, the judges might die over it. Or, they might die because of it." All's forgiven, goose.
Commercials. Here's our question of the week. What past fashion trends do you still like to wear? A) Leggings, B) Shoulder Pads, C) Overalls, D) Underwear as outerwear. I'm going to guess the answer is A), though God knows there are plenty of my classmates from college that probably still own their overalls.
Heidi greets everyone on the runway. Blah blah, in, out. She introduces Michael, Nina, and DONNA KARAN. Donna gives a wink and a wave. All of the designers seem really impressed. I realize there's been a lot of discussion about it, but...bitch looks pretty damn good to me. She's, what, 70? ["However old she is, it's too old for that top. She herself looks great; that blouse is no good." -- Sars] I'm exaggerating, but she's not an ingénue. And come on, she's pretty sexy! I don't know; I'm feeling kind of hot for Donna Karan right now. She's all sexy with her shoulders and her hair and her gold chains. And the wink and the wave really got me.
The show begins with Team Jillian. Their dead trends were poodle skirts, overalls, and the '70s flare. The first look is a pantsuit in denim fabric, with flared legs. It's also an overall, though the straps are really thin. Underneath the overalls is a transparent top with ruffled cap sleeves and a bow at the neck. It's very stylish. There is incredible pleating all over the suit, which I guess is the poodle-skirt element. I'm guessing the whole pantsuit thing was the '70s element, though it's much more 1930s. Whatever, it looks fucking amazing. The look is a denim short, with a halter top that has a poofy neck -- poodle-skirt element, I'm guessing. The last one is a poodle dress that resembles denim overalls. All three designers are very happy with what they've accomplished.
Team Chris of the shoulder pads, dancewear, and baggy sweater is . The first look is Chris's. It's a long sheath dress with a halter neck that has pleating along the cleavage. It's a lovely tan color. Coupled with the dress, though, is this little bolero jacket with super-pronounced shoulder pads. The fabric features a brocade pattern that is a no-no. My couch would rather stand and not have lunch at all than eat with this fabric. That's how not cool this fabric is. Sweet P's look is . It's a sleeveless, v-necked dress that is belted. The dress is tan like Chris's dress and has a black turtleneck underneath. It's very cool. It's exactly what she had in mind, says Sweet P. Steven's is -- a satin wrap top over black leggings. Hmm. It's not really flattering or innovative. Steven says that he felt like their collection was a little fragmented.
is Team Star. Their trends were zoot suit, pleather, and fringe. The first look is a pencil skirt with a jacket and a high-collared shirt. The skirt is pinstriped, which I heard them say was their ode to the zoot suit. It's a very cool look, but...the editing doesn't linger very long on the outfit, but I don't see any fringe or pleather. I'm sure it's there, but I don't see it. Christian thinks their collection is the best, which is a surprising departure from his usual humility. The look is a baggy dress over leggings. The dress has a boat-neck collar, with a subtle fringe around it; it's gray with a white pinstripe, and maybe the leggings are pleather? I'm not really seeing any pleather up in here. The last look is a tight dress of contrasting black and white patterns. There's a shape of a vest on the bust, so I guess there's our suit. But really, I see no fringe or pleather. I'm not kidding! Kit says she's a little nervous, because she thinks their fabrics might be too muted. I'm afraid the trends you were supposed to use are too muted. Like totally muted. Like they're not there.
Lastly, it's Team Armageddon. Excuse me, "Team Ricky." Their trends were neon, cutouts, and underwear as outerwear. First, the satin was a mistake. It looks very amateurish and America's Junior Miss, circa when the pageant was called America's Young Woman of the Year. Not banner years for the pageant. The first look is a dress of bright red and neon. It's a short red skirt and belt with a yellow bodice. The bodice is cut with a sweetheart neckline, and the cutout trend is represented by a collar of transparent yellow fabric. It does not look well made. The model doesn't look hugely endowed or anything, but the dress makes her bust look itty-bitty. Ricky says that they are giving the look of lingerie, the neon was bringing the collection together, and the cutouts were illusions. That doesn't really explain what I'm seeing. up is a black one-shouldered dress. Along the bust are small geometric cutouts and blocks of color interspersed. Elisa says that if she hadn't known she'd made that dress, she wouldn't have known she'd made that dress. I love that. She sounds so crazy, but I get what she's saying. I think she's marveling a bit at the growth that is required of them. That's pretty cool. She still sounds crazy, though. Lastly, it's Victorya's dress. It's a short flowing skirt with a boned corset of blue and pink. It's pretty, but nothing spectacular. Victorya feels like their collection is not cohesive.
With the designers onstage, Heidi tells them that the judging will be different this time. There was a clear winner, so they're just going to say it. It was Jillian. She interviews that she was a little unsure of her abilities when the show began, but now we will keep seeing her in the top and she will keep winning. She has this really flat delivery sometimes that kind of freaks me out.
Back onstage, Team Christian is told that their scores were high enough to move them to the level, so they all get to leave the stage.
Now, it's time for the nitty-gritty. The models for the last two teams return to the stage. Chris is asked to describe their collection. He's just managed to say what dead trends they were using when Donna Karan slams them for not being cohesive. Michael Kors says that they've made three looks for three different shows. Donna doesn't see any movement in Steven's dress. No liquidity. Nina would have never known it was supposed to be dancewear. Donna loves Sweet P's dress, though she would have liked it to be more exaggerated. Michael agrees. Sweet P is so happy! Nina feels that Chris's outfit is dated. Michael doesn't feel like the shoulder-pad trend was updated for today. Do you think he's feeling competitive with Donna Karan right now? The time they're stoned together on Fire Island, he's gonna be all, "'Liquidity'? What's with your fancy words? How long did it take me to say that last sentence?" Donna doesn't feel that the "totality" of his garment is flowing. "'Totality'? Who are you and why is your nose singing?" You know they party on Fire Island. Chris explains that he was trying to play with proportion, but Nina doesn't think his work is relevant. Donna brings it all home when she asks Chris how he could be an effective team leader when he can't lead himself. That is sad. Chris looks so upset right now.
Nina thinks that the concept for Ricky's collection is fine, but she has a problem with the fit and construction. Donna likes Elisa's one-shouldered dress. She thinks it looks modern. She thinks the fit of Victorya's dress is great too. Then, and this is very disorienting, Victorya gives Ricky credit for the fit. Not what I expected. I don't think she's evil or anything, but I didn't expect that. Nina is confused too, because she feels that Ricky's is the most poorly constructed of his collection. Ricky says that his work suffered because he was helping his teammates. Elisa, bless her heart, then says that Ricky took time to help her because she had never worked with non-stretch fabric before. So, Michael's like, "Who picked this fabric?" Uh, that would be Ricky. He thought they should "go there." Michael says that he chose a very difficult fabric to work with. Heidi asks Victorya what she thought of Ricky as a leader, and she talks about how she had a heavy hand in the design of two of the looks. They point out that they asked a question about Ricky, but Victorya talked about herself. Michael asks if she overrode Ricky's leadership. She says that she can't help but to say what she thinks, but she expects a counterweight to her opinions. Okay, she has struck me as kind of bitchy during this challenge, but she may be right. With the right leader, she may have been great. Michael suggests that Ricky rolled over, and he says that Victorya has no respect for him. Michael says that their weird relationship shows in their collection.
Heidi asks Victorya who she thinks should be eliminated, and of course she says Ricky. Ricky says Victorya. And Elisa? Elisa says that her rule has been that she would choose herself. So, she does. A little precious, but I like her. It's nice, right?
Heidi asks Steven who he thinks should go, and he says Chris. This is so ugly. Chris chooses himself. Heidi then asks Sweet P, who whisper-asks Chris if she can do eeny-meeny-miney-moe. Heidi's not playing, and asks Sweet P again, curtly this time. Sweet P chooses Steven because she thinks his outfit stands out from the others the most. Then she apologizes to him. It's pretty funny. She's a total spaz.
With the designers gone, the judges confer. Donna hated Ricky's outfit. She's surprised that a lingerie designer would do such shoddy work. Nina didn't like Victorya's personality, and doesn't feel that Chris's collection was relevant or cohesive. She didn't think that Steven's outfit matched the other two at all. Donna felt that Chris's jacket had no "body relationship." Heady. Michael thought the jacket was pageant-y and old fashioned.
The designers are brought back out. Commercials! With 68%, the winner is leggings. Go leggings!
We're back. Sweet P is in. Elisa is in. Steven is in. He bows like a dandy and leaves. Victorya is in, so it's down to Ricky and Chris. Chris looks really anxious. Ricky's used to this, but will still probably cry. Heidi says that Ricky's choices made the work harder for his team, and that his outfit was the worst. She tells Chris that his collection was not relevant or cohesive. Ricky is in. Chris is therefore out. He looks so upset. He gets his kiss from Heidi and leaves the stage.
Elisa meets Chris backstage and hugs him. He interviews that this has been a wild ride. He says that he loved what he made and he stands by it. He's going to go back to his life as a freelance costume designer. That sounds so sad! Tim collects Chris and takes him to clean up his space. Chris hopes he brought fun to the show, because that's what his life is about. Oh gosh, Chris. I hope something great happens for you.