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We begin on the runway, right after the last runway show. Heidi is carrying the lovely velvet button bag! She says that it's time to mix things up. They will be working in smaller groups. Samantha gets to choose first. She goes with Daniel. Then, Heidi starts choosing from the button bag. It's Richard and he chooses Stanley. Patricia is and she chooses Layana. Layana is not psyched. Matt is and chooses Michelle. Kate chooses Tu. That leaves Benjamin and Amanda together.
That night, Amanda tells Michelle and Layana that she is hurt that her team said she was the weakest link. The day, they go to honky tonk bar Johnny Utah's. Tim greets them and tells them that they will be designing for Miranda Lambert. Each team will create a performance look and a red carpet look.
At Mood, Benjamin didn't get enough stuff. While they are designing, Tim comes in for his consultation and hates what Tu is making. He thinks it's more Lady Gaga instead of Miranda Lambert. He is thinking about enhancing her curves, something Miranda Lambert needs no help with. Layana and Patricia are also not getting along, as Pat is making a dress that Layana feels might be to ambitious. Richard's look shows a lot of skin and Tim warns him about that. Amanda gets a lot of enthusiasm from Tim for her idea of a fringe dress. He also likes Benjamin's look a lot, so that is encouraging.
Michelle reveals an EXCELLENT Nina Garcia impression. Truly stellar. Amanda reveals that her brother is a member of Maroon 5! She wants her overachieving family to be proud of her. Michelle gets worried because Matt is super slow making his look.
Everyone thinks that Daniel's wins have gone to his head, because he is in love with his manipulation of his textiles while they think it's not that great. Richard uses some Mood t-shirts that he purchased for personal use as a way to line his garment and not show so much skin.
On the runway, Amanda's dress turns out great. Benjamin's is lovely too. Tu's dress is super interesting. Daniel's dress actually looks really cute on the runway. Matt's look is really simple and short, but Michelle's look is cool. Patricia pulled off her look as well. Richard/Stanley and Amanda/Benjamin are the top teams. They all say that they enjoyed working with each other. Michelle/Matt and Samantha/Daniel are in the bottom. Nina yells at Daniel about his look being cheap-looking. Richard wins the challenge! The bottom three are Matt, Daniel and Michelle. Matt goes home, which is so sad.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Previously: The designers worked with items from a flower shop and a hardware store to create two cohesive lines. Dream Team finally woke up from their nightmare (see what I did there) and won a challenge. Everybody essentially did a nice job, so they had to kind of makeup reasons to put Amanda and Joe in the bottom. I stand by the fact that Joe's look was really cool and thoughtful, but he got the boot. As far as Amanda goes, it looks like her team sort of glommed onto this idea that her look had been a time suck for the team, which she was surprised to hear. I think it was a stretch to say that she dragged everyone down, but bygones. Moving on. Samantha won the challenge! After Joe left, Tim came in and told the designers to get back to the runway. This isn't over.
The designers make their way back into the runway area. Heidi appears behind the scrim and everyone sees that she's carrying the button bag. Uh oh. They're all nervous and hate the bag. Heidi explains that they are going to be working in smaller groups and they are going to choose their design partners. Stanley says that he is excited to be free of the group dynamic. He's eager to work with just one other person. Tim says that they should consider which designers will complement them and push them to up their game. Samantha gets to choose first. She interviews that she doesn't know who to choose, but she chooses Daniel. He's very excited. Samantha thinks that it's a good idea because they both like shapes. Then, Heidi chooses a name from the button bag. It's Richard's. Without hesitation, he chooses Stanley. He interviews that his vibe with Stanley is great. This is destiny. OK, he looks just a little creepy when he says that, but that's fine. Patricia is chosen from the bag and she chooses Layana, maybe because she's standing to her. Layana is a little worried because she says that she and Patricia don't get along that well together. This could be disaster. People really don't like Patricia very much. I sort of dig that she seems to have no idea that she's not popular.
Matt is chosen and he chooses Michelle. They seem like they should be a good pair, but I worry about Michelle being the total Dark Princess of the workroom all of the time and potentially bringing him down. Matt seems like a bit of a delicate soul. Michelle worries that he will be his worst enemy and they will somehow end up in the bottom. Now, that's just negative. Also, worry about yourself. Obviously I've been dancing around it for a while, but I just think I don't like Michelle very much. There's something simultaneously tight and strident about her. It's an ugly combo. Kate is and she chooses Tu. That's kind of an adorable pairing. I feel like we don't hear enough of what Tu has to say, which is unfortunate because his designs so far have been really creative and I'd love to hear more about his influences and how he approaches the challenges. If the problem is that English isn't his first language, they should just hire a translator and let him speak unencumbered. That leaves Benjamin and Amanda together. Benjamin interviews that he doesn't know much about Amanda, except that her entire team hung her out to dry during the last judging. So, he's feeling a little nervous.
Heidi says that it has become increasingly important for each team member to make their voice heard. Tim tells them that he will tell them about their new challenge the day. That night, at the Atlas Building, Amanda says to Michelle and Layana that she was pretty eager to get out of her team after what happened in front of the judges. Michelle, who was on her team but doesn't seem to be the object of this statement, asks her if she harbors any ill will towards her former team members. She says that her feelings were hurt that they made her efforts to finish her dress seem like such a big deal for them. She interviews that her confidence isn't very high right now and she has had a hard time finding a comfortable place in the competition. She has yet to feel proud of something that she has sent down the runway. Meanwhile, Benjamin is telling Richard that he hasn't gotten a chance to understand Amanda's point-of-view as a designer yet. He interviews that he feels like the important thing will be to push Amanda to challenge herself. We don't hear Richard say a word really. I wonder if he feels bad about essentially trying to get Amanda eliminated. I don't hate him or even really blame him, but that's definitely what happened. Since there wasn't a clear loser, he and the others tried to separate one from the pack. Benjamin says that they will just have to wait to see what the challenge is, which is, of course, true.
The day, the designers go to Johnny Utah's, this Texas-themed bar in the middle of Manhattan. Daniel says that it reminds him of Austin. Whatever, Austin is much cooler than this place. This looks like Dallas. New York always does Texas in the most obvious ways. Stanley wants to know what the hell they're doing there. I would like to know what the hell IT is doing there. Tim comes in and tells them that they wanted to put them in a country and western atmosphere because they are going to be designing for one of country's biggest superstars, Miranda Lambert. This should be fun. Amanda says that she likes Miranda because she's got a rock edge to her. Matt feels the same way. Tim says that each team will be creating two looks. One will be for a performance and the other will be for a red carpet event. For the performance, she wants something a little bit country and a little bit rock n roll. So, she wants to look like Marie Osmond. OK, that's a look. The red carpet look should be chic and elegant- not overdesigned. They can divide up the duties however they would like and the two looks don't have to be cohesive, which comforts Amanda per her face when she hears that.
They make their way to the far corners of this bastardization of things Texan and start sketching. Patricia and Layana are whispering as if this were Zero Dark Thirty-type stuff that we're dealing with. Patricia is doing the performance look and she's going to use, listen don't tell anyone this. She's going to use -- seriously, you look suspicious right now. Stop acting like that. Be cool. Fringe. Shhh! I know, it's crazy. She's going to use fringe. Now, I'll kill your family and their hairdressers if you breathe a word of this to anyone. Benjamin tells Amanda that he would be more comfortable with the red carpet look. Also, he feels lucky when he finds out that she is from Nashville. They work together and decide that she will make something with fringe, like a fringe skirt that she wore herself a few days earlier. Amanda's a really good sport. I feel like most people would be a little sullen and defensive right now, especially in regards to input from other designers. But, she's completely open and I really admire that about her.
OK, I need to take a step back and talk again for a moment about when Richard was like, "It's fate." It was bizarre. I can't stop thinking about it. Kate says that she doesn't really know that much about how Tu works but he is always very nice to her and that's all she wants. That's really sweet. As they are discussing their plans, it turns out that they have the same idea! "Oh, give me five, girl," Tu says to Kate and I need this moment on a t-shirt in gif format. I know. Sounds crazy. I want it. Michelle decides that she is doing the red carpet look. Matt feels that the two of them are very similar and he is very impressed with her confidence. Daniel seems like a very nice guy. He excitedly explains how he wants to create separates so Miranda can wear them at different times. Now, she's one of the biggest country music acts in the world. She doesn't need to use her costumes in her real life. This doesn't seem like the best idea. Richard says that he and Stanley very naturally gelled during their sketching time, as fate would have it. Weirdo.
At Mood, Daniel and Samantha go straight for the leather, as does everyone else really. Michelle sees that everyone is using navy, which she was going to do. So, she decides to use something different. Matt gingerly decides that he wants to use denim. He doesn't seem very confident about that. Each team has 400 bucks and Benjamin and Amanda don't even calculate as they are getting their stuff. When they get to the cash register, they are biting their nails because they are worried that maybe they went over budget. Instead, they are more than 100 dollars under budget! This actually makes them even more nervous. Benjamin feels like he effed this up. Geez, these guys. They seem so competent, but it's like they can NOT make it happen.
Back at the workroom, we see some more footage of Miranda. I have to say, she looks like a lot of fun, though I don't know her work at all. Amanda looks around the room and tells Benjamin that a lot of country artists resent the fact that everyone thinks they wear denim all the time. Michelle already seems like she's second-guessing Matt's choices, but maybe he asked for her to do that. I feel like my gut tells me to not like her, but pragmatically there's nothing super wrong with her. In fact, she's a hard worker and is driven and doesn't seem to want bad things to happen to other people. It's just this sour part of her that really turns me off. Richard picked this net fabric that he feels is very rock goddess and, of course, it's "everything." Tu has decided to make a dress that is reminiscent of Lady Gaga. When I think of giant country stars, I think, sure, why not make them look like something that would likely alienate them from most of their audience. So, Tu sounds like he's really on the right track.
Daniel is nervous because he doesn't often work with leather. But, he's using a soutache technique. The kind folks at Project Runway are thoughtful enough to provide a definition of soutache. It is a narrow braid used as a decorative trim. Well, that sounds delightful. I'm growing a soutache. Stupid. At lunch time, Michelle describes her rock n roll look to Amanda. They discuss Benjamin and his time management problems and Michelle tells Amanda to push him because he is truly capable of making some beautiful work. Well, that's nice of her to say, though it drips with a condescension. I'm not crazy, she's a monster. I know that very little that has come out of her mouth has been actually horrible, but there's just something about her. Amanda says something about how Benjamin is making a straightforward red carpet look, but she's not going to say anything about it. Isn't that the way that Benjamin feels about her? Physicians, heal thyselves. My computer doesn't like the word "thyselves." I can understand why. It's pretty unwieldy. Benjamin is feeling confident though. He's on schedule and says that his mother would be very proud of him.
Tim comes in to consult with everyone and reminds them that the top-scoring team will have the winning design and the lowest-scoring team will have the losing design. Well, that certainly makes the whole team situation seem more fraught. Now, your fate may be in the hands of one other person. Say you're having an off day but don't really deserve to go home, this would make your failure front and center. Scary. I want to share that Tim says you could have the most stunning outfit, but if it's to a "stink pot" you will still end up in the bottom. Stink pot. Somebody's been reading their Thackeray. That shit just ROLLS off the tongue.
He starts by talking to Samantha and Daniel who say that they are having a blast. Samantha describes her very detailed jacket, which Tu interviews that he loves. He's like, "Wow." Tim seems to like it as well. Daniel gets super technical talking about his design. We hear more about soutache, which still isn't really working itself into my brain as an actual thing. Tim seems disturbed by the center seam that Daniel has planned. Stanley explains that the bodice and the skirt create two v-shapes pointing at each other, which sound like maybe it emphasizes the crotch area or something? And that's a problem. Miranda Lambert will TELL you when she wants you to look at her crotch.
Layana explains her look to Tim and he thinks it feels modern. Patricia explains her look to Tim and he finds it exciting, though he was not excited by the minimal work that is on her dress form. Layana thinks that there is no way that she can finish in time. Kate describes her look and Tim seems ponderous. He asks to hear about Tu's look before he even comments. Amanda says that she's worried about Kate, because she has never seen Miranda Lambert wear the shape that Kate has created. Tu's plan is to exaggerate Miranda's curves. Tim is not excited. Truly, Miranda doesn't need any help in that department. Tu stands by the design, so now Kate is very nervous too. She suggests making it more fitted in ways that stick with what Tu sort of wanted and make Tim happy. Tu interviews that he's upset that Tim didn't like his design again. Poor Tu hasn't had much luck during this competition.
Stanley confidently describes his design and Tim is very enthusiastic about it. Richard is using a mesh fabric and his design is interesting, but there's nothing under the mesh. It's questionable. Layana thinks it's tacky. Amanda tells Tim about her fringe performance outfit. He's really excited about the movement that could happen. She's happy that she got a good critique from Tim but she notes that she always does and it doesn't necessarily translate to kudos on the runway. Benjamin is super far ahead of the game and Tim is greatly impressed.
Michelle describes her look, which Kate thinks could go well or poorly. And, um, Kate says she wouldn't mind if it went poorly. So, it looks like maybe I'm not the only person who isn't a fan of Michelle. That's a relief. I certainly want my hate to be grounded in some sort of reality. Matt seems out to sea. He can't make up his mind. Tim tells him to believe in himself. Matt is so cute. He just did his dance-y shoulders again and they make me so happy. Speaking of happy, Tim says that he thinks Miranda will be happy with what they've made for her.
After he's gone, Matt tearfully laments feeling insecure, even at his age. Hold up- he's 30, right? I hate to break it to him, but age has NOTHING to do with insecurity. I think that shit's genetic. Or, at least, it's some immutable thing we learn at a young age like language. I do think we maybe reach an age when we're so exhausted that we can't be bothered to feel bad about ourselves about certain things, but maybe that's just another way to describe cynicism. I mean, I don't know the answers really to how we can remove insecurity from our lives, but I know it's certainly not going to help to make yourself feel old and immature on top of it. He says that he has to remind himself that he is one of sixteen designers that made it to the show. Good luck with that.
Layana says that she is concerned for Tu. She doesn't feel like his look fits Miranda, plus she says that he has time management issues. Tu says that he is going to follow Tim's advice, but he is actually worried about how much time he has. Amanda thinks that Richard is not going to have time to finish his dress, but he's less worried himself. Michelle is planning a weird necklace and does an impression of Nina hating it. Everyone loves it. It is pretty good.
The models come in for their fittings. Matt is nervous because his bodice is not fitting properly. Stanley is nervous that Richard's look isn't nearly finished. Apparently, Daniel is over the moon about his design, but Kate says that it's really not that good. She's not being a jerk either. She just thinks that maybe all of the winning has gone to his head. He's like the opposite of Matt, crippled by his own confidence.
Amanda is nervous about her fringe. She thinks she may have gotten ahead of herself with her design. She tells us that she is an overachiever and her brother is a rock star. He's a member of Maroon 5. This is such an odd thing to hear. Because of his success, she spent a lot of he adolescence feeling like she was in the shadows. She wants her family to be really proud of her.
Matt is really far behind. Michelle is very concerned, because she is almost finished. She's worried about being in the bottom. You should be. The morning, Michelle tells everyone how nervous she is. She says that his skirt is going to be sad because there is not much time to finish it. Richard is a little worried because his look being so different.
At the workroom, Matt starts making a dress that he's not really excited about. Tim comes in to tell everyone that they have two hours before the show. The models come in. We see Daniel shredding the hem of his skirt with a fork. Eh. Stanley thinks that it cheapens the fabric. It looks pretty hokey. Richard finds a t-shirt that he bought at Mood to be the liner below his mesh dress! That is some smart thinking there. In hair and make-up, Matt tells the hair guy that he wants sorority hair for his girl. Scott Patric, hot make-up daddy is there in full effect, per uzh. Kate's model is a full two feet taller than her. Tim comes in and Stanley is still dressing his model. He is super nervous.
On the runway, Heidi greets everyone. She introduces Zac, Nina and Miranda Lambert. She looks cute. Nina and Zac are wearing nutty outfits. Amanda's look is and it's great. A black fringe dress with a silver necklace. Benjamin's look is so beautiful. It's just a blue strapless dress with some subtle bustle action, but the fabric is so sleek and it's just fitted beautifully.
Tu's look is and I love it. Maybe a little too art star for a country artist, but it could happen. It's a sleeveless black dress with horizontal pleating all along the bodice. There are some bustle ruffles on the hips, but nothing too Gaga (Tim was worried about that before). Tu thinks his girl looks like a star. Kate loves her dress. You know, I don't love it, but it looks country. It's a long red gown and the bodice is leather. It's fitted and looks gorgeous. It's like a modern-day Britney in denim with JT.
Samantha's look is . It's a leather vest with a black skirt that has that country look that's fitted at the top of the skirt and there are ruffles at the bottom. Not a terribly original idea (I imagine it's hard to not seem patronizing when you are creating looks for a genre so outside of what you maybe enjoy) but it's executed really beautifully. Daniel's look is . It's not horrible, but it doesn't look smashing enough to wear on a red carpet. It's essentially a halter top with that soutache all over it and a long fitted skirt. It seems like a Dallas mother of the groom dress. She's a Zumba instructor.
Here's Matt's dress. It's just a short black dress with some lace on it. It looks like it would have been more appropriate for the ping-pong challenge. That said, it's not crap or anything. Michelle's dress is sort of a younger, trashier version of Daniel's. It's a leather vest and a long fitted skirt. She has also added this white fringe necklace that hangs down her entire front, like a mall Santa Claus on a beer break. Michelle loves it and wants to hang out with the girl wearing that outfit.
, we have Patricia's look. I really like it, but I'm down with this pow-wow chick thing that is happening. It's a simple brown brocade cocktail dress with this elaborate white fringe criss-crossing sheath on top. It's really beautiful and looks really sexy. Patricia is happy with how it turned out. Layana's look is and it's a little simple. It's a midnight blue evening gown. There is some really interesting pleating on the bodice, but Layana is upset that you really can't see it from the runway.
Richard's look is and it's a success! It's a mesh black dress with black fringe on the front. Very sexy. He thinks that she looks like a rock goddess. Stanley made this black evening gown that is . There is this leather belt and it has a plunging neckline. Gorgeous.
Afterwards, Heidi calls Patricia/Layana and Kate/Tu. They are both safe. Stanley/Richard and Benjamin/Amanda have the high scores and the judges are going to talk to them first. Backstage, Kate tells the losers that she doesn't think any of them did a horrible job.
Onstage, Heidi tells Richard that she thinks his dress looks expensive. Miranda warns against dresses being too short and thinks that Richard's is the correct length. Stanley says that he wanted to make something fresh and comfortable. Miranda worries that the excess fabric might make her look chubs. Nina thinks that it's beautiful but doesn't think it's right for Miranda. They both tell Heidi that they loved working together.
Nina thinks that Benjamin's dress is beautiful and elegant. Miranda doesn't think that she could fit any spanx under the garment. I mean, she might be right. That dress looks TIGHT. Heidi and Nina insist that she would look good in it and she relents. Amanda explains that she wanted to create a classic diva look. Also, her model is wearing a normal bra, which Miranda appreciates. Zac loves that she made cotton jersey chic. Nina loves it too. Heidi notes that Amanda was on the bottom last week.
The losers return. Michelle/Matt and Samantha/Daniel have their models beside them. Michelle says that she went rock n roll with her look. Heidi thinks that the look would land her on a worst dressed list. Miranda likes the vest, but Heidi says it's the whole look that matters. Everyone hates the necklace, but Michelle defends it. Zac says that it looks like linguini from his vantage point. Nina thinks that it looks like AC/DC, but Michelle says that she loves that too. She's doing an excellent job of defending her choices, that's for sure. Heidi knows that Matt may have detailed his look a lot, but you can't see it, which is fairly important for a stage costume. Matt apologizes and says that this isn't how he views Miranda. She tells him that she doesn't even want to talk about the dress, she wants to talk about the fact that he doesn't have any confidence in his craft. She even points out that Michelle stood by her design as they were pounding on it. She thanks him for thinking that she's cool though. That's kind of sweet, but also he's totally going home now.
Miranda says that she can't even tell that Daniel's look is leather. Nina thinks that it looks like a tablecloth. She hates the cheap center seam though. She's surprised that he presented this. Heidi says that he just got officially yelled at by Nina Garcia. Zac worries that a lot of his work is starting to seem referential. Zac doesn't think that Samantha's look is nearly as interesting as the clothes that Samantha is wearing herself. Miranda agrees.
The judges confer. Heidi is happy that Amanda has bounced back. Heidi feels that Matt could do better. Nina agrees that he clearly has taste. They all hate how cheap Daniel's look was. Zac wonders if Daniel just isn't cool. The designers return and Miranda tells Richard that he's the winner of the challenge! She's going to wear his dress in performance. He's so excited. He and Stanley are in. Amanda and Benjamin are in. Samantha is in because of her immunity. That leaves Matt, Michelle and Daniel. Matt is out. Ah, that's sad. He cries in his interview that nothing as sad as his design had ever come out of him. He doesn't know why he wasn't confident. Boo. Michelle and Daniel are in. Tim comes in and says that he is sad that Matt almost seemed to send himself home. He interviews that he is so proud of himself for trying this. He thinks that showing up with a clear head was winning for him. I like him so much and I really hope things go really well for him.
Jeff Long is a writer/performer in Brooklyn. He can be reached at jeff.long75@gmail.com and followed on Twitter at @jblong.