Last week: sorry, Kate, but that was a lousy dress. Oh, and Alexander also went home.
This week, we start with the now-standard hotel room scenes of people talking about how they weren't expecting people to go home. That's boring, so we go to the runway for the new challenge. This is the last challenge before New York Fashion Week, so everyone's really tense and determined. Heidi claims that Fashion Week is a sausage dangling right in front of their noses, although Tim suggests that it could be a carrot instead. Before designing, everyone's being sent off to a nature center. This season has a lot of field trips, huh?
The designers arrive at Sweetbriar Nature Center, which is a whole hour away from Manhattan. It's full of butterflies, which delights Helen. She's even got a butterfly tattoo. Billy B. (the guy from L'Oreal) is here, and he talks about a L'Oreal product. Tim tells them that they are to make an avant-garde look inspired by butterflies. And I will tell you right now that I never know the different between "experimental, daring, and cutting-edge" (which is good) and "ridiculous, over-the-top, and costumey" (which is not). I also suspect that the judges don't know the difference themselves. They'll have two days for the challenge, which is nice. Billy B. recommends they get inspired.
Sketching. Alexandria decides that butterflies are sad because they don't live very long, and she's going to use "sadness" as her guide. Justin finds a gorgeous albino butterfly (I'm not sure it's really albino) that he thinks is an outsider, which reminds him of himself. Bradon doesn't do much sketching, because it's more fun to look at butterflies.
Off to Mood! The recommended amount is $500, and I feel that it's about time for someone to run into budget problems if they're going to justify all this "recommended spending" stuff. Dom goes straight for the prints, because she's Dom. By this point in the season, she should be pretty familiar with what Mood has to offer in that department. These are the designer silks, which are more expensive than her usual fabric. Helen is working from a monarch butterfly, so she wants lots of shades of orange and yellow. She's doing a cloak with a fitted dress underneath. She assures us, "It's gonna be luxe as hell." And Bradon is buying everything in sight. It's the last challenge, so he's spending it all.
Dom spends $628. Bradon does $984. To the dickens with your "suggested spending amount," Tim Gunn! Justin runs it up to $1,167. Alexandria is at $992. And Helen is at $1,057, so the closest anyone came to the recommended amount was Dom, who was 25% over. I think it would be funny if they had an extra garment to make in this challenge and no one could afford fabric for it.
Workroom! Justin says that the key is material manipulation, so he's doing some giant piping. He's doing piping on piping. So much piping. Bradon is trying to make his fabric have "a spring and a bounce," whatever that means. Helen says she's going to try to start with the base of her garment today, then get abstract with it tomorrow. Bradon is going in the other direction; starting with the weird details and working inward. He's taking silk and turning them into what are basically pool noodles. And he's doing the sewing by hand, which takes him all day. In fact, the day is over! All we learned is that everyone thinks Bradon wasted the day. And he doesn't know what his silhouette is going to be. His plan is to come up with a brilliant design in his sleep. I'm not sure that counts as a plan.
The morning, Tim comes in to bother everyone with the news that they have to go consult about their models' hair and makeup. And there's a special nail consultant. Billy B. goes on about makeup and hair. The only thing that seems interesting is that Helen's model ends up with nails that have a black outline all the way around, which you don't see much.
Back to work. Bradon apologizes to everyone for how he's going to be today. He's decided on a tank top and a miniskirt. But it becomes a gown in the back. Well, that sounds crazy, so it must be avant-garde. Tim comes in again to do the chats. Dom says that butterflies cross-breed, so she's cross-breeding with her textiles. That is a stretch. Justin says he's intimidated by print, and he loves what she does. But she's just piling print upon print upon print here. Tim recommends against making it look like "a crazy insane costume." See, that's what I'm talking about! It's supposed to be avant-garde, but it can't be a costume. It's supposed to be experimental, but it can't be crazy. So now Dom is throwing at least three prints together. Helen says her model's face will be peeping out of the top of a big black cocoon. Bradon thinks it's too costume-y. Tim doesn't think it works, because Helen's dress will be covered up by "that...thing." So Helen panics. And she was doing so well in staying normal this week! Now she's crying, and Tim gives her tough love. For him, that means clapping at her and yelling, "Rally! Rally!"
Alexandria's dress, as has become depressingly common for her, looks like a bunch of crappy crap. It's just strips of fabric crudely wrapped around the mannequin. If it were white instead of black, it would be a mummy costume. Tim finds it intriguing, and Alexandria goes on about her "unfinished look." Bradon's working on the back of his garment, which is where it goes crazy. Tim loves that part. The front is also interesting, but the two halves do not, to my eye, connect. Tim doesn't think he needs the hundred silk pool noodles that he spent all day making. But Bradon puts a couple on the waist, and he starts to win Tim over. Tim's a fan now, and Bradon visibly relaxes. Tim likes Justin's piping, but he has concerns. The textile looks inexpensive, but Justin is prepared to swap to a more expensive one. Exit Tim. Helen is still freaking out, and she decides to sit at the sewing machine and push through it.
The models come in for their fitting. Dom likes Justin's the best. Justin thinks Alexandria's look is "kind of creepy." Helen thinks Bradon's look is "an alien shopping bag." Bradon thinks Dom has created something chic. Helen's model tries to reassure her, saying, "There is definitely an element of costume in everything [being made in the workroom] because it's avant-garde." That's what I'm saying! So Helen rips up some orange chiffon to get an effect. Now she's worried that she's making a practical evening gown, which won't be avant-garde enough. Lady, just make something crazy, send it down the runway and hope for the best.
Time's up! Come back tomorrow!
The morning, the designers walk into the workroom and are shocked by something. We have to wait through a commercial break to find out what. And it's not even one of the good commercial breaks, which I am defining as one that contains a commercial for House of Versace.
The shock is that all the losing looks have been lined up against the accessory wall. It's a row of mannequins, each wearing clothes that sent someone home. Tim comes in and tells them that it's not a Runway Day after all. Instead, there's a bonus challenge! They're each supposed to take one of the losing looks and redesign it into a winner. Dom goes first, and she takes Jeremy's red-blazer look, because it is a bright color. Alexandria goes with Miranda's high-waisted plaid pants. Bradon takes Sue's placemat dress, which is a daring choice. Helen takes Kate's dress because she's Kate's BFF. Justin takes the dress he made when he finished last and Tim saved him. He seems to be having some trouble with the highly emotional memory of his failure. But it's a great chance to redeem himself, right? Anyway, now they have all day to make stuff. And I was right about the bonus challenge, but they didn't have to spend any money.
Helen apologizes to Kate as she pulls off the pleats. Then she goes back to her avant-garde look, which needs the work. Alexandria cuts up Miranda's blouse to use as piping on the pants. She also makes a mohawk out of feathers, which is sketchy. Bradon is down to a handful of placemat fabric, which isn't giving him a lot of options.
The models come in for the fitting of the Transformation Looks. Dom has taken the sleeves from the red blazer and given it a high collar, and it's much more interesting. Justin has removed all the foam, which is a good call. Justin thinks Alexandria's aesthetic is boring.
With twenty minutes to go in the day, Alexandria is looking really pale, but she assures everyone that she's just tired. She goes to the videochat room to check in with her home. That seems to help.
The day! It's Runway Day, and everyone needs to finish things. Helen vows to "powerhouse through this bodice," which is a fun phrase. Tim reminds them that they'll each have two models. And also about thoughtful accessory use. The models come in. Bradon is freaking out about his Transformation Look, but his avant-garde dress is working for him. There's a frenzy of makeup and hair, but it passes without interest. Well, I guess the phrase "Super-Cutesy" might interest you. Did it?
Runway! Heidi says the same thing as always. Zac and Nina are joined by Emmy Rossum. Let's go! Avant-garde is first.
Dom's dress is very colorful. The skirt pokes almost horizontally, like it's a tutu. The slit down the front goes all the way to the navel. Alexandria's just looks rotten to me. I do not like unfinished edges, and this thing is all edges. Helen's dress is an orange gown. It's got some interesting rough texture to it, but it's not as crazy as avant-garde usually is. I'm going to take a moment to remember how good Christian Siriano was at this sort of thing. Helen thinks she missed the mark and is hoping that "bright orange" counts as avant-garde. Justin's dress is way better after the cloak is removed. The cloak just existed to hide the cool white dress. Bradon's dress is the one that I think is costume. It's got things poking off it for no reason. And the white waves don't look as cool as Justin's.
Dom's Transformation Look is fantastic. It's recognizably the same garment, but it's completely reshaped so the dress is now sleeves. She and Alexandria giggle over how Jeremy's going to take it. Alexandria lowered the waist on the pants and made up a vest. The pants fit a lot better now. Helen has saved Kate's dress, although I'm not sure where the skirt is from. It's twice as long as Kate's skirt, and it's not the same color. No, this is a whole new garment. I've changed my mind; I don't see Kate's garment anywhere in there. Justin has done a much better job on his dress, which he could have done just by taking the hot-glue lace off. Which he did. Bradon sent out something a little sleeker than the original, but it's basically the same thing.
Justin doesn't get a lot of time to explain his avant-garde dress, although Heidi compares the coat to a cocoon. Everybody likes the improved version of his old dress. And Emmy, who had no preconception of it, likes the new version a lot. Nina thinks his avant-garde dress is his best work.
Helen's claims that she wanted to make her dress give the impression of fluttering, and she tries the advanced tactic of apologizing for how bold the color is, perhaps in the hope that it will fool the judges into thinking the color alone makes it avant-garde. Heidi is impressed by the little orange strips on the avant-garde dress. Zac likes the updated version of Kate's dress because it's simple. He thinks the dress looks kind of like a carrot that's been partly grated. Nina agrees; she's very much in favor of the editing she did on Kate's dress. But she doesn't like the orange dress.
Alexandria flails a bit while explaining her avant-garde look, but that's going to happen sometimes. Heidi likes it, but she doesn't like the updated version of Miranda's outfit. She likes the pants, but not the rest. Emmy agrees. Nina does not; she likes the updated look, but not the avant-garde. It's not butterfly enough for her. Zac doesn't find it magical, transporting, or beautiful.
Nina says that Bradon has made "two spectacular looks." She likes how the avant-garde look is interesting from every angle. Heidi loves the avant-garde dress and calls it art. Zac is proud of Bradon, and he has a strained pun about "going gaga" for the avant-garde look, which he ties in to Lady Gaga. Most of Zac's zingers come off, but this one does not.
Nina loves Dom's avant-garde look, and she's thrilled when Dom reveals that it's a jumpsuit underneath. And her work on Jeremy's look was impeccable. Zac likes how Dom has a coherent look even across two very different garments like this. Heidi enthuses about how well Dom makes prints work. Emmy just wants the avant-garde coat.
Heidi asks Justin why he should go to Fashion Week, and who should go with him. He says he wants to be a role model for the deaf, but I think a better answer is that he's a really good designer. He picks Bradon and Dom to go with him. Dom goes , and she starts crying. She'd take Helen and Justin. Alexandria would take Dom and Justin. Bradon is very composed, compared to everyone else, who cried their way through the answer. He'd take Dom and Justin. His explanation is that he has similar qualities to Alexandria and Helen, so the looks would be kind of the same. Helen would take Bradon and Dom. So everybody loves Dom and nobody loves Alexandria. The designers go to the back and try to relax. Alexandria is looking very distant. The other designers tell her it's all out of her hands now.
Tim brings the models out so the judges can poke at the clothes. Heidi likes the orange dress, and Zac approves of the construction. But Nina's still bored by it. Zac also likes Helen's construction on the dress she made out of Kate's. Heidi enthuses about Alexandria's dress, but Zac thinks the fabric strips are just tacked on. Heidi insists that Alexandria has a strong point of view. Zac thinks the updated Miranda outfit is "an Avril Lavigne backup dancer." Zac loves the details on Justin's coat. I'll trust him on that. The dress underneath is a little messy up close. Tim tells the judges about how Justin was crying when he took his losing dress back. Emmy tries on Dom's coat, and she says it's really light, even though it has so much volume. Nina is really impressed with the way Dom made Jeremy's skirt fabric pattern work. Everyone loves Bradon's avant-garde dress. Everyone but me, and I warned you this might happen.
This time, we get some judge negotiations after the close looks. Nina wants to cut Alexandria, and Zac agrees. Heidi insists that she believes in Alexandria, and Nina shuts her down: "But not one person chose Alexandria to show at Fashion Week. Not one. Not one. Why?" Zac says it's their job to narrow it down.
The designers come back out. Heidi enthuses about the runway show. Bradon wins, which just goes to show that I am not a good judge of the difference between "avant-garde fashion" and "silly dress." Congratulations, Bradon! Dom's also in, of course. They're shooed off the runway. That leaves Alexandria, Helen, and Justin. And because Heidi can't make a decision, she says that all three of them will make collections, and then they'll decide who gets to go to Fashion Week. I mean, all three of them went, but one of them might have been a decoy. So this week wasn't entirely a waste of time: Dom and Bradon are the only two that are definitely in. Justin says it's a great chance to make a collection, but Helen and Alexandria seem too stressed out to agree.
Tim comes to the back to say how proud he is. He's also glad he doesn't have to tell anyone to clean up their space. Although really, I think they're all supposed to. And now Tim has five home visits to make!
Follow Monty on Twitter at @monty_ashley and read his blog, Mysterious Exhortations.