PROJECT RUNWAY “Come As You Are” Review

PROJECT RUNWAY “Come As You Are” Season 9 Premiere – Break out the sewing machines and make it work – PROJECT RUNWAY is back on Lifetime! I’m so excited for this season I spent my day DVRing the season 8 reruns just watch the little countdown to season 9! Okay, maybe I wasn’t THAT excited, but close!

On Project Runway this season, 20 designers were brought to New York before the “official” show actually started. The designers were expected to bring pieces that they had created out of their own collections, and before even moving onto the challenges, four designers were going to be eliminated.

Personally, I LOVED this idea. It allowed the judges to see what the designers were capable of even before they hit the runway, and to weed out those few that they felt wouldn’t be able to hack it. Out of the 20, Amanda Perna, David Chum, Gunnar Deatherage, and Serena Da Conceicao were deemed “out”.

I agreed with the judges choices on this – Amanda was a little too juvenile for my personal taste, David’s pieces all looked EXACTLY the same, and Gunnar was just a little too over the top in his designs. I understand that the dress he showed was for the Kentucky Derby and it needed to be a bit showy, but a little too over the top for Project Runway.

The only one that I didn’t fully agree with was Serena. Her designs appealed to me in a way that made me want to see more of what she was capable of. Personally, I would have swapped her with Anya Ayoung Chee – the designer that ADMITTED she had “a lot of help” sewing her pieces.

Anyway. We’re left with 16 designers (let me know if you’d like me to lay them out for you in upcoming reviews, I have no problem with that!), and their first challenge is ready to begin!

Waking them up at 5AM, Tim Gunn arrives at the designer’s apartments and instructs them to bring a long one bed sheet and to “come as they are”. They arrive at the work room and are told that the clothing they are wearing along with the bed sheet are the materials that they have to work with for this challenge.

Some were WAY more fortunate than others. Laura Kathleen was wearing satin PJs trimmed in black lace, while Anya had a silk print to work with. Meanwhile, Julie Tierney was stuck with what looked like novelty pajama bottoms and a white t-shirt.

The designers were given dye stations and trims and had to have the outfit completed by 10PM that night to show on the runway the next morning. Needless to say, they were off like a shot!

Bert Keeter, a designer that I don’t’ think people had much faith in because of his age, used his plaid boxers as part of the bodice on his dress. This little punch of color (and the print) against the gray of the dress was a very smart move. While I wouldn’t wear it, the dress turned out very sweet and looked like Bert had used everything that he had at his disposal.

On the other side, Rafael Cox had minimal supplies to work with, but did have a printed head scarf that he seemed reluctant to put into his design.. And well, it needed it!

Once on the runway, it was clear that some designers far surpassed others. The bottom three contestants based on the scoring ended up being Rafael, Julie, and Josh Christian.

Josh’s piece was just a hot mess. The construction seemed flawed, the white shorts bunched on his model, and the tank top had a panel down the front of it that he ADMITTED was to add extra room. Way to make your model feel like a complete cow, Josh. I understand that they weren’t given a lot of time with their models, so a little leeway has to be given, but adding an extra panel to the front of the top? And not trying to hide it? Seems a little ridiculous.

Julie has shown outerwear as her primary focus (Julie, you may say it’s not outerwear, but it is) and like Nina said during the talk back, the pants that she fashioned didn’t fit her model. The side seams bunched and were held up with elastic that just made them look sloppy.

Rafael didn’t really look like he put much effort or thought into his design, and he certainly didn’t utilize his materials. Like Heidi said, his white shirt looked like it had a leopard print bib attached to it, and he just didn’t seem to care for the feedback the judges were offering.

On the TOP of the scores were Anya, Anthony Ryan Auld, and Bert.

We’ve already talked about Bert’s dress so we’ll move onto his styling. Like Michael and well. everyone else on the judges panel said – he needs to become a little more modern in his styling. It was all wrong, and his poor model looked like she’d stepped out of the seventies.

For all of the issues that Anya had with the sewing machines, and for never constructing a pair of pants before; her piece turned out surprisingly well. The strap of her top turned in a funky way that I was actually surprised no one pointed out; it was all I could look at while her model walked down the runway. But the pants did fit beautifully, and you have to give credit to the girl since this was her first attempt.

Anthony really worked with the trims and other items that were provided in the work room. While his skirt was a LITTLE short, the lace top made up for it, and like Michael said – you’d never know he was colorblind!

So who was “in” and who was “out”? Well, we said goodbye to Rafael this first round. It was the right decision, he heart didn’t seem like it was in the game fully.

The winner of the “Come As You Are” challenge was none other than Bert! He received immunity for the next challenge, and I think really earned some respect from his fellow designers.

Like always, Project Runway promises to be a great season – I can’t wait to see what the rest of the designers do! What did you think? Do you have a fan favorite yet? Let me know!

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