What Did We Learn From Project Runway This Week? Season 13, Episode 11

Friends, readers, others, I have a confession to make: I started a new job this week and though I feel like my first few days as a full-time, working-out-of-the-home-and-commuting-3-hours-daily parent was a success (I wasn't the last parent at after-school pickup even once and I managed to get a vegetable on my kid's plate each night for dinner! OK, it might have been a pickle, but the bar is low after an hour and a half on the subway, people!), I have to face the facts. I don't have as much time anymore to do things like write long, thoughtful posts on Project Runway. But (BUT!) luckily for you, I have early-morning insomnia today, so I am using this quiet time to keep up my committment to you. I may not have the spare minutes to spellcheck (Saturday mornings are now for housekeeping, chores, and laundry, ugh), but I will keep this conversation going to the bitter end. If I miss something (and I will) please add your thoughts as usual in the comments below. I read every one, even if I no longer have the time to comment in return.

Last week Tim Gunn declared Alexander's plaid amoeba disaster "the most hideous garment he has ever seen IN HIS ENTIRE EXISTENCE" (emphasis mine). I beg to differ (I can remember much worse from previous seasons of Project Runway) but I think we can all agree that the ugliest thing to grace the runway this week was Korina's horrible entitled attitude during panel. 

If I wasn't already convinced she was a complete narcisscist...well, ugh. As the young people say, I just can't even with that girl. 

We'll get back to her later, because it's instructive to watch someone devolve into childish defensiveness (I hear "it's not my fault!" daily from a school-age child, so when a grown woman does the same, I have to resist the urge to order a timeout). For now, some other lessons:

Lesson 1: Trust your instincts and thou shalt be rewarded

This week's challenge combined two of my favorite reality TV shows: Project Runway and Storage Wars — which my husband and I watch chiefly for the thrill of treasure-hunting. The designers (in teams of two) were each given 500 fictional dollars to bid on the contents of five storage lockers — which would then be used as their raw materials. Like Storage Wars, they couldn't examine the contents up close, and had to assess each locker's potential fabric value based on what they could see from outside the locker. And lest you think these lockers would be full of end bolts and vintage trimmings...they actually looked pretty much like the contents of an actual storage locker, bed bugs and all:

(I was just kidding about the bed bugs. Maybe. Who knows. Watch the interview segments carefully for scratching.)

Anyway,  like the smartest Storage Wars cast members, the designers who looked past the big picture (plasticy kids toys? Yuck!) to the singular standout items were rewarded in kind. Amanda spotted a "psychedelic yeti" painting she thought could form the base of her and Kini's two-look collection (see it way in the back there?). And crazy as it seemed near the beginning of the episode, that split-second commitment (and a bag full of soccer balls) paid off for the pair:

I believe that model in the middle is actually being straddled by the psychedelic yeti, which is weird — but the graphic cropped top remains cool even on top of a hefty bag skirt. Meanwhile, Kini's soccer ball dress (at right) was the winning look (talk about painstaking work; only Kini could pull off such a feat in two days). The third look (far left) was created in the clutch after Tim Gunn dropped one of his "extra challenge" bombs on the designers and sent them to Mood to make a cohesive third look. 

Lesson 2: Everybody Loves a LBD (Little BLUE Dress)

If this season of Project Runway has a signature color, it's this:

I love this blue. I really do. And I wonder how many of Sean's looks in his Fashion Week collection will be in this shade (because let's face it, that dude is going to Fashion Week). 

Above left: the judge's loved Sean's coat made from one of those quilted blankets used to wrap your furnishings so they don't get scratched when your methed-up movers overload the elevator. I love everything quilted and blue...I'm actually kind of inspired to file this one away in my "to make" folder. 

Middle: Sean's winning look from the Emmy red carpet challenge. 

Right: Char's dress she made in ONE HOUR with the help of Sean (smart girl; when in doubt, choose blue!). This dress ultimately defeated Korina in a balls-out challenge between the two, which brings us to our last lesson...

Lesson 3: A gracious loser is better than 20 smug winners

I liked Korina and Emily's three-look collection even though it did have an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink quality to it. I guess it's because I love layers, Fall colors and covering up while still looking sexy. But the judges were not into it — and they singled out Korina for her Navaho-inspired look (above left), which they complained she kept doing again and again. 

So they challenged Korina and Char (who was also in the bottom two) to a sudden-death fashion challenge: create a whole new look in an hour from the remaining materials they had on hand. It's not surprising that Korina lost; she spent much of that hour complaining. Bitterness, my friends, does not lend itself to creating beauty: 

But the merits of this dress became secondary to the fact that Korina is an icky human being. After losing to Char she couldn't leave graciously — she had to have one last dig at a designer "who she didn't respect," pointing out that Char had already been eliminated once...and implying Char didn't deserve to be there. 

"That was five challenges ago, and I am still here," Char cooly replied (don't you LOVE this woman?).

At this point Tim Gunn enters the room and Korina attempts to make herself the victim: "Don't make this about you," she says to Char. 

"Girl, you lucky there's a camera on me right now because I could break you."

Tim Gunn's terse "It's time for you to clean up your workspace" made it clear he knew exactly what kind of loser Korina truly was (and the reason he brought back Char certainly had something to do with the fact that her character is the antithesis of Korina). 

The preview for next week's episode reveals that the previously eliminated designers will be brought back and these two women will be paired up. I don't even know if I can handle watching that, I am so mad on Char's behalf. Less drama, more dresses, Project Runway producers. 

So what did you think of this week's episode? Who made the best use of their storage locker contents? What did you think of Korina's sour grapes?