Project Runway S13 E01

So who still watches Project Runway? 

I haven't loved the last few seasons, but I keep watching anyway.  I have to say, I enjoyed the premiere last night a lot.  There was a heavy focus on the sewing and the designs and less on the manufactured drama.  Thank you for that, Lifetime!  I liked it so much that I thought I'd run down the final looks (minimal drama discussion, I promise).

Bradon - The winner!  I thought this was the clear winner, and the judges agreed.  The use of the parachute cords was really interesting and effective, and he really knew how to use that crazy fabric.  I don't love the baby pink with the baby blue, but that's a small quibble here.

Sue - Second place.  Another good use of the fabric, and the gathering is interesting.  If Bradon's hadn't been so awesome, this would have been a solid win in my book.

Miranda - Oh my.  She started out in the top three, but they moved her to the bottom when everyone realized she hardly used any of the parachute fabric.  Loved that!  I'm a rules stickler.  :-)  Don't want to set a precident rewarding naughty ones.  The judges seemed to really like this look.  I thought it was ok, but nothing super special.  There were others I'd put in the top over this.

Angela went home, which I thought was a little nuts, and not just because she seemed very sweet.  This wasn't the most thrilling creation, but it looked to be pretty well made and it had some interest with the use of the different colors and the hood.  I think it speaks to the sewing skills in this bunch that a pretty well-made garment went home first.  Usually the first few to go are no-brainers.

Timothy - oh goodness, bless his heart.  What is there to say?  His shtick is that he's eco-friendly, and I can get behind that, but he made this poor girl walk down the runway barefoot and with no makeup or hair product.  Don't get me wrong - she's beautiful - but she just looked so sad, and who could blame her?  Timothy also wanted her to do a "performance piece" on the runway, and I guess she put her foot down on that one because she walked a regular walk.  To his credit, Timothy seemed open to the judges' critiques (um, you're not cool with electricity but are fine with burning synthetic fibers and releasing those gases).  They just highlighted the difficulty with being toooo preachy while a profession that requires some technology.  I'm pretty sure they kept him in to see what wackiness he does next week.

Sandro - well isn't he delightful?  NOT ONE JUDGE mentioned the elephant in the room - the fact that her girl bits were literally hanging out the bottom of her shorts!  Gotta love that model, though. She worked it anyway, delicately camoflauging her wardrobe malfunction with the cords.  The judges called this a swimsuit, which I can see, but earlier on, it was supposed to be shorts with a jacket.  The way too tight fit (and no jacket) takes it to swimsuit territory.  They actually seemed to like the outfit and were just upset with the styling.  Huh?

Moving on the the middle of the road:

 

Alexander - not bad, not fantastic.  Definitely middle of the road.  I would like the shape if the color blocking wasn't so distracting.

 Alexandria - Interesting.  I like the straps, if that's what they are) over the chest area.  Nice graphic touch.

 Dom - I actually really liked this jacket, but the rest wasn't show stopping.  I showed a back view so you can see the blue pleated detail on the sleeves.  Love that!

 Helen - I think this could have been in the bottom.  Are those splotches supposed to be symmetrical? 

 Jeremy - is it strange that I love these pants?  How did he make such great pants with parachute fabric?  It looks like he made the top from the additional fabric.  If he had used some more of the parachute to make the top, I would pick this for the top 3.

 Justin - the only interesting thing I can see here is that the skirt has some flappy bits on top.  I didn't think this was great from a design standpoint.  It looks well made, though.

 Kahindo - Interesting idea for the skirt, but it seems like she should have been able to do more with the great time allowance they had. 

 Karen - what is this?  It looks like she worked so hard on it and constructed it well, but it has no shape and the likes are not flattering at all.  It looks like a big, decoratively-painted sack.

 Kate - I am glad that Kate is back.  I think she got a bad rap last year, from what we saw of her in the confessionals.  She was dealing with a lot of whackos.  I also like her "girly girl" asthetic.  Even if it's not super cutting edge, no doubt it would be commercially successful, and I think she adds a lot of interest on this dress with the pleated pieces.

 Ken - Nice!

 One other thing I liked in this premiere - they had a day and a half to make these looks!  See how much better the results are when you give them a little time to sew??  Keep that up, producers!