Oh, right. THIS one.
So Lo says to T this morning, "T," he says, "We still have another dress to do!""Are you sure, Lo?" says T. "I can't even remember. Who's left?"
"Althea!" said Lo in his excitable Lo way. "We forgot to do ALTHEA!!!"
"Oh," said T. "THAT one."
Look, nothing against the girl. She's done her share of solid work all season and she certainly got the judges' attention. We're not arguing that she doesn't deserve to be in Bryant Park. We're still stinging over the bizarre judging that rewarded a dress the judges called a "mess fest" and sent home the designer the judges said made a "beautiful" dress.
Which, if we can take a second to return to Gordana, seems to have been misunderstood by some of our readers when they saw our ranting on her "Auf Wiedersehen" post. It's not that WE think Gordana should have gone to Bryant Park; it's that THE JUDGES completely overruled their own assessments to justify not sending her. It's not about whether WE thought her dress was beautiful; it's about the fact that THEY did. And the flipside of that, what made it doubly frustrating, was that the judges clearly hated Althea's look.
Anyway, architectural inspiration, blah, blah, blah. Not a bad idea, but hard to pull off the technical details.
Model: Tanisha Harper
The actual design of the skirt is great. The choice to use that particular fabric? Not great. The fact that the design of the skirt was so obviously time consuming that it left her just barely enough time to stamp out a formless tank top with no design interest to it at all? HUGE mistake.
And the fact that the skirt itself isn't even completed to what Nina would normally consider her satisfaction? FATAL mistake.
Or it would have been if the judging didn't have the sweet smell of crack hanging all over it.
That is an unfinished mess topped of by a tank top so barely made it's practically imaginary. She should have changed course early on when it became obvious she wasn't going to do the design justice in the time allotted. That's what other designers have done when the chips were down.
But for whatever reason, all of this was overlooked. Actually, that's not true. It was all addressed and critiqued by the judges, who then promptly forgot about it when it came time to send people home. We still don't get it.Extended Judging:
Tim Gunn's Workroom Critique:
[Photos: Mike Yarish/myLifetime.com - Videos: myLifetime.com - Screencaps: Projectrungay.blogspot.com]
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11/12/09, 12:53 AM
Because she outperformed everyone, but Irina. That would be my guess.
11/12/09, 9:49 AM
When I think about some of Althea's other work for this season of PR, for me her newspaper dress and the pregnancy design stand out as quality pieces.
I was puzzled about the love the judges have shown for the poorly fitting, skimpy tank tops and micro-mini skirts until a lightbulb clicked on in my brain and I realized that Heidi looks at Althea and sees another version of Heidi who makes exactly what Heidi wants to wear.
11/12/09, 10:54 AM
When it comes to Althea, style & execution are always suspect.
I give her props for her sketching skills; I've seen head designers from major houses who couldn't draw for shit.
On the other hand, they were designers and their creations were fantastic. Althea, not so much.
Maybe somewhere down the line she will aquire a taste level that is suitable for a designer to start her own line.
In the meantime, her talent is illustration. She could get a job as an associate designer & make fashion boards. but after making it to BP, that would be a huge step down career wise.
I hope she has the humility to take this as a learning opportunity and not confust reality tv with reality.
11/12/09, 12:13 PM
I'm sure she put a lot of work into this but the end result is disastrous. Irina's as well. If Gordana produced something analogous and landed in the bottom two, I could see auf-ing as she's been in the bottom more (fair or not is a different matter.) But this so clearly demonstrates either favoritism or manipulation. And to what end? Gordana clearly wasn't the villain of the season that the fans desperately needed to see taken down (and, after all, both Kenley and Wendy Pepper showed at Bryant Park.) Neither Althea and Irina are fan favorites with compelling storylines.
My only tie to the show now is this blog. I really hope things will improve.
11/12/09, 12:34 PM
DISASTER! DISASTER! DISASTER!
She was spared because of her body of work and being ambitious.. But then again...
DISASTER! DISASTER! DISASTER!
11/12/09, 5:57 PM
I think my biggest disappointment of this season is having seen what PPS, Leanne, Jillian, Chris M, Jay, etc, etc put out week after week in the same time constraints. Very few simple shift dresses and tanks with a skirt in their body of work. They may have had an off week in their run on the show but overall it was very well done. I may not have liked everything they did but it was finished 90% of the time.
There is no excuse for the final challenge to be comprised of so many items that are not even put together well. Forget point of view, just get the seams straight.
I wish they had kept Epperson. Then we might have had an interesting collection.
11/12/09, 8:49 PM
What I don't understand (and someone may have posted this already, I'm late to the game) is why no judge has ever commented on how Tanisha's boobs bounce ALL OVER THE PLACE and in one outfit, it even looks like you can see her nipples through it (although I thought someone said it was actually pasties?). Anyway, I think it's ridiculous. Maybe that's why she passed by on this outfit. They were mesmerized by the boobs.
11/13/09, 12:03 AM
Ok, can we go back to New York now?
11/13/09, 1:23 AM
Those judges don't know a damn thing about construction. Except for Michael Kors, but he wasn't there. Again.
...I agree. We miss you MK. If it weren't for Tim Gunn the entire season would have been totally unwatchable.
Heidi is a complete, nasty bitch.
What the hell is her problem? I agree with the other poster who commented about Paula on Idol. Would anyone really miss her? She used to wait to comment until MK and NG did and chime in with them, now without them there her vote is based on "I would wear this". who the fuck cares what you would or wouldn't wear? And some of these outfits she walks out in are pretty hooker hideous.
The move to Lifetime/Bunim-Murray/LA/Ms. Klum's mean spirited free reign, the merry go-round of guest judges...etc. THE WORST SEASON EVER!!!!!!!
who cares who "wins"? The better designers with the exception of Gordana left way too early.
Epperson, Shirin, Ra'mon all deserved to be there.
These 3 are not very interesting or talented.
And note to Irina, if you had been in any other season you'd have been gone long ago. Your skills and bitch-tude don't measure up to your high opinion of yourself. Too bad "Dynasty" is off the air, you could have a career doing knock-offs for them.
Poor TIm, I hope he brought a few good books to LA during his stay.
and yes, can we come back to NY now?
11/13/09, 5:43 PM
Well, I liked many of Wendy Pepper's designs. If she were a contestant this season, I would expect her to win, fer chrissakes.
11/13/09, 10:18 PM
Presumptuous Insect
I was just thinking the same thing. The much loathed Wendy Pepper put out a much better collection then what I am seeing from these people.
In fact I think pretty much all of the second and third place designers in the other seasons could have beat this group.
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