Project Runway Season Three: Episode Eight Recap - 8/31/06

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Besides the "Full tilt boogie quilted extravaganza of puff" and "Proud member of the Michael Knight Secret Admiration Society" mugs, I also have a Jeffrey quote on a mug: "I'm entitled to not like you" (remember when he said that to Angela) Plus I have a full tilt boogie mouspad for you.

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Episode eight is filled with surprises.  The episode starts out with a very nice Kayne beefcake shot - shirtless and waking up to a new morn.  I approve. We need these in every episode.

Kayne talks about how he misses his buddy Robert. We miss him, too.  I think Kayne and Robert should become commentators for red carpet events, they do such wonderful and witty snark. And they're far less frightening than Theatre of the Grotesque performers Joan Rivers and her daughter.  E!, are you listening?

Get these men their own show!

Back at Parsons Heidi tells the designers that they will be designing an outfit for a hip, international jet setter. Kayne instantly thinks they will be designing something for Tara Reid, since she had that show Taradise and went around drinking and showing her boobies all the time. 

Alas, Tara is nowhere to be found.

Another model plucking process happens, as Vincent, the winner from last time, chooses his same model again and most of the other designers stick to the girls they've been working with. It comes down to Kayne, who chooses Amanda again. She may talk too much, but she rocks it on the runway. Plus, she's a very good sport about wearing hideous green eyeshadow -- very important in Kayne's special world of tacky.

Alexandra and Danielle are the last models standing - or rather, perching gingerly on their emaciated legs - and they are sent home.

High fashion models or gazelles? You decide

Back in the workroom Tim Gunn clarifies the challenge. He tells the designers that they will be designing their outfit for themselves and that they will be modeling their own look on the runway. They will have a budget of $75 and 1 day to complete it.

The designers are excited, but many of them are puzzled about the whole "jet setting" thing. Angela is having troubles imagining herself as a jet setter.  She apparently has a cousin who flies around a lot for hunting expeditions, and they call him a hillbilly jet setter. But this probably isn't a look she should go for.

Laura goes into cocktail dress mode, Uli works on an Uli dress, and the men freak out because they have to construct at least two pieces unless they plan to give a man dress a try.  Jeffrey is psyched because he does the rock star clothing thing as part of his design line, Cosa Nostra, and has designed for many real stars in the past.  So he's in his element with this challenge.

Vince is freaking because he's never created menswear in his life.  Michael is psyched and filled with great ideas. The man is incapable of sweating, I swear. Nothing throws him off.

At Mood Kayne gravitates towards a wild butterfly print fabric while Tim grimaces at him off to the side.  Uli picks out some Uli prints and feels confident. She flies around a lot as part of her work and has patented the technique for constructing a dress you can work, play, and "get wasted in." Go, Uli!

I'm giving Uli one Mystic Point for embodying such a great combination of party girl and talented hard worker.

The designers get to work and Laura gingerly asks if Vince is standing there in his underwear, averting her high class eyes, which might become sullied by this horrible sight. Actually, she giggles while she says it, and Vince is indeed treating everyone to the sight of his boxers while he lays his pants out to trace out a pattern.  Fortunately, the camera doesn't linger there.

Jeffrey is acting all smug because he admits he designed the ugliest dress ever last week for Angela's mom but still managed not to get kicked out. He and Angela bitch back and forth a little, but Angela doesn't really take the bait.  Good for Angela for not giving his sniping energy. 

Tim Gunn comes in to offer feedback and warns Kayne that his outfit is very Elvis. He also tells Michael that it might be better for him to design a shirt instead of just wearing a regular teeshirt with a jacket and pants, and Michael embraces this idea. 

Tim worries that Angela's ugly brown fabric is too "junior" as in "junior miss," which she thinks is a good thing. He also tells her that her outfit is a bit "Holly Hobbie."  She says that that's a good thing.  There's little Tim can tell her after that.

The Inspiration for Angela's Entire Design Aesthetic

Laura and Michael each cringe when they see what Angela is doing.

Two words:  butt rosettes.

Vince is designing a plain black shirt and black pants. Jeffrey scoffs that it will end up looking very Tool Time. Jeffrey is going for more of a Mick Jagger look. We expect to see Tim Allen and Mick duking it out on the runway.

That night when they get home Michael teaches Kayne the art of the saunter and turn.  Kayne is worried about his walk since he's not from the ghetto, he's just white trash. Do white trash people have a walk?  Or do they just play in the garbage bins all day? Kayne will have to get up to speed, quickly.

It's the day of the runway competition, and the designers put the finishing touches on their outfits. They head down to get their hair and makeup done. Jeffrey asks the makeup guy if he sees "how green I am," referring, I believe, to his green-toned complexion.

Hmm. Suddenly I feel that I understand why Jeffrey has such a big chip on his shoulder.

As Kermit sang, "It's not easy being green."

Kayne is hurrying to finish his shirt and Laura expresses concern about him. She loves Kayne but says "He has a tackiness that just doesn't translate to high fashion."

Speaking of tacky, here's Tara Reid at Mercedes Benz Fall 2006 Fashion Week in LA.

For once, the over the shoulder boulder holder is working!

Heidi introduces Francisco Costa as the guest judge for this week. He's the Creative Director of Calvin Klein's women collection. Nina Garcia and Michael Kors are also back at their posts.

One by one, the designers take to the catwalk. Laura is sleek and gorgeous in a shiny peach cocktail dress.

Laura in her dress (photo doesn't do it justice!)

Uli looks like Uli in a lovely Uli halter print dress.

Uli does her patterns

Vince is minimalist in his black outfit.

Vince goes plain

Michael is cool in his white shirt and white cargo pants with funky details.

Isn't Michael cool?

Jeffrey looks like Jeffrey's vision for a rock star with shiny jacket and tight black rocker pants. 

Jeffrey doing his Mick impression

Kayne's outfit has the satin butterfly fabric on the sleeve and it also covers the back of the shirt. I think it's cool! Very country and western performer, but then, our boy Kayne IS from Oklahama.

Kayne channeling a country western star

The judges ask the designers about their outfits.  They quiz them about the "international jet setter" part of the challenge. Laura's dress has a knot that might more comfortably be moved to the front if she were going to be sitting on a plane for any length of time. Michael, Vincent, and Jeffrey all have looks that seem like they'd avoid wrinkling. Uli's would probably be okay, too.

They get to Angela, and Michael Kors is making terrible Kors faces.  She's constructed her outfit out of her usual silk linen, and it's already completely wrinkled. Michael says, "She's a mess now, and she'd be like a homeless person by the time she gets there."

Kors also doesn't like Vincent's outfit, which he says doesn't have any design to it. He thinks it's too minimalist. "It looks like the pyjamas they hand you in first class."

What? They give out pyjamas in first class? I am SO there! I thought it was just booze, but jammies I can get into. You can never have too many jammies.

Everybody loves Laura's outift and Michael's outfit, and they are especially pleased with Jeffrey's outfit.  They say he nailed the whole rock star/jet setter thing.

Nina laughs when she critiques Kayne's outfit.  She says it's "suspended in time," very Elvis. Kors warns that if he was wearing that when he stepped off the plane and the paparazzi photographed it, he'd be the lead picture in the "What were they thinking" feature.

I dunno about that. I think the judges need to get up to speed on the whole county music genre.  Kayne's outfit seemed very much in the spirit of that. Somebody should show those snooty New Yorkers where Texas is on a map.

I'm giving Kayne one country star Mystic Point because his outfit would be perfectly appropriate given the right musical venue.

The designers brace themselves for somebody to get kicked off. They are shocked when Heidi tells them "Nobody is out tonight. We want to see how these outfits travel." She tells them that there are plane tickets waiting for them back in their apartments, and they have one hour to pack and to get to the airport.

Whoa!  They scramble back to their apartments, freaking out. Where will they be traveling? Their tickets don't show the destination. Vincent says it would be neat if it were Budapest or Istanbul. Maybe they should drop Vincent off there for a nice rest at a sanitarium.

At the airport they find out that they are headed for Paris. Wow!

Laura isn't too excited about that, because she and her Louis Vuitton luggage have been to Paris lots of times. She is excited that they will be traveling first class, though.

Maybe Vince can find out what the free pyjamas look like.

On the plane Tim Gunn appears bearing champagne.  They are happy to see Tim. Jeffrey admits that he can't imagine a reality where Tim Gunn doesn't pop up once in a while. Everybody loves Tim.

Once on the ground in Paris we are treated to some gorgeous summer views of the city. Is the place really that pretty?  Or have they been Photoshopping the photos to make it thinner and more colorful, just like they recently did with photos of Katie Couric? I'm suspicious. No place can be THAT gorgeous without a few touchups.

They still don't know what's going to happen to them in Paris. A bus drops them off at......Parsons Paris!  It turns out there is a Parsons branch in Paris.

They go into the workroom there, and it's all sunny and bright and European. But there are only six tables instead of seven. Suddenly, they remember that somebody will be going home. Who will it be?

Tim introduces a stylish woman who turns out to be Catherine Malandrino, a famous designer. She is going to be the guest judge for the final evaluation on this challenge. She will be judging their clothes to see how well the outfits traveled and how well they embody the whole internationl jet setter feeling.

The designers each do a brief walk across the room so she can see their outfits, and she scores them.

All of the outfits seem wrinkle-free at this point except for Angela's, which is just as much of a mess as it was before they left. She's definitely headed into "homeless" territory as Michael Kors warned her.

Catherine loves Michael and Jeffrey's designs and it is a close call between them, since Michael embodies hip hop jet setter and Jeffrey has the rocker jet setter going on. But she chooses Jeffrey as the winner of the challenge. Hey, Jeffrey finally won a challenge! Maybe he'll stop whining and being insecure now.  Dare we hope?

Catherine places Kayne and Angela at the bottom of the barrel. She says she's sorry, but Kayne looks ridiculous. And as for Angela, well, she's "coming from another world." She's definitely not a jet setter.

Kayne remains in by a hair, and Angela is out.

I don't think Catherine liked butt rosettes very much.

Poor Angela.  She had her good moments as a designer, with the team challenge for INC and the gorgeous Audrey Hepburn dress she designed.  But not everybody goes for that country, blousy, patchwork style she works in most of the time. What really sucks is that she has to head right home and doesn't even get to enjoy Paris. Now that just isn't fair at all.

At least let her stop by the Jubilee Jumbles Parisian art camp to say Hi to the doggie Pattycake and the rest of her friends! Maybe she can get an internship there for the rest of the summer and pay her way by washing dishes or something.

Bye, Angela. We wish you the best.

It looks like the designers will be working in the Paris Parsons for the next challenge.  In the previews it looks like the next challenge will involve something very difficult and very French. Maybe they will be accesorizing a baguette.

That's it for this week!

If you missed my earlier recaps, you'll find them here:

Articles index

Lipstick Mystic Points Awarded So Far:

Vincent Libretti:      1 Wacky Mystic Point from first week; 3 Mystic Patience Points from second week; sub-total so far: 4 Mystic Points

Alison Kelly:       1 Cute and Kittenish Mystic Point from first week; 1 Enthusiasm Mystic Point from third week; 2 Sweet Ingenue Mystic Point from fourth week; 1 Sweet Moonbeams and Fairy Dreams Point from sixth week: Grand Total: 5 Mystic Points (eliminated)

Robert Best:       2 Funny and Fabulous Mystic Points from first week; 1 Remember You're Fabulous Point from fifth week; 1 You Rock Mystic Point from sixth week; 1 Sweet Soul Point from seventh episode; (eliminated) Grand Total: 5 Mystic Points

Malan Breton:       2 Mysterious and Villainous Mystic Points from first week; 2 Mystic Patience Points (for not killing his evil mother) from second week; sub-total so far: 4 Mystic Points (Eliminated second episode; we'll miss you, Malan!)

Laura Bennett:       1 Cool Mom Mystic Point from first week; 1 Well-Dressed Pup Mystic Point from third week; 2 Taming the Rosette Mystic Point from fourth week; 1 Mystic Pregnancy Point from seventh week; sub-total so far: 5 Mystic Points

Michael Knight:       1 Fierce Talent Mystic Point from first week; 1 Underappreciated Genius Mystic Point from third week; 2 Taming the Rosette Mystic Points from fourth week; 1 Zen Master Mystic Point and 1 Well-Deserved Recognition Point from fifth week; 1 Mind Over Matter Mystic Point from sixth week; sub-total so far: 7 Mystic Points

Jeffrey Sebelia:       1 Pageants Are Weird Mystic Point from first week; 2 I Finally Get You Mystic Points from fourth week; 1 Villain Point from fifth week; 1 Ugly/Beautiful Mystic Point from sixth week; sub-total so far: 5 Mystic Points

Keith Michael:       1 Model Strategizing Mystic Point from second week; grand total 1 Mystic Point (eliminated fourth episode)

Uli Herzner:       1 Dining Mystic Point from third week; 1 Model Strategizing Mystic Point from third week; 2 Uli Love Mystic Points from sixth week; 1 Party Girl Mystic Point from this week; sub-total 5 Mystic Points

Bradley Baumkirchner: 1 Trust Your Vision Mystic Point from third week; 1 Best Roommate Ever Mystic Point from this week; total 2 Mystic Points (eliminated fifth episode)

Angela Keslar:       1 Dr. Evil Mystic Point from second week; 1 Incomprehensible Aesthetic Mystic Point from third week; 1 Wow You Have Talent Point from fifth week; 2 Mystic Patience Points from this week; grand total: 5 Mystic Points (eliminated)

Darlene, Angela's mom: 2 Mystic Patience Points from seventh episode

Tim Gunn: 2 Adoration and Worship Mystic Points from fourth week

Kara Janx: 1 Viva La Janx, Long Live the Janx Mystic Point from sixth week

Kayne Gillaspie: 3 Mystic Weight Loss Points from seventh week; 1 Country Star Mystic Point from this week; sub-total so far: 4 Mystic Points

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"Full tilt boogie quilted extravaganza of puff"

"Proud member of the Michael Knight Secret Admiration Society"

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And if you missed out on Season One & Season Two, check out the DVD's:

 Project Runway Season One - The Complete First Season

 Project Runway Season Two - The Complete Second Season