I must admit: “Project Runway” always seems to amaze me with the challenges that are thrown at the designers. For example: last week’s episode. Dresses were the assignment, and the muses…high school ladies with prom fever!

(Christian is busy creating a prom dress for his muse – a self-proclaimed designer)

Heidi Klum escorted the schoolgirls onto the runway and had them select their designer of choice. After everyone was paired off, garment ideas were discussed and the action began. Most of the “models” had a good idea of the dresses that they were looking for, but were also open to the creative visions that the designers had.

Notice how I said “most.” That’s because poor Christian had been picked by a self-proclaimed designer, and an obvious diva. Her proposals were a bit over the top. C’mon who requests a train on their prom dress?!

Despite some of the “rough patches” that the dress discussions posed, including the request of a plunging neckline and back by Sweet P’s model, the designers all put everything into their pieces. Many altered the girls’ original ideas a bit, feeling that they couldn’t let a “design flaw” get them eliminated from the show.

In true Tim Gunn fashion, the designers made it work and produced elegant, yet fun, prom dresses appropriate for their teenage models. For the record I just want to say I am a little jealous, my prom dress wasn’t an original Project Runway item (I bought it at my local Windsor store).

Victorya pulled in her second challenge win on this episode while Christian and Kevin faced the chopping block (both of which are designers that I adore). The two were facing elimination for differing reasons; Christian because he didn’t produce what had been asked of him by his model, and Kevin because he didn’t finish the hem (by choice) on the bottom of his dress.Ultimately, Kevin was bid off by Heidi, and Christian was spared.

At this point of the competition things are definitely heating up. It’s almost hard to pick the designer who should be sent home. This week Kevin’s dress wasn’t bad by any means. Had he hemmed the dress, I feel that the judges really would have struggled to find the weakest garment design.

So, had this been your prom, which dress would you want to be draped in?

~ Leeann 

..Oh yeah, and the dress featured here was not the winning Project Runway dress nor the one eliminated — it was my fave designed by Kit!

Once you get a taste of “BITTEN Sarah Jessica Parker,” you will want to go back for seconds! Among the celebrity clothing lines that are popping up throughout affordable retails stores (such as Vera Wang at Kohl’s, Isaac Mizrahi at Target, and Roberto Cavalli’s new collection at H&M), BITTEN proves to be a bit different. Pricing on all items fit into the range of $19.98 or less!

Featured at Steve & Barry’s chains throughout the U.S., the goal of this wonderful retail store and Sarah Jessica Parker, the celebrity designer, is to give customers the ability to purchase fashionable clothing, minus a large price tag. Parker’s catchphrase says it all, “Fashion is not a luxury, it’s a right.” Agreed!

Previously a shop for men’s casual clothes, Steve & Barry’s first real launch into women’s clothing is with BITTEN. Other famous females who have recently followed Parker’s lead and joined the Steve & Barry’s team include Amanda Bynes with her line “Dear” and Venus Williams with “EleVen.”

Aside from the amazing prices, Parker has taken into account that not all women are the same size, tailoring the clothing to fit differing body types. BITTEN features sizes XS-XXL in tops, bottoms ranging from 0-22, and sizes 5-11 in shoes. Infusing her personal style into her line, this star has developed a multitude of pieces, some of which include outerwear, sweaters, suit separates, jeans, lingerie, bags, accessories, footwear, and much more.

My co-worker and fellow Beauty Chat gal, Andrea (“Dre”), is the resident Steve & Barry’s expert here in the office. Dre has visited the store and purchased some hot trends from a few of their lines. Here’s what she had to say about her BITTEN jeans and Dear t-shirt: “The jeans are comfortable and great for casual wear, or you can dress them up for a night out.  The tee is comfortable as well and goes great with the jeans.  I would definitely recommend both clothing lines!”

 Sarah Jessica Parker is a busy woman these days! With her perfumes “Covet” and “Lovely,” a “Sex in The City” reunion, this clothing line, and her recent appearance on “Project Runway” a few weeks ago, she seems to be dabbling in a bit of everything. And lucky for us, we can all enjoy these endeavors. To shop for her wallet-friendly, deliciously attractive line, check for Steve & Barry’s locations, and get BITTEN!

Check out this recent YouTube video featuring her line:

P.S.…You can still purchase the dress/vest duo designed by Project Runway’s Victorya, I just saw it at my local Steve & Barry’s last weekend — the Ontario Mills in the Inland Empire. The pieces look adorable worn together or separately!

~ Leeann 

Finally! After what seemed like an eternity, Project Runway is back from its break and sweeter than ever. We caught up with the designers for, what I feel, was their most interesting assignment of the season thus far — designing with candy and/or candy paraphernalia. Here’s how it all went down:

Everyone was sent to the Hershey’s store in New York and given five minutes to grab anything that they felt would make their outfit stand out. With no budget, the designers ravaged the store, grabbing all that they could get their sticky little fingers on…for better or worse.

Back at the design studio, Jillian found out the hard way why she was the only one who selected actual pieces of candy, to create her look. Because it is nearly impossibly to get edible accessories to cooperate! While the other designers used materials such as pillows, stuffed animals, and candy wrappers, she chose to work with Twizzlers.

Despite the fact that she was stressed out beyond belief, Jillian “made it work” and sent a yummy creation down the runway. Because she pushed herself in a way that no one else did (and created a wonderful dress), she deserves a ton of credit.

This week was pretty successful for the designers. I thought most of the pieces shown were delicious, and I still cannot pick my personal favorite. Rami was ultimately selected as the winner with a futuristic approach to candy-inspired clothing.

And for the ousted contestant…Elisa. Just when I started to understand the lady, she loses the challenge. For those of you who missed the last episode, we got to peek into a tragic event that took place in Elisa’s life a few years back while she was in London with her T-shirt line. Hit by a car (she was a pedestrian), her skull was cracked open almost 4 inches, putting her in a coma for five days. Project Runway was Elisa’s attempt to get back into the business.

Despite such a sad story, it was her time to go and she left the runway with extreme grace and poise. Kudos to the good attitude Elisa!

So, as Kit pointed out last night, season 4 is at the half-way mark. I can’t believe it! How do you feel this round of Project Runway has stacked up?

~ Leeann

Photo Credits:  http://www.bravo.tv.com
 

I apologize for the absence of my Project Runway summaries, I just recently returned from my trip to the wonderful Riviera Maya (look for my blog about it later this week!). Now I’m back in full force, and here’s the scoop on Episodes 3, 4, and 5:

                                                (Tiki Barber)

Episode 3 featured semi-recently retired New York Giants football player Tiki Barber as the guest judge. Now a correspondent for NBC, he is asking the Project Runway contestants to design menswear that is appropriate for his position as a television reporter.

A difficult task for the designers, since they are far more accustomed to dressing women, many struggle to produce a runway-worthy style. In fact, Carmen couldn’t even finish her design — sending her model in front of the judges without a shirt. This, inevitably led to her dismissal from the show. On the other hand, Jack did very well, designing a pinstriped outfit that Tiki selected as his favorite.

The following week (Episode 4) the designers were given a “blast from the past,” and instructed to revamp a style from a previous decade. After each of the cast mates selected an outfit that they felt they could modernize, they were then told to split off into groups of three. These partnerships were to make a cohesive collection using the three of their styles.

Well, the group containing Ricky and Victoryia was anything but cohesive, ultimately leading to Ricky’s spot in the bottom two, alongside Chris. Neither of their designs were too impressive, but the judges felt that Chris’s was the worst of the two and sent him packing. Ricky is safe for another week (this wasn’t his first time on the chopping block). The winner was Jillian, who updated overalls in a sassy way.

                     (Chris gets sent home…but is it for good?)

Finally, on to Episode 5, originally airing on Wednesday, December 12. The models last week were women who have lost significant amounts of weight, and their old clothing were the basis of the designs. Using their favorite outfits from the past, the designers were challenged to transform the over-sized items into better-fitting, stylish pieces.

Just when the episode is about to get good, things change…for the worse. Jack, the fun-loving, drama-free designer who won top design on Episode 3 is forced to remove himself from the competition. An infection of the face proves to be dangerous (he is HIV positive). In order to get well, he must leave the show to receive medical attention.

This was definitely an emotional time for all; Jack, the other designers, and the viewers. Since there was a model without someone to create clothing for them, Chris is asked to join the show again and given a second chance.

The biggest design difficulty this episode was felt by Steve. He was to transform a wedding dress into something that his model could wear day to day. Despite receiving help from Kevin and Victorya, it wasn’t enough to keep him around. While we said goodbye to Steve, it was a big congratulations to Christian (the fan favorite of the season).

So, now that we’re all caught up, how does everyone feel about the season?

I know that my co-workers have definitely been enjoying the episodes thus far. Here is a little bit of what they had to say during a Project Runway e-mail conversation in the office…

Chuck: “I was so crying when Jack had to leave. Ohh but I heard a juicy rumor about Jack !!!!!! I read an outzonetv.com interview with Jack and it seems that he is kind of dating Dale from another Bravo show – Top Chef. Juicy huh?

Jacquie: “Jack was one of the best!!! I was so sad he left.”

Chuck: “I love Christian, he is so talented, and I loved his last outfit. I would so buy that for one of my sisters right now.”

Join in on the conversation — I appreciate the opinions of all of my readers!

~ Leeann

Photo Credits: http://www.bravotv.com

Due to the skipped post last week (sorry Thanksgiving  threw me off), I was looking forward to presenting you with a double dosage of Project Runway. But, um, I sort of fell asleep. So here is a look back at episode 2.

First off, can I retract my previous statement that Marion was going all the way?! Uh, yeah…got that one way wrong. Maybe by me dubbing him as a finalist this season I jinxed him, because Marion is no longer with us. Oops!

So why was he cut? Well, his design wasn’t exactly attractive. The assignment was to create a 2-piece outfit for Sarah Jessica Parker’s BITTEN clothing line (found in Steve and Barry’s stores nationwide). One of the designers, Chris, was ecstatic, crying at the sight of the starlette. He revealed to viewers that he actually moved to New York City because of “Sex in the City.” Although many may have thought that Chris was being over-dramatic, I thought it was cool that he was able to meet his idol.

 After pitching their ideas to Parker, she decided upon her favorites and those were the pieces that were created. Paired up in two’s, with the winners picking their partners, teamwork seemed to be abundant. The only team that was in real danger of clashing was Sweet P and Elisa. Despite some amazement with the spitting (yeah, Elisa spits on her garments to measure them!), the two cranked out a design that the judges really ate up this week. Heidi, however; didn’t appreciate the spitting too much either.

 Victorya’s design was selected as the winner, executed perfectly by her and last week’s winner Kevin. The outfit was definitely the best, kudos to the judges’ decision. The dress and vest is to be produced under the BITTEN line and is currently being sold at Steve & Barry’s stores nationwide.

I look forward to watching episode 3, which I’ll probably catch a rerun of tonight. Because I am going on a two week vacation, look for my thoughts on the following episodes lumped in with the sixth show recap when I get back.

Seems like I’m going to be gone forever, but I promise…I’ll be back with a Project Runway vengeance!

~ Leeann