the boob tube: Project Runway s11 e08

*spoilers! you have been warned. 

i would have to say that this episode was one of the better Project Runways and one of the worst. the challenge, in and of itself, wasn't bad; it was what the designers produced that made this episode to go down in flames. now, i haven't seen every Project Runway, but from what i've seen from this week's final outcome, this was the worst. the challenge was amazing and had so much potential, all they had to do was design three opening costumes that tear-away for the magical all-male dance group The Thunder from Down Under. OMG! best. challenge. ever.

the teams were reassigned again, and i like how they did it this week. no button bag was used or people picking partners. this week the judges chose the teams, and i like that they really thought about who they should pair together. it was two teams of four:

team shades of grey -- really?
Patricia
Daniel
Stanley
Michelle

team slick and hip -- oh good lord!
Richard
Layana
Samantha
Amanda

this was an amazing episode if only for all the great one-liners and the potential cold showers for some of the designers. Richard was incredible. when the designers had to sit down for the consultation with the Down Under dancers he was all like "oh i'll lead this one ladies." it was like "yes!" when Amanda was getting on his nerves during the work room time, he was all like "gurl, play nice." i love Richard. i felt really bad for him during this challenge. his teammates where attacking him whenever they got a chance. they would shoot down his ideas and disregard whatever would come out of his mouth. i was getting all protective and wanted to jump into the tv and be all like "nobody puts Richard in the corner." i think if he were to get his way the dancers would've looked like RuPaul, Boy George, and Prince walking down the catwalk like Layana pointed out. what's a girl to do?

Richards other teammates were way out of their elements. both Layana and Amanda couldn't construct a simple tailored suit. i know dressing a man is different than dressing a woman, but come on, you should be able to tell that the suit jacket that you're making looks like it's for a woman -- i'm looking at you Layana. how could she not tell that was a women's jacket?

the ladies from this episode were just out of control. Nina couldn't keep herself together during the judging. it was actually really funny because the shit -- and yes, the outfits they sent down the runway were total shit this week -- was one hot mess after another, and it had Nina laughing uncontrollably. all you could do is just laugh at what you're looking at. oh good lord. and all the ladies having to work with the male dancers was too funny. you couldn't shut up Michelle about the men being such "men." Layana couldn't not touch the men but couldn't stop touching them. get these ladies a cold shower.

let's move on and talk about the designs:

team shades of grey:
Patricia, Daniel, Stanley and Michelle
they were going for a business-man-by-day and a stripper-by-night, or something like that, look. the idea was okay, i could see it going somewhere, but what they produced was boring and baggy. Michelle had some good ideas, but Stanley just kept on shooting her down. Stanley is a classic kind of man so his strippers will be classic as well. oh boy. the suits were just basic and boring. Patricia's shirt was awful and she spent so much time on it, it was pointless. the trench coat was so boxy and boring. the entire collection was just boring. the only thing that was interesting was Michelle's vest, it just didn't fit with the collection. their tear-away's did not work. epic fail.

team slick and hip:
Richard, Layana, Samantha and Amanda
they were also going for this business-man-by-day and stripper-by-night look. what is up with this style right now? am i missing something in the male stripping trend? i thought make strippers are supposed to be firemen and construction workers and police men. i think i am missing something. this is not what i learned from Magic Mike! okay, i digress. this team was a hot mess. if the shades of grey team was bad, this team was bad on an epic scale. they didn't work together during the workroom time at all, and you could tell. they were not a team. the shirts were terrible, the pants were awful, the whole thing was just bad. however, their tear-aways worked. bonus.

the winner: no one!

the loser: team slick and hip by default because they were the worst of the bad, and Amanda was the team member sent home. i guess it was her time to go. out of her team, she was the weakest, but she isn't the weakest of the whole lot of designers. this is why the teams aspect kind of sucks, because you have the weakest designer on the winning team. but this is a competition, and someone needs to go home.

this was an exciting episode, and it just shows you how lucky some people are being on the winning team, and how some designers get sent home even if they aren't the weakest. now we are down to five designers, things are going to get interesting because it's going to be harder seeing people go home. everyone at this point is really talented, except for what we saw in this challenge. it was just embarrassing.

Project Runway airs on Thursday nights on Lifetime.

(photos from Project Runway at mylifetime.com)