Project Runway Canada:The Yoda Perspective

I cannot stop obsessing about the winning and loosing looks on the last episode of Project Runway Canada:the Marie Antoinette and the Punk.

Mostly, because my sui generis brain won't let go of an idea or creation until it's out in the world and tangible. I will keep thinking of these bathing suits and I will not sleep until I put out my ideas about what they ought to have looked like and I am entirely too lazy to sketch.I eventually will though. Sketching would involve sketching , plugging the printer and scanning and that would take entirely too long.

The problem with the eliminated look was that the designer decided to IGNORE the force. The force strong is in all of us designers. Fabric speaks to you. It calls you. It tells you what it wants to become. I firmly believe that God spent a little extra time with all of us creative people and put a little of himself in us before he sent our souls down to earth. That little bit of the Divine that allows us to make something extraordinary out of nothing, that spark or as Billy Elliot eloquently put it, that "electricity", is what made "Moulin Rouge", the Sistine Chapel, the Chanel suit, "Starry Night" and the 1812 Overture possible.It does not let you sleep. It keeps you alive, it will push you and make you work tirelessly like nothing else will. Not the fear of poverty, nor the promise of power. And you don't even need to call it . It just takes you over and mounts you.

At the fabric store, when Kendra was choosing and purchasing her fabrics, what did THE FORCE within her tell her to pick?"

Aha... As I said, Sophia Coppola "Marie Antoinette" Wedgewood blue and petit-four pink lycra. Not the actual time period. Not an"updated' version of the period look either. But a POP CULTURE interpretation of the trend. And like in the movie, IT NEEDED to be over the top.

The subtlety and actually listening to Brian on that and not pulling a Christian Siriano and saying "The Force is strong in me" and following her instinct is what gor Kendra eliminated.

Her basic design for both suits was right. It was just a question of taking it to the next level.

Here are her sketches:

The first sketch was on the right track.

She just needed to do that suit with the corset construction she used and do it in Wedgewood blue instead of the black.Just because it's plus , it does not need to be black. It is ok to use colour. I promise, ok? She needed to use white eyelet instead of the python print she used and she needed to use corsetting lacing detail on the BACK of the suit. Like in a real corset. The corset needed to be tighter and the cups needed to be underwired. The cups needed to be a demi-balconette. Yes, heaving bosom to the max. For once, she had a beautiful pair of ripe breasts to work with like Iman said. and she decided to waste that and not use them to her advantage. She should have used ruffles of the eyelet (actually broderie anglaise) on the of the shoulder straps, the cups and do several ( about 3 layers) of ruffles with it on the leg openings at the hip ( moderately high cut to elongate the leg). To style it, she should have made chokers out black velvet ribbon on which you sew a snap at the end and added cameo brooches with pretty medium sized chandellier earrings. The hair should have been "black hair show" over-the-top like in the movie.

She also needed to make a cover up. White sheer cotton voile "robe" with balloon sleeves, trimmed in lace. and on the back... an applique of a slice of cake. I make those using fabrics, buttons and trims like did for the treatment for the back treatment of the Teletubbies baby sun jacket or the ladybug of my ladybug dress.

For the skinny chick bathing suit what she did as far as a bandeau top bikini was the right thing. But it needed to be petit-four/Mexican toe shoe pink ( there is a HUGE difference in the shade of Mexican Miguelito brand toe shoes and American Capezio's or UK Freeds or French Repetto's or Japanese Chacott's) and the trim needed to be broderie anglaise too. Instead of the robe cover up, she needed to make a pair or white voile "pantaloon" shorts. Not to the knee, but like regular shorts.Trimmed in white lace. Over the top pompadour, same jewelry as with the other one. Very pink blush and sheer pink lips and a fake mole. Fans for both. She would have won the challenge. Et voila!

Intead of this

and this

Which is about a 1/4 of the way there, you would have had pure fabulousness.

Now Marie Genevieve's...

Punk... I pretty much think that doing punk when you are 25 is not possible. You need to have LIVED punk in order to do punk. Otherwise what you do is a charicature of punk. Just an allusion to the British flag is not punk, but again the ideas needed tweaking. And a cutesy Tara Jarmon/Sophie Albou chick (and Marie Genevieve is like a stencil of these designers) is not capable of the level of gutural rage and rebellion necessary for punk. Me on the other hand...

Here is her skinny chick sketch (God I hate even THINKING about making something for a skinny body. I don't even see that in my head):

The bottoms were the right colour but in order to be punk, they needed edge. I would have made slashes to the side of the bottoms with a razor blade and held the fabric toghether with large safety pins. For the top? Enough with the Uncle Jack already! I would have used a Tartan lycra (probably to match the blue in the bottoms) and asked to go to the nearest sex shop, purchased a cock ring ( if you cannot say cock ring, you do not need to be doing punk) and used that to hold both cups toghether and I would have used chains through which I would have passed "pleather" strips for the the straps. Her hair and make-up for this model were great, but I would have put ankle booties with big buckles on her.

So instead of this, you have REAL punk.

For the AMAZING plus side model she got, who WON her the challenge (in the same way Marilinda through sheer fierceness won Jeffrey the couture challenge on season 3), I would have channeled the only black woman who I think of as punk, Grace Jones.

This is Marie Genevieve's sketch:

Yet again, another case of ignoring her instinct. She should have gone with the initial idea or the Union jack in the same blue as with the skinny chick, leather or black "pleather" strips with studs. And then I am going to be INCREDIBLY generous, and give up one of the ideas of how I had one of my favourite belts made. I had someone get me a pair of handcuffs and attached leather and snaps to them to create a slouchy belt that hangs at the hip. Add lipstick red patent leather stilettos, large red geometric platic earrings, leather and stud cuffs, and a more colorful make up ( so you could actually see it) and a FLAT top, not a bad attempt at a 'fro hawk ( and everyone knows I love 'fro hawks) and you have a look that does justice to the model. Instead of a nice suit but not punk:

So now that it's out, I can finally get some rest...
Note to Kendra : The Louis the 16th period, Marie Antoinette's time, had NOTHING to do with Edwardian hun.. I don't know where you studied fashion history, but Edwardian was the turn of the 20th century when King Edward the VII suceeded Queen Victoria. Or in fashion-speak, the "Titanic", "Gibson girl" and "Belle Epoque" (aka Moulin Rouge and From Hell) periods. Almost to the flapper/ art deco period.
You missed your periods by almost 2 centuries girl....