Blogging Project Runway: Back on the Saddle Again

So lovely and delightful readers and Project Runways devotees, Season 5 kicked off with a bang worthy of a Canadian-born pornstar... (hilarious how one of Canada's most famous exports are pornstars along with hockey players, comedians and le syrop d'erable)...
Geezus, the new crop of designers are a diverse and interesting bunch... very salad-. like which is very appropriate considering the reloaded challenge.
I always call dibs on my front runners from the first episode, usually based on academic credentials and industry experience as well as relevance to present zeitgeist.
So my top 3-4 for this Season are (*drum roll*) :

1) Korto- A native of Liberia and a graduate of an unspecified fashion school in Ottawa. The girl has an obvious Afro-licious aesthetic but absolutely impeccable craftsmanship.She also appreciates and designs for regular folk and is influenced by designers with their feet firmly planted on planet earth such as Tracy Reese and Randolph Duke. Both huge commercial and mass market successes at varied price points and diverse markets. What's not to love?
2) Joe- I loved that his work has internal narrative. He's out of Parson's and has a lot of industry experience.
3)Terri- I loved her originality and attention to craftsmanship and her experience in retail might help her have a better idea of what people actually want to wear.
4) Suede- He comes from a GREAT program-Kent State- and although predictable, his first effort was aesthetically pleasing...
Now for the in-depth dissection...



Kenley:
This was kind of blah. Not mind blowing, not God-awful but serviceable.
Terri
I actually really loved this... I loved the braided macrame top made out of mop heads. It was original, elegant and extremely well done. One of the best of the bunch.
Suede:
This was pretty. Not mind-blowingly original either but pretty and wearable.
Emily:
I HATED the silhouette of this dress. It was like a potato sack with a fugly exaggerated pointless collar. It really did not make much of an impression. At least not a positive one.
Leanne:
I kind of loved this!!! It was literally Sweet! in a Strawberry Shortcake, Hello Kitty! kind of way. I loved that she used marshmallows in her design and the matchingly adorable Harajuku-eque silhouette.
Jennifer:

This was wearable and cute. But not memorable.
Jerell:
Holy Rio Carnavale Batman! This look is a little bit too ornate for my taste, but there are those people who love that flowerpot on top of your head, Cavalli/Versace type of aesthetic...It was fun and whimsical though.
Keith:
Another blah but serviceable dress...
Wesley
I kind of loved this colour, the use of the fly swatters and the asymmetrical silhouette... this one was pretty cute...
Joe:
The silhouette of this outfit was nothing to write home about but I loved the fact that he had a theme and an internal narrative. That is the same way I design...
Korto
This was my favourite dress of the whole bunch. GREAT silhouette. Impeccable craftsmanship. Great use of colour and the perfect balance between being innovative by using the produce and being safe and wearable. Wonderful!
Daniel:
Probably my second favourite. Great use of the material and nice, flattering although not history making silhouette. I really liked it though.
Blayne:
I am SO with Austin Scarlett on this one. Hideous with a capital vomitous and a middle emetic were the only fitting words to describe it. This guy is such a bad Stephen Sprouse knockoff, he makes my head spin.. ok more like the bad chimeric amalgam of Sprouse, the Caten twins (Dean and Dan) from DSquared and Christian Siriano. And that is like not a good thing at all. I love them all one by one, but put them all together and it's kind of like what happens after you drink Long Island Iced teas, Jaggermeister and Jello shots.
Jerry:
Oh my sweet Lord... this was so horrid and squalid and creepy and like the Charmin Mega Roll got caught to the back of your lab coat while working at a Level 4 biocontainment facility after you got done using the potty and then proceeding to clean the entire bathroom in some sort of sick OCD ritual... EEEEWWWW.
Kelli:

I kind of disagreed with the judges as far as this dress being the winner. I loved how much thought she put into the dress and how creative she was with the challenge, but the end result was not that aesthetically pleasing or all that well executed either.

This season promises to be seriously entertaining . It seems that they have run out of interesting and even of product placement challenges so they are repeating themselves. Which might not be that bad a thing. I hope that I can follow the show now that I am moving to the UK, otherwise I will go nutso.

And to the people at Bravo : DO NOT USE FLASH ON YOUR WEBSITE PHOTOS. Flash is a piece of CRAP because you cannot copy photos.Not to speak of the KAJILLION bugs associated with the codes for the program.
The bloggers are HALF of your show. We need to grab those pictures easily to illustrate our blogs. If the Barbican and several important designers have given me press packs and hi-res working files of photos and think my blog is worthy and legitimate press, get over yourselves and make the pics accessible to the bloggers. We are your best source of free publicity. Thank you!