make it work

‘Runway’ Recap: Too Many Tears and a Side of Shoddy Eveningwear

The guest judge is Marchesa designer Georgina Chapman. She could not be more suited to this challenge, has an accent, and we love her. We wonder if Heidi felt intimidated by Georgina’s prettiness because she’s wearing a blazer with only a very exposed bra underneath. Camisoles are a good thing.

Kenley started off this episode by being her charming self. She accuses Leanne of sabotaging her when she modeled her “hip-hop” outfit in the last challenge. Sorry, dear, but you sabotaged yourself. Jerrell, now living alone as the last male standing, plays with syrup bottles in his apartment à la Tom Hanks in Castaway. So reality TV has made him crazy! (On a side note, Bravo, just how do you spell his name? You keep adding and subtracting R’s!)

Tim takes the designers to the Botanical Gardens, where they find the head makeup artist hiding in the bushes. The challenge today is — surprise! — flowers. The designers have to create an evening gown inspired by the gardens. Off they go with cameras in hand, Leanne ducking bees. Was the episode so slow that we had to cut the bee montage in?

Back to the clothes. Kenley accidentally leaves her Mood bag containing her tulle at the fabric store, which is pretty careless at this stage. She needs it to pouf up the mermaid bottom of her fuchsia faux-snakeskin tube dress that inspires Jerrell to call her “Kenley the dragon slayer.” Both Jerrell and Korto have piles of tulle they’re not using on their worktables but refrain from loaning it to Kenley because they hate her. Oh drama. Tim lets Kenley fetch her tulle, not that it helped her final look.

Kenley’s working by herself in the workroom, and she’s sad. She apparently has had to deal with being left out her entire life and doesn’t really understand why, but it’s okay because she needs to focus. Really, Kenley, you don’t know why? She also explains she’s loud and obnoxious and bitchy because she grew up on a tugboat. Makes perfect sense.

Before Tim can even start critiquing Kenley’s dress, she shouts, “I love the dress.” Tim tells her the bottom looks more like fish scales than leaves. Kenley takes this as a compliment. “But we have a botanical theme, not oceanic,” Oh, Tim, don’t waste your breath.

At the end of day two Leanne has so much work to do she cracks and cries. Then Jerrell cries because he’s so close to his lifelong dream he can taste it (probably also because he’s going crazy tucking in his syrup-bottle roommates alone each night).

The guest judge is Marchesa designer Georgina Chapman. She could not be more suited to this challenge, has an accent, and we love her. We wonder if Heidi felt intimidated by Georgina’s prettiness because she’s wearing a blazer with only a very exposed bra underneath. Camisoles are a good thing.

Georgina likes Leanne’s lavender dress but says it could have used more work. Everyone agrees Korto’s mango gown looks pageant-y and unsophisticated, which makes her cry. Michael Kors is upset by the shoddy construction of Jerrell’s strapless number. Kenley says she wanted to do something “scaly and edgy.” But Nina says, “It looks like a reptile, but … this girl does not look young hip or cool at all.” When Heidi says it doesn’t look elegant, Kenley snaps back, “It’s not supposed to be elegant, HEIDI.” “It is a little bit annoying — the attitude,” Heidi counters, rather nicely.

The designers must explain why they should go to Fashion Week and say who they would take with them. Jerrell says he can’t stand Kenley’s fifties-style dresses, at which point K-Monster interrupts only to be firmly silenced by Jerrell. But ultimately, Jerrell, Leanne, and Korto all want to go together. Rejected Kenley cries when it’s her turn to speak, apologizes for her attitude somewhat sincerely, and says she wants to go with Jerrell and Leanne. We start to feel bad for her, but we’re bloggers, so that ends pretty quickly.

Korto then starts an awesome fight with Kenley backstage while the judges discuss Kenley’s ‘tude. “Imagine her response if a buyer tells her I don’t like that sleeve. What’s she going to do, take a knife out and kill them?” Michael says, adding a spot of humor to this cesspool of tears and abhorrence.

Jerrell wins the challenge, but the judges couldn’t decide who to eliminate. So they all have to make collections and face one more elimination before Fashion Week. Not only does this essentially render this episode a waste, but it fails to excite us since the judges pulled this trick last season. At least everyone can bawl in the privacy of their own homes now.

Next week: Tim travels to everyone’s house. And rides a tandem bicycle with a basket!

‘Runway’ Recap: Too Many Tears and a Side of Shoddy Eveningwear