Photo Shoot Challenge #ProjectRunway #TeamMelissa

Lifetime

I feel worthy of watching Project Runway this week.  I hemmed pants and repaired two tops on my sewing machine, as well as cut out a dress pattern for my first sewing project in months.

The hard part about TEN seasons of Project Runway?  Coming up with original ideas for the challenges.  More "women on the go" workwear?  At least it's a team challenge and a collection, vs. last challenge.  And I love when it's Nina Garcia being a "lead" judge for a challenge.  The photo shoot twist was pretty interesting though.  It's hard to make editorial looks that work in the real world.

As for the team selection... WHO WOULDN'T PICK VEN FIRST?  And it feels like schoolyard kickball picking.  These designers took it very personally.  I say, someone has to be picked first and last.  Just don't let the emotions get in the way!

Raul was driving me nuts.  He was all for himself when everyone else was aligned to a cohesive collection.  On the other team, Gunnar was trying to make himself heard, and Nathan and Christopher were dictating.  I was surprised Ven wasn't louder, but I think he realized that he was safer than the others and ought to just contribute the quality work he usually does.  But his team seemed to have it together.  Sonjia's team was CRAZY in Mood!  As time passed, however, it seemed like "Team 6" had the right idea to play to everyone's strengths and "mix" looks.  "Team 5" had great colors picked out initially, but their Mood selections made me question their direction.

Elena is so angry!  I think she's one of my favorites, but she's so hard on herself and terrible at working on a team.  I feel like half the episode was ELENA HULK ANGRY.

As for the photo shoot and collections, I preferred the collection by Team 6 in terms of the outfits, but I felt like Team 5 presented a better collection.  I felt like Raul and Gunnar were filmed heavily throughout the episode, so I felt like they would be in the bottom.  But when I saw Gunnar's look on the runway, I figured he was safe.  I thought the crotch of Nathan's pants looked weird, because it didn't really look like the side-swept pleated look he was going for.  And I did NOT like Ven's look.  :( BOO, for the first time.

Melissa's dress was kind of cool.  I couldn't pull off that high collar, but it was the best I've seen from her, and it wasn't black!  I think Elena's pieces were strong, and Dmitry's dress was something I would wear to work.  It seemed like on the runway, the Team 6 collections looked more cohesive than it had appeared during the photo shoot.

Okay okay, so who did I pick for top/bottom?  I didn't have a clear winner.  I felt like Dmitry's dress was my favorite from the challenge, and Sonjia's skirts were cool.  I felt like Raul was the weakest link.  But this is the first episode where I felt like it's getting harder and harder to pick who should go home.  It was obvious to me that Andrea, Kooan, and Buffi should make their exit.  I think Raul and Alicia are already the weakest relatively at this point.

The judges chose Melissa as the winner, and I agree.  She stepped out of her monochromatic palette and did some great work.  So for this challenge, I am #TeamMelissa.  I do believe Raul needed to go.  His attitude was driving me crazy, and I can't believe he was standing in the bottom with Gunnar, because they were nowhere near at the same level.  He was so immature about his departure though, in the way that he attacked Elena.  Hate is a strong word, and he had no reason to blame her for anything. Ugh.  Glad his attitude is gone from the show.