Well Project Runway fans, we saw the many faces of Gretchen this week. And how! The challenge they were given this week was breaking the final twelve into two teams of six. They then had $1000 budget to create a six look collection.
Michael Costello was the first person called to pick since he had immunity from last week. And….then he made what most would call the fatal mistake of picking Gretchen. April cracked me up in her little testimonial as she chided Michael for picking Gretchen, likening her to Hitler in terms of being a dictator.

April was the person called to begin assembling the other team. In the end Team #1 consisted of Michael C, Gretchen, AJ, Ivy, Christopher, and Andy. Team #2 was April, Mondo, Casanova, Valerie, Michael D and Peach.
The two teams were given various trends to pick for Fall 2010 and then were given their choice of textiles. Team #1 became “Team Luxe” with Menswear that women can wear and the choices of camel and gold. Team #2 became “Team Military/Lace” with the military vibe accentuated with Lace. Cream, Blue, and Black. So given that Team Luxe had won 4 challenges amongst them and Team Military/Lace was sitting on a goose egg with zero wins you would think Gretchen and her merry band of designers would have walked away with the win right? Not so fast….

Team Military/Lace pulled off the upset. And it was awesome. Not only did they mesh as a team and respected each other, but their collection was cohesive and told a story complete with the military accents. Team Luxe, while their collection had six individual looks – from an awful shirtdress to clothes that the proportions on all of them were just out of whack. There was no cohesiveness. And it showed.

When Heidi, Michael, Nina and guest judge Georgina Chapman, co-founder of Marchesa started questioning the losing team Gretchen acted as spokesperson as she had through out most of the challenge. Basically bullying everyone to fit her concept and not theirs. Gretchen pleaded with the judges at first that they were a group and were united together. Once they realized one was going home since they couldn’t pawn the loss off on Michael Costello since he had immunity, Gretchen started pointing fingers at everyone but her. The final two came down to Gretchen and AJ, and sadly since AJ had made the horrible shirtdress he got the boot. Gretchen deserved to go on her behavior alone.

There was a fantastic bright spot from this challenge. Casanova, who had shown no reason why he should even stick around, ended up winning from the Team Military/Lace. It was a great lace shirt with an open back and military inspired cream pants with the gold military buttons. He pulled one out, even after his diva moment, when it looked like the whole team might have to pick up his slack.

The show this year has been having more of Tim, and though I have said it once, I will say it again. MORE TIM! They showed him yelling at Team Luxe about allowing Gretchen to manipulate them the way they did. It is refreshing to hear more of his input and opinion. Especially when calling out Gretchen for being a bit of a snot. Till next week………….

Tiger Woods allegedly had affairs with 17 different women while he was married to his wife.

Woods brought Elin Nordegren, the mother of his two children, through miles of public embarressment over the last year and, unsurprisingly, Nordegren has filed for divorce.

The couple announced their decision on Woods’ website Monday…

We are sad that our marriage is over and we wish each other the very best for the future. While we are no longer married, we are the parents of two wonderful children and their happiness has been, and will always be, of paramount importance to both of us. Once we came to the decision that our marriage was at an end, the primary focus of our amicable discussions has been to ensure their future well-being. The weeks and months ahead will not be easy for them as we adjust to a new family situation, which is why our privacy must be a principal concern.

Woods is back on the golf course today.

************

This post was written by Eric Van Dril. For more of his writing, visit his Twitter.

Heidi and friends mixed it up this week on Project Runway. The designers were handed the opportunity to make an outfit complimenting world renowned designer/milliner Philip Treacy. These hats were nothing short of masterpieces in their own right. Treacy has designed for such stars as Lady Gaga and Sarah Jessica Parker.

Each of the models all came out wearing different hats and each designer had the chance to either stay with their model or pick the hat the loved the most. Every one stayed with who they had been with. There were a couple of Treacy’s designs that really stood out. April picked the “Cat in the Hat” one, which was red and white and had a pointy top. It did look like something straight out of Dr. Seuss. You were hoping the Cat himself would show up to help.

Michael Drummond had a hat that looked like a warrior princess. It was very architectural in shape. He ended up designed a short sleeve top out of a fabric that looked like cardboard with a plunging neckline. The shape worked, it set the model’s face off flawlessly while keeping the attention on the hat. Drummond also made a really cute orange crinkle skirt that went with it as well. The judges loved it.

Kristin ended up with the orchid hat. It was a stunning masterpiece. Seriously. However, she didn’t do tit justice by making a black dress that while flowed with the pops of pink, did not set the hat off at all. It faded next to the dress.

Michael Costello picked the circle hat that had cat like whiskers around his model’s eyes. After starting with a dress that he was nervous about and so was Tim, he started over. Bolstered by being able to talk to his son on Father’s Day Michael pulled it off by creating a sleeveless dress with a Grecian inspired bodice. It was flowy, and effortless. I think we have just begun now to hear from this contestant.

April….oh April. Not sure what she was thinking when she started with her booty shorts…but they were just plain ugly. She told Tim she was making a resort wear outfit. It looked more like a black jacket and a diaper. Yes, I said it, a diaper! And that hat, well it spoke of whimsy and magic. A diaper should only be so lucky to be worn with it.

Needless to say, Michael Costello wins it all with his last minute dress. The bottom two came down between Kristin and April. And I was expecting April to go. She had been there twice before. In a surprise move the judges let Kristin go. Which was probably the right decision in the end. She could have done a lot more with that gorgeous hat.

In a follow up from last week designer Ivy was okay and returned and yippier than ever. Man, all she did was say how horrible everyone else’s design was and hers was perfect. Not a fan of that girl till she can win a challenge and prove herself that she isn’t all talk.

Lastly the best line of the night comes from Peach. She was explaining to Tim that she was going to make a short skirt on her dress. Tim with his ever present concern: “How short?” Peach: “Well 15-16”, but you know, not enough to show the good china.” Tim cracked up. Hilarious. I hope she stays for the one liners alone!

Well…let’s just say there was a lot to cram into tonight’s episode of Project Runway. From the challenge itself of making an out fit from party store supplies to a fake palm tree was being used in a dress to Casanova mangling stuffed dogs and last but not least – a designer going to the hospital. I am not sure even where to begin.

From the top, the challenge this week was to make an outfit from unconventional materials. Enter “Party Glitters” a party supply store in New York. Tim gleefully tells the designers they have a budget of $100 and 30 minutes to shop. Some contestants like AJ, loves this challenge. Insert his audition tapes here, showing his use of various things other than fabrics. Other contestants like Casanova; well……he ends up buying four adorable stuffed dogs to use the fur as a fabric. Tim had warned them going in the judges frowned on conventional materials such as table clothes and fur. But Casanova chose to not heed the warning.

Cut to Casanova looking as though he was on some maniacal rage beating these poor stuffed dogs to rip them open and take out their stuffing. It was just a bit odd. And slightly disturbing.

Sarah struggles this episode. She has been pretty quiet so far. After she buys a fake palm tree and paints half the leaves a hot pink to make a tropical dress, but it ends up going nowhere fast and she paints them all green after talking to Gretchen. (More about Gretchen in a bit) When she sends it down the runway she knew it was a snooze fest.

One nice surprise this round was Andy South, from Hawaii. He has been quietly turning out pieces, but hasn’t had a lot of attention on him yet. This round he stepped up. Andy made a black dress entirely out of spools of ribbon. He braided some, and folded some. The dress was edgy and cool. Michael said to Heidi in the judging he could see Heidi and Rihanna fighting as to whose it would be. The dress was just that cool.

Valerie also turned in another stunner this week, a little black and white number with a plunging neckline. She used 600 napkins cut into quarters. It was amazing. Guest judge Betsey Johnson said her model could be used for people to wipe their mouths with at a party. Not perhaps the most flattering compliment, but if you could have seen what Betsey was wearing, you would understand.

Gretchen …well Gretchen was kind of acting like she owned the place this week. Sure, she had won the last two challenges, but she was turning into a bit of Mrs. Tim Gunn. She would give everyone her opinion, and tell them to clean their work station on runway day. Michael Costello who we haven’t heard a bunch from yet looks at the camera in his interview and says she needs to stop talking. He is turning a lot into last season’s Anthony. Have to love that boy.

The outfit Gretchen designed was chic and modern. It was made out of garland shredded and then used napkins crinkled up to look like faux leather. Paired with boots, it was a bit long for them, but overall fabulous. Again she received high praise from the judges. However, SHE DIDN’T WIN!

Before I reveal that, I have to close with Casanova. He had so many ideas going on with this dress. He claimed it was glamorous. Michael says his taste level is low. It had ruffles in the back, table cloth in the front, too many ideas of too little of a dress.

In the end it came down between Sarah and Casanova for the bottom two. I was praying Casanova would be the one getting the boot, but alas, the judges went with Sarah. I am guessing they are just keeping him for the crazy factor. We shall see.

The winner? Andy South and his gorgeous ribbon dress. I was happy to see Gretchen take the fall of sorts. I think she needed a wake up call that yes, this was not hers to win exactly yet.

(In a sad and hope they are okay note) At the end of this show designer Ivy was shown being taken away by ambulance after she passed out. No word on whether she is back next week or not. I did not see her in the previews. Let’s hope she can come back after making it this far. The grueling pace of the show looks to have caught up with her.

The designers were given a pretty sweet challenge for this week’s Project Runway. Joanna Coles, Editor in Chief for Marie Claire magazine let them know that their winning design correctly depicting the “Marie Claire woman” would win a billboard featuring their design in Times Square. Awesome, right?

Apparently not for some. They had no idea what exactly the image of the Marie Claire woman was.

Others nailed it. Mondo for instance, who as fellow designer Valerie dubbed ‘whack a do, but it works” made this beautiful tweed skirt that was full of bounce, with black leggings, a sleeveless black shirt with a beautiful flower print as the halter. It was amazing. The model looked like a very hip 2010 version of Mary Tyler Moore, which he later admitted was his inspiration. Joanna Coles lauded him for that, adding the great Mary Tyler Moore was the reason she moved to America. Score Mondo! After watching him cry earlier about being lonely you started to feel bad for him.

Half way thru the work room Tim announces that each designer will be given their own photo shoot with Marie Claire as well.

Gretchen has again started to distance herself from the rest of the designers as she makes an out fit that looks to be one piece with a zipper in front that you could pull down to reveal a deeper plunging neckline for evening. Her model was fantastic, and her picture was great. Simple, clean and just lovely. The judges raved about it.

Valerie had the other great outfit of this episode. She did a version of a trench dress. Made it sleeveless, with a great collar that had a peek a boo cleavage and zipped up the front. The dress was a true red, and it framed her model’s face. Personally I was hoping Valerie would win. Gretchen’s outfit was nice, but Valerie was way ahead this round.

And then there was Jason. The true weirdo of this season thus far, (I don’t know if it was the bowler hat?) He came up with this oddball concept of an “Infinity” dress. Or in the shape of an 8 for Season 8 of Project Runway. The dress was poorly put together. During the photo shoot it was held together by safety pins. The picture he chose to have the judges look at showed a big gap of her belly button held with the pins. It was horrible. Needless to say Jason was booted by the judges. Instead of waiting for Tim to come and do his traditional “You must head to the workroom now to clean up your space…” well Jason just left. Odd.

Nicholas on the other hand was trying to create a look using a circle for a cape. And a lovely purple shirt that only had half a back! Not sure what he was thinking. But his poor model would have to wear that cape all day if she was at work. Nothing was cohesive in that outfit and it showed.

However Heidi and the gang also booted Nicholas. So we are down to 14. Another one of the infamous Project Runway twists they are so famous for have now carried into the elimination. You have to wonder what is just around the corner each week. I like the new expanded 90 minutes format complete with more Tim. How are you liking it so far?

And “sew” it did begin with Project Runway last week. At first I was a bit leery of another season. I had grown weary of Season 7. It appeared it was basically the same old same old week after week. Well Heidi and friends must have done some tweaking in their time off. The show so far has me intrigued.

Right off the bat we learn that there are 17 contestants this round, as opposed to the usual 16. Heidi and Tim gleefully tell them that this is the last phase of their audition process. At that point a big old WHAT THE??!!?? had to be running through their minds when that little news gets delivered. So 1 or more will be cut at the end of this challenge.
The deal? Each of them must pass a piece of clothing they like and would use for the challenge to the person on their right. Can we say here is the twist kid? Which some of these clothes are well, downright dowdy. (Peach’s pants for instance and yes that is actually her name.) Others are downright expensive…hello Casanova’s $1070 pants! (And yes, that is his real name, but more of him later.)

They all then have 5 hours to design a piece of clothing incorporating this garment. Some are freaked out. Others fared much better with the time constraints. Gretchen is an early favorite. She scores the first win against the others with a cute black dress using Alison’s (who just graduated from design school) beaded jacket. Valerie gets Casanova’s pants. As she starts to rip them apart he just can’t even talk about it. She asks him to say a prayer. It is pretty funny. I think we found the lightning rod for the drama this season so far.

Receiving the weird vote so far is Jason. Not Casanova flaky, but downright WEIRD. Jason gets a kimono and he looks like he just turns the garment backwards. Even Tim questions him. Not sure if he is just a poser but you start to wonder.

McKell has a 9 month old baby at home that she left to come pursue her dreams. Her piece of clothing was a royal blue shirt from contestant AJ and turns it into a dress with a cute pattern on the bottom.
Mondo (again, yes that is his name) gets an apple green jacket and turns it to into a dress. It is very cute, and creative. You start to feel a bit bad for him after Tim tells him he needs to “youth” it up a bit.

Let’s head back to Casanova-ville for a moment. He gets a grey blouse. Which, he turns into a skirt with a very skimpy top. In fact, I am not even sure skimpy is the word. It was bordering on vulgar. He didn’t see anything wrong with it. Sadly, I am reminded of Ping in this one. I hope he sticks around. I am excited to see what he does. I would compare him to a train wreck you just can’t take your eyes off of. You know it is happening, you are sure you should look away. Yet, you don’t. Nor want to.

Lastly when we get to the Runway we find the usual cast of characters. A pregnant Nina and Michael back to judge again! And guest judge Selma Blair. Poor McKell. She ends up receiving the first ticket back home.

And so it began……..

CEDAR RAPIDS – What started as a one-shot song parody has spun into a viral video garnering 79,000 hits in its first week for Z102.9’s “Iowa Gurls.” The creative forces at Cedar Rapids rock radio station KZIA gave pop siren Katy Perry’s candylicious “California Gurls” a cornfield spin earlier this month — and have watched it all explode.

 “We thought we’d do an ‘Iowa Gurls’ song and play it once on the radio,” says Chris Jackson, 27, of Cedar Rapids, KZIA’s evening on-air personality. “Everyone loved it so much, they started requesting it and we started playing it (in rotation) like a real song. Then listeners said we should make a music video.”

 So they did.

 Perry’s version extols the beauty and heat radiating from the Golden State, where girls traipse around a Candyland paradise, sporting “sun-kissed skin so hot it will melt your popsicle.” KZIA’s version sings the praises of “Iowa, the land of farmers’ daughters” with “farmer tans so hot they’ll pop your popcorn.”

 “After Katy Perry’s ‘California Gurls’ came out, it became a huge sensation,” Jackson says. “Other states, like Minnesota and North Dakota, started making their own parodies. This was the perfect opportunity to do ours on Iowa girls and Iowa stereotypes.”

 Never meant to be a serious discourse on the Hawkeye State, he says the project grew “all out of good fun.”

 “We got together a few ideas and stereotypes. Everybody thinks we live on farms,” says Jackson, who served as editor and director for the music video, and takes his star turn as the Snoop Dogg-style rapper near the end.

 “We shot it over a three-day period and it became a huge hit,” Jackson says. “It was nothing we really expected to be so popular.”

 The cast and crew traveled to various locations the second week of July for the short shoot, including Cedar Rapids, Solon and Iowa City.

 “It really was such a quick process for something we put together just spur-of-the-moment,” Jackson says.

 Best of all, he says the project “cost absolutely nothing.”

 “We did it all on our own,” Jackson says. “I happen to be a music producer and video editor on my own time, so I used my own tools. It was really easy to put together.”

KZIA “Morning Show” producer Clare Duffy, 24, of Cedar Rapids, makes her music video debut singing the lead vocals.

“I’ve posted stuff on YouTube before, but this is the first music video with live action,” Duffy says. “We’ve done some parodies before, but never anything this big.”

She says Jackson was the project’s mastermind, wrote the majority of the lyrics and laid out the video shoots. Duffy helped tweak a few lines and Auto-Tune pitch-correcting technology helped tweak her vocals during the recording process.  

“By no means am I a singer,” Duffy says. “Auto-Tune gave me more confidence. Hearing myself in the headphones, I thought I sounded pretty good, so that gave me a little more confidence.”

The Cedar Rapids Rollergirls joined the crew for the video shoot.

 “They were really great to work with,” Jackson says of the local roller derby athletes.

 The video debuted on the station’s website July 14, and from there, it snowballed.

 “We’ve had lots of good feedback,” Jackson says. “A couple people aren’t taking it as a joke. We know girls in Iowa aren’t dancing around in cornfields. Everybody loves the Katy Perry song, and this way, they get to relate to it. Girls in Iowa don’t live the fancy beach life.

 “We’ve had good feedback for something that was just a joke.”

Wow! Going into the finale of Project Runway I wasn’t quite sure how it was gong to end. For awhile, it appeared the ever so smug Emilio was going to run away with it, and that saddened me somehow. I didn’t want to think it was that easy to call, and was just looking for it to end quite frankly.  Boy, was I ever wrong.

Seth Aaron, Emilio and Mila all came to Bryant Park ready to contend for the Season Seven crown. Part two of the finale picks up a day before the runway show. Each designer must cast their own models. Mila goes for more of a “rock and roll” edge, per the judges’ critique. Emilio wants models from every race and culture. Seth Aaron just wants a strong looking model. Each of them cast and prepare for the long day ahead of them.

The alarm clock is cruel at 2:40am (yes, 2:40 AM) the next morning. But all of the designers are up and raring to go. Right before Emilio is missing one model that doesn’t show. Mila is missing two. Alternates are cast with minutes left till they walk. I love the behind the scenes of the runway shows. You truly have the chance to feel what they are feeling complete with chaos and butterflies.

First up is Seth Aaron, who thanks his family for their sacrifice. His collection is inspired by 1940’s German and Russian militaries. It is strong and bold, and yet shows a quiet sophistication. Yes kids, Seth Aaron has grown up. For the most part a lot of it is not the costumey look we came to expect from him. Michael even compliments him on a bold military inspired red dress with leather accents. He tells him if the model had a pair of black pumps and a pony tail, she would be very modern and very commercial. Guest Judge Faith Hill asks to have his black and white parachute dress. She said she knew she would “rock it.” Heidi calls it exciting and Nina adds it is very editorial.

Next is Mila, who was inspired by shadows. It was still mostly black and white, her signature continues it appears. Heidi compliments her on the simple t-shirt with the black stripes, while Faith loves the dress with black and white scarf. Michael adds that she is great at mixing textiles. The collection was softer for Mila, but a lot of that was helped by more modern styling with the hair and make up. Everyone loves her sequined skirt that shined under the runway lights.

Lastly there was Emilio. He thanks his Mom and family, and let’s everyone know that his collection was inspired by his Mom and her sisters. The collection is entitled “Color Me Bad.” It is colorful, and his signature brand fabric with his name “esosa” is pretty and colorful. Faith loves the first green coat that steps out, and the flattering sleeve with the details on the end. She also wants the turquoise coat he had. Emilio is criticized for too much tailoring, while he shoots back he was just trying to show the judges how versatile he was. The judges say his collection is more of a line, and not a collection. Though he did have the more commercial group out of the three.

In the end, Seth Aaron is crowned champion of Season Seven. Emilio is visibly ticked. And steals one of Anthony’s phrases in “you don’t have to have the crown to be the king…”in his post loss interview. He just didn’t have the same appeal with it as Anthony did! Sorry Emilio, Seth Aaron kicked your butt, plain and simple. He was even more bitter  in the reunion show. And I was just even more excited that Seth Aaron had won and handled it with class and aplomb, and just overall happy he can do this for his family. A true champ.

Heidi said that this was one of the most talented groups of designers they have had. Do you agree? I’m looking forward to Season Eight. Till then, enjoy the summer!                                                - MaryB

And so the end of Season Seven began on Project Runway on Thursday. It was the usual fare. Heidi sent them off back into the real world, away from the bubble they had lived in the past few months before.

Seth Aaron and Emilio were already locked in, but Jay and Mila still had to undergo a three outfit shoot to decide which one would show at Bryant Park. Each one of them was given $9,000 and four months to design a ten piece collection. When they returned to New York the judges would decide if Mila or Jay would show.

In previous fashion as in past competition, Tim visited each of the contestants to check on their progress and also to offer any constructive criticism for them. First up was Seth Aaron in Vancouver, Washington. When Tim first sees the fifteen pieces that Seth Aaron has knocked out, he is a bit overwhelmed. However that quickly passes once his sees that a lot of Seth Aaron’s designs resemble a lot of the work he did in the challenges. He lets him know that while the collection will show beautifully, he will not win. Tim leaves Seth Aaron in a panic after he jumps with Seth’s family on the trampoline.

Next up he visited Emilio. I really liked Emilio and enjoyed his determination and spirit though not so much anymore. As Emilio has kept winning challenges, his ego has also increased. Tim first meets Emilio’s brothers, who all say how proud they are of him. Which is great, but after awhile it looked a bit forced. Then they go to see the collection. It is a pretty colorful showing. Lots of turquoise and red, and a muddy green color that Emilio fell in love with he tells Tim. He proudly shows Tim a jacket he calls “spray painted.” It is a bit crazy compared to the rest of the collection. Tim tells Emilio his whole collection lacks sophistication. Emilio basically says in no uncertain terms that Tim is nuts and continues to do what he wants. Truly, I would like to see him lose the whole shebang at this point.

Tim then goes to visit Mila in Los Angeles. The biggest thing you notice about Mila in real life…everything is black and white. Right down to her Dalmatian dog. All I could thing is “so that is where all the color blocking came from.” She tells Tim she realizes she is taking a chance without color, but was inspired by shadows. Her collection is pretty. However, I had to side with Tim when he tells her it is a bit on the conservative side. We also get to meet Mila’s parents and her boyfriend. Let’s just leave it at this – once you see her parents, you understand Mila if you have been a faithful follower of this season.

Last up was Jay in San Francisco. With the exception of Seth Aaron, his was probably the most interesting collection. He said he was inspired by a Japanese Samurai. He has color and a cool thing called Gators that are shin guards with leather clasps. Tim also had the chance to meet Jay’s partner and Jay’s parents.
Off to New York they then all go, to decide the final spot. Emilio and Seth Aaron have their own work stations, but Jay and Mila have to share one. Heidi tells them that they will show the day that they arrive. So they hurriedly pick their three best looks.

And in the end Heidi, Nina and Michael are torn, and I’m talking seriously torn. But in no surprise they end up sending Mila on. Jay is visibly distraught, but keeps it together. Mila kind of gloats, even after Jay admits they had become at least distant friends after they hated each other during the competition.

On to the finale next week and who will take the whole thing. My hope is Seth Aaron. Yours?                                                                                          – Mary B

The designers went to the circus this week….literally. It was the last challenge before Bryant Park. Heidi, Nina, Michael, Tim and the producers pulled out all the stops sending the final fabulous five to the Ringling Bros Barnum and Bailey Circus. Actually it was a pretty sweet challenge, as they were treated to their own private performance. The kids in all of the designers came out. One of my favorite scenes was Anthony totally enraptured with the performance of some clowns and them throwing water all over each other he says totally in the moment: “You have water all over your rhinestones!” It was priceless.

After the show the designers were given 30 minutes to sketch and a $300 budget. The challenge? To create a high end look inspired by just that, the circus. Four designers went the expected route of stripes, yellows, reds, polka dots, etc. Not Anthony. I am not really sure what Anthony was thinking. He instead went with an almost country bluish-grey with grey accent fabric. I think if he had executed the dress properly would have stood out. Instead he stood out for using $300 worth of polyester. Michael and Heidi both called him out on it.

Jay created a jacket that resembled the Ringmaster of the circus. And added some impeccably tweed pants. Jay was nervous the first time Anthony called his jacket a “Michael Jackson” jacket. In all fairness, it did. The judges thought overall Jay played it way too safe in this challenge.

Mila whipped up a funky looking long jacket with black and white stripes and hot pink pants. To me it was almost too costumey. Nina was not crazy about it either. The outfit was different for Mila, but it didn’t scream “send me to Bryant Park.”

Emilio – well his dress was nothing short of spectacular. In a clip earlier in the show, he spoke of wanting to win this challenge with the outfit of “the season.” Later his words came true in a prophetic way as Michael praised him that this was his favorite look of the season. The dress was black and white striped, with a shorter skirt in front cascading to a longer skirt in the back. The skirt was trimmed in black and white polka dots. A red, black and white striped accent graced the front of the solid black bodice. In short, amazing. I have called Emilio a bit cocky in previous articles. Well this time he deserved it.

Seth Aaron went a little more “Alice in Wonderland-y” to me. His overblown black and white striped jacket fantastic, but a bit too theatrical and not enough high end for the judges, and I had to agree. Everything though was tailored to perfection. Heidi loved it, Nina liked the drama angle. Michael was not that easily swayed. He called the pants “crazy crotch.”

In no surprise, Emilio was the first one sent to Bryant Park. Seth Aaron also gets the nod. Anthony gets sent home. He was gracious as always when Heidi auf’d him. That just left Mila and Jay. In a move be sure to create even more interest for the finale, there will be a designer shoot out between them, with both designing collections, but only one being allowed to present their collection.

Emilio, Mila and Seth Aaron should be the final three. We shall see. Stay tuned!

                                                                                                                                                                         -Mary B