And live we did, as the show's contestants slowly found their way back to their creative roots last night in a challenge that asked them to design a cocktail dress for their models made from capital O for Organic and eco-friendly fabrics. In a Project Runway first, the twist was that their models went shopping for fabrics, leaving the designers completely helpless in terms of the type, color, and amount of fabric the models brought back. The contestants waited anxiously at Parsons for their models to return, with Jerell summing up the collective fear as not wanting his model to bring back "remnants of nonsense." We think know what he meant.
For the most part, the models seemed to do well, with only Wesley and Stella—who only wants to work with leather (leh-thuh)—seemingly struggling with their materials. In fact, so obsessed was Stella with her leh-thuh, that Blayne creeped a teensy bit closer to our hearts with a hilarious impression of Stella espousing her leh-thuh loving ways. He's temporarily excused for still trying to work this whole "licious" thing. Relative stability seemed to return to the workroom, with mentor Tim Gunn only having to up the Radar Tim Gunn "Make It Work" Count (™) by one notch to four.
At the runway show, itty-bitty Natalie Portman (who seriously only came up to host Heidi Klum's shoulder) was brought out as guest judge, for her role as one of young Hollywood's leading proponents of green fashion, having just launched her own vegan shoe line back in February. Then the show began and most of the dresses marched down runway were fun, frilly, and generally fabulous—a marked improvement in creativity from last week's tablecloth parade.
After runway, third-person talking Suede, Stella, and Kenley had the top designs, and Korto, Leanne, and Wesley the worst. Immediately, after learning they were in the bottom three, Korto and Leanne burst into tears on the runway, and again backstage when they were both eventually deemed safe. Suede was named the winner for his bias-striped red-and-gold dress, which will be produced and sold on Bluefly. That left Wesley as the loser for his ill-fitting and short brown satin dress. Judge Michael Kors said Wesley's "ambition got the better of him" but Nina Garcia, as usual, cut hard to the chase saying "tight and short is the quickest way to look cheap." Auf wiedersehen, Wesley.
In other Runway gossip, season four contestant Rami Kashou is said to be recovering from an attack he suffered late last week when someone broke a beer bottle across his face outside a bar. Also, for those who want to take a peek at the season ahead, yet another Wikipedia page claims to have a schedule of the upcoming challenges, including the names of the guest judges for each. If accurate, we're especially excited for RuPaul! "You Better Work" meets "Make It Work?" Crank that fabulous switch to 11, girls and gays!