Project Runway Junior: Episode 2: Workin' at the Car Wash

Greetings Project Runway Fans!

Welcome back.  This week's episode had me singing this song all week long...

Because it's time to take the limo to the car wash.

Thank you, Matt, for saying what needed to be said.

"Wax on...wax off."

"Designers, it's time for the unconventional materials challenge!"

The designers displayed a panoply of emotions.

Tim Gunn's tie displayed a panoply of colors.

"I hope I don't need to explain to you that 'unconventional materials' means want you to use them like conventional materials. This is not an avant garde challenge."

But Hannah really dropped the biggest hint of all.

"Look at me. I'm wearing another cropped top. Design a cropped top and you're getting a high score from me."

After the mad scramble for stuff, there was no visit to Mood. The designers did have a table full of notions, however.

Note the missing picture of the designer who lost the last challenge.

Let's see how everyone did.

Maya used a floor mat for the top and pinwheels for the skirt.

I'm still trying to figure out what pinwheels have to do with a car wash. Can someone explain this to me? Do you get a free pinwheel with every car wash now? Do they tie one to your antenna after the wax is finished?

This look kept her safe for the challenge. There's nothing here to set the world on fire. It would have been better had she had enough pinwheels to completely cover the muslin skirt or if she had had some interest in the top.

Zach used floor mats and other assorted flotsam and jetsam.

 It's a little too "Playboy Bunny." All that's missing is the little collar at the neck, ears and a bunny tail and she should be carrying a tray of drinks at the club. I realize the only brief was to make something that "looked like clothes" but you have to have some level of taste, I think.

This would have been elevated had Zach made more than just a bra out of the pieces that he used in the bodice. He could have given the whole top a more ombré effect. 

Victoria used floor mats and hose.

The fit on this dress is rather questionable. She needed a whole lot more darting and shaping. Wrapping a hose around fabric does not make a dress. Furthermore, you allowed the model's hair to cover up the most interesting part in the back.

Safe.

Always pumped up for every challenge.

He's using fabric hose, which few people did. The colors were really nice.

The top is interesting. The shorts (yes, they're shorts) are clever. Still, it's two different pieces. I would have loved to see the shorts in the hose fabric as well. I'm impressed with the construction of the shorts. Here, a 15-year-old boy has managed to make a pair of shorts with unconventional materials that fit better than any shorts did in Season 14 with the adults. Drop the mic, Jax.

Why this look wasn't also rated high enough to go before the judges is beyond me. Look at that cropped top!

She used plastic flags and broken-up reflectors.

It's a big bowl of ok. She was also in the safe zone for this challenge. I would have liked to have seen something more interesting done with the skirt. Don't ask me exactly what, however. It seems as those she was really limited by the materials.

Peytie ain't just playing around...

"I see you're making some sort of cropped top."

"Just trying to keep Hannah happy!"

"The top and bottom look like they're from different outfits."

"I disagree. They're both made out of mops. Can't you see this?

"Someone has failed to inform Kelly that this show is not the 'Fashion Police.'"

I see both sides here. The outfit would have been more cohesive had both the skirt and top featured the fringe. The fit and the construction are spot on. Our surfer girl is quite the contender.

"I can make anything out of anything!"

The color put her off. The texture could have gone "full Muppet." The challenge for Samantha was do design something that made this look like a garment. I think she came close, but wouldn't have heaped as much praise on it as the designers did.

"I can't even see the seams!"
"Take a closer look at the back, Ava."

Just a little bit of shaping at the waistline and the same cut-away in the back as the front would have improved the dress. We all know, however, that only a cropped top could have catapulted this dress into contention to unseat the reflecto-boys.

Reflecto #1

The sun reflector dress was well fitted.

"CROPPED TOP!"

Oh the key chains! Let's gush over the key chains! Let's not and say we did. I'm all for the right not looking like the left...breaking the rules. But when the entire dress is over the top symmetrical, a red shoulder and a blue shoulder looks too much like a mistake. I would have preferred blended colors. From a construction standpoint, this was the better dress.

"Ha ha ha...not so fast..."

Reflecto #2 was an interesting mashup between the sun reflectors and the floor mats.

"CROPPED TOP!"

"Not just that, but it doesn't pull away at the top. He's working some gravity defying voodoo up in there."

When the construction exceeds expectations and the visual interest is high, it doesn't really matter that the top really belongs with another bottom, I guess. Normally, I'm peeved when the "best design" doesn't win, but the Reflectos were so close and it gave us the best non-verbal exchange of the season....any season for that matter.

BEST STINK-EYE EVER.

Sheepish grin of a surprise win.

That's TV gold there, folks. TV gold.

"I made the cropped top for Hannah and I wanted to add tubing for the skirt."

The top is a hot mess. The tubes are even worse. They bound the model to the point where she could only waddle down the runway. Tim had the answer all along. Cut the tubes in half. Here's what Matt needed to do with the skirt: cut the tubes into 4-6" sections, THEN cut the tubes in half. Stab them several times to poke holes. Hand sew them through the holes--concave. They would have laid flatter and the skirt would have moved. All that still wouldn't have helped with the top.

"CROPPED TOP!"

I'm not 100% convinced that Matt shouldn't have been the one to go home and not Ysabel. I like the flare on the back of the skirt. Had she been able to incorporate some of the purple and red, she might have been able to make this more interesting. Kelly also pointed out that the top needed a pop of color as well, instead of the white cording from the flags. I liked the sponge top. She was the only designer to use the sponges. Had she used them for both pieces she might have been rewarded for all her pain and suffering (there would have been a lot) by staying for another challenge.
Maybe.
The outfit looks way better in this picture than it did on the runway, by the way. 

Still, it's sad to lose one of the designers and this picture says it all.

Have we ever seen such a genuine, heartfelt display of emotion on the runway before? Maybe we have, but I bet it was more from individual gratitude or individual disappointment and not the pain of losing the camaraderie of friends who share your passion after years of working and dreaming alone. There aren't other kids their age who have this design dream where they live. For the first time, they can pal around with people who get their inside jokes, have their same concerns, follow the same people, worry about the same things. It's hard to leave that. Forget about the competition.
Yes, Ysabel is 17 and about to have one of the best years of her life. She kicked it off with Project Runway and it can only get better from here. Wishing her all the best in the future!

Well, I'd say see you next week, but next week is that week where you eat a meal with your relatives and give thanks that you don't get together with them more often. Oh wait...that's only some of us! I'm very thankful for the readers that visit this blog each week. I'm also thankful for the creative folks behind Project Runway who decided to take a chance with the Juniors. It's a much-needed shot in the arm to a stale franchise and it's been a lot of fun so far.

See you in two weeks!