Cheryl Shops

Project Runway recap
I recently started reading a book about harnessing my intuitive powers, and it must be working, because I started to get an uneasy feeling in my stomach in the beginning of this week's Project Runway when the narrative became heavy on my favorite contestant, Alison. (And all of a sudden, Michael, my other favorite, has a presence, probably boosted by his win last week. He seems so confident now, however, so I wasn't worried about him.) Alison got in two zingers, 1) telling Laura she hoped they were going riding since Laura was dressed for the occasion, and 2) humming the Sopranos theme song as they drove out to New Jersey. This is why I love this girl. All of the contestants started to feel the pressure with this challenge, which forced them to be super-creative by designing out of recycled materials or, as Kayne put it, garbage. But the cameras were still focusing on Alison as she ditched her cool woven skirt and started draping with tissue paper-like material. Tim Gunn then expressed reservations over whether the dress would flatter her model, who is a bit heavier than the others (ouch!). Again, not a good sign. So even though Kayne's dress looked like a high school art project and Vincent's dress looked like avant-garde vomit (seriously), Alison got kicked off for, to paraphrase Heidi, designing an unflattering dress, even though Alison herself is a woman. Now, did kook-tastic Angela get the boot for designing that poofy hooker dress? No. And has Vincent turned out anything remotely fashionable or aesthetically pleasing since he's been on the show? No. But they make good TV, and that's clearly why they're still on the show and Alison is not. Look at the credits--at the very end of the show, it says the judges take the producers' opinions into consideration when choosing the winners and losers of each episode. I know that, after all, this is a TV show, but how much credibility can it have when they keep the crazy people like Vincent on and get rid of truly talented, innovative designers like Alison?

While I'm bitching, I'd also like to note my displeasure at Rachel Zoe's appearance as a judge on this episode. What was that I said about credibility?

The silver lining in this episode, however, is that my second-favorite designer, Michael, won the challenge. I'm glad he's starting to get the recognition he deserves. Now let's just hope he doesn't go all Santino on us and get too cocky.