Make it Work: Cry Me a River. Okay, Now Stop.

This episode made me more uncomfortable and embarrassed than when I was 15 and ordered a "Reese's Penis" sundae in front of my parents: Rickie cries, and cries and we all cringe. And some denim was turned into things that shouldn't ever be denim. For example, a wedding dress.

Challenge:

Tim arrives to take the designers on a field trip! They pile into a van and head over the Brooklyn Bridge. As a Brooklynite with friends from Manhattan, I know one of these "Manhattanites" (by way of nowheresville) will trash Brooklyn, and of course it's "40 Slaps a Day Might Keep The Ego at Bay'' Christian Fiercey-Crimper McFiercerston. Christian says they're "in a borough" the way he might also say a "in a pile of poo."

They arrive at a warehouse of sorts and are greeted by some lady who is the Senior VP of Design for Levis. She is, of course, in denim. I bet she has to wear denim every day at Levis.

They open the warehouse and inside is....hundreds and hundreds of Levis Jeans. I'm going to invest in a fabulous pair of jeans when I lose 15 pounds. Boy, I hope jeans are in fashion in 2050! Tim says that inside they'll find "more than 500 pairs of 501s and also 1-yard bolts of white cotton. The challenge is to create an "iconic look of your choice that captures the spirit of originality and creativity that has lived in the heart of the Levis brand." They're going to make prospector costumes?

This somehow means that the designers have to race 100 or so yards to the jeans, which is rather unfair to Old Chris. Again! He huffs his way, 30 yards behind all the rest. I resolve to use the treadmill more. There are some tussles for jeans, mostly Victorya saying to Chris, who can't catch a break, that a pair of jeans on the floor is hers. M-E-O-W!

Back at the studio, the designers sort through their piles of denim. In the course of events, Rickie admits something he never should have admitted: "I think denim is fun to work with... I make my hats sometimes out of denim." My co-watcher and I both yell, "He makes his hats!"

We also find out that Rami was born and raised in Jerusalem, which is what makes him edgy. Christian also sails around the studio annoying everyone, but that isn't so new or notable. Chris says that "somebody needs to give him a bottle and send him to bed." Gillian thinks Christian is "immature" and Rami says Christian is "like a cartoon character. There's so much yacking and bitching."

Both Gillian and Victorya are doing coats, which I think is them both trying to recapture the success of the coat of their last challenge (which Gillian did on her own.)

Sweet Pea is making a wedding dress. A denim wedding dress makes me sad. Seriously.

After a few hours, Tim comes in to check on things. He loves Rickie's dress, which seems pretty boring to moi. He says Sweet Pea's long wedding dress is "scaring me....it's looking very happy hands at home granny circle...hippy dippy...RESOLVE THE SKIRT!"

Rami is doing a meticulous dress, and Christian is doing an impressive jean jacket and jean combination. Chris is doing an ugly dress. Surprise.

Runway Show:

I'm thinking the lowest will be Chris, Gillian and Victorya. And maybe Rickie for being so boring.

I also think the winner should be either Christian (seriously! He made a Texas Tuxedo look seriously chic) or Sweet Pea, who would up making her dress really short, patch-worked, and with a strapless sweetheart neck.

The judges basically agree, except that they LOVE Rickie's. I'm shocked. I mean, yes it's meticulous and fits the model perfectly, but it's boring and simple.

When the judges compliment Rickie, he starts...to cry. Cry about how the process is so hard, about how he doesn't know what kind of review he's going to get, blah blah. Everyone, and I mean everyone looks uncomfortable, and I include everyone in my living room as well.

And, the loser is between Gillian and Victorya. I also kind of object to this. Those two have been in the top a few times, and for one bad coat they're both on the chopping block? In the end, Victorya is out. Eh.

In the end, Rickie is the winner. I object. I feel like they're just creating some sort of redemption story arc. To recapture what I felt at the time, let me just cut and paste my notes:

Winner: Rickie;. UGH! SO BORING. SO BORING!

UUUGHGGGGHGHGHGHGGHGHGHGGHGH

Proving once and for all that the key to reality TV is wearing funny hats and crying.

Comments

[deedrdo]

i like this show. a lot. i like the drama editing. i like the challenges. i really like watching something emerge from the brain and a pile of material.

i thought victoria deserved to go this week. que sera.

[Steamboater]

There must be other factors involved in the judging process that the audience isn't told about. Victoria's outfit was crap but she must have also been eliminated because she has a penchant for not being able to work with others well. As for Rickie, he should have been eliminated long ago and yes, his win was a Pity Win Award. Rami for the first time has shown he can do something different. At least he didn't denim-up a his model like a greek goddess with braids and lots of denim draped.
Although Sweet Pea's name is apt (I love her), there was nothing new or modern about her design. She was in trouble and just cut the thing. SHe's probabkly a very good designer for a local dress shop but as for the runway in New York, no way. Christian's pants were an inspiration with jacket cuffs at the bottom although few women can wear pants that tight. He's a little queen and young yes, but he's good--very good. In 10 years he'll be a leading designer in the fashion world. Gillian is good too but I wonder if she can get away from that flair beneath the knee design sense she has; it's just a bit too cute. I really want to see something new from herChris; they should have never brought him back. I think they did though because he provides a good laugh. It would have been nice if he provided for some good designs.
Lastly, I hope Jack is okay. I wouldn't be surprised if they brought him back to the show. He looked terrible on the show where he said goodbye and I think of of him all the time. Good luck Jack.

[DwH]

Christian did a great job with this uninspired challenge. I love his comments and general attitude. Especially when contrasted to that of Weepy Rickie. His is the kind of emotional weakness that I deplore: he treats every damned thing as so intense and so personal that ultimately *nothing* is.

Sweet P really did make a nice little dress.

Love this show. Thanks for the commentary.