Before YouTube, recapping music videos is totally a thing and not a waste of time. Really..
PROJECT RUNWAY
Season 2 Episode 3: All Dolled Up
Previously, the Fashionistas attended a party where they were given plenty of drinks to prepare them for their next task. No, not to create their idea of alcohol-induced avante garde fashion, but to come up with something out of the very clothes they were wearing at that moment. Chloe Dao created her second spaghetti-strapped outfit that netted her a win, causing Santino the Great to mutter that she won because the judges didn't want him to win twice in a row. Kirsten, on the other hand, created some tacky top that went with an actually great skirt and the judges couldn't look beyond the top to let her stay. Kirsten sniffled her way out of the competition and now thirteen Fashionista remained. Who will be cut at the end of this episode? Will Santino the Great continue to dig deeper into his delusions of grandeur? Will Diana Eng finally come up with a design that involves a fishbowl over the model's head? Stay tuned!
Morning, Apartment 17H. Diana Eng knocks timidly on Chloe Dao's bedroom door, saying in her squeaky mouse that I would have find too irritating for words if I don't find Diana at the same time too fabulous for words, "Chloe? You have like thirty minutes to be downstairs!" The camera pans along Chloe's sleeping body - the show's concession for the three straight males tuning in - and I wonder how the cameraman gets to be in her room when the door is supposed to be locked. I don't suppose that the cameraman spent the night in the same room as Chloe Dao? Hmm. Or maybe Chloe opens the door and runs back to the bed to pose on it for the camera? But that won't be the first puzzling moment of editing that happens in this episode, which unfortunately dampens an otherwise most enjoyable episode indeed. As Diana brushes her teeth, Chloe wanders sleepily into the kitchen where she gasps when she realizes that it's already 7:00 am. Chloe tells the camera that it was great to win the last task because it was a "humongous validation". The camera pans on Kirsten's farewell message on the chalkboard by the door: "Bye girls! Thanks for all your kindness. Best, Kirsten." She has also drawn three very adorable cartoon representations of herself, Chloe, and Diana, awww. Chloe continues telling the camera that Kirsten is gone, which is fine with her because she doesn't think that Kirsten is the "most talented" of them all. She thinks that the correct people have been eliminated so far. Naturally, it won't be correct if she was partly of the eliminated roster.
Over at Apartment 37G, Kara leaves the shower to tell Guadalupe, "Baby, I think we need to change rooms around." If you can remember in the previous episode, Marla and Kara planned to sleep in the same bedroom until Guadalupe decided that they needed to decide who will sleep more in a more democratic manner and Marla ended up bunking with Zulema while Kara ended up with Guadalupe. Now Kara wants to switch so that Guadalupe ends up bunking with Zulema. Ladies, I honestly do not think that is a good idea for all involved that we put Guadalupe with Zulema. At all. Guadalupe tells Kara that Kara finding it not too nice to be her room mate is due to Kara "exuding out" a lot of "nervous tension". Guadalupe thinks that Kara is not handling the nervous tension in a way that is "appropriate". Kara responds by saying that Guadalupe is the one projecting nervous tension on Kara, as if Guadalupe has this special power to transfer her stress to other people that Guadalupe isn't aware of. Kara acts like she is so sorry to be the bearer of this horrible news to Guadalupe and Guadalupe squeals that hello, she's not the nervous wreck around here. "You can say however you like, girl," Guadalupe says dismissively as she gets ready to go downstairs. As she and Kara continue to argue over who is stressing out who, Guadalupe tells the camera that Kara tends to break out into "elaborate blow-outs", the nervous wreck that Kara is, and she claims not to respect people like Kara who creates "disturbance" to "try and disturb other people". Okay, but I still think it's a bad idea to put the constantly-babbling Guadalupe with the diva Zulema in the same room.
Let's move over to Apartment 35D which currently contains the three most obnoxious brats Santino the Great, Nick whose worst drama-queen bitch tendencies is brought out by Santino, Andraé the Crybaby Clown. Poor Dan. One of them has written a list on their chalkboard, with item number one being never to cry on national television. Well, it's too bad that no one adds "act like an arrogant prick with megalomaniac tendencies" and "bitch with this arrogant prick, therefore coming off like this prick's bitch sidekick" to that list as well. Santino says that he'd bet that the Crybaby Clown will burst into tears again. I'd bet that Santino would behave like a prick but that would be the easiest money I'd ever make if anyone is foolish enough to accept the bet. Andraé has this "Yeah, yeah, whatever!" expression on his face, which leads me to suspect that the list is made by Santino. Andraé tells the camera that he doesn't relish crying like that again and while he feels that it's fair to get teased over his boo-hoo-hoo's, he doesn't like to think of himself as "weak". He's "weak"? Now what gives him that idea, apart from his ability to burst into tears after being pricked with a feather? As Nick primps in the mirror, he says aloud, "And they thought us fags would take so long to get ready!" I don't know who "they" is, but I'd like to say that it is rather unsightly for a man his age to gel up his short hair into spikes. The whole "I adore the leather biker dude who took by virginity in the restroom of some trucker hangout while ABBA could be heard playing in the distance and I want to remember that glory hole moment forever by looking just like him!" image may be amusing when he's 18 but not when he's 38. Eccentricity cannot be used as an excuse to look like a man experiencing midlife crisis and hanging out with young people whom he believes want his sexy body but who are actually embarrassed to be seen near him.
On to the Parsons School of Design where the Fashionistas sit in their usual place by the right of the Runway. Zulema, by the way, is wearing an army beret on her head. This lady means war, if you can't tell by now. Heidi comes out wearing a "Cameron Diaz, who?" dress and tells them that they will like this task. "I promise!" she says mischievously. Heidi is warming up to her role as the host, I can see, and she's adorable to watch. She says that the Fashionistas will be designing this time for one of fashion's "most important and stylish icon". The Fashionistas ooh and Nick shrugs his shoulders in what he hopes to be a sexy manner as he mouths what seems like "Naomi!" to me. Heidi tells them that Tim will take them on a "field trip" to meet this fashion icon.
But first, the matter of what to do with Kirsten's model, Melissa, has to be settled. After Melissa and Grace come out to stand at each side of Heidi, Heidi tells Chloe Dao that as the winner of the previous task, she now has the option of keeping Grace as her model or to replace her with either Melissa or any of the models currently attached to the other Fashionistas. Chloe diplomatically apologizes to Melissa, saying that Grace has been "amazing and graceful" so she's keeping Grace as a model. Melissa is therefore sent back to the wardrobe.
As the Fashionistas get ready for their field trip, they speculate who the icon will be. Nick brings out Diana Vreeland to the others. Nick to the camera mentions Gwyneth Paltrow as a possibility. Grace Jones tells the camera that she'd love the icon in question to be Grace Jones. Nick at the Sweatshop tosses out the name Linda Evangelista and suggests maybe an "American actress" can be the icon as well. These people really overestimate the show and their own importance, don't they? As if Gwyneth Paltrow will stoop so low as to consort with them without the producers having some blackmail-worthy material of her to use as leverage in negotiations, really. If the show manages to get some "celebrity icon" on the show, chances are it will be some D-list persona non grata who have stopped gracing the pages of a tabloid since 1971. Tim comes in and causes the speculations to stop. He takes the Fashionista off to a field trip to, as he tells the Fashionistas, the icon in her "house". Okay, that is cruel. The Fashionistas are being set up to expect some legendary actress or a fashionable pop culture figure of the moment and they are whipped into a frenzy of delight when they think that they are going to visit some luxurious Beverly Hills pad. The show people all along know what the field trip actually entails so they are toying with the Fashionistas. Tim knows it too, judging from his dry "Very thrilling!" after he has dropped the bombshell on the excited Fashionistas The show seems to be mocking Barbie as much as the Fashionistas and I don't think the Mattel people who paid for product placement in this episode will be amused.
When he's not showboating on the street by doing his own The Sound Of Music running along thing, Andraé tells the camera that he finds it "very bizarre" that they take a walk down the street and just keep walking on and on. Nick echoes the sentiment to the camera. They must be expecting a bus or something to take them to Hollywood, those poor dears. Tim takes them to Times Square, which he calls "the centre of the universe, so to speak", and straight into the Toys-R-Us. Nick sarcastically tells the camera, complete with dramatic shrugs and all, "God, I knew I should've worn a better outfit!" He is a fun person, I believe, when he's not being Santino the Great's bitch sidekick. The Fashionistas pretend to be excited, although Emmett bluntly tells the camera that he feels "a little worried" when he realizes that they will be entering the store. I know. Children can give me the creeps as well. As they go up the escalators, Chloe says to the camera that the Fashionistas are still clinging to some last vestiges of denial, hoping that maybe Sarah Jessica Parker or Alicia Keys will meet them here. What, have these two been evicted from their homes and they have to move to this Toys-R-Us as a result? Still, I understand how they are feeling. It's like being told that they will be eating in some fancy restaurant only to be taken to Burger King where they learn that they have to order for take-away instead of actually getting to sit down and eat.
The Fashionistas are taken to the Barbie "house". Kara says to the camera that she is so "excited" because she, her sisters, and her mother played with Barbie. At the same time? I hope they don't fight over whose Barbie gets to wear the thong bikini then. Tim introduces Lily Martinez, the head designer from Mattel for the My Scene Barbie doll line and the only person who thinks that this task is more important than it actually is. Lily tells the Fashionistas that the My Scene Barbie line is for "an older girl who aspires to be a teenager" - is that like Nick who is 38 but aspires to be 18? - and therefore "basically" My Scene Barbie is "all about fashion". Unlike the other Barbie lines which are all about science, mathematics, and linguistics, of course. Lily also says that the My Scene Barbie is all about "fun and friendship" as well. While we're all on a roll, why not say that the My Scene Barbie can also cure cancer and make its owner a proud feminist who also has the body of a porn star? Lily goes on to say that there are several different dolls in the line, each with its own "distinct personalities" - like the dark-colored doll having the "Black" personality and the doll with slit-like eyes "Asian" personality, perhaps? - but Barbie, being the white doll who looks like a porn star, is of course the Aryan "social director and trendsetter of the bunch". Lily says all this with a straight face which creepily suggests that she is dead serious about the nonsense she is spewing.
Lily tells the Fashionistas that their task is to create a "special new look" for My Scene Barbie. The other social-directed and trendsetter-ed dolls with have to just wait for My Scene Barbie's leftovers. Tim says that this task is a test of the Fashionistas' "creative vision", unlike the previous task that challenged the Fashionistas' ability to solve differential equations. Santino the Great tells the camera that he is a "boy" who played with dolls all his life. That explains the headless dolls with stab marks all over the plastic torsos found in his drawer! He thinks that it will be great to "win this one". Translation: it is only great when he wins. Otherwise, the world can bugger off because they suck so, so badly. Chloe tells the camera that the task is "difficult" because Barbie's style is "diverse" as she thinks that Barbie dresses in "every style that is". I don't think, though, that Barbie will be dressing up in Lane Bryant outfits anytime soon. Tim says that there are thirteen My Scene Barbie dolls in display before the Fashionistas and they can take one home as their muse. What follows is a mad dash as everyone makes a grab for the Barbie that catches his or her eye. Nick tells the camera - and to Emmett - that he has already made his first and second choices and girlfriend, don't you dare try to take them or he will slap you bitch-silly. Or something like that. I think Nick is the one most likely to steal his nieces' Barbie dolls in real life. Raymundo describes the dash as "crazy" to the camera. The reason for this mad dash becomes apparent when Andraé tells the camera that most of them believe that they will have to create something related to the doll they picked. This isn't true but it's still a reasonable assumption nonetheless. Chloe who never subscribes to this assumption tells the camera that the mad dash is crazy because they aren't after all creating something based on the outfit on their My Scene Barbie doll. She doesn't take part in the fray, she just picks the Barbie that is left after all the others have grabbed theirs.
Back at the Sweatshop, Tim explains what Chloe has believed all along - the Fashionistas can design any kind of outfit they want for My Scene Barbie. He then notices that Kara is missing. Kara is still at the Toys-R-Us, telling a Toys-R-Us staff she meets that her doll's hat has slipped into one of the narrow spaces of the escalator. Chloe explains to Tim where Kara is. To the camera, she chuckles and says that Kara was shaking her My Scene Barbie in excitement when the hat of that doll flew off and fell into the cracks of the escalator. Tim wonders in disbelief where Kara is in some "wild panic" and the general consensus among the Fashionistas is that yes, Kara is indeed. Guadalupe turns to the camera and says, "Since this morning!" Heh, heh, heh. Over at the Toys-R-Us, Kara is getting people to help her retrieve the hat. She tells the camera that she can't believe that there can be such a commotion over the hat. Um, maybe because she caused the commotion by asking everyone she meets to help her retrieve the hat? Just a thought, really. "But since she is my muse and since I do like hats, I wanted the damn hat!" she tells the camera, as if that makes her obsession with that hat in any way more sensible. Back at the Sweatshop, the Fashionistas are staring and poking around at their My Scene Barbie dolls. Chloe unnecessarily explains to the camera what the task is. She is getting many confessionals in this episode, but since this isn't like other shows where the more you talk the higher your chances are of getting eliminated at the end of the episode, I'm not so worried about her many confessionals in this episode. Chloe thinks that My Scene Barbie is called that because this Barbie is all about being seen. Or is that "scened"? Anyway, Tim tells the Fashionistas that they have thirty minutes to come up with and sketch their design before they hit the shops for their fabric and material purchases. All in all, the task must be finished in two days.
As everyone gets to work and sketch, Nick tells the camera that he is sure that when he was playing with his sister's dolls, he put together the outfits better than his sister. Is this before or after he started using his sister's lipstick in secret? Nick thinks of his design in terms of how the shape and the colors will "pop out" in a box, which is a sensible thing to do since he is, after all, designing for a doll. Emmett, meanwhile, is explaining the "fringe action" of his idea to Chloe, who describes the design as "Miss Texas". Emmett thinks that the description is accurate, saying that his design is "western". He tells the camera that he intends his design to be "colorful, feminine, and frivolous". As Raymundo fiddles with his My Scene Barbie for inspiration, he tells the camera that he isn't fond of the idea of little girls having their dolls dressed up to look "overly made up". He wants his doll to look like a mother while at the same time keeping to the "latest trends". Unfortunately, he's not talking about mothers who are obsessed with Botox or depressed mothers who drink, but instead Carol Brady types. Lily the walking Mattel Barbie Doll said specifically earlier that the My Scene Barbie is geared towards underaged girls who want to look and act like Jessica Simpson and Britney Spears so Raymundo's social conscience, however admirable, is not wanted here. Elsewhere, Kara finally gets someone to retrieve her hat and she rushes back to the Sweatshop where she learns that she has nearly no time left to sketch on her design. Hey, at least she has her hat, I suppose. Kara explains that she has lost her doll's hat and... oh, basically she is just repeating what everyone watching this episode should have known by now. She looks stressed out as she gets to work and Daniel Franco gets to simper-mew to the camera about how Kara lost her hat and... sheesh, he is also saying what anyone watching this show should know by now. Meanwhile, Chloe is prancing around Dan as he sketches when Tim comes in and tells everyone to follow him as it's now time to shop.
As the Fashionistas wander around the store, Zulema has a confessional where she repeats the nature of their task. The only thing new that she offers is the fact that the Fashionistas each has $150 to spend. Diana Eng asks for something that is pink, Nick chooses a psychedelic fabric, Marla tells Tim that she intends to "play with mixing" as she peruses a selection of garish red to maroon fabrics, and Andraé gets another opportunity to huge a pale green roll of fabric while moaning to Tim that he feels "overwhelmed" over the wide choices in the store when Tim thinks that Andraé looks "disabled". Hmm, is "disabled" a polite way of saying "retarded"? Andraé moans to the camera, "Not only do I have to pull this thing together in forty-five minutes, I also have to assess what's there!" What's there to assess, other than his mental stability? As the Fashionistas one by one start paying for their purchases at the counter, Kara is still wandering around, causing Tim to remind her that they have only ten minutes left to shop. Kara quickly makes some purchases when Tim announces that time is up and they have to all return to the Sweatshop.
Ten hours until the end of day one. The Fashionistas set things up at their worktables. In case some time in the last three minutes I have slipped and hit my head hard against the table and have therefore amnesia, Nick explains to the camera what the Fasionistas have to do in this task. In the Sweatshop, Nick points to the doll on his table and says that the doll gives him this "Telemundo/Copa Cabana" chic. He plans to create an apple-green/emerald top to go with the psychadelic-fabric that he intends to turn into a skirt. Chloe Dao associates the color pink with Barbie and she thinks that every girl likes pink. With that generalization, how can she go wrong? Emmett is starting to warm up with the great unwashed, it seems, because he wanders over to Diana Eng's worktable. Diana is draping a red fabric that looks like some net-like tablecloth with circular holes as its motive - it's much nicer than I've described, honest - and Emmett tells her that the fabric is "gorgeous". Diana tells the camera that she intends to make a hood out of this fabric that can be pulled back to become a collar and incorporate the hood as a part of the top in her outfit. Emmett gives an orgasmic sigh as he touches the fabric and tells Diana that she is doing "Barbie couture, for sure".
As Santino the Great works, he explains that his design is a combination of knit and woven fabrics to simultaneously produce the effect of "fit and flare". Gee, just like his previous two designs! This is probably his signature style. He tells the camera that he will perceive himself as a total failure if he doesn't end up being the best of the best. Shall I have the razorblades ready then in case he doesn't win? Elsewhere, Diana is watching and listening as Daniel Franco explains his design to her - one piece of fabric for the bust, one for the shoulder, and two seams for who-knows-what. "Simplify! Simplify!" Diana tells him. What Miss I-Play-With-Magnets tells him to simplify, that's when he is really pushing it with the complexity of his design, I think. Daniel Franco just smiles when Diana tells him to simplify. He may be a whiny self-pitying blubbering twit but at least he has no malice or venom, that Daniel Franco, unlike a certain Mr "I Wanna Be The Best, You Assholes!" guy.
Nick is helping Marla with the draping of her fabric over the mannequin by telling her what to do. Marla however is the kind of person who tends to interrupt while people are explaining things to her. She's not being stubborn or anything, instead she just doesn't listen enough. She tends to quickly pounce on something Nick says and tries to do what he says without listening to the rest of his explanation, so when things go wrong, she will then interrupt him to ask him where she went wrong. Chloe Dao overhears those two making a small commotion at Marla's worktable and says to Marla, "It won't be pretty there, Marla. It just shows that you're not good at draping." Marla smiles good-naturedly, nods, and says that yes, she is not good at draping. To the camera, Marla explains that she is self-taught and has no formal training because she missed out on "opportunities" when she had kids and she lived in Pennsylvania. Oh, please. Instead of geography and motherhood holding Marla back, the most likely reason she didn't have "formal training" is because she designs but she gets people to create her designs for her. In an interview to her hometown newspaper, Marla confessed that she had never seen this show and didn't know what she had to do on the show. It is very possible that she believed that she could have just sketched and come up with designs instead of having to put them together with her own hands from scratch.
Back to Marla, Nick is offering to show her how to drape but Marla tells him that he only has to tell her how and she can do it herself. Marla is speaking very loudly here so Andraé looks at her and Nick in askance. Nick, however, is smiling good-naturedly so it's clear that he takes no offense in Marla's rather pushy ways. Marla obviously wants to learn as much as she could in a hands-on manner so while she may be loud, she is certainly doing the right thing. Chloe Dao, however, goes into a mild snit in her confessional, saying that this particular group is all about talent and Chloe feels that Marla doesn't deserve to be in the competition if she doesn't know how to put a garment together. That sounds bitchy, I know, but Chloe herself goes up to show Marla how to drape and her instructions to Marla is clearer and more precise than Nick's rambling instructions. So Chloe isn't being a bitch, I think, just outspoken and blunt about Marla being out of her league. Marla, bless her, seems eager to learn so it's hard to feel that she doesn't deserve to be in the competition. Okay, maybe a little, but at least Marla has the right attitude.
Raymundo and Andraé watch the proceedings with raised eyebrows. Andraé tells the camera in a shocking confessional - shocking because it's not all about him - that he won't worry about Marla's lack of experience in tailoring compared to the rest of the Fashionistas because Marla is a "pretty successful woman" whom he feels is trying to embark on a new direction that requires her to be on a "more creative bent". Marla thanks Chloe and tries to drape according to the instructions Chloe gave her. Chloe voices over to the camera with a dismissive chuckle that there is no way Marla can handle the next challenge if she can't handle this one. Yeah, and then Chloe will have to eat her words if the next challenge is, say, to design something for a working mother. Marla is taking all this instructional advice from the others in an upbeat manner and she's certainly soaking up what she is taught, so despite her lack of experience and her rather unattractive designs, I can't help but to wish that she will show the others that she can do better than they expect her to.
At about 9:30 pm (otherwise known as two hours and thirty minutes before the end of day one), Tim shows up for the walkaround and critique session. He first asks Raymundo what the man is doing and Raymundo explains that he has finished cutting and draping so now he's going to work on a jacket. Tim has reservations about the fabric Raymundo is using to make the jacket because it looks coarse and comes in a dull and lifeless shade of brown, like the material used to make gunny sacks. He also thinks that perhaps Raymundo's design has "an awful lot happening". He once more expresses concern about the jacket and when Raymundo asks him why, Tim specifically mentions that he isn't keen on the fabric intended for the jacket. Raymundo tells the camera that he is looking at My Scene Barbie through his own perspective, which is that of little girls not looking like grown-ups at a young age and how these little girls should have a chance at being little girls. Yes, yes, that's nice, but what's that got to do with making My Scene Barbie look like a mother like he said earlier? Shouldn't a mother be more grown-up than a tarty Britney Spears lookalike? Why isn't Raymundo designing a little girl outfit then instead of that of a mother like he says he wanted to? How he isn't aware of the discrepancy between his principles that he mentions and what he ends up designing, I have no idea.
Meanwhile, Chloe thinks that her design is a little too like that of a "Barbie Mom" and she promises to fix whatever that needs fixing. She promises Tim that she will shorten the skirt to make the design more "youthful". As Tim toys with a piece of ribbon, she tells him that the ribbon will loop around the skirt and everything will therefore look "cute". As Raymundo can't help watching from his side of the worktable the same way one can't help watching a car accident in fascination, Marla tells Tim that he is "so good" because he doesn't miss anything when he points out to Marla something about the seam in the skirt that he doesn't like. Marla tells Tim that she initially wanted a more elaborate design but she then believed that such creating a design would be "asking for trouble" (which is very likely an euphemism for "being far more than I am capable of putting together with my own hands"). Tim tells her kindly that her design has potential but Marla is not there yet. Tim reminds everyone then that they have an hour and fifteen minutes left and he will see them in the morning. He leaves the Fashionistas to their work.
The Fashionistas cut, sew, stich, measure, and more. Meanwhile, Andraé walks up to Marla who is bent over the ironing table and asks her whether she has figured out how to use the iron. She can't use the iron? Wow. Raymundo helps Dan in pulling some purple fabric for... something, I guess, while Chloe Dao is approached by Marla for advice about the skirt. Marla tells the camera that she thinks she has talent but she is worried about going home. She adds that she will be disappointed should she go home. Not so disappointed though will be the other Fashionistas who won't have to take time out from their work to help her in some thing or the other.
Day two. Chloe tells the camera that the task is a tough one. Why is she giving confessionals when she has nothing new to say? Is her mother editing this episode? As the Fashionistas walk to Parsons, Andraé can be seen wearing these yellow pair of really short shorts with no underwear underneath. Maybe those shorts are his underwear and he forgot to put on his pants? At any rate, I don't particularly mind that he wants to show how much he dangles and bounces on TV, I only ask that he lends those shorts to Emmett and get that man to wear them in the next episode.
At the Sweatshop, Tim announces a "surprise": Lily the walking Barbie has dropped by for a visit! Maybe she's on a mission to make sure that no one taints the purity of the Barbie vision by creating "Transvestite Barbie" or "Lesbian Barbie and her Black girlfriend Sheneqa" that would upset the folks that the dolls are marketed to. The Fashionistas try to act delighted to see her. In her fake and grating manner, Lily tells them that the winning design will be produced and sold as a limited edition My Scene Barbie and the winner's face will be on the box. Therefore, she wants the Fashionistas to also create a doll-sized replica of their design! The Fashionistas give a half-hearted clap because they are pretty told that they have to do more work on this task. Raymundo tells the camera that he, a designer, will be thrilled to win in this task because it will be "spectacular" to have his work put out in the international markets. He obviously missed the part where Lily mentioned that the dolls will be produced in limited quantities and sold as a special collector's item. Then again, I don't think Raymundo is listening at all in this episode because he thinks that having about a few hundred of such My Scene Barbie dolls sold to rich people will be a huge stepping stone for him. It really isn't.
As the Fashionistas resume working, Marla tells the camera that she feels that the effort to create a miniature outfit of her design takes time away from her work on the life-sized design. At seven hours until midnight, Santino the Great is telling the people around him in his nasty manner, "Marla, you know, she wears a big, shiny, tacky badge of being self-taught. You've got your small limited bag of tricks. Work it out, girl, you know?" Kara and Nick laugh the loudest. Oh, Nick. He is really turning into an unlikeable bitch in Santino's shadow. The ever-pleasant Santino is mocking Marla when Marla is not around. Marla returns to her worktable and everyone quiets down. Andraé makes this irritated expression where he blows out his cheeks when Marla starts having problems with her sewing machine. This I can understand since Marla must be asking people for help so often that they can't help being irritated by her. Andraé however asks Marla what kind of trouble she is having. Marla doesn't know what button to use in her sewing and Andraé tells her which button is which. After that, Marla manages to have more problems when the piece of cloth she is trying to sew becomes undone. She leaves the table while saying that she is not changing the thread. Spookily enough, I can hear Tim's disembodied voice in the background.
Elsewhere, Daniel Franco explains to the camera that he has a habit of putting something on the mannequin and stepping back to examine it before going back to make changes. He says that he is getting "perspective on the design" and compares his pacing to how you would examine a Monet in a museum. Chloe isn't so impressed and she certainly doesn't think that Daniel Franco is comparable to a Monet - who can blame her, honestly? - as she tells the camera that Daniel Franco "shuffles" and "dances a little bit" while working. Dan gets his second line in the episode when he tells the camera that Daniel Franco's "constant walk-back" is "a little too much". Chloe tells the camera, "It works for him; it wastes a lot of time." She has some strong views on how other people should be working. I wonder whether she will appreciate other people telling her what they think of her working style.
Dan gets his third line of the day when he greets Tim as Tim walks in at about three hours until midnight. Um, so how come I can hear Tim's voice earlier when Santino the Great was mocking Marla to the others? I am starting to think that many scenes in this episode are arranged out of order. Nick's outfit is nearly done and Tim agrees with Nick that Nick should be feeling good about how things are coming together nicely. As Raymundo shows Tim his work, which haven't been put on the mannequin but instead draped across the table, Tim tells Raymundo that he is worried about the outfit being too grown-up. Still, he doesn't offer advice, merely telling Raymundo that Raymundo should think about ways to resolve that problem. Tim thinks Kara's outfit, which looks exactly like her last outfit, is "cute". Kara wants to add some "nice little ripped trim" around the collar of the top but Tim says, "No, it looks like happy hands at home." So no it is then. They both agree that Kara's cap is "cute" and they exchange a high-five. Tim is surprised, not in an entirely good way, by Andraé's design which comes with a large orange and red antebellum skirt. Andraé says that he wants his Barbie to look like she has bought a "vintage dress" and "chopped it up" herself. Tim acts like his head hurts when he tells Andraé that he is trying to think of how the "potential Runway dialogue" will turn out. Andraé giggles nervously.
Tim then leads Andraé to the next room for a private chit-chat session where he tells Andraé that he is concerned about Andraé's outburst in the previous Runway. Tim tells Andraé that the judges aren't sympathetic as much as they feel that Andraé is being deliberately contrived. Thank you, Tim! Andraé defends himself in a voiceover by saying, "I was extremely emotional, but I don't want to ever appear vulnerable." Tim says that Andraé is "extremely intelligent" and "extremely talented" - and if there's one thing Tim is not good at, that is delivering fake platitudes without coming off as sarcastic - and therefore Andraé should try to demonstrate his positive qualities to the judges. In an obvious attempt that is thrown into this scene just to make Andraé look like an obtuse goon, Andraé says to the camera, "I'm basically not afraid of my emotions. I allow them to occur, I guess, as they come to me." He goes on to say that he is confident of his design and he is ready for anything the judges throw at him. Whether he is saying all this within the context of his talk with Tim or not, I will never know but Andraé is being edited as the whiny clueless goon, the poor dear.
Tim announces to all that they have nineteen minutes left until midnight and he doesn't want them to assume that they have time to work out any loose ends the next day since they will have a very tight schedule on that day. He then leaves the others to work. In case you are wondering how Diana Eng manages to make a smaller version of her hood to fit her Barbie, she can be seen holding a fabric of the same color as the fabric of the hood and making small holes in it in the same pattern as that of her hood. Marla is right about the time needed to create a miniature version of their designs eating away at the time they have to work on their life-sized designs and I wonder why the Fashionistas aren't informed of the need to create a miniature version of their designs earlier. Nick can be seen advising some people while Santino advises Nick to "keep" something in Nick's design. Santino the Great can be nice to you if you are his best friend forever, it seems.
Once the workday is over and the Fashionistas are back at their Apartments, Santino the Great holds court in Apartment 35D where he says even if Daniel Franco comes close to finishing his work, he will still be on the chopping block. I would love to hear his rationale for that. No, "Santino is a moron" doesn't count as a rationale. Santino then says that he likes his own design better than Emmett's, which I'm sure everyone is shocked to hear. Santino says that Marla is hurting. Here, Nick pipes up that Marla should just give up, mocking Marla's design for having "some whickety-whack trim". Nick then mocks the model showing off Marla's outfit, saying, "Look at my whickety-whack trim!" Dan smiles uncomfortably while Santino laughs like he has never heard anything funnier in his life. "I mean... really!" says Nick dismissively. Man, what a bitch. He's killing all the goodwill he has earned from me during the last two episodes in this particular scene alone.
The day of the Runway show is here. As the Fashionistas get ready with their make-up, toilet sessions, et cetera, Guadalupe tells the camera that she is convinced that today will be "madness" because there is plenty to be done. Marla tells the camera that she is nervous because she has no idea what the outcome of today will be. She feels that she could have done more for outfit. Obviously she can't because she doesn't have the expertise needed, so I don't know what she could have done, honestly. The Fashionistas leave the Atlas for Parsons where Tim reminds them of the same old drill (the models come in to get fitted, they then go to the hair and beauty salons, the usual) that has to be completed in two hours. He also tells them that long and blonde "Barbie-like" wigs are provided for the models but the Fashionistas "don't have to" ask their models to wear it. He encourages them to do so, though. Of course, when Tim says that they don't have to get their models to wear the wigs, what he is really saying is that they don't have to... at their own risk. In walk the models and the Fashionistas get busy.
Marla tells her model Cara that Cara can't take "this", whatever that is in her design, "on and off". Diana tells Lesley Anne, who is actually topless in that scene as she changes into Diana's outfit, to try on the skirt. Raymundo tells his model Allison that the jacket is the most important component of his design. Maybe he expects her to show off the jacket more when she takes the Runway. Daniel Franco, in the meantime is telling sweet Claudia about how he is the "least finished" of the Fashionistas. He reminds her that they have to do things the way they did last time, where he was trying to make last-moment adjustments and sewings on his outfit while she was wearing it as she was getting dolled up. Claudia agrees because she wants to win this competition. Daniel Franco gets to wheeze to the camera about how pressed for time he is. Listening at him whine, I'd have thought that someone is pressing his stomach instead. Back to Marla, she adjusts what seems like a flexible toilet brush top on Cara's shoulders and a red scarf around the model's neck while Cara looks miserable. Marla takes the jacket and says to Cara that she is thinking of nixing the jacket altogether. Santino the Great takes this opportunity to snigger about Marla at the camera, saying that Marla is grasping at straws and he can't believe that she made it this far into the competition. Santino should seriously invest in some PR agent because at this point he is making Wendy Pepper look like an UN ambassador. Back to Marla, she tries to wrap some red fabric around Cara's arms before asking Cara absently whether Cara will ever wear anything like that. Marla answers her own question with a no before quickly taking back that cloth. That poor dear is really frantically trying to find some way to put her design together.
Elsewhere, Daniel Franco is trying to iron out some crease in his dress when he realizes that he has used elastic thread. Saying the F word a few times, he scurries off to grab some threads on his worktable. Claudia, who at this point seems to be making the legs of Daniel Franco's naked Barbie spread as wide as possible (I'm afraid to ask what she is trying to do), looks up and tells Daniel Franco that he has one hour and eight minutes left. She's trying to calm him down, by the way, and at least she tried, bless her, even if being told how little time he has actually sends that man into a more intense state of panic. Claudia giggles as Daniel runs off to spread the blouse on the floor. "No wonder it looks like shit," he says to himself as he tries to repair the damage done to his dress by those nasty elastic threads. I love how this show bleeps out those naughty words, by the way: the bleep sound comes on after Daniel has said "shit", therefore rendering the whole bleeping useless as a result. He is bent over snipping out the edge of his dress when Tim sees him and asks him what he is doing. Daniel Franco tells Tim that someone left elastic thread in the bobbin of his sewing machine - hey, why is everyone looking at poor Marla like that? - and now he has to redo the hem of his dress. He promises Tim that the dress will be "a sight to see" when he's done. Tim says that he will hold Daniel Franco to that promise.
Raymundo looks at Allison wearing his dress and decides to shorten the length of the skirt. Andraé snips at the scarves wrapped around his model Danyelle's arms. Zulema makes last-minute adjustments on her dress that poor Rachael is wearing with an expression of long-drawn suffering on her face. Other Fashionistas make last minute adjustments as fast as they can while Tim reminds them that there are only twenty minutes left before the Runway. As the models get dolled up, Andraé and Danyelle in the L'Oreal Studio have to decide whether Danyelle should wear the wig. Andraé says that Danyelle never does and never will look like Barbie so he dares any judge to tell him that she will look better with a blonde wig. Hmm, I have a hunch that the Mighty Ogre or Nina may just do that, heh. Danyelle wore a wig in the previous runway so I suspect that Andraé doesn't want her to wear a wig this time because the blonde coloring of Danyelle's hair will clash with his red lollypop skirt creation and make Danyelle look like RuPaul asa result.
Then the show cuts to this scene of Claudia, Daniel Franco's model, making this hilariously unflattering facial expression after listening to something Cara told her. Maybe they are making fun of Andraé, maybe not. In this show and its tendency to insert scenes out of order and out of context just to create drama, one can never tell. This scene is definitely inserted out of order because in this scene, Claudia is wearing Daniel Franco's dress. But in the next scene, Claudia is seated in a seat still wearing the clothes she wore when she first came in, so there you go. Daniel Franco runs into the studio holding the dress he designed and tells Claudia that he has her into the dress. That sounds painful. Anyway, he is about to start on a seam at the side of the model's dress when Tim comes in to interrupt Daniel Franco. Daniel Franco looks flustered when Tim asks him and Claudia to go with him somewhere but he has no choice but to obey Tim. There is no follow-up to this scene, though, so I am never shown what takes place between Tim and Daniel Franco. Instead, I get a confessional from Daniel Franco hoping that he has done something compelling enough for the judges to keep him in the competition. The editors of this show are getting too sloppy for their own good.
Runway time. Heidi comes out wearing what seems suspiciously like a slightly modified version of Santino's creation in the first episode and greets the Fashionistas. The judges this time around are the Mighty Ogre, Nina, and the walking Barbie doll Lily. After Heidi's unnecessary babbling that takes up what seems like ten minutes of this episode, the show begins.
Heather comes out with Santino's design, a pale purple tight-fitting sleeveless affair that ends with a short but heavily-pleated skirt. I don't know, this design doesn't seem like a Barbie outfit as much as it is a fashion designer's idea of a high-fashion ballerina costume. Santino says that he will be happy if he wins and he wants to create something like a "confection" that is girly, sassy, and frilly. I only see the "frilly" part in that design of his. Eliza then walks out with Guadalupe's design, which is a knee-length olive dress. A large pink rose at the middle of the neckline and ruffled reddish fringe at the skirt give a little more color to the dress. The dress is sleeveless but Eliza has an olive-colored scarf wrapped around her right arm from mid-upper arm to her wrist as accessory. This dress is simple and pretty easy on the eyes, but it looks dangerously similar to her previous design. But I like this dress better than Santino's because it is precisely the thing that one could imagine Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, before the Anorexia Years, wearing. It's cute, wholesome (barring the more complicated back of the dress that has plenty of seamwork and exposes quite a lot of back), and doesn't look like it's a pedophile's idea of what a little girl should wear. Guadalupe is relieved that she managed to finish her dress and thinks that it looks cute and very much like what Barbie will wear. She's right.
Chloe Dao's model Grace takes the Runway with another strapless spaghetti-strapped dress. Is she going to keep designing strapless spaghetti-strapped dresses until the end of her run on this show? This time around, the dress is pink, it has a dipping neckline that meets the high-waisted cinch while the skirt flares out elegantly to create this shimmery effect when Grace walks. The ribbons add a darker shade of pink to this dress around the waist and the neckline. Maybe it's the color but while I like this dress, I think of it more like something more suitable for mass-market than on Barbie. I can see myself wearing it but that design may be a little too unexciting for Barbie, unlike what Chloe thinks about her dress. Nick's dress, modeled by Tarah, is similar to Chloe in terms of cut - it's a high-waisted dress with shimmery skirt and low neckline, but what makes this one stand out to me is the gorgeous color. The emerald green shade for the top is very vibrant while the psychadelic skirt gives this dress plenty of color that catches the eye whenever the skirt shimmers as Tarah walks on the Runway. While the shimmering effect is lost on a Barbie, the color is sure to attract attention of little girls, which is the effect Nick is hoping for in his confessional.
Dan's design is next. Rebecca comes out in this low-neckline short-skirted purple dress that, to me, makes her look frumpy. The matching reddish jacket Rebecca is wearing hangs stiffly from her shoulders and looks like it's sewn from the cloth used to make wagon tops in the old days. It hides Rebecca's silhouette and really makes her look frumpy and stout. I don't like this design at all. Dan thinks that it will be great to win, et cetera, nothing really insightful or deep there. Rachael then steps out with Zulema's silvery dress. For someone who promises to combine street elements with couture, Zulema's designs so far are disappointingly whitebread and literally colorless. She's either afraid that the use of colors will scare off the judges or she is a fraud. Time will tell me which one is her. As for now, the dress has a camisole top and a simple skirt, with plenty of frills and dangling bits at the waist. The dress hangs out over the front of Rachael's stomach so from the sideview Rachael looks like she's pregnant. The miniature version of that dress on Zulema's Barbie looks better than what Rachael is wearing but Zulema thinks that her design looks very good. Well, Rachael holding a small Barbie handbag is cute, at least.
Kara comes out with a minor variation of her last design for the Runway. I'm not joking. Her signature style seems to be Tomboy meets West Side Story in a Banana Republic catalogue. Her model Eden is wearing a pinkish shirt with horizantal dark red stripes, a cute cap, and a fancy dark-grey skirt with pink fringe and girly bow at the waist. I have a hunch though that Kara's design fits My Scene Barbie's more outgoing and contemporary image better than many of the other Fashionistas' stereotypical "sleeveless low-cut bodice, short skirt, and frilly, frilly flowery or pink bits" designs. Shannon steps out to the runway next with Emmett's design. It's a pale blue dress with very frilly see-through sleeves and an even more frilly short skirt. A dark silver shimmery horizontal strip a few inches above the skirt hemline offers the only other color to this outfit. Emmett thinks that a young girl will more attracted to that dress than the sight of him smiling on TV. He's wrong there. I like that dress, I really do, because it's something that an ordinary everday person can wear in real life, but I think it's probably not something that My Scene Barbie would wear. It doesn't scream "young lady" as much as it is something that an adult would imagine a wholesome and sweet lady in her late teens will wear... in 1974. Emmett needs to add more color and more risque elements to his designs because they are a little too proper and conservative right now. Sure, that works for men's fashion because all they wore are suits and T-shirts but Emmett is now designing for women so really, he should let his inner Tallulah Bankhead come forth a little and be a little less well-mannered. Ooh, I can see Emmett stare at the camera all day long, by the way. His forehead is so shiny thanks to all that Botox but he is, at the end of the day. a very handsome gentleman indeed.
Marla's model Cara takes the Runway with Marla's design, a maroon-colored two-piece affair. The top actually looks quite respectable while the skirt matches the top very nicely. What ruins this pretty decent if somewhat ordinary design is the lei-like furry thingie Cara is wearing around her neck. That is not necessary for the outfit to work. Marla thinks that she may be out tonight - she has no clue what will happen and she is hoping for the best. Still, I don't find this outfit as bad as the episode led me earlier to believe. Allison is next with Raymundo's design and yes, it does look quite bad. The orange is dull in the lighting of the Runway and that jacket Allison is wearing destroys her silhouette and gives her what seems like wide shoulders. If she doesn't look enough like a transvestite experimenting with his mother's clothes from 1970 for the first time, those sunglasses she is wearing only makes her head look bigger than it is. Once Allison takes off the jacket, the outfit looks a hundred times more fashionable and attractive. It's still not Barbie material though because Raymundo's design still looks too much like something from the Brady Bunch merchandise catalogue. Raymundo says that he is making a statement - and I don't think that statement is "Homeless trannies need love too!" - and he hopes that the judges will understand his statement. And cry. Okay, maybe not cry. I really like the big orange hairband Allison is wearing though. I wonder whether there is any place here where I can buy one for myself.
Here comes Danyelle with Andraé's... thing. I think the design looks much better on Andraé's sketchpad and it indeed looks better as a miniature outfit on Andraé's Barbie, but on Danyelle the lollypop skirt looks like it's diseased or something. The top is forgettable because the skirt captures one's attention and doesn't let go. Anyway, this outfit is too much like some antebellum nightmare and definitely not something that I'm sure My Scene Barbie will take to. The Mighty Ogre seems more concerned about Danyelle not wearing a wig, hmm. Diana Eng's design is next. With her wig fashioned into an adorable ponytail, Lesley Anne comes out with a singularly different dress that is nothing like the others and therefore I really like this one. It has a simple sleeveless low-neckline red top with a hood created from that net-like fabric Diana bought early on in this episode. A matching greyish skirt with thin white vertical stripes set far apart and tall boots complements this futuristic top. A simple belt completes the ensemble. Lesley Anne pulls down the hood when she reaches the end of the Runway so that the hood now acts like a nice shawl. Diana thinks that
Daniel Franco's design, modeled like Claudia, looks exactly like his previous two designs. He, like Kara, really needs to find a way to make his signature style a little more diverse. Claudia, who is proving to be the Fashionista's best friend so far in this season, never lifts her hand from the waist where Daniel Franco hasn't finished stitching up yet, but the dress in itself seems like a trendy evening gown for a Miss Universe event rather than something Barbie will wear. It doesn't have that girly factor nor does it have any high fashion vibes - that design is just nice and nothing more. Daniel Franco sounds like he's falling in love with Claudia though. Is he trying to be this season's Plotless Robert?
And with that, the judges can now tabulate the scores and open their mouths to do what they are paid for. Once they are done, the Fashionistas are called onto the Runway where Heidi calls out the names of Guadalupe, Dan, Zulema, Emmett, Diana Eng, and Daniel Franco and declare them to be safe. Chloe Dao is safe too, by the way, but for some reason the editors cut out Heidi mentioning her name. Since they have already blundered so often in this episode, what's one more blunder, right? For the remaining six, their models join them on the Runway and the judges now commence fire.
Santino the Great is all-smiles because he thinks he has won this task. When the Mighty Ogre mentions Santino's name, the editors that cut haphazardly into the middle of Santino telling the Mighty Ogre that he grew up with "3,000 Barbie dolls" in his house (freak alert) and he played with these dolls and therefore he knows very well the whole "lifestyle" of the Barbie doll. Um, what lifestyle? That doll is just that - a doll. It has no lifestyle. What is this weirdo talking about? Lily says that she loves the dress and Santino gets ready to deliver his victory speech which he dedicates to the 3,000 Barbie dolls that he chewed on before he goes to sleep every night. Alas, the conversation then moves on to Andraé and Santino is left standing there with his mouth hanging open like the idiot he is.
Lily wants to know why Andraé doesn't put a wig on Danyelle. Because, in a fashion design competition, the first thing you critique is the lack of a wig. Lily should stick to dreaming of the day when she will take over the world and turn every woman into blondes because she's grating and annoying enough as she is as a guest judge. Andraé gives some ramble about how he is merely respecting My Scene Barbie's "individualism" by not putting a wig on Danyelle but come on, he had Danyelle wear a wig in the last Runway so his entire argument is blown right there and then. Why he doesn't just say that the wig will clash badly with the outfit, I don't know. The Mighty Ogre says that Andraé reads too much into things. "It's fashion! Light up! Lighten up!" declares the Mighty Ogre. How true. Even the fashion industry gurus say it: you don't need brains in the fashion industry, no indeed-y! Although I have a hunch that when Lily echoes the Ogre's "Lighten up!" sentiments, she's actually being very serious about how Danyelle and all us women in the world must color out hair blonde. Lighten up, bitches, or Lily will force all of you to eat a burger!
Lily thinks that Andraé's design is "a little on the, you know, couture side" and says that she can't imagine any sixteen or eighteen year old wearing it. I can't imagine those girls wearing Santino's Lolita-In-Purple dress either - that short, short skirt on such a teenaged-girl is only appropriate on an adult little-girl fetish website - but hey, Lily likes that one. Andraé says that he did what he thought was great and he doesn't think that he is responsible in trying to change the judges' mind. Nina tells him, "Fine! And we're just telling you our opinion." Andraé widens his eyes and tells her that he still disagrees with them like he "can't even say". Okay then. Still, I have to say that I sort of empathize with him there. The Mighty Ogre has mocked him for reading too much into things and there is too much picking on the wig that seems blown out of proportion. Andraé must be wondering what the judges are trying to do to him.
Now it's Kara's turn. She thinks that her design has a "young sense of fun or feeling". Lily thinks that the outfit seems more like a children's ensemble and the Mighty Ogre agrees, saying that it's fabulous but it's still too much like childrenswear. When asked, Nick says that he has a niece - he takes the pain to say that he's a different kind of Uncle Nick, maybe as in an "Oh, that weird fellow with too greasy smile and dresses up like an eighteen-year old James Dean meets Village People wannabe when he's actually pushing forty; gosh I'm SO EMBARRASSED to be seen with him!" kind of different - so he believes that his "young, hip daughter of an European mogul who went to Capri and she hangs out with all her girlfriends" (kinda like Paris Hilton, perhaps?) design is what that is missing in My Scene Barbie. Great, so now we can all buy Nick's special Barbie doll for our amateur action-figure hardcore One Night In Paris II: One Night In Capri home-made movie. Nina likes it, Lily thinks that Tarah looks like a life-sized doll (and therefore Lily's idea of a perfect human being), and the Mighty Ogre thinks that the design sells the "whole thing". Nick smiles widely while Santino looks like he wants to kill someone. Hey, if he attacks Nick and they both get dragged to the police station and out of the competition, I'm all for it. Take a swing at Nick, Santino!
Heidi asks Raymundo where his Barbie is going. Raymundo says that his Barbie is a West Coast surfer girl. The next time you see someone dressed up in her mother's old maternity gowns swimming completely clothed in the sea, that's Raymundo's surfer girl. Raymundo claims that his Barbie is ready to go to the beach in the summer and he has kept the design "fun" with the colors. Say, he's not color-blind, is he? The only way that color scheme is relevant to Barbie is if Barbie is somehow starring in the remake of a 1960s movie. Heidi feels that Raymundo's design is more appropriate for Barbie's mother. Raymundo switches directions and now says that he feels that every young girl wants to be her mother. Is this guy kidding? Has he read a Livejournal blog of a typical teenaged girl before? These scary teenaged girlies don't want to be their mother, they want to marry their father. Or Orlando Bloom. Or watch Harry Potter and Hermione Granger have sex. Anyway, the Mighty Ogre thinks that the dress looks like a Halloween tablecloth and he really doesn't like the "tableclothey" design. "There's nothing deliciously girly about her," he says. Nothing like an old and aging fat lech declaring that he knows how a girly girl should be to make me feel good about watching this show, I tell you.
As for Marla, the Mighty Ogre wants her to explain her choice of color. Marla says that she wants her design to be that of a young girl trying to look older than she is and therefore may come off as a little "overdone". That's a smart answer, I must say, although I don't think the judges will appreciate hearing the answer. The Mighty Ogre finds the color "a little sad" and Nina agrees, saying that the color is "a very serious color". Apparently sixteen-year old hip and cool girls are sad if they wear deep red. Marla makes a comical upset expression here as she listens to Nina. She must be thinking that she is done for in this competition.
And with that, Heidi sends the Fashionistas away for the judges to discuss among themselves what they want to have for dinner and other trivial matters. Heidi thinks that for a "fun" challenge, many of the designs don't have that sense of fun. The Mighty Ogre agrees, saying that some of the Fashionistas completely missed the point that they were supposed to design for Barbie. I have to agree with him there when it comes to designs from the likes of Zulema, Andraé, and Daniel Franco for example, because these outfits seem more appropriate for an evening at some awards show in Hollywood rather than for Barbie. The Mighty Ogre thinks that only Nick seemed to get the idea. The judges unanimously adore Nick's design. In the backstage, Santino and Nick exchange an embrace between two unpleasant people as Nick wishes Santino, "Good luck, baby!" Santino says yes because he believes that he has won already. Heidi likes Santino's design for the details he put on that dress - which is why she loved his design in the previous episode, hmm. Heidi needs a new line to express her appreciation of Santino's designs. The Mighty Ogre also loves the design and how good the miniature costume looked on the Barbie. Backstage, Nick is saying about Santino, "Give it to him! Give it to him!" Santino sniggers and goes, "Shut up!" Of course, Santino thinks that he has won so he can pretend to be sporting about everything at that moment.
Lily doesn't like Kara's design, which perplexes Nina because she likes it. Even when Eden, the model, isn't wearing a wig, hmm. How come the judges don't pick on Eden the way they picked on Andraé for not making their models wear those wigs? Heidi agrees with Lily, saying that there isn't anything interesting about a "jean skirt with a ruffle", which she thinks is too common, while the Mighty Ogre says that the design shows "no aspiration", unlike Santino's design which is all about sixteen-year olds aspiring to show their coochie-mamas to drooling Mighty Ogres and Santinos the Great everywhere. The judges then talk about how Andraé's "wig thing" drives them crazy. "Come on!" says the Mighty Ogre. Nina denounces Andraé's outfit as "wasn't trendy", "wasn't hip", and "wasn't cool". She has no arguments from the others about that. As for Raymundo, the Mighty Ogre calls his design reminds him of a "barefoot Appalachian Lil' Abner Barbie". "She looks old, matronly, and sad!" he says. Nina says that she can't see any surfer girl element in Raymundo's design at all and the others agree, although the Mighty Ogre concedes that the white sunglasses worn by Allison are surfer-girl material. He also finds Marla's "cranberry, I don't know, burgundy" color for her design makes the model look like the mother of the bride.
With that, the Fashionistas are now called back on the Runway. Andraé is safe. He skips his way backstage. Heidi tells Santino that the judges love his work and Santino smiles in anticipation of delivering his Academy Award winner speech. Alas, Heidi just says that he is safe and Santino the Great's face falls instantly. This is hilarious. They should toy with him like that every week, I tell you. Nick is declared the winner of the task and he thanks them while sighing dramatically and saying that his niece will be very happy. As the other people backstage clap and embrace Nick while congratulating him, Santino sits in a corner and buries his face in his arms, saying that he can't believe "that shit". He doesn't actually say that - that line is dubbed in as a voiceover - so it's possible that that line was taken from a more benign context. Still, Santino doesn't hug or congratulate Nick like the others so it will be interesting to see how Nick reacts to that since they are supposed to be best friends or something. Out of Kara, Raymundo, and Marla, Kara is safe and walks backstage to hugs and congratulations from the other Fashionistas. Marla and Raymundo, one in her forties and one in his early twenties, have the odd moment of connection when both of them are told that their designs come off as "not young enough". Marla's choice of color is also said to be "completely off". Raymundo's design is not hip or cool enough. In the end, Marla is revealed to be safe. She hugs Raymundo and whispers to him before walking backstage, "It was nice to meet you." Tears well in Raymundo's eyes as he is given the auf wiedersehen by Heidi. When he walks backstage, he is given plenty of pity-hugs by the other Fashionistas with Chloe even telling him that they will see each other soon.
Raymundo, tears in his eyes, defends his design as a "huge risk". He says that he is leaving earlier than he expected but because he is young and he has "balls of steel", he assures me that he isn't going to roll over and die or something like that. He adds that he won't change a thing about his design because at least he is leaving with "integrity". "So I did it my way and I'm happy," he insists to the camera. Oh? Why is he crying then? The poor dear switches off the light after he has cleaned up his workplace and he - like the show - is done. I'll miss his cutie-pie presence on the show, sigh.