Mondo Wins

And nobody is surprised

Well except Mondo, maybe.

The rest of us knew the whole premise of this show was pretty much to vindicate him for his robbed earlier win from season 8.

But Austin was equally robbed for season 1, but I guess time heals all wounds

Personally I liked Mondo's designs although I thought they were very similar to his previous output

Austin's I thought branched out more although I agreed with the judges that he needed to hone his focus better (Hasidic vampire hipsters???)


But if this is the results...

I'll bite! 

Other moments of note:

Angela Lindvall looked SEX! in her Stella McCartney

Georgina Chapman was channeling her inner Muppet lady of the manor

Tommy Hilfiger gave good insight on market and retail (despite my "Meh" on him, he knows how to sell ish!) 

Not enough Isaac! 

And Joanna Coles is possibly the nicest (at least on TV) editor of a fashion magazine I've ever experienced! 

And the consolation prize of a weekend in Paris may have been custom made by the producers since they knew they weren't giving it to Austin

(Oh and I checked, Mondo's designs aren't up on Neiman Marcus online as of this post on Friday at 11am.)

Tonite's an All Star Nite!

The scores are tied and our fave designer magic makers are in the race to be knighted all star of all stars. Will it be Mondo making up for past titles robbed? 

Or Austin, the original shoulda been, this time being? 

Nobody think it Michael, right? 

Project Runway All Stars: Just Give Me the Light

So very Storm (nerd alert) meets Silver Surfer (ooh), my only question is which unnamed artist that Pharell "works with' will be sporting this look? Hmm, Kelis? 

AUSTIN

MONDO

Just one of many Mortal Kombat messes

Very astute assessment Pharell. And I thought you were just gonna be eye candy

Purr in your Tims and your lady cardigan. 

Man, as the competition winds down, the tempest between our two designer sprites is really heating up

Mondo even got his s**t talk on about Austin this week!

But that didn't help his score as Austin takes the lead this week with

AUSTIN        5

MONDO       4

Project Runway All Stars: U.N. Me?

Man this week's All Stars really blew, am I right? You give them some hollow flag challenge at the U.N. and then get mad at them for making things that felt like Epcot costume castoffs? Geez, make up your mind, judges!

Colors of the World / Spice up your life! Or pose for it, damnit! 

As for the designs, these are dresses we've seen before and far better






AUSTIN

This draped, chiffon with knotting detail became one of Austin's signatures. This ain't it.






MONDO

He did a very similar silhouette for that polka dot number Michael Kors and Nina Garcia hated but Heidi promised (and delivered!) to wear. That was better.



In this week's awarding of the prize, I'ma do something a little controversial and dole it out based not on the clothes on the runway but the clothes on their backs.

Austin's gay gestapo wins by a leg warmer!

Score:


Austin   4

Mondo  4

OMGspell

Ooh the battle of the queens grew electric this week when the challenge became "BROADWAY"! 

And what a fabulously muddled challenge at hand. So the character the designers are creating for is rich and showy but she should look like she stole items from a flea market? 

Thanks "Godspell" actress we never saw again for that very explicit explanation 

(Ooh, girl, did no one tell you that you were gonna be on TV? The stage is forgiving.) 

Let's see what our little costumer elves banged out in response

Workin'....

Workin' it!

AUSTIN

Here's why Austin is an 'All Star' in the land of reality television: when this came out I was like 'oh he is done for!' but somehow this take on one of Henry the 8ths lesser wives totally played out almost nailing him a win? What?

(Dumbfounded)

MONDO

Was there a part of this week's instruction I missed? Where did it say make a direct historical reference to a lady of royalty, because if this ain't some Catherine the Great ish, I'll be a monkey's uncle! And that Eraserhead hair? Ooh child. 

Hey, at least we managed to go the whole episode without jazz hands....

Oh....



Well despite that offense I'm giving it to Mondo, cuz in my fantasy league, nerd alert, battle royale between former queens, Catherine could whoop on Marie Antoinette any old day. Take that queen!


Austin    3

Mondo   4

Project Runway All Stars Austin vs Mondo: Seasonal Dressing

The Winter of my discontent. This was the worst challenge. Or maybe I just have runway fatigue this week

(Angela, equally bored)

Either way here's the results served up with some snark





AUSTIN


So before we begin, really, can we talk about why each paring stole ideas from one another. Because I liked Austin's high-waisted pant here and then Kara up and does a high waisted pant. That won their Spring season! What??

What about Kara's look says "winner"?! This is sad shut-in runs to the store! 

Not that Austin's prim tea break from the lending library fared much better. I love a good floral, but this ain't it. I was genuinely worried for me old pal, Austin, this week. 

MONDO

The judges had the nerve to rip apart how "juniors" Mondo's look was but then turn right around and rave about this polka dot romper from Kenley? (Again polka dots from both of you? For Summer?)

And downplay the uneven polka dots. Really visually heinous

I'm gonna reward this week to Mondo. I like "Juniors" clothes and think win or lose, he needs to ditch the PR franchise and become head designer of Forever 21. And I mean that as the utmost compliment! 

AUSTIN   3

MONDO  3


Once again tied up. These two are like the Giants vs Patriots, but a wee bit gayer.

Gosh, is Deconstruction Back in?

I have to say, this week's might be the best collection of designs since Project Runway All Stars started.


Perhaps it was the 2 day time frame that allowed the designers the chance to breathe and really show what they're capable of, but whatever the reason I didn't hate anything from the "take clothes off strangers and reconstruct it into something cute" challenge

Even Anthony's eliminated ensemble featured agreeable, on trend high-waisted pants and turban. He was cut merely for not using enough of his collected resources, showing that given enough time this contestant pool will rise to the challenge. 

But let's get back to our show ponies:

AUSTIN

I thought this was a shoe-in for both its chic girliness and for being a nice stretch of Austin's aesthetic. Wild for that skirt and I know many a girl who would wear this right now. 

MONDO

Who am I to question a wild print, color block, granny short and the jacket was Rick Owens for Macy's which is, I swear, a compliment

This was a tough call, but since the judges really adhered to the basis of the challenge, reinvention, I'm gonna go for Austin's. He tore that punk ish from his girl off the street up and made a lady with edge

LOVE that skirt! 

At the end of week five, they're both still very much alive

Austin  3

Mondo 2

You Say Gelato...

I say bring back Miss Piggy!


This week's make a dress inspired by ice cream with a press agent, was a cute idea, Project Runway All Stars, but that six hour constraint seemed like a real mean tack-on

However, there was some nice output this week from both of my designer dudes.





AUSTIN

Austin's knotted and beaded felt like a warm buttery concoction of vanilla and spice and showed some nice craftsmanship.








MONDO

Cool crisp and refreshing, this is the what the challenge was supposed to be all about: visualization of a flavor. Delicious and the clear winner.




Week four tally comes to:

Austin  2

Mondo 2

Milk with sour cherries?  Zero

Yuk. 

Project Runway All Stars Austin vs Mondo: Miss Piggy is the Client!

Work it out!

Most of the designers were floored by the opportunity to dress such a fashionable figure in pop culture. How they composed themselves at all is beyond my fathoming....

                         (Austin)                                                                                        (Mondo)                                

Oh, that's right, they didn't! 

Blech, guys. What happened here? Both dresses are far too referential. Austin's is straight up Proenza Schouler for Target 

While Mondo's look is cribbed from Bryce Howard Dallas in "The Help" 

Damn! Down to that unfortunate helmet hair! 

Either way, both were literal and literally AWFUL! 

If I have to chose, Austin, you sneak by with this week based entirely on styling. Your model's hair and youthful energy are far more Piggy than that Betty Ford look of Mondo's

(Stealing Angela Lindvall's thunder!)

So the score is:

Austin  2

Mondo 1

Don't be too excited, Senor, that was a default point. You better step it up!