Ding-dong, the witch done won. Irina Shabayeva was named this year's Project Runway winner last night.

Let me just say first that I don't disagree with the judges' choice. Irina clearly put a lot of work into her collection. But her intolerable bitchiness made it much too difficult to root for her.

With her win and Jeffrey Sebelia's a few seasons ago, Project Runway seems to be sending the message that you have to be a selfish, inconsiderate A-hole to make it in the fashion industry. (And maybe you do, but the industry shouldn't want to wear that like a badge of honor.) Even Christian Siriano and Santino Rice, two designers I loved for their trademark snarkiness, were probably a little cattier than they needed to be and certainly rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.

These designers all need to lighten up…it's just faaaashion!

After being named the winner, Irina said, "I think this deserves a pat on the back, because I did have some stiff competition." Well, Irina's been patting herself on the back all season, so hopefully she has enough wrist strength left over for one more.

Her win was neither surprising nor undeserved. Although I would like to string the girl up by her thumbs, I have no problem admitting that Irina is a great designer. Her collection may have been a bit WWII-meets-Mad Max for my taste, but it certainly did reflect her story of the "New York girl who needs to shield herself." And as Michael Kors said, she had the best sense of showmanship of the Final 3.

The only complaint the judges had about Irina's line was the lack of color. However, I had a feeling that it wouldn't factor too much into their final decision, considering that Christian's mostly black collection nabbed him the title last season.

One designer who did use a lot of color was Carol Hannah. I was originally pulling for her to win, but had to begrudgingly agree with the judges that her collection lacked cohesion. She offered up some very feminine and pretty party clothes in mostly jewel tones, which all worked well as separate pieces, but didn't really seem to fit into one line.

Most pleasantly surprising was Althea's collection, inspired by old sci-fi movies and full of leather, metallics, and oversized knits. I always felt like Althea was overrated during the season, but her line may have actually been my favorite. I almost thought that she might pull out a surprise win because the judges were so impressed with her connection to "what's cool on the street," but it was not to be.

Obviously, who won is the most important detail, but here are some other observations I made while watching last night's Finale:

- Awwww, wasn't it awfully sweet of Logan to be so concerned about C.H.'s illness? Yeah, I'm over my short-lived crush on him, so I hope those two get it on (if they haven't already).

- Was it just me, or did the whole controversy over the similarity between Althea's and Irina's models' makeup seem totally contrived? And Irina's snotty, "That's Althea," implying that Althea was stealing from her once again, was totally uncalled for. I mean, seriously, along with the slouchy sweater, we're supposed to believe that Irina created the smoky eye too? Next thing you know, she'll be telling everyone that Al Gore stole her idea for the Internet.

- It was strangely exciting to see the super-suave Tim Gunn just lose it on the designers backstage when their models weren't ready for the runway. He's pretty sexy when he gets angry.

- Heidi's hot pink suit was the bee's knees. Definitely better than anything in any of the Final 3's collections.

- Althea is a horrible public speaker. Listening to her introduce her collection was nearly as painful as having to listen to an 8-year-old tell a story. But with a much squeakier voice.

- Did Carol Hannah get the biggest round of applause when she first appeared? It sure sounded like it.

- I adored guest judge Suzy Menkes, who reminded me of the sweet, little British aunt I never had. I just wanted to have a tea party with her. But, good heavens, what the heck was going on with her hair? Was she going for the Bob's Big Boy look?

Auf wiedersehen - see you next week! Maybe? (I'm assuming there will be a reunion special next week.)

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"The Pop Eye @ Starpulse" is a column written by native Pittsburgher and current New Yorker, Becky Broderick. You may contact Becky directly at beckeyeam@gmail.com, or check out her other ramblings on The Pop Eye.