Last night on "Project Runway," a show that is constantly stressing the importance of innovation to its contestants, it's ironic that the show itself has been pretty lacking in that department. So far the designers have had to churn out a red carpet ensemble, maternity wear, and beach apparel - not exactly cutting-edge stuff.

Heidi Klum tried to play like this week's challenge was going to be much tougher when she told the remaining designers that Tim was in the workroom with 13 women who they needed to make "very happy." The designers wondered who these mystery women could be. Bridezillas? Pageant kids? Dominatrixes? The possibilities were endless! But then it just turned out to be their models. You know, the same girls they dress every week. Ho-hum.

Supposedly, the models were invited to an important industry event (the Garnier Gala?), so the designers were to create eye-catching outfits that would finally get those poor models some much-needed attention. The girls, who usually save all of their dialogue for the "Models of the Runway" spin-off, got to act like clients and tell the designers what they wanted.


Some designers got on well with their models, while others clashed. Poor Shirin looked like she was going to die when her model asked for a royal blue satin jumpsuit with gold rope. Eegads. Was the "industry event" the re-opening of Studio 54?

As often happens with these "client challenges," some designers had a hard time striking a balance between giving the women what they wanted and trusting their own fashion instincts. While Epperson and Louise wisely overrode their models' color choices, Logan struggled with his "Smurf prom dress" because he let his model (who I will henceforth call Feist) dictate the design.

Tim Gunn dished out some 50-cent words while voicing concerns over Qristyl's "messy" black and brown dress and the "matronly" top half of Carol Hannah's piece. Qristyl scrapped her design and slapped together a little black dress in about five seconds. Johnny tried in vain to create some drama. Althea wanted to cry even though everything was going pretty smoothly. Nicolas and Irina talked smack about everyone else's designs. Logan lost his shirt. Unfortunately, he found it again.

Other than Heidi, none of the regular judges bothered to show up at the fashion show. Michael Kors was MIA for the third week in a row, this time replaced by designer Marc Bouwer. Although I miss Kors, I can't complain about Nina Garcia's absence. The miserable shrew was replaced with Marie Claire's benign shopping editor, Zoe Glassner. Sitting in the third chair was celeb stylist Jennifer Rade.

Althea, Carol-Hannah, and Epperson received the highest scores, and Althea was named the winner. The judges definitely made the right choice. Althea showed great style and innovation with a black and gray 3-piece "suit" with a mini bubble skirt and short smoking jacket. My only complaint would be that the model was in dire need of a bra. I thought she was going to put someone's eye out when she strutted down the runway. Interestingly enough, the judges didn't say anything about that, yet complained that Epperson's comparatively flat-chested model needed more support. Weird.




Although I liked Carol-Hannah's purple and black brocade number, I would've placed Shirin in the Top 3 instead. Hers may have been a pretty basic dress by the panel's standards, but I thought it was lovely. Plus, she managed to overcome her model's crazy disco fantasies while still giving her basically what she wanted. Based on all of her work thus far, Shirin is definitely my favorite designer of the bunch.

In this week's Bottom 3 were Johnny, Logan, and Qristyl - a ranking I basically agree with, although I might have swapped out Johnny for Christopher. Sure, Johnny's purple cocktail dress was a bit "bridesmaid," as Heidi said, but it was a work of art compared to the insane seaweed roll that Christopher wrapped his model in.

The judges hated Logan's prom dress and were disappointed that he let Feist call the shots. However, the ladies (especially Jennifer Rade) thought he was super cute. They were not as turned on by Qristyl, whose boring, "cheap-looking" dress aged her model 10-15 years, which, as Heidi explained, "in the modeling world is like dog years."

I was waiting for Logan to pop off his shirt as a ploy to avoid elimination, but no such luck. The fact that he still looks good fully clothed combined with Qristyl's third poor showing in four episodes was all the judges needed to decide that Qristyl was out.

Auf wiedersehen - see you next week!


"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.