Review: 'Project Runway' - 'Design Your Heart Out'

(S07E04) The models take a backseat on 'Project Runway' tonight with the first client-based challenge. With $100 and one day, the contestants had to create a gala dress for Campbell's Address Your Heart Program. Their clients were all impacted by heart disease in different forms. The winner gets a bonus of their dress getting a limited run, and it will be shown during New York Fashion week with the designer.
It was nice seeing an apples to apples comparison where one color was forced upon all the contestants. The Macy's blue challenge last season wasn't as much of a comparison because they got to use several shades of blue and were paired up.
The biggest issue with this week's challenge is that it shouldn't have been a one day challenge. Not only are the dresses representative of the Campbell's brand, it will be shown in fashion week. Two days would have helped with fitting the normal sized women, but also would have made 'Project Runway' look better in the long run.
Like every client challenge, we have the one contestant that follows the instructions of the client a bit too much. Seth Aaron almost fell into the same hole, but luckily turned to his gut. While I didn't think his final piece was gala worthy, at least it didn't look like a Rami piece. Tim's critique covered our eventual top and bottom six and Seth Aaron for above reasons.
Since the challenge was one day, the day of the runway was crazy for all the contestants. A lot of the dresses could have benefited from an extra hour of finishing work.
Guest judge Georgina Chapman joins our regular judges. Like in the previous seasons, the 'Models of the Runway' coached the clients how to walk before the big show. Anna Marie's dress reminded me of a figure skater or ballroom dancer that uses flesh tones to prevent a dress from falling while spinning. I had trouble with Jonathan's outfit because it was really bottom heavy. Jesse's dress looked like an interesting teacher's outfit with the jacket on. Seth Aaron benefited from a good walker because he could have been docked for having too much black. Likewise, Anthony's dress looked questionable on the top half, but had a stronger walker.
The high scoring dresses were from Mila (good use of banding, classic fun), Maya (interesting shape, flattering), and Amy (elegant but modern). Amy was declared the winner of the challenge. The low scorers were Jesus (too many elements), Jesse (looked like a twirler), and Anna (makes the client look wider). Jesus had the third strike and he was eliminated.
I wasn't blown away by Amy's dress, it looked like every other flowing red dress you see on any red carpet. It's obvious that they didn't want to give Mila two back-to-back wins to boost the chance of selection drama on 'Models of the Runway.' Jesse's appearance in the bottom this week justified that it wasn't just Ping's fault last week. I'm happy to see Jesus finally eliminated since he should have been eliminated in episode two for not following the rules.
Did you find the high and low scorers right? Who should have been in the bottom instead? Leave comments below.
[Find clips and episodes of 'Project Runway' at SlashControl.]

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