Irina Is So Mean: Thoughts On Project Runway

I didn't like it when Irina won Project Runway a couple years ago because while the show seems to keep some volatiles around for dramatic value, it does reward emotional intelligence and real talent. Irina's a jerk. I was not happy to see her back as a client on last week's episode. She's really mean and she criticized her designers while they were being judged on the runway by saying her dress could have been sewn better. It's like she can't help herself. I didn't like the white dress and was surprised it won. But was it really necessary to take the crazy wind from Kooan's sprite fairy sails so harshly? I'm with Kooan--Irina makes me just feel sad, not happy. Irina would be more suitably cast on Real Housewives, which I have never seen, but it just seems like Irina should be ripping some big earrings off of Bethany Frankel.

Contrast that with Anya who graciously stood in her sad sack of a brown dress that somehow managed to make her look like she had back fat. She kept her mouth shut. She's so much more classy than Irina, even though I was a little disappointed that she left most of the work on her collection to the last minute during her season's Fashion Week. But she bore the awkwardness of Andrea and Chris's hideous blame fight with grace. Boy, that was tough to watch! Made me want to mysteriously leave my room in the middle of the night and not come back. But I DIDN'T. Because I'm a committed person with no way out.

Raoul and Alicia's dress didn't turn out, but I felt bad that Mila and Tim Gunn discouraged them from using their print because it was too casual. I think it would have worked out and the judges loved Kinley's dress, which was totally a day dress. At any rate, their dress was bad. But I kind of respect Raoul for refusing to place blame during the judging. "We're not doing that," he said when the judges goaded him into saying who should go home. I understand that they want designers to take responsibility for their work and be able to stand by it and defend it--So why put them on team challenges where they're supposed to work together and THEN ask them who is responsible for the dress? It's a set up for drama, which played out horribly (deliciously?) with Andrea and Chris but I agree with her totally when Andrea described it as demeaning. It is demeaning. Raoul was punished for refusing to play that game--They sent him home. Even though his dress really was ugly, I think it bugs the judges when someone opts out of their runway games.

I think Heidi is the most obvious about letting personality conflicts effect her judging. Michael Kors always goes off on one of two things: "You didn't listen to us!" and "You didn't stay true to your own design aesthetic!"

Nina plays it close to the vest. I'd love to be her. She scares the heck out of all of them.

Next week they're supposed to be "dropping like flies." Can't wait!

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