Project Runway: Hitting the Streets... After Dark?

This week's Project Runway was truly a battle of the really, really different.

Sweet P had a runway show, but I don't know why they even bothered. Her styles were the usual square dresses in styles that only women with a certain body shape could wear without looking stupid. Outside of that body style, however, you'll end up looking boxy and stuffed.

Jillian was my personal dark horse favorite winner. Not because I liked her whiny attitude, but because I love her personal style, her designs have been really good so far, and while she is slow, she is also meticulous. I also noted her comment in one of the episodes when she made a really happening coat for the avant-garde contest, then elected to make a coat for a follow-up episode. She found it strange that her partner in the a-g contest also made a coat. Uh, pot, kettle, black? This was obviously foreshadowing, boys and girls.

Her collection for fashion week did show some of her previous flair for fashion, but in a really surprising twist, it looks like she morphed it with.. Christian's??? I mean, c'mon, yes, he WAS the fan favorite, but that's because he's got the mouth that you love to hate. People listened to his bitchy rantings with a mixture of revulsion and "yes, that is exactly what I was thinking!" He kept it real. Jillian looked like she added some Christian to jazz her collection up. Sadly, the pieces that I found the most stunning were the ones that reflected her style, or at least the style that she portrayed on the show. The top-heavy heads and shoulders were often not a good match for the sleeker lines on the bottoms.

Chris March was who I was really hoping would pull it off. There's something about the plucky, over-the-top costume designer that gives me a positive vibe. Many of his outfits were
beautiful, and the hair, while a bit much, was not unflattering. But the heroin chic look that he adopted for the styling is so decades ago. His models would have done better to have more frizzy than unkempt hair and much less eyeliner. You saw the eyes and the hair and it was hard to focus on the design of the costume -- er, I mean, ensemble.

My surprise of the week was Rami Kashou. As much as he ranted about wanting to keep the draping he did the smart thing and kept it in check. Many of his dresses were beautiful and simply styled so that you could actually see the outfit. Of course, his pieces de resistance were the ones where he did a lot of draping and fitting, but that was as it should be since it is his forte. The black and gold dresses -- pure genius. Very well done! The only drawback is that his color schemes were a bit underdone. The colors he chose went very well together, but the bright colors were of the variety that you either love them or hate them. If you loved them, all good; if you hated them, it might have been a little off-putting. The schemes were also a bit simplistic, to the point where the colors looked blocked in. It's very 80's, and not necessarily in a good way.

Christian's collection was not a surprise. It was very well done and exquisitely tailored, although the feathers and ruffles were a bit over the top at times. As much as he complained about Chris March's tendency toward the costumey, you would think that he would have shown some restraint. His use of black and cream was a show-stopper visually, but the lack of color might work against him since a lot of the detail that he put into the designs was lost in the repetition. However, his collection was definitely a coming-out ball for Ferocia Couture. Fierce!

So whom do I think will win? I believe that it will be a showdown between Rami, who branched out, and Christian, who just showed out. For my money, I am hoping that Rami will win because his collection is cohesive, beautiful, and well-made. However, you never can tell what the judges will think -- or at least, I never can.