Project Runway All Stars, Episode 6

Ah yes, another episode of Project Runway All-Stars has come and gone… We laughed, we cried and we sent one designer packin’! As always, if you haven’t seen the episode, then this post will ruin the outcome for you.

Last night really irritated me; the designers, the judges, the lame challenge. Angela announced our challenge with 8 different handbags and I am thinking, cool they are designing to match a handbag. Nope, she passes the bags out, our designers take a slip out of said bag, and are assigned a season: Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter. They are to make an outfit suitable for a weekend getaway (them justifying the weekend bags) and they are going head to head with another designer. One will have a high score and one will have a low score. Bleh. Austin and Kara have Spring, Kenley and Mondo have Summer, Mila and Rami have Autumn and Jerell and Michael have Winter. And we’re off!

Let’s skip straight to the drama. Jerell has been working half the episode on a wrap/jacket/poncho jobbie in this grey wooly material. Michael Costello basically steals his idea and then makes a federal case out of it when the other designers only mildly elude to the fact that he might have taken inspiration from Jerell’s look. The following Tweets/ Twitter conversation sums up how I felt about this episode.

@petalandpink Was Michael Costello always this bitchy?

@PrimandPropah Yeah it started last week… but he is being such a bitch this week.

@petalandpink seriously! I’m not a fan to begin with but this is obnoxious.

@petalandpink I honestly don’t understand the judging on #prallstars its always the opposition of my thoughts.

@PrimandPropah That Angela bugs the sh!t out of me….

@petalandpink me too! I miss normal runway. Tim, Nina, Heidi, and Mr. Kors.

@PrimandPropah I might get smacked down but the only judge I like is Georgina and that’s only because she has an accent and is really pretty.

@petalandpink I like her hair, not as much as Nina’s though.

@petalandpink How is it that Michael copies and stays?

So our designers face off. Kara, Mila, Jerell and Kenley are our top designers. That leaves Austin, Rami, Michael and Mondo in the bottom. We feel really bad at this time because Mondo’s mother’s birthday is today and he wanted to make her proud. Sadface. Anyway, Jerell wins, as if to make the episode more interesting, hoorah! Jerell won fair and square, he was “the better man.” Well, if you were to ask this blogger, the producers should have told the judges to boot Michael for dramatic effect especially because he was in the bottom last week… but they didn’t and we bid Rami a fond farewell. 

Judging by the tweets from eliminated designers and even designers still on the show, the comments from our judges were not taken kindly. I, myself, am a little miffed at the way things are going down… but now I must see it through to the end. I will end with a tweet by our eliminated designer.

@RamiKashou Lol welcome to the chess game y’all

Positve Reinforcement a la Creative Fashion Design

So last night, I had my third Fashion Design class. I am obviously trying to still manage the stress of trying to be “competitive” and “creative”, being back in school, wondering if I am good enough and all those insecurities that I have, that really, no one but me can understand. The drive in to Boston after work on Tuesdays has just begun to be irritating because contrary to what I believed to be true, traffic goes both ways at rush hour. Also, sitting in work clothes for another 6 hours is uncool. Do see where I am going here? I can certainly pick out the negative in any situation.

Last night’s class, we were going to do a few different things. On the docket was learning to use the school’s sewing machines (home and industrial sewing), a worksheet on color blocking and also having individual consultations with our teacher about our non-textile projects (what we planned to use, our design, possible difficulties). I was not the first to go up to talk to teach about our plans. What I was hearing with the first few people were negative negatives… “That material will be hard to work with”, “This is boring”, “I am expecting more from you in this class”, “I don’t like this design”… I don’t know if it’s because Tuesday is my teacher’s “long” day or if she was just plain cranky, but she was not hiding her feelings at all. I was pretty much freaking out that I just signed up for a class that I wasn’t good enough for.



So then it was my turn. I had put together the materials that I had bought at Dollar Tree (for only $26 dollars, people) which included tea bags, coffee filters, cabinet liners (in this light pink/beige/pistachio color) and this eucalyptus that had been spray painted gold. I glued a sample of each to a piece of sketch paper and then proceeded to design a dress using those materials on the same piece of paper. Here is a shot of what I showed her.

She looked at it, let me explain what I was planning on doing, then looked me in the eyes and told me she loved it. She loved the materials, thought they would work well and thought the design was fantastic. It was really opposite of what she had told the first 6 or 7 people, so I really trusted that she meant it. She did make mention of my sketch having “Lois Griffin” hair, which amused the class but only gave me one constructive remark and that was to think about adding a little color. I am not going to lie, I was pretty, pretty, pretty stoked at the feedback. She did give a couple other people some really positive remarks but I am pretty sure I was one of her top 3, second only to a girl who had already started cross hooking streamer and the lone man in our class who worked his design out in CAD.


And just like that, with a little positive reinforcement, the traffic, uncomfortable work clothes* and insecurities sort of flew out the window. I needed some self confidence in the form of support from someone else, whose creative opinions matter to me. That little push was the fuel I needed to get this fashion train chugga chugga choo-chooing along!

* I have decided that I will pack a bag every Tuesday with Yoga pants and sneaks… I don’t care, comfort is key.

The Year of Doing it All

So as most of you already know, the engagement to be married has become a focal point in my life in the past few weeks but something else has come to a head, and that is my life long dream of going to school for Fashion Design…. something that I have just become acutely aware of still being my dream.

Upon graduating from High School, I did apply to colleges based on this dream, being accepted into multiple fashion design programs but when it all came down to it, my family and I decided that going into a Business program would be a more marketable degree something I could work with in many, many different fields. When you are 17/18 years old, you make decisions based on silly things and in looking back, I wish I could have given myself a couple of pointers. In the end, I chose to go to the school that I did based on how many girls from my High School were going there. In retrospect? Not the greatest reason to choose a college but had I to do it over again, I would make the same decision. I met some of the greatest people I know and some of the best friends I will ever have by going to that school.

As for my degree? I do not regret the decision to go to school for business. When I graduated, I got a job almost immediately. Actually, if I recall correctly, I started working before I even got my actual diploma. Then when the economy tanked, I still remained employed, which was a blessing. I sincerely believe that my business degree has made me more marketable and perhaps a more sound investment to employers… fast forward to present day. I am pretty successful for my late 20’s but when I actual drive to work, plunk down at my computer and do my actual job, am I that excited to do it? No, not at all. I have this blog, which I love, but I want to be doing something amazeballs with my time, all the time. Whether that is designing fashion? Or working with my business degree in a fashion environment, I don’t know but I do know it’s something I want to pursue.


I am older and wiser. This year, I want to go to school for Fashion Design. I have a business degree behind me. Let’s get ‘er done. This year, I want to put a lot of effort into planning a fantastic wedding and not forget about the man who is the one who gave me the ring. This year, I want to be an amazing bridesmaid to my good friend Nathalie, who asked me to be in her September wedding before I even knew about mine. This year, I want to build this blog into something more; I want it to take on a life of it’s own (hopefully somewhat organically). This Spring, I want to go on a vacation to Iceland with my man and his bestie/bestie’s wife… That may seem like a lot to plan around in one year but I say, why not try to have it all? 

I just enrolled in my first class of the Fashion Design Graduate Certificate Program at Mass College of Art and Design in Boston. The program requires that you take one of the preliminary courses and then apply to the bigger program once you pass that first class. I am taking Intro to Creative Fashion Design this Spring semester with the hopes of taking Fashion Illustration this Summer before I even get into to the program. I would take the Fall off, as I have Nathalie’s wedding, possibly my own and the Holidays to plan for. I would also be applying with my portfolio in November so, I think I will probably need some time for that as well. Any way you slice it, I am pretty darn excited about exploring this opportunity that my life and business degree have afforded me.

I am not about New Year’s resolutions this year… I am about living my life to the fullest and pursuing things I want to do all the time (if possible)… Why resolve to do things, when you can just do them? We shall see how long I can keep this motivation up and I am sure there will be some days where I will need help keeping positive but I am excited to pursue my dreams, marry the man of my dreams, create memories and keep you all updated on the pursuit of my new degree.

What are your hopes for this year? What do you hope to accomplish?