Blogging Project Runway: Straight to the Art

SPOILER ALERT: If you haven’t seen episode 11 of Project Runway, Season 4, you might want to stop reading now.

Bostonista had a premonition all season long that a fine-art themed challenge was in the works. This week, we realized our Spidey sense was on the right track when the designers and Tim Gunn darted to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, charged with creating a look inspired by a work of art in the museum.

Tim announced that the museum’s huge collection, for the purpose of this challenge, would be narrowed to three galleries: the Roman and Greek sculpture galleries, European painting, and the Temple of Dendur, a circa 15 B.C.E. temple from Egypt. Bostonista bemoaned the lack of Modern art inspiration for this challenge, but made a mental note to wear something Stuart Davis-inspired over the long weekend. Designers were given $350 and 2 days to complete the challenge.

A relatively calm workroom sewed away; Chris even napped, emitting loud snores until Tim came by to rouse him, disgusted by his lack of work ethic. There is always something more to do in fashion! Predictably, Rami choose the Roman and Greek inspiration for his collection, though we were hoping he might surprise us with something unexpected. Collier Strong from L’Oreal showed up to provide an initial consult on the makeup for each designer’s look; and the designers had an initial fitting with their models, excepting Sweet P., whose model showed up very late, to her consternation.

Ultimately, Christian won the challenge with his billowy white and black ode to 17th century Spain. Jillian, meanwhile, brought us a look inspired from the 16th century which ended up looking disco-chic. Both were sent to Fashion Week. Designer Roberto Cavalli added in his considered point of view, highly praising all but Sweet P’s work, especially Chris’s reinterpretation of a look from a previous challenge. We’re sure Chris’s work and Rami’s lavendar grecian gown would have looked better if we hadn’t seen their work before, but both looks felt tired, just a rehashing of their previous designs. In the end, Sweet P. was sent home, her peacock-inspired dress falling short of requirements for the competition. We’ll miss her, but this was the right choice.

See you next week, Project Runway fans! Get ready for the drama of the reunion show!

Project Runway airs on the Bravo network at 10 p.m. Wednesday evenings.