Project Runway All Stars Season 6, Episode 9 Recap: Posen on the Red Carpet

photos courtesy of mylifetime.com

Once again, I cannot get over Alyssa’s outfit. What exactly is she wearing THIS week? I hope it’s a Zac Posen original, because the designers started this week’s episode at his atelier and got to choose fabrics from his workroom.

The designers had to create a red carpet look that focused on one of their signature sewing techniques. Techniques featured: sculpting, pintucking, pleating, ruffles, corsetry and tailoring.

The winning designer would get to design a wardrobe piece for a leading lady of a Lifetime original movie.

Ann was out this week, so the designers were also tasked with mentoring each other, which quickly became an exercise of futility. They admitted to giving advice that was counterproductive or sabotaging, but everyone was wise to it so it didn’t matter. They all just went with their guts.

Fabio started with a beautiful dark greenish fabric and pleated the entire bodice with these large, wide pleats that were form fitted at the top and cascaded down the skirt of the dress. I knew he would be in the top…

…and he was.

Ken chose a strange stretchy brocade fabric, and it didn’t wow on the runway. He wasn’t happy with the finished look, either. He was on the bottom.

Joshua chose pintucking, which I thought was going to be very striking. But he kept complaining of the time and ended up not finishing what he wanted to do, which was also unclear from the looks of his sketch.

He was in the bottom. The judges thought there were two different dresses going on here–one on the top that was unfinished and one on the bottom that was trashy.

Helen went with corsetry as her technique and created a fit and flare gown with color blocking thrown in the mix. I didn’t care for it, but I didn’t totally hate it either. She was the only safe designer this week, so all the boys were left for critiques. She’s the last woman standing as we go into episode 10.

Edmond went with ruffles, and boy did he go for it.

Alyssa said it reminded her of a rose pillow on a couch. Yep! He was in the bottom.

Stanley said his technique was tailoring. Um…isn’t that everyone’s technique? Am I missing something?

I actually didn’t like this one at all. The neckline cheapened it for me and the boning in the hem made it kind of too much. The silhouette and color were nice, but other than that I thought it was rather boring for a red carpet look. Alas, he was in the top, per usual.

And then we have Anthony. This is HIS CHALLENGE. I mean, he is a pageant dress designer! He embraced it, chose a stunning color and fabric and added some interesting details to really flatter his model. Guest judge Rosie Perez was just fawning all over it.

In a sea of red gowns, his really stood out. He was in the top, and ended up winning the challenge after a tight race with Fabio. No one was more pleased than him.

Joshua finally goes home with “another streetwalker look,” per Anthony. And he didn’t seem the least bit sad about it. He actually shrugged off all the hugs from his fellow designers and left them with some words of advice, which they mocked after he left.

All I have to say is: “buh bye.”