Much of the talk surrounding Runway's 5th season has been about how lackluster it's been and the recaps of the finale are no exception. Most of what I've been perusing on the Web has been less about the winner and more about whether or not Bravo made a drab finale to cap off a blah season deliberately. (You know, so as to sabotage the show's ratings before begrudgingly handing the show off to Lifetime... if that ever actually happens.) I myself thought it was a fine finale, if a little dull, though I did note that Bravo usually makes the finale an hour and 15 minutes - and this one clocked it an an hour exactly. So maybe there is a teensy bit o' Bravo subterfuge going on, no? I don't have much to say about the finale... except: (1)I'm ecstatic Kenley didn't win; (2) I felt bad for Korto and liked some of her stuff but I did not care for her color palette and it was hard to extract my dislike of the color from my opinion of the dress itself; and (3) the best, best, BEST moment of the entire episode - and maybe the season - was the look on Kenley's face when she found out Tim was going to be the pinch-hitting guest judge. Guess you should've taken his critiques with a bit less bitch, eh, Betty Page McSnaggle Tooth?!!!! HA!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had to pause it and savor the moment. Hee.
Here's EW.com's recap of the episode -
"I think it's bulls---." So were the final words from super-villain Kenley after she and her kooky hats were auf'd from the runway and — like every other non-Jeffrey villain in Project Runway history — awarded third place during last night's finale. Maybe it was her penchant for kinda seeming to copy other designers that did her in. Or maybe it was that stank attitude. Or perhaps it was the Tim factor. Whichever thing did her in, it was disappointing to see that the girl learned nothing, making her exit in true Kenley style: classless, ungrateful, and snotty.
Instead, it was the très talented, if a bit boring, Leanne who was crowned the victor of the (likely) final Bravo-branded season of Runway (sob!), and, boy, did she deserve it. And it wasn't even close: I was lucky enough to attend the final show at Bryant Park weeks ago, where my fellow EW Runway-philes and I agreed that Leanne was the shoo-in victor. After all, she was the only one who garnered a constant stream of applause during her show (though you couldn't have guessed that based on last night's program — methinks Bravo tuned the applause down a bit to add a little more suspense). Not only was her tailoring and attention to detail exquisite (those petals!), but her collection leaves me no choice but to channel Will Ferrell channeling James Lipton: It was simply scrumtrulescent. There really isn't a greater word to describe it. The girl had a vision, she made it work, and she delivered. So congrats to you Leanne. Just do me a favor and tell me where you are when you decide to hand out that $100,000 worth of drinks, m'kay?
But let's rewind to the beginning of the episode, after our all-female final three was forced to say goodbye to poor, sweet Jerell. Our girls had to head to the workroom, decide which dresses they would omit from their collection, and choose their models for the final runway. And this is the moment when I like to play Spot the Model Who Was Once Desperate Enough to Appear On a Reality Show! So here goes: Ooh, there's Shannon from Make Me a Supermodel! And is that Naima from America's Next Top Model? And finally, ten extra bonus points to those of you who spotted Danielle and Bianca from ANTM in the final runway show! And then after you're done with that nifty little game, take the time to play Guess Which Model Spent Some Time (Allegedly) Pummeling Nikki Blonsky? (50 points to the first one who answers correctly!).
Anyhoo, back to the designers, because really, as proud as I am of what's-her-name for winning the spread in Elle magazine, the models are the last thing on our minds. Back in the workroom, Tim made his final visit to the designers, and, as usual, Kenley unleashed some major attitude. The designer planned to make her eerily familiar wedding dress her signature look, because, as she figured, the judges loved it at the last panel. Naturally, Tim reminded her that the judges might not be happy to see the same Alexander McQueen look-a-like gown on the runway, but Kenley, being Kenley, refused to budge (cut to: Tim walking away from Kenley all Mr. Burns-like, planning her ultimate demise). As she said in her confessional after Tim advised her to lose the rope she integrated into one of her dresses: "My decisions are final. And I'm done with it."
But I guess they're not that final — shockingly, the designer opted to follow Tim's advice and choose a different signature look. And it's a good thing she listened to him just this one time: At the final runway show, Heidi announced that Tim would be filling in for Jennifer Lopez as the guest judge (the singer-actress suffered a foot injury, but I'm guessing that's code for bionic leg implant surgery, since she completed a triathlon just days later). Of course, the camera shot to Kenley, who promptly put on her "ruh roh!" face and said: "Maybe I should have improved my attitude." You know at that moment she wanted nothing more than to rip that rope off her dress, sling it on the ceiling, and swing right out of Bryant Park and into a tugboat in the East River George of the Jungle-style. But, of course, the designer stuck it out since her mother and father — who surprisingly, isn't Popeye — were in the audience to see her show, and her self-esteem pills likely don't allow her to operate machinery or a boat of any kind.Once Kenley's collection got onto the runway, though, I have to say that I actually really liked it. Look-a-like dresses or no, you have to admit that her collection was creative and eccentric enough to be considered both high fashion and fashion-forward. And you could actually recognize the Alice in Wonderland inspiration within each gown, though I ultimately failed to see any garment that looked modeled after a pothead caterpillar (where was the hand-painted bong, Kenley?)...unless that caterpillar went into a cocoon and blossomed into Joan Collins.
If only Korto was as confident in her designs as Kenley. Though the designer has performed nearly flawlessly on every challenge thus far, you knew that Korto had sealed her fate at the end of last week's episode. Her wedding dress was overworked — placing her in the final two — which must have made the designer insecure enough to decide to design two new garments for her collection. Now, that has to be one of the craziest decisions in Runway history, and I'm including Laura Bennett's choice to dress up like Wonder Woman for a promo. Maybe that girl thrives under pressure, but there's a point when it becomes masochistic. And yet, impressive. Two looks in the course of a few days? Are we sure super-sewer Christian Siriano wasn't hiding there somewhere?
Considering the fact that Korto re-worked 1/4 of her collection, it didn't turn out half bad. Inspired by her African roots, Korto presented a line of garments that was colorful, impeccable, and wearable. Out of all the collections that showed, Korto's is the one I'd most likely pick up at the department store, only to realize that no, I can't buy this because I have to eat. And though the judges claimed there was maybe too much detail in the gowns, my only gripe with her collection was that it was a bit expected — unlike Leanne's collection, it didn't really seem all that innovative.
Though Korto's crazy last-minute decisions were able to drum up some drama for the producers, Leanne's transition from workroom to runway was relatively seamless (heh). Her only major issue with Tim was whether or not to include pants in her collection. In fact, the only thing that came close to drama for Leanne was when her model decided to attend a fitting with her dog, who in turn decided to poop next to Leanne's work station (Kenley's voice = brown note for pups?). And the judges were hardly able to critique her collection: Their only fear was whether or not she'd be able to pull out any non-petal tricks in future shows.
So, alas, Leanne was crowned the winner, and so ends our fifth, and probably final, Runway season on Bravo. Do you think Leanne should have won? Are you happy to never have to see Kenley again? Are you surprised Korto was awarded fan favorite? Can you believe there's no reunion show? (I'm thinking of starting a petition myself.) And, finally, in honor of this season's end, I leave you with Bravo's last genius Michael Kors critique: "You're gonna be 'Petals Marshall', which sounds like a stripper, not a designer." Sob!
I just hope people don't think Kenley lost because Tim was too biased... though I will say I'm a wee bit surprised there wasn't more of an uproar over Tim's place as a final judge. I love Tim and I'm sure he was able to separate his feelings and be professional. Besides, Kenley annoyed all the judges on the panel. It could be any one of their biases that led to her downfall! ;o) My deepest wish, though, is that Leanne uses her $100,000 to buy a hairbrush. And maybe a blow dryer.
Oh, and in case you were wondering about the Balenciaga look-a-like gown Kenley made, here's a good side-by-side comparison (courtesy of myitthings.com):
I think the McQueen feather dress is a more glaringly obvious 'inspiration' but this is darn close, too. Stupid Kenley.
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