Project Runway Recap...better late than never.

Project Runway is, in my opinion, one of the very few reality shows that you can walk away from without feeling like your IQ has dropped a couple of points. So, as you can imagine, dear reader, I was super excited for season five to begin last Wednesday. I excitedly woke up that morning and kept checking the clock throughout the day to make sure I wouldn't miss the premiere. Finally, 9:59 came around and I sprinted to my television, only to discover an episode of ...Shear Genius, a haircutting competition show that could never even compare to the loveliness that is Project Runway.

Utterly confused and disappointed, I checked my TV guide; it turns out that Project Runway was on at nine, not the usual ten it had been for the past 4 seasons. After seeing countless promos, how did I not register into my head that it was coming on at nine? Do not fret, dear reader, I soon discovered it would be replayed at eleven. Anyways...here are my thoughts on the new season (spoiler alert!).

As you may know, dear reader, there has been quite a bit of drama over everyone's favorite fashion design competition in the last few months, including the extremely public firing of Nina Garcia from Elle and the show's move to Lifetime (yuck!) from Bravo for season six. No worries, though, the show's producers have seemed to make it work (bah-dum-bing! Sorry, was that a bad pun?).

Instead of featuring a mix of experienced designers and amateurs ,it seems this season mostly contains semi-established designers with excellent skill. The cast seems pretty diverse, with the exception of about three women who I still can't separately identify. They all had that indie-hipster look blunt haircuts. There's Jennifer, who's design theory can be described as "Holly Golightly goes to a Salvador Dali exhibit" and her favorite designers are Schiaparelli, Moschino, and Cynthia Rowley. I can't wait to see more of her work, since her aesthetic has to be my all time favorite of any Runway designer.

Then there's Blayne, a self-proclaimed "tanorexic" who seems to be attempting to market the term "girlicious" like Christian Siriano did with "fierce" in season 4. I suppose he hasn't heard of a little group call The Pussycat Dolls? If you thought that was bad, there's the super whiny Stella, a middle aged rocker with a knack for all things pleather. I think we can deem these two the annoying characters of the season (oh, and that guy Suede, who prefers to refer to himself in the third person).

The season-opener challenge (presented by hilariously flamboyant season one contestant Austin Scarlett. Boy, do I love when they bring old contestants back)was to create a look using products purchased from a grocery store, just like the first challenge in season one. I have to admit, I become positively giddy inside whenever Tim Gunn presents a challenge using unconventional materials, especially food (remember the Hershey's challenge of season 4? -swoons-).

It was a bit disappointing to see the myriad of tablecloths purchased (During the commercial break, I envisioned creating a cocktail dress of cupcake liners embellished with bits and baubles, courtesy of the candy aisle), but there were some absolutely brilliant creations, like the sweetheart dress created completely out of those unambiguous plastic party by Daniel, the dyed vaccum bag skirt by Kelli, the fresh produce embossed dress by Korto and the tiered party dress composed of paper towels by Jennifer.

Some of my favorites

In my opinion, the judge's final decision was inaccurate (I threw my remote on the ground and started verbally abusing the judges). Blayne's horrific attempt at being edgy that turned out to look more like an ensemble for an extremely dark and twisted baby, complete with a high waisted diaper and bib shoulder pads and Stella's dress that started out looking like a trashbag and ended up just looking plain trashy seemed to pass just enough under the rador, resulting in neither of them being eliminated (I'm convinced ,Michael Kors was sympathetic towards Blayne. They both share a passion for day-glo colored skin, after all). Jerry was sent home for his raincoat ensemble, which was awful, but definitely much better than anything Stella or Blayne could stitch up in a lifetime. Well, no matter what the judges may say, I'm super excited to see more from this season's designers.

Some of the worst.

Well, dear reader, I'm very sorry for the long winded post, but I hope you enjoyed it. Be on the lookout for next week's live Runway post, just as long as I tune in at the right time.

p.s. What are some of your thoughts on the new season?