The Dubious Yawnur Awards Nominations

It's time to nominate the Fugliest clothes ever seen on any season of Project Runway in the "In the Mood" category. Unlike the first category, these clothes were made from fabrics either purchased at Mood or were provided to the designers by Banana Republic or Macy's.

The nominations will close on Wednesday (2/28) at Noon Eastern.

Don't forget, you can still vote in the first poll for the "Not in the Mood" category. That voting will also close on Wednesday (2/28) at Noon Eastern. (Click here to cast your vote in that category.) Later that afternoon, we will begin to vote on this new "In the Mood" category.

Beachy Attitudes - Top Design Episode 3

The nine remaining designers were divided into three teams of three. Team Tahiti consisted of Felicia, Andrea and Michael. Elizabeth, Erik and Matt made up Team Miami. And Goil, Ryan and Carisa formed Team St. Tropez. Their mission was to build a cabana inspired by their assigned resort destinations.

Ryan and Carisa began to butt heads immediately. Carisa thought she should've been the natural choice to go shopping at Pier 1. Instead she got stuck with fabric shopping. Ryan didn't like either roles, but felt more comfortable shopping for furniture and knick-knacks than frilly fabric.

Carisa had enough of Ryan's bad behavior.



Goil was too busy building the structure to play the role of the referee. He said he works best on individual challenges. I would too if I had to work with Ryan and Carisa. But you know what? He really CAN do everything. Although ... he can be a bit of a show-off at times.


The next morning, the designers had to construct, assemble and furnish their cabanas on-site at the beach. This was no day at the beach, though. Well, except for Carisa. She thought it would be more fun lathering up the hot-looking carpenters than doing the actual work. I don't blame her.

The judges arrived at the beach to evaluate the cabanas. We were introduced to the guest judge, Kathryn Ireland. First thought I had was, "Oh wow, a former Sports Illustrated swimsuit model judging a challenge on the beach. How appropriate." I was a bit disappointed, to say the least.


Back in the White Room, the judges awarded Team Tahiti the win - even though their cabana went topless. The winning team members get to spend a weekend at a spa to see what a real cabana should look like. They then singled out Elizabeth from Team Miami and blamed her for making bad color choices. Well, color me blue.

Project: Vote - Not in the Mood Category

Here are your nominations for the Fugliest outfit on Project Runway that are made out of non-traditional materials. Remember, you can only vote once a day. Polls will be open until next Wednesday at Noon Eastern, at which time the "In the Mood" poll (outfits made out of fabric bought at Mood or we're supplied to the designers by Banana Republic or Macy's) will begin.

Out of all of the challenges on Project Runway, which outfit was the Fugliest outfit made out of non-traditional materials?
	S1 - Starr's foil and bow : Supermarket Challenge
	S1 - Wendy's candy and rope : Supermarket Challenge
	S2 - Guadalupe's purple and patterns : COYB Challenge
	S2 - Zulema's gold sweater dress : COYB Challenge
	S3 - Vincent's basket hat : Wall-to-Wall Challenge
	S3 - Kayne's green dumpster diving : Recycling Challenge
	S3 - Vincent's art canvas : Recycling Challenge
Free polls from Pollhost.com

A Little Off the Top

The whole Brit-Brit meltdown got me thinking. Maybe the producers should've plied the TD designers with liquor then left an electric clipper somewhere in the house – just to watch what happens.

OK, so they did this with Top Chef 2 already. At least the viewers would've had something exciting to talk about until the next Kelly Wearstler outfit.

The Dubious Yawnur Awards Nominations

Since we're in the middle of the Awards Season, I thought I'd create an award for the Fugliest designs ever seen on all three seasons of Project Runway.

Introducing the 1st Annual Dubious Yawnur Awards.

To help compile this list of nominees, I'm going to need a little help from you.

Just to be fair to the designers, I am going to create two separate categories. I don't think you should compare making a dress out of recycled mylar with traditional fabric. That's why for the first week's nomination, we will only nominate outfits made out of non-traditional materials. Or what I would call the "Not in the Mood" category. This includes: Season 1's Innovation/Grocery Store Challenge, Season 1's Design a Collection/Modernistic Vintage Clothing Challenge, Season 2's Clothes Off Your Back Challenge, Season 2's Flower Power/Garden Party Challenge, Season 3's Innovation/Wall-to-Wall Challenge, and finally, Season 3's Waste Not/Recycling Challenge.

The nominations will be open until next Wednesday (2/21) at Noon Eastern. At that time, we will begin nominations for the "In the Mood" category. This category will cover all of the other challenges where the designers had control over the choice of fabrics that they either bought from Mood or were given to them by Banana Republic or Macy's.

Later that Wednesday afternoon, the voting for the first category, "Not in the Mood", will begin. The voting will continue until the following Wednesday (2/28) at Noon Eastern. That's also when the nominations for the second category, "In the Mood", will close. And we'll start to vote on that category.

I Kid. You Not. - TD Episode 2

For the second week in a row, we have a challenge designed around a mystery client– actually, ten mystery clients. But unlike last week's team challenge, the designers will work on their projects individually.

The remaining designers each received a dossier with their new clients' profile. Who knew in order to become a successful interior designer you needed to have some investigative and intuitive skills to help ID your client. Do they even offer a class in Forensic Science at the leading design schools?

The designers were given an initial budget of $8,000, hardwood flooring and $600 for hardware and supplies. Their mission was to construct a bedroom for their new client.

John was enraged that Felicia picked the hardwood sample he was eyeing. He decided to forego the free hardwood flooring. Instead, he told his carpenter to go buy some linoleum flooring.

Midway through the design process, Todd Oldham threw out a few curveballs.

He revealed the big twist: their clients were actually kids, around 10 years of age. Also, the beds they were building should accommodate a twin size mattress.

Andrea whipped together an ambitious bedroom that included a murphy's bed. Carisa transported her client to the Amazon jungles. Elizabeth had a ball building a soccer-themed room. Erik went overboard recreating a Pirate ship. Felicia created a stateroom for her young client. Goil built a clean, modern room with a bed on wheels. Matt turned the spotlight on his future Hollywood starlet. Ryan splashed some cool blue waves on the walls and accessorized the room in hot pink cat furniture.

Michael completed his room (installed the hardwood floor and painted the walls) all by himself. Too bad the room looked like it was designed for an elderly person.

John simply ran out of time. He also ran out of patience with his carpenter, who didn't come back from the hardware store with a floor.

Now it was time for lockdown. The designers lined up outside their sterile 12 x 12 cells awaiting the judges' arrival.

In the White Room, the designers were quizzed about the choices they made. Goil treated us to an impromptu lesson on the Theorem of Spatial Displacement.

The judges gave Erik the win and John the kiss off for his unfinished room. John tried his best to keep the raging testosterone beast in check.

So now we know the lead judge, Jonathan Adler, came up with the dreaded "See you later, decorator" phrase. He also described John as the "Mayor of Excuses Village." Note to Mr. Adler: coming up with cute little phrases only work if you're a six year old, for which you are not. For crying out loud, you're a middle-aged man. How about saying things in plain English. Don't try to outdo each other coming up with funny zingers and catchy soundbytes?

(Oh, how I miss my Project Runway.)

Project: Caption

Can Heather Pull a Franco?

Oh, Heather. It was so unfair when the judges latered you in Episode 1. Wasn't it nice to hear Todd Oldham say on Andy's "Watch What Happens" show that all of the judges loved you and wanted to find a way to bring you back?

Hey, maybe if this show gets picked up for Season 2, you can pull a Franco and audition again. They would love to see you back. And so would I.

Whatever you do, just make sure you follow your bliss!

Howdy, Partner - TD Episode 1

One by one, the designers entered their lofts. They checked out their competion and sized each other up.

All the usual suspects were there: the diva, the loud one, the prima donna, the ingenue, the villain, the pretty one, the bully, and the quiet one to watch out for.

The designers were summoned by Todd Oldham to meet up at the Pacific Design Center. Todd delivered their first challenge: in teams of two, they were to design a serene inner sanctum for the mystery judge. To clue them into who this mystery judge could be (or more importantly, what his or her taste would be like), Todd presented them with five funky objects that came from the mystery judge's home.

John and Michael clashed from the onset. John turned out to be an overbearing ogre who didn't want anything to do with his new partner. Try as he might, Michael kept getting the brush off. Even in the White Room, the judges could feel the tension between the two. I think ultimately this ogre will have a change of heart. As the fairy tale goes, we know the ogre will soon discover his fondness for the ass.

Lisa and Heather worked together on their room. I knew trouble was brewing when Lisa said she likes to be in control and she likes to work by herself. She's been in this business for quite some time so she knows exactly what she wanted.

Heather hasn't been doing this quite as long, but she seemed pretty eager to pitch in. But Lisa thought otherwise. She made sure Heather knew who was in charge. Lisa went on to create a zenful asian room centered around a huge Chinese wedding bed. How she arrived at that from those five funky objects? I'm not too sure.

Goil and Elizabeth created a fun swinging room. Carisa and Erik created a tasteful, albeit chunky, room with a long wooden fireplace and mantle. Ryan and Andrea went with a bright and funky dormroom. Felicia and Matt created an understated room using a neutral color palette.

The judges eliminated Lisa and Heather. They thought their room was too theme-y. Heather started to beat herself up wishing she could have voiced her objections louder to help steer them away from the Chinese restaurant theme room.

Goil and Elizabeth were named the winners for this week's competition. The judges thought their room was innovative and fresh. Well actually, Margaret Russell, judge and Elle Décor magazine's Editor in Chief, didn't really like it that much. She thought the sand and rake reminded her of the litterbox she had at home.

Meoooowwww!

I'm Back!!!

Thank you everyone for checking back in. I took a little siesta in January. But now I'm back well-rested and ready to start Yawnurizing Top Design and catching up with the Project Runway gang.

Don't know about you but I'm kinda glad I didn't blog Top Chef 2. While I did enjoy watching the first season, I thought season 2 got downright mean and nasty. Sure, Season 1 had Tiffany "the bitch" and Steven "the prima donna." But at least there were other enjoyable characters to root for: Leeanne, Harold and that emotional-wreck David.

On Season 2, I wanted Sam to win. I really can't stand Betty, Ilan, or Elia. Grow up, you guys! Sure, Marcel can be a pompous know-it-all at times but just worry about your own damn cooking. It was obvious the producers were more worried about the spiciness of the cast than the spiciness of the dishes.

Are they looking for the next Top Chef or the next Tough Chef? If that's the case, then why don't they go ahead and change the name of the network to Bravado TV.

Now onto Top Design. Being a part of Team BPR/BTD, I was greatful enough to get a sneak peak at the first episode. While nothing can compare to my number one show, Project Runway, Top Design does have potential. Compared to the HGTV show, Design Star, the contestants are waaaaay more qualified (case in point: scary art lady with the vacuum cleaner/art piece).

I also like a lot of the designers/contestants on Top Design. They're all crazy-talented - not just crazy. So sure, Todd Oldham and the judges are a little rough around the edges, but give them a little time to settle in and they'll be fine.

Hurry on back, Project Runway!

Phaolo