This I think would be it for Project Runway for me. The season overall was weak but the finale and selecting Ashley as the winner has done me in. Her work is so poorly executed, especially those shorts. The one dress that was an improvement was the turquoise number. I just didn’t see the judges praising her and shooting down Candace and Edmund. I thought Candace had a very cohesive collection and it seems that Heidi really was extra critical. Kelly’s collection was cohesive and certainly better made than Ashley’s but not a winner in my book. I really liked both Edmund and Candace.
Why have Carrie Underwood as a guest judge for the finale??? What could she possibly bring to the table except perhaps some future guest appearance by Heidi on something Carrie Underwood has upcoming??
@bookmama22 I thought Carrie Underwood was an odd choice as well. The whole thing left me scratching my head.
This entire season has been characterized by the even-less-subtle-than-usual product placements. Carrie Underwood was a guest judge because she’s plugging her CALIA by Carrie Underwood line.
Wasn’t Carrie’s presence somehow related to promotion of her fitness line, Calia by Carrie?
When one of the judges (Nina?) praised Ashley’s color palate, called it “fashion forward” or words to that effect, I saw the show jump over the shark before my eyes. Her colors were horrendous.
And then they praised putting glitter on shoes and headphones? I mean, come on? That’s not fashion, that’s my daughter’s Halloween costume 20 years ago!
I thought Edmund had the best-looking collection, and was even better before he started cutting ruffles off. I also wish Candace had stuck with her original ideas.
I just finishing watching an embarrassing display of “fixed” judging. I shouted a string bad words at my TV when Ashley was named the winner. This is “sew” not right. Ashley does not have any fashion sense and cannot sew. She is a nice person who is stuck in a time warp.
I feel the judges decided to take on a what they believe is a “cause” so they can forever claim credit for introducing plus sizes to the world of high fashion. I just want to slap them! All they have managed to do is to lose credibility with the faithful fans. For goodness sakes, if they want to rig a show then wait until the pre selected winner has some darn talent.
It would have been more impressive if they requested each of the finalists create one or two plus size garments for the runway show.
Not happy…
I believe the PR judges (or the producers of PR) have actually done a disservice to Ashley by naming her the winner. Everyone knows there was an agenda rather than a credible winner.
Great idea! Can you run the show from now on?
Although I enjoyed some of the Twitter comments, it made me fell awful that some are tweeting that you’re “fat shaming” if you don’t love Ashley or her garments.
Here is a slideshow of Swapnil’s collection also shown as a decoy at NYFW:
And also Merline’s
Thanks for posting these… so far superior to Ashley, Kelly and maybe even the other two.
The pictures are so tiny it’s hard to see the clothing well (I couldn’t figure out a way to enlarge them), but from what I could see, Swapnil’s collection looked quite interesting. Especially given that from what I understand, the people doing the decoy collections get much less money than the actual finalists.
A (perhaps former?) Project Runway staffer gave an interview a couple of years ago and said that the designers showing decoy collections got the same amount as the real finalists. Not sure if that is still the case (or, fot that matter, whether the staffer was telling the truth).
Tom and Lorenzo are not writing about the show, but they are pod casting. So if you have time or want to listen while doing another task, here is the link. Click on the blank black square. http://tomandlorenzo.com/2015/11/pop-style-opinionfest-project-runway-season-14-finale-blowout/ It goes on for about an hour so I think I will pause and keep coming back to it as I have time.
I just literally screamed “WHAT?!” outloud in my living room. This just did NOT happen! The collection that two days ago featured crooked, bunched zippers? Regular bras hanging out of crop top, bare back tops? Quilted pink dyed skirts? And minutes before the runway a totally busted zipper and a dress featuring a zipper that was “fixed” by dying the color darker? For shame PR!!!
Even on the stage AFTER the runway Ashley admits that she is not confident. She is really a beginner sewer in the design world. Making her the winner clearly diminshed the judging and talent of those judges.
Unbelievable!
I’ll bet Candace could kick herself for not putting every hat and wood hoop on that runway. She shouldn’t have been swayed by the poor judging comments. I felt that she was the most consistent all season and honestly, if you put her collection up against the PR of all - the Austin Scarlett days and such - she is the only one that would have stood up to the quality. She was my favorite and honestly, had the most maturity of the women - she seems like quite an outstanding women and mom for the ripe ole age of what - 27?? I love her.
Kelly was cool and had a lot of success but really, the glitter and concept of her clothing was very Seventeen magazine. I did however really enjoy watching her grow.
I believe that at least 40% of that 2 hour episode was dedicated to promoting PR Jr. RIdiculous!!! I can’t decide if I’ll watch. A hometown girl is on the show so I have some interest to see how she does.
Some of the former truly talented designers must have been watching that episode last night and been gagging in their chair. (still shaking head…)
I thought Kelly’s collection was tacky and cheap. I liked Ashley’s collection but I felt like they picked her because it was an easy way for them to make a statement without actually changing fashion. As a plus-size woman I was happy with the concept, but all this talk abut being brave and courageous made me angry. Seriously, she was dressing beautiful size 12 women. Fashion needs to grow up, there are more of us than 6’ size 0 women.
I really wish I could have seen Candice do her original collection. Also, I liked Edmond’s ruffles. All in all, a distressing season. I had read how Tim didn’t like most of the contestants this year. Ashley and Kelly were exceptions since they seemed to care and were hungry for it all.
I’ve been mulling over the whole plus-size topic since Ashley’s win. I think most of us, especially those of us who are not plus-size, think plus-size fashion means designs that slenderize, disguise, or otherwise take the viewer’s eye off the wearer’s extra weight and put it instead on a great overall look. I’m sure that kind of work takes a special type of talent and insight.
But I don’t think Ashley sees her work that way. Instead, following her own aesthetic, she simply makes clothes she likes in sizes big enough to fit plus-size models, without regard for whether they make the models look less heavy or hid their figure flaws. Her approach is to put regular designs on large bodies without any accommodations or apologies (as she dresses herself). I think that’s a perfectly valid approach to dressing the overweight (though we may doubt that plus-size women will embrace it). But that means Ashley isn’t doing anything that couldn’t be done with ANY designer’s pieces–make the designs shown by Edmond, Candace and Kelly in big enough sizes and they are as much “plus-size fashion” as Ashley’s. So the only thing that makes her in any way special is that she chooses to put her clothes on bigger models. That’s a marketing ploy, not a matter of design.
I think the excited reaction in the audience when Ashley’s clothing appeared was more about “Ooh, look, plus size models!” than Ooh, look, plus-size designs!" I guess we’ll see if she manages to make a career out of her exclusive use of big models, but I just don’t see it.
^ I can see the point you are trying to make, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that I wouldn’t like her designs on any size model. Therefore, I still don’t think she should have won.
I agree that I can see the point your are trying to make - but I feel like that would be like if I went on the show and said, "I want to make clothes for the “everyday woman” because that is who I am "- and then for me to design clothes that are pretty much all comfy, athletic wear in lots of bold colors - and have the judges say that that is ok - when, it’s not!
I look at it this way. If you size reduced Ashley’s clothing to fit a wee sized model, would it have been more desirable and high fashion?? I say no. I still would have not liked it.
Just as Kelly may succeed but perhaps in the H and M or Junior sized world, Ashley may have some success in the plus sized world - I"m not fully sure of specific plus sized “regular” stores - all that comes to mind is Lane Bryant or the plus sized section at some discount or department stores. But that type of market - the average mall goer - is NOT who Project Runway has ever been about.
A lot of ignorance here about plus-sizes, thought that is part of the demographic of CC that is to be expected. Ashley is following and leading in the trends in plus size. One doesn’t hope in vain to find something to make her look thin. We are not stupid or blind. We play up our strengths. I have amazing long skinny legs, great boobs. I play them up, just as Ashley did with her models. . The world does need more plus-size designers. Though I am not sure she should have won, I did end up liking her show much more than what became of the other’s collections.
As for who Project Runway has been about, please remember that so many of their challenges ARE about the average mall goer. A few years ago, the collections were sold on QVC. There have been multiple ready-to-wear winners. It isn’t as if Ashley didn’t show that she could design and win for the high fashion crowd. The show is aspirational, yet the designers make their money selling a mini collection at H&M or Dillards (both stores with plus sections).
And on another note, her models were gorgeous and they showed personality. That was a very smart move on her part. It was just as important as the rest of the styling.
I was personally not impressed with any of the collections; they were just ok for my taste. I am happy they gave the nod to Ashley even if it was based on politics.
She had the most cohesive collection of all four designers and her inspiration was Mexico in the 50’s with a modern twist so the colors and hats would have to be bright. Whether that is fashion forward or not will have to be determined in a couple of years when the “fashion forward” colors hit the regular market.