Project Runway "Social Scene"

This week's challenge was to create a party dress for Nicky Hilton, a NY socialite and little sis to Paris. (I think she is the pretty Hilton sister; at least she has some meat on her bones). By now, some of the challenge elements are familiar to both the designers and viewers: $150 budget, 30 minutes to sketch ideas, and 30 minutes to shop. My thoughts:

--Nick has been friendly with Santino from the first episode, but he seemed to finally open his eyes and see Santino as a competitor in this challenge. His design was my favorite and I am disappointed that Santino beat him.

--Perhaps it was the color on my TV, but I thought the chocolate brown fabric that Daniel purchased in error went well with the print. In any case, he ended up creating a simple dress that let the print do the talking.

--Guadalupe's dress was ugly! It looked like it was pieced together from a rag bag. I could see what she was going for with the Japanese influence; it reminded me of something from an anime film. The average girl isn't going to pick that up, though.

--Diana (cute tech girl) finally realized that she needed to appeal to more of a mass audience. Her dress was funky without looking too sci-fi. I just wish she had chosen something other than black fabric.

--Santino, as much as I dislike him, was thinking beyond the show. At the party, he had his business card ready to hand to Nicky Hilton. This seemed to impress her and probably was a big factor in his win this week.

--Zulema kept describing her dress as naughty, but a little bit of leather does not a naughty dress make. The only reason she didn't have to explain her dress was because it was too boring to notice.

The final choice between Marla and Guadalupe was difficult. Pick the designer who was a little boring (Marla) or pick the designer who was a little out there but has original ideas (Guadalupe). Ultimately, the judges went with boring and let Marla stay. I guess they are giving her one last chance to let her own ideas shine through instead of playing it safe.