To kick things off, an observation from one of my few friends that are not figments of my imagination: “Nicolas looks like John Hodgman,” she said, almost too casually. “A young, douchey John Hodgman.”
Well done, friend. This remark was made after a lengthy back-and-forth about all the contestants we don’t like. I believe the only overlap was with Shirin, whom we decided was exceptionally annoying both in personality and voice. Needless to say, we were extra-pissed when she got some side-hug comfort-action from Tim Gunn. This season’s contestants have really lucked out with the Tim Gunn tenderness/wisdom combo.
This week’s challenge was a clever one. Taking divorcee’s old wedding dresses and turning them into something sassy felt like, well… Are we far enough away from the ’90s to use “Girl Power” in an ironic way yet?
For some reason, Oktoberfest was in the collective consciousness, or maybe Heidi Klum was just being extra-Heidi this week. Some of the outfits created made the women look frumpy and all-around awkward. As much as I hate to admit it, Shirin’s dress was actually pretty cute. If she had managed to cleverly incorporate some Cher camp into it without compromising her artistic vision, it would have been more impressive.
In the end, Epperson was Auf’d, after he and Logan sulked in the bottom two. Not only was his dress completely boring but it was doing angry things to my eyes. I’m surprised Epperson managed to slide past the first few episodes. Granted, Chris and Logan both failed to make something attractive as well, but at least they tried to step out of the box a bit.
Gordana’s win was well-deserved, though I can’t imagine her sticking around for much longer. The rest of her work has either been unremarkable or middle-zone unattractive. Then again, I’m terrible at predicting these things, as indicated by a previous challenge in which Gordana’s team won with an outfit that I mentally deemed one of the worst in the episode.
Still, no superstar has risen to the top. For the most part, the judges have made pretty wise decisions; it doesn’t feel like they’re keeping anyone on for the drama. Going back to Epperson, I never managed to understand the appeal, even though I’m tried really hard to see it. Even that strappy brown dress he made a few episodes ago left me cringing uncontrollably, despite the fact the judges went nuts over it. At the moment, I can imagine Carol Hannah going to Bryant Park, but that’s it. It’s going to be an interesting ride as the pool narrows down even more.
Clacked by Annie Wu 
on Oct 10, 2009 @ 12:45 EST5EDT
The guy with the grey garbage bag should have went home. It’s a freaking grey garbage bag! “Well at least it was his own style”, so it’s OK to have a horrible dress when you have a horrible style?
I have no one to hope for anymore, everyone I liked has been kicked off.