Well, the winner was no big surprise for this long anticipated but dreadfully boring season of Project Runway. So I’m just going to post some of my favorite looks from the finale:
Carol Hannah:

Carol Hannah designed this dress as the 13th “surprise” look, which would have been impressive for its meticulous draping alone but becomes even more so when you take into account that she only had a few days to finish it and did so while battling stomach flu. The color is what really makes it special- if it was in black or a neutral color it might not have stood out in the same way.

This is the look that Carol Hannah started off with, and I think she really played to her strengths here; she has been criticized this season for only showing dresses but this dress in particular has an edgy feel to it and makes a strong statement. I was disappointed that she came in third because I thought she had a lot of great ideas throughout her show, and it’s unfortunate that there wasn’t enough of a link between them.

This dress is lovely, from its deep violet color to the flattering draping and the flow of the skirt.

This skirt is so fun- it reminds me a lot of the upside down line that Viktor & Rolf did awhile ago.

And her last design is really beautiful and flattering, and a nice finish to her show.
Althea:

Althea revived the big ski lodge sweater that she may or may not have “borrowed” from Irina a few episodes ago. Irina also put one of these in her show, and it looked like this:

But anyway, back to Althea. I think the following design best represents her collection:

Fitted jacket, tank top, and then pants that have volume at the hips and taper below the knees. She won a challenge with this look before and I have to say I didn’t really get it, but at least in this version the jacket was fitted around the waist and the model wasn’t lacking key undergarments.

This, however, I loved on the runway. The shiny top was fabulous and made a nice contrast with the matte, fitted skirt.

This dress was also pretty cool; I like the fabric draped over the one shoulder and the cut of the dress.
Irina:

This was my favorite look from Irina; I really liked how the soft grey herringbone was contrasted with the leather/pleather bodice.

I loved this coat- it’s both oversized and fitted at the same time, and looks incredibly cozy.

This dress/tunic was great. We’ve seen this idea of a long shirt over leggings so many times before but here it actually looked new and exciting.


Irina took the concept a little farther with these two designs, and I really like the weaving of the fabric on the tops and the way she transferred this technique into an evening look.
In all, Irina’s collection was definitely the most cohesive and fashion forward. I liked her concept of clothing as armor or protection from city life and although it was bleak, the all-black and grey palette worked well with her vision.
(Images from nymag.com)