On last night’s Project Runway, I really appreciated the concept of last night’s challenge, which was to create a signature dress for Campbell’s Address Your Heart program. I loved that they used women who have been affected by heart disease as models, and I thought it was really touching and inspiring that some of them wanted dresses that intentionally showed their scars.

However, whenever anyone larger than a size 0 and shorter than 5’7” appears on the show, there is always talk of “real” women and the various problems posed in dressing these rare creatures. I feel that the term “real women” is insulting both to the guest models, for whom the term is a euphemism for “large” or “curvy” (which, in the fashion world, takes on a curiously negative meaning) and to models, who are suddenly “non-real.” I think that any designer who is talented enough to be chosen for Project Runway should be able to design for women of various sizes.

Anyway, moving past my rant, my favorite looks in last night’s episode were those done by Amy, Maya, and Janeane. When I saw Amy’s dress go down the runway, I knew that it would be one of the contenders for the win because it looked very much like a Marchesa gown, and Georgina Chapman, designer of Marchesa, was one of the judges. But even without that advantage, it was a beautiful dress and deserved the win. I thought the way the fabric was draped on Maya’s dress was really pretty and interesting- it’s definitely the kind of dress I would gravitate towards if I saw it in a store- but something seemed a little sloppy about it. Janeane’s dress flew under the radar but I thought it was lovely.

Amy’s winning look

Marchesa, Fall 2008

Maya’s design

Janeane’s look

(Images from mylifetime.com and style.com)