The episode begins with some light rejoicing by Blake and some medium complaining by Amanda. “I’m just prayin’ for some color,” she says. Oh girl. Be careful what you wish for.
On the runway, Tim and Heidi reveal the chic new accessory of the season: a paintball gun. When the designers are asked to pick teams, Ashley’s feelings are hurt when she’s chosen last. Ashley has a great “Runway” resume, having won two challenges, but the other women in the competition are avoiding her like a bad Louis Vuitton knockoff. She’s alone in this competish. But did she really come here to make friends?
They head to a paintball field, where the teams — the ladies, serving Rosie the Riveter realness, and the boys plus Merline, who look like they belong in an 80’s fixing-up-a-house montage — are clued in to the rest of their tasks.
The Challenge: Each team must create a six look mini collection in two days using fabric collected in a game of paintball. Like in Capture the Flag, each team must make its way to the other team’s barrel o’ fabric through a barrage of defensive paintballing, but in a twist, Tim reveals that the (eventually paint-covered) coveralls the designers are wearing will actually be the main material for the challenge, while the fabric collected in the Great Paint War of 2015 will be their supplemental materials. (In the workroom the designers are also given blank white sheets and more paint.)
During the paint fight, Ashley reveals herself to be a paintball sharpshooter, and she takes some of her frustration out on the boys and Merline. When Blake emerges from behind a wall to reveal a jumpsuit as pure as the Pope’s white robes, no one is surprised – he doesn’t seem like the type to put himself in the line of fire.
The team of ladies winds up with some orange, pink, and purple fabrics. The men and Merline end up with a barrel full of blue, yellow, and green fabric. All of them finish the challenge with paintball-sized bruises, I assume.
The men plus Merline quickly decide to use the 1950s as inspiration and waste no time getting started. They decide to create their own print using the paint, and when Swapnil suggests going for a Jackson Pollock effect, and Merline can’t contain her excitement — Swapnil has to shush her for fear the other team might copy their idea
Meanwhile, the women can’t decide on a common source of inspiration. It should be noted here that Candice seems to be Amanda’s biggest cheerleader. Candice picks Amanda first to be on the team and labels her the “comeback kid” of the challenge. I’m not sure that Amanda is the best investment for Candice, considering the smack she talks about Candice in private, including, “Candice always wants to be in charge, but nobody else really wants Candice in charge.” But considering how badly this team is floundering for direction, shouldn’t it be a relief that someone is actually trying to take initiative? I stand by my assertion that Candice is the modern woman’s answer to Morticia Addams, especially after she gushed about her kids on the runway last week. She’s our dark but loving matriarch and Amanda is the nosy neighbor trying to ruin everyone’s good, clean, goth fun.
The women decide that since they can’t get a cohesive design scheme together, maybe creating a textile with the paint will be better inspiration. They attack the white fabric with no plan but plenty of voracity until their area of the workroom looks like the set of a deranged children’s show from the ’70s.
During Tim’s critique, the boys plus Merline are shown to be on the right track. Even the way they speak about the challenge is collaborative. But as each of the women describe their looks, it’s clear that this is not nearly as much of a group effort. Much to everyone’s chagrin Tim compares what he sees to “an Easter egg festival.” At this point they’ve wasted all of their white fabric and must use the supplementary fabric to tone down the Easter effect. According to Kelly, their options here are “jail orange and Barney purple.” Yikes.
In the lounge the ladies discuss the direction (or lack thereof) of their mini collection. No one is sure of what they’re doing, no one can get past the weird color scheme, and Ashley is at her wit’s end. The problem here is that Ashley is still so insulted at having been picked last for paintball that she refuses to throw any ideas into the mix. She passive-aggressively agrees to create whatever the rest of the team asks her to create, which is a pretty lame game move. (See also: Merline as Joseph’s lackey in the cruise ship challenge.)
Sally Beauty consultant Liddy Bisanz waltzes in to explain that the teams will also work with the Sally Beauty Mobile Nail Studio (which houses 750 shades of nail color! *cue choir of angels*) to give their models matching manis. The boys plus Merline go with a white and blue theme, while the ladies choose a gold ombré look. Meanwhile, it takes the laser focus required of a bomb diffuser for me to try to paint the nails on my right hand. I’ll never be the Consulting Nail Artist for Sally Beauty.
When it gets down to the wire, the women get short with each other. Laurie proves she is not to be messed with when she snaps at Amanda (and honestly, I would do the same – the girl does not stop complaining). On the flip side, Laurie lets Ashley in on a dirty little secret: the other girls are planning on blaming Ashley for the issues they had as a team. Presumably, Laurie tells Ashley this to prepare her for a battle on the runway. And speaking of…
Runway:
The judges are all dressed very neutrally for this challenge. They must have known they were about to be hit with a color explosion of epic proportions. We’re blessed with two guest judges this week: uninhibited fashion critic, designer, and upcoming “Project Runway Junior” judge Kelly Osbourne; and American designer and noted art collector Lisa Perry.
The Top:
Blake: A white knee-length sheath dress with splashes of blue from the hem up in an ombré-like fade. With cap sleeves and an open back, it’s much more finished than Blake’s winning dress from last week, but it’s also a much safer design.
Joseph: A light blue knee-length dress with a painted floral pattern along the midsection and a cropped jacket.
Swapnil: This mostly blue poufy party dress with a fitted tube top looks like a pretty mushroom, but using shoe materials to make a corset is a stroke of genius.
Jake: Pants! Blue fitted pedal-pushers with a high-collared fitted top and little cape. I can see a filthy rich woman who loves her horses like children wearing this ensemble to lunch with the ladies. I mean that as a compliment.
Merline: An asymmetrical dress dipped in blue dye, featuring full sleeves and a high collar. The lovely floral print that carries throughout the collection is placed thoughtfully on the top left. After some quiet weeks, Merline is proving again why she was chosen for this competition.
Edmond, the winner: A floor-length halter gown with high collar, tailored immaculately. The floral design is most present on this gown. It’s gorgeous.
The Bottom:
Ashley: A ruffled pink fitted V-neck top with a vest and a purple circle skirt. The top looks Elizabethan-inspired. Wouldn’t it have been cool if this team had gone in an Elizabethan direction? Or any direction?
Laurie: A deep purple vest and greyish-purple high-low culottes.
Lindsey: Mid-calf greyish-purple pants, a white strappy halter top, and a light half-sleeve raincoat.
Candice: A purple knee-length dress with some sort of poufy detailing on top. It looks over-thought and overworked.
Kelly: A sort of futuristic bandeau top, maybe? And a floor-length mermaid skirt. It’s all purple.
Amanda: A tent-like orange high-low dress with a purple back. Remember in elementary school when everyone would sit under a parachute? You could do that with this dress.
On the runway the women fight it out, and Ashley is ganged up on. It’s clear that they didn’t work well together and while some of them try to save face (Candice), others are brutally honest (Laurie), and in the end the person who did the most complaining was sent home.
