Against all odds, I'm going to go ahead and say that so far I like the new 90-minute format of Project Runway. The first thing I noticed were extended screen times for the prize sponsors—meh, but hopefully they won't need to repeat that every episode. Afterward, the extra time seemed spread pretty evenly. A chattier intro for all the designers, a little more time spent on Tim's critiques, a little more time spent in hair and makeup, a little more sweating, a little more judging. They're also really taking the gloves off and straight-up psychologically torturing the contestants. These poor people have no idea what to expect. Literally before they'd even gotten to set their bags down in their Lifetime-provided NYC digs, Heidi and Tim appeared to dole out the first lashing of the season. They had everyone reach into their own luggage and pull out one item of clothing that they would want to incorporate into a project. Then they had to pass it to the person to their right, and that's their item. Now, why Casanova would choose to select his brand new Dolce & Gabbana pants that he'd never worn and which he went to great pains to announce cost, like, $1,070, is beyond me. Later the judges entertained the idea that he is either deaf or doesn't understand English very well—originally from Puerto Rico, Nina Garcia translated for him at one point during the judging, though frankly he still didn't seem to understand the question very well. No matter: Casanova is in the running for most colorful character amongst the contestants. Anyhow, so with their neighbor's garments, the designers stopped home to unpack and freshen up went straight to the sewing tables to create their first challenge in only five hours' time. And how did hometown girl Gretchen Jones do? Hit the break for that kind of talk or you'll scare the Spoily McSpoilerson police. In the meantime, check out the extend-o version of her workroom conference with Tim:
So Gretchen that she has very specific ideas and a clear picture of what she wants. Ditto on a shot in makeup of her earnestly describing the natural fresh look she wanted. It can't hurt that she's been on both sides of the runway through her modeling background. Anyhow, more on Gretchen over on the other side.