Guest blogger John-John Williams reports:

He said “fierce.” He called one character a “hot tranny mess.” And more important he was mentioned by name at least a half dozen times during last night’s episode of ABC’s hit Ugly Betty.

Christian Siriano indeed made his mark on the dramedy, which takes a satirical look at the fashion magazine industry through the lives of employees at Mode, a fictional magazine based in New York City.

Although his appearance was pretty brief, he packed in his usual outdated catch phrases. (Seriously, who in their right mind still says “fierce” and “work it”?)

Siriano – accompanied by three stunning models wearing designs that I’m pretty sure he designed – played himself on the episode. (I’m also pretty sure that one of the show’s stars Rebecca Romijn was wearing one of his designs.)

Anywho, writers were able to work Siriano into the storyline by having the Mode editors attempt to persuade the Project Runway winner to unveil some of his new designs in an upcoming issue. Siriano was accompanied by Project Runway judge Nina Garcia, who appeared to be acting as his agent during the show. She described him as a “diva” before he made his entrance.

Siriano is the latest guest star to arrive on the Betty set this season. Others include: Victoria Beckham, who has worn Siriano’s designs in the past; Dawson’s Creek alum James Van Der Beek; and Celebrity Apprentice alum Gene Simmons, who flashed his freakishly long tongue. Diva supermodel and frequent flyer Naomi Campbell is scheduled to appear at the end of this season.

Siriano is definitely part of an eclectic mix.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 2:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Guest blogger John-John Williams IV reports:

Christian Siriano, the former Annapolis resident/Project Runway winner/walking stereotype, will be making an appearance tonight on my favorite show, Ugly Betty.

Regardless of your personal feelings about the guy, it is undeniable that he is the most recognizable Project Runway winner ever. I can’t remember the last time a contestant on the show had this much buzz.

Name one who was spoofed on Saturday Night Live (see clip above)? I can’t remember one making national headlines for being a judge for the Miss USA competition. Can you remember the last Runway contestant who hosted awards shows? And now Ugly Betty.

What’s next? Hopefully, we’ll see a successful clothing line. After all, isn’t that why he won the competition? 

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 3:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

In case you missed Saturday Night Live's sendup of Christian Siriano, you can check it out above.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 1:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Newsday was the the finale party for Project Runway last night and got to chat with winner Christian Siriano. Check it out above.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

So what’s is your next move?

Honestly, I’m really going to be working on my collection for next season. I’m going to show in Fashion Week again for spring. I’m just starting to work really hard on that. And it can be more of a show than you saw tonight. It’s going to be amazing. That’s the goal.

That’s the first purchase, a bed — and fabulous pair of shoes. I definitely need those.



It’s pretty amazing. She’s like a dream client and she’s such a muse. It was perfect. It was everything I wanted. Undeniably perfect.

I was competing against amazing designers. Jillian and Rami are so talented. I wanted them to know that I cared about them and I think the world of them. I was just humbled, really.

I think it was really respectful because we’re real designers, and it didn’t need to be that kind of show. It was a real fashion show during real Fashion Week. It was so much better.

You made a big splash on the show; is there more reality TV in future?

I’m not a big reality TV fan, but you never know. I could see a little sitcom or a little movie for me. We’ll see how it goes.

Posted by Tim Swift at 12:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Finally, finally, tonight we find out who wins Project Runway -- and whether Annapolis native Christian Siriano is going to take home the big prize.

Back to the show. The three finalists show off their designs to Tim Gunn, who gives them a little feedback, although at this point there isn't much they can do.

Christian interviews that he thinks Jillian's collection is very innovative and that Rami's very talented and his work shows it, so it's messing with his head. This is a far cry from the usual, cocky Christian we've come to know.  

Next up, the final three start model casting for the runway show. Christian says he needs "strong, confident and amazing girls." Jillian interviews that she's never done a casting, so everything is a new experience for her.

Rami says some of the girls were great, some were OK and, "some were tragic."

The next morning, it's time to work out the makeup and do fittings. Christian interviews that he is over his nerves and totally excited.

Continue reading "'Project Runway': and the winner is ..." »

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 11:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

In case you missed it, check out Abigail Tucker's story today on Christian Siriano. The Annapolis native and Baltimore School for the Arts grad is one of the Project Runway finalists who's up for the big prize tonight.

The finale airs tonight at 10 on Bravo. I'll have a recap of the show up as soon as possible after it's over.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Tomorrow, at long last, we'll know whether Annapolis' Christian Siriano is the winner of Project Runway. To gear up for the finale, take another look at a clip from last week, when Tim Gunn visited Christian in his New York apartment to check on how his collection was going.

Who do you think is going to win? Who do you want to see win? 

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

The whole point of tonight's episode of Project Runway was to see who was making the final cut -- would it be Rami or Chris March?

But it was repeated again and again that they would have to make it through the final challenge in order to show at Fashion Week. And yet, since Fashion Week happened a while ago, Chris, Rami, Jillian and Christian -- as well as Sweet P -- all got to show because otherwise it would be obvious who had been cut.

So Rami made the final three and still has a chance to win the whole thing. But don't feel too bad for Chris March -- his collection was shown, too.

Next week, the top three will face off, and we'll learn the winner. Who are you rooting for?

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 11:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

I still don't know why Project Runway airs its reunion before the finale, but I guess I'm kind of used to it by now. Here are some highlights:

* Jack, who had to leave because of a health issue, is back and talks about how he made the right decision, but it was still really hard. There is a weird exchange where they ask Victorya, who is seated defensively, arms crossed tight around her, about how she felt about the scenario. She says "upset" is the right word, but it doesn't seem to be upset in the same way as the other designers who were crying upon his departure (and upon viewing the clip thereof). Heidi says to Tim, "Victorya's always a little uptight, no?" So what's the deal here? Was she mad about Chris March being able to return or what? Weird.

* There's a viewer question for Kevin about whether he's really straight. He says yes, but then they show a montage of amusing clips of him talking to his girlfriend about having lots of new girlfriends, but of the same gender, and more. Tim tells him: "If being on Project Runway didn't turn you gay, nothing will."

Continue reading "'Project Runway' reunion, and fan favorite winner" »

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 11:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
                    

What an eventful episode of Project Runway!

We knew the contestants would be trimmed from five to three so that the final three would be judged at Fashion Week.

For the final challenge, they went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and had to pick a piece of artwork to inspire them for their last look.

Rami went straight for a statue of Aphrodite because of the -- you guessed it -- draping. Sweet P chose a painting of peacocks. Annapolis' Christian Siriano found a painting of a Spanish soldier, and Jillian chose a painting of the battle of the Argonauts. Lastly, Chris March found a painting of an 18th-century royal woman in a gown.

The designers all went in different directions with these inspirations:

Rami created yet another gorgeous gown, but the fact that it was draped -- AGAIN -- garnered the most notice. Sweet P made a pretty, but not all that interesting dress. Christian, super-quick at the sewing machine (and pretty jerky about it), made pants, a detailed shirt, a jacket and an over the shoulder piece. Jillian proved to be the queen of jackets again, as she created a gorgeous, detailed, gold-lined jacket that evoked the uniforms in her painting, as well as a great short, gold dress. Chris March's dress was gorgeous, but too evocative of the avant-garde piece he and Christian made a few weeks back.

The judges, including guest judge Roberto Cavalli, loved Christian and Jillian's looks right off the bad. They were kind of bored by Sweet P's dress, though they found it perfectly fine as a commercial look. Nina Garcia was most frustrated by Rami and his incessant draping. And while Cavalli loved Chris March's look, the other judges weren't as enamored, since its thunder was stolen by the previous piece.

In the end, Christian was the winner, Jillian a close second, and Sweet P was out. But then, a twist. Two were supposed to be eliminated, but the judges were deadlocked, so Rami and Chris March were both in and both able to create collections, but one will be eliminated before the finale.

(Of course, this elimination is a little misleading -- since Fashion Week was last week, all five of the remaining designers got to show at Bryant Park. You can see more photos here and a closer look at Christian's collection here.)

(Photo of Christian Siriano at Fashion Week by Associated Press)

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 11:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

All of the remaining Project Runway contestants got to show collections at Fashion Week -- did you realize that? No, not all of these will make the two-part finale Feb. 27 and March 5, but they all got to show in order to keep the outcome of the show up in the air.

Don't want to be spoiled at all? Don't read the link below! (But don't fret -- it doesn't reveal the actual finalists.)

Continue reading "'Project Runway' at Fashion Week" »

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 4:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

See ya later, Ricky! I'm so not sad to see our (least) favorite cry-boy depart Project Runway. But did it shock anyone else that, after bawling in almost every other interview segment in the whole season, he didn't cry last night? I was shocked.

But anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. The challenge was, the designers had to create in-the-ring outfits for six of World Wrestling Entertainment's divas. And they thought prom dresses were taking them outside their comfort zone!

Instead of shopping at fabric store Mood, they got their supplies at "Spandex House," which was a crack-up in and of itself. And making these choices seemed to throw some of the designers for a loop. Sweet P bought these two horrible holographic silver fabrics that just fought and fought with each other (because her diva likes "sparkly" things). And Rami bought the Barbiest pink in the history of the universe.

Annapolis' Christian Siriano went with a leather and lace look for his diva, Kristal, and she loved it. So did Christian, who thought for sure he was going to win (and also said "fierce" about 700 times).

Chris March and his diva, Maria, discovered a mutual love for leopard print. Chris, who is used to making outlandish costumes, was much less intimidated by this challenge than many of the others, and he created this great leopard hoodie lined with sparkly black material and with flared arms, as well as a leopard top with black straps meant to signify a caged animal.

For Michelle, Jillian created a royal blue top and short-shorts (shortest short-shorts ever) with a sporty twist, thanks to some striping details.

Sweet P's outfit for Candice Michelle was supposed to be a robe and bikini outfit, but the robe offered no drama, and the bikini was ill-fitting (especially for someone getting flung around a wrestling ring). And the silver spandex only made it worse.  

Rami's pink outfit for Torrie was too frilly by half (especially the removable skirt), and the eyeball-searing pink? Also didn't help.

But Ricky made the worst misstep, creating what he saw as a cute "one-piece" outfit, but what looked to everyone else like a boring orange bathing suit. And he added this removable shift made of gold spandex covered with black fishnet that did nothing for his diva, Layla.

And so, a not-tearful Ricky was sent packing (finally!), and the remaining designers get that much closer to Fashion Week.  

(Photo and video courtesy of Bravo TV)

Note: Just for the record, I headlined my entry before I saw Bravo's caption on its Ricky video. But it's too fitting to change!

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 8:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

It was all about denim on last night's Project Runway. Well, denim and redemption.

At the beginning, crybaby Ricky lamented that none of the other designers seemed to think that he should be there and that they didn't treat him or his experience with respect. Of course, none of the judges seemed enamored with his work, either, and his experience wasn't really showing. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

For the challenge, the designers were ushered to a warehouse filled with Levi's 501s in various colors and styles and asked to create an iconic look that evoked the 501. They could grab as much as they could fit in a laundry bag in a certain amount of time. 

There was drama in the middle, as both Jillian and Victorya were working on coats, and both had some timing issues.

In the end, the judges had a lot of positive things to say. They liked Rami's dress accented with zipper trim and Christian Siriano's trucker-inspired outfit, which included a pair of jeans whose legs were made of the arms of jackets. Sweet P's slimming dress of several shades of denim also got high marks (good thing Tim Gunn steered her away from her denim wedding dress idea).

But the highest praise of all went to Ricky, who created a corset-inspired dress with impeccable stitching and fitting accented by a button fly down the front. The judges were thrilled that he finally lived up to his potential and his reputation as a lingerie designer, and he ended up the winner.

Victorya and Jillian's coats found them in the bottom (and Chris March's boring dress got him there, too, but not for long), but Jillian was saved for overreaching rather than appearing totally uninspired. So Victorya was auf'd.

It was interesting to note, though, that our Annapolis contestant, Christian, seems to be losing fans among his fellow designer. He got a lot of grief in interviews for being obnoxious and immature and seeming like a cartoon character. Ouch. That won't help much when the next group challenge surfaces.  

(Photo and video courtesy of Bravo)

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 4:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

OK, raise your hand if you thought Christian Siriano and Chris March would be a disaster as teammates on last night's Project Runway?

I did, until I remembered the avant-garde theme, which I think played to the strengths of the costume-maker, as well as our edgy Annapolis boy.

This week, the designers were randomly assigned into teams of two and had to create an avant-garde look inspired by the crazy hairstyles given to their models. (Well, except the one girl who just looked like she had dirty roots -- and then no one picked her, so she was out of the models' part of the competition.)

The teams got to work on their creations, and most were struggling with the time frame on the second day when mentor Tim Gunn dropped another bomb: They'd also have to create a ready-to-wear garment that complemented the original piece. EVERYBODY PANIC!

Chris and Christian used 40 yards of organza cut into circles to create this amazing piece that included basically a wire sculpture on the shoulder. It was impressive. Their second look was an organza, sleeveless ruffled top and a pencil skirt. Interesting top, rather boring skirt, but still, they worked together.

Continue reading "'Project Runway': changing of the avant-garde" »

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 12:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

I thought the challenge on Wednesday night's Project Runway was genius -- the contestants were expecting to have to make eveningwear at some point, but for for 16- and 17-year-old girls going to the prom!

Unfortunately, the results were not so genius. I think a number of the designers were thrown off by having to create something that fit someone else's expectations. Plus, the age thing didn't help much.

Christian Siriano (of Annapolis) had a lot of trouble. Maddie, the student who chose him, is also interested in design and wanted some very specific things in her dress. When he started putting it together, it turned into this bronzey, lacy, beaded confection (and not in the good way). It was interested seeing how he dealt with the complications -- there was much less "Hell yes, I'm the best" and waaaaaay more "I'm getting eliminated tomorrow. Yep, eliminated. I'm totally going home." It was a close call (especially when at judging he cast some of the blame on his teen client), but that did not come to pass. Whew.

Continue reading "'Project Runway': close call for Christian" »

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 8:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

OK, sorry, that was a goofy headline. But what do you want me to do when the challenge on Project Runway involved using materials from the Hershey's store in Times Square? I just couldn't help it.

Anyway!  I'm glad to have this show back after the holiday hiatus, and it was a fun return.

The designers had five minutes to gather as much as they could from the shelves of the store -- including pillows, teddy bears and other products, so not just candy. It was a total free-for-all.

Back at Parsons, they each parsed what they'd gathered and tried to come up with a plan.

Right off the bat, Rami's outfit, created with Twizzler packaging and York peppermint patty wrapping paper, looked great. It was whimsical in shape and color and extremely well made.

Jillian was the only one who decided to use actual candy and made a bustier out of Twizzlers and created fringe on a skirt with more of them. She was having a tough time, but in the end, despite all the dramatic tension ramped up by the editors, she prevailed.

Annapolis' Christian Siriano made a brown dress and covered it with the inside wrapper from Reese's peanut butter cups. He finished really early and then proceeded to annoy everyone -- not typically the best strategy.

As per usual, Sweet P and Elisa had some trouble. Sweet P had a fairly interesting-looking dress, then questioned herself and started from scratch, creating a boring dress whose skirt mentor Tim Gunn likened to a "coffee filter or a maxi-pad." (Ouch.) Elisa said she was going for a fairy-tale Gretel look, but that didn't quite happen.

At judging, the highest marks went to Rami, Jillian and Chris March (whose slightly subdued but totally well-shaped dress caught the judges off-guard), with Remy winning the challenge. Bottom two were Sweet P and Elisa. The judges though Sweet P's dress looked rushed and that Elisa's was a boring brown dress. Finally, Elisa was out. (Earlier in the episode, Elisa had shared that she was hit by a car a couple of years ago, breaking her neck and sustaining a major head injury. I won't speculate whether that's a cause of her strange attitude, but fellow PR watcher Tim Swift notes, "Oh, they trotted out the sob story B-roll, you're out; you're no longer useful.")

She's been interesting to have around, but I think many of the other have a higher skill level, so I'm not distraught that Elisa is leaving. Also, Sweet P is not long for the show, I don't think. She's just produced too many disasters, and the second-guessing herself is not helping her.

What'd you think of the show? 

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)
                    

Annapolis' Christian Siriano pulled out his first challenge win on last night's Project Runway, even though he thought it was soooo not his style.

The designers were each assigned a model, but rather than their usual rail-thin skinny minnies, the models were everyday women who had recently lost a lot of weight. They showed up in their favorite outfit from their larger days, and the designers had to use this as the raw material for a new, fashionable, well-fitting outfit.  

Early in the episode, Jack revealed that he had a staph infection in his face (his mouth was so swollen; it looked terribly uncomfortable). After consulting with his doctor, he left the show to go get medical treatment. To keep the numbers even, ousted designer Chris March was brought back.

For some people, the challenge was a total disaster. Steve had the unfortunate luck of getting the model whose favorite outfit was her wedding dress. He could not figure out what to do with all that beaded polyester, and he basically punted: With the $10 they had to spend at Mood, he bought a bunch of black fabric and made a shapeless black frock with white trim from the wedding dress (glued on!). The judges said it was a funeral outfit crossed with a French maid's costume. Whoops.

Also in danger was Elisa, whose highly layered outfit did little to flatter the newfound figure of her model.

But Steven's nightmare of a dress got him sent home instead. 

Other standouts were Kevin's sleeveless yellow top and leggings (made from a shapeless blazer) and Jillian's red and black dress (although she kind of flouted the rules and only used black fabric from the pants as piping).  (Also, as much as the judges loved the dress, I thought there was something about it that wasn't totally flattering to the woman. But no doubt it was well made.) 

For Christian's winning outfit, he refitted his model's jeans and created a button-down black shirt with some interesting pleating. OK, I'm no fashionista, so here's a picture.

It didn't hurt that his client LOVED the outfit and worked the runway.

My favorite moment of the show was when Tim Gunn was coaching Chris March. Since Chris got a late start on the challenge, he had until 3 in the morning to finish, and Tim was concerned that he was going to costumey and said something along the lines of, "I can't tell you how many mistakes I've made at 3 in the morning."

The designers all busted up laughing as their minds went to dirty places. ("Give us details, names," someone demanded, jokingly.) Tim went red and totally cracked up, shedding some of his usual facade. It was hilarious.

What did you think about the episode -- and, of course, our local contestant's win? 

(Photo courtesy of Bravo)

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 11:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)