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Boy Oh Boy… Or Is It a Girl?

Friday, November 30th, 2012
By Twistie

PRAS returned this week after ducking out on Thanksgiving night… which was probably a good idea. Some of what I saw last night would not have sat well after a full meal of turkey and salad and mashed potatoes and gravy and pumpkin pie.

Anyway. Last time on Project Runway All Stars: Designers are inspired by photos sent in by fans. Laura does her best low-rent Marie Antoinette impression while Joshua feels her pain. Anthony Ryan wins with a dress where I can see the inspiration, but am not wild about the results and Andrae is finally given a mercy killing for his painfully bad zip up panel skirt and matching tube top.

What happened this time? Read on to find out!

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Picture Imperfect

Tuesday, November 20th, 2012
By Twistie

Okay, I don’t know what’s been up with WordPress the last few days. First it wouldn’t let me log into the blogs for days, and then when I finally manage to get back… I discover it didn’t publish this article when I hit the publish button.

So at long last, here’s friday’s article, with my apologies.

Last week on Project Runway All Stars: Designers learn ‘aerosol art’ techniques which they must use on fabric to create a piece of wearable art. Laura honks off everyone in the room with her judgmental attitude and general humorlessness. Andrae, for once, isn’t in the bottom three, much to his relief. Emilio wins with a rather fabulous suit with a huge collar, while Suede is sent packing for covering his dress in spray-painted polka dots. Who will win this week? Tune in to find out!

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Austin Mines His Own Reality

Thursday, November 15th, 2012
By Twistie

Regular readers of this space may remember this look by Austin Scarlett shown in his finale collection for Project Runway All Stars season one:

I went on record at the time as believing this fabulous wedding gown would sell very well if it went into production.

Well, it seems that Austin agreed with me, because I was scanning an article at Brides.com about the best looks in Scarlett’s 2013 bridal collection, when what to my wondering eyes should appear but this:

That’s right! It’s a slight re-working of the same gown, and Brides agrees with me that it’s a winner.

Can I call ’em or what?


Spray It, Don’t Say It

Friday, November 9th, 2012
By Twistie

Last week on Project Runway: Designers who were born mostly in the eighties and nineties are asked to make seventies discowear – only tasteful and modern – to go with Nine West’s terrifying new disco shoe line. Wendy Pepper believes she has an edge because she’s old enough to remember disco the first time around… but gets auffed for making a punk hooker Halloween costume. Uli makes something that bears no resemblance to disco, either, but wins in a truly baffling turn of events. Kayne creates the only thing on the runway that looks like it might have poked its head through the doors of Studio 54 and nearly gets auffed for coming up with something entirely too modern. I’m still trying to figure out last week’s judging and here we are again.

What will happen this week?

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Disco Infernal

Friday, November 2nd, 2012
By Twistie

There’s nothing better for perking up a sick Twistie than a good dose of fashion hijinks.

Of course if you want to know more, you’ll have to follow the cut.

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You Can Take It With You

Tuesday, October 30th, 2012
By Twistie

Need something to help you carry your embroidery, cross stitch, needlepoint, tapestry, or patchwork quilting materials with you when you’re on the go? Take a look at this lovely quilted cotton organizer from Roberts Crafts.

The upper section features two see-through pockets and a space for larger equipment such as scissors, patterns, and fabrics. The lower section has six large zippered see-through pockets for things like thread, thimbles, needles, and so on.

Here’s a view of it closed. Oh, and that aqua color? Yeah, that’s the one it comes in. Apparently the red is not available.

The dimensions when closed are 9.5×9.5×7.2 inches. I don’t know how clearly you can see it in the illustration, but there’s a self handle on top for easy transport.

You could carry enough crafting materials to get you through a good long vacation or boring conference with that kind of space!

All that for only $62.00? Sign me up!


Here We Go Again

Friday, October 26th, 2012
By Twistie

Well.

Another season, another season of Project Runway All Stars.

As per usual, I’ll put in a cut so as not to spoil those who haven’t had a chance to see or take up the entire page for people who don’t care. As if.

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Tonight’s the Night!

Thursday, October 25th, 2012
By Twistie

Yes, it’s a new season of Project Runway All Stars starting tonight, so set your DVRs to stunning!

My personal faves I want to see make it to the end? Well, I’ve always said Uli was robbed back in season three, Andrae made what I still consider to be one of the top three designs ever in PR history when he made that fabulous gutter water evening gown, and I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for Anthony the colorblind testicular cancer survivor from New Orleans. What? I appreciate someone who comes so much from behind and who has kind of an amazing color sense for not being able to see it the way most of us do. And while I don’t necessarily expect him to go very far in the competition, I do have to admit I’m going to enjoy having Casanova back on my screen. I find him kind of weirdly charming.

Here’s hoping for a quick and relatively painless reality demise for Wendy Pepper whose primary career since season one has mostly consisted of embarrassing herself and anyone who knows her on national television, Poison Ivy whose personality has all the charm of rampant kudzu and whose design aesthetic is a perfect cure for both sleepless nights and restless leg syndrome, and Laura who I mostly remember as being the one who kept nattering on about how everyone would underestimate her for being so, so pretty… while competing against an actual Miss Universe contestant. In fact, I had to go back to my recaps of season nine to recall who the heck she even was. That’s how much impression her designs and personality made on me.

Oh, and Suede will only stay off that second list if he has finally learned either to refer to himself in the first person, or has at least figured out how to use the third person consistently. And if he never, ever tries again to dress female javelin throwers, weight lifters,  and water polo players in cheerleader uniforms.

In other PRAS news, season one host Angela Lindvall is being replaced by Carolyn Murphy.

I hope I find her more scintillating than her predecessor.

Either way, tune in tomorrow for the skinny on all the tears and recriminations.


And the Winner Is…

Friday, October 19th, 2012
By Twistie

Tim Gunn!

Actually, no, it isn’t, but a girl can dream. In a perfect world, Tim would win pretty much everything, so there. And what he doesn’t win, Eddie Izzard can.

Anyway.

Read on to see what I thought about every little thing that happened last night.

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Love Is: Security

Tuesday, October 16th, 2012
By Twistie

I grew up reading the adventures of Linus VanPelt and his friends in Peanuts. Actually, I lived in the same town Peanuts creator Charles Schulz lived in, visited his ice rink, and eventually grew up to sell him books at two different bookstores conveniently located close to said ice rink.

But that part is neither here nor there.

What is here and now and the whole point of this blog entry is Project Linus.

Some of you may have already heard of this wonderful organization, others not. But I urge you all to check out their website and get involved.

You see, Project Linus does just what one might expect: provide security blankets to children. The children range in age from infants to teens, and the reasons range from illness to disaster victims to homelessness and abuse. This is about helping children in crisis with something that tells them someone cares and wishes them well.

The project will only accept blankets made by hand from smoke-free environments and free of strongly scented detergents. They must also be free of easily swallowed (and thus choked upon) decorations such as buttons. But from there, it’s a free for all. Pick your size, your materials, your techniques, and do your best work.

If you are not in a position to make a blanket, the project will also happily accept donations of money and materials, too. And if you know a child in need, the website will direct you to the chapter to contact for help.

We all need a little security in life. Children facing chemotherapy or recovering from abuse need it even more.












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