Project Runway Season 5, Episode 2 – Cocktail models

Near the end of Wednesday night’s episode, Korto looks around the room and says “At least I’m not the only one who is somewhat worried.”Well, Korto, newsflash: Everyone on the show is worried. How do we know? They can’t stop talking about it. Complaints roll as freely as yards of fabric this season.Last week’s first episode? Some whining was acceptable because it was the first challenge and it was a hard one – make an outfit out of stuff you’d find at a grocery store.This week’s challenge? It’s nothing, people. You get to use actual fabric from an actual fabric store for one. Secondly, you already know your models, so there’s no surprise in fit. Lastly, you’ve been through one challenge and have a better idea of time constraints. Shouldn’t be too hard, right?Apparently … not. The contestants complained as if the challenge’s twist – the models going shopping for fabric and supplies instead of the designers – was some sort of injustice on par with anything a war crimes tribunal deals with. The designers griped and griped about the models’ shopping spree and what they picked out for a cocktail dress the designer was supposed to design with the model as his or her client. They whined about the “green” fabrics – also part of the challenge – and about the models choices of fabric and preferences.Stella complained about how she wished leather would be the only fabric used in each challenge. Suede took out his stress by talking in the third person more than usual (that has got to stop, it’s almost as annoying as Blayne’s tacking “-licious” onto everything). And well, Korto, just looked worried.But the three most worried people were Joe, Wesley and Leanne, whose models all grabbed the same shiny fabric in the same chocolate-ish color. The fabric crinkled like aluminum foil and made the time constraints more stressful, as every stitch had to be perfect (and had to be completed by midnight).Turns out those folks should have been the most worried, as Leanne and Wesley ended up in the bottom three along with our original worrier, Korto, who turned in a dress that looked like it was inside-out.Korto and her inside-out dress became the first to be safe, leaving the ugly brown twins in the bottom. Their dresses were both tight, ill fitting and full of bad/weird details that could have used a major editing by someone with … talent. Wesley’s dress, which Nina called “cheap” for it’s short, tight and shiny look, was the loser and he was sent packing.In the winner’s circle was Suede, who despite his annoying personality quirks was able to turn in a well-executed but difficult dress made from strips of fabric and a tutu. And that’s something you could buy at Bluefly.com if you so desired, though I’m not so sure it would look good anywhere but the runway.Also in the top were the cute Kenley and … ugh, Stella, who made her dress look good simply by not looking as bad as the others. Her whining about leather, her lack of gamesmanship and her “look at me, I’m tough because I use the same hair dye as a black Halloween cat” attitude are really getting old. Getting old, kind of like the whining.