Episode 3 of Project Runway at the Metropolitan Museum of Art left Ping Wu out and Mila Hermanovski the winner!  The 14 remaining designers went on a field trip to the Met to draw inspiration from 10 iconic looks on display from the Costume Institute.  The challenge was to create a high-end signature look worthy of a master collection.  

With a budget of $500 two designers paired up with two days to accomplish their mission.  Too easy?  Apparently, the judges thought so.    Just to keep the designers on their toes, an additional challenge was thrown their way on Day 2.  The team was asked to create a second design that would be a  “look for less” inspired by another team’s signature look.  And this time the budget was pared down to 50 bucks.  

For the most part, the seven teams did fine.  But there are always issues.  Jesse and Ping fought every step of the way.  Ping kept changing her design, Jesse LeNoir was trying to “reign in the crazy” and was frustrated by her lack of construction skills.  Jonathan Peters felt he was doing the lion’s share of the work for Mila’s design. He did the shirt, pants, and the second look, and was grumbling that Mila spent two days working on just the jacket.  Maya Luz  felt that Jay was “phoning it in” since he had immunity from the last challenge, and felt the burden of the design was really on her shoulders.
Coming out on top were two teams: Mila/Jonathan and Jay/Maya.  Mila took the win with her daring, break-the-mold sportswear-inspired pantsuit that was well-fitting and modern.  The judges (including super-smooth guest judge Matthew Williamson) didn’t love their “look for less” which was based on Anthony William’s group.  But at the end of the day, the judges were so blown away by the pantsuit --especially the jacket.  It seems Mila’s two days of working on it paid off!  They were forgiven for the ho-hum babydoll “look for less” mess.   Jay’s gown also garnered praise with dramatic sculptured ruffles draping one shoulder.  Their “look for less” was a success with the judges commenting that it looked way more chic and expensive than Janeane Ceccanti’s signature look that served as their inspiration.

On the bottom?  Not Jesus, for once!  Anthony/Seth Aaron and Ping/Jesse found themselves with the lowest scores this week.  If all of us Project Runway watchers have learned anything in the past six seasons, it is this: don’t talk back to the judges!  Anthony apparently didn’t get the memo on that one and succeeded only in digging himself into a deeper whole while defending his tacky and uninspired cotillion dress.  The “look for less” was not much better, the judges thought it looked cheap, cheap, cheap, and that not enough thought went into designing it.  
Setting a better example was Seth Aaron Henderson, who demurely accepted responsibility for his part in the fashion disaster.  Jesse threw Ping under the proverbial bus while proclaiming that he had to both construct the garment and simultaneously teach Ping how to sew.  The judges hated both looks – the signature look seemed unfinished and the train was unwieldy.  The “look for less”  used tacky fabric and was ill-fitting.  The model piped in saying she had never been fitted in the dress to begin with!  Ultimately, Anthony scraped by and Ping was declared “out”, and it seemed that the remaining designers -- and probably a lot of viewers -- all sighed a collective sigh of relief to see her go.


At the end of episode 3, there is still no clear stand-out in this competition, we will have to see what develops.  Up next week?  The remaining 13 designers will design for an inspiring group of women – it’s a mystery!  Stay tuned for the next week’s episode ….

Photos courtesy of mylifetime.com