Jerell’s model Nicole comes out next. This gown looks couture. In a heavy fabric, Jerell has stacked layers over layers in alternating colors. The colors complement each other; he’s done a good job of choosing tones and shades. These are darker than the roses in the photograph but one can see the connection. The top layer of the gown is gathered from the center over each side. It reminds me somewhat of an Elizabethan gown, but with a completely modern twist. The shape is not at all historical - it must be all the gathering and sensuous draping. The heavy fabric. Only the large sequins gathered in one place on the bodice are suggestive of a flower - the center of a bloom. The voluminous skirts and softly bunched train could be suggestive of the entirety of a rose, but it’s all more abstract than derivative.
And now for a literal interpretation. Kenley’s “scaly” dress comes out. Kenley interpreted the leaves in her source photograph as ‘scales’ and decided to make a dress that looked like a fish. It’s a sheath dress with tightly clustered rows of pointy panels at the bottom. The pointy panels are very large, and layered atop each other, look like large fins or scales. It isn’t pretty like a mermaid, it’s kind of creepy. The gown itself is tight like the snakeskin image Kenley wanted to evoke. The hanging purple flaps covering Topacio’s bottom legs bounce up and down as she struts. This would make a great costume for Sid and Marty Kroft’s Sigmund and the Sea Monsters. Kenley, there’s always Six Flags.
The brief runway show over, explanations begin. Leanne is first. She talks about structure and softness inspired by the lavender plant. Georgina admires the balance Leanne struck between those two ideas and also praises the tailoring of the bodice. Nina thinks the gown is “harmonious and feminine” but she and Michael Kors agree the bustle is problematic. The dark purple fabric “looks like it got thrown on” Kors says, which in effect is what happened. Leanne tacked it on at the last moment, thinking she had to mimic more than one color in the plant.
Korto says her source flower was simple, vivid and pretty. Michael likes the shape of the gown but says it is not sophisticated. “Beauty pageant” is Michael’s and Heidi’s association with the simple design. Korto begins crying. Georgina questions the fabric choice. Nina thinks the lace and beading are overworked. Nina also does not see “much of Korto in there.” Korto protests quietly that “this is all me.” She nods as Nina says Korto “threw too much in” and went too far in an effort to impress them.
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