A little late, but...

Oh my god, Christian won Project Runway.



CHRISTIAN.



What in the flying fuck?



First off, his line in the final was just, in a word, horrendous. Most of those models couldn't even see where they were going due to the ridiculous floppy hats and 8-foot tall collars. I suppose his line fell under the guise of "couture," but as far as wearability, I'm thinking a huge no. If I ever saw someone wearing one of those jackets with those collars walking down the street, I'd probably stop, stare at them, pause, then smack them across the face with a brick. But its sheer ridiculousenss aside, it was all pretty dull to me. It was an endless parade of black and drab greenish grey, with some ruffles, feathers, structured jackets, skinny jeans, and boots. Honestly, almost everything out there could fall under at least one of those categories - how boring.

Then there was the judging. Other than the fact that Nina Garcia seems to lack any sort of taste in fashion or common sense (and is, of course, a total bitch), who was the guest judge? None other than Victoria Beckham, who Christian has said on numerous occasions is one of his style icons and specifically designs for her. Well, then, isn't it just a tad biased to have her as a guest judge, seeing as she's already stated to be a fan of his work? It seemed just a little ridiculous, not to mention horribly unfair, for Rami and Jillian when the guest judge is almost guaranteed to vote for Christian.

I know it sounds like I'm being really harsh on Christian - I suppose I am - because his style is very much not for my taste (or anyone else's taste that I know, fortunately). I have to hand it to him, though, he has some chops as a designer, particularly for someone who's 21 years old. It blows my mind that he's only a year older than me and has already won Project Runway and could sell his entire line to Posh Spice, and I'm doing...well, nothing, other than writing this blog and going to college. Christian is a little diva and can be a total snot, as well has having a serious need to start working on his people skills, particularly with his customers, but he isn't afraid to take risks and really owns his work. That much was apparent at the runway show; he loved what he made, and I respect that, even if I didn't love it.

Regardless, I thought Jillian's collection was much better (her knits were adorable!), and had expected her to win over Rami for sure. I didn't even know what to say when Rami was in the final two, as his color selection was pretty bad overall (what was he thinking when he put that absolutely gorgeous weave dress in a drab olive?!), and his line, other than his dresses, just fell completely flat. There was one particular outfit that stuck out in my head; there were these awful high-waisted magenta pants with awkward pockets that stuck out everywhere and just didn't fit the model, and this jacket...thing...that was black and white patterned and had ruffles and I don't even know what happening on it. I think I threw up in my mouth a little when I saw that go down the runway. Rami's strengths definitely lie in his gown design; sure, he drapes all the damn time, but he does a great job of it. Some of his dresses I could actually wear, and would like to wear, but the rest of his clothes...no. Just...no.

Besides...I missed Chris.

Either way, I'm shocked that Christian won, shocked at the choice of guest judge, and shocked that Jillian didn't at least get second.

Oh, and I'm shocked that magenta high-waisted pants found their way anywhere near that finale.

P.S. Here's a fun interview with the fabulous Tim Gunn from the Chicago Tribune:
http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2008/03/project-runways.html