Season 3 of Project Runway Begins

Cheap reality show drama + instant-grat fashion highs = style crack. In other words, television genius!

Though the last season of Project Runway ended a mere six months ago, fans of the program have practically been foaming at the mouth in anticipation of this new season. And can you blame them – ahem… us? Bravo has been provoking us all along, with season 2 marathons to whet our appetites, and slick commercials that promise more drama than ever. And, of course, they claim this season has more talent then any previous. We’ll see. After one episode, this is how I see it:

I knew I would like Allison Kelly when I saw the audition show. Her dress (far left) for challenge 1 was simple, yet chic in it’s details – I love the ladder necklace. Unfortunately, the color is all wrong for the model. But, having not met the model when she designed it, Allison couldn’t have know that.

I think the judges were a little hard on Jeffrey Sebelia. Yes, the throwing of the feathers before the walk was definitely too much. Still, the garments themselves were actually quite nice; and I think the jacket was a very tasteful option with the dress. He definitely didn’t deserve to be in the bottom two.

I thought this little white dress (right) from Michael Knight was adorable. The design may not have been terribly innovative, but at the least he didn’t do the easy thing and just use bed sheets and curtains. I’d give him the award for the most creative use of materials (coffee filters!).

Challenge 1 winner, Keith Michael’s dress (left) was cute – especially those red buttons in the back – and the fit was fantastic, but it wasn’t really exciting.

This dress (shown right) from Uli Herzner is worthy of an honorable mention. The color is great and I love the gauzy ethereal quality of the skirt. In fact, I predict Uli will be another of my favorites this season, along with Allison and Michael (can’t deny the ATL rep, of course).

Certainly, Vincent Libretti, whose chain and basket hat disaster I refuse to show, needs to get it together. Apparently, the judges see something in him, but I think he should have been in the bottom two with Stacy Estrella, the first to designer to be auf’d. No doubt there’s value in an almost childlike creative abandon, but taste level has to be there to turn it into something good. If he continues like this, I hope Vincent will be the next to go.