It's PRP Friday, andHere's Our Episode 5 Review!

The fifth episode of Project Runway happened to be a good episode to review because guess what, the designers dished out some of the most atrocious clothes of the show. Even the usually affable judge Rajo Laurel got really irritated, he didn't mind giving the contestants a mouthful. And fellow judge Apples Aberin, whose voice is usually devoid of emotions that she can practically do the voice over for Wall-E given the right synthesizer, roused passion and appealed to the designers to strive harder. (Her speech deserved a standing ovation.) The judges' critiques, which included that of guests Jun de Leon and Mich Dulce, were absolutely warranted.

The design challenge this week was for the contestants to take photos at Cubao Expo, select one that inspired them respectively, and translate the image into clothes. The designers had a full say on their vision, from the fabrics and colors they'd use, down to the type of dress they'd actually want to design, may it be eveningwear, cocktail, or casual. In other words, there were no restrictions; it was their opportunity to showcase who they are as designers. (Digression: Hurrah for Canon, which provided cameras to the contestants, for this subtle and tasteful marketing. Last week's beach and eveningwear challenge, forced the contestants to use Nesvita colors, namely green, yellow and pink. Who wears eveningwear in combos of green, yellow and pink?!) Which is why it was disappointing to see only one design standing out from the bunch, Jaz's. Her inspiration was a red lamp that had bamboo strips as body. She translated this into a contemporary and wearable mini-dress with a red top and body-fitting brown pleats, a witty way to capture the texture and visual of the bamboo strips. It was no surprise that she won the challenge.

Jaz's Winning Dress

The rest of the participants' designs were a tad safe. Mara, my personal favorite, is described as a "visual artist," hence, my extremely high, and therefore, may I say reasonable expectation for her interpretation of a bunch of pillows, one of which was spiked. I thought she'd go goth or punk or even Japanese; instead, I saw a rave party wear which would have been more appropriate for the late 90's. I also have a problem with lauded designer, Aries. Technically, he's good. But I feel that we've all seen his designs before, the military-inspired dress from the first episode for which he won, and the women's tux and cropped shorts for this week. He previously mentioned that he's inspired by London streetwear fashion, which is actually obvious. That is not a compliment.

On a positive note, it was refreshing to see Veejay steer clear of his usual but otherwise elegant silhouette, one that he has used from episodes one through four, fit and slim at the top then flowing at the bottom. For this episode, he resorted to a mini; only his design, which was a play on geometry, wasn't exciting. The four designers that got on the judges' nerves and had the lowest scores were Ivan, Bo, Eli and Winnie. They were all questioned for their "taste level" and technical expertise given the cheap-looking outfits that they produced.

Winnie explaining her dress beside's Ivan's Phil. Eagle inspired dress.

I found Ivan's design to be a comic relief; every time the camera panned on his design, I had to stifle my giggling. It was Shera's costume (or "Mulawin" as Jun described), a literal translation of his photograph of the Philippine eagle. Ivan, who had been teased by fellow designers as "tribal girl" in the first episode for his use of traditional but provincial patterns, has to prove all the more that he can do sophisticated and wearable clothes.

Now, here's who got my heart at a record blood-pumping rate: Eli, he with a sharp tongue but severely mangled diction. I don't work in the fashion industry, and therefore, I've really no stake in it, but don't you think that what he did was an insult to designers who take their work seriously? Without shame, he cut out strips of fabric and pasted, yes, as in glued them on his poorly constructed dress (with creases, lumps and all) to create a porcelain pattern. (His inspiration was a Chinese vase.) Also, I'm not sold on the originality of his design. It was a little avant-garde and I thought the silhouette and Oriental feel was a tamed down version of a piece from Christian Dior's Spring 07 Couture collection:

Eli's entry beside a dress from Christian Dior's Spring 07 Couture Collection (Photo: Marco Madeira for www.style.com)

Of course, this is debatable. Eli deserved the boot but Winnie, who was hanging by a thread due to her poor performance from last week, had to be snipped from the competition. Her inspiration was a mural of Italy and her vision was a jetsetter outift. She ended up making a plain dress with a puzzling drapery on top. The judges questioned her point of view, which she had trouble explaining, hence her disqualification. It was sad to see Winnie go before Eli but it was sadder when she said, "It's the best work I've done so far." If that was your best work ever, then yep, you deserve being shown the door.

I originally wanted to compare the Filipino designers with their American counterparts, those who are part of Season 5 that is presently airing in the US. I was supposed to give a shout out to the Pinoy designers for coming out with better and more refined clothes. Unfortunately, this episode turned me off; I do hope they stand up to Apple's call for better work quality.

Editor's note again: Super thanks again to Jason and to those equally fabulous YouTube PRP uploaders without whom very few of us would be able to make a decent review because, seriously, who watches TV anymore? Our previous reviews are here, here, here and here.