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Some gifts you just can’t find on the internet. Take this beauty for example. You’re just not going to find it at any store online (no matter what the spammers tell you). We called a couple of stores for pricing, but we kept getting the “come in and see our line, we have shopper service.” So you can let your feet do the walking, or your chauffeur do the driving to purchase.

Be the envy of your local socialite or favorite female rapper with this Rolex.

This challenge required the designers to take the clothes they were wearing and transform them into a runway design (literally, the “Clothes of Your Back Challenge”). This severely limited the amount and type of fabric the designers had to work with, and demanded a great deal of innovation and creativity. Some designers were able to deliver, while others couldn’t even make their own clothing into something aesthetically pleasing.

Designs that Rose to the Top

Daniel F. finally made good on all his talk of tailoring experience. This design is crisply tailored and a spectacular blend of brown and black – two colors that most people can only pull off separately. The outfit is classic and rather straightforward, with hip alterations such as a shortened buttonless jacket (that fits so well) and choclate satin trim where black and brown merge at the bottom of the skirt.

If I didn’t know that the skirt had been a leather jacket I might be harsher on its zip-up, flattened front, but taking the limits of the challenge into account, this outfit is an inventive metallic ensemble. All the tucking detail on the top gives softens the leather edge with a romantic touch, and the shrug gives balance to the top of an outfit with such a bulky bottom.

Raymundo’s design melds so many preppy elements together that it comes out mod and funky. The velvet evokes a smoking jacket, while the buttons are reminiscent of a peacoat, and layering the vest over a collared polo took it over the edge. The red buttons add just the right character to prevent the outfit from being stuffy or boring.

Despite the buttcheeks sagging from underneath the skirt, Zulema's deisgn is a fairly well-executed dress with a good line and cut. And those oversized sunglasses are just gorgeous.

Designs that Sank to the Bottom

Marla, Marla, Marla. If they accused Wendy Pepper of being dowdy, what term will the judges be able to find for you? The top looks like little Ms. Bo Peep turned her denim jeans into a top – what is with the trim? And what does the jagged rip add to the outfit except contradiction? It would have been much better as a denim wrap-top. The skirt is cute enough, if only she could have made a top to compliment it.

After being completely unimpressed with Kirsten’s previous design, it wans’t surprising that she wasn’t able to turn her own clothing into an outfit worth wearing. I honestly don’t know how these pieces (including the precious scarf she couldn’t “give up”) ever made up the original outfit, and they certainly don’t go together here. The top looks like something you (well, not you, darling, but someone) would wear to a biker bar and the skirt belongs in a karaoke bar. Neither belong on the runway.

Daniel V.’s outfit is where dominatrix meets cargo pants. Nothing about this outfit is flattering. Based on this design and the last, Daniel V. doesn’t know how to make an outfit that doesn’t bulge or puff out in the wrong places.

Drifting in the Middle

Chloe’s dress was the winner, but in my opinion it is not a great feat of design. The black pactches make the model look really hippy and disproportionate, I cant imagine what would do to someone who actually has a real waist and hips. Nothing gives the dress real form – the top could use further definition.

Given what Andrae had to work with, this design is not bad, it is innovative and even a bit edgy. The best feature is the belt, giving the outfit definition and focusing the eyeline. The breakdown was befuddling given that the dress was neither horrible nor excellent (neither tears of despair or elation.

Emmett’s design is just sort of frumpy. Compared to the crisp tailoring of Daniel F.’s jacket this looks like the model put her jacket on the wrong way. If the jacket is going to be that loose, the dress should be more fitted to provide balance.

Diana’s dress has a modernly designed skirt, but the top is a bit too complicated. The strings attaching the pieces of the top together create confusion rather than visual stimulation. If the top were simplified the fabric’s pattern and the flirty accessories would get more emphasis.

Nick’s design blends softness with sex and a little leather edge. It doesn’t quite come together, but it could be something that he develops into an interesting signature style.

Kara’s top is an expression of the lux-casual look that is really trendy right now, but the rolled-up jeans into bunchy, buldgy shorts will probably never enter the sphere of trendiness. The top also evokes another trend that is on the horizon with its suspenders-like straps: geek chic.

Just as with her previous design, Guadalupe has bitten off a little more than she can chew. The color scheme is appealing, but compounded with the complexities of the outfit it becomes overwhelming. And just as with the previous design, the shoulder embellishments could be removed to drastically improve the outfit.

-Ali

Apparently they do. I was looking at our comments section and apparently someone (who shares the same name as our editor, but indeed is not) made out like a bandit at the Art of Shopping sample sale this past weekend.

Here’s what she had to say:

This sale rocks!! I picked up Citizens of Humanity twill pants for $25 !!! and Sweetees & Theory tops for $10.
Thank you.

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