by Lindsay Strouse

We've seen pretty much everything this season on Project Runway: team challenges, menswear, designing for clients, workroom meltdowns, more team challenges...With only a few episodes left, Tim Gunn and his team must have a few more tricks and surprises up their oh-so-well-tailored sleeves.

Tonight's episode starts off with a blast from the past. Heidi tells the designers to "look to the past for inspiration." With that vague and ominous thought lingering, they meet with Tim who tells them the winning design will be put into production and sold online at Piperlime.com. Now that's big!

This fall season is all about the revival of the sophisticated 70's (silky tie-front blouses, elegant pants, prints, browns, oranges and tan tones). Hm, reminds me a bit of last week's challenge. The one thing they need to keep in mind is that this is a modernized version of a 1970s look.

Other than Bert, not many of the designers are too familiar with the era of Studio 54. Right away we see a wide array of concepts being sketched onto the designers' HP pads.

After the initial sketches have been drawn, everyone heads over to Mood. All's going well until the unthinkable happens...Anya loses her entire $100 budget. Left with only $11 in change from her fellow contestants, the only material she is able to utilize is one piece of fabric, a zipper and muslin.

Once back at the workroom, almost all of the designers immediately offer their unused fabric to Anya. It is really great to see how generous everyone is being in her serious time of need.

Bert feels like he has an advantage over the other designers in the challenge, but I'm a little uncertain after seeing his gold sequined tube top. Laura chooses an extreme pattern clash, which is always a risk in these types of challenges.

Halfway through the day, Viktor accuses Josh M. of stealing a few elements of his design, but decides to let it go and simply out-design him.

The next morning, Tim enters the workroom with that surprise I've been waiting for. They must create a second look out of one piece (no separates). They will be given a $50 budget and 15 minutes at Mood. Hold onto that money, Anya!

After the second Mood trip, all of the designers have quite a bit of work left to do. There are definitely a few mixed reviews when Tim checks in. Because of Bert's extreme 70's throwback, Tim is uncertain whether the judges will love or hate his garment. He then reminds Laura to be wary of her pattern choices because of Nina's already-critical view of her aesthetic.

At this point, it's hard to tell who is taking the lead for this challenge. With one hour left in the workday, people are much less concerned with what their competition is doing than worrying about the frantic rush to get the job done. It seems like a few pieces are still unfinished when Tim calls time to go down to the runway.

This week's guest judge is Olivia Palermo, editor of Piperlime.com.

Anthony Ryan's first look has a universal trendiness to it that I love. You could picture anyone strutting down the street in it. Bert showed a little too much skin in his "roller Barbie" look, but I really liked his neutral colored loose-fitting dress.

For an $11 budget, Anya really pulled it out with her first look. It certainly has a few kinks that could have been worked out but considering the circumstances, everyone is pretty impressed. Viktor's looks didn't do much for me, but they were well constructed and reminiscent of the 70's.

Heidi quickly announces Kimberly back to safety, leaving the remaining 6 designers with the highest and lowest scores.

None of the judges like Laura's designs, and I can't say I disagree. Once again, the judges love Viktor's looks, but wish he gave a little more sex appeal. Heidi declares Josh M.'s plaid pants, leopard belt and bizarre red and black top as one of the worst looks she's seen in a long time.

The judges are extremely impressed with the work Anya produced with $11 and complimented her styling and construction. Following her positive critique, Anthony Ryan gets the complete opposite. Just...ouch.

They wrap up the judging with Bert and completely fawn over his styling and fabric choices (as Laura stares in disbelief). I have to say, I've been a fan of Bert since Day 1-even with his, let's call them "quirks"-so I'm happy to see him back on top!

Without skipping a beat, the judges announce Anya as the challenge winner and will sell her jumpsuit on Piperlime.com. After such a rough start, talk about a comeback!

After announcing Bert as safe, Olivia tells him his dress will also be sold on Piperlime. Following his exit, Viktor, Laura and Josh M. are also brought back to safety. That means that tonight we say goodbye to Anthony Ryan.

Project Runway airs every Thursday at 9/8c on Lifetime.

(Image courtesy of Lifetime)

Follow Lindsay on Twitter @LindsayStrouse