by Todd Betzold

 

The five remaining designers on Project Runway All Stars are in a battle to the finish, as they are taking on the ready-to-wear challenge tonight with Elie Tahari judging and critiquing them along the way. We are getting closer and closer to the finale, so these last few challenges are huge for the designers, so let's see who cracks under pressure tonight!

 

The designers head over to Elie Tahari to meet Carolyn Murphy to find out what tonight's challenge will be and of course, it is a ready-to-wear challenge and their client tonight is Elie Tahari. Their designs must be at a low enough cost that when it is sold between $500-700 that they make a profit. The winning look will be sold in Elie Tahari stores and online and the profits will go to Save The Garment Center. They can choose any of the fabric and material in the store to use and they will help manufacture the looks for the designers.

 

The designers get their HP tablets and start sketching their ready-to-wear looks. Ivy decides to do a short dress with some color-blocking because that is what Elie Tahari is known for. The designers finish up their sketching and head down to the basement to check out their fabric selections. Joshua chooses a magenta color, which he thinks will be wow down the runway.

 

They then go and talk to some of the Elie Tahari staff to help them with fabrics and hitting the price point in order to make a profit off of their looks. Uli has to lose a jacket in order to make the price point, but everyone else is good to go.

 

Back in the workroom, Ivy chose a printed material, so she is changing her design and going with a longer dress to show off the fabric. Uli is upset that she chose white compared to everyone else that chose colorful fabrics and prints. Now she must think of some design details to make her dress pop on the runway. Emilio says the most important thing with looks are the colors.

 

Joanna comes in for her critique with Elie to help her critique the looks. For Ivy, she said it is feminine and modern and Elie said it was bold. Ivy mentions the length and the lady could take it to get it hemmed if it is too long, which Joanna said sounds like a lazy designer to her. For Joshua, Elie said to think of the women who would wear pink and lace together. For Emilio, Joanna thinks it is an interesting color combination and hard to wear. For Uli, Elie thought the fabric was a little heavy to wear and Joanna thought from the side the woman would look huge. For Anthony Ryan, Elie said to think of the shape to give the woman the best hips.

 

Uli takes out some extra fabric to create a sleeker look and Emilio takes out the color blocking to make it simpler. It is time for some video chat time for the designers, as Anthony Ryan chats with his boyfriend and then Ivy chats with Casanova, so I guess they were very close on the show?

 

The models come in for their fitting and even though Elie told her to watch the length, she is leaving it as is. Emilio said Joshua's dress has droopy boobs and Uli's looks like a potato sack! The designers finish for the day and head back to the hotel to talk about the life of Elie Tahari, which Emilio seems to know a ton about.

 

The next day arrives and it is runway day and the designers come in with two hours to finish their looks. All of them have a lot of work to do, but nothing new there. Anthony Ryan puts the dress on his model and he is worried about the print, but he says all prints are risky. Ivy said that everything Emilio has made is dated and period-like. Uli loves Anthony Ryan's print and he thinks Uli is screaming for a ring on her finger with going for white again. Joshua has a wonky zipper and it looks like his model has a dump in her trunk!

 

It is time for the runway show, as Carolyn Murphy meets the designers on the runway. The judges tonight are Carolyn, Georgina Chapman, Isaac Mizrahi and guest judges tonight at Elie Tahari and model/actress Stacy Keibler. The looks I liked: Anthony Ryan (the print is great and the dress is put together amazingly well) and Emilio (I like the dress, but it is very simple and boring). The looks I did not like: Joshua (nice, but the boobs are droopy and terrible in it), Ivy (it is plain and it looks like she tied a ribbon around the fabric and called it a dress) and Uli (the same dress and fabric as every other dress she has done before).

 

Time for some critiques: For Uli, Georgina said the detail on the shoulder is pretty. Carolyn said she could make a white dress every week and she would love it. Stacy said it is classy and she nailed the challenge. Elie said it is a wonderful achievement with what he saw yesterday. For Ivy, Carolyn said she loves the color-blocking, but that is all she loves about the dress. Georgina said the length makes the dress feels frumpy. Elie said she looks heavy. Stacy said if she cut it some it would be a cute summer dress. Isaac said he loved it when she walked, but awkward standing still.

 

For Emilio, Georgina said she wishes there were more details. Elie said good neckline and sleeve. Isaac said he expects more from him, but he wants more from this dress. For Anthony Ryan, Isaac said he takes issue with the neckline. Stacy said she loves the dress. Georgina said it looks so young without being a junior dress. For Joshua, Georgina said she loves the color, but from the side it looked like she had breasts down to her waist. Elie said it is a delicious fabric. Stacy said the zipper makes it modern, but takes it away from being feminine. Carolyn said the zipper cheapens the dress and if it was gone, it would have been more expensive.

 

The judges discuss the looks and it looks like Emilio will get immunity this week or else Isaac will lie on the runway and not let him go home. That leaves Uli and Anthony Ryan on top, which is no surprise and Ivy and Joshua on the bottom, which again is no big shocker. I think Anthony Ryan wins again and Ivy goes home.

 

The designers come back to the runway and time to find out what the judges have decided for tonight. The winning designer is Anthony Ryan, so his look will be manufactured and sold in Elie Tahari stores and online. That means Uli and Emilio are both safe tonight. That leaves us with Joshua and Ivy in the bottom two. Ivy is out, so Joshua survives another week and must tone down his look next week. Do you agree with the decision tonight?

 

Project Runway All Stars airs Thursdays at 9/8c on Lifetime.

 

(Image courtesy of Lifetime)

 

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