Hand-sewing lingerie has proven to be as tedious as picking up individual grains of sand.
“Things don’t get more basic than a bra and panties,” Tim Gunn said. Well, the designers quickly found out basic is far from easy.
In “Lace to the Finish,” almost no one finished in time, and I just can’t handle the pun this week.
The designers had to create a lingerie set that combines both their signature with Heidi Klum’s taste. The winner of the challenge would have his or her design reproduced as a part of Heidi’s Intimates collection. The branding in this show is ridiculous.
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This challenge was an unusual and cool opportunity, but there were struggles within the design room.
To Edmond, the concept was easy — just make a sexy top and sexy bottom. Well, he and Heidi had two different definitions of sexy.
Based on Blake's end product, he still doesn’t know the anatomy of the female body.
Lindsey cut her hand so badly with her scissors that she had to leave her project and go get stitches and a tetanus shot, so hand-stitching could be an issue.
Heidi showed up to critique with Tim, which should definitely happen more often. She scrutinized everyone’s design with intimidation and curt comments.
She called Edmond’s design “captain tacky” and criticized the women Edmond dates. Tim chimed in and went as far as to say the women who sleep with Edmond are probably ones he paid for. OK, Tim. Bit much?
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The comments throughout the design room were from “granny panties” to “trash.” Simple is difficult.
Merline made her own bra, and if I hear “architecture” one more time when describing her designs, I might vomit. The other designers can’t hide behind one word in creating pieces week after week like she can.
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So long story short, designers Blake, Edmond, Swapnil, Joseph and Jake all scrapped their designs after five hours of work and began to come up with another concept.
After critique, Heidi requested everyone on the runway within 10 minutes, and everyone’s confused as to whether they have to finish their lingerie in time. OK.
Turns out they have to design another piece — a cover up in trade for more work time. As in, they have to sleep in the design room. The designers get dressed in their pajamas and prepare for a coed lingerie-designing sleepover.
In theory, the cover is not a big deal, but it’s using up more time than the majority of the designers can afford. Blake is still trying to figure out where the vagina is in order to make panties. I wish I was joking.
As Joseph looked around the room with all of the more complete underwear designs, he noticed the high-waisted panty and was curious to whether he was transported back into the 1980s. Laurie took it one step further by making a high-waisted granny panty with a seam down the middle of the crotch. Neat.
As Jake was redesigning his lingerie set, his model voices her opinion on not wanting to wear a thong — something about her boyfriend breaking up with her and her emotions were too unstable. So now that he was dealing with not just the model’s measurements, but her emotional needs, the focus disappeared.
By 3 a.m., everyone calls it quits and goes to sleep with the mattresses provided on the runway. Tim wakes all of them up dressed in his flannel button-up pajamas and a baby blue robe. If the show ended there, I would have been OK.
Alas, the designers still had a huge to-do list in finishing up their designs and making sure they fit their models flawlessly.
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Shout out to the guest judge, Disney Channel star Bella Thorne. Her critiques were so detailed and I trusted her opinion on everything. Whoever goes shopping with her must benefit greatly from her opinions because they had a big presence, which has not happened a lot in this season.
Blake got slammed for his design, and he knew it. His model went down the runway in an unfinished bra and a ripped piece of fabric tied around her waist.
When he got to the judges, they were disappointed not only in the outfit, but his lack of knowledge in designing for a diverse female demographic.
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Ashley’s color was sporty and feminine AND she had a finished cover up. The judges called it sexy, young and youthful — everything women strive for in buying lingerie.
Afterward, the vote gave Merline the win. Even though Ashley’s design was an impeccable fit, Merline took the challenge because she did not use a bra template like everyone else, and because bralettes are in. There’s a market.
Blake was sent home and for valid reasons. In the words of Blake, "It just isn't my day." He held in there long enough.
An ode to Blake being out: It's the moment I have been waiting for and I cannot describe my happiness. Yes, the workroom will be more quiet, but the average IQ just boosted about 50 points.
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