Week 9: The Stitch is Back

This week, the show begins with the designers being greeted in the workroom by Christian Siriano surrounded by some of the costumes from the new film Rocketman. Rocketman tells the story of legendary musician Elton John. Taron Egerton, the actor playing Elton John in the film, gives a video message to the designers about his unique, groundbreaking, and iconic stage fashions. Costume designer for the movie, Julian Day, comes to speak to the designers about some of the different pieces that he designed for the movie, all with fun in mind.

The challenge this week is to imagine if Elton John came to you in the 70's or 80's and asked for a fabulous look, what would you make him? The designers should create a larger-than-life early Elton John performance piece that channels the man, the times, and the music. The judges want something big, showstopping, and spectacular, so they'll need some extra help. Cue the eliminated designers! While the eliminated designers have been brought back for extra help in past seasons, it is usually a lot later on in the show, so this is pretty different.

This week's dishonorable mention goes out to Sonia for trying to takeover Garo's look. Sonia must have been eliminated too recently to not realize that she is no longer competing on the show. Throughout the work-time, she forces her ideas and opinions on Garo as if she were the leader and he were her helper. To make things even worse, when Garo gets great feedback from the judges and tells them what Sonia was responsible for, Sonia is still salty that he did not give her ample credit! Apparently, Sonia missed the memo on what being a helper is all about.

THE RUNWAY

Hits:

Jamall Osterholm

Jamall thought about a performance piece that he would make for Elton John today. Rocketman costume designer and guest judge, Julian Day said that this look embodied the essence of what Elton was about. Elaine said, "If Elton John was going to be on stage today, I'd want to see you put him in this."

Bishme Cromartie

Bishme was inspired by the song, "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues." Nina thought this look had so many successful reveals. Julian Day said, "I wish this was in the film. I really do. It's just fabulous."

Winner: Garo Sparo!

Garo tapped into the first time he heard the song "Rocket Man." As a costume designer, Garo had a lot riding on this challenge. The judges thought this look fit so well into the idea of Rocketman, and the execution was impeccable. Elaine said, "You took us to another galaxy."

Misses:

Tessa Clark

Tessa was inspired by the 70's and hippie-culture. While the judges liked this look in general, they thought it seemed like more of a daytime look than a performance piece. Tessa gave a lot of excuses for why her look was not successful since she usually designs for women and makes ready-to-wear clothing. The judges, however, did not like these excuses seeing as they true for almost all of the designers. Nina said, "Had you been the costume designer for the film, this would not have worked out."

Venny Etienne

Venny wanted to have fun with this challenge and show the best that he could with Elton John in mind. The judges did not like his use of feathers yet again and thought the design looked inexpensive because of the color choice. Karlie said, "I think extra can be so right or it can be so wrong. Unfortunately, it went wrong."

Out: Lela Orr

Lela was inspired by her artistic family which led her to create a super glam rock 70's cowboy. The judges did not like this look because the silhouette completely disappears. They also did not like her use of the boa around the neck, which she explained she only added to cover up a glue mark that was left from an iron. Nina said, "It really does look like a bad costume. Or like he lost a bet."

So, was Project Runway Season 17 Episode 9 in or out? I'm going to go with in again! Although I was a bit underwhelmed by a lot of the looks this week, I think the show overall is doing a great job of maintaining the good parts of previous seasons and changing up only a little bit here and there for the better.