Anticipating (and, honestly, hoping) that Kenley would royally screw up during part one of Project Runway's finale last night, I had the opening line of this TV Watch already written in my head: "Ding-dong, the witch is dead!" But alas, the show's resident beast did a 180 this week with an inspired wedding gown (even if, as the judges pointed out, that inspiration might have been a bit Alexander McQueen) and the cutest bridesmaid dress ever. And as for that heinous 'tude she's been sharpening up the past few weeks? For the most part, even it was tolerable. She apologized to the other designers and even joked around with them a bit. Those eight weeks away obviously did Kenley a lot of good.
Let me just start by letting you know what may seem obvious by this point: I'm filling in for my colleague Kate Ward, who was filling in for your usual TV Watcher, Missy Schwartz, who's off gallivanting around Asia as we speak. And just so you know, here's another preface: I went to the Project Runway finale show in Bryant Park a few weeks back, so I've seen the entire collections for each of the designers. However, as you all also probably know, because of the timing of the show, six designers — the three now left, plus Jerell, Joe, and Suede — showed collections then.
My point is that from seeing those collections all those weeks ago, it was virtually crystal clear then who'd be in the top three — and that never ever included Jerell's overwrought fashions. Granted, you got a glimpse of what he did overall tonight with a few flashes of his collection, but check out Jerell's entire line, which was too much mixing, too much messy, and too much bling. You'll likely never see the collection otherwise. On the other hand, Korto, Kenley, and especially Leanne rocked the runway, so it's no surprise that they're they ones left standing. You go, girls!
But back to tonight's episode. I always love when we get to this part of the season. Seeing a bit of the designers' home lives is always so revealing. Now if we could just get some more time with their parents, family, and friends, it'd really be a window into their souls, don't you think? Korto, whose backstory made me a tad misty, and Jerell brought out the whole shebang in terms of family and friends, which was sweet, while Leanne awkwardly introduced us briefly to her cuteish boyfriend, Nathan.
And Kenley, in what was no surprise at all, didn't bring any friends around when Tim visited her tiny apartment in Brooklyn. Does she even have any? Honestly, that could be the case for this gal. Maybe all those tragic years on board that blasted tugboat didn't allow her to make any good friends? Okay, now I'm just being mean like Kenley herself. Another very revealing part of Tim's visit to Kenley's apartment was when she pointed out the photo of her grandma, who she said was a calendar girl in the '40s. Bingo! There's where her obsession with Bettie Page-esque looks comes from!
NEXT: Always a bridesmaid
