PPR Challenge 5 – Kat’s Design

It’s another unconventional materials challenge for Project Runway. This week we could chose materials from two of three different places; a wallpaper store (on the show it was vintage wallpaper, but who has one of those in their town?), a gourmet food store, and a party supply/home good store. I went with the gourmet foods and home good getting some Lentils du Puy and paper towels. (I also had garbage bags, but decided not to use them.)

Since we were to create a luxurious look, I planned to do a gown. My final design actually ended up being mid-calf, but I still think it looks luxurious.

I really like the way the paper towel ended up working as the main “fabric.” The embossed pattern on it added a subtle pattern to the dress, it actually reminds me of the embossed wallpapers you can get and paint. I wanted to have layers draping on one side. The paper towels really wouldn’t drape like a fabric would, so I did diagonal tiers instead.

I turned the lentils into a heavy beaded neckpiece for the halter-style top. I sort of wish I had black beluga lentils instead of the lentils de puy because they are smaller and well, blacker, but I had to use what I had. The shades of brown give them a natural, almost stone, look.

I went with gold accessories because I think gold pops with the white and looks lovely with the brown lentils. The neckline of the dress is heavily “beaded” so she didn’t need much else.

So, how do I think I did this week? Well, I’m not sure I did enough. It seems like the judges like things to be over the top for these conventional challenges, but I went where the materials inspired me to go and kept it looking like fashion not costume. I think I would have been safe this week and not had much discussion on the runway. What do you think?