Project Runway: Good Queen Fun

Dear RuPaul,

STOP FUCKING WITH YOUR FACE!

Love,

Me

Yikes, dude. There was some scary shit going on there. I enjoy RuPaul generally but she was NOT looking her hottest last night. Maybe she felt like she needed to tone it down to judge? I like my RuPaul with insane platinum blonde hair, less obvious facial surgery, and significantly more insanity.

Ok, I cannot agree with you more about RuPaul. Seeing her look all plasticky and shitty made me feel really sad, because I was all about her in the 90s when she looked FABULOUS. Just awful.

Chris of course was fabulous...I liked how he had to stay very very still to keep that hat from going wonky on him, and also the "I knew him from his laugh" moment, which was very cute. I want him to be my friend in the WORST way.

Cindy and I were walking out of the gym and had a convo in the parking lot that made me consider what we sound like to the outside world, to wit:

Cindy: Do we know what the challenge is?
Josie: I don't know, I try not to check them.
C: Yeah. Okay, see ya.
J: OH! Yes we do! Drag queens!
C: OH YEAH!
J: And it's the gay Jurassic Park thing!
C: YAY!
J: And CHRIS MARCH! You are going to LOVE Chris!
C: I will take your word for it.
J: Yay!

Then we drove out of the parking lot, and then when we came to a stop light, Cindy waved at me and I smashed the shit out of my hand on the sunroof because I forgot it was closed. I CONTINUE MY REIGN OF AWESOMENESS.

Last night I was talking with my hands (fughedaboudit) and I nearly cut a hole in my eyebrow with the nail on my thumb, so yeah. I know all about that kind of stuff.

Blayne...the great thing is that this DOES look like something out of a gay Jurassic Park...but this is maybe the only challenge where that is OKAY! Again, Blayne does the same 80's vomit, neon and black, vibrant extravaganza of puff, but it totally gels with the challenge at large and Miss Understood's look specifically. The structural failure of the wings was fine by me, since as you know I am having issues with liking Blayne's stuff as much as I do. He did well by this challenge, I think. I thought this was the perfect pairing, as Blayne's aesthetic and Miz Understood's look were basically made for one another. I thought this look had a real sense of humor, which I really enjoyed. Blayne is so a one trick though, and although he's growing on my because he's kind of funny, I don't know how much longer he's going to be around.

Terri...I loved everything about this look for Acid Betty! I don't know how the hell Terri lost. This worked perfectly with Acid Betty's look, and it was cool as hell even independently of AB's whole persona. It's just so crazy and bright and kickass....somehow both totally about everything drag is and completely unique. Love it. No idea how it didn't win. I was so angry when this didn't win! Terri is robbed again. I'm kind of hoping she's like Jay in that she is consistently good, gets passed over for wins but ends up taking the whole thing. I thought this was ultra creative, insanely well made and overall, just perfect.
Daniel...what a win/win that bottom two was, eh? Two irritating weirdoes, two boring ass designs. The colors were fine on this dress Daniel made for Annita Greenkard but dude...she's a drag queen. It CAN be pretty, but if "pretty and subtle" is the main hallmark of the dress, you've fucked up somewhere. Needs more crazy. I LOVED the "sequins are gaudy" defense that Daniel mounted. Talk about more proof that he's a spacey weirdo. How can you even THINK the phrase "sequins are gaudy" when in the last 48 hours you have been in the same room with a MAN wearing a crotch-high dress with a SEQUINNED FROG FACE ON IT??
I am exponentially happy that Daniel is finally gone. I thought this was too boring for a drag queen, and although it's pretty, totally inappropriate for the challenge. I was never really a fan of his stuff and was quite tired of his whining, so I was only too happy to see him go.
Joe...I think he won this on superb tailoring, because I will hand it to him...dang. Varla Jean here turned around at the end of the runway and Rich and I BOTH let out Friday-style "daaaaaaaaaaaaaamn"s. Gloves look at the fit on this outfit and say, "whoa." The whole thing is just so nutty and weird and great. The strange thing for me, though, and this is part of why I didn't get Joe winning over Terri, was that I didn't feel it particularly meshed with Varla Jean's whole vibe. I mean, she came out in that crazy ass Southern Belle get up and that was her whole schtick...the jump to sailor suit seems weird and not quite ideal to me. I too thought Joe did a great job, but I don't think this was in any way, shape or form better than Terri's. Yeah, it's fun and stuff, but as far as creativity goes, it's not even close. I think they picked him to win because he's the straight guy, and isn't that ironic. I think part of why he won was also that Varla worked the hell out of that look on the runway, and totally sold it. She looked happy and seemed as though she loved it so I'm sure that it helped just a little bit. (By the way, Rich saying dayum at a drag queen has slain me.)
Keith...I could have been down with Keith going, too. I will also note that I found Sherry Vine to be the most alarming of the ladies...there was some weird face action going on. The hair, though, was magnificent. There are bridges with less structural elements. I hated this much less than everyone else did, but I am also having some Shredded Shit Fatigue, so I guess I understand it. I don't know if it was the combo of hair and outfit but it gave off a distinct Cruella DeVil vibe to me. I was not that enthused about it in re: the visibility of underwear but after reading Tim's blog on Bravo's site I understand that the visible underwear is something of a theme with Ms. Vine so I will allow it. Oh look, Keith did another shredded piece of shit...what a surprise. Another one tricker. I really did not like this look, and I really don't like Keith. I do agree that her hair is pretty spectacular, but honestly, this kind of makes her look like a tramp, and I mean that in the poor British dude in 1890s way.
Jerell...I found LaMay to be kind of a lame queen as it was but this didn't do much to help. It looks like one of those heinous sequinned gowns that old ladies wear to the opera mated with some kind of excessively formal hiking outfit. These two particular textures just were not doing it for me and I found the collar to be kind of weird and lame. This is the queen who I found to be the scariest looking. She has no neck! She looks like some weird sort of drawing on playing cards! I was not really all that into this because it was just so strange to me, the colors are drab and it just doesn't say "fun."

Korto....how cool were the funky shoulder whosies? I love the colors and the whole effect, though I think the dress really needed the detachable thing. I didn't find the dress sans skirt to be all that thrilling. Sweetie was rocking the hell out of this though, she clearly loved it. *scampers off to make some sequinned shoulder tendrils* I loved this look. I thought it was over the top and fabulous, and those shoulder things reminded me of jester hats, which is always good. She totally loved it, she looked amazing and I think this was a great look for a drag queen.
Leanne...Leanne is like one giant human mood swing for me. I forget she exists basically for every moment she is not onscreen, then I see her, and immedately ramp into disproprtionate rage over the fact of her hair and stupid hipster glasses. Turns out I'm kind of a jerk. In any case, I was surprised that this Sharon Needles getup didn't get more love...it totally fits her persona and is pretty goddamn cool in and of itself. I would also like to note that I VERY MUCH ENJOY that the old school Divine hyper-arched V eyebrow with spraypaint-enamel up to THERE is still in full effect. Rock it, Sharon! I also really loved this look. I thought it rocked, I loved the colors and the construction. It's really quite impressive. So much fun! I also have weird feelings about Leanne, but she doesn't annoy me as much as Kenley does.
Kenley...yeah, okay. More Cruella, but I think significantly short of the craziness that this challenge allows. Fit was fine, feathers were adequately swishy. I think that the glamour girl thing is Farrah Moans' thing, but if she's going Marilyn, I personally would enjoy seeing a famous Marilyn outfit (the Some Like It Hot number springs immediately to mind) completely dragged out and juiced up on the sequin roids. I dunno...it's fine but didn't really do anything all that exciting for me. This is pretty much a meh. It's a regular dress with a feather collar. Wow. Lots of imagination there. My Kenley hate grows.
Suede...so, Hedda Lettuce...kind of hot, no? Like, kind of great looking woman? I agree that the outfit WAS looking kind of Godzilla to begin with, but I think Suede is a pretty good editor. He has taken snippets of advice before pretty well. That being said, I still was more sold on Hedda IN it than the actual outfit. Fit her character well and worked, but again, like Farrah up there, it wasn't a total face-melting level of awesome. I think Hedda looked pretty, because she is pretty, although I'm not feeling the ultra dark hose. Whatever. It did look a little lizardy but I think Suede did a good job of working it over and making it less...Godzillaish. I'm also kind of liking Suede because he's pretty diplomatic and can take criticism well, but he can shove "wackadoodle" right up his ass.
Stella...I've seen a couple people slamming this outfit, but I don't know that it's so horrid. I don't know that it's an exact hit on Louisa Verde's style, but I think it's well executed and she looks great in it. Still, Stella is continuing to make some kind of leathergrommetlacingblack confection regardless of challenge and I fear that does not bode well for her, which is sad I love her crazy ass now. This isn't mind-blowing either, but I like it fine and Louisa clearly felt great in it. I had a feeling Stella would do something like this...a look with leather and very little imagination. I didn't think it fit the queen's style either, but it looks very well made. It's too edgy for Louisa, I think.

Two more notes: Pretty much everyone I've discussed with agreed that one of the most interesting parts of the challenge was when the ladies came in sans makeup. I think since the makeup and hair is SO crazy over the top, I always expect drag queens to look particularly distinctive even without it, but they were such a mixed bag. Very cool. That was by far my favorite part of the show. It was hilarious to see these guys putting on this very over the top glittery stuff. So funny. And Awesome.

Cindy was BEGGING for there to be an "awesome comments" section of the Jos 'n' Lucy show and I agree that this was an EXCEPTIONAL episode for commentary...the "it looks like a sad chicken" comment was great, and I also really enjoyed Michael Kors' throwaway comment on wanting Terri's insane boots! Hahahaha @ Michael. Like I said, he can't design worth shit but his comments are awesome. Speaking of awesome comments, I don't know if you saw Tony Bourdain last night, but he actually quoted a Yo Gabba Gabba song (seriously...best kids' show ever. It's an acid trip with techno music thumping in the background) which nearly made me shit my pants. I flove him.