loiseau - out of curiosity, how were you spoiled on one of the US finalists? They had a ridiculous number of decoy shows this year - I think 6 designers showed at Fashion Week, which was the number of contestants on last week's episode.

OK, that read sort of like a challenge. My question is which site spoiled one of the final three? I like spoilers, you see. :)

I thought the designers were much more interesting than the ones on the U.S. version this season. They seemed more personable and less, hmm, I don't know, angry or something, even when they were stressed out and sniping at each other. There really hasn't been anyone on Project Runway 5 that I would even want to meet, whereas I wanted to invite pretty much all of the Australian designers over for dinner.

Henry I didn't think much of at first, but he grew on me, and by the end I felt he was making some pretty constructive comments. He can come to dinner too.

I adored Lui and was rooting for him, but when it became clear he was not really willing to do things outside of his own personal style for the sake of winning the show, I knew he'd be out. I also adored Mark's personality and wished he'd stayed longer, even though I wasn't impressed with his designs at all. I wanted him to just stay on the show and keep making comments about everything.

The finale seemed to come down to picking a well-made "fantasy" type collection over a well-made "commercial" type collection. My choice was Leigh (excuse me, I mean Nana), but picking Juli was perfectly understandable and I had no problem with it. Petrova seemed to be trying to do too much for one small collection ("I was inspired by all kinds of things"). Her stuff looked all over the place.

OK, that read sort of like a challenge. My question is which site spoiled one of the final three? I like spoilers, you see. :)

Hmm... I hadn't considered the possibility of decoy shows, so that puts a twist on things. I got spoiled by a recent NYT slideshow about fashion week models and how they're still ultra thin. One of the examples had a caption with the designer's name.

I realllllllllly did not want this person to win, and the idea that he/she got that far really irks me, but I can sort of see it, just because, it's like, once someone's gotten this far, it's just as likely as not that they'll get through to the end, especially if I HATE THEM GRARRRRRRRRRRR

I thought the designers were much more interesting than the ones on the U.S. version this season. They seemed more personable and less, hmm, I don't know, angry or something, even when they were stressed out and sniping at each other. There really hasn't been anyone on Project Runway 5 that I would even want to meet, whereas I wanted to invite pretty much all of the Australian designers over for dinner.

Yeah, exactly! And y'know, I'll be the first to admit that I enjoy a few reality shows (I see them as akin to junk food) but (or maybe because of this) I get tired of them keeping on merit-less people because they're total assholes or they make good soundbites or whatever. (I always use Vincent from a previous ProjRun as a perfect example.) I feel like the non-US ones are less likely to do that. So it's really nice to be able to root for people and not just get that antagonistic button pushed.

Lui had a good point of view -- I think in time he'll be able to develop it into a stronger concept. (I know nothing about fashion except for what this show teaches me, so excuse my appropriation of the language.)

Mark had my #1 favourite moment of the series -- in the first 3-4 episodes there was an interview break with him where he is describing the runway show day, and he says, "The atmosphere in the work room was like..." and just puts both hands over his ears and starts running around the interview set fake-screaming. Oh man. I wish I didn't have to delete that episode for hard-drive space.

I wish the reunion show was a full hour!

Oh - and I meant to say in my blathering that I am definitely underwhelmed by this year's US-series contestants. No one I loved right away. Lots of them I couldn't even distinguish from one another for weeks.

I loved, loved Leigh's show, but can appreciate why they chose Juli. I expected Leigh and Juli to be in the final three all along, both are exceptional tailors and their work was great quality all the way through. I thought it'd be Lui with them, though.

I thought Leigh might have had a chance of winning because the winning collection wasn't going to be stocked in a department store and therefore didn't necessarily have to be the more commercial collection, but alas, no. I liked Juli's collection, but it was definitely safer. And there were two pieces of Leigh's that made me die with lust (the brocade kilt and the long green dress, the one he showed with the snake brooch) and only one of Juli's (her final grey dress). Petrova's collection had too many boofy things right on your hips and she made one of her models look really short and dumpy - the dress was totally the wrong style and length and it put me off.

But, anyway, that was the most exciting finale show I've seen in ages.

I'm missing PRAus already :( I was also spoiled, which I was bitterly disappointed about, but perhaps the lack of stressful clutching of the furniture and holding my breath/gasping/etc was healthier!

I feared PRAus was going to be terrible, but instead it was fab, much better than season 5 is shaping up to be. Henry really grew on me throughout the series, as did Kristy, and I really enjoyed Jayson & Sarah.

I absolutely adored Leigh from the get go, and yes, he reminded me of people I've known and I could see myself being friends with someone like him. I love him, and I love his work, and I love his parents, too.

I really liked Juli, too, and even though personally I would have been ecstatic to see Leigh win, I'm glad she won. She seemed a genuinely nice person and has a lot of talent.

Petrova I've been getting more and more annoyed at since about week 3. There was something I just couldn't put my finger on, but the more I saw of her the more I disliked her. I hated most of the clown-suitesque clothes she wore, her revolting orange nail polish, her cheap blue eyeshadow, her waif like fringe. Her sweet little voice and the condescending tone she uses. Then a couple of weeks ago, I FINALLY realised it was the voice that really turned me off - she sounds really insincere to my ear. She also has an arrogance about her that goes way beyond confidence. She would refuse to listen to instructions/criticism and would act like advice that she did take was her idea in the first place. I was CRUSHED when Lui was eliminated - he so should have been final three ahead of her, and the fact that she had already been eliminated made me gnash my teeth even more. GNARRRRR!

I can't wait til next season!

Hmm... I hadn't considered the possibility of decoy shows

I'm fairly sure there are always decoys. Whoever is still in the show as it's being screened when they film the finale presents a show, it just gets edited from what eventually goes to air.

I'm almost certain Lui & Brent both showed at Docklands along with Petrova, Leigh & Juli, as I definitely heard around town that FIVE designers showed. I would so love to see what those collections, especially Lui's. (And didn't Brent's ability really start to develop?)

I'm curious as to whether the decoys get the same budget/model picking rights/whatever and what happens to the mystery collections. Obviously the point is hide who the exact finalists are, so I imagine the decoys would be expected to present shows that could strive to be winning collections. As a designer, would it be hard to design and present a collection that you knew couldn't win? Would getting some funding and just being able to PRESENT your work to the industry be incentive enough?

OK, I'm thinking about this WAY too much.

Mark had my #1 favourite moment of the series -- in the first 3-4 episodes there was an interview break with him where he is describing the runway show day, and he says, "The atmosphere in the work room was like..." and just puts both hands over his ears and starts running around the interview set fake-screaming.

YES! That is EXACTLY when I fell in love with Mark! That was SO hilarious! You can see it here at about 4:30 in.

Whoa, awesome Janetland! I could've sworn it was a few episodes in but I guess it was the first!

I too thought Brent ("Brint", tee hee) really grew a lot. I actually really liked the outfit that sent him home -- the cap-sleeve blouse with the floral tuxedo front, and tweedy pants. I definitely wanted to see more of him.

I liked all of Juli's stuff, really, but what made me literally gasp was her series of long silver dresses -- not as much the final one, which was defs beautiful, as the one before it that was just a long column of silver. It was gorgeous. Unfortunately I can't find a picture.

Henry grew on me as well. In the end I decided I'd really liked his contributions. He was much like Tim Gunn, really... less like what's-his-face who's the mentor AND judge on Project Catwalk. I don't get why that guy -- oh, Ben de Lisi -- does both, it seems unfair. And he's just not that constructive most of the time.


So these decoy shows -- does ProjRu give them the money too, or is it sort of like "if you can afford to make a collection, you can show too"?

Oh, and about Petrova -- I understand her style is all about childlike-ness (not a word) but I think she should understand that most women are not really flattered by babydoll silhouettes. Especially past their early 20s.

Yes, the decoys get money to make their collection. It's supposed to look like any one of them is still in it, even though we don't know which 3 (or sometimes 4) it is.

Also, I've looked at the runway shows of the US designers, and it's pretty obvious to me which three/four are finalists, and which are decoys. But maybe I'm just biased :)

i loved PRAus and i want Leigh & Lui to have a buddy sit com.
i was so impressed with what is going on in fashion in Australia and really liked how much everyone liked each other, but i think the finale i saw was all chopped up or missing parts. i didn't get to see the meeting with the designers at home stuff. Leigh reminds me so much of an old friend of mine, i hope he does great, because his whole classic Victorian foundations and showman style is a great mix right now.

Pretty much feel like the rest of you - would have liked to have seen a Juli-Leigh-Lui finale, because I can't get into Petrova's style at all - I don't think she mixes things quite right and they are too off to me.

The reunion was fun - they all seemed to really like each other and wish the best for eachother - even Helen came off as normal during it. And it was good to see the edits which showed her messing around.

PR5 - yaaaaaaawn. I was so into PR and got everyone I knew addicted - but I just can't get the enthusiasm up for this season - the designs on the whole are boring me a little. And there's definitely been some muckups in the judging because Suede is still there.

AS LONG AS KEITH AND JOE ARE GONE I AM HAPPY.
At least Suede seems like a reasonably decent person, clueless as he is.