Project Runway: Elizabethan Fashion Edition

This Week on Project Runway...

Here in London, we have ourselves a competition going. There are two - one for men, and one for women. The men are up first.

Edmund O'Sullivan is up first, rocking his gathered-at-the-sleeves silk shirt, which has fine, detailed needlework, including downward gold stripes. His ruff is to die for, fluffy but tough ruffle perched upon his neck. And to top the whole ensemble off, his shoes are spectacular. He has boots on his feet, and they have a protective shoe cover made of leather covering the toe. So suitable for outdoor strolls!

Next up, we have ourselves a treat. Walking up to model his newly put together outfit, Francis Fitzgerald. He is wearing a doublet, which to those viewers who don't know, is the most expensive part of an outfit, which consists of a breastplate of armor, which is stuffed with horsehair to make muscles appear bigger. On top of that, he has his detachable sleeves that were connected to his hose, which are astonishing. Oh my, his hat is top notch, with its silk makeup and an upturned brim, even with a decorative broach holding it in place! Sadly in this glorifying picture provided, he has placed in on the floor to pose.

The men were great, better than any competition we've held in years, (Probably the last competition that was this fashionable was in 1530.) But can the women impress us even further? Let's find out.

To start this round, Margery Callaghan is up to the plate. She has a decorative bodice, which sleeves are tight at the wrist, but still full volume. Now, it is stuffed to keep its shape. It also had ruffs at the wrists, similar to that of the neck.  And her hair! Such a fashionable shade of yellow, I'm sure she dyed it. Just perfection. I love the brushed-back-from-the-forehead do! I would give this at least a 9.




The last model for today is Prudence MacCarthy. She is styling a lovely light green dress with pink accents. It is is multiple pieces, but is constructed together with lace and tying together. Her kirtle (the skirt) is a slightly different  material than the bodice. As all of you viewers can see, her skirt is far to large to be natural, so there is framework holding it up, called the farthingdale, to those of us who didn't know that already. This is a wire frame, and can be stuffed in a tube shape that gives volume to the hip area, which proportionally makes the waist look smaller. This piece is called a bumroll. As you can see, this new but creative way to have dress while having multiple pieces fastened together is the new trend.
Tune in again tomorrow for the results of our competition today! Thanks for watching and see you tomorrow for a new edition.

--Heidi Klum, one of your Project Runway Hosts

Picture This

Jeannette Walls, who wrote the Glass Castle, struggled continually through the book with her parents insane ways of life, and the fact that she didn't have the typical things needed for survival. She finally gets away from her parents in Welch (and by the way, I was cheering in my head for her will to get out) and goes to the Big Apple - New York City. She is trying to be successful on her own,"I landed a job at a hamburger joint on Fourteenth Street. After taxes and social security, I'd be taking home over eighty dollars a week. I had spent a lot of time imagining what New York would be like, but the one thing that had never occurred to me that opportunities would come so easily" (Walls 384). Jeannette is able to get away from her alcoholic (probably bipolar) dad, and her slacker mother whom's selfish was apparent throughout the entirity of the novel.

In my drawing, I have shown a flower which is prospering. At first glance, you see it has roots, soil, water, and sunlight, which we all learned in fourth grade science class is what a plant needs to survive. Each of these resources are labelled. To start, the sun was 'dad'. But, at later inspection, is actually a job. Jeannette is not able to rely on her father, so she must find alternate ways of survival. She needs money to feed herself and her siblings, as well as pay the bills, so she gets a job. A plant next needs water, and this is 'mom'. Jeannette's mother is only focused on her art, and couldn't care less that her children were starving, so again Jeannette replaced this usual neccessity with self reliance. A plant needs roots to get nutrients from the soil, and these roots represent home. Through the duration of the book, the Walls move constantly, until they finally settle in Welch, Jeannette's dad's hometown. (I would argue that the even in Welch they weren't truly home because it was such a poor environment that she had to learn to survive in.) She must get a home for herself, since her parents can't provide her with one. In order to do this, she must find a way to pay for a house/ apartment, and she does so by succeeding in the career she chooses- Journalism. Finally, Jeannette often went without food as a child, writing that she dug food out of the trash cans at school once lunch had concluded. She had to cope with this lack of food by having faith that someday she would be able to buy her own food, and not dig it out of the trash. Jeannette is no typical girl, and she had to find ways to survive the treacherous conditions she grew up in.