Oh, the end is near. On last night's Project Runway the remaining designers got their challenge to create a 12-piece collection for fashion week, the budget to do so ($8,000), and five months to put it all together. Same old, same old. The twist this season was that only two designers had guaranteed spots at Bryant Park: Christian and Jillian. Rami and Chris didn't have the same luxury, though; they had to compete against each other one more time to see who would present at fashion week. This mini-competition consisted of each designer showing the judges his top three looks from the collection, with the strongest competitor "carrying on" to show on next week's episode. Alas, you'll have to read after the jump to see who prevailed.

Competition aside, the second to last ProjRun is always about the "Tim Gunn comes to your house and hates on your collection" motif. And Tim Gunn did not disappoint. He had mostly positive things to say to Jillian, but he definitely had constructive criticism, and some catty remarks, for the boys. He even cursed at Rami. Well as close to cursing as we'll probably ever hear Tim utter.

To find out more about the house visits and see which three designers are proceeding, read more.

  • Christian: Tim's first stop was Christian's studio. And when I say studio, I mean studio. In fact, closet might be a better word for it. In all honesty Christian's work/live space is about as big as an average American's bathroom. Oh to be young, broke, and fabulous in New York City. As for Christian's collection, Tim was worried about it being "a lot of look." He recommended editing a little. He was especially worried about Christian's finale look which consisted of feather pants. Christian admitted that he agreed with what Tim had to say, but didn't know if he would change a lot. Ruh-roh.
  • Jillian: Next stop was Jillian's apartment in New York. Luckily her space was a little bit bigger than Christian's, but then, she's a little bit older too. Jillian's collection built on the theme from the last challenge, the one inspired by art from the Met. Her main piece was a coat that emulated 15th century armor. The only negative thing Tim had to say was that the palette was a little gloomy. The funniest thing about Jillian's visit was her mom telling the story of going to a psychic and being told one of her three children would be famous; she apparently raised Jillian to believe she was the chosen one, though how she came to that conclusion wasn't exactly clear.
  • Rami: Tim finally got to get on a plane when he traveled to LA to meet with Rami. Rami had a lot more space to work than the other designers, as he had his own professional studio — one that he didn't sleep in and that even had his name out front. Rami's collection seemed similar in theme to Jillian's, although he cited Joan of Arc specifically. He showed several pieces to Tim, who was concerned that the collection was a little "hammered and nailed." He thought the collection wasn't soft enough, especially when he picked up one piece and pronounced it one "heavy duty f-ing coat." Wow! Ultimately, Rami said Tim made some good points that he would take into account, but like Christian, he didn't know how much he would change.
  • Chris: Last but certainly not least, Tim made his way to Chris's apartment in NY. The conversation focused on his collection — and oh, what a collection it was. Most of the pieces had large amounts of trim that consisted of, wait for it . . . human hair. Human hair! Someone call PETA! Or, you know, whatever PETA is for humans. Tim seemed a little grossed out by it all (he even said his gag reflex kicked in) and told Chris he really needed to edit. In fact, he told Chris he had been living in the monkey house in the zoo, a monkey house that smelled repulsive, but Chris could no longer smell it because he had been in there too long. Amazing. Although I suppose it's worth pointing out that people do put human hair in their hair all the time . . .

In the end, Rami and Chris were called for their showdown. Chris's collection was all black and focused on the glam-with-a-quirk human hair aspect. Rami's palette was a little dark, too, but wasn't the drapery that we're so used to seeing. Both designers had one look I adored: For Rami, it was the black-and-white strapless dress, and for Chris, it was the hair-trimmed tailored jacket and safety pin skirt. The judges found both collections to be rather gloomy and dramatic, but they were impressed with both designers' work. Alas, there could only be one to go on to fashion week. And that was Rami.

Did you think that Rami was the best choice? (The votes are really close so far!) From what you've seen of Jillian's collection, are you as impressed as Tim? And who do you think will win this season of Project Runway?

Photos courtesy of Bravo

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