With the Project Runway [1] show at New York Fashion Week [2] scheduled for this Friday, it seemed that we'd need to say goodbye to some designers fast. I mean, we've seen ProjRun Fashion Week shows with four designers, and I think even five, but eight? So I wasn't the least bit surprised to learn that two designers would be chopped after the avant garde challenge.

The double elimination was just one piece of what was going on in this jam-packed episode, though. There were old designers aplenty — eliminated contestants from this season back to help the remaining designers, plus favorites from previous seasons who returned to judge the winner at a cocktail party. Oh, and the outfits had to be both avant garde and based on the signs of the zodiac. To see all the outfits and talk about the auffings, just .

Before I get to the pictures, here are some other thoughts on the episode:

• One fun part of any team challenge is figuring out which teams should succeed and which would fail based on personality alone. Terri and Keith were clearly the worst match from the start.
• So, Kenley has become the designer I most want to punch in the teeth. She's overconfident, she doesn't listen to the challenge, and she's really obnoxious. Sure, Leanne and Emily probably shouldn't be rolling their eyes and passive-aggressively glaring at her, but I'd probably be doing the same thing! Love her excuse: "I just like to have fun, and some girls don't like that." But I thought all girls just wanted to have fun!
• That said: Wesley, really? You don't even attempt to collaborate with your designer to make a better final product, and then you spend the whole time trashing her in the interviews?
• But Wesley was not the oddest returning designer by far. No, that title goes to Keith. He was almost scary sad. "Just be gentle with me — I'm kind of fragile right now"? Eesh.
• I'm so glad we got rid of Jerry early. He would have been insufferable.
• With the exception of "All Women are Like Great Sports Cars" Robert, a really fantastic group of former ProjRun contestants came back to judge the cocktail party. It was great to see Kara Janx, Daniel Vosovic, and Allison Kelly, whose elimination I still feel is one of the worst miscarriages of justice in show history.

Now for the best and worst:

The Best
Since the returning designers voted for the best designs, I'll just say: Jerell? Really? I love the guy; I think he's turned out some great outfits. But beyond the jacket (which did have an amazing number of coordinating trims, as Daniel V. pointed out), the dress itself was pretty "meh," and I'm inclined to agree with Tim's comments about the fabric being schoolmarm-ish. Maybe I'm just bitter because I thought Leanne's exoskeleton was so much cooler and more avant garde — but it would have been bad to have her win three times in a row.

The Worst

• Kenley — I literally had to stop the TV because I was laughing so hard at her description of Aquarius as "rebellion, strength, strong, and purple." (Reminded me of when Michael Knight had to pick three words for his design aesthetic and supplied something like "sexy sex sex.") And saying she doesn't look at collections is basically saying she's uneducated as a designer. But it wasn't the worst on the runway by far.
• Blayne — I agree with the judges: Blayne's outfit was "unbearable to look at." I mean, a nude bodysuit with tulle pompoms and bondage straps? I sort of get what he was trying to do conceptually — one side was heavier, blah blah blah — but it just failed. I did get a chuckle out of Stella's "It's unbalanced . . . it's Blayne!" comment. Bye, Blayne. Go tan.
• Suede — I am shocked that nobody commented on the construction of Suede's pants, because they were painfully ill-fitting. Maybe that was an assumed part of the judges' comments about it being "mall clothing." I'm glad he squeaked through, but I did love Michael Kors calling him out on the "what Suede wanted . . . " BS.
• Terri — I actually thought Terri made some nice changes to her outfit after the cocktail party (I liked the touches of red better than the fur cape-thing), so I was surprised to see the judges come down so hard. Bottom line, though: How many times have we seen that having an attitude in a team challenge is a quick ticket home? So long, Terri.

Do you think Jerell can keep winning "until I get my novelty-sized check"? Do you think Kenley needs some duct tape across the ol' mouth? And of the remaining designers, whose collection do you most want to see?

Photos courtesy of Bravo [3]