Project Runway All Stars review: No bad colors, just bad designers

In this Project Runway All Stars review, the designers are faced with an interesting color combination. Can a good designer find the balance?

Project Runway All Stars has 14 designers hitting the runway challenge. After last week’s premiere, where no one was eliminated, this episode looks to spark some creativity from the group of winning Project Runway designers. Faced with a two color challenge, did the color combination proved to be too confusing?

While the opening of this week’s episode referenced an important charitable organization, Magic Bus, the correlation to the challenge was a stretch. It would have been nice to bring more notice to the charity or its cause. Tying this charity to the theme seemed a little odd.

This week’s challenge has the designers creating a spring or summer graduation dress that is sophisticated. For a few designers, the taste level was quite questionable. As for the bottom designers, they definitely missed the mark, putting out styles that felt old or too revealing for the young women who’d wear them.

Beyond the theme, the designers had to combine two colors in a cohesive color scheme. For winning last week’s challenge, Dmitry was able to assign the designers colors. For the most part, the color combinations were relatively approachable. Options like green and white or red and white didn’t seem like too much of a stretch.

Designer Jasper Garvida’s final look for the second challenge of Project Runway All Stars Season 7.

Photo by Barbara Nitke

Copyright 2019

With 14 designers showing looks, the episode put the biggest focus on the top and bottom looks. Truthfully, one look that should have been in the top was Jasper’s dress. Jasper’s dress with a little shrug was adorable. It was age appropriate. The colors worked. It deserved to be moved beyond the middle. Definitely a miss from the judges.

The three top looks were made by Anthony Ryan, Sean Kelly and Seth Aaron. These looks embraced the color duality aspect of the challenge. They didn’t shy away from using both colors in predominate ways.

Designer Anthony Ryan’s final look for the second challenge of Project Runway All Stars Season 7.

Photo by Barbara Nitke

Copyright 2019

It was nice to see Anthony Ryan back in the game. After facing elimination last week, this week’s looks was a stunner. With the colors of blue and orange, definitely a hard combination, he embraced the two colors in an unexpected way.

The design was upbeat and slightly sporty. It wasn’t necessarily the standard, expected dress. The judges appreciated that he embraced the boldness of the color. As Isaac said, there are no bad color combinations, just bad designers. Anthony Ryan was definitely a good designer this week.

Designer Seth Aaron Henderson’s final look for the second challenge of Project Runway All Stars Season 7.

Photo by Barbara Nitke

Copyright 2019

Another top look was Seth Aaron’s wine and white dress. The dress was interesting because the front was white yet flirty. The lace was pretty yet not too youthful. The wine color showing through at the back was creative. Although Georgina thought that the look had too many ideas, it was still on trend. The slightly ’70s vibe had a sexy notion without being overdone. Many people would love to wear this dress.

The last top look was Sean Kelly’s dress. Any fan of previous seasons would know that this dress was from Sean Kelly. The tassels have returned. Personally, this look was odd. While there is a skill to embellishing a dress with feathered tassels, it looks strange. The dress didn’t read graduation party. It looked like something that a woman would wear to a cocktail party.

Winning the challenge on Project Runway All Stars episode 2 was Anthony Ryan. It was a great comeback from last’s week’s debacle.

The bottom three designers were Irina, Christina and Sunny. Each look failed the challenge for different reasons. Truthfully, this episode could have benefited from a double elimination.

Designer Irina Shabayeva’s final look for the second challenge of Project Runway All Stars Season 7.

Photo by Barbara Nitke

Copyright 2019

Irina’s dress was a disaster. One of the judges let it slip that it was a graduation from prostitution school. While this comment is extremely harsh, the look was not appropriate. The skirt was way too short and revealing. The plunge had the model’s cleavage on display.

While Alyssa said that it looked like a child’s princess costume gone wrong, the dress looked like a sexy princess Halloween costume. From the fabric to the components, this dress was beyond tacky.

Christina’s dress was a strange combination. The colors of red and navy read matronly. More importantly, the look was two separate ideas pasted together. Overall, the look felt and read depressing. This dress was supposed to be for a celebration. Instead, it read like a sad librarian who picked her clothes from a resale rack. Christina needs to lighten up for future challenges.

Designer Sunny Fong’s final look for the second challenge of Project Runway All Stars Season 7.

Photo by Barbara Nitke

Copyright 2019

Lastly, Sunny’s look was in the bottom because he didn’t follow the challenge. His colors were yellow and blue. While he didn’t want to make an Ikea dress, he did ignore the challenge as the dress was all yellow. The little blue brooch on the back was almost like a middle finger to the challenge. He didn’t play by the rules and it was a conscious choice.

Since he didn’t follow the challenge, Sunny was the first designer eliminated from Project Runway All Stars. It goes to show that these designers can’t slide in this season where everyone is a winner.

While these designs will be available on Ebay (hopefully), with proceeds going to Magic Bus, another mention was made to the JCPenney sale. After last week’s episode, the winning look wasn’t available on the retailer’s website. JCPenney won’t be offering a version of the weekly winning look (as stated on its social media account, the relationship has ended). Shouldn’t someone edit this detail from the episode?

What did you think of this week’s designs? Did the judges get it right this round?

Check back next week for an unconventional challenge. Project Runaway All Stars airs on Lifetime on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET.