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Challenge 10: Changing Seasons


khionna (Veronica) Spring
Score: 2.5
Comments: I'm genuinely unsure what you guys see in this one. khionna is a talented designer who has brought us great designs in the past, but this one feels like a cop out. This outfit slaps of cute and basically nothing else, and this late in the contest that is not a positive thing at all. The boot mod, the umbrella (it doesn't rain that much in spring where I live but I get places are different so whatever), and the hat all reek of little kid challenge deja vu. We've seen these pieces, I almost feel like we've seen the whole look because it doesn't stand out. I also don't find khionna's obvious ire in their description towards symbolism very charming and I think this outfit really suffers from that point of view. I want to see flowers, I want to see spring. It needs a background, not even a discussion for this theme. Just about the only thing I like are the colors, which look awesome on Veronica.

Tink_Bel (Zahara) Winter
Score: 5
Comments: Bah, humbug. Another look I feel is underwhelming, especially disappointing coming from Tink. The dress takes up most of the avatar, the flower devours Zahara's short hair and looks huge on her head, most erroneous of all though is that arm mod. With the rest of the outfit those arms look way too stiff, like twigs stuffed into her sides, which might have been fine if Zahara was supposed to be a snowman. But that clearly isn't the case. The whole look also lacks more wintry elements. On the up sides, the dress is pretty, it could have worked with more to flesh out the look. The shade of white is great, the fluffy texture for the "fresh snow" look is solid, the background is great, and I love that underused cape to death. I get winter from the look, I just wish there was more to see.

METTAT0N (Brooke) Autumn
Score: 9
Comments: This is my favorite look of the four. It was the only one besides Tink's where I felt the season radiated at first glance. I do think the dark parts of the outfit get a bit lost in the background and I am not a fan of relying on schemes so heavily, but overall the the look is good enough I don't mind much. I like the silhouette, the background, the falling leaves, the rain. I can feel fall all over this. The outfit itself is stylish and the colors are nice both on and off of Brooke. I also feel like this is one of the only looks were you could lose everything but the outfit and still see it was autumn.

egggoat (Xoco) Summer
Score: 7.5
Comments: So this look is lovely. The colors are rich, the outfit flows well. It matches so strongly that at first I thought it was a set being reused, but I double checked and it's several items! Very impressive! The scarf looks a little stiff in line with the arm mod and I can't get the idea of it snapping like gingerbread out of my head. I think a different mod or scarf/top (whichever that is) would have helped, but that's a small thing. My big beef with this avatar is that I don't feel summer from it almost at all. If it weren't for the background I would have no idea of the theme, and while I get that sense from others, this is the worst. It took me a while to figure out why and it hit me that egg chose all cool colors. Even the background is more of an early sunset than anything. When I think summer I think bright yellows, reds, oranges, like a high sun. As it stands, the look could have been better, but this is easily deserved of top three status.

It is harder and harder to eliminate at this point in the competition. Khi and Mett are tied for the bottom spot, and I think Mett should be the one eliminated. Khi had two higher scores this week - technically - and has had stronger scores and looks than Mett in six of the previous nine challenges.

That would leave the final three as Khi, Egg, and Tink. Which I think are very deserving of the spots.

Oh they absolutely have, and most weeks their scores were very close together. Which makes it even harder to really make this call. But I'm glad you agree to follow the numbers, I think it's the easiest way to do it fairly.

Finale


khionna (Veronica and Celestial Beauties)
Score: 5, 7, 10, 6, 4 = 32
Comments: This collection is only a little more creative than a floral based one, but this is a beautiful collection. I love celestial looks and thoughts about the stars. And even at first glance, I can tell thought and care was put into each of these looks.
Trinity; This is beautiful, but is a simpler look, and I'm not sure the very yellow toned gold was the right color for Trinity. Everything matches though, and aside from that color I think this suits her very well. This did say star before I even read the description though.
Brooke; Also got black hole from this before reading the description. This is a beautiful look on her, and I like the idea of a black hole - it stands out from most celestial looks, but fits well in the collection. I like that the shading on the arms and legs match one another, but they each have a distinct pink essence that is missing from the face and seems off the more I look at it. Oops.
Veronica; I would applaud if I could. This is how you dress your main model for a finale. She is stunning as the sun, this golden hue couldn't be better on her. The dress and pose is lovely, I love the halo. I like the crown, even if it gets lost a little with the halo and white background as finely detailed as it is. This still may be my top look from the finale of all the collections.
Madison; Madison makes for a beautiful moon, but I do not care for the darker grey in the sash and around her waist. When everything else is such a pristine white, it makes the grey look almost dirty and not the shimmering silver aimed for. I also think the stockings are a little heavy, and off a shade from what would be ideal.
Dita; ...mm. Blue does not a galaxy make. The gold accents tie into the rest of the collection, but the blue doesn't match. Everything else is gold, black, and white. If this were a black dress with blue and purple and gold or white accents it would have matched better and read as more galaxy. I also feel like this is one of the simpler and little bit lazier looks.

Tink_Bel (Zahara and Feminie Flora)
Score: 4, 8, 5, 6, 7 = 30
Comments: Very first initial thought: these were posted far too fast. And I hope there are changes made before the judging date.
There were not any changes made, and while these are perfectly fine they are underwhelming. Also as a small technicality, it bugs me that the models names weren't listed in the order she has the models.
Daphne; These colors are good on Daphne, though her expression might be a little harsh for the softness of the rest of the outfit. Also I don't like the white bra, I would have preferred a colored bra or a more nude option. This is just underwhelming though. This is the finale! There could have been so much more creativity expressed.
Zahara; She looks great in the decay scheme, and it is a refreshing sexy floral look. Doesn't feel like I've seen it a million times. There's also more details here than there were with Daphne's look. Still a bit lackluster.
Kate; These colors would nod have worked on Zahara, but this is more of the look I would expect to see on the main model. These colors and the large flower to sit on set her apart from the rest. This might be my favourite look on Kate, these colors are wonderful on her and her hair isn't a sore thumb or awkward. I wish there was more of that color though.
Iona; Iona is absolutely gorgeous, I love this outfit and colors on her. It is balanced and has movement, honestly I have no qualms with this - if Iona had been dressed like this more earlier one she might have been in the competition longer. But this doesn't match the rest of the collection. It is technically matching as it is feminine and has flora, but that is it. The style is on it's own, she's in far more clothes than the rest, it just...this has to be a collection, and it doesn't match. And that cost it points.
Keran; She's beautiful and sultry. I like these colors on Keran, and the delicate confidence she's exuding. Love the shoes and leg mod on the whole. I like the atmosphere with the background choice, but something feels a little empty about it? I think is the word. Still, love this look.

egggoat (Xoco and The Jetsetters)
Score: 10, 7, 8, 5, 6 = 36
Comments: Initial reaction is I like that the same suitcases were used to tie everyone together except for the main/final model, brings a nice cohesiveness to things. I like the general balance of hats and bags. This is a fairly simple line though? Which there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, but it lacks some..spark, I guess is the word I'm looking for. The description for each model helped this collection along I think, I like that there is a story for each girl and each has a place to go. Might have liked a little more about her journey from the description as well.
Ebony; I absolutely love this look on Ebony. The hat was a great choice with the hair, and these colors are great on her. Great together. I absolutely love this look.
Noelle; These colors are great on Noelle! I like the pose and the various layers to the outfit. I also like that the outfit was designed with versatility in mind. There's nothing I can point to directly that is wrong? It just is what it is, and it is perfectly fine. And a little sassy, which I like.
Xoco; This red is a really good color on her with the pink under tone to it. Glasses are good on Xoco, and the entire outfit is balanced well. I feel like Xoco's serious expression hinders the idea that she's going to meet her significant other for the weekend, looks more like she's trying to hail a cab after ten layovers and delays for a work trip she didn't want to go on in the first place. But looking past that aspect, this is really nice.
Mia; Oh Mia, with your sailor moon look you're just about perfect for a girl going to become an anime artist. But if it hadn't been said in the description, I wouldn't have gotten that from the outfit at all - even with the kitty plushy. And is there supposed to be a half kimono/cardigan thing she's wearing? Not super effective. Also I know the legs are a variant of the item for Noelle's legs - which that copying is great in a fashion line - but the shading and coloring on the purple of these pants is so drastically different from any other item in the collection that it borders on jarring, and makes them stand out for all the wrong reasons. Makes everything else in the outfit feel extra flat.
Copper; This is my least favourite of the hats. The toxic and teal pants definitely stand out against the hair, and I know the hat was to help tie in black and tone down the hair, but I think a different hat - or no hat - would have been better. Looks a little squashed as is and almost feels more like the hair is being hidden, when I think it should be embraced for a rock star. Also think her poison bag might be a little over sized?

Finale

Beginning Comments:
Ok, so I kind of did this different as I basically judged a bunch of things on each collection before doing individual scores. So while I have scores (which reflect the docked points for the issues I will bring up), really I have a commentary on each collection.

Tink_Bel (Zahara)
Score: 5, 8, 7, 4.5, 6 = 30.5

Comments:
At first I thought this was fairies. Of course. She always does fairies. But then I really looked and saw there wasn’t any wings. So lingerie plus flowers. But then Iona looks to be wearing a normal dress while all the others are rocking lingerie. So I thought maybe colors tied them together shy of the flowers, but then again four have pastels or softer hues while one has dark colors. So I guess the ties are really just ‘feminine’ as all look very girly, an then flora as each is holding or surrounded by flowers.

The colors are correct for their models. Tink has a great eye for sussing out hat colors are perfect for each model. But the lack of continuity between soft/dark shades did have me dock a point, which is a trap I fell into in my collection as well (she should have learned from my mistake).

Ioana does get a little lost in all the incandescent colors, so the flowers needed to have more contrast or something. Brooke does look utterly fab in that blue, but is it odd to anyone else that she stands out more than the main model? Both in terms of color and placement? I don’t know if the main model has to be the one someone has been with the whole time, but it feels weird that Zahara isn’t the spotlight.

Speaking of continuity, I also find it a misstep that one model has a rather covering dress plus stocking while all the others are mostly bare skin. So that docked a point as the dress definitely doesn’t feel like it has a place in this collection.

Outfit wise, I just don’t feel this is terribly creative. We already know Tink is fab at fairy and fairy types. I wanted to see her push herself as a designer, not fall back on something she does all the time and doesn’t show us how creative she can be. So that docked a point as well. Yes all are beautiful, and all five fit the theme (though only four felt tied together), but I think Tink could have done more, done better, done something to wow us like we all wanted.

Description wise I didn't really get much. What challenges were there? What are the nuances of each outfit we should be drawn to? And I'm not sure I believe that it took her a bit to decide on floral....

Background/use of props makes sense for the theme. The only one that doesn’t fit with the rest is the one with Keran, as the lanterns/flora seem superimposed on her rather than an intrinsic part of the design. She isn’t holding the flowers and it is much busier than all the other backgrounds used. So it stands out in a bad way.


khionna (Veronica)
Score: 4.5, 6, 8.5, 9, 7 = 35

Comments:
One of my favorite themes. And damn Veronica looks great in gold!! So like Tink who I saw two models not fit in the collection (dark hued outfit on Zahara and the modest outfit on Iona), I definitely spot a misstep here.

Trinity needed to have a distinct halo like the others (not this holding some glowing stuff that could maybe pass as a halo if you squinted hard enough), and she needed her own distinct color. White and gold was already used on Veronica! Nebulas have all sorts of gorgeous reds and purples (which also would have balanced the blue on Brooke).

Trinity is also such a misfire for me, because of just how great each model looks having her own hue played up and the gorgeous motif of the halo. So I want it for Trinity too. As is she looks like the younger sister in hand me downs rather than her own distinct celestial goddess.

I did give kudos for theme, as I haven’t seen khionna do something like this, so this was creative to me. Kudos for idea overall (as four of the group well match the theme and have a great sense of continuity between them, as well as a distinct design for each), and kudos for use of color for the four models as I think the colors were well thought out as to who would wear what.

Having a celestial body being represented in each model was fun. I wish I had more description about the emotion of each outfit in the use of color or astronomy reference. I also would have liked to hear more about challenges she had to work through with this collection.


egggoat (Xoco)
Score: 8, 7.5, 7.5, 6, 8 = 37

Comments:
Definitely the most creative and original theme out of these collections. I like the restrictions she put on it with the comfort element, use of outerwear, and the use of a purse for each outfit. It is clear from first glance every one of the models is dressed (with the accompanying luggage) for a long flight. No one looks like the odd girl out.

The colors used also feel balanced as there is a mix of muted and bright hues. So while two look bright (Ebony and Mia), the other three have both a dark hue and a pop of color so everything does feel like a holistic part of a collection. The color on Mia could have changed though. I'm not sold on it.

And speaking of Mia, I really didn't get anime. Cutesy for sure, but there needs to be more there I think to play up that theme.

The bag motif was well thought out for each outfit. I thought each one used was a perfect fit for the outfit of each model, though the poison bag is a little big. The standard background changed only for the main and centered model also was a good touch. It carried the theme while didn’t overwhelm any design.

The description of what each model as dressed for destination wise/idea behind each outfit was a good touch.

All in all though, I really enjoy this collection, and the thought behind designing for such restrictive/particular/little room for leeway theme (comfy travel with bag) is very clear. It also is the strongest for me as no outfit seems wrong/in dissonance from the rest of the collection.


End Comments:
I have mixed feeling about the number results.

I am partial to the vibe and overall designs of Jet Setters, but that collection that had the most outfits that really wowed me is the Celestials. And while underwhelmed by Tink's, her color blending is beautiful and takes a lot of technical skill (what killed the collection's scores for me what the simplicity in the outfit designs, lack of creativity, and the two misfires).

Odds are I am not going to be able to get online the next couple weeks with my schedule, so take my scores and feelings and you two figure out the winner.

It has been a pleasure to be part of this cycle and part of the team with you all!

I'm out for Cycle Three, but hopefully I'll be back for Cycle Four heart