Leanne Marshall, 27, from Yuba City, California, was named the winner of Project Runway Season 5. Drawing inspiration from the ocean, Leanne created 10 pieces that moved well and looked phenomenal coming down the runway. The line consisted of separates and dresses draped in large panels of cream and turquoise.

Competitors Kenley and Korto also showed their lines at Bryant Park, but came up short. Kenley’s hand-painted “Alice in Wonderland” floral dresses looked dated and juvenile, while Korto’s bold, beaded designs were deemed overworked and clunky.

Tim Gunn filled in as guest judge, because Jennifer Lopez pulled out at the last minute due to a “foot injury.” Last year’s winner, Christian Siriano, was also in attendance. After viewing the collection, he said, “I thought Leanne’s was fabulous. She had to be winner, because everything else was… not cute.”

Leanne won two of the fourteen challenges this season; the first, a black dress made out of recycled car seat covers, and the second, a dress and jacket for Diane von Furstenburg’s fall collection.

Marshall’s Project Runway prize package includes $100,000 from Tresemme to start a clothing business, a brand new 2009 Saturn VUE hybrid, a spread in Elle Magazine, and the opportunity to sell her line on Bluefly.com.

Leanne recently moved to New York City with her musician boyfriend to start her new label, “Leanne Marshall.”

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VIDEO OF THE FINALE:

[Just want to know who got kicked off tonight's show? Check out Kicked Off TV for reality TV eliminations and results without all the BS!]

Last week, the final 4 designers (Kenley, Korto, Jerell, and Leanne) were sent home with $8,000 and 2 months to create 10 looks for New York fashion week. This week, mentor Tim Gunn visited them at home, and one more designer was cut from the competition.

The episode opened with Tim checking in on Korto at her home in Little Rock, Arkansas. They went over her designs, talked a little bit, and then Korto randomly started playing drums with some guy in a cheetah shawl. The expression on Tim’s face, as on so many of yours I’m sure, went back and forth between “horrified” and “ready to move to Africa to take up the djembe.”

Next up, Portland to see Leanne! Her designs were inspired by the ocean. She called the shapes on her outfits “wave patterns.” I called them “fish gills.” I’m inspired by the ocean, too, but that doesn’t mean I want to walk around looking like Darryl Hannah in “Splash.”

Leanne then took Tim on a bike ride on one of those retarded “bicycle built for two” bicycles. They wound up in some desolate park, where they sat on a REALLY steep slope and talked about the competition. Tim uncomfortably (but politely) shifted around on the thin blanket, brushing dirt off his $5,000 suit and silently wishing Leanne could have just played the guitar instead. Hiking? Biking? What is this, Project Runway or The Biggest Loser?!

Next came Jerell in Los Angeles. His designs were disappointing and geriatric. Two of the outfits were PURE Stevie Nicks (I’m talking black see-through beaded shawls here, people).

Jerell then introduced Tim to his family and to Dan, his “love interest.” Poor Dan. “Love Interest?” That’s one step below “some guy I bang every other Thursday.”

Finally, Tim flew back to NYC to see Kenley. Her designs were very average, and were mostly made up of hand-painted dresses with 50s floral patterns (shocking!) After visiting her for what seemed like 5 minutes, Tim left. What? No bike ride? No drums? No family visit? No friends? Not even a quick stop to see the infamous tugboat captain father? HOW EMBARRASSING!

4 weeks later and the final 4 found themselves back together in NYC again! Everyone still hated Kenley, and the tension in the room was so thick that Scooby Doo could have cut a circle out of the air with his dew claw.

THE CHALLENGE: The designers had to create a bridesmaid dress to go along with the wedding dress they had already created at home. The product sponsorship was, as usual, on full blast as Tim told everybody to “get sewing on your BROTHER sewing machines!”  That’s right… and if you’re thirsty, have a refreshing COKE. And if you have to go to the bathroom, don’t squeeze the Charmin.

THE RESULTS: Jerell’s gowns were the worst. His wedding dress was dark beige, and had asymmetrical wings hanging over the jeweled bust. And he chose to style his model with silk flowers growing out of her head.

Kenley’s wedding dress looked like a chicken gown (Michael Kors said it looked like an Alexander McQueen dress), and her bridesmaid dress was boring and unremarkable. Heidi said, “I can see you wearing that as your wedding dress.” Oh, Heidi, so silly. Like anyone would marry Kenley?

Korto designed a disappointing, overworked tan wedding dress with a boring, bland bridesmaid dress that was exactly the same color. Hi, wedding 101… the bride is supposed to stand out… not fade into the background like Chris Kirkpatrick at the height of NSYNC’s fame.

Finally, I thought Leanne’s designs were the best – and the judges agreed. Her flowing, wave-inspired wedding gown moved well on the runway and it was very unique.

Since only 3 designers could go to NY Fashion Week, they had to send someone home… and that someone was JERELL. He said, “you’re going to get opulent pieces from me; if you want a white t-shirt go to Michael Kors.” Ouch. Jerell seemed fine with leaving, probably since he has a “love interest” to go back to.

Stay tuned next week, when the top 3 designers show off their lines at Bryant Park!

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[photos: bravo]

[Just want to know who got kicked off tonight's show? Check out Kicked Off TV for reality TV eliminations and results without all the BS!]

Annnnd we’re back for another week of Project Runway drama! We’ve whittled our way down to the final 4 designers so things should be getting interesting, right? I wish. This episode was just awful. It was about as entertaining as a night of Parcheesi and Scientology discussion with Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.

It seems Jerell is starting to lose it. The episode opened with him sitting on the floor of his apartment, having fake conversations with some rotten, unidentifiable fruits and a bottle of Aunt Jemima syrup. I was half expecting Wilson, the volleyball from “Castaway,” to come rolling across the floor, but no such luck.

Next, Tim took the designers on a field trip to the New York Botanical Gardens. Jerell said, “Oh, we’re gonna do something with plants?” No, Jerell. You’re going to be designing space suits for Lance Bass. Of course you’re doing something with plants.

The challenge: Kenley, Jerell, Korto, and Leanne had to create an evening gown, using nature as their inspiration. They had 1 hour to wander around the gardens and photograph flowers – and lucky us – we saw about 48 minutes of that. (See? I told you! More dull than a cross country drive with John McCain and only AM radio).

Once they got back home, Kenley realized she left a bag of tulle fabric at Mood. The other designers had extra tulle, but they wouldn’t give any to her. Why should they? She’s a bitch, and this is a competition. Jerell said, “I refuse to help her in any way,” and smiled to the camera as Kenley frantically searched for fabric.

We then randomly learned that Kenley’s dad was a… TUGBOAT CAPTAIN. Kenley said she developed her nasty, rude attitude and inability to get along with people as a result of spending many long hours away at sea as a child. Is that also where she developed her hideous fashion sense? Did the boat’s cook wear floral mumu’s and barrettes? And what the hell is on her head in the photo to the left? It literally looks like a rotting fish.

THE DESIGNS THIS WEEK WERE ALL HIDEOUS!
1. Korto made a sherbet orange gown with lace and beads. If Wal-Mart sold a bridesmaid dress, this is what it would look like. The judges called it a “pageant dress.”

2. Leanne made a lavender dress with 70s tuxedo shirt ruffles. The worst part? A misplaced blue bolt of fabric randomly hanging off the back.

3. Jerell was named challenge winner, but only by default. It was a very ordianry gown witih gross, oversized beads on the bust. Nina Garcia called it “youthful.” Youthful? Please. Someone could wear it as part of a Dorothy Zbornak Golden Girls Halloween costume and win 1st prize.

4. Kenley’s design was, again, the WORST dress coming down the runway. She made a creepy, tight fitting, fish scale dress with REPULSIVE “petals” on the bottom. Earth to Kenley: your inspiration was supposed to be a flower, honey… not your recollection of a flopping, dead fish on your daddy’s tug boat.

Heidi Klum told Kenley that the “petals on the bottom weren’t elegant.” Kenley snapped back, “I wasn’t GOING for elegant, Heidi.” Please. If I was host of a show, and some bich talked to me like that, she’d be out of there faster than Britney Spears to a freshly opened bag of Cheetos. Instead, Heidi just sat there silent, looking more like a stunned deer in the crosshairs of Sarah Palin’s gun than a confident supermodel host who happens to be married to a dude named after an ocean animal with a severly burned face.

The episode’s big twist? NO ONE WAS SENT HOME. Just like last year. Snore. All four of them will get to go home and design a fashion line, but only THREE of them will be showing at Bryant Park. A decision will be made after the judges see their designs.

Stay tuned next week, when the top 4 designers show off their lines and fight for a spot at Bryant Park!

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[photos: bravo]

Project Runway: Episode #511 Review (aka… the “WHY THE HELL WASN’T KENLEY ELIMINATED FOR THOSE PANTS” hip hop episode)

This week, the designers created looks for each other, based on a musical genre. Here’s what they came up with:

	LEANNE’S LOOK, DESIGNED BY KENLEY GENRE: HIP HOP This is hip hop? Really? High waisted Minnie Mouse mom jeans with a baggy crotch and tacky brass buttons? Complete with a floral print top, pleather jacket, and hideous B52’s hairdo? Somewhere in Americal, Missy Elliott clutched her hand to her chest and collapsed. Guest judge LL Cool J had to stifle his laughter as she came walking down the runway. He said she “wasn’t hip hop” and Heidi Klum said the jeans were “the most unflattering pants” she’d ever seen in her life. All I know is I couldn’t hear ANYTHING over the constant clamoring and jangling of her hideous earrings.
	KORTO’S LOOK, DESIGNED BY LEANNE GENRE: COUNTRY Michael Kors said it best: “This outfit doesn’t necessarily look country. It looks like a woman going out for ribs.” LL Cool J said, “If I saw you in an elevator, I wouldn’t know you were country.” Really? She had on a slatted shirt with a checkered necktie. All she’s missing is a stalk of hay coming out of her mouth and a picture of Tim McGraw in her back pocket. I could have done without the hideous peacock earrings. Even Dolly Parton isn’t that tacky.
	THE CHALLENGE WINNER: SUEDE’S LOOK, DESIGNED BY KORTO GENRE: PUNK Suede didn’t look punk to me. He looked like Marilyn Manson in drag, or an unpaid extra in a Halloween haunted house. I wasn’t impressed. I thought the shirt looked like something Freddy Krueger wore in “Nightmare on Elm Street” 4. The judges, however, loved the look. LL Cool J said Korto “nailed it.”
	KENLEY’S LOOK, DESIGNED BY JERELL GENRE: POP I don’t see “pop” here. I see “transvestite hooker.” Gold moon boots? A see through mesh dress with a silver sequined bra? And a purple fuzzy vest? Drop her off on a street corner in Atlantic City and see how long it takes for the cops to pick her ass up.
	THE CHALLENGE LOSER: JERELL’S LOOK, DESIGNED BY SUEDE GENRE: ROCK I am not one of Suede’s biggest fans, but I thought he did a great job on this challenge. This look is rock and roll – no doubt about it. However, the judges chose to eliminate this design instead of Kenley’s hip hop tragedy. What a joke!

In other news, Kenley is one of the most obnoxious people on the planet. She was rude and disrespectful to Tim earlier in the episode when he was simply attempting to offer constructive criticism. Then later, at judging, she said her design failed because Leanne wasn’t “hip hop enough” and couldn’t pull it off. And as LL Cool J critiqued her outfit, Kenley rolled her eyes and said “WHATEVER,” huffing and puffing with her arms crossed.

When asked for his thoughts on the episode, Jerell said, “It’s crazy being designer and the model. One person’s got their hands on you, while you’ve got your hands on somebody else. It’s intense.”  What is this? An episode of Project Runway, or a quote from Brian Kinney describing the baths on Queer as Folk?!

Stay tuned next week, when the top 4 designers fight for a spot at Bryant Park!

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[photos: bravo]

Project Runway: Episode #510 Review

Another week, another episode of Project Runway! This week, the top 6 designers bored the hell out of us with “head to toe” makeovers for recent female college graduates. The only way the episode could have been any LESS interesting is if it were hosted by Andy Rooney.

The show opened with Heidi Klum summoning 6 frumpy middle aged women to the runway stage. Heidi looked down at the panicked designers and said, “Don’t worry! You won’t be designing for them, you’ll be designing for… their daughters!” Kenley, in particular, looked more relieved than the time that big minus sign showed up on her EPT in college.

The girls were all toe-up, and their mothers were annoying as hell. One mother even complained that Leanne’s design made her daughter look “too flat chested.” Hi, your kid works in an ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, not at a hair salon on Long Island.

Might I take this opportunity to ask Bravo to STOP playing ads for the movie “Nights In Rodanthe?” Not even my grandmother is going to see this piece of shit movie, and I don’t need Richard Gere and Diane Lane on the beach whispering in my face every 5 seconds. Thanks.

The designs on tonight’s episode were just awful. Jerell’s was named the best, but to me, it just looked like a flowing brown mess. Korto’s green print dress with tweed jacket looked more polished and put together.

Surprise, Kenley made a vintage print dress with a belted vest! And Leanne made a frumpy, old fashioned pencil skirt with a homely, boxy jacket!

The bottom two designers were Suede and Joe. As bad as Suede’s dress was, Joe’s pinstripe suit was even worse. It looked like something Nancy Reagan would have worn in the early 80s. Michael Kors called it “an outfit you’d wear to a Working Girl” party with Melanie Griffith. And without much fanfare, Joe was sent packing – and rightfully so.

One more note: Kenley was an annoying, whiny bitch as usual. She and her hideous little mini-me Anna rudely laughed as Joe was getting chastised by the judges. I can’t wait ’til she crashes and burns and has to go home to Florida to design floral ass pillows for little old ladies in nursing homes.

Stay tuned for next week’s episode! The top 5 designers go “hip hop” with guest judge LL Cool J, and Kenley is even more annoying than ever.

[photos: bravo]

Project Runway Episode #509 Recap

This week, it was all about the past on Project Runway. The eliminated designers came back to help the remaining contestants create an avant-garde look modeled after astrological signs. Then, Christian Soriano and a bunch of other contestants I’ve already forgotten about reappeared to pick the winning design.

So, who was the best and who was the worst?

1. Jerell and Jennifer were named the winners, and again, I disagreed with the choice. Jerell’s outfit looked like something an 85-year old traveling gypsy would wear… complete with a gold sequined headband. I thought Joe’s red, flowing “Aries” design was the best and the win should have gone to him.

2. Keith and his dirty, unwashed bandana made a reappearance this week to work with Terri. Together, they made a truly hideous outfit that looked like it was a rejected costume from Aladdin On Ice. Terri, one of my favorite designers on the show, was kicked off as a result.

3. Stella was back to work a “Libra” design with Blayne, and as far as I’m concerned, they created one of the worst outfits in Project Runway history… a skin-colored beige leotard, with pink and blue ruched fabric on one side. The worst part? The random leather straps holding it all together. Awful. Blayne was sent packing, and not a moment too soon.

4. Um, hello, why wasn’t KENLEY kicked off for her cataclysmically hideous outfit? It looked like the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland. The design didn’t say “Aquarius.” It said, “Even Wal-Mart Won’t Sell My Clothing.” She was her usual rude, defensive self and was completely unable to take any criticism from the judges and yet she wasn’t even amongst the bottom 4 designers? Give me a break!

Project Runway Episode #508 Recap (Guest judge Diane Von Furstenberg)

This week, the designers created a look for Diane von Furstenburg’s fall collection, which was inspired by some old movie called “A Foreign Affair.” Sounds like a bad Jessica Simpson song.

My observations on the episode:

1. Could the designers have shown any less respect for Diane von Furstenburg’s sample room?! They were all supposedly so excited and grateful to work with her, yet they tore through the place like they were robbers searching for $100 bills. By time they were through, the sample room looked like a frat house after rush weekend.

2. Suede said he’d love to be a spy like the characters in the movie, but feared his “blue hair would give him away.” It’d either be that, or his unmistakable 1/2-inch perma-flacid penis.

3. It’s time for Blayne to lose the nasty sweatband that’s been permanently stuck to his head since the Reagan administration.

4. Kenley’s voice is officially one of the most annoying sounds on this Earth. It’s really been getting on my nerves lately. It’s like her jaw is clenched shut, and her nasal passages are completely clogged with ego boogers. Somebody pass her some Nasanex, please.

5. Does Korto smile? EVER? I’m convinced this bitch could watch a puppy get rescued from a swift ocean undertow without so much as a lip quiver.

The winning designer: Leanne, for the 2nd week in a row. I strongly disagree with the judges’ decision. She made a frumpy, shapeless, boring purple dress and punched it up with a hideous, cropped tweed jacket with poofy shoulders. Gross. As the winner, she will have her look produced and sold exclusively to American Express card members who are too poor to afford the outfit after paying their laughable annual fee.

The bottom two designers: Stella and Joe. Stella made some baggy tweed pants with a leatherette Count Dracula cape. If she splatters a little fake blood on the shirt, it could easily take 1st Prize at a Halloween costume contest. Joe’s outfit was an Asian-inspired MESS. The skirt was cut unevenly, the hems were mismatched, and the seams didn’t line up at all. Stevie Wonder could have done a better job with hedge clippers and a hot glue gun.

WHO WENT HOME: Stella! She should not have been the one to go. her design was bad, yes, but not nearly as bad as Joe’s or BLAYNE’S. Blayne had, by far, the worst design of the night. He made polka-dot MC Hammer pants for the love of God!

I think Stella was sent home because she called last week’s guest judge, Rachel Zoe, a “clueless stylist with an oversized moo-moo” after Rachel critiqued her outfit. Priceless. Stella’s the only one who will tell it like it is, and of course, they threw her ass off the show because of it. The show won’t be the same without LEATH-AH STELL-AH!

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[photos: bravo]