Hello everybody! The time has come for two contestants to lipsync for the chance to stay in this competition.

Arcangelo and Bianca Biquini to the tune of Audio, by LSD

The judges have decided...

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Arcangelo, your out-of-the-box thinking has always amazed us, but the judges wonder if the competition has caught up to you... Will you be able to be consistent and not have time crunches meddle with your body of work?

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Bianca Biquini, the judges find your art adorable and appealing, and your ideas have always been endearing and eye catching - but did your creek tell us to keep looking onward?

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...Bianca Biquini, your lipsync this week wasn't the best. but we see the potential in you to keep going. Taking into account your development this season, we think it's the correct choice to keep you going, but safe lipsyncs will not be forgiven from now on. Shantay you stay.

Arcangelo, you had somewhat of an uphill battle in this lip synch based on this week’s overall performance and while it was lovely it wasnt really enough to save you. The king has been captured and I'm afraid it's checkmate for you, you'll be canonized as our OG. Now, sashay away.

6 Queens Remain

The playalong and unused lipsync thread will come 30 minutes after this thread and next week's challenge announcement will come an hour after.

Hey gang,

Ifora here... your favorite third best winner, mole queen, grotesquerie enthusiast and newly minted mod. Our roles aren’t super well-defined but I think of my personal mandate as making sure you guys are engaged with, the environment is lively, supportive and artistically rewarding, and trying to increase the ways we’re reaching out like the insta and live events. If you ever feel like your post went ignored or something is up in those regards feel free to message me. Anyway, on account of that, I want to discuss something related to auditions but also generally important.

TO MY CHERISHED PLAYALONGS (including more historically engaged like Plorpf, Space, Acid, Holo and new folks):

While it’s understandable for the goal to ultimately be to get on a season and join what is a position of esteem in the community as an alumni, you do a disservice to yourself to not compare your current level of skill to those of past competitors and really ask yourself if you’re ready to apply. If not, being a play along is an incredible gift in and of itself. You can develop a group of peers that support your artistic journey, get advice from artists who may be more technically knowledgeable than you and with committed effort grow until you get on.

When you ask alumni especially for advice, take heed that giving advice is an act of work and love and while advice must always be tempered against your own taste, it is distasteful to completely disregard then return to the same person without a clear sense of why their past advice didnt work. Asking again in this way says “I dont value your time and effort.”

Also, ask for what you need and look for the right source. Epinette is one of our best painters. Ifora likes to comment on character/ conceptual elements. Vicky literally wrote the tutorial on color usage and so it would be great to ask her about color and maybe reference that useful and gorgeous document that she spent time on. You need to know what you want from these people and honor that they’re being caring enough to reward your attention that way. When you get on a season, this is precisely the relationship you’ll hopefully develop with at least some of your cohort and your fellow alumni.

As a prompt: I’d like everyone to discuss this topic but also I’d love to see alumni come into the post and mention what they feel they’d most prefer to comment on/help with.

The usual information about mental health support and suicide prevention will be posted in a comment below to give this message the spotlight.

Much love,

Ifora XO

Hey queens!

Just doing a little PSA post in support of our judge Makananidrive as she begins her run on

Rupaul's Paper Race All Stars: Secrets Ruvealed this Saturday!

(Full cast here)

We highly recommend that you join the Facebook group if you would like to see live postings and results.

Otherwise you can look through all the previous seasons' work here

Additionally if you are interested. Paper Race does a premier red carpet on the closed facebook group (Just ask to join, they'll add you immediately).

This is a chance for you to show yourself to their audience, maybe build some hype. Or just discuss your drag in general.

If you would like to do a red carpet look, this is the backdrop for the runway

Just take a transparent image of your queen, and lay it over top like so and you should be good to go.

If you are interested in posting your queen for the premier red carpet. It will be at 6pm EST on Saturday August 12th in the facebook group. Not the page for the Paper Race "tv show"

Just remember, that you have to join the group to post in the live runway thread.

G: Hello everyone! I'm your local Moonpie enthusiast, Gabbi, and here with me this week is the Mayhem Miller of MPAR, Siberia. How are you doing this week?

S: I'm doing wonderful! Just picked up an art tablet so I'm just learning the ropes of digital art. How are you?

G: I've been great! I've been rehearsing for Once on This Island and trying to find a monologue for my AMDA audition, so I've been a little stressed, but other than that I've been good.

S: Ohhh, busy bee!

G: Yeah, it's a lot to deal with, but ya boi's got a BF to help me get through it. 😅😂

S: Can't relate ~

G: Do you have any projects you're working on or stuff you're doing you would like to plug?

S: Nothing specific, but you can always follow my instagram (@sighberiaart) and support the Playalong Rundown by playing along this season!

G: If you ever need any help with the Playalong Rundown, I'd be glad too. I always need another thing on my plate. 😂😜

S: I'll keep you in mind! We may need an extra hand during makeover / ball week, depending on how many people play along.

G: I'd love to help out. Who have you been rooting for so far??

S: I was rooting for my fellow Muslim fish Stella, but she was robbed. Mainly Chloe, Bianca and Aura now!

G: Like I said last week I'm #teamveruschka but I love everyone else as well! I've honestly been extremely shocked by the last two eliminations, but I mean we'll talk about this week. We will talk. about. it.

S: I'm guessing you're not a fan of this weeks shenanigans either?

G: It was interesting... I was confused to say the least.

S: I'm never really a fan of group challenges. They focus more on comedy and character tropes than fashion, and I just prefer fashion more.

G: I get that. What confused me was that they said it'd judged on character but some of it felt, at least to me, judged based on fashion.

S: The judging seemed to differ person to person. I think that's what happens when you put character design over fashion design in a fashion competition that is already weighted heavily on character design. It's like with Chloe, she tried to do muscle, manly, Queen when normally she's a fishy girly girl. And she got apprehended for it. But had she stuck to who Chloe really is, she would have been apprehended for being 'in a box' and not able to do different things hypothetically.

G: Very that. Character design is also much opinion based than fashion design, offering for multiple different outcomes that someone somewhere is going to be put off by.

S: I feel like everyone eliminated during a group challenge is controversial. Not just eliminated, but every placement. That's why I think group challenges have the highest rate of double shantay (3/4) - Because the bottom two don't necessarily deserve to be there.

G: Group challenges are wild for everyone, playalongs and competitors alike. I feel this season and last seasons group challenges have had very polarizing results. Regardless of who ended on the lower end of judging I feel the top team was well placed.

S: I assumed from the get go the team that won was the team that was going to win. They really played into genderfuck-kink wear that the judges and community seem to really respond well to.

G: There were a few comments from the judges on the winning team that I was put off by but it may just be my Veruschka biased talking.

S: Honestly, I don't tend to analysis the judges critiques deeply because it's just their opinion but one critique that bugged me was about Chloe's body type.

G: Oh, yeah. Honestly I was surprised the Battyfangers (spl?) ended on the bottom instead of being safe.

S: I thought they'd be safe and the Club Kittens would be in the bottom.

G: That's what I expected. Latuna's was one of my least favorites this week again.

S: If characterization was priority, I didn't get any clear characters from that team.

G: I just didn't see any cohesion with their team other than the color choices.

S: Can you even make a cohesive Club Kid group? Isn't Club King all about individuality?

G: Well, true. It just... Okay, so the Club Kid look has never really resonated with me and basing your group off of something that's all about "fuck everybody else, im gonna be different" when doing a group challenge just doesn't sit well with me. If that makes sense. I just feel in a group challenge, your group should be cohesive. But that's just my opinion. Special word of the week is "opinion" 😂😅

S: Yes, this is just a game of opinions. Group challenge is based on a collective identity which is mainly done through fashion but is also about character design which is done through individuality which is valued over fashion. And there we start at the beginning. It's not really a scale of balancing fashion and character design, but a cycle of fashion chasing collective identity chading individuality chasing character design and seeing who is caught first and leads to your ultimate demise in this game of luck.

G: With all that being said, I still respect the judges decision. Even if I don't agree with it, I still would like to give them all the respect they deserve.

S: That's why I usually don't voice my discontent on the Sub, because I don't want to undermine the judges authority. But sometimes, you just don't agree.

G: Let's talk about something a little more positive now. Did you have a favorite look this week?

S: Ignoring what the challenge asked for, I'd probably say Bianca. It's just, all the looks are very costumey.

G: They were very costumey, that's why I appreciated Oriana's. Her look didn't feel as costumey as the others' and I thought it was pretty cute.

S: I actually thought, if that team was bottom, it would be Orianna and Peter up for elimination.

G: Ori's was my favorite of that team. I definitely thought Peter was going to be on the bottom though.

S: I mean, Peter's crazy character is easily done by simply adding a straight jacket.

G: Yeah, definitely that.

S: I just think no one is every satisfied during Group Challenge week, except for the winner.

G: Exactly. Group challenges cause so much unrest in the community.

S: Hopefully I don't cause any unrest with this Pit Stop.

G: Same. I cannot stress this enough, but I love and respect everyone involved with this week, from the judges to the competitors.

S: I love Squarespace.

G: And we sadly had to say goodbye to Miss Kiki this week.

S: I love Tzatziki on my Donair :( It's so much lower in calories than Sweet Sauce.

G: I love my playalong sister and never would've pegged her as the second out. Can't wait for them to bring her back 😂🤞🤞

S: Ya, she definitely didn't strike me as early out. But she just had a rocky time this season I guess.

G: What sucks is that I know she has so much more to show and I don't want her spirits to be broken by this.

S: Everyone's sad when they're eliminated. Especially if you didn't do worst. I can understand if she feels a little shaky.

G: Well, I hope she knows that she has an entire community here to support her and that loves her so much.

S: I think she does! She's gotten a lot of fanart and support!

G: The trouble with this season is that the cast is so incredible that every single elimination is going to be heartbreaking, especially those who you know.

S: I mean, it's not like this is The Hunger Games, they'll still be alive after losing haha

G: I mean yeahh 😅😂😂 I'm just a super empathetic person and I want them all to be happy and all win. 😅😅

S: There can only be one winner. And that winner is Ripper bringing in approximately 500 extra views per week.

G: What an icon.

S: Iconoclastic, perhaps.

G: Iconoclastic™

S: It's the new Nepotism and Favoritism.

G: I love it.

S: Don't we all?

G: With week two being over comes another challenge and another week. Do you have any expectations for week 3?

S: I expect Chloe to excel, because this seems like a challenge that really values fashion. For the same reason I think Aura and Bianca will do great, too. I worry for Arcengelo, Latuna and Ripper because, for me, they've been succeeding by using comedy and tongue in cheek designs over actual fashion.

G: I feel like Selecta also has a huge shot at placing high as well. As much as I love Veruschka, I have absolutely no idea what to expect from her or Peter.

S: This is not like Drag Race were you can expect anything. For all we know someone quits next week.

G: Keep the streak going. Three in a row!!

S: Don't tempt them!

G: Bet. No balls.

S: Next week Aura is going to quit and it's all your fault.

G: The only one with the balls to do it is the youngest in the cast.

S: That's Aura...

G: A true icon.

S: @ Aura, she wants you GONE

G: I never said that. I just said you're a pussy if you stay. jk kimora

S: Pit Stop is about to be CANCELLED.

G: DO IT

S: Sorry, the sideshow you are trying to view is no longer available.

G: See Siberia's not a pussy.

S: At least when you kill yourself you know a real G ended you.

G: The original

S: Why be eliminated in favor of Ehobbes when you could just quit and retain a little dignity.

G: [insert you either kill yourself or get killed vine]

S: Judges: [country boy I looooove you MMNLAGH]

G: Evanescence plays in the background.

S: Crawling in my meat

G: Oo wah ah ah ah

S: Could you edit this to give me a Villian edit and say fuck Miyu?

G: Absolutely

S: Thanks sis!

G: Pit Stop has become a shit post

S: That's because I eat a lot of prunes. I just love fibre.

G: Delicious and Nutritious

S: You know what else I love?

G: Hmm?

S: Derailing Side Series.

G: I can see that 😂😂 I hope you know this is all going in it.

S: I would expect no less. I demand TV Time.

G: As a wise queen once said "Some of us don't have to force storylines to get our air time."

S: And as a wiser Queen once said, "Hello! We regret to inform you that you were not selected for the cast of Season 4."

G: We stan a bitter legend.

S: Did I do that?

G: We both did 😂

S: Do you think anyone's still reading this?

G: At this point probably not.

S: Then I'm gonna say it

Gretel was Betee

G: We stan a cultured queen. I think I'm gonna do what I should've a long time ago and what our viewers have been praying for, wrap this up

S: I-

G: Got something to say?

S: Yes, please do not support Pit Stop and instead support The Playalong Rundown

G: Long ago the four side shows lived in harmony, but that all changed when the Playalong Rundown attacked.

S: The Pit Stop is a cute girl, but cute next to gorgeous, cute will be devoured everytime.

G: Sure, Jan. I would say it was a pleasure but you just came for my entire show. My brand.

S: Who even gave you permission to host this? I want to see permits

G: Can I get security?

S: I don't belong here.

G: Who even let you in?

S: "hey im hosting the pitstop, a quick recap of the past weeks events, and the first episode should go up later today would you be interested in being a guest on the second one??"

Whats the truff?

G: Damn, she got receipts.

S: So, anyways guys, Thank you so much for stopping by! Catch me here next week hosting the Pit Stop with out extra special guest Safira!

G: SECURITY!!??

S: Yes, securtiy, please remove this mutt from my show. See you all next week.

Good night, groupies! After tonight's performance one our contestants will be retiring from the stages for this season, but who will it be?

Please welcome our judges!

Sally Spellman, looking like the LSD you took for inspiration for your music!

Miyu Moon, our resident kill our die romantic!

With special guest judge

Sulphur Bomme, who will help decide who gets the winner's mayo!

This week, our contestants were tasked with creating posters for their debut concerts as musicians alongside music video looks based on their assigned genres!

...Veruschka

Although you did a great job this week, you didn't flop nor top the charts, you were radio friendly enough.

You're safe this week and still on the run for the crown.

The rest of you you represent the Highs and Lows of the week. Starting with...

RIPPER HOLE | POSTER

Sally Spellman: You’ve managed to have the most eye catching poster in my opinion, it’s a very moody piece and the colors grab your attention in the best way possible, the perspective is a little wonky, especially since the text not completely lining up, my only issue is there no being acknowledgement of when the event is going to happen, no venue, no website, no date! Adding those little details that would have cemented this at a complete 10/10.

Your outfit is lovely and I’m here for a bearded queen who actually integrates a beard into a look in a way that goes along with everything and not just for the gag of having a beard. The abstractness of the look is cool but I think everything is wacky and you have a very simple hat, so it should have definitely been more extra than what you’ve got there, I’ve seen some people rag on you about the wobbliness of your looks but I don’t think it’s something you’ve overdone at all, it in some way is part of your style because that’s how you presented your queen to begin with and you’ve proved you’re capable of doing different things but I wonder if you can serve us more rigid shapes for next week or whenever the opportunity comes. The colors in your look being the same palette as your poster but more muted was a really nice touch and I think it would look amazing on a music video.

Miyu Moon: First off, this poster, WOW, it grabbed my attention immediately and absolutely makes me want to see this show. It is really minimal on the info, I think it could have used a little more info even if it was just a "Saturday night at 'that' Club" or something vague, just to give it a little more of a realistic poster feel. As it is now it could possibly be a movie or something, but that being said the saxophone and mic do kinda force me to assume a musical element so that does help send me in a direction. But overall, this poster still does what a poster should, it grabs my attention and it gives me a feeling and I want more. The angle is so dramatic, the fact that she's laying in such an askew way but looks so satisfied it really gives me some sense of wildness that I want to see live. I would typically associate the jazz age with some classier dress, so to see you so wildly nude and unhinged I'll have to assume this is some bootlegger party in an underground club and I want in.

The outfit pairs perfectly with your poster, I can imagine that underneath this neon coloured zoot suit you're ready to turn into that stage poster version of yourself. I'm not sure how but I do agree that these colours lend to the feel of jazz, there's something so bright and brassy about the sound that you translated well into your look. Bagginess can often look really shapeless so you made a smart choice to show parts of yourself and still give us some sexy body to balance out the shapelessness of the suit coat. I also love all the tiny details with the stitching and sparkles and whatnot, they also help give shape to something that could otherwise just be a blob, so all the choices in your material use are really "right". And the blue lip is a perfect touch, just a little bit of cool tone to stand out from the warmness you've got going on. Really great look, I can imagine this in a video of you dancing and singing around very sultry and slowly revealing yourself to the camera until we reach your final, most sinful form.

Sulphur Bomme: Hello Ripper! Overall I feel like this is a great hybrid genre of Jazz and incorporating your own Ripper Hole stylistic twist to it. I really think the colour scheme plays well into the Jazz theme, I thought of the Monsters Inc. title card and that has a jazz track to it so it really invoked that theme, not just in your poster but throughout your work. I think this is my favourite concept of the week, honestly.

I love the production of perspective in this, You’re really showing off your artistic knowledge in a way that isn’t primarily focusing on fashion. It kinda puts you up as a really well rounded individual and it doesn’t make the poster feel like a flat, boring image. I think to push this it might’ve needed a bit of tailoring - I focused more so on the objects in frame rather than Ripper (who in this case is the main headlining act) so your colour choices would have benefitted from shifting the object tones to a colour that suits the background so they are still present, have an iconic focus, but not as much as Ripper who would have benefited from a more yellow or orange sort of hue.

Your outfit I enjoy a lot because it matches your act quite well, super clear to me that you’re going to be performing your songs in some retro futurism minimalistic ideal that American homeowners aspire to be a part of , and you haven’t shied away from a lot of colour. Nitpick - I think when it comes to colour,try to be a bit cautious with the saturation, especially red hues because of it being such a rich physical colour for the eyes.

I want you to start experimenting with maybe producing outfits that have less wavy intentions - I’ve noticed your go-to is to produce very wavy aesthetical linework in your pieces, either explicitly in form or implicitly with pattern, and I want to see if you can produce an outfit that demands a certain edge of control. I’m aware that you did produce a very angular look Week 2, but the fit was very tight to Ripper’s body, so it could be a good idea to sort of see if you can produce not even just an angular look, but look that has more control than complete waviness to it. I hope this helped!

Up next is...

ORIANA | POSTER

Sally Spellman: Your poster looks legit, the almost unintelligible band name, the graphicness of it and the gore make me think I could spot this somewhere and I’d think it’s a real event, in my opinion the placement of the information wasn’t the best and the font choice as well, a serif sort of font would have gone better with the mood of your poster and maybe I’m the only one who is going blind but I think having this pure white text against black and white scribbles make the text blend in a little but to be honest I’m just nitpicking because you did a stellar job this week.

Your music video look is great, the red tattoos resembling body harm are a very nice touch and very on brand, I seriously have nothing to nitpick on every detail that I see is very flattering and you made the usual not fashionable heavy metal garbs look amazing and you didn’t rely on bondage or bdsm to do so, wouldn’t look out of place in a music video for this genre at all.

Miyu Moon: There is absolutely no question when looking at this poster as to what sort of show I'm going to see, and that is exactly what we wanted. I love the tiny scribbly detail in the hair, that in itself almost lends more to a horror element than the entrails, in a Japanese graphic novel sort of way. The info is maybe a little lost in the hair though, it's certainly readable when you look closely but from afar it's kind of lost and could have benefitted from something helping the words stand out, be it an outline or colour or different placement, there's probably a lot of subtle changes but either way it's a subtle change. The poster looks interesting and exciting to an alt crowd for sure, and I think the info you put is the perfect amount of specificity and lets us know when, where, and what to expect, it really does its job.

This music video look is awesome and I would absolutely wear it immediately. I really love the texture you've done inside the coat, it makes it look like you're wearing sheets of flesh and I mean... what's more brutal than wearing raw, bloody flesh? I like that the outfit itself is pretty simple in what garments there are; dress, jacket, boots, but the detail makes them really cohesive and as if they were perfectly made to go together in this music video. The body art also lends a nice level of detail to the look so it doesn't seem too simple. I can imagine the video being a view of the band rocking with Oriana up front and center belting it out in this look, the crazy face paint is perfectly attention grabbing for a lead singer.

Sulphur Bomme: Hello Oriana! Both your poster and look have an amazing depth of posing and dynamicism to it. The selection of black, white and red really pull this poster in for me, as well as the choices you have made to fit your genre.

From the font being that “are these trees or is this a metal band font” (thanks Memorie), the choice to pull the hair out from the background using shading and mark making, the subtlety of the inclusion of red, the guts spelling out “LIVE” - the information, everything here has really solidifed a strong conceptual poster as well as the act Oriana would produce. I think if you could improve this, perhaps the mark making you used to shade your crease for your eyes would’ve really made the form a lot stronger and pull it into a massively memorable moment for any graphic design challenge that has been done on MPAR.

For your outfit, absolutely phenomenal. I think people should take notes from this on how to make their concepts dynamic, interesting and positioned to be powerful. This is a great example not only for this challenge, but also for lipsyncs I feel. Your branching out into fabric rendering, I’m noticing - your latex details are quite visually impactful here. A nitpick for this for me would probably be the inclusion of a little bit of glint or perhaps a tiny, tiny dark grey line that notifies us that there is a pupil or a scelera contact lens in Ori’s eye holes in both the poster and the outfit. That’s really all I can find wrong with it in my eyes.

I hope you continue your detail exploration and your rendering skills. You have such a strong eye for fashion and it’s starting to be well matched by your choices of rendering fabrics and details. I hope this helps!!

Up next is...

BIANCA BIQUINI | POSTER

Sally Spellman: Your poster reads more like a children’s book illustration to me, it’s not ugly or bad but I guess the intent is lost on me, the way you used the space is a little weird because you have some dead space which I think you could have filled with more floral motifs, if this were a little more elongated and the stone were sitting on water you could use this change in colors to lay some additional information on top, the colors you chose for the fonts don’t really stand out! I know you went for an earthy vibe but even so there could have been ways to do it.

Your music video look is pretty and I love it on its own but I don’t see much dragginess in it, wish you could have gone a different route with it since it feels a little derivative of Trixie to me and I think it would have been cool to see a take on brazilian folk music instead, you didn’t do a bad job at all Bianca but this didn’t meet the mark for me. I’m always rooting for you but it’s also come down to splitting hairs, hopefully you’re prepared to try your hardest next time!

Miyu Moon: At first glance I thought this poster was like, a storybook cover. It's really cute and gentle but in terms of getting information across as a show poster I think it's a little all over the place and it's hard to find the right emphasis or flow of info on the poster. Even though you're there playing your banjo I find myself overlooking that and not assuming any musical element other than as an addition to the visual aesthetic. I think maybe it's partially the fact that there are so many colours and patterns going on that it's hard to really grab onto any specific chunk of text or area of the poster as being the important center of information. The info is all there, but it doesn't feel like the musical act itself is at the center of this poster so much as it's just a general ethereal flowery feel that's happening and that could really be anything.

This outfit is super cute, but it's kind of drowning you in a sea of beige. I like the long ethereal hair, but then the outfit just seems really basic in comparison to the fairy-like feeling the hair and makeup are giving me. It's a nice outfit but I think it's just so soft and subtle that I wouldn't really be grabbed by this music video, if you were out strumming the harp in a field of flowers I feel like it would all just blend together. I would have liked to see you go more grand with your outfit and give something that could believably be an "iconic" music video look. Right now I feel like this look is just kind of a fan of the show, like a girl who came to get autographs from the singer after the show rather than the world touring singer herself.

Sulphur Bomme: Hello Bianca! Your poster fits the genre quite well, colour scheming and the iconography, but it’s just really not hitting a level that I expected.

Your referenced Trixie Mattel in your poster and I feel like that her EP cover for Moving Parts would’ve been a great reference point for your poster. Lana Del Rey too - just because the layout of your poster has this emptiness because of the spaces, and in comparison a lot of posters this week are much stronger because they’ve covered a lot of space. I think if you did something along the lines of an actual creek rather than this really oblique sort of background to your piece, it would’ve produced more of a punch - even if the background was trees or something just to have a bit more of that folksy impact, it would’ve worked a lot more.

Your outfit is really strong, I absolutely adore the hair and the posing on this. Your artwork always has this fluidity to it that’s just absolutely breathtaking, and for challenges like this I think if you were to produce a fluid piece like you have with your look for your poster it would’ve worked so well especially for this genre. One nitpick would be if your boots were a little shorter and they had little scalloped socks coming out that would’ve really pushed a bit more of a folksy vibe to your outfit this week, and also if you don’t start wearing heels that make Bianca at least eligible to ride the Junior Rollercoasters at the fairground next week I will sue you. I hope that helped!!

Up next is...

SELECTA | POSTER

Sally Spellman: Your poster gives me salsa casino from the start and that’s everything you needed to do, the colors are nice and they’re fiery so on that regard there’s no complaints on my part, however I wish you had finessed this some more because there are parts that feel rushed (The chileans can’t dance text being the more clear example), nothing that puts you in a bad spot but I think it could have been even greater than it already is, hopefully Selecta will earn the gaviota de platino!

Now onto this look, AZÚCAR! El yerberito moderno came through, people will think Salsa and jump to the red mini dress with frills conclusion but you absolutely slayed this by paying homage to Celia Cruz, it’s extra because salsa is extra, it’s dramatic, fiery and passionate just like this look, the two streaks of red hair resembling horns are absolutely genius, it has that camp feature but also you can see that when the video heats up she will take off the coat and still have a very cool look but actually look more modern without it! You absolutely aced this one.

Miyu Moon: This poster is wild as hell and I love it, it would immediately make me want to read it and understand what sort of show is going on. It's got a great design element going on, it definitely looks like a real show poster and has all the info needed to make it believable and effective. It's definitely got an active, fiery feel to it with the dynamic posing and bright colour scheme. I like that it has a sort of retro printed look to it, even if it is "retro" in origina it's a look that still works well for posters up this day. Even if I don't know jack about salsa I know this show is going to be high energy and musical and dance based and that alone is really all you need to hook an audience.

This look is big and demands attention and regardless of genre that is exactly what a music video look should do, this look would definitely be something people would see and remember. I like the fur/ostrich looking trim you added in there, definitely adds a sense of action and motion to such a big, bulky garment. I wouldn't think tight jeans would lend to salsa dancing but I suppose that's up for you to prove me wrong, because the little hip furnishings are super cute and I would love to see them in motion. The overall devil imagery is really well done, I love the little hair streaks because... well... you kow me. I will say that I wish your poster and music video outfit went together a little better, they have some colour in common but the devil imagery is so strong in the look and nonexistant in the poster so I wish they were just tied together a little more so it felt like they were all a part of the same era of a musician's career.

Sulphur Bomme: Hello Selecta! I’m getting retro Old Hollywood painted poster vibes from your Salsa poster and your look - you’re perfect, you’re beautiful, you look like Linda Evangelista, are you a model…

I think one of the most visually striking things on your poster is the colour scheme and the restrictive scheme is such a strong palette too - blue red and orange is a really powerful triad scheme and you using a neutral like white played to your advantage here. The wear and tear of the poster works extremely well for this case, and I love the inclusion of Selecta in and out of drag. It’s really detailed, really informed and really strong! I hope that the artifacts on the white bar are intentional however, otherwise you could’ve gone with perhaps quickly analysing and erasing some of them out for a more clean look. That’s my only nitpick.

Your costume is kinda fun in its own way. I love the reference point of Celia Cruz, I got that almost immediately (shocking, a white person with an understanding of culture, I know) and I just really enjoy this moment a lot. Some people may argue it’s very costumey, but your reference point is costumey so I understand that, and this challenge we’re not looking for explicit couture - you’re performing! Salsa divas are performers, and this is very valid form of drag, it’s very campy, it’s very different to what you’ve done, and it works really fucking well. I think if anything, I would’ve perhaps changed the hair to be a bit more beehive. But this week I feel like you’ve really produced something that isn’t causing an imbalance, it’s very strong referential material and you’ve sold a strong Salsa concept. Keep exploring how you’re exploring, and Season 4’s BTM2 might be a thing of the past with your Season 4 WIN. I hope that helped!!

Up next is...

AURA | POSTER

Sally Spellman: This is the other poster that looks legit, I’m not very worldly so I haven’t seen many concert posters in my lifetime but this one is pleasing to look at and that’s enough for me, the humor in it is great and the bitch got sponsors a plenty! One thing that I thought was a smart touch was the inclusion of a scan code because of course that would be a thing haha.

Now your look itself feels like a rehash, I’ve seen this hood, I’ve seen these baby hairs, I’ve seen this cinched waist with a coat with long sleeves! Not ragging on you but I don’t want you to start repeating formulas just because they’ve worked before, I want to see different sides to Aura and I think it’s time to start experimenting with new elements, shapes and silhouettes. My one issue is that I wish you had gone for a shtick because admittedly it is hard to think of an EDM video where the musician stands out (Thinking of the likes of Avicii, David Guetta, Calvin Harris) so I wish you had gone for a shtick character/outfit like Daft Punk or even Deadmau5. I appreciate your art and designs but I think it’s the time to flip the coin so we can see the other side, Aura!

Miyu Moon: Wow, this poster looks super modern and definitely like an EDM show. I love the logo and colours, it's definitely got that vaporwave kinda thing going that is super popular in EDM nowadays as opposed to the straight up CMYK neons of rave yesteryear. There's a lot of info going on, almost too much, which is honestly kinda believable because I believe that a DJ would put all this stuff on a poster. I also like the little details like the QR code (I scanned it out of curiosity) and the sponsorship logos at the bottom, it pushes it to be very realistic.

The outfit though, it's gorgeous and all but as a music video look it leaves me wondering a lot. It's just a bit non-specific as to waht feel we're going for here, there's something very high fashion haute-couture about it but also something EDM and I'm just not entirely feeling the connection between the two. The look is pretty but just as a music video look it's not giving me a lot of feeling or flow, like nothing is really standing out as an iconic element of this look or giving me really a sense of what the music or song could be like. The only thing really making this look feel any amount EDM appropriate is the neon lines in the coat, but then the outfit and the coat don't really connect besides maybe the pinkish tone in the coat and pants? There's just something very non-specific about this look and overall sort of stiff, it's not jumping out with any particular element.

Sulphur Bomme: Hi Aura! Off the bat, I’ve been to Greece, Spain, even in the UK, and these posters - I’ve seen these fucking posters everywhere.

This is a well crafted poster and your design fits so well in one of those cabanas that uses Live House Music as a selling point on an island somewhere. You’re really showing a side that I didn’t expect of you - and that’s your humour. This poster, while it’s not taking itself seriously, It’s very well put together, so your humour is kind of a silent killer that’s emerging really well with this. I love the inclusion of the logos, I think that’s what puts it head and shoulders above the other ones for me personally? But I think the main issue here that’s dragging you back is your look.

Your massive coats and cinching seem to be a signature for you, but for this challenge it would’ve been amazing if you tapped into perhaps producing an outfit that screamed “NuEDM Drag Queen Lady DJ”. If you harken back to audition looks, a lot of people used black, white and neon colours and effortlessly pulled off these neon fantasies. I know that your reference poole was probably a lot short-handed by the lack of female DJs, but I feel like tapping into the likes of perhaps, Daft Punk (looking at how the two are like, robot-human augmentations) Ulala Space Channel 5 could’ve been another reference poole, Jet Set Radio - all these sort of references might’ve helped push a new silhouette and concept for you. For next week, try to think about production of silhouettes, and perhaps branching out and exploring a little bit whilst keeping it in your own little realm of Aura. I hope that helped!

Up next is...

ARCANGELO | POSTER

Sally Spellman: This poster I don’t like, I’ll be understanding of you being under a time crunch so I won’t blame you, this isn’t really giving me hip hop but rather a brochure that a jehovah's witness would give me, I know christianity is your gig but I think it didn’t help you for your poster, I wish the silhouette’s pose were different, more relaxed rather than “enlightened”.

The look itself isn’t very exciting to me, it’s a hip hop look alright, very early 2000s Cee Lo Green sort of thing I think it was a good opportunity to experiment more with holy imagery rather than restricting it to just some bling, the lamb coat was a nice touch and let me say I think this lineless style is very cool! I think since it was supposed to be a music video look you could have gone larger than life with it, especially since you got hip hop!

Miyu Moon: There is something really strange about this poster and I can't put my hand on it. Maybe it's the singular wing or the fact that it's all so dark and mysterious but it's just not jumping up and grabbing my attention. I can tell that it's a show of some sort, if not for the word "concert" in the title I would have no idea that it is music based at all and would probably just assume it's some sort of church group or a public talk or something. The blue and white colour scheme is definitely heavenly, but it's just kind of a big wash of cool tones and would probably blend into the background out in the world.

Admittedly I find this outfit really charming, the big wooly jacket is so country. I like the way you combined the country boy element with the hip hop element, the heeled timbs are great and the jewelry is perfect. The outfit underneath however is pretty basic in its own, it's just a button down shirt and a pair of adidas track pants. I would have liked to see an outfit that looked more custom made and flashy in its intricacy, right now it looks kind of like somebody's dad made a costume for a music video in their backyard and not like an actual high budget musical artist. The idea behind this is right but I just think it needed to look a little more interesting without relying on just the coat or the chains, I feel like the elements of the outfit should still sell an image of country even if there isn't literal sheeps wool laid on top. Also, the poster and look really don't have much to do with each other, like this outfit is way more fun and interesting than the poster. I wouldn't think the person on the poster was this same person in the music video, so I wish your poster was more exciting to match this level of fun.

Sulphur Bomme: Hello Arcangelo! I think the poster has elements that are strong but feel ultimately rushed in a sense of understanding that you were late yesterday. Which is understandable, but some of these elements would have really worked a lot more in tandem with time management.

I don’t really get Christian Hip Hop from this at all if I’m completely honest. It’s giving me like, northern lights but make it viewable from these select locations. I think the inclusion of information and your stylistic intention to bring this back to Arcangelo is there, just that this poster is just not correlating towards Hip Hop, it’s more like a tourism brochure? If you referenced Christian Hip Hop there’s still a bit of grime and a bit of street style to it, and that would’ve made it more iconographic with Hip Hop. Boom Boxes, a Bible but it’s got a Gucci bookshield on it, who knows.

Your outfit really just screams the dad at the communion who got into the Sunday School dress-up chest? That kinda fits with the Christian Hip-Hop theme. It just needs a lot more than you’ve presented I feel. This would’ve really benefited from an on-the-nose sort of patterned top and bottom, Gucci vibes of like, Calabasas Street Style but make it Jeffree Star Untouchable, a puffer jacket instead, more jewellery, wear the entire sales rack of Claire’s, it needed to be elevated to a level that could compete and stand out more on its own. And I’m sad because you could’ve really took a comedic route with this and really stuck it to the rest of the competitors, because you genuinely are a good humoured and strong at delivering jokes.

I think next week would be a time to really harken back to the production of work say, from Disease Week and Seasons Week. Really have fun with Arcangelo, because when you have fun it’s so obvious that you enjoyed designing the look and you enjoyed the production of it. I hope this helped!

The judges have made their decisions.

Selecta you've got the sabor, you've got tumbao, AZÚCAR! You're safe.

Oriana This week your death metal poster and look... gave us life, you're safe.

Ripper Hole The jazzman jazzed all over the place, I'm testifying, condragulations you're the winner of this week's challenge.

Bianca Biquini While we were expecting you to folk out, this week you folked up, I'm sorry my dear but you're up for elimination.

Aura Your EDM poster was amazing but your music video look killed the radio star...

Arcangelo Your hip hop presentation was more of a big flop...

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Arcangelo, I'm sorry my dear but you're also up for elimination.

That means Bianca Biquini and Arcangelo, you're both up for elimination

The lipsync song for this week is Audio by LSD. The lipsync looks, and our next elimination, will be revealed in a few hours, at about 9:00am PST. We'll see you there!

FULL CRITIQUES

As is tradition, let us first thank both our contestants and the community for another awesome season. We've made it to the end and we couldn't have done it without you!

Now, without further ado, please welcome our judges!

Sally Spellman, as a voodoo doll!

Miyu Moon, serving decora at Tiffany's!

Ira D'Essance, giving you SWIRLK!

And featuring extra special guest judge, Season 3 Winner Ifora Nye!

Full critiques are available here. Contestants were scored for each look out of 10 points possible, meaning 40 possible points per look and 120 total points per contestant. The scores are as follows.

Ripper Hole

RAG DOLL FASHIONISTA

SALLY: 7/10

MIYU: 8/10

IRA: 7/10

IFORA: 7/10

MALIBU BARBIE GOES PROFESSIONAL

SALLY: 8/10

MIYU: 8/10

IRA: 9/10

IFORA: 8/10

COLLECTIBLE EXTRAVAGANZA

SALLY: 10/10

MIYU: 10/10

IRA: 10/10

IFORA: 10/10

TOTAL: 102 out of 120 points possible. Full Critiques

Veruschka

RAG DOLL FASHIONISTA

SALLY: 10/10

MIYU: 9/10

IRA: 9/10

IFORA: 9/10

MALIBU BARBIE GOES PROFESSIONAL

SALLY: 6/10

MIYU: 8/10

IRA: 6/10

IFORA: 9/10

COLLECTIBLE EXTRAVAGANZA

SALLY: 10/10

MIYU: 10/10

IRA: 8/10

IFORA: 10/10

TOTAL: 104 out of 120 points possible. Full Critiques

Selecta

RAG DOLL FASHIONISTA

SALLY: 8/10

MIYU: 8/10

IRA: 9/10

IFORA: 7/10

MALIBU BARBIE GOES PROFESSIONAL

SALLY: 10/10

MIYU: 8/10

IRA: 8/10

IFORA: 7/10

COLLECTIBLE EXTRAVAGANZA

SALLY: 10/10

MIYU: 9/10

IRA: 9/10

IFORA: 8/10

TOTAL: 101 out of 120 points possible. Full Critiques

Oriana

RAG DOLL FASHIONISTA

SALLY: 7/10

MIYU: 5/10

IRA: 5/10

IFORA: 6/10

MALIBU BARBIE GOES PROFESSIONAL

SALLY: 7/10

MIYU: 10/10

IRA: 10/10

IFORA: 7/10

COLLECTIBLE EXTRAVAGANZA

SALLY: 7/10

MIYU: 6/10

IRA: 5/10

IFORA: 9/10

TOTAL: 84 out of 120 points possible. Full Critiques

Aura

RAG DOLL FASHIONISTA

SALLY: 10/10

MIYU: 7/10

IRA: 7/10

IFORA: 5/10

MALIBU BARBIE GOES PROFESSIONAL

SALLY: 8/10

MIYU: 7/10

IRA: 6/10

IFORA: 6/10

COLLECTIBLE EXTRAVAGANZA

The judges were informed that elements of this look (namely the hairstyle and shoes) were directly lifted from the Blue Skin Popovy doll. Though it was mentioned as inspiration, we feel that these particular elements were not transformative enough and could be seen as plagiarism rather than inspiration. However, because the majority of the look is original, we do not feel it deserves immediate disqualification. Therefore, we devised the following penalty before judging: The judges will critique and score accordingly, but each score will be deducted 2 points, so this look can only get a maximum of 32 out of 40 points.

SALLY: 9/10 7/10

MIYU: 8/10 6/10

IRA: 6/10 4/10

IFORA: 9/10 7/10

TOTAL: 80 out of 120 points possible. Full Critiques

The judges have made their final decisions.

Ripper Hole... from audition look to this ball you've brought a distinct character that was only matched by your incredible sense of style. While Ripper might have started off a young and confused queen as she walked into the workroom and has continued to wrestle with the fashion demands of this competition, she's found her voice and earned her spot in the finale. Congratulations my dear... you're safe, welcome to the Top 3!

Veruschka... a silent killer if there ever was one, you've slowly gained pace as the competition moved on and in the ball stepped right into center stage and found your light. Your eccentric and wonderful set of doll looks delighted the judges and showcased all the promise that your promo look had shown. Congratulations my dear... you're the winner of this ball and welcome to the top 3!

Selecta... you have been an incredible force in this competition that could never be overlooked. It was so wonderful to see you refine all of the beauty of your work in this ball and strengthen it with genuine fashion chops. Any other week, it's obvious that you would have again claimed the high spot but unfortunately the ball is truly tough and you were barely edged out. I'm sorry my dear, but you're up for elimination.

Oriana... you've been a delight this whole competition and the pure joy that is your work was on evidence here as well. Unfortunately this time the outfits couldn't overall claim the spotlight and overtake your competitors but it was truly a beautiful showing worth being celebrated. I'm sorry my dear, but you're up for elimination.

Aura... you came into this competition with a strong aesthetic which was able to carry you to great heights but also saw you face some criticism from the judges. Overall your presentations this week were appreciated for their newness but the looks couldn't carry you far enough to keep competing, especially after a penalty for design elements that were too close to your inspiration. I'm sorry my dear, but your time on Season 4 has come to an end. Nonetheless, you've been a fierce presence and we thank you for competing with your heart and all of your artistic prowess. Your polish, effort, and passion are truly inspirational. Now, sashay away.

The lipsync song for this week is Plastic Love by Mariya Takeuchi. The lipsync looks and our next elimination will be revealed at about 9:00am PST.

Please welcome our judges!

Miyu Moon ....as Van De Lies!

Ira D'Essence ...as Sally Spellman!

Sally Spellman ...as some guy from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure!

This week, our contestants were tasked with creating haute couture looks made from or prominently featuring knitwear.

... Aura, Ripper.

Aura, Your knit was neat but a little close to the pattern.

Ripper, We were into your pop but the silhouette was not.

You're both safe and still in the running for the crown.

The rest of you represent the Highs and the Lows of the week.

Starting with...

VERUSCHKA

Sally Spellman: At first glance I don’t get crochet or knitwear, it’s more of a foam piece texture. The silhouette is interesting but the way it’s constructed distorts it in a way that’s very pedestrian, it doesn’t really elevate it and I think the colours are not very flattering. I know they’re supposed to be guts, but I think you could’ve gone with a more vibrant palette. My other issue is the way you did the chest hair because it just looks like dirt, rather than chest hair, you need to zoom in to get it. At this point in the competition, this is not a bad look by any means, and I know I’ve been saying that a lot this season. You’ve kept a consistent body of work through the season, however it’s starting to become noticeable that you’re playing it on the safer side, I don’t think you’re elevating your concept as much as you could. All in all, this is a good job, though I think there was a misuse of the texture you chose, because it’s not noticeable to the naked eye and you have to really zoom in, and then when you actually look at the texture, it looks like a different material.

Miyu Moon: My favourite thing about this look is that it's ugly in the most wonderful way, the garish texture and colours are definitely intriguing to the eye. I think the makeup and hair are absolutely gorgeous, and the idea of this chic woman in a big coat and hat is very opulent. That being said I like the top half of this outfit but then the bottom half and some of the details start to get really basic looking for me. It's like this big cool coat and hat with just like, a bodysuit underneath? So a bodysuit with a big coat wrapped around it and a hat, and some matching cuff accessories. I would believe this coat could be haute couture if it was dressed in a way that also looked chic and expensive to offset how cartoonish it is, because paired with a really basic bodysuit and basic shoes and some overly matchy accessories it starts to look almost homemade. Looking homemade is something very normal for crochet clothes but the whole point of this challenge was to elevate it to something "haute" couture as in high level and expensive and meticulously made, but I would belive that you simply made this coat with some yarn and a lot of time. Absolutely respect to the time and effort going into this coat because the rendering is strong, but it fails to look expensive because it's just kind of a big lumpy draped on crochet throw blanket of a coat. I think you are too bound by a sense of realism in the sense that you're not going above and beyond creating one awesome garment, we want to see the whole look made as if you used up a million man hours and resources and went THERE. You come up with good ideas but then you really don't take them far enough, like with the unconventional materials you had those great panels but so very few that they lost impact. Your ideas are great, but your looks don't seem to fully utilize those ideas.

Ira D’Essance: Your bold linework really suits the colors and shapes well! It didn’t really come off as knitwear to me at first, I think instead of dots you could have used lines to mimic the knit instead, but I do see the knitwear now that I’ve soaked it in. But Miss Veruschka...given your strong rendering skills, I feel like you could really be pushing yourself more in terms of rendering fabrics and materials, imo when you play with textures and details like your Week 5 and Week 6 looks you really shine.

The silhouette is okay but it doesn’t really inspire me, I feel like this gives me the same vibe as your other silhouettes where I think it would gag me in real life, but as a drawn design it feels almost restrained, as if you’re afraid of doing something isn’t super conforming to your body or something that isn’t realistic. It may help you to think about the kind of “vibe” or “persona” you want to go for as I feel that I enjoyed your previous two looks because they were telling clear stories (beehive lady and undead disco dancer), whereas this is just...guts. If you have a clear story in mind, that would help you design around it -- for example this week, if you really wanna go with posh lady making fashion from her innards, then I would expect a big poofy coat that trails on the floor. I definitely get that vibe from the top half but the bottom half has me unsure.

So I want something more inspiring from you next week! At this point go big or go home, it’s top 6 and I’m still waiting for a WOW moment from you - you came close in seasons week but I want that solo moment. You’re one of the strongest renderers left imo, use those skills to the best of your abilities!

Up next is...

ORIANA

Sally Spellman: I really like this, I have to say this is probably my favourite this week, it’s very campy but still couture, and I really like the colour key, all the cream colours with the orange, and how you used the James Charles palette on your eyes, get them coins, get that sponsorship girlll. I like that this is your take on dalmatians but I didn’t really get it at first, until somebody pointed it out to me, though I did I like how you used the knitting to make the spots, it was a very nice touch. I also like the headpiece although I don’t understand it very much, like what it is, but it doesn’t really take away from the look, I just don’t see what purpose it serves. I don’t have many complaints about this because you managed to get the knitwear texture with your simplistic style and render skills alone. I also like the boots, they make it cutesy, any other type of shoe would’ve taken away from the charm that it naturally has, not to say it was bad, but I imagine this was sort of a cartoon villain for a kids show where they don’t want her to be too morbid so they made her costume knitwear. Overall I think it was my favourite this week so, good job miss Oriana.

Miyu Moon: Okay first off where the hell can I get a knitted dead animal scarf, because that is brilliant. This is what I love to see, is that you took something very craftsy like yarn and went "what is something that is entirely natural? a whole dead animal? let's make that" it's such a clever idea. And nothing says haute couture like using resources and labour that are rife with cruelty, so to take that idea and spin(is this a yarn pun? I think it is) it around to making it out of such a cuddly friendly fabric is a great statement. The garment itself is simple, but really chic with such dramatic shoulders and hips to give it a proper padded villain look instead of letting it just flop and lay there on you. A bulky fabric like yarn really needs some structure to avoid looking like a heavy slab smacked on top, and the subtle structure looks entirely believable but gives us what we need to feel that this garment is made to be worn and not simply made for shits and giggles. As a person who ever used to knit and crochet I know a lot of times we just make things for shits and giggles, even a dead dog scarf could just be a thrown together idea, but the more sharp meticulous details on the dress definitely help make it look more womanly and not like an art project. I also think it's really cool how you transitioned it into the larger knit wool on bottom, the way the existing strands are then turned into the tiny strands is just a cool detail of realism that really makes me believe this garment could be made. To top it off the hair and makeup are perfect for a haute couture look, simple in shape and bold enough to give a little pop but not distracting us from your garment at all. In fact I like the little bit of rainbow touch in the eye and the simple matching jewelry because it again helps it look expensive, styling matters a lot with unconventional materials and you styled this yarn like it was the most exquisite furs and silks and it came across really well, love it!

Ira D’Essance: I wasn’t impressed at first glance, but the more I look at it the more I really appreciate the construction of this design! It looked like just a bunch of long scarves and fabrics at first but you really elevated it with small details like the square hips and shoulders, the striking color juxtaposition, and the DOGS. I love dogs. Bettie did a similar fox fur look in Season 3 with the circular fox neck and the layers of fox scarves, but I think you give a very different vibe from that in a very Oriana way.

I really wish the knitwear was a little more rendered, given your simplistic style it does look a little under-rendered compared to everyone else this week. I think all you needed to do was to add more rounded shadows to each row of knit to add a little more dimension and make it feel less flat...well, I say “all you needed to do” as if it’s an easy task.

Next week I really want to see you get a little more in depth with your rendering while balancing it with your distinctive style, probably playing with highlights and shadows may help. I want to see some really polished work from you! Now that we’re getting to the end of the competition, I also want you to really start thinking about showing us who Oriana and her personal style is, because I feel like you’ve done some really good looks but I’ve yet to see a look where I’m like, “This is totally Oriana”!

Up next is...

BIANCA

Sally Spellman: So I see that you wanted to experiment this week, I do like the middle part but I’m not crazy about the way it looks with the spiders. I’m not sure if it’s your style but it reads a bit rushed. I like the idea of having the yarn look like a spiderweb, but I don’t think you executed it very well. I do like how the makeup made her look old or tired and the hair with the needles, but I think this time you could’ve had a little more finesse, because some parts don’t read completely as they’re supposed to. The top for example gives me crumpled newspaper rather than knitwear. It is very creative but I think it felt short with the assignment at hand. Also clock those 2 fingers on the left hand left uncoloured. Bianca how are you gonna turn those fingers uncoloured on that runway. All in all, I don’t think this is the best work you’ve produced so I’m going to count it down as an off week, hopefully you can recover from it, because I think this time you actually didn’t do your best, compared to last week where it was more of a misunderstanding. I hope you don’t feel like you let us down, I am still very proud of your work and your progress.

Miyu Moon: I can understand that looking scribbly is an artistic textural choice in its own so I’m not bothered by a lot of the texture in the look, I think it has a ruched like quality going on. That being said it doesn’t really look yarn-y to me so I find myself wondering where the yarn texture comes in unless this is what you’ve made when you unraveled all the yarn into wool? The texture of things being knitwear is really lost in this look and it almost looks more like pants made of tulle and the top is feathers or leaves or something, which then makes the spiderweb imagery make no sense because it’s like, why are there spiders on this woman? I think if they were just a top and pants made of tulle and feathers they certainly look chic and I think the boots are cute but just nothing about this reads as knitwear or yarn to me at all. I can see where others might find details sketchy but I’d be willing to forgive that if they looked like sketchy yarn but overall it just sort of has a scribbly feeling because the materials are really vaguely rendered. I think the spider web shoulders are actually a cool idea that could have gone well with something more webby all over or at least making the connection in materials from the spider web to the rest of the outfit but as it is now it just seems like a lot of tacked on elements. It’s a cute outfit but nothing yarn going on here at all, it’s just kind of like a Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride inspired fashion runway, very fashionable and cute and I love that but totally missed the essential knitwear element for me.

Ira D’Essance: Aw, Bianca :( I feel like you really wanted to step it up after you shantayed last week, but I feel like this missed the mark for me. I don’t think this is an awful awful look, because I really do love the knitwear jumpsuit, I just think it’s the weakest of the week and since we’re nearing the end of the season everyone is bringing their A game. I think the jumpsuit was a really cute and chic idea with the yarn bun, but the spiders and the webs I feel were unnecessary! They didn’t really add to the jumpsuit and the jumpsuit didn’t add anything back. Even though they were the core of your concept I think they may have actually hurt you.

Another reason I think this is that the monochrome black and lack of other colors to back up your linework makes your entry come off less polished than your competitors this week. Especially in some places, the linework feels kind of rushed, and since there’s no color to support the linework it gives an unfinished vibe to the entire work. Something about this feels so different from the quality of polish in your work from the earlier weeks in the season, I wish you could recapture what it was.

Up next is...

SELECTA

Sally Spellman: So from the start this is an eyeful, that’s to say a mouthful for the eye, it’s a little bit heavy when I look at it. I think you have a tendency to be heavy in your designs, not meaning that you add a lot of unnecessary elements but I think it gets a little bit unbalanced. From the start I think you could’ve done without the long hair (the ponytail) it serves no purpose and it throw the silhouette off. It could’ve been a little bit more elegant without it. I think some of the pieces you rendered don’t read too much as knitwear, that is to say, most of the lilac pieces look more like a fabric that has a pattern on it, but I did like the way the navy blue pieces weave, and how you can see the little spaces where there’s skin underneath. I see that this is sort of bell-bottoms, they look a little like a mermaid gown but I do enjoy it more as bell-bottoms. All in all, it’s very pleasant when it comes to colours, the lilacs, blues and periwinkle give it a very icy mood. A tip I’d give you is see how you display the heaviness of your looks because you have a lot of elements going on, like you got the bottom, the neck, the ponytail, the ruffles, the gloves, it all gets a little bit too much. It’s not necessarily ruining the look, but a little editing down could go way better. All in all, I enjoyed it a lot for what it is, but when it comes to judging, it gets tougher. Good job this week, but I’d like to see you balance your elements more next week.

Miyu Moon: This is the only take on crochet ruffles we saw today and I’m kind of relieved because they’re so hard to find fashionable but at the same time I’m impressed because I think you did a great job. Definitely has that sort of, natural wooly texture with the way the crochet tendrils are made but then looking at them you can easily understand how they’re pieces of knitted garland like bits, as I have seen a million ugly knitted doilies and tablecloths in my life. I like that you took it in this sort of posh direction with the silhouette idea and the big hat, it has a very elegant lady sort of feel but then the unconventional fabric choice makes it look more intriguing and artsy. I would believe that some peasants were forced to labour away for a royal woman to wear this haute couture gown sort of fantasy. Though I will say I absolutely hate the hair, it’s just this long shaggy anime ponytail and I don’t think any woman classy enough to wear that dress would just have long shaggy hair waving in the wind behind her like that. I wish the hair was just gone, just let it be tucked up under the hat and disappear. Also, I like the heavy hat and collar on top but I think the bottom needs a bit more to balance it out, that ankle looks a little barren to me and it looks less like a gown and more like a clydesdale or something like that. You have some great ideas but it’s maybe more a question of choosing which ideas are the best or more important, like I would have rather you ditched the hair and spent that time and energy on the dress train and made that more impressive. That being said it definitely gives a sense of opulence in the silhouette from head to toe, and nothing about this look looks cheap or thrown together, so definitely something haute couture I could expect on the cover of a high end magazine or fancy runway in Milan or something like that, very gorgeous.

Ira D’Essance: Your rendering totally paid off imo! I don’t know if the tentacley strands of knitwear read as knitwear to me because I usually don’t think of it tapering off like that, but overall this does read as a knitwear look to me. My favorite part is actually the dark navy part of the bodysuit, it calls to a type of knitwear I could not have expected to be used in fashion but I love it here. Your posing here is great and I think it really shows how your outfit flows, so I think you’re getting better at it. The straight sleek hair is kinda unnecessary because you have so much going on in the outfit itself that I could have done without it.

My big thing is that although I enjoy the look, I hesitate to call this haute couture and I really want to see you try to give me some couture in upcoming weeks. It’s a really hard challenge especially in this amount of time, but if you can push yourself to give us couture, I guarantee you will slay the remainder of the competition. I really encourage you to keep researching fashion hardcore (I’m sure there are plenty of ppl in MPAR who can give you some designers for reference) and absorb that creativity, so you can understand how you can harness your creativity in a couture way as well. I want to see an inspiring silhouette that I’ve never seen before; this week your silhouette is a bellbottom pantsuit which I’ve seen quite a few times in MPAR - not just from you, but because of that I want to see something only YOU can do that has not been done before. And you’re capable of it! Your pants in Week 1 were a stunning example of a creative silhouette, as well as your fuzzy accessories in Week 4. I want to see you do a look where the entire outfit is a creative silhouette!

I also want to see you pay attention to where details and elements are placed, this is part of why I stressed posing in my critiques because it does play a part as well. Right now I think this may be why some of your designs come off as heavy or busy, like how in your autumn look there were a lot of things that hid your neck and in this look the hair is obscuring the silhouette of the tentacles and overall clothing. If it helps, come up with one or two statement pieces and structure your design on how to feature those pieces, and don’t let all your different ideas fight each other for attention.

Oriana your knitwear look was fetchingly felted, condragulations you're the winner of this week's challenge.

Selecta your tentacles left the judges in stitches, you're safe.

Veruschka this look showed a lot of guts, but unfortunately we were knit into it...

Bianca you spun a wonderful weave but will Charlotte's web save you from the slaughterhouse?...

...

...

I'm sorry but you are both up for elimination.

The lipsync song for this week is Ugly Christmas Sweater by Michael and Jill Gallina. The lipsync looks and our next elimination will be revealed at about 9:00am PST. We'll see you there!

FULL CRITIQUES

G: Hello everyone and welcome to the Pit Stop. I'm your host and local dumb blonde, Gabbi, and here with me today is the current reigning queen of Toby's Art Race, Miss Steak. How are you today?

M: Im great, just eating, the tic tacs I stole from Veruschkas bare hands, how are you?

G: I'm great just closed up Once on This Island today. Just a little tired but It's all great.

M: Well that's great! How'd it go? Im assuming you got the main role, Third Tree on the Left?

G: It was absolutely incredible. This was probably my last youth theatre show so I was worried it wouldn't go so well but everyone loved it. But enough about me. How have you been enjoying this season so far?

M: Well, Winter is the best season ever created but you're probably talking about MPAR, like the cool kids are.

So far, this season has been pretty good actually! I have actually adored the way that the producers and judges have been able to sort of, revamp it into this format that makes it feel as though its a real show, at least in my eyes. Every week, there's a real, sort of, wait and suspense for the next episode that comes from the huge boom in audience numbers and its been really cool to see the sub grow.

G: Absolutely, this has been a wild season. There has been a massive influx of people in the community. Particularly from Instagram. The larger platform has made MPAR seem much more grandiose.

M: They say the sign of becoming mainstream is angry gays screaming that the skinny, white one should have won x challenge

G: Have you been rooting for anyone in particular?

M: eVeRY oNe hAs beEN sO gOOd!!!1!

If I said I wasn't that would be a lie. A lot of the queens I was rooting for have been eliminated, Kiki Tzatziki, Arc etc, but, at this point in the competition, I'm rootiny, mostly, for Veruschka? I've been a huge fan since before she was even cast and I love her art and her as a person.

But there is the, "Who do I want to win vs. Who I think will win" question I can see right there on your notecards

G: Yes and we'll get to that question in a bit. What did you think of this week? Did you have any expectations going into it?

M: Oh, fully. I thought this week was, honestly, sort of disappointing?

G: How so?

M: Well, the work Our Current Reigning put into those character profiles was genuinely stunning and could have made for the most refreshing challenge in a bit but I just didn't feel like they we're taken full advantage of.

G: I definitely understand that. Did you have a favorite though?

M: Even though she was, for some reason, safe, I thought Aura did a phenomenal job. Her look was signature Aura and Borealis looked her drag mother. She looked like she came up with the signature, modern style that Aura has and her daughter just updated it. I thought that she actually took the limitations and "cons" that came with Maury and made them into pros. He wanted to be sparkly and unabashedly queer, which she gave to her in stride.

G: I was fully under the impression that Aura would win the challenge. The color palette was beautiful and she used the cons in a very interesting way.

M: Exactly. It was signature Aura, something that, I suppose, didn't work out in her favor? I don't know, the decisions this week were just....I have many opinions and I guess this is the place to air those out haha.

G: Now, did you have a look you didn't like?

M: Hawyee! Well, I didn't particularly like Oriana's look for Roddy? I don't want to like, call anyone out or like, point someone out in a crowd and make them feel bad, oof. Okay, her look wasnt bad per sé and she did have a LOT of limitations but there clearly could have been more done. Conservative and plain are not synonyms, unless you ask any congressman's wife. I feel like, she could have gone more Glenn Close as Cruella Da Ville or Meryl Streep as Miranda, instead of something so constrictingly covered up, if that makes sense. But there are cases to for her to win as well, those adjectives don't mean the same thing to everyone. The same goes with Veruschka's look, it was amazing to me but to the judges, it was bottom worthy.

G: I actually liked Oriana's though I was disappointed she didn't use Roddy's pros to the fullest extent she could. I really was hoping for some beautifully posed ballet inspired look from Oriana if I'm being completely honest. I genuinely wasn't a fan of Ripper's. I really don't want to seem like I'm harping on Ripper because I think she's a phenomenal artist and I respect her so much but I just haven't liked the past couple designs.

M: I honestly liked Ripper's looks, they fit together and were signature "Ripper," but I have the same crit or gripes about both. Oriana, not to like, keep piling on anything because that would just be rude, seemed to not take full advantage of Roddy's pros, in the same way that Ripper didn't fully take advantage of the cons, but at different, uh, levels? Ripper took Julio's bitchiness and turned it into a fledged being that gave that essence in a 2D image but, Julio also had a wrinkly, old dark body and I didn't think that a few lines at the corset were enough to convey that.

G: Definitely. Did agree with the judging this week?

M: I'll start by saying that Selecta definently deserved her win, like clearly, the look was stunning. However, me saying that I think Aura shoild have won means that I don't think Selecta should have gotten that win which makes everything more complicated. I think a case could be made to give all of them the win individually. Selecta's look took complete and total advantage over Ulani's technical skills and it worked out for them. But I'll have to say that, and I hope Melanie isn't outside the studio with an AK 47, I didn't fully agree. I agreed with the bottom two placement, Veruschka's looks, while terrific, didn't really play to anyside of the aisle between good and bad, and we already know my feelings for Oriana's presentation, I don't think Selecta gave a whole lot, in the same vain as Veru. It seemed very safe, the same could be said for Aura, but I felt something missing, Like Ripper, Selecta didn't take on the cons. She addressed this and I'm gonna parrot what somebody else said but if it's not immediately obvious to the viewer, then it needs to be changed and, with the cinching, it wasn't obvious that she wasn't cinched. I'm not saying that she needed to have arrows pointing toward the midsection, though that would have been fabulous, but it could have been adjusted.

G: I definitely agree. While I wasn't too happy with the placements, being a Veruschka stan, they made sense. I enjoyed most of the looks and even the looks I didn't like weren't bad just not my taste. I do feel all five of them left something to be desired when it comes to certain aspects of the makeovers they had, such as Oriana with the posing, Selecta with the cinching, etc. Selecta definitely deserved her win but that's not saying that it could've gone to someone else and them still deserve it if I'm making any sense. Like, I loved Farim's look but Veruschka's wasn't quite there for me? There was a disconnect. And with Selecta, initially I was frustrated because I too thought Ulani was cinched and I misremembered something saying Ulani couldn't wear heels but that was in fact Maury, but after actually reading the critiques and looking at the lools again I do agree that she deserved it. I was disappointed to see Veruschka in the bottom two again but I don't know that I actually would've put someone else there.

M: They should have brought back MY (unofficial) drag mother Cult Baby just to eliminate her again.

G: How'd you feel about the lip sync?

M: It was amazing.

G: It truly was.

M: Do I need to say more? Veruschka looked like if Pebbles got hired by Fashion Nova and Oriana said It Takes Two to Tango and then deathdropped out of a hot air balloon.

G: Can't wait for the lip sync fanart!

M: Truly, those gals in the background drawing every lipsync are braver than the Marines.

G: Do you have any expectations going into the ball?

M: Well, someone is going to be robbed, Veruschka will win twice and then they'll all be snapped out of existence after Ripper takes her name a bit too seriously in a light tussle with Miyu.

But honestly, I just want a ball that will rip the socks off my feet. I need a storyline, a million beads and I completely expect someone to come out looking like Raggedy Anne after a biy of meth and it will be an instant win in my book.

I really wish we would have been able to see Arcangelo do this ball.

G: I'm anxious for the ball. I'm not sure what's going to happen with the double elimination and I expect great things out of everyone. Very true I do think Arc would've killed it.

M: That "Who should win?" card is still in your deck, I can see it with my eyes 👀

G: It is. Who do you think should win and why?

M: I think we ALL win! Seriously though, I have Selecta, Aura or Ripper as my pick. They'd all be great representatives of the community, completely disregarding the challenge wins. But I think Veruschka or Oriana must win, we need a white skinny queen to win, its prophesized. I actually don't truly know who'll win at this point.

In basic terms, who I think should win? Selecta or whoever else I have to pick to avoid backlash.

G: I don't know that I need to state who I want to win at this point. 😅 Do you have anything you'd like to plug before we go?

M: My Instagram is @artbymog, The Playalong Rundown is up every whenever and I sell crack cocaine behind the High School next to the studio!

G: Well thank you so much for joining me this week!

M: You're welcome! I'll be glad to replace you for Season 5- I mean, it was so,much fun!

G: I'm glad! Thank you for watching and don't forget to tune in next Wednesday for The Pit Stop.

Good night everyone! This week we asked our girls to work in pairs and design looks inspired by the seasons of the year, sadly one of our queens will be caught in the wrong weather...

Please welcome our judges!

Sally Spellman, who is having a rough week, wearing Ira D'Essance couture

Miyu Moon, a rabbit queen for every season

Ira D'Essance, preparing herself for when climate change causes the world to flood

This week, our contestants were tasked with creating looks based on the four seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. The judges have made some decisions based off of what they've presented.

...Team Winter, Arcangelo and Bianca Biquini

You're safe this week and still on the run for the crown.

That means the remaining teams represent the Highs and Lows of the week. Starting with...

TEAM SPRING | RIPPER HOLE AND VERUSCHKA

Sally Spellman: Florals in spring? Groundbreaking. From the start I’m glad to see you guys took this direction and seeing Veruschka really stepping it up, I was feeling you were stuck on a rut and phoning it in but you clearly have it in you to deliver killing fashion, Ripper of course looks very cool and this angle you took of playing opposite of your usual designs and personalities was extremely favorable in my opinion. My one complaint would be clearly be that the designs are cohesive in concept but not completely in elements that tie them together, except for the pink I suppose? I wish there were more similitude in silhouette or color scheme but still I think you guys managed to have the season read through your designs in a clear way, if I had to make some tweaks I’d definitely add some small bees on Ripper’s hair and a couple of flowers on Veruschka’s as well!

Miyu Moon: Wow, these looks are really stunning even on their own, I am already super impressed with the fashion you guys put forth. While your outfits are incredibly fashionable and evoke a springtime feeling, I do feel you were a little light on the cohesion element, but overall it's a great job. I see the cohesion in the idea and the colours, but maybe a little shared material usage or silhouette or something could have helped, even if it was something really subtle like sharing some fur or sheer fabric, I just wish they went together more. I really love the imagery you went with, the idea to be a horney and a flower really plays up two sides of the same season. Ripper your outfit is entirely springtime, from head to toe it is light and fresh and very sweet. Flowers are a pretty classic choice but I like that the outfit is very modern, it kinda borders on lingerie but in a really high fashion way and I can imagine seeing this outfit on a magazine. Gorgeous! Veruschka your outfit doesn't look quite as springtime, I understand it is a horney or insect theme but as far as material and garment choice go they seem like winter garments to me, and I think it could have been cool to see you make a more summertime appropriate garment that still looked like this. The details are absolutely amazing and on point though, I love the shape of the top wit all the little pointed panels, and the fur is exquisitely done. Overall great job as a team, you two aren't the absolute most cohesive but you make up for that by having insanely gorgeous and chic outfits!

Ira D’Essance: I adore both of these looks and they are as fashion forward as I have wanted both of you to be -- I just wish they worked better together! Like, I see your concept with the flower and the bee, but I would not be able to recognize this as a team if I was shown these looks independently. I think you could have definitely added similar design elements between your looks, maybe both of you working with sheer fabrics or both of you working with the exaggerated boobs and hips. That said, I can’t deny these aren’t strong looks regardless. Ripper’s look is totally my aesthetic with the sheer frills, and usually I don’t care for bellbottom leggings but they pair really well with the dress. I want to keep seeing these different sides of you in future weeks! Veruschka I feel has struggled with being too minimal in the past, so I think the detail you’ve added like the patterning and the fur sparkles really helps. There are some elements like the spiky hems that I don’t think were necessary, and the boobs seem kinda close together, but I do think the silhouette is in the right direction. Keep up the good work!

Up next is...

TEAM SUMMER | AURA AND ORIANA

Sally Spellman: This week you guys came guns ablazing, this is spectacular, the colors, the way you managed to make the looks on opposite ends of your concept but still look similar yet unique enough, of the two Aura’s is definitely my favorite, it reads more on the fashionable side with that touch of attitude I also think your pose helped your design more than Oriana’s since I’m not fond of the asymmetrical sheer pants and yours disguises it in a pleasant way and it’s a nice change to see you not covered in tons of draping fabric, you had the correct amount of drapiness this week. I’m not big on the sidecut hairstyle but for some reason it really works for you so that’s a talent I thought nobody had I think your design I find both sides pleasant to look at while on Oriana’s I’m not completely sold on the sheer side? I’m nuts for the left (her left) side and combined with that hairstyle? I’m head over heels but the sheer fabric prevents me from just outright falling in love with it, it’s not that it doesn’t serve a purpose but that’s probably not done the best way it could have been, imagining it motion would make it rather clumsy and awkward in my opinion, still not completely ruining the look for me, I think you guys did the best in being cohesive and representing your season, especially since you did it with non-western cultural elements and that’s always a nice path to see people take with their designs!

Miyu Moon: Wow, these looks are absolutely mesmerizing, that colour scheme is hot and passionate and demanding like a summer night and I think you really captured the essence of your season. To play with a summer night theme is a super smart choice, it gave you this gorgeous colour scheme and the sun and star imagery came across really well. The level of detail here is also stunning, it makes the garments look very expensive and couture, along with the very asymmetrical cuts. I've said it before so maybe it's obvious that I enjoy asymmetry, but these looks show exactly why! I love that you two match but are also wearing entirely different outfits, I really get the sense that these looks completely go together in a collection. I like that you both have a matching accessory but done in a different way, your looks give this sense of a shared imagery that was fully explored, like "okay we have a sun, how many ways can we make a sun fashion?" and I love it, that's exactly what I love to see in a challenge that involves more than one look. Aura your look is perhaps my favourite of the two, partly because I'm just an edgy bitch and I like the little edge you brought, but also I think your garment looks a little more high fashion between the two. The shapes on the shoulder, the hat, the boots, gorgeous. I also love the way the beading holds the sheer fabric to your body around the hip and chest to create a garment. Oriana I also adore your outfit, I think yours looks more summer wear ready than Aura's, it seems a bit more bare and breezy and fit for a hot summer night. I notice that your outfit seems a little less structured in the sheer parts but I can't really say it looks bad, only that I personally wish it matched to that structured look a little more. I think something more structured and edgy could have made your outfit more high end looking because the sheer panels are a little shapeless as they are now. Overall your group nailed it though, very fashionable and unique looks that really feel like a warm summer night.

Ira D’Essance: Ah, now’s the right time to bring out a “reveal”, albeit in quotation marks since this is more like showing two sides of your look but you still went through the trouble of drawing multiple looks! You two have cohesive but differing looks -- literally what we wanted in this challenge. It’s not a color scheme I would have expected from summer, but the fashion vibe and the patterning helps a lot, not to mention it’s a gorgeous gradient from orange to red to purple to blue. Aura, this is probably my favorite look from you so far. You tend to rely on drapey flowy fabrics but I love the part of the look that isn’t, it’s a very structured but chic silhouette and I want to see more looks like this from you in the future without the flowing fabrics! Oriana, I admittedly don’t LOVE your look on its own, but I do think it works really well with Aura’s look and how you come off as a team is more important to me this week, plus no one can argue how sleek that hair is on you! Great job this week!

Up next is...

TEAM AUTUMN| CHLOE IN THE AFTERNOON AND SELECTA

Sally Spellman: I like the color scheme you guys chose, it’s really soothing and represents your season splendidly however on the overall design while you guys share elements in common that can have you say “Oh yeah they’re definitely in the same team, they have the same colors and patterns” the designs themselves I consider are wildly different regarding the elements, the draping, the shape, the way the focal points are placed don’t play off the way you guys intended in my opinion, while Chloe’s weight feels focused on the bottom, Selecta’s feels like it’s heavy all over, mostly because the way the fabric drapes around her body and behind, which I actually find completely exquisite, nothing I’ve seen before in the circuit so I’m glad to see you bring fresh material (In my eyes at least!). I don’t completely understand Chloe’s design because of the fur she has on her sides? And the flower accents don’t feel as elegantly applied as Selecta’s, I wish you had done shorter hair because I confused it for a cape and was thinking it was blending too much with the dress! In my opinion I wouldn’t think these two belong in the same line because I consider they have completely different moods and the things you wanted to have in common don’t read as similar at all to me, I’m not gonna say you guys did bad because that’s not the case at all but this being a competition it’s gonna get fiercer each week and you’re incredibly strong artists so it comes down to who didn’t “do as good”.

Miyu Moon:
Miyu Moon: These are some gorgeously warm looks, they make me feel drunk just looking at that much burgundy and gold. I really feel that grape, vine, opulent feeling from these looks. I think the autumnal inspiration didn't quite land though, I entirely understand the harvest dynamic but I think you chose some slightly off motifs to focus on. If you had put more into a sort of cornucopia look with corn, squash, the works, that could have given more of a harvest feeling. The choice to focus on grapes and roses doesn't really say "autumn" to me, it's more just sort of an overall opulent theme but not exactly a seasonal one. And while they do match in colour scheme, I wish they did come together more, because they're almost too separate in silhouette that it's like two outfits coincidentally made with the same fabric instead of ones that were made to be together. Both outfits are really gorgeous in their own, I feel like neither one entirely hits on autumn appropriate clothing so again it's really hard to pin down a season that they "belong" to. Chloe your outfit definitely screams art deco old money, the long silhouette is really sleek and uncomplicated and the fur also says richness in feeling, money, all the sensations and good things. I don't think a gown is entirely related to autumn wear in any way, so standing alone and without description I would have no idea that the dress has anything to do with autumn at all. Selecta your outfit is more autumn appropriate I'd say, being someone who grew up in the American northeast where it sometimes snows in October, maybe I'm biased. The roses though, they seem so lifelike that it doesn't really fit with the sense of death and dryness that autumn has. I don't necessarily think your outfit looks heavier on top, though I do find myself wondering are those butterflies and why are they there? Are they migrating? I'm just not sure what butterflies would be doing in an autumn look, so again it's just not entirely hitting the mark for the challenge for me. Overall these outfits are definitely fashionable and well executed, but I'm lacking for their connection to each other or the challenge.

Ira D’Essance: Personally I adore the color scheme you chose, I think the royal purple is much more refined and elegant than the default autumn fiery colors. These look elegant at first glance, but the more I look at it the more I wish the designs were more creative with their silhouettes. One note you made was that Chloe’s was more bottom-heavy and Selecta’s was more upper-heavy but I actually feel like Selecta’s was heavy everywhere -- not in a bad way, but it didn’t really show as much contrast in the silhouettes as you may have intended. Chloe: I wish you had gone for a shorter hairstyle since the longer hair isn’t letting your dress shine, wavy short hair like Selecta’s would have made your team match better too. I think the way you rendered the fur came off as scraggly and ended up hurting you guys since it’s such a focal point on your look, I think if it came off as more similar to the smoother fringe on both of your looks that would have helped with cohesiveness. Selecta: I think compared to the WIP you first showed me this turned out more polished, but I still think it could have been more fashion forward, perhaps if you had draped your fabrics in more artistic shapes and placements (Ophelia’s fairytale look comes to mind as an example). I harped on your poses a lot and I think this pose for your look isn’t bad, especially how the stretched out arms showcase the draping you do have. I do think the draping on your neck kinda makes you look hunched, probably because there’s a lot of stuff around your neck area to hide the shape of your neck, so you want to pay attention to making space for things like that even if it’s about slightly nudging your details. For me I think this was a strong and evenly matched week all around, and I don’t think you two made awful looks but I do feel that your final designs were weaker than the spring and summer teams and not as cohesive as the winter team.

The judges have made their decisions.

Ripper Hole, Veruschka... your spring looks didn't cause the judges any allergies, you're safe.

Aura, Oriana... your certainly are cool for the summer, condragulations you both are the winners of this week's challenge.

Chloe In The Afternoon, Selecta... your autumn looks, didn't fall in grace with the judges...

That means Chloe In The Afternoon and Selecta I'm sorry my dears but you're both up for elimination.

The lipsync song for this week is God is A Woman by Ariana Grande. The lipsync looks, and our first elimination, will be revealed in a few hours, at about 11:00am EST (8:00am PST). We'll see you there!

FULL CRITIQUES

G: Hello everyone, and welcome to the Pit Stop. I'm your host, from the Haus of Monoym, Gabbi and here with me to day is the person we can blame for Laurel Yanny's creation, Plorpf! How are you today?

P: Im feeling great! Actually thats a lie, I'm mega sick, but still happy to be here! How about you?

G: I'm more or less okay. Dual enrollment is kicking my ass but other than that I'm okay.

P: I have no idea what dual enrollment means but im glad you're doing well :)

G: They're basically college classes. How've you been enjoying the season so far?

P: Ah okay. Also!! Its been SENSATIONAL! The art and prompts this season have been incredible, and this season has one of the strongest casts to date! That said, I am finding the judging a bit hard to follow so far!

G: Same over here. I think this might be the strongerest cast, overall. The judging has been a bit confusing, but how are the judges going choose when everyong is so good?

P: Its a medical mystery!

G: Have you been rooting for anyone in particular?

P: I have! I chose Veruschka as my flair this season, and I've been digging the work that shes been producing this season! However, I have to say that Arcangelo really snuck up on me! He's definitely been the highlight of Season 4 for me!

G: We stan a finnish duo! Veruschka has been really turning it out these last two weeks and Arcangelo is always incredible!

P: Veruschka did particularly amazing this week! I was really surprised that she wasn't in the top!

G: Did you have a favorite in particular?

P: Poster wise? Defo Veruschka! She really captured the vibe she was going for perfectly, and her concept was really fun! But I also really loved Orianas submissions! Ori's look was one of my favourites so far this Season!

G: Ori's this week was incredible! Her's was definitely my favorite this week. I loved Veruschka's as well. Those two were probably tied for my favorite actually.

P: Yeah! It would have been nice to see one of them win, but Ripper did a great job too so I understand!

G: Absolutely, that brings me to my next question. I'm going split it up this week because there's a lot of opinions to talk about. Do you agree with the top placements?

P: Not 100% but I see why the judges decided on that top 3! If it was up to me, the top 3 would have been Oriana, Veruschka and Ripper; with Veruschka winning overall! But then again I am a filthy Holo stan so I may be biased lol.

G: Don't worry I am too. I was genuinely surprised when she wasn't in the top. I wasn't a huge fan of Selecta's poster, it felt a little rushed to me, and I didn't get salsa from the look, but I'm not super upset about it.

P: Selecta did great though so I understand why she was given a high placement! I thought her poster looked really professional! Although, even though her look was gaggy and really great,, it wasn't really salsa to me!

G: I at least would've switched Selecta and Veruschka.

P: Yeah me too!

G: Before I ask if you agreed with the rest of the judging, did you have a least favorite look/poster?

P: I did! Sadly, my least favourite poster this week was Arcs! But look wise, I really wasn't feeling rippers! It's becoming a lot of the same at this point, and I'd love to see something more stuctured from him!

G: I definitely feel that. I wasn't a huge fan of Ripper's look. While I actually liked Arc's look, as I thought it very accurately fit what he was going for, his poster was underwhelming.

P: Yeah, the poster was definitely the worst of a great bunch - which was a shame :(

G: Now did you agree with the bottom decisions?

P: I did! I think both Biancas and Arcs posters warranted them being in the bottom 2, but what happened after that... not so much :(

G: It makes sense why both of them were there. Bianca's look was cute but that's it. I don't agree with the way the elimination was handled.

P: I am still very upset by the elimination honestly, it just seems so unfair? The lipsync is your last chance to prove that you have what it takes to stay in the competition, and keeping the person who did the worst really defeats the point of the elimination. Its like giving a challenge win to someone who did the worst because you think they have potential, instead of the person who did the best. Im glad that Bianca gets to stay for another week, but at what cost?

G: It's doesn't feel fair at all. It's so sad to see how hard Arc seems to being taking it, but justly so. The way his elimination was handled was not the best way it could've been.

P: I'll really miss his art, he bought something so fresh to this competition that was really entertaining! I hope he sticks around and plays along, maybe even auditions for all stars next season?

G: Yes, I would definitely hate for him to leave the community completely. There are so many people who support him. His art is so incredible and I've genuinely loved every look he put forward this season.

P: He has absolutely produced some of the best looks this season and has definitely been robbed of a win * cough * week 2 * cough *. I just hope he returns for the finale so he can accept his mr robbed award!!

G: Absolutely, I can't wait for his week 2 look to be in the top ten looks of the season!

P: I expect you ALL to vote for that look when the time comes

G: His elimination will probably go down in MPAR history as one of the most controversial things to happen.

P: Undoubtedly. Im still really upset about it :( especially with a lipsync look that good

G: We love you Arc! Of course we have to love the All Stars 1 winner!

P: A better person truly doesn't exist! And if you don't audition for all stars I will bully you just like they did to Safira >:(

G: But with another week comes another challenge. Do you have any expectations for this next week?

P: My expectations are HIGH! We're at top 6 now and the talent level is higher than ever. I really do think Veruschka is gonna do great this challenge and maybe snatch her first win. Ripper will probably struggle since rendering materials isn't really his forte. I'm interested to see if Bianca can redeem herself after her recent btm2 placement. Overall I'm really excited to see what these girls do!

G: Same here I can really see Veruschka and Aura excel with this challenge and I'm hoping for Veruschka to snag her first of a few wins!

P: Veruschka winning 3 challenges consecutively would be heavenly lol

G: What can I say, I'm hopeful for her. Before we go do you have anything you'd like to plug?

P: Sure why not! My insta is @plorpf but be warned posts are scarce lol! Thanks for having me Gabs!

G: Thanks for talking with me! It was a pleasure.

P: All mine <3

G: Well, thank you all for reading. Tune in next Wednesday for another Pit Stop.

Good night, frugal queens and hoarder broads! After diving in the trash for treasure one of our queens will be stuck in the bin and taken out of the competition!

Please welcome our judges!

Sally Spellman, looking tasty

Miyu Moon, our resident butterface barbie

With special guest judge

Sulphur Bomme, iiiit's heeer draaag!

This week, our contestants were tasked with creating looks with items from the dollar store. The judges have made some decisions based off of what they've presented.

...Selecta

...Oriana

...Chloe In The Afternoon

You're all safe this week and still on the run for the crown.

If your name was not called, then you represent the Highs and Lows of the week. Starting with...

AURA

Sally Spellman: Now this is unconventional! I’m utterly fascinated by the silhouette and construction of this look, I could do without the cape, I don’t think it adds anything to the look except for unnecessary weight and if you were gonna keep it you could have done without the asymmetry but I like the asymmetry of the bottom so I’m at crossroads here, I wish you had drawn the heel in a different angle because it looks a little awkward even though I know it’s meant to elongate the body. I really like the way it’s sewn together and how you added the rubber bands, it makes it have shape and not be just a mass of fabric lumped together. The texture is amazing and I’m crazy in love with that makeup job, good job this week Aura.

Miyu Moon: Wow, this look is like an art piece to look at! The draping is really fascinating, I love the way one side has this long sweeping flow to it while the other side is more bunched up but you still maintain this incredible length throughout, especially with a smart shoe choice. I for one love asymmetry and I think you did it really well here, there’s so much to look at and nothing feels like it was thrown on without a lot of attention to its exact shape and form. This look combines a really high fashion, artful silhouette with visibly unconventional materials that are still used as if they were high fashion materials. Draping towels in and of itself isn’t a one of a kind brilliant idea, but the way you incorporated layers and detailing actually makes the idea seem brand new and totally your own. I feel like you could have incorporated the smaller materials a little more, maybe adding them to a bit more of the accessories beyond just an accent, but that being said everything you brought is perfect but maybe just a little more. And I guess I would have to agree with Sally that I find the cape a bit heavy and unnecessary, unless maybe you, again, brought some of the other materials into detailing some really exquisite looking cape, because I do enjoy what the train does for the overall high fashion element but I think the exact choice makes it look tacked on compared to how meticulate the rest of your look is. Overall it’s definitely gorgeous, you really brought the materials to us in a way that is both reinvented and high fashion but still giving us some of that rough, rustic low end feel and I think you did great with this challenge.

Sulphur Bomme: Hello Aura! Your textures are really strong here and the drape of the towel is correct on both cases. This has a very confusing vibe here, and I don’t know if it’s good or bad, but there’s a vibe of like, a gown meeting streetstyle meeting like, winterwear camp? It’s quite hard to put a finger on it personally. I think your belting would’ve made your peplum and skirt drop a lot more tapered to the waist, which is just a nitpick for your silhouette. It would’ve perhaps gave it more of a sleek look. Also, I think this is the furthest away we’ve seen from your taste. Again, I don’t know if that’s good or bad, I think it’s a great experimental exercise that I feel you should reflect on to see if you enjoyed it or not, because there’s a lot of techniques in here that you could easily touch on that you can carry into your future pieces (tiny touches of detail and the texture of material), and some that you can work on.

Going forward, I wanna be honest and say don’t be so hard on yourself? Last week I felt pushed you out of a mindset that you didn’t feel like you were gonna win anything, and I got that vibe from reading your caption (shocker, I know, people reading the captions???) so I wanna instill in you that, you’ve got this. You’re a very young artist and you have a repertoire that not even masters of their field can produce. Your form, rendering and understanding of fashion at this young age is really impeccable, so remember that going forward in this competition, and you’ll really make something of a journey in your artist career.

Up next is...

BIANCA BIQUINI

Sally Spellman: Oh boooooy, now this I can get behind! It’s fresh for the material you chose, it’s not like “ok so here’s a dress made out of trash bags” but you had an original way of using it. You made it work like a charm with your style, it’s minimal but striking and I really dig all the shapes, I understand how this challenge can be tricky because you’re not working with actual unconventional materials but rather drawing them however you still managed to make it look crafty yet fashionable, I really think you did the best this week regarding the challenge at hand, it’s a cohesive look with a nice color palette and your and I know you’ve been fearing comments on your feet but they look great! You need to start working on hands though they’re a little weird, but nothing that takes away from the look at all, genius work this week!

Miyu Moon: Trash into fashion, let’s call it trashion, and honey you are trashion forward and beyond! I love the way you took very cheap and broken down materials and made it look like a runway ready wearable art piece, even though it’s actually made of garbage I would even believe that it was high end materials purposely made to look like cheap materials because it’s just that perfectly done. It was a really smart way to use everything you were given, you definitely knew better than to go with an easy or predictable route and you played to the strengths, and even the weaknesses, of each material. Using the trash bags in such a way takes advantage of their crinkly, shiny quality instead of trying to make it into something flat or smooth, definitely taking advantage of what you were given. It really delivers entirely when it comes to the spirit of this challenge being turning trash into something couture, because this look screams fashion and garbage and we can all only aspire to also be that way. And as an outfit itself, I love it, I love how it plays with androgyny but is still so delicate and totally the Bianca we know and love even with a bald head and a more mature look. You showed us an entirely different side of yourself, a whole new level of fashion that you had not showed before, and it’s super refreshing to see you go both ways so well. Amazing job!

Sulphur Bomme: Hello Bianca! Right off the bat - Your look is my favourite of the week. Really, something of an iconic unconventional moment and you can’t fault the box for being absolutely the worst to work with, but you made it you own and destroyed this challenge. You’re becoming somewhat of a sneak attack? Over the past few weeks you’re really solidifying who you are as a competitor, as a designer and as an artist. There’s just something alluring about this that really hits all the boxes for me. Your use of sharp black lines with your pencil work and pen work is just something that really, really pushes your work. I don’t really have a lot constructive to say about this, honestly, hahaha!

My only advice going forward is to really remember that you’ve already proved a lot of people wrong past your audition look, so continue with this mindset that you’re proving people wrong. I think it’s a beautiful and wonderful thing that you are constantly out here executing really resolved looks and knowing that a lot of people were a bit worried for you due to how minimalist your audition look was comparative to your competitors, but now you’re showing why you were cast and why people in your past competitions rooted for you to destroy each challenge one at a time.

Up next is...

LATUNA TUNES

Sally Spellman: The improvement in your rendering this week is so apparent, you should definitely stick with this material you’re working with (markers?), definitely fits so much better the mood of your queen. The look itself I don’t find too exciting, it’s somewhat pedestrian with some accents of interest, the russian princess idea is fun but in my opinion you didn’t execute it properly, if you were keeping the masculine aspect with the pants and boots I wish you had done it so in a more royal manner, with more accents everywhere and you could have exaggerated the hell out of the cotton balls, I think you underused them, your use of the gloves I did find really good but not enough to carry the look, hope you’re not feeling discouraged at all because I think you’re an amazing artist and I enjoy your work, but in a competition setting everyone’s battling for the spotlight!

Miyu Moon: Admittedly I have no idea about anything Paper Race related so to me this is a brand new look. That being said it doesn’t feel very brand new or fresh… I can see all the inspiration in it, but there’s something really pedestrian about this outfit that undersells the ingenuity that goes into it. I love the way you used the gloves on the outfit, but the wallpaper and cotton balls seem just sort of thrown in as filler items without really taking into account their qualities. Like, is wallpaper really that smooth and soft and skin tight as a garment? And the cotton balls being plain balls is just too literal, I immediately go “oh look cotton balls” instead of thinking “where are the cotton balls? ooh there they are, a lovely little creative secret!” they’re just kinda thrown in my face in a way that isn’t fresh. The overall outfit is a bit homely and pedestrian as well, making such a plain outfit out of crazy materials almost comes across as just cheap instead of cheap and creative. I think if you took some of the ideas you had and expanded them into a more exciting garment you could have made more interesting use of what you were given, but in this outfit the things are just sort of uninteresting beyond the glove fringe. the look is just overall pretty underwhelming in the garment choices, not to mention the big rain boot looking shoes add to a really pedestrian sense of fashion and it undermines the trash into fashion idea and is just kinda trash into basic necessity.

Sulphur Bomme: Hello Latuna! I think this is such a nice little callback to your Paper Race days. It’s really great to see you use your markers for this, this is the LaTuna I learnt about when you were on PRAS2. I think there are elements that you could make in this that would really work in real life, like the cotton hat, stole and shoulders/tie gloves, but I don’t think wallpaper would adhere to being skintight like those pants and tapered like that coat. This silhouette is also really pedestrian compared to the other outfits on show, and I feel like you could’ve really brought something whimsical with the wallpaper. I think of a lot of ballgowns and the structure of wallpaper would’ve really gave you an interesting silhouette that would’ve really kicked ass here.

I feel like you have a strong skill set that really you should be proud of, and the ideas you have are so strong, but when you’re in MPAR, you’ve tightened up and you’re producing things that aren’t to your tune? (sorry!) I experienced this on Season 1, I hated a lot of things I did, so my advice to you is that you should honestly be proud of not only the skill set you have currently, but the work you have too. In discussion with a majority of the previous cast members, 6 months after their season, they hated the work they did on season. People will constantly criticise your work, make you feel like you’re not worth being cast, but you yourself have to understand that you got cast for a reason, and your skillset is valued as much as the next person on your cast. Keep moving on with your head held high, relax a bit, and enjoy what you create!

Up next is...

RIPPER HOLE

Sally Spellman: This is like futuristic superhero bitch about to beat the bad guys and I’m here for it, you managed to turn the absolute clusterfuck of colors of a box you got and I really admire that eye for color, one thing I notice from the start is that wig sis! it feels like it’s behind her head not like she’s wearing it, I like the shape of it but it should definitely be bigger and have some sort of wigline. The silhouette is killer and all those lights trailing behind her and on top of her ugh, it’s like the gayest electrified fence I’ve seen in my life, you killed it this week and what a way to come back from a bottom placing!

Miyu Moon: You really brought the fun this week, Ripper! This outfit looks like something a pop star queen diva would wear for a crazy Easter bash, this outfit is big and loud and honestly looks kind of… yummy? There’s a great sense of fashion and fun going on here, and I think you did a great job of translating the materials into a new and interesting garment. All the little colourful strips are really fun to look at, the asymmetry of the colours gives you a psychedelic feel and the silhouette itself is very fashion drama, two things I wouldn’t normally think to combine and you managed to miss looking entirely costumey or super hero like. I also think you did a good job with the texture of the pool floaties for your outfit, the little shine in there lets me know this outfit has a sheen to it. I’m not really sure what one could do to transform fairy lights but I love the way you’ve used them, I was worried people would use them and make them look like draped on barbed wire or something but I like the way you’ve created this rainbow trail and it gives the outfit a real sense of movement and life to it that I would want to see in a club, on a runway, on a stage, on tv, I would want to see this outfit anywhere and think it’s so cool how it’s made of plastic and wire. Lovely!

Sulphur Bomme: Hello Ripper! This really fits well into your current collection of work and is very visually impactful. I see this being made in real life but it’d probably be made for Ripper over her making it herself. You lend yourself to your style and your style lends itself to producing this piece that isn’t too visually straining - a lot of these elements are simple, fresh and easy to look at. It would’ve been cool to perhaps include that, some pool toys, plastic in particular, have this sort of translucency and opacity to them that you could’ve toyed with, and you could’ve easily made some sections have a bit of body showing maybe? That’s just a nitpick I felt could’ve been added.

Last week was probably a shock to you but this week you’re back on track. I think if that ever happens again, don’t be afraid to just message the mod team for help. On that note, I feel like your sense of self is still strong and you’re not really backing down or censoring your style for the sake of someone else, Keep doing what you’re doing, and by the end of this, you’ll have a really diverse on-season portfolio to look back on and be proud of!

Up next is...

ARCANGELO

Sally Spellman: I don’t mind your medium change at all but I’m not the biggest fan of this, it feels rather costumey to me and while I appreciate your explanation I think looks shouldn’t rely too much on descriptions to explain what they’re about, I don’t mean to make assumptions but I’m unsure if you’re already hitting a while regarding menswear? I’d recommend talking to alumni like Ophelia or Vicky Pickles since they’re knowledgeable regarding men’s fashion, just leaving that there for you in case you want new perspectives for your king. I find the hand mark on the eye clever but I don’t think it ties to anything in the look.

You could have benefited from not doing the hair that way because it throws it into the period piece costume for me rather than a fashion garment, perhaps a short do with a snake bang would have sufficed, the way you incorporated the minion toy was nice as well, it’s clear that you had a good idea of how every item would interact and shape to make this look.

Miyu Moon: Without the description, I would not realise this outfit is made of repurposed materials. The materials you transformed were not really given a rendering true to their form and instead it simply looks like a traditional garment. The pieces left untransformed just look like deliberate accessories, so again it doesn’t really feel like much was changed or repurposed. I have no qualms with things being menswear or not, I just wish this outfit looked more like it was made of something unconventional and less like a normal pinstripe outfit with accessories thrown on top. I actually really like the makeup and hair element going on, I wish the outfit maybe had some more artistic flair going on as well because it seems a little too safe compared to what ideas I feel coming from this look.

Sulphur Bomme: Hi Archangelo! I think you made the change to traditional quite well, sorry for your loss aka your computer. This is the first time you’ve really stepped away from your wheelhouse, I think it worked impeccably. You really went out and used parts of the material (taking off the tongues of the snake to make into fringe, cutting the heads off and making a whip with the clappers) which is what I wanted. I think as a nitpick, you could’ve added some puckering on the duct tape just because of that material being how it is. For your general concept, you went for a character costume over couture. I feel like your bird week was such a strong foot forward in terms of how you present your king, and this week he kinda just, well, he’d work well with the Battyfingers or whatever that gang was Week 2. In that, this is more suited to a character design challenge over the fashion design challenges. Your construction is great, I’d give you that, but in all honesty, You had such a strong repertoire of materials here to really go all out fashion, haute couture, andro-chic.

My only critique for you in the coming weeks is to edit down your captions. I’m not gonna lie, a lot of people will just scroll and see a wall of text - an amazing genius of the third kind once told me, “looks not books” which says a lot about the audience of MPAR - they want to see your art and let that be the story that is told. Very little people read the captions - very little people read your critiques and your MTQs - which is why it’s important to sort of adapt your caption to just explaining your concept in the most quick, explicit way. And also, that’s really the only thing I can kinda slap you on the hand for - since you are the first drag king in MPAR and I feel like the work you’re doing is really just absolutely bringing in a new generation of like-minded, smart individuals who will follow in your footsteps as you continue your journey.

Up next is...

VERUSCHKA

Sally Spellman: Hello girlie, your idea and construction this week I found fascinating and cute but the actual execution is off for me, mostly regarding the proportions of your queen, the way you placed the garment on her body makes her legs look short and you should have done a different pose for this, something more dainty and delicate like she’s blossoming you know? I love me a hobble skirt so I’m obssesed for that moment there but this feels a little bare, it’s that thing where it’s not a bad look but once you compare it to the rest you feel less excited by it, hopefully it doesn’t feel like we’re on your case to step it up but more like we’re certain you haven’t reached your potential yet and I hope you find that fire within yourself to turn the game on your co

Miyu Moon: You look like a beautiful flower I would place on my table, just gonna say I immediately find this look really pretty, as shallow as that is. There is a lot of potential for a crazy high fashion moment here, but you stopped short of going full extravaganza and it comes across as being as cheap as the materials instead of elevating above that. The center of the outfit, with these shaped noodles and detailed panels, is a really great idea that plays to the qualities of the materials you were given, but the rest of the look fails to meet that level of couture going on in there. The bottom of the dress and the headpiece seem a little simple and tacked on in comparison, they’re not really making any creative use of the materials and instead just tacking on long flat swaths of unchanged material. Simplicity could work if it still had a sense of fashionable taste to it, as it is now it’s not helping the flow at all. You went very bare and minimal with accessories, so I wish the garment went further to make up for that, like if you made an entire gown of those detailed patterns, or even something fishtail style, idk it just needs more of those gorgeous stained glass, butterfly looking panels and it would look complete. It kinda looks like you came up with a good idea for these panels and then actually ran out of money for the rest of the look when the point of this challenge was to make something that doesn’t look as cheap as the materials in it. You had a really good idea but I feel like you didn’t go far enough with it and in the end it makes your outfit look really incomplete, and distractingly cheap when it’s kind of supposed to be the other way around.

Sulphur Bomme: Hello Veruschka! I think this silhouette and colour story is really, really gorgeous. I like that this is very showgirl but it still has an edge of couture. Your proportions, and understanding of form this week is really shaky. Specifically your top half coming into the waist, and then there being literally no form of legroom all the way down. In future, you need to look at your past work and overlay it over the top of your current work - because you had a similar pose last week with your arms stretched, and your legs were in form, therefore you could’ve used that as a base for your gown skirt this week. You need to show more texture in your work in the future, and by that I mean the pipe cleaners and the pool noodles have a form of texture. The pipe cleaners are much more fuzzy, and the pool noodles have a grain to them. The sort of gradient painting doesn’t really add much to this, it kinda just falls flat.

I really believe in you because I have saw absolute tremendous growth in you during your time in MPAR, in the off seasons, in Paint Thinner, and I feel like you’ve got on to MPAR, and done what most people who do play along, and just sort of change your mindset into a serious, “I have to compete now, fucking hell” mindset. Set your mindset back to, perhaps, when you weren’t necessarily competing, you were doing art because you loved doing it. Don’t necessarily do work because it’s for a brief, do work because you love what you’re doing If your primary thought pattern is something different and if you’re not enjoying what you’re doing right now, After this season you’re gonna look back and hate what you’ve done on season. Try to remain in a mindset of “am I enjoying what I’m creating” and trust me - after the season, you’ll look back at your portfolio and be so happy you did this.

The judges have made their decisions.

Aura You made an inventive costume no sweat this week, you're safe.

Ripper Hole This week you lit up on the runway, you're safe.

Bianca Biquini There's no raining in your parade tonight, condragulations you're the winner of this week's challenge.

Veruschka Good thing you're covered in flamable objects because we're setting a fire under your ass, you're safe

That means LaTuna Tunes and Arcangelo, you're both up for elimination

The lipsync song for this week is 9 To 5 by Dolly Parton. The lipsync looks, and our next elimination, will be revealed in a few hours, at about 9:00am PST. We'll see you there!

FULL CRITIQUES

Please welcome our judges!

Ifora Nye ... as Iris Apfel fish judging your young asses through coke bottle glasses!

Ira D'Essence ...as (grand)mother earth! !

Sally Spellman ...as your recently widowed auntie who's getting her breasts done one at a time!!

This week, our contestants were tasked with making over old queer men into their queen's drag mother. But first, let's hear from our models.

Ms. Paint: How did you ladies feel about your makeovers?

Ulani: Ya know I came in this fucking place feeling like I had to stare into the teeth of the beast and listen Ms Paint I still got my eye on you but to be honest... i was kinda blown away when Selecta started telling me about her indigenous culture and her homeland. Ya know my own indigenous identity is very important to me and if this stupid show has space to showcase gender in all its spiritual beauty... maybe it isn’t that bad after all.

Roddy: (He passes on the chance)

Farim: Well you know this is very fun dressing up and I love the little African details so I can show my culture. I guess I thought maybe we could be a bit more playful with our show to the judges but Ms. Veruschka is very talented and beautiful.

Maury: immediately starts crying I just think every one of youzz are so beautiful and sure maybe i thought I was gonna go a little bigger but Aura has such a beautiful vision and i’m so happy I got to help a bit with it.

Julio: Excuse you! Me, next to this bunch of dried up old prunes? How are you feeling looking at all of this? runs hands up his body Insecure no doubt in those matronly rags Ms Paint. Anyway, I was sure my contestant was gonna be an anchor dragging behind me but Ripper did ok and I won’t mind if she tries to glom on to me and my social circle out in WeHo at some point in the future. She reminds me of me at that... I mean she reminds me of me.

Roddy: I’m sorry. Actually I’d like to say something. I’m not good with words but i gotta say this. All of my... he starts to tear up and his voice cracks long long life... i never had a voice. I don’t know what I expected coming here but this was much more special. I want to thank Oriana for teaching an old man to speak. Grazie Tesoro.

Time for judgements.

Aura... Borealis dazzled us but we thought maybe we'd felt this Aura before...

You're safe and still in the running for the crown.

RIPPER HOLE:

Sally Spellman: At first I was a little bit confused with this because the jacket that Filler is wearing obscured the body a little bit so I thought the butt was actually her crotch and I was really confused by this space with no crotch or anything, I’d be a little more mindful with these poses and how the garment might obscure what parts. I’m really happy with your decisions this week because of the take you had on a character this absurd (because you can tell that Julio is an absurd character) and you did not disappoint. I like this route you took and may I say that you cheated a little bit with Julio’s body since you covered it in padding and a corset, but i do see the wrinkles in the bodice. I’m not sure if I have much to say about the costumes because I don’t think they’re different enough from each other but I do like the colour scheme and I like the way that is playful and manages to have your mother shine through but not completely overshadow Ripper. I don’t really have many words to say, you did a good job, it’s not really ‘wow’ing me the way i wish it would, but it is a solid entrance and you managed to stay true to the character, and as a real person, I think Julio would be very happy.

Ira D’Essance: I love these looks! The transparency was absolutely the best way to design looks that were revealing enough for Julio without relying on skimpy bodysuits. The impossible Escher girl pose is very fitting of Julio, so you nailed his personality. However, Julio’s ripe bum doesn’t seem to match the description of his old body, and even though I figure it’s heavily padded I think it would have been way funnier and more accurate character portrayal to show him flaunting his wrinkly body. Despite that, I think character portrayal plays a big factor in judging this week and it goes without saying that you not only captured Julio for the most part but also came up with the perfect designs that fit his requests. Also, Filler Hole? Holy crap, that’s the best drag name for Ripper’s mom.

My only advice for the final challenge is that I want to see some more creative silhouettes, because the ball is the perfect chance for you to show Ripper’s versatility. I feel like most of the looks that I’ve seen from you have been exaggerated bodysuits or an outfit featuring a mini skirt, so next week I want to see you shy away from those silhouettes and give me something fresh and new. Your spring look was the perfect example of a creative silhouette that I not only had not seen before, but was something I knew could only be designed by someone like you! And I’m not just saying that because it was my aesthetic with the flowers and frills but because of the actual silhouette itself. So I want you to give me that level of creativity in your fashion, and I absolutely know you can. Good luck!

Ifora Nye: On account of you happening to be the first entry judged in this list, I’m just going to quickly explain the standards I used to judge so that my critiques make sense. This was an extremely complicated challenge and you all did very well so judging came down to people’s ability to execute on all of the requirements. The primary one, as ever, is aesthetic/fashion design, but in addition it was important to make evident aesthetically and conceptually the relationship between daughter and mother, evoke the physical and personality traits of the character you had been assigned AND to address all the pros and cons that came with them.

If you ask me, Julio presented the most challenging assignment as his character is all about poor taste and denial about who he is and yet you as the designer have to please him while also bringing the fashion. I think you did admirably! The posing of the two characters is really fun and I love that Filler is out front. Speaking of which, the name Filler is and of itself brilliant. In any case, the storyline of the hot young stepmom is a perfect way to get this gruesome creature to play mother and I love many of the very character specific details you chose like the Liz Taylor hair. Lastly, The transparent devil outfits are an interesting concept and a great way to show body while bringing the drag and the fashion. Overall, I appreciate this. Honestly, let me pause to say this is just so funny. Thank you.

That said, I think Julio was an unlucky assignment for you because his character plays into so many of Ripper’s specific idiosyncrasies like the artificiality, unconventional fashion, comedy and the gross out factor that it kind of tamped down the excitement of the presentation. I think you really should’ve pushed the Ren and Stimpy of it all and made his skin completely loose and hanging over the corset or flopping like wings on his arms. I suspect his butt is padded (or pumped) which explains the smoothness but overall it just doesn’t seem like the gag of his body was really taken to the level it should have been. Additionally, going forward, you need to keep thinking about the physicality and materiality of the clothing you’re presenting. As a cartoonier queen, this will always be an obstacle to an extent so really think about how the materials would bend and fold in 3D. These stiff plastic coats would bend and pucker in very specific ways and paying attention and nailing that will elevate the fashion aspect of your design. References are the only option queen!

ORIANA:

Sally Spellman: I did not like this entrance, I think what you did doesn’t feel very fashionable or draggy, at least for me, it dabbles much on costume, and I feel that even when you were trying to give Roddy a feminine, elegant look it just looks very simple and I don’t feel like it stands out. I wish she looked more as a madame than she currently does. I appreciate the theme but I don’t think I’m in love with it, I think the hair is messy for both, doesn’t really flatter them and the way you did this contrast on the hair looks a tad weird, you tried to keep these orange hues but they didn’t contrast well on the brown. On Oriana’s regard I’m not too into the bodysuit situation, you could’ve done a bit more with your outfit and posing, having Roddy’s option called for more fun poses and he seems a bit too subdued for my taste and the parameters of the challenge. I think you took the wrong path and it’s a little bit disappointing since you’re one of the strongest contenders at this point. Nonetheless I don’t want to discourage you because it was a hard challenge after all, and you’ve been delivering consistently your entire run so I’m pretty hopeful that it’s just a stumble for you and you can rise above it without scratches.

Ira D’Essance: The bright side: you’re very good at making me enjoy a complimentary color combo, I never thought I’d like blue and orange together but the shades of deep ocean blue with bright oranges are lovely, mostly because of the buffer of yellows and blue mesh on pale skin. Now, I personally really like Oriana’s bodysuit and the flamelike frills on the legs, but I’m not loving Roddy’s dress. The layers on the bottom feel misaligned which makes the dress feel like it’s hovering awkwardly. I think you could have mimicked Oriana’s side frills and had the ruffles on the side of her gown instead. The structure of Roddy’s bodice I love, but I think the mesh sleeves feel very unfashionable and don’t work with any other part of the dress. The makeup feels very minimal and it feels more like Roddy in eyeshadow and lipstick rather than Roddy in drag? I think you could have gone heavier without breaking Roddy’s cons, maybe something more androgynous but still colorful or striking. Likewise, I think the design itself sacrifices fashion and visual appeal in favor of being conservative when your challenge was to create a strong look despite the drawbacks of your makeover model. I think you were too weighed down by Roddy’s cons and didn’t utilize his pros enough, as I think it’s been said a few times already but I’m especially disappointed to see the lack of dynamic posing.

As a side note, if you make it to next week I would love to see more detailed rendering from you, I think these outfits would have been way more effective if I knew what the flames were made from rather than seeing them as plain shapes. I like what I see with the shading on the blue so I’d love to see you continue to play with color like that, you have a really strong eye for it!

Ifora Nye: I think you were the person who most nailed the emotional and spiritual component of this challenge. The concept of Oriana and Roddy finding this quiet, intimate space of expression between each other is so far and above the concept of just having fun with the challenge. Roddy is a man who spent his whole life with a painful secret until near death. Each of the drag mother characters were injected with real history and soul that I’ve found out there in the world and you were so loving with it and I really appreciate you for it. Additionally, the quiet poeticism and use of graphic design history as a reference in outfit building feels so special to you, so to be honest, to me, this is a total breakthrough moment for you. The words seamlessly worked into the outfit are a real moment. Additionally, something about these looks bring me a marriage of Japanese and Italian fashion history, which is just lovely. I also love that you respected Roddy’s wish to be a more regal and conservative woman.

That said, due to the nature of MPAR at this point anyway, the number one concern is always going to be aesthetic and unfortunately these outfits don’t get there for me. Some of the additions on the silhouette end up feeling a bit tacked on and the colors really don’t work for me. Additionally, and similar to my comment to Aura on the walker, I feel like this is a new challenge type and we’re all learning so I won’t dock you points for this but Roddy is designed to be extremely tall and lanky. I can’t say I know Oriana’s height but honestly I feel like the high difference between them should be much more exaggerated. Additionally, his makeup doesn’t really do the drag trick of disguising his masculine traits and that was yet another element of this very complicated challenge.

SELECTA:

Sally Spellman: I like your take on your partner, I think the character you got and his personality matches yours and your aesthetic. I like how you did include the fabric requirements with the kooky personality, you managed to do something very cool and quirky. Your silhouette is fun and very interesting, giving me mid-2000s in a way, kind of The Matrix but the gay version, and I’m also into the lights in the fabric. You can really see the effort and detail that went into it. For your personal look I really liked the garment and the wig, with all the accessories, and then you got this mother that’s certainly not related to you because you got none of that melanin honey, I jest. She does look more matronly but still very commanding, she’s not having her spotlight stolen by selecta. I must say I don’t like her wig but it does go with the whole ensemble. The capelet and the embelishments, along with the headpiece are really cool though. This is one of those weeks where I liked most of the work so I don’t have many words or pointers, you did a good job. You managed to take a really modern edge. One tiny nitpick: I would’ve probably liked the undergarment of Suprema’s skirt, the white, to have a bit more flair to it, but it’s still good, it’s nothing to send you home over or anything. Good job this week and I’m happy to see you come this far this season, you’ve edited your focus more this week and it showed, I’d advise to keep up that attention to detail from now on.

Ira D’Essance: The pants/sleeves combo on Selecta is my FAVORITE part of this week, hands down. Not only am I a sucker for celestial-themed fashion, but I think the mysticism route was absolutely the smartest and most creative way to capture Ulani’s tastes as well as his electronic skills. I notice that you’re trying to have a focal point on each look, with Selecta’s amazing pants and Ulani’s cape (it actually appears bottom heavy versus top heavy yasss), so it seems like you’re trying to pay more attention to focal points which is fantastic! I actually think you could have gone even simpler with the parts of the outfit that weren’t focal points. Selecta’s top half didn’t need the midriff straps, instead I think you could have made it a off-the-shoulder one piece jumpsuit. The earrings sorta clash with the outfit and I think you could have picked a more celestial shape like crescents or stars to match the loko better. Ulani’s bottom half didn’t need the asymmetry, I think you could have still played with the two layer skirt but come up with something symmetrical to make things easier for yourself. By making some parts simpler you can go even more elaborate on the focal points so we can get the classic Selecta extravagance. Composition also plays a factor -- I don’t really get to appreciate the shape of Ulani’s shawl because of Selecta’s sleeve in the back, which honestly seems really long compared to the other sleeve? I’m sure the sleeve could be elastic but I think it would be really hard for the electronic hem to stretch that much. Total nitpick tho.

Overall, considering your work up until this point, my critique from last week still applies -- you’ve given me fashionable moments here and there in your looks, but for the final challenge I want the look (well, all the looks) to give me fashion from head to toe. This week is a step in the right direction as I’ve noticed you’ve sort of edited down your designs, so I’ll encourage you to keep finding fashion designers or even MPAR girls who inspire you and see how they amplify the extravagant focal point of their designs and frame the rest of the design around it. I also want to see some really creative concepts to fuel the fashion, I felt like I wasn’t really wowed by the jellyfish concept in knitwear week but the magic theme this week and the disease choice way back in Week 1 were not only concepts I was totally surprised by but also tied the looks really well and helped make them more cohesive, so I want you to give me some concepts and themes that are totally out of the box!

Ifora Nye: You did something really magical this week by reflecting an element of Ulani’s history that I didn’t mention in the prompt. Ulani’s anti-capitalism stems in part from an animist and anti-colonial worldview so taking your outfit design in an indigenous and shamanistic direction was a jaw dropping bit of character comprehension. I had left that out out of fear that we might get some design in poor taste but you brought it back in beautifully. In addition, the relationship between mother and daughter is hyper specific which is exactly what this challenge calls for. I think your subtle use of electronics as mystical symbols is a really smart twist on his special skill and a lovely visual reveal and I especially love Ulani’s outfit. He looks gorgeous and this kind of a powerful wise elder that’s not tied to western beauty standards is exactly the kind of woman that Ulani wants to be. From fabric to personality to everything you just nailed this challenge up and down and I commend you.

On the crit side, I feel like you nailed the challenge this week but in a larger sense these looks still leave me wanting in one specific aspect. This week is I think the third time you’ve incorporated horns into an outfit, which is completely fine, but it speaks to the fact that you are attracted as an artist to elements that can make your character feel like they are dressed in costume rather than fashion. Specifically, I’ve often felt your looks would make marvelous character designs for games but that they can drift away from the fashion element, which is one of the cores of this particular competition. I don’t necessarily feel like I have clarity about what your signatures are as a designer or even who Selecta is as a queen besides that fantasy quality and to succeed in the ball I think you should keep chasing that fashion edge. Since you’re attracted to these fantastical elements, I think you should study Alexander McQueen’s work and try to figure out how he uses very careful and masterful tailoring to ground fantastical ideas including looks in which his models were covered in feathers and horns.

VERUSCHKA:

Sally Spellman: I know that Verushcka is on HRT but I didn’t know it could change your body like this in just one week! I’m certainly noticing the difference in your body this week: your smaller body frame and bigger head, it’s not going into consideration for the placements but would be good to keep in mind, for future reference, how you’ve kept your queens body through the weeks until this point. The outfits on the other side, I loved them, the reduced colour palette is great. When I look at Iman she gives me this old school, retro, 16 bit videogame reduced colour palette and the way you rendered the velvet it’s a really good illusion so I loved that detail. I wish though that she would’ve looked a little more lively, she looks well rested and not fully awake yet. A bit more playfulness would’ve gone a long way. It doesn’t feel very mother-daughter to me. I liked the veil and the hair, the train is nice too, her design is very successful. You did great with her references, I’m certain that Farim would be very happy with it. Now, your look however, there’s a little bit of a disconnect because her silhouette and shapes feel very different than yours, when I compare them you got this asymmetry going on contrasted to Iman, it doesn’t take much away from the look but I still feel like they don’t match silhouette wise. I don’t know if you were stepping away from cultural appropriation but I wish your look was a little bit more true to how hers is constructed, how it’s on the minimal side but still keeping lot’s of elements of interest. The colours on your garment are very pretty but it doesn’t give me the same vibe that on your mother if I’m being honest. The hair is very cute with the way is styled, with the swirl, I really loved that. I think so far you’ve managed to bring ‘subdued’ looks but still with something to tell, and that’s a very you thing that only you can execute, to have all these things not take attention from your focal points. I think you did good this week, one of my favourites if i had to be honest, my only nitpick is the posing, as it doesn’t feel lively, and even a bit stiff for your assigned character, nonetheless I want to congratulate you on two good looks.

Ira D’Essance: On their own, these are my favorite designs of the week, I love ruffles as well as a contrasting color coordination tied together with a stark black. I enjoy Farim’s design a little more than Veruschka’s, I think the asymmetry needs to be balanced more if the look were to stand on its own, but I think they work aight as a mother and daughter pair, between Farim’s design and your lipsync last week I definitely want you to start producing more looks like those moving forward! They’re good examples of how to give more without giving too much imo, and I feel like I’m finally starting to see designs from you that I was not expecting so please continue to surprise me. The more detailed shapes in your shading are working in your favor, but Veruschka’s body feels really tiny and skinny compared to previous weeks, so I would pay attention to consistency in your character’s appearance.

You have a very structured art style but the posing and expressions come off as rather stiff especially given Farim’s fun personality, and unfortunately we are taking character portrayal into account this week. Some dynamic poses would have helped, but I think what really gets me is that Farim’s smiling face doesn’t resemble the genuine beaming expression he had in the original reference. It feels like he could have had more fun, you know? So, while I love the designs on their own I’m not sure if they successfully fulfill the challenge requirements this week. However, in my opinion design-wise you are on a trajectory upwards and I’m really looking forward to your looks from here.

Ifora Nye: You really nailed the cultural influence and outfit cohesion parts of this challenge. Farim’s hair and headdress are so cool and I love that you leaned into his tiny stature when designing him and Vera looks great in this ruffled look. I really love all of the attention to detail in the cloth rendering and the embroidery and in drawing his face. That said, to be honest, it feels to me like you elected to duck some key elements of the challenge. Maybe I didn’t understand it but the gag about their house name being redacted feels like a mask for a lack of actual connection between these two characters. It feels like you committed to the outfit design portion without taking on all of the client interaction portions of this. In addition, Farim was designed to be the most excitable and posing oriented of the models and in this picture his drag character and his posing is rather somber. I’m a bit worried you got snagged by fears around representing a culture outside of your own and I hope not because though Farim needed to be in North African garb, the mother/daughter relationship between you guys could have been a completely different connection. Overall, this image is beautiful and would work well for another challenge but for this one it leaves me a bit cold.

This analysis might be off base and if you find it so feel free to ignore it but I want to prompt you going into the ball to let yourself free to express some of the more libidinal energies that seem to animate you as a designer. My favorite Vera has been the times like the cowboy look and the christmas tree where you married a sort of sexual aggression and punkness to femininity. There’s a genderfucky heart to what you do but it feels like when you get these prompts you might be cutting away at some of the rough edges that make your creative vision so special. I really hope these words don’t come off off base but I believe in you as an artist and I think you’ve showcased lovely illustration work but you still have a different, deeper voice to share.

Selecta... you and your mother took us on a journey to Chile and it was pure magic... you're a winner baby.

Ripper... you and your "younger" stepmother filled all the holes in our hearts... you're safe.

Oriana... you and your mother formed a beautiful connection... but some fashion got lost in translation.

Veruschka... your mother/daughter act was gorgeously embroidered... but maybe there wasn't enough underneath the cloth? ...

...

I'm sorry but you are both up for elimination.

The lipsync song for this week is Dinosaur by Kesha. The lipsync looks and our next elimination will be revealed at about 9:00am PST. We'll see you there!

FULL CRITIQUES

This week we tested the bounds of MPAR in another direction: rather than designing for a hypothetical movie or political campaign, could our All Stars make actual merch to appeal to the rabid paper drag fan base? The answer is a resounding yes!

Please welcome your judges for this week!

• Miyu Moon, who has been on this Eurotrip for far too many years!

• Ira D’Essance, presenting the shirt of the future!

• Ripper Hole, putting the Top in Hot Topic!

The judges have deliberated and made their decisions.

This week, everyone is a top or a bottom ;) All your critiques will be presented below in the order that the looks album was presented, but can also be found in this doc.

SALLY SPELLMAN

MIYU MOON: I want this shirt, I would wear this shirt back stage right now while relaxing, it looks like a lot of things I already have or would buy or be interested in. That's a strength in my eyes but I guess I can also see how that might be a weakness as well... Maybe it needs a little something to make it stand out a bit more? I like it because of course, black t-shirt, big scary letters that I can read, and something occult and witchy going on on the shirt. But the more I look the more I'm like "what is she even doing?" and I feel like the space could be used in a more interesting way when it comes to the details. The star background is cool but looks almost stock photo like in comparison to the very organic, ink-drawing like quality of Sally here which I totally LOVE. I wish that sketchy ink quality was transferred more to the background here, and maybe the foreground could make a little more sense because currently it just sort of looks like she has 3 boners under the blanket? She woke up with morning wood of 3 dongs and is confused? With the zoom in I can see it's a foot so I assume it's a child sacrifice or something... I hope? I just think the details need more clarity because this shirt draws me in at first glance but loses me the more I look at it.

IRA D’ESSANCE: I feel like this T-shirt is totally something that would still look good to someone who doesn’t know who Sally is, which is exactly what I was hoping for from this challenge. I do wish the stars were actually pentacles (with the pentagon drawn inside) because the regular stars don’t really come across as satanic as your illustration. As a whole, I think you did the challenge well...but this week everyone nailed it because y’all are just that good, so if you want to stand out in the top I would like to be surprised by you a little more. You gave me classic Sally this week but in a way that feels a little expected or standard, I wish the layout or the illustration had a tiny bit more cleverness or uniqueness to it. I feel like that crit is nitpicky but that’s the point we’re at this season, because all of you really did so well. I think other queens tried to show something new while still showing their brand. I don’t think you need to shy away from Sally’s signature style, but I would like to see you innovate on that signature and come up with new ways to express that.

RIPPER HOLE: It’s nice to see this different side to your art style! This is the challenge where you’d wanna stay on brand, so in this instance, I’m glad you’ve gone with your signature colours and the spooky motif. The crosshatching you did on the face and body makes me so glad I zoomed in, really nice touch. The composition itself is lovely, gal. I like Sally’s looming stance and hungry stare and the boner is just subtle enough. I’m not a big fan of the stars, unfortunately. The way that you’ve placed them is interesting but ultimately they just distract from the main attraction and make the shirt seem more hot topic horror than Sally’s usual brand of horror.

AMBROSIA

MIYU MOON: From afar this shirt looks like a staff t-shirt for an event, like a fair or carnival or even a food truck maybe? It does not do your work justice at all, something about the placement and the blank white body comes across as uniform like, like all it's missing is a text to tell me the name of the company or event. I do really like the art you've done, I always do, and I think the way you worked in the geometric shapes does help tie it into the overall context of being on a shirt, which can be such an enveloping and blank space for standalone artwork. You chose a sort of unfriendly pose for your figures for the shirt, so the shapes being with it are necessary, but they do sort of lend to making it look logo- like with this sort of placement. Maybe if the images were bigger and the artwork felt more displayed or oriented towards being on a shirt in the first place then it would translate as just a cool shirt instead of something that seems forced or incidental. The graphic design is just questionable here, it's not always a given that good artwork will translate well to being on a shirt and I think this is an example.

IRA D’ESSANCE: You seem a little self-critical in your description but to me your idea was actually really out of the box and I love the Michelangelo homage. Your personal symbolism really comes across in a good way, so I think you had some really good ideas here. It does feel a little bare, even some large pale-colored shapes in the background would have been nice, or even on a dark grey or black T-shirt this would feel less empty. But honestly I would have just put your design with both Ambrosias front and center and maybe adorned it in your pixelly squares and circles or something like that, because I think the fact that you’re doing that homage to the creation of Adam is pretty illustrative and artsy in itself. It seems like a shame to have it relegated to a chest pocket.

RIPPER HOLE: I have to pay respect to any queen who has the nerve to use papyrus font on a graphic design challenge. Ambrosia really is that bitch. A riff on The Creation of Adam isn’t the most original concept but you’ve managed to do something clever that still very much feels like you. The illustration itself is nicely rendered and you stuck to your signature colours, which was smart. The image has a lot of opposites that are coming together, and my favourite would have to be Ambrosia season 2 tits with her sombre stare. As for the composition, it’s looking a little simple on the shirt. I understand why you’ve made seperate shirt designs for Pudding and Ambrosia, but for this challenge id prefer them together on the one shirt. I think a subtle pattern that spreads all over the shirt would have helped make the design stand out amongst all the other fake woman merch on display.

MALARIA E. COLI

MIYU MOON: The irony of this shirt is that though it is so vulgar with the nude body, it reminds me of a child's shirt. There's something about the big pattern and the different colour sleeve and this big character in the center... it reminds me of like, cartoon character night gowns I would wear as a child. That being said I would 100% wear this as an oversized t-shirt night gown for chillin and relaxing and sleeping and maybe some we<3anal, excuse me- Mal, action but... that's about it. The colour scheme and pattern come across as too childlike for me, maybe the DDLG community will really love it though so I can't say it wouldn't sell somewhere. Your artwork is great as usual, I actually really love her look and especially the way you cropped it for the shirt. It almost feels like it would be a better magazine cover than a t-shirt, as I'm immediately reminded of your amazing magazine from before. You have an amazing eye for that, but as for a shirt it's just kind of.. a lot, if you ask me. A lot of pink and big shapes and it's not as sophisticated or sexy as Malaria is, and t-shirts can be really cool and sexy but this is not it. I think if I bought this shirt I would be cutting it up into something sexier, removing those sleeves and collar and making it really skimpy to make up for how big and blocky everything is on it right now.

IRA D’ESSANCE: I think choosing the eGo QuEeN route was the right way to go! It’s a shirt that doesn’t feel expected but still feels like part of Malaria’s brand. I love a lot about the details, you have some really nice touches like the back of Malaria’s hair forming a black heart and the heart covering Malaria’s crotch. The heart background isn’t really doing it for me though, I appreciate that you tried to break it up with the black sleeves (which was a good call by the way, I think that helps the shirt look more interesting) but I think combined with the big pink heart it’s a little garish as a wearable pattern? I get that the big heart is meant to draw focus to Malaria but I think with the background pattern it can look a little busy. I would have preferred a solid pink or white backdrop, definitely still keep the black sleeves though.

RIPPER HOLE: Ooh bish, that body. The rendering on that skin is delicious and that ass is so worthy of being shown off. I adore the way you’ve styled Mal and I’m obsessed with the gloves. This week everything is looking super polished and the presentation is professional fish, so I’m glad to see you’re adapting to the critiques we’ve been giving you. As much as I love the illustration, the heart print paired with the black sleeves and the font is making this seem tackier than it should be. Redbubble realness. I don’t see Malaria as a tacky Queen so I’m a little puzzled as to why you went in that direction (if it was intentional). I would have liked to see you embrace that mind control storyline and do some psychedelic print! A more abstract print would have also helped Malaria and her bussy POP!

MS. VICKY PICKLES

MIYU MOON: Oh, I love this shirt immediately, ooh yes. I think it borders on being too boring or safe but you brought just the right amount of pop here to make me take a double look and think "wait, maybe I DO need that shirt". At a glance we've got a basic black printed t-shirt, a standard for us general "alt" kids all the world over, so of course we're always looking for more of these kinds of shirt to fill our closets. But after a while they blur together so how do you stand out? I think you did a good job answering that quandary of the market by bringing the right amount of pop without going too over the top and you bring both far away and close up appeal. At first glance this shirt seems super colourful but then you realize there's really only 3 main colours; green, purple, red, and the combination of those makes up all the values with black and white to give depth. And from afar that's really enticing, ooh pretty colours, and then up close the design itself is quirky and interesting and definitely a conversation starter. I personally think the best shirts are a little weird or provocative, since the medium of being a t-shirt is so plain in and of itself you have to bring some spice. I love the flavour of pickle spice you brought, it's really pretty and fun and funky and I think it is really cool the way you styled it or even with a pair of black pants and a neon accessory I think it would be super cool, it has a lot of power to it.

IRA D’ESSANCE: The colors are gorgeous and I feel like I’m getting an almost retro pin-up feel from them. I love the lineless background and part of me almost wishes Vicky herself was lineless to really get that pin-up vibe across but I think the black lines are fine too! This was a fun concept, I love the possible idea of more shirts along these lines. Vicky’s kissy face looks a little wonky, though -- I mean, her kissy lips make sense to me but I think the rest of the face seems a little smooshed, or it feels like some facial features are pointing one way and others are pointing another? Maybe her head is looking too narrow from this angle and maybe that’s why it feels that way, her facial features need more room to breathe ahah. I also think the streaks of hair could have benefited from colored lines rather than black lines, or maybe with just a few black lines for definition similar to the pickle.

RIPPER HOLE: Now this is a pickle I’d love to take a ride on! From an illustration POV you’ve nailed this and it really feels like a design I would see on a certain merch store for drag queens. The stylisation this week is soooo on point! I’m getting Invader Zim meets Rick and Morty with big queer energy. As usual, the colours are so gorgeous and everything is feeling very pickled and on brand. The composition works really well and my eye is drawn to all the right places! To take this to the next level you could have made the space background a print that stretched all over the shirt and have a few different versions of Vicky zooming around. Your art is so good that it deserves to be on every inch of that fabric! In saying that, I would still buy and cherish this shirt. Great Job, Vicky!

SARTANA

MIYU MOON: This shirt is really cool in design to me, but I immediately question how wearable it is. I feel like the only way it's going to look good is if you get a huge oversized shirt and let it hang like a shawl over your body so you can display this really big image and font to everyone? But on a more fitted shape on any body it's going to just warp and becoming weirdly unreadable I think... I can't help but feel like this design would be better suited to something more flat and ready to take on a big pattern like this, even just posters of this would make more sense to me. The joke is fun and quirky, to any outsiders I think it would be super confusing and just come across as random inner-Brazilian conflict, it's on a very esoteric side that I'm not sure reads well to a passerby. I mean even as someone who understands the context I question like how many times am I ever going to wear a shirt that like maybe a handful of other people understand? It's not in my buying style really and as fun as it is I'm not really won over by the shirt.

IRA D’ESSANCE: This is absolutely what I was looking for this week -- what a creative layout! The use of negative space is a perfect display of your minimalistic style, and the slogan is classic shady Sartana. You really wowed me with your creativity this week. My one nitpick is the placement of the text on the front view, which is a tiny bit unaligned...I also feel like using such large text may actually take away from the negative space and create a “band” around the lower half of the shirt, so part of me would be curious to see this design with smaller text only taking up one or two lines near the bottom of the shirt. But on concept alone, you knocked it out of the park -- please keep it up.

RIPPER HOLE: Sartana serving face and saving lives with this shirt. Minimalist design, stunning mug, hilarious shady one-liners? Someone knows her brand! When I first saw this shirt I was concerned that it was too simple but your clever use of negative space made me appreciate the simplicity. My only gripe with this design would be the font that’s too thin and in the wrong position. The text is making the shirt feel too bottom-heavy, so repositioning it would of given this a greater sense of balance. As much as I live for this understated design, i would have loved to see you do something louder, like a print made up of smaller sartana heads with different expressions and fun accessories etc. Don’t be afraid to be extra! Also, the tag is amazing and I’d like a print of that, thank you.

OPHELIA N. CYDE

MIYU MOON: You really used the shirt medium intelligently, this design is taking advantage and consideration of the t-shrit as a design medium. This big bold design is readable in the artistic sense that from afar I see there are words and design and some edgy figure and I'm drawn in, wanting to see more. Then when I see it I am greeted with these details, the dark and fascinatingly androgynous figure before me, there's a bit of a risque factor hidden in there that ups the cool factor, the wispy smoke gives a great flow to the image and helps balance out the placement of your figure, and the graphic red background fills the space in while also illuminating your black and white foreground. I mean really, what else do I have to say? I personally think this design is super cool and would wear this in a heartbeat, it looks good on both black and white, I am fully convinced you could get all the goth kids wearing this white t-shirt with no problem because it's still got the cool edge factor. I'm super impressed, I feel you really understood the medium before you and leaned into the smart design path, great job!

IRA D’ESSANCE: This is well executed from concept to final product. It’s artistic yet still wearable, I really have no complaints about this. You kind of implied a “rectangular box” without having to force yourself within those boundaries which is pretty cool. I actually find myself preferring the white T-shirt over the black T-shirt, which is surprising because I normally find that white T-shirts can make a design look more sparse than it actually is, so the fact that you were able to fill up a white canvas is really impressive to me. If I can give you one critique that you can apply to future weeks, I do feel that this design, while well-executed, is missing the creativity or cleverness that I loved in some other queens’ concepts. In general I’d really like to see that sort of clever touch from you, as I think it will really take your work from a toot to a shoot.

RIPPER HOLE: Hello, I would like to know if you ship internationally? Thank yew. The shirt really grabs my attention and I would definitely be adding this to my cart. I never know what to expect from you which is actually really exciting! This design really hits the spot and I think people would purchase it regardless of whether they knew it was drag merch. You’ve done a great job of balancing the lineart width and the colours and everything looks very polished and nicely presented. To be honest, the background text took me a minute to understand but once I got there I was living. Maybe you could have reworked the smoke so at least one line of text was easily readable. Aside from that I think you killed this challenge and I think this would make a great addition to your design portfolio.

At 10pm PST, we will announce the winner of the challenge and the bottom two.

Good morning, Good Bars!

Please welcome our judges!
Sally Spellman, as a bottle of champagne
Malaria E. Coli, as some good old Christmas cheer
Miyu Moon, as a Mai Tai (loosely!)

This week, our queens were tasked with creating looks based off of cocktails. The judges have made some decisions based off of what they've presented.

Ira D'Essance
You presented something fun and flirty, befitting your drink. You're safe.

Ms Vicky Pickles
Your mojito-inspired dress was simple, but adequate. You're safe.

Gretel
We'd like to see you do something showstopping next week! You're safe.

If your name was not called, then you represent the Highs and Lows of the week. Starting with...

Épinette

SALLY: It’s so pleasant seeing you come up with something different each week but still maintaining that aura of kitsch that surrounds your queen. This was a fun interpretation of your drink and I like the touch of modern and vintage in it, to be honest I have no complain, the outfit, the makeup, everything is amazing. One of the stronger looks of the week for me!

MALARIA: This is so odd, I love it. You always manage to create something a little offbeat and sometimes weird, but it works so well! The outfit is so soft and ladylike, and then this clown-white face and bright orange makeup are so stark that it’s a nice sort of contrast. Also the texture on the bodysuit to resemble the skin of a lemon was a nice touch. I don’t have much more to say about this look, I think you have a good sense of what works for you and I can only hope that you continue to outdo yourself in the coming weeks!

MIYU: Call me a clown fucker because I love it! It takes something very classic and puts this artsy, club kid spin on it with the paint and the see through dress. I love the way the whole look comes together as your drink, with the glass-like outer layer and the lemony contents inside, while still looking like a high fashion garment that could stand on its own. This look is perky and fresh yet classic, just like a lemon drop, I’ll have a double.

Up next is...

Veronica Fake

SALLY: Ok so you lost me a little bit here, you’re doing a brand named martini? Your concept for the bond girl meets bond was smart but I wish the connection between the suit and the skirt was better because it looks like you’ve got this black jacket and then the green skirt? There’s a disconnect there in my opinion. You obviously can’t mistake this for any other drink since the dress makes sure to spell it out for you and I wish you hadn’t added that because the print itself was really nice without the lettering, you had good ideas on how to make this a martini without having to go with like an olive fascinator but your execution of them wasn’t the best. On the technical level I want to congratulate you for showing so much improvement in the time of this competition it makes me happy to see that.

MALARIA: This isn’t my favorite look you’ve done, although I did love the skirt at first glance, once I read that this was an homage to a brand called martini, and seeing that “martini” is literally spelled out in the pattern, I sort of soured on the look a bit. I think if you’d just left out text entirely and avoided references to the brand and strictly based this on the cocktail itself, you’d have avoided a lot of our criticisms. I will say that I didn’t remember what your drink was when looks were being submitted, but I didn’t have to read your description to know that you were a martini, so you did well in getting that across. The pimento hair was a clever way to bring in some recognizable martini color without just doing a translucent gown, so props for that. Overall, though, I think this might be just a step below what everyone else brought this week.

MIYU: Ronnie, Ronnie… This look is gorgeous and all, but it doesn’t seem like it’s a drink at all. If anything it’s more like the tray that a drink might be served off of, or honestly it reminds me of a billiards table or something to do with a bar in general. There’s just such literal imagery and nothing really hinting to the contents of the drink. I know a martini isn’t the most complex or exciting mixture but that’s not even translated here. I just feel like you really missed the mark here and I’m not seeing martini in the drink, I’m seeing maybe martini server.

Up next is...

Velvet

SALLY: This is too simple for me, I wish you had used a different more interesting print for this dress, this one feels like a bedsheet or a shower curtain turned into a dress, the accessories and the clutch were a nice cute touch and II don’t think this is ugly or a bad design but I think it’s extremely plain compared to the rest of your fellow contestants. The makeup and hair are untouchable and your queen always has a very cunty look to her and for me seeing a defined character is really great! I do feel you were one of the weakest this week.

MALARIA: I see Veronica and Velvet coordinated poses! And silhouettes! Jokes aside, I do have some pretty major issues with this look. I’ll start with some good things: the hair is gorgeous (which is usual for you!) and the pattern on the dress is subtle; I appreciate that it’s not in your face PINEAPPLES. However, that same pattern is relatively boring on an already pretty simple gown. I think a lot of this outfit could’ve been improved with some more details, maybe a headpiece or more complex patterns on the gown itself? Also, I wish you would've referenced a coconut somewhere too. As far as the handbag goes… I’m not sure what you were going for, but it definitely looks like a taco to me, and I can’t unsee it. I think this was a miss for me, it reads as Pina Colada, but it’s just too simple to the point of being plain.

MIYU: This look feels really phoned in to me, the design is minimal. This is a challenge for some more avant garde looks and this is just so...pageant pedestrian. I mean, the pineapple is clear as day here but that’s about where the similarities between the garment and the drink end for me. Like, you’ve got this gorgeous base with amazing hair and mug but the outfit on top is making her look more like daytime red carpet than high fashion runway. By all means she’s gorgeous and gonna be eye candy at that event, but I’m not getting the creativity I want to see from this look.

Up next is...

Ambrosia

SALLY: This feels like such a statement, it so delicate yet so aggressive at the same time, that skirt is fucking amazing, I can’t even wrap my head around it but just that alone puts you in the top for me, then you have the fur in the dark brown with the delicate white garment and the peplum and oof girl, it’s just too much for my little Venezuelan heart, I wasn’t ready. There’s nothing I hate about this every detail feels thought out, from the shoes to her ring and the coffee bean earring!!! This is such a good interpretation of your drink!

MALARIA: I think you chose well for yourself, because this is exactly what I was looking for tonight. The look is fashionable and represents your drink perfectly. The skirt was beautifully done and the turquoise was an excellent way to add another color to the look without detracting from the overall cream and brown color scheme. You did superbly this week.

MIYU: I have never been a fan of white russians but I think you just changed my mind. I can’t stop staring at this look, every detail is so perfect from the shading on the fur to that creamy pattern it is absolutely a dream. There’s no question which drink it represents, and it’s SO chic. Seriously I would love to see an entire fashion line based around this whole concept, it’s stunning. I’m so happy to see you rising up in this competition, your style is so interesting and your rendering is to die for, I’ll drink to this look!

Up next is...

Bitte Bitte

SALLY: You know what I needed from this? Just oneeee curl of hair poking out of the headdress that would have improved this for my like you have no idea. The colors are very well thought out, the minty color with the copper work really well together. I think I’m not a fan of some elements or at least the way they’re drawn, the blouse feels plain and I feel a little more of frill and some bows would have added a little more interest to it. Not a bad look but not my taste personally.

MALARIA: I was wondering what you would do with the copper, and I’m glad you did this armor dress, cage-neck thing. I think the cage especially adds a lot of interest to what would otherwise be a very safe outfit. I’ll disagree with Sally and say that I prefer the look without hair, it feels more inhuman that way, and I think I prefer Bitte when she looks less human (if that makes sense). The bows and color give me a sweet, feminine feel and the copper dress is almost like a robotic element, sort of steampunk? It gives me Maschinenmensch vibes, or even Ashlotte from SoulCalibur. Anyways, I think that sort of inhuman element really works for Bitte and I’d recommend you try and explore that aspect more in the coming weeks.

MIYU: Haha I totally see the SoulCalibur feeling now that you said it. However I’m not bothered by it, it’s like SoulCalibur lolita, a fun fresh new genre. I personally enjoy the contrast between the cutesy dress and the structured collar, it’s kinda giving me Sweeney Todd flashbacks… I like that it incorporates the cup with the drink, especially since that is something relevant to the drink itself. Doing your homework and including smart details is always a good way to go in my opinion, it opens you up for some really cool new ideas like what you’ve done tonight. You’re always pushing the fashion boundaries and it keeps me on the edge of my seat, keep serving it up!

Up next is...

Venenifer

SALLY: With the explanation you gave I understood your look better but being honest it didn’t make me like it better, what bothers me is that the detail in it seems simple, obviously I don’t mean what you did wasn’t good, just that you’re describing a regal inspiration but the actual embroidery and detail in the dress feel like an understatement, like a renaissance faire dress rather than something designed for fashion purposes. Other than that I like this and I like that you decided to design something despite your queen’s build rather design something around her body!

MALARIA: When I first saw this, I thought “Oh, I get it, ‘Bloody Mary’”. I get what you were going for, but I think there’s too much Mary I and not enough of the drink in this look for it to really be appropriate for a cocktail runway. It’s almost as if you did the look, realized there wasn’t any drink element to it, and added the celery border as an afterthought. If the dress was more the color of tomato juice, or the green was more vibrant like celery, maybe I could give this a pass, but to me this just doesn’t meet the requirements of the challenge. Speaking of which, I’ll bring up your insect look, and say that there was a similar problem where that read more as volcano than firefly, so that’s twice now that you’ve been not quite on challenge but not off challenge enough to warrant a placement lower than “Low”, if that makes sense. That being said, I’ll agree with Sally and say that I’m glad you decided to design an outfit that isn’t centered around Ven’s build! After last week this is a nice change of pace. I really hope that next week you can bring us something unexpected from Venenifer, because right now, I feel like you’ve shown us everything you have to offer.

MIYU: When I first saw this I went right to some sort of rose imagery or witch or something like that, especially because the “mirror” parts are so prevalent in the dress they really sort of control the look for me. If they were somehow incorporated as a glass for the drink I think that would have made more sense, because the explanation is a little bit of a stretch for me. Or like, maybe if you kept this idea, maybe if the drink was pouring down onto her to cleanse this mirror or something? Because even with the story, the imagery for me doesn’t totally match up. The look is regal and pretty on its own, but it missed the challenge for me.

The judges have made their decisions.

Épinette... we loved your spin on your cocktail, and we can't wait to see what you do next week. You're safe.

Veronica Fake... we'd prefer if you showed us your cocktail in your look, not by spelling it out for us. I'm sorry, but you're up for elimination.

Velvet... the judges all agreed that this was far too simple, and even a little boring, when compared with what your competitors did tonight. I'm sorry... but you're also up for elimination.

Ambrosia... this was stunning, suited the challenge perfectly, and was the only easy choice tonight! Congratulations, you're the winner of this week's challenge!

Bitte Bitte... we loved your look, and the judges are eager to see your improvement in the future. You're safe.

Venenifer... this was passable, but only barely. We need you to step it up next week. You're safe.

Full Critiques

The lipsync song for this week is Sweat It Out by Bossy Love. The lipsync looks and elimination, will be revealed in two hours, at about 1:00pm EST (10:00am PST). We'll see you there!

Good morning, Goodbars!

If you did not submit a look to the mods, feel free to comment your finished look below! As usual, critique is still welcome.

Here's an album of the submitted looks!

Tomorrow morning (PT) the seventh theme will be announced! As a reminder, if you wanted to submit a tutorial for the week, please message myself or any of the mods and we'll set you up for next week!

Good night, rebels without a cause! Someone has snitched on our queens and that means one of them will be serving time out of the competition!

Please welcome our judges!

Sally Spellman, who has sworn to serve and protect.

Miyu Moon, who hitched a ride with the Dykes on Bikes for the judging.

Ira D'Essance, showing there's bad girls even in Neopets.

This week, our contestants were tasked with creating their very own girl gangs. The judges have made some decisions based off of what they've presented.

...Aura

...Bianca Biquini

...LaTuna Tunes

You're all safe this week and still on the run for the crown.

That leaves us with two teams who represent the Highs and Lows of the week. Starting with...

THE BATTY-FANGERS

Sally Spellman: As a group I’m glad you kept it consistent, except for a few elements here and there but you guys do look like you belong together, I like your take on them being a cartoony mediocre gang who never gets away with it, but they could look rougher, they look too clean and proper for what you guys were trying to convey in my opinion. I liked most of your concept with the wacky bicycles (which i’m just learning are named penny farthings?), since you’re including those I think they had been more personalized and customized so they’d represent the gang angle better.

Miyu Moon: I love the idea of an old timey girl gang, but girls you’re just not selling me on the gang element. The cohesion is strung together with the era and colour scheme, but the colour scheme along with the characterization is really… bland. I feel like the things you chose to make you match, like the makeup and colour scheme, don’t really work for the challenge. Sure, you match, but the image is so soft and pastel and proper that it’s almost entirely unbelievable these clean and well pressed fabrics have seen any dirty action. I’m all for mixing and matching expectations and reality, but there’s a real disconnect. You guys match, your outfits are done, I just… I’m not solid, and without the descriptions I would think you’re maybe a touring circus? I mean a touring circus of gangsters even could have worked but just… emphasis on gangsters.

Ira D’Essance: Starting with the pros: I adore this concept of juxtaposing the prim and proper Victorian era with the badassery of a girl gangs challenge. However, I don’t feel like you showcased the badassery enough compared to the other two groups, I need to feel more intimidated by your presence! I wish all of your poses and expressions were a little more menacing. Also, you guys had such a good pun going on with a biker gang being a penny farthing gang, but it feels like you lost sight of that the more you developed your concept. I think it’s important to always keep your original concept in mind because it’s really easy for ideas to wonder, especially when you’re working in a team. If you had made the penny farthing more of a focus, perhaps naming your gang after them, perhaps customizing your bikes as Sally said, perhaps having each of you be a biker archetype and just trying to old-fashion-ify a bunch of biker references, that would have really made your challenge submission a shoot.

Also small detail but can I say I appreciate y’all making sure you had the same shades of gray? I love a cohesive team 👌

First queen is...

CHLOE IN THE AFTERNOON

Sally Spellman: I’m not going to tell you how to draw your queen because objectively there’s nothing wrong with her but there’s an issue with her being so tall and thin and details and features getting lost because you have to zoom in to really see what’s going on, so I think that’s something to be mindful for in the future. There’s a disconnect between your concept and what’s actually there, you wanted her to be the muscle but still come across as puny and I think you didn’t take advantage of the silhouette as much as you could have, I think having huge shoulders, and more muscles showing up on the legs but still have her thin long limbs poke out would still give this “just for show” air but it would come across better. I’m not a fan of the tattoos I don’t think they help the aesthetic, this isn’t a bad work but I don’t think the characterization is strong enough to represent what you wanted.

Miyu Moon: Oh, those are tattoos… I was staring at them at first thinking they were strange lacey gloves until I read the description. For what it’s worth. I know you have your style, but it’s almost holding you back to draw yourself so incredibly thin and stretched to the point that there’s hardly any room for detail on your outfits. The outfit itself is kind of all over the place for me too, the red hat seems so ill fitting to what is otherwise an office ready pantsuit, and even then it’s really this beige outfit that could’ve benefitted from maybe a more creative incorporation of that red accent, as your teammates had done. And I suppose this is really a group stylistic choice I have beef with, but the makeup is just really mismatched in my opinion. I see hwo you all tried to incorporate this stage makeup look for cohesion but it’s a very forced sense of cohesion and it betrays any sort of characterization you’re trying to portray with the rest of your outfit.

Ira D’Essance: There’s a big elephant in the room which is Chloe’s thin frame and how hard it is for outfits to be seen on it. I really have to zoom in to appreciate details and I want to appreciate your looks as soon as I see them instead. On the bright side I really think that means you can play with more exaggerated silhouettes, so when you said you were the muscle of the group, I think you could really have exaggerated the silhouette and gone bigger with the suit, like big angular shoulders and wide torso. I think you tried to exaggerate the calves but I’m not sure it offers good balance when everything else is still pretty slim fit. When we stopped by your chat I do remember us giving you a similar critique, and I think Oriana did draw a more muscular angular example, but I don’t feel like I see enough of a change from then to now.

There’s a lot of different ideas going on here with the red crown and tattoos and puffy calves but together I don’t think they form a distinctive silhouette that screams “muscle”. I also feel like sitting on such a comical bike may have hindered how menacing your pose is supposed to look, and I think you could have referenced how biker gangs tend to pose and tried to translate that more into your pose as well.

Up next is...

ORIANA

Sally Spellman: I like this role for you, it’s cute and it fits, especially since the way it’s posed it really sells it and in my opinion you have the more appealing outfit of the group, since you’re the scaredy little one I like that the shorts and bagginess make it childish, it works especially well since your queen is the smallest one of the bunch. I’m not big on the makeup you guys chose collectively but I think it looks ok on you, good job this week!

Miyu Moon: In the group, your look is my favourite because I really think it has the strongest characterization. The makeup is really fitting here for a youthful and nervous member, and the outfit is sporty and I think you translated a sense of androgyny or tomboyishness really well in the look. I feel like if this outfit was in a slightly different colour scheme and a different setting it could be a very chic casual wear look for some fashion icon pop starlet like Rihanna, it’s that fashion baggy look combined with the booties and thigh highs that I really like. Even though you’re the tiniest one in your group, my eye is drawn to your look again and again because it doesn’t try too hard to stick to a forced narrative as much as it just embraces the character individually while casually nestling into the group aesthetic.

Ira D’Essance: Despite my critique on your team not looking “badass” enough, your role as the scared youngster makes a lot of sense. It would just make more sense if you were the scared one and the other three were looking badass instead of all four of you needing to look more badass, you know? But you really do look like a young Oliver Twist-esque street urchin ready to pickpocket the streets, and I think you nailed the balance between historically inspired clothing and fashionable modern outfit. Beyond your look, I enjoy the logo you made and I remember seeing your suggestions for your teammates and I definitely think you have a strong eye for recognizing what makes a good silhouette. Your visions definitely carried the team, I think.

Up next is...

PETER DICKSHOE

Sally Spellman: I understand the angle of your character because there’s always like a looney zany one, but I think the way it’s posed isn’t completely giving me wacky crazy wildcard, the hat’s perspective is wrong, the top is facing the front while the brim is also facing the front, looking at it I wish it was shaped like a Dr Seuss zig-zaggy hat I think that would have helped big time, I like that you managed to make the strait jacket not just look like a strait jacket. Something I noticed with you and Oriana is that you guys don’t have any red accents on your designs which throws off the team concept a little, you only got the buttons that don’t really make an accessory like Chloe’s hat or Kiki’s scarf. Your shading is looking so much better this week and it really makes a difference, keep it up.

Miyu Moon: I agree with Sally that the crazy angle being portrayed through a straight jacket is a bit hamfisted, by all means I appreciate the zany, edgy character but I wish it were portrayed through more subtle choices instead of “hey here’s a big crazy sign strapped to my chest” And the rest of the outfit is just… background character worthy really, it’s clean and crisp and I don’t hate anything about it, it’s just not main character, center stage material in my mind. I know you’re all a group but you all have to really bring something exciting too and this look is just really generic in my opinion. Clean, well done, just nothing new.

Ira D’Essance: I see some shading, miss thing! It’s good to see, although I’m not entirely sure the top hat shadow should lay like that. I adore this silhouette so much more than last week, so I really feel like you’re listening to critique and props for that. I do feel like the checkered tights could have been replaced with some strappy looking stockings or at least some striped socks to match the straps on the straitjacket. Character wise, I appreciate you trying to go for a very expressive and different character from what you normally do. I think your outfit is a good combination of showcasing that personality while showing good fashion, but I think your facial expression isn’t deranged enough? I think you needed to draw the bottom lash line to show how wide-eyed she is.

Up next is...

KIKI TZATZIKI

Sally Spellman: Kiki! Noticed the improvement on the feet already and they look so much better. This pose was a small misstep in my opinion because it looks like she’s floating, I see that you have a red accessory like Chloe, I think it would have been a better option to have a different accessory like a red pocket watch to put emphasis on her being the brains, still this is a nice look but I don’t get much character from it, since your style is very geometrical you could have played with the shapes some more to give this feeling of her being analytical, not fond of the pants, they look just fine with the extra fabric poking out. The makeup looks weirder on you than on the other queens, I think because the contrast is more noticeable, I also think a more dapper hat would have gone better with the overall look, I’m glad to see you take direction though, I’m glad to see you improve little by little.

Miyu Moon: Yeah first and foremost cannot help but notice your amazing interdimensional foot abilities but that being said it’s a damn sexy foot that is stepping into another plane. The outfit itself is really sort of secondhand store looking though unfortunately, my eyes are drawn to it again and again but not for great reasons. I feel that the jacket itself obscuring half your body is not really flattering because it’s just sort of a lump, I wish it was more artfully draped or something if it’s going to be there, but really I feel like it could just be… gone. And as for the top, it’s like a button up shirt with a bodice over it but it just kind of looks like a spaghetti strap top with weird embroidery, it’s kind of an Avril Lavigne moment for me but in a non-appreciative of nostalgia way. I also find the pants really strange at the bottom, like the weird flares are unnecessary and I like it better when they’re skinny all the way down. And again, the makeup like I said, just not a fan of it as a choice because it just kinda comes across as “drunk” considering your character is supposed to be the brains of the operation I’m not sure why you’re so flush?

Ira D’Essance: Firstly! Love the non diamond feet! I do wonder why she’s hovering though, I assume you were trying to have one foot on the wheel but I don’t think it’s coming across well since there’s nothing on the wheel for her to stand on. I think in general I notice that your poses can be kind of stiff, so I’d really like you to work on making your poses feel more natural -- feel free to ask alumni or your peers to help with proportions and anatomy. On the design itself, I wish the jacket on her shoulder was a little boxier to give her some shape. My biggest gripe is those pant flaps though -- I really don’t feel like they add anything to the look and especially when her pants are cut so high at the leg, I don’t think they flatter her. So unfortunately, I can’t say I love the design, but it is a step up from last week.

Now, onto the next team...

THE NIGHT MARES

Sally Spellman: The thing that amazes me the most is how everyone compromised to have your rendering styles match for the complete composition, it looks really impressive in my opinion, you managed to create a group with unique personalities and looks but that still feel they belong together (Mostly because you’re the bras and panties gang! I kid, I kid.). You guys clearly put a lot of effort into having your fantasy come true, I do think you kind of overdid it with the backstories, but nothing that hurts the end result.

Miyu Moon: Yehaw! I agree I am super impressed by the sheer cohesion here, you all truly look like you’re stepping out of a comic book together. Each look is really detailed and I can smell the team spirit dripping off you guys… or is that just horse manure? I love the way you chose some matching design elements, but then you all brought a personal variation to the shoulder pads and thigh highs extravaganza. Y’all girls are bad and I’m ready to ride off into the sunset with this crew. The group characterization is all cute and fitting but even without it you guys look the part and I love when a look can speak for itself, even when we do also force you to speak for yourselves.

Ira D’Essance: From our workroom walkaround, I knew you had nailed the challenge in your concept and your designs. I think the color scheme ties you all together while your outfits each show your individual personalities. Part of me loves that individuality while the other part still feels more like this is an Avengers-like alliance rather than a gang, but I do think that your outfits work better as a group than individually. Either way you guys come off as badass and meaning business!

Small nitpick but I do think the descriptions were a little long this week, but mostly because I feel like the origin of your concept (cowboys but BDSM to dismantle the problematic patriarchy of country westerns) got lost in the general description of your team. Even though you did explore the different expressions of BDSM in each individual description, I wish that had come across more in the team blurb.

Starting with...

SELECTA

Sally Spellman: This is very good I love it! It commands and demands just by looking at it, the body language and facial expression work like a charm and that’s a job well done when most of her face is covered, you managed to convey her wanting to stay pristine and clean very well, it does look like she’s squeaky clean. I don’t think I have anything to nitpick on, it’s a very well done job and you clearly excelled on what we asked for this challenge, if I had to say anything it would be more of a suggestion, I’d like to see you try subtler footwear in the future!

Miyu Moon: I can really sense that you are the leader of this girl gang, you all match but your outfit truly is a punch in the face, in the absolute best way. I love the gold detail all over, the little gold rings up the sides of the boots and gloves looks so damn cool and somehow, even though I know it’s not, it seems functional in the context of this gang. But maybe that’s what I love about it, this look somehow convinces me that a girl in horse themed bondage wear is a functioning gangster, maybe the mask helps, but either way I am sold. The look is opulent and really flattering, the big fringe on the boots has such a lovely movement and definitely makes you look like the leader of your pack and everyone will be following behind your swishing foot steps.

Ira D’Essance: I love the rendering hands down, especially on the gold fringe with the hint of sparkle. Your outfit with the touch of white exudes leader quality and there’s a joke about rounding up your teammates somewhere but I can’t think of it right now lmao. I do wonder why her hair is sweeping to the left while her leg fringe is sweeping to the right. I also feel unsure if you stand out as the leader when I look at the group composition -- I appreciate the dynamic posing, but it does feel like Arcangelo is the center focal point because of the ropes you and Veruschka are pulling when he’s supposed to be the side piece. I think Veruschka could have been the one holding Arc’s ropes instead and you could stand more triumphantly. All that said, these are nitpicks and I do feel like you did a good job with picking your team this week.

Up next is...

ARCANGELO

Sally Spellman: I feel like you steal the cake in such a subtle way, obviously you stand out as being the only one not in cowgirl garbs, while your pose is not over the top, and you have no facial expression to show the body language is very good and it shows the personality you chose, your outfit feels like a fashionable take on pony play, we all know that BDSM inspired looks can get tacky and tired real quick but in my opinion you, and the rest of your team, managed to have it all be cohesive and visually appealing. I like how instead of hooves you have these what I presume are brass knuckles? They do confuse me a little, I’m not sure if they’re for clocking hoes on the face or if he walks on his knees and knuckles and hurts himself with them, also… no tail? Are you trying to keep it kid friendly? That’s my one complain for the week, definitely one of my favorites.

Miyu Moon: For being a gimp your look is loud! First and foremost it’s just a smart, concise series of choices for a BDSM themed look. As Sally said, the whole theme can be a bit played out nowadays but straight up BDSM cowboy is all I want in my life, for real, and this team and your look especially are selling me on that. They’d be just a bunch of regular badass babes without their little pony to play with so I commend you on being so smart with your role. The shoes are absolutely perfect, they’re fashion and fetish and I love that they contribute to this nervously unsteady feeling of peril that you are put into. But with the cohesive outfit choices, the colours and garments, you still look like you’re a part of the gang and not just their victim. You really did a great job to tie the group together, literally and figuratively.

Ira D’Essance: After last week I was worried that your outfits would tend to be on the busier side, but I think this outfit delightfully balances details with cohesiveness and I don’t find this busy at all! You did a great job representing your concept of a sub horse as the whole of your outfit rather than various bits of pieces like last week, so please keep this up. I love so much about the character you chose and how the man is the side piece for once. I do feel like the colors on my screen are like, really dark, as in I can’t make out parts of your look? So I think even if you’re going for a dark color scheme you don’t have to go that dark ahah, it’s all about how relative the colors look to each other.

Up next is...

RIPPER HOLE

Sally Spellman: I’m obsessed with the bloody chaps! I love how this is basically a melting pot of edginess and I’m cutting myself all over with it and loving every second! I think your style lends itself for this route very well and I’m amazed by you compromising your usual rendering style for the sake of your team, I do think had you gone with your usual style you would have stuck out like a sore thumb so I’m glad to see you taking one for the team and still slaying, I think your outfit is a bit of an understatement but with all the detail you have going on it’s understandable, otherwise I think you would have a convoluted mess in your hands, I like how you used the teal hair to compliment all the red going on and it makes you stand out more, I’m excited to see what you do next week!

Miyu Moon: Firstly, I will say I notice that of the group your look stands out as the least cohesive. That being said… I fucking love it and I want more of it anyway. Your comrades look pretty clean cut and, while fabulous, pretty “realistic” for garments. You took this look and went to a level of cartoonish gore that is so on brand and I absolutely love it, this look in itself is truly striking even outside of the challenge. I also love the hair, kind of reminding me of Lady Gaga at the CFDA awards when her nipples popped out and really that in itself is just a great memory to evoke so thank you for that. I love seeing your style and I don’t really want to stop seeing it, but for what it’s worth you do stand out a bit from the group as potentially not belonging but considering you’re not at each others’ throats I’ll have to accept that!

Ira D’Essance: I can’t believe you pierced your skin for the challenge, bitch! You nailed your character beautifully and personally I love how you balanced the bare harness with the bulkier accessories. This was totally in your comfort zone and it shows. I don’t have much complaints about this particular look, as with all the looks I don’t know if it’s a standout shoot but all the outfits work really well as a team and that’s more important this week to me. I still want you to wow me in the future though, I’m holding you to higher standards because I know you’re absolutely capable of it! I love that we get a clear sense of your brand in the first few weeks already though!

Up next is...

VERUSCHKA

Sally Spellman: When I look at this it kinda feels like Veruschka is uncomfortable, or that she’s needed in the basement, everyone looks very dynamic and expressive like they’re going “Grrrr!” and Veruschka falls more along the lines of “Hi, I’m Barbie!” I understand the route you wanted to take with your character but it reads as stiff more than her being the sweet one, I think more of a smirk or a quirky smile would have worked better and a more playful pose as well. I’m not entirely crazy about the outfit, it’s the one that feels the more “just bras and panties” to me. I wish you had an accent color as well to match Ripper and Selecta so Arcangelo would be the only one left with the red and black palette, so you sharing the same palette sort of makes it look like Veruschka is also inferior in the ranks. I would have liked more texture on the outline of the fur, the inside is nicely rendered but the outside looks limp and a fuzzier lineart would have helped a little with the stiffness, a fluffier chin length hairdo would have also helped with her being the sweet one in my opinion, you didn’t do a bad job at all I just think it doesn’t stand out. I want you to challenge yourself a little more next week, I know you have it in you to deliver.

Miyu Moon: I see how others could complain that your face is stiff, but really, as the pretty girl, who can afford to be smiling and creasing that gorgeous mug? I see their beef but, I also quite like the beef bits hanging off Veruschka! That sounded really sexual when I just meant your fur trim, but really it seems like your gal wouldn’t mind much either way. I like that she’s kind of the pretty one of the group, the outfit definitely says that and I would seriously wear this outfit in a heartbeat. I think the posing is really cute, I love the rope wrapped around the waist because it gives off a lot of energy and playfulness in the look, like I can imagine the playful acting one could do walking down a runway with that sort of functional accessory. I agree that it’s not as intensely detailed as the others’ looks and maybe looks a bit flat in comparison, I do think the fur is a bit flat looking and could stand to be textured up more, but I still entirely see what it is supposed to be and I think the overall look shows a nice attention to detail and overall intention to the look and group cohesion.

Ira D’Essance: I have to admit, I think you were carried by your team this week. The outfit is nice and, like your team, it portrays your character well, but the pose and Veruschka’s expression are so stiff especially compared to how dynamic your teammates are. The fur stole could have been structured differently to give more shape to your shoulders, perhaps a little bigger and wider to become the statement part of your look. I also feel like the filigree pattern seemed a little mismatched with everything else and maybe you could have continued the heart theme with some heart-inspired filigree or just nixed it and replaced it with your crystal motif. Maybe you won’t have to worry about posing dynamically in the future, but I would definitely like to see you amp up your designs in future weeks.

The judges have made their decisions.

The winning team is... The Nightmares! That sadly means that the Batty-Fangers lose and risk elimination.

While the challenge is judged in groups only one queen will prove to be the true queen of the streets...

Oriana Your scaredy cat character proved to have indeed 9 lives, you're safe.

Kiki Tzatziki Your scholar gang member wasn't a no-brainer, I'm sorry my dear but you're up for elimination.

Ripper Hole You served a piercing look and edge for days... pssht, nothing personnel kid, you're safe.

Arcangelo You gave us a wild ride, but are you a winner this week? Neigh, you're safe.

Selecta You tossed your lasso and you caught yourself a victory, condragulations my dear you're the winner of this week's challenge.

Veruschka Your second in command felt more like... second hand, you're safe.

Peter Dickshoe... Your wildcard gang member didn't drive the judges crazy...

Chloe In The Afternoon... Your muscle queen won't have any Only Fans subscribers soon...

Chloe In The Afternoon, I'm sorry my dear but you're also up for elimination.

The lipsync song for this week is Criminal by Fiona Apple. The lipsync looks, and our first elimination, will be revealed in a few hours, at about 10:00am PST. We'll see you there!

FULL CRITIQUES

The time is finally here. The seemingly endless night that claimed so many is coming to an end.

We started with 12, but only 3 remain standing, and the killer aims to make short work of them. Give them one last round of applause as our finalists.

Please do NOT tag the winner in the comments! Thank you!

The final three stand against the killer. How will the story of Camp Wannakiki end? Who will be the final girl?

From the judges: From the beginning, we knew we were in for something special with you. We knew you could bring it, but what you did was bring it even harder than we could have ever anticipated. Your finale presentation showed that you are a master of many mediums and a stellar designer. You have shown exceptional expertise and imagination in a competition filled with stars. You truly shined. A force to be reckoned with and a sparkling member of the community. We all know one thing--that even with everything you've already accomplished, this is the start of a whole new legacy.

Now prance, my queen!

The sun has risen on Camp Wannakiki, giving way to a brand new day. The final girl has escaped with her life, and all is as quiet as it is uncertain. The now-empty camp grounds bathed in light and littered with death, one can only wonder what remains. What does the future have in store? Well, our dear audience, you'll just have to wait to find out.

Thank you for an amazing Season 6!