At about 9:15 p.m. Thursday night in Lake Forest, a crack of thunder and a bolt of lightening shook cable connections and dropped television signals.
It’s as if someone above didn’t want us to witness Peach Carr’s final judging on Project Runway.
In a challenge that seemed to have Carr’s name all over it—remaking an ugly bridesmaid dress into something modern and wearable—our North Shore peach found herself in the pits.
“If I could do it all over again, would I anything differently? Heck, yeah. I would have done it all differently,” laughs Carr, who said the beginning of her bad design decisions started at Mood.
“I picked out this purple fabric to contrast with the green and Tim [Gunn] told me to put it back,” Carr says. “I should have stayed with my gut and not been swayed. But I was tired and a little broken going into this challenge.”
Last week in a post-show diary, fellow contestant Valerie Mayen took some pointed jabs at Carr about her age, upbringing and taste level. “I let her get to me,” explains Carr. “It’s one thing to attack me as a designer, but when you start saying things about my family—she went too far. Off camera when Tim saw my dress, he said he thought I was throwing in the towel. I was done.”
And while Carr’s goodbye was met with tears by many of her colleagues—most especially April Johnston who called Carr “her anchor,” and Mondo Guerra who said that she brought “joy to the competition” for him—there was nothing but scorn for the night’s winning designer, Michael Costello.
“I’m wondering why I’m even here,” said Gretchen Jones in the final segment of the show, a former front-runner who questioned the judges for selecting Costello’s designs for the top prize two weeks in a row.
As tensions mount in the workroom, Carr says that a real scandal will be breaking soon. “Someone’s bubble is about to burst.”
Without a doubt, Carr left the show on a high as a fan favorite, even if her bridesmaid dress did not. But don’t count Carr down and out. Rumor has it that her designs will be featured in a store near you, very soon.
“I had the time of my life,” she adds. “I’m so happy that as an old lady I was able to run with the kids.”
Be sure to check back next Friday for more from Carr—she still has the inside scoop. And if you have a question you’d like her to answer, email annmarie@makeitbetter.net.
