Cloe Cabrera

Cloe Cabrera is the fashion and beauty reporter for the Tampa Tribune, News Channel 8 and TBO.com. Watch her style segments Thursday mornings on News Channel 8 Today and follow her on Twitter at Hot Pursuits @CloeCabrera.

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You go, Irina Shabayeva!

Posted Nov 20, 2009 by Cloe Cabrera

Updated Nov 20, 2009 at 06:14 PM

Yayyyyyyy! Irina Shabayeva was crowned the queen of Project Runway last night.

And I must admit, I agreed wholeheartedly with the judges. So what if she occasionally came off as a b(*%#. Irina really worked that last collection. And it showed! In classic Irina fashion, she said after her win, “I think this deserves a pat on the back, because I did have some stiff competition.”

No kidding, Irina had to step up to the plate to win the title. This girl is a great designer.  While her last collection was Gladiator-meets-Mad Max, it told the story of “New York girl who needs to protect herself with a shield” quite appropriately. And as Michael Kors said, she had the best sense of showmanship of the Final 3. And let’s not forget the little black dress she designed for Macy’s….I swear, I pegged her as the winner when I saw that dress.

My only complaint (and the judges) was Irina’s lack of color. It was all black. Still, her designs were defintely slammin’.

Now, Carol Hannah (my second choice) offered up some pretty pieces, but the judges said they lacked cohesion (I must agree). Althea’s collection, inspired by old sci-fi movies, leather, metallics and oversized knits, made me grab the telephone and call my BFF Miriam (Carol was her favorite). And when the judges said she knows “what’s cool on the street,” we both thought she’d pull it out at the end.

Now, correct if I’m wrong, but Carol did get the biggest round of applause when she first appeared on the runway, right? Mmmmmmmm?

Anywho, I must admit, my favorite moment of the entire episode was watching super cool Tim Gunn lose it for a mili-sec on the designers backstage when their models weren’t ready for the runway.  I love me some Tim (I just interviewed him last week) and he’s never shown that side of him, but boy he’s sexy when he gets mad, right? I love you Tim.

As for guest judge Suzy Menkes, what was that on top of her head? She looked like a sweet little school teacher I had in the third grade. Bless her heart.

Auf wiedersehen. I sure hope there will be a reunion special.

See you next season Project Runway.