The loss of Simone in last week's episode of "Project Runway" leaves us with one local left to root for. (Although as Rita pointed out in her recap of the show, Jack went to U.C. Berkeley, so that kind of counts. But we'll see how well Chris does before we set our sights on him...)

At the beginning of the episode we were put through the always boring selection-of-the-models ritual. This could be a more entertaining aspect of the show if the models were given the chance to display any kind of personality, but so far they haven't. (Also, how awesome would it be if "America's Next Top Model" contestants had to be models on this show? SO awesome, that's how awesome.)

So, he picked her, she picked her, he picked her, yadda yadda, on with it. Heidi then told the designers they'd be designing for a "pop culture and fashion icon." Remember the season they were told the same thing and it turned out they had to design dresses for Barbie? The designers pondered who (or what) that icon could be, and they threw out the names Madonna, Britney, and Snow White. You know. Snow White, the fashion icon!

Eventually Tim Gunn entered the studio to introduce the icon: Sarah Jessica Parker! There was much clapping, hooping, hopping, and hollering. And some crying. Yes, crying. By our boy Chris, no less! He explained that he was overcome with emotion because "Sex and the City" is the reason he decided to move to New York. (To help save Carrie from her numerous fashion disasters, we hope!)

Sarica Jessica Parker told them they'd be designing a two piece outfit for the Fall/Winter collection of her clothing line Bitten, and explained her line's "manifesto": that fashion shouldn't be a luxury, and quality shouldn't be a privilege. Tim Gunn went on the explain that the outfit would have to retail for a maximum of 40 dollars, which meant they'd only have 15 dollars to spend on materials. Chris came to the conclusion that they'd all have to use toilet paper and Scotch tape. Which, in retrospect, wouldn't have been a bad idea for some of them. The designers would all pitch designs to SJP, she would pick seven winners, and they'd pair up into teams of two to finish the designs.

The first to pitch to SJP was Jack, and his design, in hindsight, wasn't that bad; a nice skirt and cap sleeved blouse. Next came Chris, who, in the middle of his sweaty, nervous pitch (of a knit dress with a turtleneck) had to gush to Sarica that it was incredible to meet her. SJP eventually picked designs by Elisa, Kit, Victorya, Marion, Ricky, Rami, and Christian (who we are pretty sure is actually a character created by Chris Kattan). She then told them that the winning design may (may) be sold at Steve and Barry's stores as part of her Bitten collection.

Speaking of Steve and Barry's, did you know they recently opened a location in San Francisco in the Cannery, of all places? We'd been dying to check out those cheaply made Bitten clothes for ourselves, but weren't willing to travel to Newark to do it. So we took a look this weekend. And those clothes are indeed cheap. Really cheap. So cheap that we don't really care if a shirt we buy busts a seam a month after we've purchased it because the damn thing costs about as much as it would to dry clean it. We'll just buy another one!

Teams were picked, Kit picked Chris, and the teams went a'shoppin. Kit's design seemed to be an '80s throwback, with leggings and sweatshirt. Elisa was once again set up to be the loony, with her "polymorphic" design, and habit of spitting on her fabric to both mark the fabric, and "imbibe it with energy and essence." We are SO never buying anything she ever makes.

As it got closer to runway time, we were surprised by how a lot of the designs didn't seem to resemble the original sketches at all. Kit's and Chris's outfit was a lot darker than the original design, and they deemed it kind of French looking, so they made their model wear a beret. Didn't hurt, actually.

Runway time! Chris and Kit were first; brown leggings and a black sweater. It was boring, but fine. Elisa's dress and poncho were next, and it wasn't as horrible as one would think, although the dress would be hard to pull off for those who aren't size zero. Rami's was leggings (when, oh when will that trend leave us for another 20 years?!) and a brown wrap dress jacket thing. Marion's was awful. So awful. The choice of fabric, a very loose knit, did it no favors, but even with a better woven fabric, the design was just horrible and baggy, and fringy, and see-through, and ugh. Victorya's was a short baggy dress with some kind of long scarf thing attached, and a racer-backed vest. Like Marion before her, she seemed to subscribe to the notion that clothing for women of all sizes means it has to be shaped like a garbage bag, when it fact, clothing for women of all sizes should be just that: clothing that comes in all sizes, regardless of the design.

Christian came next, and it was clingy, aqua colored dress cinched by a brown belt, with a structured black and gray jacket. The dress was so unflattering it made the stick thin model look like she had just come from Thanksgiving dinner. That's an example of a dress designed to flatter no one. Last was Rickey's, which was a very nice, flowy red dress with a wide belt. (All the designs can be seen here.)

Chris and Kit's design was deemed good enough, and for the second week in a row, he was sent backstage without the need to defend or explain his work. As for the winners and losers...Christian and Marion were the two in last place, with the judges deeming Marion's dress awkward, "Pocahontas," dirty, and "out of the basement." Christian's was way too 80s, and the jacket would not work in bigger sizes; Sarah Jessica Parker thought it was too severe in look and color, and that the dress was too snug and too short.

Elisa's design was praised, although Heidi Klum pondered what planet Elisa came from when she heard she spit on her dress. SJP liked Victorya's dress and the judges agreed: she won the challenge. (We saw the dress at Steve and Barry's this weekend, and it's a lot shorter than it looked on the show, resembling a shirt more than a dress, and the vest was a different pattern, and on an entirely different outfit in the store's display.)

The loser was....Marion and his Pocahontas poncho.

Though we kind of wish it had been Christian...

All images from the "Project Runway" site.