Starting this as usual, I would like to congratulate SarahStarship for winning the mini challenge.
Harlequin Romance. - by Sarah Starship.™ on Polyvore.comSecondly, I would like to welcome BluegrassGalBB to the judging panel. So happy to have you.
On to the critiques...
dashstarr: Huge disappointment. It's almost like you've stopped caring entirely. You've lost your spunk. This set isn't inspiring at all. You also lost the point of having a partner entirely. Your set has NOTHING to do with lala's. At this point in the challenge, creating a set that appears to have had no effort put into it, is a big mistake. On the bright side, it's clearly matador inspired.
lovelierlala: Wowza. The dark samurai. "Those shoes! That belt! Love it. The accessories are great in this set and you can definitely see the samurai inspiration!," is what one judge had to say. Your set was great all around. The outfit was spectacular, and the layout really did it justice. Great job!!!
Stylechix: Back to the red and black. Haha. It looks great. I think you used the colours excellently. You used red mostly as a highlight to your black, which I think looks very matador-ish. I really love all of your choices here. It is a little plain though. You may want to work on adding a little personality into your sets. All of the judges felt that it was "monotone and plain". So definitely spice it up a little bit. Your layout was interesting. I like where it's going but it's needs some perfecting. You layered the major outfit pieces and your picture art very nicely. It was a neat idea to work in the mosaic for the accessory pieces. But remember this...When doing mosaic, the pieces absolutely should never touch. Overall, it was good though. You're improving a lot. Oh...Also, there was perfect cohesiveness between your set and SarahStarship's. Great communication.
SarahStarship: We definitely felt the same way about your set as we did with Stylechix's set. It's good. Item choices are great. Layout style is interesting. There's some tweaking that needs to be done and some personality that needs to be thrown in. But overall it was pretty good. You need to step it up though.
Leonette: I do not see Samurai with this set. I see a bit of a Japanese inspiration, but Samurai? Not really. I like your unusual colour choices though. The majority of the judges felt this set was very boring and entirely uninspiring. Your layout was great however. One judge said, "The background pieces add a lot to the set without overwhelming the fashion items." Try to work on the fashion part though. Try to take more risk.
indecisive: As usual, I LOVE this. The cohesiveness with your partner's set is definitely present. Again, the colour choices are magnificent. Very original. Kudos to the both of you for that bit. A lot of the judges didn't see the matador inspiration here though. Most of them only guessed you were the matador because they could see that Leonette was the samurai. Your jewelry pieces were very unique. Very classy. A little note though...I think adding the necklace was a little much since you already had that big neck piece in there. Perhaps try to hold back a little on too much layering, or even just put more thought into what's necessary and what's not. Overall, it's not my favorite of yours, but it's still good.
oxia: I told you to blow us away and that you did my dear. This is my personal favorite of the challenge. That skirt...Brilliant. The fur shawl...Wow. Every single piece has so much thought put into it. And it's just so sexy. One judge felt that the boots are a little questionable for the overall look and I think I agree. Try to stand back and envision the overall look perhaps. It's great though. You worked very well with ducktape.
ducktape: Again, just like oxia, this one blew me away. I think it's fantastic and sexy and very very samurai. I personally like that you didn't use the same colour scheme as oxia. I think it worked, even though other judges disagreed. A couple of the judges also didn't see much of the samurai inspiration, but I myself think you did the best interpretation. Maybe it's just the comicbook junkie in me that loves this so much. I think for the first time, you have become a subject of disagreement. Which is good, and bad. Personally, yours would have been my favorite if it wasn't for the sweater. I understand this is the you part, but you could have chosen a sweater that matched the outfit a little better.
And now that that is done, it's on to the elimination. I have four beautiful samurais and four gorgeous matadors standing before me. But I only have seven names to call. And those names will represent the ladies still in the running to become Polyvore Forum's Next Top Stylist. And the first name is...
oxia...You have worked your way to the top. Stay there. You know you can.
lala...I'm still in awe by your great set. I wouldn't have expected that from you.
ducktape....You're slipping. Show us something fresh.
SarahStarship...You're still in the running to becoming Polyvore Forum's Next Top Stylist.
Stylechix....Good job.
indecisive...Congratulations!!!
Will Leonette and dashstarr please step forward. I have a samurai and a matador standing here before me. Only one of you is still in the running. The person's name I call will be that girl. The name I do not call will be the girl who must immediately return to the forum, pack her belongings, and go home.
Leonette...You are having difficulty standing out. You've struggled to win the favor of the judges. You've been improving consistently, but this week was a letdown.
dashstarr...You started out at the top and have gradually moved down to the bottom. These last couple of weeks it seem like you've lost interest. You're effort seems to be decreasing. Do you even care about competing anymore?
So who stays and who goes? On one hand we have the girl who's struggles to the top, only to fall back down. And on the other hand we have the girl who started at the top, and has gradually lost her passion.
.....
.......
...........
Leonette...You're safe. Work hard, we've seen what you can do. Don't let this week's boring set happen again.
dashstarr...I'm sorry. It just doesn't seem like you care all that much anymore. We know you're fabulous. But your challenge entries haven't been showing that lately. You're no longer in the running to becoming Polyvore Forum's Next Top Stylist.
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