Well, even though this is a few days late, here is my take on the newest season (six) of Project Runway. I don't have Lifetime, so I'm forced to wait until Saturday, when I can watch it online. I am excited that Project Runway is back on again, and honestly the fact that it moved from Bravo to Lifetime didn't really faze me, but I was a little worried about the switch from New York to Los Angeles. As far as I'm concerned, New York is *the* fashion capitol, but I do think inspiration can be found anywhere. As long as they have the resources as far as fabrics and trims and great creative locations for challenge inspiration, I am sure it will be fine. I do think that LA will be an interesting backdrop. Especially with all the red carpet events, movies and celebrities who will really make for some interesting challenges! Like, this first challenge for example. The designers were instructed to design a red carpet gown showing "your innovation and point of view".

They got 2 days, and $200 to do this.

Thankfully Mood has a store in California! This was a typical first challenge. Previous seasons of Project Runway had a similar approach, so the judges can kind of get an overall assessment of what each designer is all about. One thing that kind of annoyed me was, where were all the other designers during this episode? There were 16 designers and we never even saw most of them until the garments were going down the runway. It seemed like during the episode they kept just focusing on the mistakes of the same two people over and over again - Ari with her crazy space age diaper frock, and Mitchell with his unfinished pantyhose nightgown. What about the other 13 designers? It seems as if seasons past had kind of given you a broader overall view of what everyone was working on. But at the same time, I guess with only 1 hour, and 16 people, they kind of had to narrow the focus down and give you the drama that keeps people watching the show.

Because I only had a few minutes to look at each gown as it went down the runway, here is my "professional opinion" of each look. I tried to take notes as fast as I could. In addition, lifetime has a good webpage for this show that has great photos of the gowns of each designer with the opportunity to zoom up on the details. Fabulous! More ability to scrutinize!

Althea Harper, age 24 from Dayton, Ohio. My notes said "Old Hollywood. Long." Here is the link to her photos. Looking at it up close in a photo (verses the 30 seconds of it I got to see on the show) I now know why my notes were so sparse. I like the silhouette, and I like the colors, but the design looks poorly executed. The top could be really interesting, but at a glance it actually looks like she just sewed tufts of chiffon to the bodice with no real plan in mind.

Gordana Gehlhausen, age 45 from Charleston, SC. I really liked this dress. It had an interesting sea foam blue/green color and a sculptural bodice. And I liked, "Geev me dee sheep, I make you a sveater."

Malvin Vien, Age 24 from New York, NY. He's cute but... "There are no words for what I do. It's art." Oh, there are words Malvin. And the words are, you made a dress. An Interesting dress, very impressive pleating.... but red carpet? Not so much. I'd wear it out for drinks with the girls or to an art opening though, for sure! What is that fabric anyway? It looks organic, and knitty. Doesn't strike me as red carpet though unless you're a granola munching activist, waiting to splash Anna Wintour with some red paint.

Mitchell Hall, age 26 from Savannah, GA. At first I thought his dress was going to be pretty cool. I'm into the smocked collar, and the Victorian feel of it. It's unique. But what he sent down the runway was actually pretty boring, and, as the judges said, "Unwearable". I would chop off that collar and make something else with it...maybe short and sleeveless, and use a fabric that wasn't reminiscent of nude Leggs pantyhose.

Louise Black, age 32 from Dallas, TX. One of my favorites actually. I thought it looked well made and glamorous; although the ruffled shoulder is enough flare. I would definitely remove that bow from the back. Not needed and overdone. The back needs to be smooth and clean. But, I'm excited to see more from her.

Christopher Straub, age 30 from Shakopee, MN. The winner! I have mixed feelings about his victory in this challenge. I think it's great that he is all self taught, and feel like for someone who is self taught, this looks nicely executed. But at the same time, they didn't show us how he went about constructing it, and even with the zoom function on lifetimes website, I still can't really tell what it would look like up close. I don't love it, but I don't hate it. I am curious to see what he does next, but to be honest, his portfolio on the Lifetime website makes me feel like I'm looking at a JC Penney Catalog.

Ramon Lawrence Coleman, age 31 from Chicago, IL. The dress is nice, but I feel like there is a little too much design in this one. From the one shoulder neckline, to the pleating and the godets, and those straps hanging down the back.... to me it's just too much design for one dress.

Shirin Askari, age 24 from Richardson, TX. I really didn't like this dress. The cape looked really outdated, as did the silhouette of the dress. It looked cheap to me, and just a little too reminiscent of late 90's prom. The online photo without the cape did show an interesting neckline, but it's hard to tell from the photos if it was masterful drapery, or a lucky mistake.

Epperson, age 50 from New York, NY. I thought overall this was a pretty sweet dress. From the eggplant color, to the tulle hem, and the crazy sash collar. This is one of those dresses that is actually kind of "out there" but is done so nicely that it actually appears pretty sleek and sophisticated . This is one case however where the "zoom" feature on Lifetime's website might be not so good for the designers, as I noticed the hem and the center back seams looked a little messed up. But I feel like, with limited time to finish a couture gown, those are things that probably happen often on this show, and if you're lucky enough to have them over looked, then all power to ya.

Irina Shabayeva, age 27 from New York, NY. Pretty dress. Kind of old Chanel meets your grandmother's closet, but in kind of a hot modern Victoria's secret model way. I liked it.

Ari Fish, age 26 from Kansas City, MO. Okay so her dress was pretty wacky. But I think if it were toned down just a little around the neckline, Bjork would definitely wear it down the red carpet. I did think it was an interesting ensemble. I would have made it a little longer and maybe used the same technique to create the odd shapes but remove those weird blue hot pants and the odd space helmet collar, and it really could have been quite good. I think it was a mistake to get rid of one of the few interesting ones. There were definitely a lot of snoozers in this crowd who I would have sent home before her. The problem with fashion is that almost everything has been done before in some form. Sure, overall this thing was pretty weird. But at least it was something new. Oh well. See ya Ari.

Johnny Sakalis, age 30 from West Hollywood, CA. Okay, it's only been like 60 seconds into it and I'm already so sick of hearing about your addiction. And crying? Really? It's not even the end of the first challenge yet. Annoying! But yeah, like Michael Kors said, this dress in black, would have been pretty hot. But the photos make it look really poorly constructed and kind of basic. Honestly I could have probably made this myself in a few hours. Overall? A SNOOZER.

Carol Hannah, age 24 from Charleston, SC. This is the kind of dress that looks really fun to make. Fluted bodice, easy satin fabrics that are a dream to work with...very nice draping on the front of the skirt. But then when she turns around, it's just all wrong. The silhouette and the bow and the way the fluted pieces go underneath her behind...it just makes her look huge. Again, from a designers standpoint, this dress would be fun to make, but from a stylistic point of view, I would never wear this.

Logan Neitzel, age 26 from Seattle, WA. Logan, you're cute, but you really remind me of Chase from House, M.D.! This was a rockin dress and another one of my top favorites. Love the zippers. By this time in the show however, I am already getting sick of long dresses. Starting to get boring.

Nicolas Putvinski, age 27 from New York, NY. I loved this dress when it went down the runway, but in hindsight I think it's because I've seen it already. I did something with 1'' straps for my senior project at FIT and something similar was also done by Rodarte in their last collection. Either way, I do like it, and I guess no one can avoid doing something "like something else". As long as it's not totally ripped off, I'm cool with it.

Qristyl Frazier, age 42 from New York, NY. I actually feel bad saying this, I really do. But EW. Just ew. I think it comes down to a taste issue, and while there are some women who would love a dress with colors and fabrics like this in maybe Miami or New Jersey, the real issue is that this was not really planned well. It looks, like Nina said, 2 dresses stuck together. Not flattering, not good.

So that's it, all 16. Overall, Project Runway: LA was "okay". I know I will continue to watch. I love Michael Kors and Nina Garcia and hearing their professional opinions on the designs. I was actually impressed by Lindsay Lohan as the guest judge. She actually had some interesting points and valid opinions, and she managed to really hold onto this serious poker face during the runway show, which was pretty funny. It's still pretty early to tell whether or not PR - LA will hold up to PR - NYC. I think there are some good designers in this group, but also a lot of so-so's. It's always hard to tell in the beginning anyway. Knowing on a personal level how hard it is to create something in a limited amount of time, tons of stress, and numerous restrictions, I do have a lot of respect for the designers on this show, and it's really exciting to watch some of them succeed and really take off.

I have yet to watch the spin-off "Models of the Runway" but plan on doing it the next time I'm unable to sleep late at night or find myself with absolutely nothing to do (ha!).

I did review the "All star episode" which ran before the premier of season six, and featured some "star designers" from previous seasons. That can be read here -

FASHION IS FOR YOU.: Project Runway: the all-star challenge.

Looking forward to the next episode!

Project Runway airs Thursdays on Lifetime at 10 p.m. EST.

Kelly Tinsley is an Ann Arbor-based fashion designer who blogs about fashion and style for AnnArbor.com. You can visit her web site at Kellylynne.com, email her at kellylynnetinsley@gmail.com, become a Facebook fan of her designs and follow her on Twitter.