Here’s a little (paraphrased) wisdom from Nina Garcia, per last night’s episode of Project Runway: 

“Short, tight, and shiny is the fastest way to look cheap.” 

So true! Maybe that should be the tagline for The Critical Condition.

And did you hear about this season’s gay romance?

Anyway… If you haven’t seen last night’s episode, don’t go past the jump…

So. As much as I’m annoyed by Suede (or “Rayon,” as they’re calling him at Television Without Pity), I thought his dress was outstanding. I also liked Terri’s dress (to the right). I would have put it in the top three.

And let me ask you this: Is the show’s repetitiveness part of its genius?

I was really aware of it last night, since people said the phrase “green fabric” about 500 times. (At first, I thought they mean all the fabric usedin the challenge would actually be shades of green, and I thought, “Really? How challenging is it to make a pretty dress out of emerald fabric?”)

But “green fabric” was just this week’s special catchphrase. There are several repetitive elements that show up every week:

• Right before the runway show, Heidi recaps the rules of that week’s challenge, which the designers have been reiterating throughout the episode and which we learned less than an hour ago to begin with. Do we really need Heidi to break it down for us again?

• Whenever the show goes to commercial, we see a clip of what’s next. In this case, the actual content becomes a repetition of the teaser. Andrew hates this feature and always fast forwards it, and he has a point: Do they really think we won’t come back if they don’t give us a preview?

•  From a broader perspective, there are certain phrases the help you track the progress of each episode. You know you’re near the first commercial break when Heidi says, “Models, this is a competition for you as well,” and you know it’s almost runway time when Tim hawks the makeup room, the hair salon, and the accessory wall.

I know a lot of this is product placement, but some of it is just pandering, right?

However, except for the “coming up next” segments, none of the repetition bothers me. I find it kind of comforting.

What are your thoughts? What are your thoughts on the repetition in Project Runway? Don’t forget: I’m asking you for your thoughts on the repetition in Project Runway.