“Watch What Happens” to Terri Stevens on Project Runway

By Ali Trachta in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 17, 2008 5:10PM

Bravo’s fashion designer throwdown show Project Runway is in its fifth season, and we have a hometown hero among the pack representing Midwest style. Woot woot! 39-year-old Terri Stevens hails from Chicago and is a Columbia College alum. Looking like a bit of a headbanger herself, Stevens describes her style as “if Aerosmith met Lauryn Hill met Michael Jackson.” So how did that Frankenrocker aesthetic parlay into the first challenge?

As a throwback to Season 1, the contestants were taken to Gristedes grocery store in Manhattan where they made a mad dash through the aisles, picking up any materials they wished to use in creating a look. Terri’s strategy? “Mop heads, mop heads, mop heads. I’m not gonna use any live produce.” Not a bad idea, really. Who wants a dress that's...wilting?

Terri “made it work” using some badass weaving skills to create a crochet couture top out of the mop strands. But there was one major minus - the bottom to her hip tank-sweater was a skirt made of tablecloth, an all too fabric-like cop out several of the other designers also used, causing Tim Gunn to call them “slackers.” Eeeee.

We didn’t see much rocker/rapper/King of Pop style come through in her look, but then again, probably none of the aforementioned would be caught dead in mop head garb. In the end there was no real feedback from the judges, as she was just “safe” and left the runway early. Still, we figure if Terri can do “supermarket chic,” she can do a lot more. Go, Terri!