I knew he had a show planned in April but forgot about it. Christopher does seem like a wonderful person. The couple of times I chatted with him, he was incredbily gracious and humble.

Kristin, did you see Straub had a local fashion show yesterday? Here’s a review of the show: http://www.twincities.com/ci_14958094?source=most_emailed
One of my photographer friends attended the show and said it was pretty spectacular and added Christopher was a very kind person.
I wish I would have known about the show, I might have gone. Janice Dickenson was there too, it would have been super entertaining, I’m sure.

Fan favorite? Not even close. Christopher Straub had 46 percent of the vote on Blogging Project Runway’s site. Almost 6,000 people voted.
There was a reason we all loved him so much!

Season seven “Project Runway” contestants announced today. There’s definitely a more international flavor this season with five born outside of the States and not Europe. Hopefully that will add some spice to the show. Also it has to help being back in New York City. We need more consistency when it comes to judges.
Go to http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/project-runway to learn more about each of them.
By the way, here’s the latest of Shakopee fashion designer Christopher Straub. City Pages profiles him and reflects on all the Minnesota love.

Christopher Straub is going to be the Grand Marshall at the Friday, December 11, 2009 Holidazzle Parade in Minneapolis.

“Project Runway” fans won’t have to wait long for season seven, which airs Thursday, Jan. 14 on Lifetime Network. The show is set in New York City, so let’s hope Nina and Michael will be more available for judging.

Well, the end has come and Irina is the winner of “Project Runway.”
Overall, the finale was a downer, much like the whole season. If it hadn’t been for Shakopee designer Christopher Straub, I’m not even sure I would have watched.
The whole season seemed dull. The challenges lacked a creative spark and most weeks I only held my breath at elimination if Christopher was on the stage.
Even the finale lacked punch. Carol Hannah’s illness was a lifesaver for producers as it was the only real drama of the episodes. I won’t count Tim Gunn’s worry that the designers were not on stage in time. That was totally manufactured.
Waiting for Heidi to announce the winner was boring, since it didn’t really matter who won. I didn’t love or hate any of the collections. And in the end, Irina was probably the practical choice, having stood out the most throughout the competition. But again, it was rather been there, done that.
I am no fashion maven, however, so maybe I just missed the drama between the contestants - then again, I don’t really like conflict. I’d be interested in hearing what others thought about the season as a whole.

Blogging Project Runway has the complete finale collections in photos. Go to http://bloggingprojectrunway.blogspot.com/ and click on Collection 1, Collection 2, Collection 3 in the middle of the page, under the designers’ photos.
What do you think?

Part one of the finale didn’t give all that much away, except Carol Hannah is sick, Irina has a lot of black in her collection and Althea says “yeah” a lot.
The collections all seem alike, an occurrence when judges take the safe route and bring three similar designers. The over-sized sweaters - been there, done that. Carol Hannah’s gowns - think we’ve seen them already. Ugly pants - definitely been a season for that.
I will be pulling for Carol Hannah in the finale Thursday - and not just because she has Christopher as her work partner. Though that helps!
Carol Hannah seems to be the underdog, not just because of her illness, but her unassuming personality. The other two come off much stronger and fit the “Project Runway” winning designer stereotype. Carol Hannah makes great clothes that fit a woman’s body, similar to season two winner Chloe Dao.
We’ll see what shakes up when the models walk the runway on Thursday’s finale.

Christopher shares his thoughts about season six in Thursday’s Shakopee Valley News. His favorite challenge? Creating a garment out of newspapers. What’s he doing now? Check it out in the print edition.

A Minnesotan gives his take on Christopher’s departure from the show.

Reading some of the blogs about yesterday’s show. Everyone agrees that Christopher should be out (here’s a great summary of why); however, many are angry about the Gordana decision.
“Gordana Gehlhausen was, shockingly, Out. It is a bit perplexing, since her gown was great and so closely resembled the Monet painting, but Nina felt Gordana’s biggest flaw was that she didn’t know who she was as a designer.” Nick Verreos, season two contestant
“Why didn’t GORDANA win for her dress? The judges never seemed to warm up to her. But in my opinion, she was the only one of these designers left who has amazing technical skills combined with an artistic beauty and vision that could really add a voice into the fashion world. Gordana is a clothing maker, yes, but she is also an artist. None of the other girls can come close to claiming this. I’m not even going to mention Christopher.” Chris March, season four contestant Comments from Blogging Project Runway reactions’ post:
“Gordana was robbed.”
“Gordana didn’t deserve the Auf today. Not if they were going by the way they’ve made decisions all season, all these years.”
“Gordana has been unfairly critiqued the whole season and tonight she was aufed without any reason at all. The judges have had some sort of weird prejudice or irrational bias against her: she either makes beautiful outfits that are judged too ‘safe,’ or she makes outfits that the judges agree are beautiful, but she’s criticized for not being confident enough. She could never win.”

“PR” episode 12
We didn’t even need a show.
My sister and I knew exactly who was headed to New York Fashion Week.
It’s not rocket science when three of five designers have never landed in the bottom three up against two designers who have a total of nine bottom-three finishes.
The judges made the right decision, of course, sending the three females to Bryant Park. Any of them could have faltered last night and still had a spot on that famous runway.
Goodbye to Shakopee designer Christopher Straub, who despite no formal training made it to the top five and was the final male remaining.
His dress really wasn’t that attractive, especially after a judge compared it to a long jean skirt. However, I have to give Christopher props for his confidence and sticking with the garment.
“This piece speaks more about me than any other piece I put down the runway," Straub told the judges.
However, he also knew he was the oddball.
“[I’m just the] wacky, weird guy who doesn’t listen and just does whatever he wants to do,” he said.
I didn’t like any of the final challenge dresses all that much. Althea’s was sloppy on top. Gordana’s was boring and simple. Irina’s dress reminded me of a ‘70s Roman goddess - maybe her inspiration by not very realistic. Carol Hannah did the best job capturing her inspiration, I thought, but the dress was safe.
I think I’ll be pulling for Carol Hannah in the finale, if she can make a pair of pants. While Irina has produced the best garments yet, her attitude is a turn off. And something about Althea just rubs me the wrong way. But I’ll have to wait to see the final collections before I choose a favorite.
None of the girls were in the top three in the first episode, but they are the best representatives of the season and deserve to show collections.

It comes down to tonight. Find out if Shakopee’s Christopher Straub is “in” or “out” on his bid to show a collection at Bryant Park on “Project Runway” tonight. Airs at 9 p.m. on Lifetime.

“PR” episode 11
When did ugly become fashionable?
Aletha won last night’s “Project Runway” challenge with one of the ugliest pair of pants I ever saw. She modeled the pants after her winning suit design earlier in the competition, but I agree with Logan, they looked more like Malvin’s egg creation in week two.
But the judges loved them and that’s what matters to stay on the runway.
Poor Shakopee designer Christopher Straub isn’t so loved right now. His “bedskirt” look, thank you Heidi for that comparison, put him in the bottom three yet again. His dress reminded me of the vampire bride dress which put him the top two in the movie genre competition. Wonder if Christopher is getting a little one note?
His outfit didn’t deserve an “auf;” I agreed with the judges. Logan’s Judy Jetson/fashion project/‘80s music video look was bad. Goodbye, Logan. I didn’t think you were so good looking anyway.
I must admire Christopher’s optimism. He loves what he is putting on the runway and that’s really what matters - so says, Gordana.
So on to the final challenge. I’m curious how the judges plan to weed five down to three in one episode without marketing a big double elimination, like they did earlier in the show but failed to deliver on (which in retrospect is what kept Christopher here). Or they may choose to take four to Bryant Park but only let three show. They’ve done that before.
Watching next week’s preview, I can’t make any predictions about Christopher’s future. It’s the third preview that ends with him about to break into tears - or wait, is it he’s so happy for making it to New York Fashion Week? I can’t tell.
If the “Models of the Runway” preview is any indication - which it was to me before episode 10 that Christopher was safe - Christopher’s model Katie seems pretty worried about making it to fashion week. If Christopher were to have been “in,” I can’t imagine she’d be that worried. Therefore, must we assume he’s auf?
All I know is he’s doing something with stalactites - yes, like a stalactites in a cave.
Hmmmmm.

Are they keeping Christopher on “Project Runway” just for the storyline of a small town guy trying to make it in the big, bad world? One blogger thinks so.

“PR” episode 10
Christopher is safe again?! I thought for sure he was out this week. How can you be in the bottom three four weeks and not get sent home?
Maybe he will pull a Gordana and have a couple of strong weeks to carry him to Bryant Park.
What do you think? Did the judges makes the right decision?

“PR” episode 9
Christopher, you’re scaring me.
Three straight weeks in the bottom three and Christopher seems to have fallen from his golden perch. Judge Nina Garcia called his outfit for pop star Christina Aguilera “tasteless.” Ouch. That’s probably not what Christopher is going for.
The last couple weeks (I saw a rerun of episode eight’s wedding dress challenge), Christopher has been very confident going into the runway. The judges, however, have not had kind words.
Irina has pulled away from the competition and found her role as the “mean girl” on the show. Althea and Carol Hannah have also shown some of the best looks in recent weeks. Could it be a female sweep at the finale?
I’m ready to say goodbye to Nicolas. I can’t stand his smiley face anymore. It just gives me the creeps.
Logan and Gordana are also floundering. If either of them or Christopher stumble in episode 10, I expect them to hear “auf wiedersehen” from Heidi.

I missed “Project Runway” Thursday night in bed with the flu. Anyone want to fill me in on what happened? It looked like a fun challenge with wedding dresses.

“PR” Episode 7
Last night’s show gave me a scare. I was worried Shakopee’s Christopher was going to be sent home when he landed in the bottom two. Fortunately, the judges chose to send home “overworked bridesmaids dresses” instead of “disco satin bubble dress.”
I didn’t think Christopher’s shirt dress was all that bad, though I will agree the two looks didn’t go together at all. Even Tim Gunn mentioned that in the workroom. The judges reamed them pretty hard as Heidi said it was “a stretch to think any customer would want to buy them.” And Christopher and Epperson felt so good going into the runway. What a shock for them!
However, I think Christopher deserves a second chance and I’m glad to see him make it into the top nine. Not everyone feels that way, however. See comments from Blogging Project Runway.
What do you think? Did the judges make the right decision?
By the way, Christopher won a challenge on the “Rachael Ray” show yesterday by making an outfit out of vegetables. Check it out here.