The designers arrived in Brooklyn to see patches of yellow bricks on the pavement and some over-the-top men’s costumes in the workroom. We then had three levels of introductions: Christian introduced the overall theme of the challenge, the great musician and fashion icon Sir Elton John - - he introduced (a video clip of) Taron Edgerton, who is playing Elton in the upcoming movie *Rocketman* - - and Taron introduced Julian Day, who designed the costumes for the movie. He gave the designers a guided tour through some of the costumes he had made. The details: a performance look for the Elton of the 70s or 80s, made for a male model. They were given $400 to spend at Mood and $300 at a trimmings and notions store (aka sequins, feathers, etc). Christian said that the challenge had to be impressive so the designers were bringing back the eliminated designers as helpers. He chose names out of the button bag and it was a flashback to choosing kickball teams in third grade, with the losers left til the end. So humiliating. Of course the designers went coo coo nutty for the super hunky gorgeous male models. Sebastian was having an emotional time because his father is a big Elton John fan, and he hadn’t seen his father or anyone else in his family in three years. On the flip side, Jamall put on some rainbow platform shoes and introduced us to Candy, his 16-year old white girl alter ego. Nice to meet you, Candy! It wouldn’t be Project Runway without grumpiness and flakiness in the workroom. Jamall had a make it work moment when he realized he didn’t have the mesh fabric for his top, so he had to cobble together a mock turtleneck using leftover scraps. Nina was back this week, and *Rocketman* costume designer Julian Day was guest judge. ON THE TOP Jamall: I thought it was too conceptual, too far out there but the judges liked the spirit. Bishme: long and lean, full of attitude. Nina loved that the outfit had a reveal followed by a reveal, it would have the versatility for performance. Garo: holy wow. So exuberant, so beautifully finished. Of course Sonia was cranky that he wasn’t on the runway giving her all the credit. Did she not realize she was The Help? ON THE BOTTOM Venny: the train on the pants was a bad idea and the overall effect was cheap. Tessa: looks like a bedazzled 70s couch. Julian said it looked like something Elton would wear during the day - - ouch. Lela: it looked homemade. Nina said it looked like he had lost a bet. Garo was the winner, but they said it was a difficult decision. I might have given it to Bishme. Elaine said something notable when they were choosing he loser: “Venny has been extremely inconsistent. And Lela has been extremely forgettable.” They chose the forgettable Lela, who got weepy on the runway (that’s always hard to see).