It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Project Runway's Season 4 is underway. We have been waiting for this premier for months and, as sad as it may sound, Wednesday night was probably the most exciting night we have had in a long time.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the premise of the show, here is a quick synopsis: 15 contestants are given fashion design challenges to be critiqued by a panel of judges. The designer with the worst design will be cut. The grand prize for the last designer standing is $100,000 cash from TRESemmé professional hair care to start his or her own line, the opportunity to sell a fashion line on Bluefly.com and a 2008 Saturn Astra.

The show opened with introductions of the cast. Of course only the most interesting cast members got the lengthy introductions.



One the most "interesting" cast members was Elise. A former marionette puppet designer, Elise doesn't exactly have a fashion background. Not that there is anything wrong with designing puppets, there is however something wrong with designing a dress that resembles someone "pooing fabric" (Heidi Klum's words, not mine). It is safe to say that Elise is the "freak" of the show.

While we are on the subject of reality show casting stereotypes, let's meet a few more cast members (by stereotype of course):

The "loveable fat guy": Every reality show likes a funny fat guy and Project Runway is no exception. The extremely talented Chris is a former costume designer who can design a dress out of anything (including a head of lettuce).

The "sassy black girl": This reality show staple is being played by former model Carmen A. Webber (don't forget the "A"). Carmen believes her ex-model status will give her an advantage over the competition. Only time will tell.

The "punk rock wannabe": No group of designers is complete without a punk rock wannabe. Kit "Pistol" Scarbo has us covered there. Her stand out line from last night had to be "life is too short to have on a bad outfit." Amen, sister.

There are of course many more cast members on the show; including a woman named "Sweet P" who has an alter ego called "Mean P." I am sure we will be seeing a lot of her.

Last night's challenge was to design an outfit that represents you as a designer. It was one of the simpler challenges, especially for this being the season's kickoff. The only challenging part was that the designers had to run across Bryant Park into tents to get their fabrics. The tents were filled with $50,000 worth of fabric from Mood (a NYC fabric store). The greedy designers scooped up every piece of fabric in the tents only leaving behind one creepy piece of "big foot" fur.

The group of designers had a limited amount of time to design their garments and surprisingly there wasn't a lot of drama in the design room, no stolen scissors or anything. I suppose they don't all hate each other, yet.

The final designs were acceptable, but they certainly didn't blow me away. However there were a few bad eggs that almost made me blow chunks.

As I mentioned earlier, Elise designed a nightmare of gown that created the illusion that the model was "pooing" a stream of fabric. The dress was a disaster but I knew that Elise wasn't going anywhere (she is far too entertaining) so she was saved from elimination.

Loser: The designer who did get the axe was Simone. Simone designed a lackluster ensemble that Michael Kors shot down by saying the model looked like she was "dressed in the dark." In her defense, the dress wasn't that bad but the construction was dreadful! A time-crunched Simone actually sewed the dress right onto the model.

Winner: The winner of the challenge was Los Angeles-based designer Rami who created a breathtaking grey evening gown. The dress was practically flawless. Well, except for the MOB (Mother of the Bride) flower that Michael Kors mentioned.

This season is sure to be a good one! Watch Project Runway every Wednesday on Bravo at 10pm, and check back here every Thursday for the Styledash recap!