There have been many bizarre sights on Project Runway over the years. Like that time Blayne Walsh made an outfit out of beige granny panties, loose-fitting bondage straps and rainbow tulle in inopportune places. Or the Season 8 finale when fan favorite Mondo Guerra was beaten out by Gretchen Jones and her brown basics. Later still, there were the omnipotent eyebrows of both Josh McKinley and Alexander Pope, which demand to be seen and studied if you haven’t already.
What is less frequently recalled, however, is that time in Season 1 when the final five contestants were tasked with redesigning the uniform of the United States Postal Service. To be clear, Kara, Jay, Robert, Wendy and Austin were not using the USPS uniform as mere inspiration for more fashionable designs—as would become standard in later seasons. They were literally supposed to design new, usable uniforms, after spending a day working as mail carriers.
As the 2004 episode still demonstrates, nothing inspires young designers like having to get up at 5:30am to deal with the stresses, strains and general rigmarole of getting people’s mail to them correctly. All while wearing “uncomfortable” polyester pants. (“They don’t breathe!” Kara exclaims.)
In an on-screen interview conducted after his USPS outing, an exasperated Jay declares of the delivery process: “There’s, like, keys and bags and doors and dogs. And reading is involved. And there’s mathematics. It’s more than you think it is.” (Earlier that day, on their mail run, Jay told Kara, “I know what I’m going to design—robots.”)
Aside from their brief foray into USPS work, the designers are guided by mail carrier Becky Negich from “Frank Sinatra’s post office” in Hoboken, New Jersey. “What we emphasize, or are looking for,” Becky tells them, “is comfort and something easy to move around in. We are representing the Postal Service, so we do want to look nice, but definitely have great comfort.”
