Anya asks for a "really long ruler" and Bryce starts to giggle. Viktor says that he has a "semi-long" ruler and more guys start giggling. Viktor tells them to get their minds out of the gutter. Don't listen! More minds in gutter, PLEASE! Bert is trying all sorts of new stuff. He's dyeing fabric and he's making this really interestingly-shaped pant. They are going to balloon over the hips and his challenge is to not make his girl look silly. There's an accident and Bert knocks several mannequins over. They're like, "Is this some sort of trend? Ow." Laura says, "Man down." Bert replies, "Two man down." Anthony says that the fit of his dress has to be perfect. Laura is burning the edges of her organza to keep in from fraying, which lends itself to the floral theme of her design by resembling wilted petals. She makes a remark about fear of starting a fire and Josh C. says that he is an Eagle Scout and would be able to put out the fire. Love. Is it gross to have a thing for grown up Eagle Scouts? Anyway, Laura hears, "Needle Scout," which is frankly awesome.

Josh M. says that he's interested to see what Becky does for this challenge. He hopes that his direction in the last challenge maybe helped her be a little more creative. That's a crazy thing to say, but I sort of respect him for it. I haven't seen anybody, save maybe Olivier or Anya, do anything so purely creative that it makes Becky look like Holly Hobbie, but clearly people don't have a lot of faith in her ability to innovate. Viktor says that this is the first time he's nervous for a challenge. He's hoping that his dress doesn't look like a House of Dereon design and, shit, that is funny. Somebody says, "Blasphemy." He says that he loves Beyoncé though.

As Bert is picking his teeth, Laura asks him if he's gay or straight. Gay. She tells him that he could play the "straight card" and he replies, "Yeah, well." I don't know what she means by that. Like, be the designer that comes on and says he's straight so that he seems different from everyone else? Truth be told, as many straight guys as gay guys have won this thing, haven't they? That seems disproportionate. Whatever. Laura asks if he's married and he says that he's widowed. Several people "Aw" at the news. She asks if it was sudden and he says no, he had AIDS. Man, Bert is an interesting guy. Just his delivery -- when the previous facts of matters have been as intense as the facts of his matters, most everything sounds pretty matter of fact. He says that they were together for 18 years and it was love at first sight. He interviews that, when his partner John died, he'd never lost anyone that had meant that much to him. It took him to a dark place, which lead to alcohol abuse. His life spiraled out of control and he's glad to be out of that now and enjoying his life again. We get to see Bert Skype with his family. His sister is watching his dog for him, which is cute. She's super excited to see him and says that she's proud of him and that he looks great. He's happy that there are people still around who are rooting for him. Damn. Sentiments like that are earned from having a really fucking hard time. His sister tells him to "make it work" and he does that thing that I have no name for. That gesture sometimes accompanied by an extended middle finger. You know, where you bend your elbow up and grab the crook with your other hand. On some Discovery Channel show about body language I saw years ago, they said it was a sign for an "aggressively erect penis," which is apparently insulting. Who knew? Bert says that you can forget that there are people to go back to that you love and miss.