Though it is my favorite show on television no matter what the season, season 8 of Project Runway hasn't exactly been the most scintillating of all the seasons (I still miss season 4's Christian Siriano, what can I say!?) but it did get somewhat more interesting when Tim dressed down designer Gretchen Jones for "manipulating, controlling and bullying" her team members in episode 5.
Gretchen said she was hurt by what Tim said. In her after show video blog, she said she was trying to be a cheerleader, not a leader. She said she didn't try to tell people what to make but just went around making sure people finished what they'd committed to.
Gretchen has a Capricorn Sun, as well as Mercury in Capricorn conjunct her south node, so she comes with a wealth of instinctual knowledge about how to get things done. She is practical and has a good sense of how to manage time and materials in general, but also an inherent ability to strategize. Not only does Capricorn provide that ability, but Mercury so close to her south node means she inherently comes with a strong and logical mind. When she focuses on a goal, she immediately starts working out the steps to get there.
Capricorn has been called the sign of the 'manager' because of these traits of know-how coupled with an ability to see how the bigger picture needs to shape up. When Gretchen was "making sure people finished what they'd committed to," she was in prime Capricorn form. Capricorn is not known for it's compassion or sensitivity, mostly because of another saying that we find in the astrological literature of Capricorn frequently which is the phrase "ends justify the means." Capricorn is more concerned with getting to the goal than how it gets there. A Capricorn ideally wants to live with integrity and be thought of well, but it's often not about being liked rather than being respected. Getting what they set out to do done and being a person of their word is a Capricorn intention.
However, the excesses of Capricorn's fixation on the end goal can end up manipulative. While Capricorn isn't sneaky in the same way that maybe Scorpio or Gemini might be, they can be quite hungry for accomplishment and prestige. Gretchen seemed to suffer from hubris after her first two wins right out of the gate which probably fueled her solar ego and allowed The Boss to come out, steering others, however indirectly or unintentionally, toward the ends she wanted.
Her seeming backpedaling (according to the judges, not her) on her opinion of Team Luxe's collection (first she seems proud of it, then she's calling it garbage that she had to salvage) can be attributed to her Mars in Libra. For Libra, everything is relative, and her desire for approval (Libra) clashes in her chart with her desire for respect (Capricorn) in sometimes incongruous ways, like it did in this example. We defend ourselves with our Mars too, so her style of defending herself (in Libra) is likely to be in almost siding with the opposing opinion to diffuse the confrontation. Once her Capricorn Sun was sure she wasn't aligned with a success, her Mars in Libra took over to agree and diffuse, hence the backpedaling.
Was she truly hurt by Tim's remarks? Her Pisces moon suggests she was. With Pluto conjunct Saturn in Libra, squaring her nodes, her interactions with other people are probably often the trickiest spot in her life. She probably has difficulty trusting others and sharing space with others, not out of a lack of desire, but with Capricorn being more comfortable for her (south node), the challenge of softening and sharing clashes with her independent and self-sufficient nature, so it's easier to just get things done rather than bringing people's feelings and ideas into the mix and letting it complicate things.
Her Pisces moon, though, suggests she does have a very tender heart and doesn't want to hurt others. But even her Venus in detached Aquarius makes it difficult to see her soft side until you've gained her trust. We can probably expect her to keep trooping on and getting the job done on Project Runway.
Heavenly Truth 
September 12, 2010 at 8:44 am
Manipulator. Venus trine Mars too…she certainly knows how to be sweet enough to get what she wants. She probably only feels bad about hurting other people when it backfires. Even if the team had won, they still all compromised their personal vision and aesthetic to do her bidding.
October 28, 2010 at 11:16 pm
I can’t stand Gretchen, am so shocked she won, Mondo was the clear winner, it’s ridiculous!!!!!!!!!!!!
October 29, 2010 at 10:36 am
Yes-I am also not pleased Gretchen won – I found her collection very boring!
October 30, 2010 at 1:02 am
I disagree with the people who think Gretchen shouldn’t have won. I think that through her clear aesthetic and her listening to the judges throughout the competition that she definitely pulled through in the end, and took home the prize. Mondo also has a clear aesthetic, and of course a creative element to his designs, but perhaps in the end the judges felt like his collection was too “costume-like” and not necessarily current in fashion. It really came down to a choice between–what the judges were deliberating–salt and sugar. “Salt”, or Gretchen’s aesthetic, won the competition because the judges, mostly Michael Kors and Nina Garcia, felt that her clothes were “ready-to-wear” and fashion-forward in terms of contemporary fashion. Gretchen won because of the clear vision of which she was praised for from the beginning. It is clear that both are winners, in fact, Andy is also a winner! It was just a matter of taste for the final. Apparently “granola” won the taste-buds of the judges this season. 😀
-Eric B.
October 31, 2010 at 5:55 pm
I found Gretchen’s clothing boring and could easily be found today in any department store. No voice. Mondo on the other hand was unique, fresh and fun. I could see young women wearing his designs. What I disliked the most was Gretchen’s attitude, her huge ego and in my opinion a bully. If she wants to build a brand, her personality will be her biggest challenge. She comes across as insincere and obnoxious. Mondo should have won hands down.
November 7, 2010 at 1:36 am
The natal aspect I see in her chart as the most troublesome for her is her Neptune being so close to her Sun.
I have Sun, Moon, Mercury in Capricorn, and when Neptune transitted by Sun (after grinding first past my moon then mercury), it was a life-changer. I came out a different person. It was the most disconnected I’ve ever felt. And I was sooo sensitive–not to people or events that impacted me, but to bunnies and earwigs and the ocean with a beer-can floating in it. It was pretty embarassing.
My husband has Sun conjunct Neptune in Libra. His Saturn transits always nearly drag him to the ground.
I think Gretchen is delusional, and it won’t get better as Saturn grinds over her Mercury. I think she has a real feel of love connected to earth and moon and the bunnies yadda yadda, but she can’t quite touch it with her Capricorn heart. That’s the reason for all of her syrupy, flowery phrasing, much of it self-congratulatory.
Her emotional fragility comes from the Capricorn-Neptune flirtation.
I don’t think she is going to do well in NYC. If I cared enough, I’d run her next Saturn transit and I bet it would give us an idea of what happened between this Saturn-Sun and the next one.
Love your website and your thoughtful writing. Really enjoyed it.