Hey Sarah!
I actually really enjoyed this episode, and was impressed with what all of the designers came up with. I personally thought the judges were too harsh on Katelyn and Tu, however. While their dress wasn’t necessarily innovative, they did put a lot of effort into it, and I think it’s quite remarkable that they could achieve such a well-fitted, curvaceous silhouette, using just duct tape.
I also agree with your high school student comment. They definitely should’ve had more of a say in the outcome of the competition. In fact, that aspect of the show seems almost pointless since their chosen design didn't win anything. On the other hand, I thought it was interesting that the designers were so afraid of what the high school students would think about their dresses when the point of being a designer is to create a look for a client. I guess maybe it would’ve helped to meet some of the students first.

To answer some of your questions, most of the dresses I worked with were made out of mesh material (as you can see in many of the detailed images on his website such as this one: http://www.eliesaab.com/#/en/haute-couture/fw-2012-2013/23/2). As far as the appliqué and beading techniques go, I really didn’t get to see any of the construction process. However, the night before the show, a few of us offered to help sew additional embellishments onto the dresses, and all we were given were cut-out floral shapes, a needle and thread. This leads me to believe that at least some, if not all, of the embellishing is done by hand (which is incredible considering how long it took to sew on just a few flowers). Finally, the dresses were secured with invisible zippers, hooks and eyes—nothing out of the ordinary.