The Jinx: At one point she wonders if she kicked a rabbit when she was a kid based on how often the team she's on ends up in the bottom. Including an instance where the team that had won two challenges in a row lost after she was transferred to them. Eventually broken when she wins the Duck Tape challenge along with Amanda, and then later wins not only Lord & Taylor challenge but the entire season.
My Greatest Second Chance: Zigzagged. Went from Winner in Season 11, to 4th in All-Stars Season 4, to becoming the Winner in All-Stars Season 7, where her competitors are all champions in their own season.
Odd Friendship: Became friends with Helen in All-Stars Season 4
Perky Goth: While not a completely straight example, since she wears colors other than black and her personal style could be described as "rocker chick" she otherwise fits.
Plucky Girl: Something the judges admire about her, since she stands by her looks even when the judges criticize them. This attitude also inspired her final collection, which cast the women as "hunters" and "lone wolves" going in for "that last kill."
Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Whenever she winds up on the same team as Patricia, which happens distressingly often. Patricia for her part seems oblivious to Michelle's feelings about her.
Patricia Michaels
Braids, Beads and Buckskins: Several things she wears has this aesthetic, and she proudly identifies as a Native American. She also think she's the first Native American contestant on the show, but Santino Rice from Season 2 also had Native ancestry.
Fatal Flaw: Her ability in textile design was considered talented by many, but she lacks the skills into using them for fashion design, in a fashion design competition.
My Greatest Second Chance: Subverted. Went from Runner-Up in Season 11, to first eiminated in All-Stars Season 4.
Native Americans: She is proud of her Native American heritage, reflecting it in every single one of her entries for the competition, and even in the first day she did a traditional Battle Cry.
Signature Style: Her designs mostly showcase how she "creates her own textiles" and incorporates elements of her Native American background, like fringe or horse hair.
Technician Versus Performer: Played with. While she's the "technician" in the sense of making many of her own textiles her general aesthetic moves more towards the "performer" side.
Stanley Hudson
Control Freak: Referred to as such by the judges. In the finale this bites him in the butt because he has tons of work left to do and doesn't really follow the judge's critiques.
Jerkass: Zig-zagged during the Marie Claire challenge. On the one hand, he pushes Tu very hard to the point that the other designers seem appalled, but he seems sincere when he credits Tu for helping him while being judged.
Lookalike Lovers: Though his partner is white they otherwise look very similar, including similar tastes in eyewear.
Ridiculous Procrastinator: Everyone up to and including Tim Gunn were horrified when they realized that he came to the final runway with tons of work left to do. He was sewing models into their dresses literally seconds before they were sent out on the runway.
The Stoic: Usually, though he loses it a bit when working with Patricia for the Lord & Taylor challenge.
Straight Gay: To the point that some viewers were genuinely surprised when he introduced his male partner of 20 years to Tim during his home visit. There was also his reaction to the male dancers.
Dark and Troubled Past: Due to being bullied at school, Daniel used to be an alcoholic and drug addict.
Messy Hair: During Tim's home visit he's sporting curly hair that would make Tim Burton jealous. Usually it's straightened and slicked down.
My Greatest Second Chance: Subverted. Placed 4th in his original season, but he was eliminated 2nd in All-Stars Season 3.
Twofer Token Minority: He refers to himself as being both Latino and gay and how this affected him growing up. However given the makeup of the show and his season's cast in particular he's far from being in the minority.
Crippling Overspecialization: The man can do amazing things with jersey knit. Unfortunately this comes at the cost of just about everything else.
Green-Eyed Monster: After Stanley picks Layana over him he takes the gold duck tape seemingly just to spite him, since he'd been sure he'd be picked. The other designers also comment on it.
The Load: He winds up playing this to Patricia on a team challenge, and lands them in the bottom two. While he goes home that week the next week he winds up on a team with her again as her "randomly selected" sewing assistant, and she more or less has a Heroic BSoD, but manages to pull through. And then happens a third time when he's Stanley's sewing assistant.
Samantha Black
Only Sane Man: When stuck on a team with Richard an Layana, who despise each other. She mostly just keeps to herself and tries to keep things from imploding. She pays for it and gets auf'd.
Coattail-Riding Relative: Something she desperately wants to avoid. Her brother James is a member of Maroon 5 but she wants to be successful on her own right.
Fiery Redhead: She is intense when it comes to the competition
Manipulative Bitch: By her own words, thought she never gets to do this in the competition.
Mistress and Servant Boy: The other designers comment that she and Tu come off this way, and she even flat out admits that one reason she likes to work with him is because he listens to what he says and doesn't really fight with her about what to do. This unfortunately leads to them both getting eliminated.
My Greatest Second Chance: She gets to compete again in Season 12. She places in a higher rank because of her individual performance, in contrast of Season 11 limiting her in function to her partners.
Tu Suthiwat Nakchat
Camp Gay: Though his orientation is not made clear in the actual show.
Mistress and Servant Boy: The other designers comment he and Kate come off this way, and she even flat out admits that one reason she likes to work with him is because he listens to what he says and takes a mostly passive role. This unfortunately leads to them both getting eliminated.
Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Or in his case, ducks. When Heidi has a duck on stage to introduce a challenge he's visibly uncomfortable and explains that he once had a duck chase him.
Benjamin March
Dark and Troubled Past: Was in an abusive relationship prior to the series, and still has issues because of it.
Can't Catch Up: She was notably overshadowed in skill and designs, given that many of the competitors were experienced fashion designers, while she originally came from a Mortuary House and had been into fashion design for a short time recently.
Break the Haughty: Starts off the first episode telling the other designers to watch out, she'll be the winner, etc., only for things to go south very quickly once the competition actually starts. And to cap it off she's the first one out.
Improbable Age: She's one of the youngest designers at 24. Only Kate, who's 23, is younger.
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