This week was yet another design challenge, but I’m not complaining. The fashion is always my favorite part of the show, and season 16 has had some of the strongest runways of the entire franchise. With a goth vibe for this week’s design challenge, the queens that were expected to flop did so, but everyone generally performed well. This is a very talented cast and the whole episode was judged fairly. Here are my opinions on the performance of the top and bottom queens of the week.

My Top 3 of the Week:

1st place – Nymphia – While I love Q’s look and understand her win this week, I hold Nymphia’s performance in this challenge above any other. Her draping dark halo was stunning, and because her face was painted so light, it stood out from the rest of her flowy outfit. With most outfits it’s important to draw attention to the face, and she showed true beauty, grace and elegance throughout every inch of her garment. Nymphia deserved to win, but honestly, the top three contestants were in insanely close competition for this week’s challenge win.

2nd place – Q – I love that Q took a different path to snatch her win this week. Q chose a primarily white look and used a killer clown-inspired garment. Her stitching, the flowy sleeves and each inch of this outfit was beautifully constructed. I especially loved Q’s hair and makeup, which was incorporated so well into the overall piece. Q has established herself as a real contender, and with Plasma out of the way, Q has an easy route to the final four and maybe even the Crown.

3rd place – Dawn – My problem with Dawn this week was that I liked her sketch more than her outfit. Because this show is on television, the tiered black chandelier didn’t pop out against her black dress. Regardless, the dress is beautiful, and her design and concept were extremely out there in a fashionable way. I loved her headpiece and as always her makeup. Dawn really crushed it this week — her outfit would’ve won the design challenge on any other season — but the talented design nature of the season 16 cast held Dawn back from a win this week.

My Bottom 3 of the Week:

6th place – Plane Jane – Despite claiming to be stepping away from her usual runways, Plane Jane stayed in the box this week. Her branding is great, but against the increasingly tough competition around her, Plane Jane needs to do something more than repeat the same silhouette. I want her to provide less padding at least once, showing off her natural shape for diversity’s sake. Her outfit wasn’t bad, but again, this cast is full of extremely talented seamstresses so she fell in the back of the pack.

7th place – Plasma – This look was all over the place. If Plasma had stuck to a single reference, perhaps incorporating the shreds from her sleeves into a full dress, she might have ended up with a stronger product. Her loose white belt stands out against her black pants, but that vibrant white makes the white patterning of her top feel dull and subdued. She wasn’t horrible, just like Plane Jane, but she was competing with Dawn, Nymphia, Q and Sapphira; this look had no chance.

8th place – Mhi’ya Iman Le’Paige – The makeup that Mhi’ya wore this week was my least favorite makeup look of the season. Her face became boxy and darkened, ruining the expected glamor of a runway challenge. While she did bring that glamor with her outfit to an extent, she didn’t make the outfit. She was practically wearing one of Sapphira’s dresses because Sapphira designed and executed the look. Even with this, the runway wasn’t stellar. Mhi’ya needs to be sent home soon, and I’m hoping the coming weeks will see her elimination.

Make sure to return for the next episode of the Racer Ru-view, breaking down more hot opinions on “RuPaul’s Drag Race: Season 16, Episode 10.”