Houston native Cesar Galindo came close but barely missed making the finale of The Fashion Show. A seasoned veteran of the fashion world, he wasn't mean enough (contestant Calvin Tran took that slot) or exhausted-looking enough (younger designers Dominique David and Jeffrey Williams could barely keep their eyes open) to possess the TV-saavy traits to make it to the final three in the Bravo reality series.

The episode started with a seemingly simple challenge: Create a collection inspired by earth, air and water. During a boat ride around Manhattan, Galindo and Williams got the idea for a collection of fluid dresses in seafoam green and blue. "We're like two peas in a pod," Galindo said, which in reality -TV speak spells trouble.

Galindo, a whiz at dyeing and draping, effortless whipped up a good-looking goddess gown, a well-draped dress and a questionable puffy jacket and stiff wrap twist dress that proved to be his downfall.

On the other side, the faux-demonic Tran had the idea to create a collection using the colors of black (representing water in his Asian culture), white (air) and brown (earth). David seemed too tired to put up a fight. The outcome: A wildly uneven collection that included a ridiculous pregnancy dress with a padded pouch ("I don't like it enough to hate it," judge Isaac Mizrahi quipped) and a nice cloud-like blouse and unfinished shorts.

Riddled with cliches — models in bare feet and white face walking like zombies — the collection passed as high art for reality TV, so Tran and David moved onto next week's final. That left Galindo and Williams to compete in one last "dress-off" where each took his worst outfit and made it over in 45 minutes.

Galindo lost out, but he didn't seem terribly upset to go. Having shown during fashion week too many times to count ( he even designed some outfits for Gwen Stefani's collection last fall), Galindo always seemed a little too good for the competition in this series.

"The sun still rises and sets," Galindo said in a video on the Bravo site. "I've got to pay my bills."