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As promised, Project Runway's Santino Rice did have a weekend-long yard sale, and while some of you who showed up were disappointed to discover that most of the goods had already been picked over by the more ravenous, early-bird reality TV junk vultures, there were nevertheless treasures aplenty to be had in the form of Rice's Runway reminiscences. Two Defamer operatives, giggly and unabashed Fantinos both, sent in their reports:

I got the feeling from the crowd at Santino's moving sale, that I'd be one of dozens writing in to tell you about it. More fabulous than you can imagine - scarecrow-y Santino in resplendent Santino-gear (hat with bandanna underneath; 80s sunglasses) peddling his lamps, fabric samples, and being assisted by man-model/best friend Tony. Santino received an endless stream of nervous and sincere girl-fans and was gracious and low-talking with all of them. I made off with an actual pair of Santino-designed tuxedo pants, and to the nay-saying judges of P. Runway, my hips, butt and I have to say: the man's designs DO love the female body. Long live Santino.

The second report is after the jump.

We got there a little after noon on Saturday and there was practically nothing left. Just some fabric and his neighbor's bamboo trunk. We ended up staying for about an hour though, talking to him and listening to his stories. He was being interviewed by someone and mentioned some really great stuff about the show and the editing, the people, his work, Red Lobster, etc. I had a long talk with him after and he was seriously awesome. Couldn't have been a nicer guy. Totally warm and approachable and absolutely nothing like he was portrayed on Project Runway. And the Tim Gunn impression is even better in person.

If there were ever any doubts in your mind as to whether reality TV producers would stoop to creative editing to portray their contestants in a negative light, these Santino yard sale patrons' testimonies should put them to rest. Clearly, the real Santino wasn't the conniving, insensitive manipulator of the series, but instead an approachable raconteur whose friendly demeanor had nothing to do with the fact that he was surrounded by gushing fans who also wanted to pay him to haul off a bunch of junk he wanted to get rid of.