With no formal training or previous experience as a designer, “Fashion Star” contestant Sarah Parrott managed to sell three dresses, a reversible jacket and teal pants over five consecutive weeks to H&M.

It was a match made in heaven for the designer and the retailer, except when it came to her latest runway.

Celebrity mentor Jessica Simpson challenged Parrott to create a formal dress, something Parrott had not designed on the show previously. However, Parrott found the task difficult, and ended up putting something on the runway she did not like.

She made the mistake of admitting this to the retailers, who advised her that not what a designer should say when facing something buyers-- if Parrott didn’t believe in her designs, why should the buyers?

Parrott believes it was the combination of not putting her best work forward - and then admitting that fact -- that cost her the competition.

“My creative process is more of, I like to take things apart and put them back together. I like to have more time than one day to look at something,” she says in a recent conference call.  “I think that’s where my struggle really was. So when it comes down to saying ‘Do I regret saying I didn’t like the dress?’ maybe I shouldn’t have used such strong words, but no it was not my favourite thing that I’ve ever done.

“(And) that definitely had something to do with it (the elimination),” Parrott says. “Looking back, that’s definitely something that frustrates me. Because I feel like maybe if I would have, in a sense, kept my mouth shut I probably still could have been (in the competition).”

In the end, the retailers explained to Parrott that she was not their “Fashion Star” since she failed to make sales for the previous two weeks, coupled with the fact her prior sales were only to H&M. 

“It was definitely a tough pill to swallow, I’m not going to lie to you,” says Parrott.  “Did I think it was my time to go home? Definitely not. I think for me it was hard because I did sell consecutively for weeks. The problem everyone was having with (the sales) was that (they were going only) to H&M… so to go home, I was definitely bummed out, but I don’t want to say that I wish it was somebody else though.”

Parrott says she’s not going to let her elimination get in the way of her career.  She’s already working on getting her fall collection into stores, and hopes to continue her relationship with H&M.

“Right now I’m working on my own collection. I definitely feel like I’ve found a home, temporarily with H&M, and it’s not a bad place to stay,” she says. “I would love the opportunity to collaborate with them in the future. I mean it’s H&M, how could I not want to do something with them?”

“Fashion Star” airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on CTV two. You can watch episodes online at CTV.ca