The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports: “For Milwaukee artist and ‘Project Runway’ contestant Miranda Levy there is one garment that means more than any other: her military uniform.”

“‘I am a female veteran and that means something to me,’ says Levy, who served in the U.S. Army for eight years as a mechanic. ‘It is the most expensive uniform I own, because I paid for it with my life.'”

“She was excited about wearing her uniform on the show and put it on before her first appearance on the runway, only to have producers demand that she remove her Class-A jacket, name plate and the U.S. Army insignia.”

“‘I think initially I said ‘Over my dead body,’ Levy says, adding that this represented a breach of military standards. Veterans and military service members watching the show would see it as dishonoring the uniform.”