Blog Enty #11: Final Project

As I was pulling an all-nighter the other night, trying to finish yet another final project, listening to my roommate moaning in her sleep, I was just waiting for a scene straight out of "When Harry Met Sally" to happen, anticipating a random man popping in out of nowhere and saying "I'll dream what SHE'S dreaming!". It was then I realized just how excited I am for this semester to be over with next week and going home to my very own, private bedroom. I am counting down the days. I will mostly be looking forward to flying into the arms of my lover when I get home, like so:

My cat Poof, and me in a very fashionable outfit

That's my cat Poof. She is my lover. I love cats. No, I can't believe I have a boyfriend either.

Anyway, one final project I did not have any complaints about doing was our project for Creative Fashion Presentations. We had to make a digital fashion presentation and we chose to do a video that showcased trends during this Fall 2011 season around NYC. We decided to go to Washington Square Park by NYU and spent the afternoon stalking people and taking their pictures from afar without their consent or knowledge (à la Bill Cunningham) and looked for a few trends we had in mind, then the rest we waited to find while we were down there. We zeroed in on young women between the ages of 18-30 and seven different trends in total, compiled the photos, and made this video.Take a gander and see if you've been wearing some of these trends! If you aren't, you should probably start doing so so people stop making fun of you for being unfashionable and behind-on-the-trends behind your back. I'm sure no one has been doing that to anyone cool enough to watch this video though.

We had a lot of fun hanging out and making this, gathering all the pictures, and playing around while we were at the park, and I can personally say that I honestly had a good time in this class. It wasn't a "No work, all play" sort of thing, it was just a really good balance of the two and the lessons were interesting. Being in a business major filled with math and research and lots of homework can sometimes make you forget that you're attending a fashion school, but this class is a nice reminder.

Even though this class is ending, I will probably still try to continue blogging here so I hope if anyone reads this, you continue to do so! I mean, you've already put up with stupidity for this long, what would be the harm in a little bit longer?

Blog Entry #10: Christmas Shopping

I just got off the phone with my mom. Ugh. That statement alone should easily generate some empathy from at least some of you. Well, I love my mom, I DO, but everytime I've talked to her over the last 2 months, she's asked me what I want for Christmas (what a terrible mother she is). So what's on my list for her? 1.) For her to drop the air quotes when she says I'm "beautiful"; 2.) Her love. But she told me to get serious and tell her something realistic--even though I inevitably get the same thing every year: a huge gift box with a note inside that says "I let you live" (I'm the middle child--enough said).

However, if you're not like my mom and you have a hard time picking out gifts for the people you know, you've come to the right place. With Thanksgiving already here on Thursday, Christmas is looming around the corner. While I would love to give extravagant, expensive gifts to the ones I love, as an unemployed student living in New York City--wait, just give me a second to stop crying from laughing so hard because there's just absolutely no way that could happen right now. So here are just a few things for which you won't need to break into your piggy bank to please everyone on your shopping list.

For the Jewelry Lover:

The girl who loves jewelry is usually looking for something beautiful, cool, and unique. This body chain happens to be all three. Body chains are a great alternative to necklaces because they can completely transform the look of a plain top or dress into looking like it has metal chains all around your body. Suhhhhweeeet! Triple Coin Body Chain, $28 at Topshop.com

For the Party Girl:

For the girl who is staying out until the sun comes up just like Audrey. (Or the insomniac who stays up eating ice cream and catching up on homework and TiVo). Holly GoNightly Sleep Mask, $15 at FredFlare.com

For the Art Lover:

"Oh Starry Night, these socks are warm and fuuuuuuuzzy." (sung to the tune of "Oh Holy Night", naturally, for those of you who didn't catch on). These socks are perfect for your art-loving friend to wear under her boots or just around the house to slide around on the tile floors. Starry Night Knee Socks, $12.50 at FredFlare.com

For the Crafter:

P.S. - I Made This has been one of my FAVORITE blogs for years now because I love to partake in fun with hot glue guns and glitter, and I like to do crafts too. ;) Anywho, the creator of the blog, Erica Domesek, came out with a book of over 25 crafts with easy step-by-step instructions just like on her blog. Perfect for anyone who loves to DIY anything they can! P.S. - I Made This by Erica Domesek, $18.95 at Shopbop.com

For the Techies:

This Rebecca Minkoff neoprene laptop case is the perfect gift for the friend who won't separate from their precious computer. The pyramid studs double as a weapon against anyone who may try to steal it--a 2-in-1 and that's always a great plus! Comes in pink and purple too. Rebecca Minkoff Pyramid Neoprene Laptop Case, $78 at Shopbop.com

For the Girl with the Roommate Who is Driving Her Up the Wall:

We're in college. For some of us, we are stuck living in dorms. Very small, cramped, living-on-top-of-eachother dorms. There are even those people who live in apartments with roommates and don't get along with them. For all of these people, I present to you a checklist of all the complaints everyone wishes they had the guts to say out loud, but now don't have to! Things like "Do your dishes" and "Turn off the TV"--it is fantastic. I make a motion that they add "Stop moaning loudly in your sleep" and "SAVE THE RAINFOREST AND STOP USING UP ALL THE TOILET PAPER" (Uhh...I heard these were common complaints and they have nothing to do with my roommate). They may need a new roommate afterward, but it'll be worth it to get it all off their chest. Hey A**hole Pad, $9 at FredFlare.com

So the last one may have been completely for me, but I hope the rest helped to at least give you some ideas. Figuring out what to get for our friends and loved ones can be mighty stressful; as if we need anymore stress on top of worrying about final exams, projects, and running out of toilet paper EVERY. DAY. (I MEAN C'MON, SERIOUSLY?? THIS IS RIDICULOUS)

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! :)

Blog Entry #9: New Fashion Show Formats

Where's your phone right now? I bet you could tell me in an instant because let's face it, folks, we're addicted to technology. Our generation started out not being able to go to bed without our stuffed animals and blankets, to now not being able to go to bed without our phones. We use them for the usual phone calls and texts, as well as ignoring annoying people trying to hand us fliers on the street and homeless people shaking their tin cans at us (Oh get off your high-horse, you do it too)--my point being: they come in handy. But I digress.

With the rate at which technology is becoming a constant part of our generation's lives, it's no surprise that retailers and designers are trying to get our attention through more innovative and technologically-enhanced ways. That means changing the traditional format to something we haven't seen before.

Burberry has recently gone on a technological tirade, launching its 2010-11 Prorsum Fall collection in live 3-D and launching new stores equipped with huge LED screens.However, they took it took a whole other level. To celebrate the opening of a flagship store in China’s capital, Burberry’s show featured holograms walking through eachother, multiplying along the catwalk and exploding into snowflakes. This definitely wasn't your typical catwalk. Before the show officially began, images were projected onto huge screens all over the room, including ones of the iconic, signature plaid in bag form rippling across the ceiling. For the actual show, instead of the usual angry-looking models strutting down the runway, there were only 6 angry-looking models walking down the runway and the rest were angry-looking model-like holograms! Of course we know that Alexander McQueen got the ball rollin' in 2006 when he featured an unbelievably chilling and beautiful holographic Kate Moss on his runway.Take a gander at the video below and some of the stills I posted just below it:

Spontaneous Combustion on the Runway?

I spy Abbey Lee in the finale

Five years later after the iconic Moss moment, and this is definitely a bit more updated than Mr. McQueen's hologram for sure. Despite that, I think it was a very neat progression of the hologram runway. Burberry's chief creative director, Christopher Bailey, is young and has been bringing Burberry back into the current age of fashion and technology--and it seems to be working for them. In an interview with Vogue, Bailey said he will try to continue being technologically innovative with the brand. It's all cool, but hopefully the prices on the signature trench won't be holographically or literally doubling anytime soon.

Blog Entry #8: Video Lookbooks

Ever have those days where you look in your closet and feel like you have nothing to wear? It makes me wish I had never left my life at the nudist camp. I mean, what?

...anyway, on such days, I like to take a little inspiration from different lookbooks that designers, companies, and/or stores put out. Lookbooks are a printed showcase of still images of a fashion designer or fashion brand’s collection. They have gotten a bit more creative than just some still images. Designers have started to get with the digital age and put out digital and video lookbooks. They are more editorial nowadays and tend to give a sense of the feeling of what the designer and collection are all about. It also serves to give you ideas on how to wear the items from the collections that are currently out or items that the store is offering. One of my absolute favorite places to look for these are shopbop.com. Most of you have probably heard of them, and if you haven't, they're an awesome online store that has fantastic lookbooks and more...so, like, get on it....now. They're the best because they have multiple lookbooks by designer, by item, by individual style, etc. So you can get tons of ideas for many of different items of clothing--which is super convenient when you need fresh ideas for your wardrobe just before you're about to give up and run to class in your skivvies.

Shopbop has the normal "still" lookbooks that show cool models hanging around in super cool outfits being super cool, and then they also have some designer lookbook videos where there are more cool models dressed cool and being cool with movement and music. It's fantastic for the self-esteem, really. I like things that are not-so-serious (shocker, I know) and more fun, which is why I was drawn to the Alice + Olivia Fall 2011 lookbook video. It's very Parisian-chic, young, ladylike, and playful, filled with lace, silk, sequins, pearls, glitter and everything that is characteristic of Alice + Olivia.

"Ahaha let's play tag in these fabulous clothes so some more fabulous clothes will just magically appear on our bodies" I would play tag all the time if that happened to me. But nooooo, everything good happens to beautiful people and the rest of us are doomed to live out our ordinary lives where we have to physically put on and take off our clothes. That's what I call complete bull-honky, my friends. As depressing as that truth is, it's still nice to look at pretty clothes (and no, I have no shame in being a stereotypical girl).

Blog Entry #7: Trunk Shows

Don't know what a trunk show is? Let me tell you, folks, a trunk show is pure--take a pause--AWESOME. That is, of course, if you're special enough to be invited. I, myself, have faith that one day I'll be sly enough to weasel myself an invitation and walk among the proud and mighty who wander around exclusive showrooms to take a gander at the latest offerings from a designer. Not clear on what it is? A trunk show is a special sale where vendors show off their hot goods directly to store personnel and/or select customers at a retail location or another cool and different venue. Sometimes, trunk shows sell remnant and leftover items from runways, samples, and so on. It usually allows store personnel to preview and/or purchase merchandise before it's made available to the public (in layman's terms: they're hoarding it before me and you can even get ahold of it). At the event, the actual designer is usually present representing their product. A designer can also try to see what sells better or doesn't sell much at these shows to gauge how much of each product they should make or even offer during the actual season.

Christian Louboutin owns the trademark for the red soled shoe that's become such a huge part of the fashion culture because it's so instantly recognizable and just oh so fabulous, dahhling! Well, what girl wouldn't be dying to get a glimpse of, and possibly a chance to buy, some of these iconic shoes? I SURE WOULD. But then again, I die when they have my favorite flavor of ice cream at the grocery store so maybe I'm a tad overdramatic.

Anywhooooo...some people were lucky enough to preview his Fall 2011 collection at Neiman Marcus. They had their glam shoes displayed with the heels wedged over pieces of driftwood that were hanging from the ceiling, made to look like they were just floating in the room. Sigh. I would quickly stop my protesting about having to slip into a bikini and go to the beach if some red-soled beauties washed ashore on pieces of driftwood.

Some nude, gingham, and sparkly wonders

If only my tree branches at home were adorned with gorgeous shoes...

Psh...these attendees think they're better than me...the arrogance...

So we should all strive to acquire invites to some of these exclusive and fabulous gatherings known as trunk shows.

BUT IF YOU GUYS GET AN INVITE BEFORE ME, I BETTER BE YOUR PLUS ONE.

Blog Entry #6: Fashion Video

Ahhhhh, don't you just love remembering childhood? Not the bullies-teasing-you-for-having-glasses part (wahhhh), but the fun parts where you played on playgrounds, still thought Disney was cool (I'm fooling no one, I still think it's cool), and rode the carousels at the fair. Now mix that together with high fashion and you'd have all of my favorite things, as well as the recent Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer 2012 runway show.

I will admit, I think movies with possessed children have ruined me. Now, maybe it's the [slightly creepy] tinkling, music box tune being played throughout the show, but to be honest, if I saw these tall glamazons wearing beautiful laser cut dresses and jackets over hotpants that could be confused for extra-padded diapers, standing still on that huge, all-white carousel, completely stone-faced--I'd probably run in the opposite direction and pray those long-limbed creatures can't run very fast in their pumps if one decides to come after me. HOWEVER, it was a lovely concept that Marc Jacobs had for the show, and quite the opposite of what we saw in the Fall/Winter 2011 show with the dark, kinky, fetish concept.

Umm...this is embarrassing..but I think
you forgot your pants. Also: camel toe.

 For S/S 2012, we saw a much sweeter, innocent, fairytale-esque show filled with very lady-like organza dresses, as well as lace dresses with oversized, lasercut eyelet patterns all done in dreamy pastels. I think Marc (a huge fan of rocking the kilt) gave up pants for Lent and decided to do without them in his show as well, as can be seen multiple times during the show. Many of the looks had daisy applique and wisps of ostrich feather, adding interest to each piece. Many of the models were accessorized with tiaras, structured bags with crocodile detail, as well as pumps of a moderate height with silver toetips to modernize and update these ultra-girly looks. To finish off the show, Marc's best friend, Kate Moss walked out in the final look, which was a beautiful, short, all white (we all know how Kate loves her some white--heh...get it? GET IT?? Aaaaahhhh, you guys get it), ostrich feather embellished dress.

All she heard Marc say was "fluffy
and white"and she was in

Overall the show was unique, extremely beautiful and full of whimsy. Possibly because the rumors of Marc Jacobs leaving to head over at Dior. Whether it be true or not, he certainly ended it with a bang! Or at least a creepy carousel tune...

Blog Entry #5: Fall 2012 Color Trends

What girl doesn't love her a shiny pair of jewel earrings? Jewels are a thing of beauty, so why shouldn't we incorporate some of their gorgeous colors into our wardrobe? I'm glad you asked, because WE SHOULD. And apparently the people at Fashion Snoops and Doneger agree. Much of the time, fall is associated with darks and neutrals to accompany the cooler weather. While those are great staples to have for the season, it's time to break out of the usual fall rut. I see you, PUT DOWN THAT BLACK--I MEAN IT!

Via FashionSnoops

Gucci F/W 2011

Gucci F/W 2011

Gucci F/W 2011

Lookin' like a fancy peacock is what I like to call it. But it's a good thing to be called a peacock--I swear! The emerald green and cobalt blue reminds me of those beautiful, majestic feathered creatures (but they can also be pretty darn cocky, flaunting themselves around like that. Psh. You don't agree? No? Okay, we'll move on.)

The top dogs of Milan, including Gucci, Versace, and Prada have been some of the fashion houses sporting this trend, sending down rich emerald, sapphire, dark pink pieces, and more. The colors are sophisticated, yet fun and vibrant, especially compared to some of the drab colors that can be worn by so many during the fall.

I wouldn't go as far as Gucci did by wearing a chubby, blue fur coat or anything because you could come out looking like you skinned a rare Blue Bottomed Belgian Bunny, but instead try incorporating these colors into your blouses, skirts, and if you're feeling brave, even your pants--sassy!

...And now I'll wait a minute or so while at least one of you Googles to see if that breed of bunny is real or not.

This girl on the streets during London Fashion Week already has the right idea! But that's because being a psychic fortune teller is her job on the side, if you couldn't tell by her turban adorned with a small mirror and feathers.

So pep up your dull fall wardrobe and get some more jewel tones in there! Getting your significant other to buy you a sapphire necklace wouldn't hurt either, but don't you dare go and tell them that I told them to do that because I will deny such accusations vehemently.