Today for my lecture class we had a very special guest speaker -- Garance Dore, fashion illustrator, blogger, and girlfriend of Scott Schuman of The Sartorialist. Her blog has become one of the most closely followed by the fashion industry and an anonymous French editor said, "Garance is our daily bread." ...If that tells you anything about her impact!
Her lecture was inspirational to students, encouraging them to "take that step" which pushes you to take the first risk and throw yourself at what you aim to do. She talked about noting all of the "platforms" available to us in this age, from Youtube to Facebook to Tumblr, and to have something meaningful to add. Find your identity, find your brand, and make the right choices.
"People will come to you because they know you will make the right choices," Dore says. And when it comes to making sure you are staying relevant to your industry, well, she says if you even have to ask yourself that question you are probably already out of the picture.
She notes that it is of utmost importance to always dive into your fears, as it is the only way to progress. She also said you must ask and find the impossible. Push the boundaries to find a seamless solution.
Something to think about...
Showing posts with label New York City. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New York City. Show all posts
Monday, February 6, 2012
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Things that Fashion Professors Say
This is only the end of the second day of classes here at FIT Spring Semester, but I feel like I'm two weeks in already. We've got homework assignments due before the class even meets and my professors are expecting nothing less than the best. Throughout these last few days I thought I would share some interesting quotes I managed to scribble down. Although I think for privacy issues I have to keep the names unmentioned.
THE GOOD
"You want to find your own identity as a designer, know how you feel about things. To become a designer you can't just make clothes; you can go home and just make clothes."
"This is a school for design, not plumbing."
If you already know what you want to do, it's because you've already seen it before."
THE BAD
"Oh, we're almost done...this is so easy for me." (Read: fashion gurus are cocky as hell).
"Your patterns should look like God made them."
THE UGLY
"If you even survive as a fashion designer..."
THE GOOD
"You want to find your own identity as a designer, know how you feel about things. To become a designer you can't just make clothes; you can go home and just make clothes."
"This is a school for design, not plumbing."
If you already know what you want to do, it's because you've already seen it before."
THE BAD
"Oh, we're almost done...this is so easy for me." (Read: fashion gurus are cocky as hell).
"Your patterns should look like God made them."
THE UGLY
"If you even survive as a fashion designer..."
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Maybe Home is a Thought, Not a Place
Saturday is the day; flying back to the city whether I'm ready or not. So much has changed since I left New York. While I probably would have liked to have been back in the city a little sooner, these weeks home have provided much needed time for reflection. I think, for me at least, I can't be sure where I'm going until I know where I have been. And you can't know where you have been until you turn around a look back for a minute.
The idea of "home" has been something I've thought about so much over the last few weeks, months even. For a majority of my life I lived at the same tri-level going to the same schools. Home was all I knew. Now, I have many homes. My first new "home" was West Lafayette, Indiana. My second was Florence. Third, (and yes I count it because it was such a moving experience -- no pun intended) Paris. Fourth, New York City. Each home has it own scents, habits, memories, friends, and every home I have made on my own. Building nests of comfort in these cities which I never considered the impact of abandoning each. Unable to tend for these nests while building a new one. How can we abandon these homes? These works of art?
There is a song I first heard so many years ago, I believe shortly after I first moved away from home. The one line which caught my attention was the single line which I could empathize with.
"Maybe home is a thought, not a place; you can move and still be safe."
The idea that my home was a strictly an artistic representation of all feelings which comfort me, comforted me further in a time of misunderstanding. That was all I understood when I first heard this song. I attached this phrase to my memory like a deer tick and ran it through my mind whenever I felt anxious.
But now, since my home has expanded to so many more faces and rooms and cities, I found that this entire song is my anthem.
"I wanna steal from you only you, make room for you." I take what I want from these physical homes, to create a room of my own. As a world traveler, I desire these new boundaries, the expansions.
"I am the thief who leaves it behind: the moon and the window." But as a traveler, I can leave it behind as well. The moon -- the intangibles such as the scents and the memories. The window -- the tangibles such as the actual physical bedrooms I stayed in, the addresses which once belonged to me. I'm the thief who leaves it all behind.
I could go on, but I think you get the point. I'm heading back to NYC to continue mass robberies.
Here's the full song: "Souvenir" by The Duke Spirit YOUTUBE LINK
The idea of "home" has been something I've thought about so much over the last few weeks, months even. For a majority of my life I lived at the same tri-level going to the same schools. Home was all I knew. Now, I have many homes. My first new "home" was West Lafayette, Indiana. My second was Florence. Third, (and yes I count it because it was such a moving experience -- no pun intended) Paris. Fourth, New York City. Each home has it own scents, habits, memories, friends, and every home I have made on my own. Building nests of comfort in these cities which I never considered the impact of abandoning each. Unable to tend for these nests while building a new one. How can we abandon these homes? These works of art?
There is a song I first heard so many years ago, I believe shortly after I first moved away from home. The one line which caught my attention was the single line which I could empathize with.
"Maybe home is a thought, not a place; you can move and still be safe."
The idea that my home was a strictly an artistic representation of all feelings which comfort me, comforted me further in a time of misunderstanding. That was all I understood when I first heard this song. I attached this phrase to my memory like a deer tick and ran it through my mind whenever I felt anxious.
But now, since my home has expanded to so many more faces and rooms and cities, I found that this entire song is my anthem.
"I wanna steal from you only you, make room for you." I take what I want from these physical homes, to create a room of my own. As a world traveler, I desire these new boundaries, the expansions.
"I am the thief who leaves it behind: the moon and the window." But as a traveler, I can leave it behind as well. The moon -- the intangibles such as the scents and the memories. The window -- the tangibles such as the actual physical bedrooms I stayed in, the addresses which once belonged to me. I'm the thief who leaves it all behind.
I could go on, but I think you get the point. I'm heading back to NYC to continue mass robberies.
Here's the full song: "Souvenir" by The Duke Spirit YOUTUBE LINK
 |
| FLORENCE |
 |
| PARIS |
 |
| NEW YORK CITY |
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Hurricane Irene: No Need to Panic
WHY YES, I am somewhat behind the headlines, but since my last post was doom and gloom about Irene, I thought I would post the photos of what actually ended up happening (read: I slept through the hurricane completely after hours and hours of Sex and the City, and woke up only to find a down tree, rain and water everywhere, and New Yorkers anxious to get the city moving and grooving again...no hurricane shall slow us down). Oh, and on my walk around town to view the lack of destruction I took photos of some nifty artwork. ;]
Monday, January 9, 2012
Hibernation is for Bloggers, Too
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Come On Irene
Come on Irene; please spare New York City.
I'm witnessing the first time in history when the most densely populated city in the country is being shut down. All airports are closing, subways are being shutdown tomorrow, and there is the first mandatory evacuation in the entire history of New York City. After what was called a once-in-a-lifetime earthquake for this area that we experienced earlier this week, we are all wondering what will happen for New York City after this weekend.
We've been keeping our eyes on this storm all week, knowing it could get ugly. Many universities have chosen to evacuate their students, but FIT remains confident we will be okay to stay here. As the only students on campus currently are freshman, transfers and visiting students who are unfamiliar with the area and its normalcy, we already feel slightly more concerned with the situation. We just received notification via e-mail as what we should prepare to do this weekend, but there have been no faculty or administrators of any kind assuring us personally that we will be kept safe. Events continued as normal today. Some of our friends who have a place to go with family in safer areas have left already, but for a majority of us, we are at the mercy of the storm.
We remain hopeful that Irene will die down slowly and spare the coastline. Today a friend and I went down to the seaport area and out to Governor's Island, both areas which should be completely evacuated by tomorrow afternoon. Grocery stores were full of people and empty shelves. Water bottles were going for 6 for $18 at Trader Joe's. This is my first hurricane so I don't really know what to expect. But most people I have talked to do agree on one thing: they lived here all their life and heard the media hype over and over...but this time, something is different.
I'm sitting on my bed looking out over Chelsea neighborhood from 8 stories up. Listening to the sounds of the city and comforted by the glow of lights from buildings across the street, I wonder how different things could get if Irene does hit with a fury of a storm of the century. Fingers crossed and prayers going out to all along the east coast through the weekend.
Photos from today below.
I'm witnessing the first time in history when the most densely populated city in the country is being shut down. All airports are closing, subways are being shutdown tomorrow, and there is the first mandatory evacuation in the entire history of New York City. After what was called a once-in-a-lifetime earthquake for this area that we experienced earlier this week, we are all wondering what will happen for New York City after this weekend.
We've been keeping our eyes on this storm all week, knowing it could get ugly. Many universities have chosen to evacuate their students, but FIT remains confident we will be okay to stay here. As the only students on campus currently are freshman, transfers and visiting students who are unfamiliar with the area and its normalcy, we already feel slightly more concerned with the situation. We just received notification via e-mail as what we should prepare to do this weekend, but there have been no faculty or administrators of any kind assuring us personally that we will be kept safe. Events continued as normal today. Some of our friends who have a place to go with family in safer areas have left already, but for a majority of us, we are at the mercy of the storm.
We remain hopeful that Irene will die down slowly and spare the coastline. Today a friend and I went down to the seaport area and out to Governor's Island, both areas which should be completely evacuated by tomorrow afternoon. Grocery stores were full of people and empty shelves. Water bottles were going for 6 for $18 at Trader Joe's. This is my first hurricane so I don't really know what to expect. But most people I have talked to do agree on one thing: they lived here all their life and heard the media hype over and over...but this time, something is different.
I'm sitting on my bed looking out over Chelsea neighborhood from 8 stories up. Listening to the sounds of the city and comforted by the glow of lights from buildings across the street, I wonder how different things could get if Irene does hit with a fury of a storm of the century. Fingers crossed and prayers going out to all along the east coast through the weekend.
Photos from today below.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Hello; Excuse Me
Day One in the Big Apple was uneventful for the most part, yet I still got goosebumps crossing the George Washington Bridge into Manhattan. Luckily, I've been to New York twice before, including an unplanned visit to the Fashion Institute (before I ever knew I would end up attending here), so navigating was a breeze. As this is my third year heading to college, the process is quite familiar to me now: pack for hours, drive for hours, unpack for hours, SLEEP. This time though, the driving part was considerably longer (try about 650 miles versus about 120 miles). Fortunately, no surprises through moving in, and I'm thanking God that it did not rain today because I had to leave all of my things on the sidewalk outside of my dorm while I checked-in.
The best part of the day by far was heading to McDonalds for a bit of a quick, cheap din din and running into the most entertaining, eccentric elderly ladies in Manhattan. I was standing in line waiting to order my cheeseburger, and I hear a demanding sounding older lady's voice shout, "HELLO! EXCUSE ME"! I turn around to see two ladies pushing their walkers yet dressed to the nines strolling in behind me. The loud one murmurs a "thank you" as she continues in front of me. They go on to say hi to another friend in the McDonald's and go about their business, knowing that they own this place. Only in this city would I find these characters. I spose that is how you have to act if you want to be noticed here...a little "hello;excuse me" is necessary in the city that never sleeps. Hello New York. :]
The best part of the day by far was heading to McDonalds for a bit of a quick, cheap din din and running into the most entertaining, eccentric elderly ladies in Manhattan. I was standing in line waiting to order my cheeseburger, and I hear a demanding sounding older lady's voice shout, "HELLO! EXCUSE ME"! I turn around to see two ladies pushing their walkers yet dressed to the nines strolling in behind me. The loud one murmurs a "thank you" as she continues in front of me. They go on to say hi to another friend in the McDonald's and go about their business, knowing that they own this place. Only in this city would I find these characters. I spose that is how you have to act if you want to be noticed here...a little "hello;excuse me" is necessary in the city that never sleeps. Hello New York. :]
Monday, August 8, 2011
TO THE BIG APPLE!
I'm still catching up on everything I need to share from Italy, and Switzerland, and Paris..., but I thought I would go double time and also let you know what is going on right now -- which consists of enjoying some time in my hometown with family and soaking up all of the humidity that the Midwest has to offer. However, school starts in just under two weeks. At least, orientation at my beautiful new school in the Big Apple! I'm heading to the Fashion Institute of Technology to study Fashion Design in a one-year accelerated program. My class schedule includes Flat Patterning Design I, Introduction to Computer Design, Apparel Design - Structured Silhouettes, Life Drawing, Apparel Design - Soft Silhouettes, Fashion Art & Design, and last but not least, Sewing Techniques. This girl couldn't be happier. :)
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