Congrats to the F.I.T. Class of 2013!
Arrivederci from the Intimate Apparel Girls!
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Children’s Wear Senior Class: In a Blink of an Eye
Runway image of my dress via Fashionista.com!
So as we all know, last week, May 1st, 2013, was the debut of the Future of Fashion show. It was really exciting to se mines and everyone else’s garments come strutting down the runway. The only downside was a seating mix up that had me and a couple of my friends and our parents sitting in the back row (which we were very frustrated about, but eventually got over it. I blame the girl who seated us in reserved seats…very upsetting and confusing. Word of the wise – Make sure the ushers know where they are seating people!) When Children’s Wear came down the runway however, we all stood up to see, we didn’t care!
As usual, Children’s Wear stole the show. The entire audience was in a frenzy, cheering more loudly than they did for any other specialization. It’s always amusing how people react to children’s garments. It makes me very happy to witness it.
Those little models really worked the runway though! My little one was sashaying like if she was a seasoned Top Model. It was a little scary! Oh and fun fact, my model appeared in a Tide commercial that’s currently airing. I thought that was funny and random, don’t you agree? I can definitely see potential in her future!
It all went by so quickly. I can’t believe that I’m finishing up my final bits of work and in about a weeks time, I will be a college graduate. Four whole years leading up to this. I do however, feel accomplished. I learned so much in my years at FIT, finishing and polishing the skills I originally learned in the High School of Fashion Industries. So I’ve really been doing this for eight years of my life. I’ve come very far since my most humble beginnings.
I do have, like many FIT graduates, a love and hate relationship with the school. I had many excellent professors, got to learn so much that I hadn’t known, but times were tough. Work was no joke. There were a few sleepless nights, all-nighters, mishaps and hardships. But look at me now, I got through it. In the end, everything always worked out.
Now it’s time to look toward the future. What exactly do I plan to do once I graduate? Where will my path lead me?
- Aria
Allow Me to (Re)Introduce Myself…
Hello Fashionistas,
In the spirit of giving, I thought it would be cool to pass this blog over to a dear friend of mine and participant of the “Future of Fashion” show. Introducing Miss Allyssa Collura, hailing from upstate New York!
OSMOSIS
Mark: How have you found the fashion show process while at F.I.T.?
Allyssa: I have found it to be really helpful. It is precision based and aids you greatly in learning the language of designers!
SYNOPSIS
M: What are your main sources of inspiration?
A: Oh lord! I am such a nerd, biology coupled with bio-chemistry does it for me.
M: Whoa! Care to explain.
A: I find the curvilinear quality of things such as Hellenistic art, sculpture, and weaving beautiful.
RIPPING THE RUNWAY
M: Could you explain your creative process to me?
A: Sure. I really like abstract inspiration paired with technical things. To me this equates art.
M: What are your aspirations?
A: To make the best work I can. I would love to assist at a place like Alexander McQueen!
XoXo -Mark E.
Show Time!
After all the hours of draping, patterning, sewing, and sleepless nights…the Senior Fashion Show has finally come and gone. This past Wednesday, the show was produced by a professional company, and those who made it into the show were able to see the fruits of their labor. I feel that for a lot of us, it was a blur. Personally, I don’t remember much of what happened before my garment came out on the runway, because I was so concerned about my garment even coming out on the runway. I was definitely holding my breath the whole time. The students from every specialization really did an amazing job and should be proud of themselves, whether or not they made it into the show. You can check out the video here if you missed it!
Here’s a few photos from before and during the show:
My parents and I waiting in line for the show
Me, Yazmil, and Nina
My beautiful model, Jing, strutting her stuff in my slip! Photo courtesy of fashionista.com
Now we only have two and a half more weeks until graduation, which is surreal! After four years of hard work, I’m sure it will come as a relief for most of us. I’ll be sure to update in the coming weeks with thoughts about graduation and the future! Stay tuned.
Watch the Fashion Show LIVE Online This Evening
The Future of Fashion show can be viewed live online beginning at 6:30 pm Eastern.
Model Fitting Day
With the fashion show fast approaching (it’s already tomorrow!), I thought I would recap on the process of Model Fitting Day. Last Monday, we were all given a time slot to come to the Great Hall to fit our garments. My time was 12:30, so I got there at 11:30, as we were asked to get there an hour early. I could tell by how many of my classmates were still there that they were running late on the schedule. We had a little more of a challenge than some of the other specializations because our garments are right next to the body for the most part. As the models came in, our professor was selective, trying to best match the model’s body type with the style. Some of the more loungewear/sleepwear pieces that were loose could take almost any model whereas the foundation pieces needed models that had the right assets to fill them out.
Basically the system was that whichever models came in when it was our turn were the ones we had to choose from (not us specifically, but our professors and the show director). We waited…and waited…and waited. There was a long span of time where no models were arriving. Finally, at 3:30(!!), I was called to the back. I could tell from how the day had gone that it would be crazy back there, and it was. I was introduced to my stunning model, Jing, and with the help of one of the dressers, we put her in my slip. She’s extremely slender and I could tell from the start that I would have to take it in pretty significantly. My professor thought I might be able to get away with not doing it, but then when she walked the dress was riding up in the back. She did look really great in it otherwise. It’s so different to see the garment on a real person! So in the end, I had to take it in over an inch in the center back and sew in bra pads to help fill out the cups a little bit.
Although I only had a couple corrections, I’m still terrified that it’s not going to fit right. I’m going to be holding my breath until it goes down the runway. (If it even does…if it doesn’t look right and it’s still riding up I’m worried they might cut it from the show.) It’s just extremely difficult because we only get one model fitting. Note to future intimate apparel girls: NEVER DO SHAPEWEAR. It might seem like a good idea until you realize that you fit it to a dress form and that it has to go on a real person with completely different proportions.
Here’s a (really bad) photo from my model fitting. It was too chaotic for me to get a better one, and right when I snapped the photo a professor was fussing with the back:
So I’m crossing my fingers for tomorrow, hoping that everything goes okay and that my alterations fixed all the issues.
The show is being aired live in the Katie Murphy Amphitheater at 4:00pm and 6:30pm and streamed live at 6:30pm online here! Check it out if you can. As for me, my parents are coming in from Pennsylvania for the 4:00 show, and then the 6:30 show is for industry professionals and the critic award winners. It should be interesting. Good luck to everyone tomorrow!
Children’s Wear Senior Class: Post Judgment Day
All lined up for judging.
So the fashion show judging has come and gone. I speak for myself when I say that I was surprisingly calm that day. At around 1pm, we all collectively carted our dressed dressforms downstairs to the Great Hall. We made a mini spectacle in the C-Building lobby with our little kiddie forms rolling through. There were countless smiles and joyous expressions as we passed by everyone in the halls. Everyone is always happy when they see little kids garments, it’s a fact.
We spent the day in class sewing garments we hadn’t finished whilst we watched movies on Netflix on the computer projector – featured films included Aristocats, Pochahontas, and the newest Tinkerbell movie. Yes we are adults, young at heart and proud! It was nice just calmly watching nostalgic films while we waited until 6pm for the judging posting. No use in stressing at that point.
Then the time had come, where we went down to see the posting of who got into the show. Everyone was anxious, and it didn’t help that they were an hour late in posting the results. People were frustrated and on their last legs, many running on no sleep. I felt strange being so calm and collected in comparison.
Then the list was posted, and it saddened me a little when a few students in my class did not get any garments in the show, even if they submitted two. Even though my garment was chosen, it gets diminished a bit when my fellow classmates are disappointed. But no one cried or fretted too much in our group. We all know that we did our very best, and at the end of the day – getting in the fashion show does not equal whether or not you get employed out of college, hard work and determination does (as well as a bit of good luck!)
Nine total garments out of about 17 submitted got in, so about half. It would have been nice to see everyone get something in the show, but it’s understood that sometimes things need to get cut, and it’s not always because the garment was particularly bad. Fashion is a subject of opinions. A garment thats fantastic to one person may be a monstrosity to another, it’s impossible to know. Doing your best work and enacting your design vision is what’s most important.
Tomorrow, May 1st, is the big show day. It will be exciting to see everything walk down the runway. But I tell you, before you know it, it’ll all be over. It’s been a great yet often challenging four years, but as I keep saying, it doesn’t end here!
Plans for the future in my next post, until then! See you on show day.
Children’s Wear Senior Class: Student Showcase III – Garment Completions
From the previous showcase, Thai’s finished outerwear piece. She’s also our class Critic Award winner! Click for bigger!
As promised, an individual showcasing of garments from us girls in C706! Everyone deserves a little spotlight don’t they? I’m here to shine it.
We all did some great work. It really came together. There was a lot learned and plenty gained. I’m astounded at how long we were working on all this stuff! From the guidance of Prof. Seggio and the help and expertise of Prof. Varcelona, we made this all happen. It sure happened quickly. Just one blink and the Fashion Show will be over in a dizzying whirlwind and a couple of weeks after that we’ll have a diploma in hand. Wow.
Let’s not get sentimental just yet, time for the showcase!
Return of the Baroque Sisters, Jen and my own dresses.
Casey’s ensemble finished. I’m getting not only the surrealist vibe, but the 1960′s too. You see it right? Mini Twiggy.
Close up of Janine’s beautiful iridescent wool coat with fur cuffs and pink silk dress. She even found matching iridescent buttons at M&J Trimmings. The bow on the dress is so darling. I’m feeling a bit of Chanel sophistication here. Prim, Proper, Posh little lady.
Jihaeng’s adorable sporty number! I can’t get over the ruffled sleeves and the cute heart face. Just too cute for words really. Bonnie suggested pairing it with winged converses. I agree!
Poorum’s colorful ruffled gown with sequin bodice detail. The little fur vest was so soft and lovely too.
Ivy’s layered look complete.
Klazina’s Girl outfit. Earthy and sporty. I love the fur vest, and plus, it’s reversible! Forgot to get a picture of that! It’s awesome.
Chelsea’s Boy and Girl looks, her Girl being for Cotton Inc. I’m just in awe of these! Her construction is just amazing, and these two looks coordinate quite nicely don’t they! I’d love to see them coming down the runway together. Wouldn’t you?
And I had to single out these lovely details. That plaid check shirt is darling, and the cut cotton lace trim on the skirt is fantastic. Truly hard work, but great work.
Alyssa’s size 10 girls. She also did an amazing job with her construction. The wool toggle coat is a feature from last semester that she made a coordinating ensemble for. These garments really display what Alyssa’s design aesthetic is all about.
What do you think of our work? And you haven’t seen it all quite yet, there’s still some unfinished garments. Many may not end up in the fashion show but hey, they are definitely getting posted here!
Look for the post Official Judging recap next time.
“Murder Was The Case That They Gave Me” -Snoop Dogg
Hello Fashionistas,
Last week was a big one for all of us here at F.I.T. Say it with me, “jury time”! A lot of us were working around the clock and had time for very little.
And believe it or not, some of us didn’t even make it downstairs to the Great Hall for the jury to give our garment a verdict on whether or not it will be in the show.
Where did I stand in the midst of all this beautiful chaos? Upstairs, mad salty, (insert that line from Clueless from the driver’s ed scene) but alive to see another day and continue my thesis by year’s end.
MY PERSONAL JOURNAL…
The synopsis of my collection is the exuberance, opulence, and pure sophistication of the 1920s with an emphasis on “The Great Gatsby” written by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
So far, so good with my use of the finest cottons used for high-end mens shirting such as broad cloth and Oxford, along with the proper accents such as a silk taffeta with Ascot and cummerband. It was great to communicate so closely with vendors and place orders for send outs to save time on things such as pintucks and pleating. Don’t worry I still sewed my little heart out!
SENIOR THESIS LOOK NO.1
I will admit that the smell of defeat has grazed my skin just as much as a bottle of Yves Saint Laurent’s L’Homme Eau de Toilette spray, but the aroma has yet to become neutral. I am not sure of the lesson learned, but I do know this much, having a complete collection means a lot to me and will be so beautiful to behold in the end.
A SNEAK PEEK AT MY ROUGH SKETCHES…
While the lucky few chosen to have their garments in the “Future of Fashion” show are scurrying about doing their fittings with professional models from some of the best modeling agencies in New York, the rest of us are nearing the end of our academic careers, finishing our senior thesis, and moving on to bigger and better things. Hard work pays off and I have a lot more to do so stay tuned…
XoXo – Mark E.
Ahh time to relax….
The storm has passed and I can finally rest easily.. kind of.
We’ve all worked so hard to get to this point and I can’t believe it’s finally here! Our garments are done and we can finally start preparing ourselves for the real world! I’m happy with how my looks came out and can’t wait to shoot them for my website and portfolio! I even made little scrunchies! ^.^
I wanted to share my classmates hard work as well!
I’m so proud of all of them!
Sijeo’s crazy little creatures! and she won critic award <3
Heidi’s crazy, fluffy, beautiful, woven in dresses
Vic’s sensual, slinky ladies 
Nora’s amazing handknit sweater and dip dyed crop top!
Kathy’s INSANE handknit and incredible woven in dress… and her beautiful face
Marta’s most comfy looking handknit bobble sweater. unff
Danielle’s colorful handknit creations!
Andy’s hand dyed, spun, and knit sweater. WERK ANDY. so good
Isadoras magic hands created these handknit beauties!
and me in her beautiful cocoon coat!
Here’s a little lineup of the looks!
I don’t have pictures of everyones yet but hopefully theyre coming!
What a talented bunch they are! So happy to be workng beside each and every one of these talented young designers!
And just so you know, we all celebrated with a relaxing day in central park!
lots of pictures this time!
Will have more next time as well!
To send off here’s a picture with Marta and my little heads… and a banana
