Monthly Archives: March 2013

*Spring Break 2013*

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So I’m on day 4 or maybe 5 of Spring Break which means day 5 of being stuck at school in the knitting lab.. think I’m starting to lose my marbles. Anyways I have gotten sooo much done this week though. It is so incredibly relaxing to only have to worry about knitting this week. No class or work pressure and just knitting feels so rewarding.

This week I finished a bunch of my graphs that I need to knit down the rest of my garments. I also knit my jacquard for my dress and knit my sweater on Stoll and I am currently putting together all the pieces. Today felt useless though. I have been waking up so early every day and running to school to grab a machine that I think it is finally wearing into me. I reattached my neck trim 4 times before I got it to be what I wanted. My mind is slowly melting away and my appearance and eating habits are definitely affected as well -___-.

Can’t wait until I can just enjoy the nice weather and take care of myself again haha.

Anyways here’s where I’m at with my intarsia sweater currently!

Keep you updated for more soon!

Hello everyone,

I am a sportswear senior, and currently working on my senior collection as well as all my fellow seniors are on track of. The spring break has finally come, however I cannot say that I am taking this time for having a vacation. Still, it fells like we have a space between classes to focus on our work and think clearly. I recommend you who are staying at campus and in the city to take good rest, and progress in their work, which is what I am doing. Don’t let internships, cold weather and cold or flue to take you down!

The previous weeks we had our critic’s visit, and the model fitting, and I assume everyone is almost (or more) half way through. I started seeing too many interesting works. We have too many talented people at FIT, so it is quite interesting to be involved in this event, and witness the process of these beautiful garments from start to the show time. Here are some images I took while we were having our model fitting. Our professors are helping a lot, and also, Prof. Paula Varsalona are visiting the classes from time to time to help us on our draping and pattern work. And here’s a tip, she is on campus for a little time during the spring break, so if you are at school and need some help, you may take advantage of this!

Hope everyone have a peaceful and healthy break and come back as eager to work as they can!

 

Anil

Spring Break Down…

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We are officially on Spring break here at F.I.T., but for some of us it is merely the spring season, and you can see how that is going. It’s all good though because many of understand that with much success comes much sacrifice. And besides, you can always take a road trip with the guys and dolls of your so called life some other time.

My apologies for playing fairy god mother and guiding you along to a path of self discovery and acceptance into the Fashion Institute of Technology. Here is what some of you have been waiting for; the thesis I have been working on. Enjoy!

My Model of Choice Miss Jaunel McKenzie

My Model of Choice Miss Jaunel McKenzie

Our critic Miss Maggie Norris, thought it best to come up with a muse for our looks. Someone whom I have had my eye on, literally, (New York is a small place at times) is model Jaunel McKenzie from Kingston, Jamaica. She embodies my brand and would really complement the soft yet sophisticated colour palette that I am using very well.

A Sketch of My First Look

A Sketch of My First Look

This is a working sketch of what my look is for one of the two fashion show garments. Think menswear inspired details like pintucks, a high pressed collar, and french cuff links. There is even a drop waist, keeping it in accordance with the 1920s.

Let me know what you think. Who your favorite models are, periods in history, etc.

XoXo – Mark

 

Children’s Wear Senior Class: Great Work Underway!

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Jihaeng’s ruffle jacket sleeves and leggings!

My fellow Children’s Wear designers and I have been hard at work on our garments for the upcoming show.

We have lots of variety of styles and themes in class, from Baroque, Pop Cute, Vintage, Preppy, Urban, Grunge, the list goes on. We all have very different styles and ways of interpreting our themes.

Me and a couple of my classmates are doing our own takes on the Baroque theme, a popular trend for the season. But I bet in the end we will all have very different looking garments. Our color stories vary, but the three of us collectively, if we get into the show, should look really great coming down the runway together I’m certain.

Here’s a preview of some of our themes.

My Baroque theme.

Jen’s similar theme, but we will definitely yield different results. We joke that our looks could be best friends (just as we are!)

But as I said, we’re all doing a great variety of things in our small group of about a dozen students. This past week I took some photos of our current progress! It’s really coming along nicely for us and our professors are quite impressed with our work.

Jihaeng’s jacket progress.

Ivy’s pants coming along.

Helen’s handwork for her dress, looking absolutely beautiful!

Jen’s cape prepped for her black lace applique.

Jen’s coordinating blouse and pants. The toile print is so lovely and fits the Baroque theme nicely.

My dress progress, it look so much prettier in person!

Spring Break is this week, and while many students in other colleges head off for some fun, most of my fellow design students will be sticking around to sew our butts off! This is valuable time for us to get ahead and avoid headaches last minute. I for one will be taking advantage of this time, no doubt about that!

My plan is to have my dress fully complete minus hem and finishing (that will be saved for the final fitting).

Look forward to seeing some serious progress from us next week!

Intimate Apparel: 1st Ensemble Critique

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My lack of recent posts is due to the insane frenzy that was in C714 this past week as we tried to complete our first ensembles for yesterday. While some other specializations work on both first ensemble and the Cotton Inc. ensemble at the same time, Intimate Apparel finishes the first ensemble and then moves on to the cotton ensemble afterwards. (Which means now we only have three weeks and counting to start and finish our cotton looks!) Looking on the bright side, I have to give credit to the lovely Intimate Apparel ladies for pulling it together and really making the first critique an amazing presentation. Our critic, Flora Nikrooz, was present for the critique and we each got one-on-one sessions with her and Professor Armillas to make any improvements on our garments for Judging Day, which is April 17th.

Here’s a preview of the impressive Intimate Apparel presentation:

Front left: Caroline, Angenille, Erin, Jenn, Yazmil, Mira

From left: Alina, Larissa, Yie Sung, Emily, Lindsay

From left: Gina Marie, Me, Tessa, Sara, Nina

Last but certainly not least! From left: Natasha, Judy, Gina

Although some lucky girls are actually getting a break for spring break next week, the rest of us will be in the workrooms starting to drape our Cotton Inc. ensembles. I’ll be back with updates soon!

In Living Colour…

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Life as a fashion design major is many things, but to keep it short and sweet, it’s “Gone With the Wind Fabulous”. You are officially on your own and navigating the “The Wonder Years” in the middle of Manhattan.

The opportunity of meeting your business partner, soul mate, or even post college roommate is ripe for the taking. Always put ample time aside to complete your studies and success is sure to follow. Also in the fashion industry everybody knows everybody so be caring, kind, and not catty. Don’t believe me, ha, you’ll see.

Lastly, believe in yourself! Now is the time to stand up straight and to paraphrase Cher from Clueless, “wear your most capable looking outfits”. Be the young man or young woman who you have always aspired to be. Stick Rachel Roy’s photo on your dresser as a firm reminder if you have to, but never give up.

As always, I’ll be here if you need me. I know the tools of the trade and am not afraid to share.

 

XoXo – Mark

Children’s Wear Senior Class: Fitting Fun

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Helen’s dress muslin.

A couple weeks ago we had our fittings! It was difficult at times, for many of us had to make several adjustments to our muslin prototypes in order to get the best final fit for later.

The little girl we had for Size 5 was so patient, quiet, and sweet. We couldn’t ask for a better little model. Then there was a little Size 5 boy, another cutie, who was also sweet but got a little tired after awhile. Luckily not many of us were making garments for boys.

We also had a Size 10 girl, that only one student, Alyssa, needed. All the rest of us are doing Size 5 girl or boy and mainly girl

Here are a few photos from our fitting session with the adorable fit models.

Our little Size 5 model getting fitted by Jihaeng.

Size 5 Boy getting fitted for Chelsea’s tailored jacket.

Our Size 10 model getting ready to be fitted by Alyssa.

After our fitting, we all adjusted our patterns, tweaked some things, and once that was done we could begin cutting fabrics!

Here’s a preview of the fabrics I’ll be working with and my designs, along with the muslin prototype of my first design. Note that my second dress will be sleeveless (no it doesn’t have two different sleeves! I was trying out options.)

I have 3 garments total, a dark blue velveteen peplum jacket, a dark blue brocade dress, and a dusty blue cotton shift dress with gold lace applique. The first garment is strictly for Fashion Show and the other is for the Cotton Inc. design contest that all of us in Children’s Wear are required to participate.

At this point, pretty much all of us have began sewing something. It’s all coming together! Look out for my next post to see some garment progress! I will be documenting everyones work until show day. Stay tuned!

My Life by the Numbers…

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Attending F.I.T. is pretty awesome and has awarded me some really cool opportunities. Attending Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week, internships at design houses, and even much more. All that and more can be yours with much hard work, patience, and sacrifice. Here is my life by the numbers.

Dancing the Night Away...

A Reminder to Plan my Outfit for the Spring Formal

32: The number of fashion shows attended between freshman and senior year

5: Personal days claimed per semester for each class

3: Industry related jobs held in between programs

100: Professional connections made yearly

1: Nervous breakdown

A Mood Board for Another Personal Project

I find refuge in the versatility a nomadic lifestyle.

The fashion show component of my semester is going well. Today was the fitting and I was totally taken aback, none the less relieved when my garment draped perfectly on the fit model. No alterations needed! Next step, cutting out the fabric, sourcing notions and trims, and lastly, getting some sleep. Dark days are ahead, but the work WILL pay off come May. Ciao fashionistas!

My mentor Miss Tracy Reese & mother Anna Sui

The two ladies that constantly inspire me and serve as a reminder that hard work pays off in the world of fashion.

 

Casting on this week

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We knitwear students were lucky enough to receive a bunch of free yarn courtesy of Lion Brand and we received a bunch of it on Wednesday!
Here are some of the yarns that I got and spun onto some cones to be ready for the machines!


There’s some really beautiful, soft mohair in there. mmmm soft

Then I started testing out some of the yarns on the brother machine.

This weekend though I was able to get back on the stoll machine and knit down my intarsia to find out how it would run. After a long morning of setting up the program and machine, I finally got to knitting on the machine only to find that there were a few glitches leaving my first knit down with a bunch of holes and runs, but, of course, nothing’s ever perfect on the first try now is it? With some fine tuning and revision of yarns I was able to come up with something! There are still a few dropped stitches and the yarns will be a little different but it’s a step in the right direction!

Hopefully I will be able to program my sweater into this computer this week and knit it down soon with my cotton yarns!

Time is winding down so quickly already and things are so busy trying to find time for school, interning, and working… or daydreaming about what I’m going to do after school or thinking about how nice is must be on a sunny and foreign coast right now.
I digress
Just hope I have enough coffee to make it through these next few weeks!

^.^

Choosing Intimate Apparel: For the Love of Corsets!

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One of the most stressful times at F.I.T. is when you have to choose your specialization 5th semester. For those who don’t know, the first two years in the Fashion Design AAS program are the same for everyone, and then at the start of junior year (in the BFA program) you have to choose a specialization for the next year and a half: Sportswear, Knitwear, Childrenswear, Special Occasion, or Intimate Apparel. I came to F.I.T. wanting to do Special Occasion, as I was interested in doing bridal design. Because of this, I took Corsetry I and II my sophomore year because I had extra room for electives, and figured this would aid me in designing bridal corsets. What I didn’t know was that by taking this class, I would fall in love with shapewear garments and decide to make Intimate Apparel my specialization so that I could make more corsets. My corset for my cotton ensemble will be the eighth corset / bustier that I’ve made at F.I.T.! So my suggestion for those who are worried about choosing their specialization is just to go with your gut, check out the BFA shows from previous years, look at the curriculum for each specialization, and to not worry if you don’t get your first choice specialization on D-Day. It won’t be the end of the world, and just because you’re in a specialization doesn’t mean that you’ll be stuck in that category for the rest of your life!

A couple of corsets and a bustier that I’ve made in the past:

Marathon tuxedo corset: took 24-hours start to finish

Body Contour corset

Foundation Design bustier

P.S. I’ll have an update with the Intimate Apparel girls sometime this week. Our first ensemble is due next week so I’ll be sure to get some entertaining video clips straight from C714!