Mission (Im) Possible…

Leave a reply

Hello Fellow Fashionistas,

I missed you dearly seeing as my only friend has been my dress form Naomi, for the past few weeks. On a positive note the first round of judging is two weeks away giving us all something to aspire to while a great sense of relief awaits us.

Since it has been my unofficial job to cheer people up, make them laugh, etc. I thought I would use this as an opportunity to introduce you to my world…

Walking the Halls

Walking the Halls

F.I.T. is a design school, and despite our lack of national coverage in magazines such as Cosmo, Seventeen, and the like, everyday here is a fashion show. Did I mention that professional models attend here as well. Shh… there a young lady here from the Marc Jacobs ad campaigns. #NotKidding

My Wife, Miss Rachel Roy

My Wife, Miss Rachel Roy

Someone who is really living the American dream and started from the bottom up is Miss Rachel Roy. Click here to see her in action and get an idea of what we are up to here on 27th street, minus the make-up tests and thought provoking hair ideas.

I hope you found this post insightful and downright uplifting. As they say “keep on trucking”!

 

XoXo – Mark E.

 

 

>.< Too much knitting.

Leave a reply

There is one week until we get pre judged on our garments which means we need 90% done . Ugh. Today I think the coffee got the best of me because after about 11 hours in the knitting lab today my hands are still shaking. I was having a hard time picking up dropped stitches. It has definitely paid off though. I got a ton of my trims done today and my dress is almost completely assembled. It’s worth the shaky vision and twitching muscles.

So here is where I have progressed at this moment!

My intarsia sweater is basically done! Just need to bury some ends

I’m looking pretty great too right? ok not really

Today I also knit down a bunch of trims and linked them on the linker!

I was really scared of this machine until today when I realized it indeed is a godsend.

And finally this is where my dress has gotten after my full day in the lab!

So far I think I’m on track! As long as I can stick to my schedule and be preoductive the rest of the lab days this week I believe I will succeed at finishing!

Wish me luck

send me coffee

and sugar

:)

Children’s Wear Senior Class: Good Construction is Key!

1 Reply

Helen hard at work on her dress.

Everyone knows the best garments are made well, with great care, effort, and precision. In the Children’s Wear Senior Class, we are taking that very seriously! With the help of our dear Prof. Seggio and the accompanying helpful expertise of Prof. Varcelona, we’ve all been working hard to sew our garments to their perfection.

The fashion show judges aren’t only seeking out brilliant designs, but the utmost perfect execution possible. There’s no room for flaws here!

We’ve got some talented seamstresses among us. Skills we have honed, some of us for many years and others not since their first few years at FIT.

Here’s a few photos of great work in the process!

Casey’s quilting. Square perfection.

Jihaeng’s adorable jacket with intricate applique details! This takes skill!

Jen sewing her cape lining. Now just wait until you see how it looks on the outside! Look out for that soon.

Be ready to see some of our garments in the near completed stages. Judging day is creeping upon us and it’s time to hustle!

Start of Cotton Inc. Ensemble

Leave a reply

T-minus two weeks until pre-judging for the fashion show and we are just starting our Cotton Inc. ensembles. For those who don’t know, in order to be able to show two garments on judging day, one of our garments has to be made out of at least 60% cotton and three students in Fashion Design will win awards from Cotton Inc. for the best use of cotton. It’s going to take some late nights and all-nighters to get it done, but we’ve made it this far at FIT and by now can construct garments pretty quickly under pressure. I was only able to go to the workroom twice over spring break because I had to move into a new apartment with the help of my family (not so great timing but at least I was able to do it without having to worry about classes!). Nevertheless, I was able to drape and pattern my cotton corset and will hopefully be able to get it finished by next week! At some point this week I will post my promised update on the Intimate Apparel girls, as I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot of each other in the next two crazy weeks!

Here’s the drape of my cotton corset:

I still have a long way to go, but graduating in two months is a great motivation. Check back soon for an update on what’s going on in C714 this week!

*Spring Break 2013*

Leave a reply

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…

Leave a reply

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!

Leave a reply

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

Leave a reply

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…

Leave a reply

 

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