Tag Archives: Intimate Apparel

Show Time!

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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.

 

Model Fitting Day

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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!

Judging Results and Reflections

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I write this post with hesitation, as Judging Day is a slightly touchy subject. For those who don’t know, after Pre-Judging and set-up in the Great Hall last Tuesday, it was decided on Wednesday which of the eighty or ninety garments would be in the Fashion Show. I tried to be indifferent, but then found myself as one of the many students waiting outside the Great Hall for the list of garments to be posted. There aren’t words to describe how much anxiety was in the air. I think a lot of it was from each of us playing off of each others’ emotions, as I feel like we’re definitely a family in Intimate Apparel. We want everyone to get in the show and for no one to be upset, but we had to be prepared for whatever happened. The judging is always so subjective that you never know what to expect. The list ended up being posted an hour after we originally thought it was going to be, as the judges were still deciding up until the last minute. Intimate Apparel ended up getting fifteen looks in the show, which is great! My first ensemble was among them.

Front and back views

With that being said, there were so many amazing garments from every specialization that weren’t chosen for the show. What’s so sad to me is that the judges can’t see all of the effort that goes into each and every garment. Months of planning and work is glanced at for a minute and then checked “yes” or “no” on their sheets. I know that this is the nature of the judging and of the industry, but it’s a harsh reality check. I’ve seen these students work relentlessly every day, night, weekend, Spring Break, and all while dealing with other classes, internships, many times other jobs on top of that to pay for these incredible garments, as well as living expenses. The silver lining of this situation is that in the end, the show isn’t going to make or break anyone’s career. I’ve heard from several professors that have worked in the industry that they have never asked in an interview if the applicant got into the Fashion Show or not.

I’ll update soon with the details about Model Fitting Day, which was yesterday. Stay tuned!

 

 

Photo Update: Intimate Apparel Pre-Judging

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Here’s just a quick photo update of the looks that were chosen to move on to judging in the Great Hall! Everyone did amazing work. Tomorrow is officially D-Day, and we’ll find out by 6pm who made it into the show. Good luck everyone!

Our line-up in the Great Hall:

And finally here is the Intimate Apparel critic award winning garment by Alina!

I’ll be sure to update with how tomorrow goes. However things turn out tomorrow, everyone should be proud of the work they accomplished!

Pre-Judging Aftermath

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I’m currently running on about three hours of sleep from last night. I had to do some finishing touches on my first and second ensembles last night to be ready for pre-judging today. I also had to write a paper for my U.S. History class, which I hadn’t gotten to because I’ve been too busy working on my garments. Anyway, for those who don’t know, pre-judging consists of our professor and critic deciding which garments should be shown at the official fashion show judging this Wednesday. The entire class had a great presentation. I’ll add an update later on with photos from today. Overall, I think we have 33 out of 40 garments moving on to judging, which is great. Our critic, Flora Nikrooz, also announced that the critic award winner for Intimate Apparel is Alina for her beautiful bodysuit and gown ensemble. Congrats!!

Tomorrow from 2-3 pm is Intimate Apparel’s time slot to set our garments up in the Great Hall in preparation for judging on Wednesday. This comes with its own set of stressful challenges, especially because the dress forms are smaller than our forms in class. This is hard for intimates, because the vast majority of our garments sit right against the body. Unfortunately for me, I have two shapewear garments so I’m sure tomorrow will prove to be interesting!

I’m already pushing my limits by being awake for this long and feel like my body is slowly shutting down, so stay tuned for photos from today’s critique as well as a close-up of the critic award winning garment! Also, the Great Hall is open from 2-4 pm on Wednesday for friends and family to come see the entire BFA presentation for all the Fashion Design specializations, so come check it out if you have time!

Saturday Night Life at F.I.T.

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With our garments due in one week, weekends become prime time to work on our garments. Everyone is at different levels of completion at this point. Some people have both ensembles almost completely finished, some of us not so much (I’m in the latter category). It will all get done somehow, it always does!

Here’s some of the Intimate Apparel ladies diligently working on their Cotton Inc. ensembles Saturday night in the workroom:

Anonymous Intimate Apparel student doing beadwork

Judy working on her gown

Jenn deciding what trims to use for the top of her gown

Yazmil sewing lace appliqué onto her tap shorts

As for me, this is what I got to spend a few hours on Saturday night doing:

Cording!

Next week is sure to be exciting and stressful all at the same time, so I’ll be sure to make some updates soon as we’re leading up to it. Good luck to all the FD seniors next week!

Start of Cotton Inc. Ensemble

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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!

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!

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!

The Beginning of the End (Graduation!)

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Hey everyone!

I’m here representing the Intimate Apparel Class of 2013. We’re currently working on our first ensemble which is due in a couple of weeks, after which we get to move on to the cotton ensemble! I decided to focus on shapewear for my first garment, which isn’t something that is generally seen too much in the show. This year’s class is definitely revamping the intimate’s section of the show with new silhouettes that haven’t been seen on the F.I.T. runway before. I don’t want to give too much away, so you’ll have to stay tuned to find out!

Here’s a sneak peek of my first look:

Full control slip: front & side views