Ladies and Gentleman of all ages! The time has come for the big reveal! The results are in! I am pleased to report that intimate apparel managed to get 15 garments into the show this year! A HUGE congratulations is in order for Francielle, who took home the grand prize of $2,000 for the Cotton Award!
As for me, I managed to get BOTH ensembles into the show! Not going to lie, I totally jumped up and down when I found out! After three months of grueling hours of hand sewing, the work paid off and I will get to see my creations on real models, wearing real heels, on a real runway to real music, with real photographers from the press taking their pictures!!!! EEEK!!!!
What’s next? PACKING! I leave in 4 hours for the airport! I am flying to Miami where my family and I will be spending the next week aboard a cruise ship sailing through the eastern caribbean! All I can say is I NEED this vacation! One of the small side effects of attending FIT is that you don’t actually have a spring break. The last 3 years, spring break has merely been a chance to catch up on other work! Sophomore year we were finishing our garments for the AAS exhibit, and last year I was sewing garments for the Lululemon Athletica Urban Yogini Competition! This year I am being whisked away on an early graduation present! So I’m signing off for the next week! Here’s to hoping I come back with a tan! CHEERS!
After a grueling 3 months of what some might compare to a fiery pit of hell, our garments were presented today to our critic, Flora Nikrooz. I can not begin to explain the caliber of work that was on display. Each garment was unique and truly depicted a part of the designer. After a brief introduction with Ms. Nikrooz, we were asked to leave the room for an hour while the professor and our critic looked over our garments and decided what would continue on to judging on Wednesday. After stuffing myself with pizza and a smoothie, I returned to the room feeling better than I had in a long time. I was full, rested, and felt a large surge of accomplishment. We were each taken into the room individually, where we were given feedback, suggestions, and told if one or both of our garments would be continuing. Drum roll please… Both my garments are continuing onto judging on Wednesday! Ms. Nikrooz was absolutely smitten with my Cotton ensemble and actually offered me a job on the spot! Of course my mind was in no shape to make a decision like that on the spot, but I was extremely flattered by her words. She said she truly feels that I am going to change this industry. Can you ask for a greater compliment as a designer?
When everyone finished their critiques, the entire class was called back into the class for a few parting words, and the announcement of the critic award winner. Ms. Nikrooz only had nice things to say about her experiences with us and our garments. So did I end up with book-ends? (I already have a critic award trophy from the 4th semester Associates Exhibition) No, but a big Congratulations is in order for Nathalie Quirin! Her ensemble of black chiffon and peacock feathers won her the Critic Award for BFA!
Wednesday brings a new day of doing it all again. We have to arrive at school at 7 AM to put our garments on the forms for judging. Then we wait as the slowest and most grueling 48 hours of our lives passes by. At some point on Friday, the magical list of those students who are in the Fashion Show will be posted. One professor commented that it is the worst day to be at school because of all the upset and angry students. I couldn’t agree more. I intern on Friday, but maybe I’ll take my lunch break to come peak at the list, or just stop by after work. Until then, I plan on the next few days being full of rest, relaxation, booze, and a hair cut.
I am including a short video scan of all the garments that were displayed today to the Critic. I think you will agree- they are “Beyond.”
Come one, come all, D-Day has arrived! In a mere 11 hours, we will be completely done with our ensembles for the fashion show and en route to the nearest bar to celebrate. This experience has truly brought us together not only as classmates, but also as drinking buddies. I haven’t been to a bar since at least February, and am happy to say that comes to an end tomorrow! There are many last minute details happening in the work room, but by 2 pm tomorrow there will be 34 completed garments in room C714… I hope. For those who have been following my progress from the beginning, I am including a video of my finished first and second ensembles. We joke that one is the modern bride, and the other is the 1800′s bride. I’m sure you’ll be able to tell which is which. For the world to see, here are the ensembles that have captured my creativity, tears, sweat, ambitions, and probably a small part of my soul. Enjoy.
In my four years at FIT, it has been a rare occasion NOT to have to pull an all-nighter before a term garment is due. But tonight I am proud to say, “I sleep.”
We are approaching the final stretch! D-day is only 5 days away, and stress levels have already begun to overflow. As we finish up our second ensemble, we are already sketching our third. We are in FULL OVERLOAD mode, and are neglecting classes left and right. We’ve stopped showering, eating, and sleeping. Our normal body functions will slowly start to fade, and we will forget to do simple things such as blink and regulate our body temperatures. What keeps us going? A mix of fear and hope. Fear of the wrath that comes with not completing a garment on time, and hope that somehow or someway this will all be worth it. These next days will be filled with sore fingers, ravenous trips to the garment district, and hallucinations of red flags. Apparently most of us have lost our minds and strange things truly are happening… which makes for great video footage Enjoy.
To execute my cotton ensemble, I needed volume and LOTS of it. I decided to execute the second petticoat of my life using cotton organdy. Of course, the organdy only came in white so I had to dye it to ivory- which in turn, washed out all the starch. I spent over 6 hours (actually almost 10 hours) ironing and starching this fabric over two days. Now that it feel like paper, it is perfect petticoat material. I realize it kind of look like little house on the prairie, but it’s so pretty! Onto the robe at this point. The robe with be made of sheer cotton tulle which will drape over the petticoat. 8 days and counting friends.
10 days and counting until D-day. I remember when that looming date of April 11th seemed light-years away. The general mood among the class: PANIC. Welcome to the REAL Project Runway. The Challenge? Complete an intimate apparel ensemble in 10 days made using at least 95% Cotton. Now while you’re making this ensemble, make sure you are also interning two days a week and taking at least 12 credit hours to stay a full time student. Which brings up another good point: Our professors in other classes ACTUALLY expect us to do THEIR work this week!?!? I mean, can you say BIG PICTURE?!?!
Well, for all the griping, second ensemble is actually coming along pretty well. I have the bra and garter finished, and am currently trying to dye the panty. I would love to start on the robe, but I decided to try to save money and buy my cotton tulle on-line. Only yesterday did I find out that the guy sent it PARCEL POST after I specifically said I need is ASAP! Utter FAIL. I’m trying to knock out anything else that can be done while I’m waiting for the arrival of this grand package. This includes but is not limited to dyeing, cutting lace, beading, making bows, making a petticoat, and draping the robe. No big deal.
Oh, and apparently we’re asking to much to have the supplies we need actually available in the garment district! Since Greenberg and Hammer went out of business last year, it has been impossible to find garters! Steinlauf and Stoller only carries the VERY large vintage ones. So what do we do? Typically we do one of two things: Cut apart a garment from a previous semester that has garters; OR buy a really nasty lingerie piece from H&M or CONWAY and steal the garters! I bought a DISGUSTING fuchsia pink thing they called a bustier at Conway for $9.99 and cut the clear plastic garters off to be used on this ensemble. The garters are covered with ribbon anyways so you don’t really see them. But the fact that there are CONWAY garters on my thousand-dollar masterpiece, well, that will be our little secret.
So we didn’t find out we were doing this blog until our first ensemble was practically finished. Now, it seems a little funny back tracking to write about events that happened 4-6 weeks ago. So instead I decided to put together a little film that more or less sums up some of the moments of those first 6 weeks. I hope you enjoy.
After a long and gorgeous weekend being cooped up in my tiny apartment, ensemble #1, my baby, is done.
This past Saturday morning most of us came into class to get our robes approved by the professor. It was also the time to make any last minute corrections before the due date (today, monday). I embarked upon the hem that took a good 15 hours (most likely, I like to be a little dramatic). Of course, this too, was to be beaded (advice from the professor). I ripped my precious silk chiffon into narrow strips to make the edge trim. Something about ripping your fabric makes the process all that much more satisfying.
I finished the beading for my corset finally (hooray!), and am halfway done with beads on the robe. I love to do beading on my garments, and get very ambitious about it. The people at Bead World on 38th and Broadway know me very well. Sometimes I get a little regretful when I chose the tiniest glass seed bead possible to use. Of course, it takes A LOT longer than anticipated, but in the end it is very much worth it.
Today was presentation day for grading. Check out some close-ups.
complete ensemble
Bra Close Up
The Beading
Presentation day is not the day that our garments are chosen for the show. It is the day where we must be 98% done and we submit our garments to the professor for grading. If need be, corrections in fit can be made or suggestions on how to make your garment better. We all are usually hoping that there is no corrections to be made, but some of us aren’t so lucky. My sleeves needed to be more voluminous than what I made, and the professor and critic strongly suggested that I re-do them. I will do it, not that I want to, and nothing is actually wrong with the ones I have, but it will make my garment better. The work is never over, and my wallet is always hurting.
All of the ladies in the Intimate Apparel specialization are very talented and do just as much work as I do to meet all the deadlines. Here is a presentation from my good friend Madison. She made a beautiful lace body suit with a silk chiffon robe (check out the creative key hole and lace applique, love it). She takes risks in her designs to stand out from the crowd and she always tries to stay true to her aesthetic, which is not always easy. Some corrections aside, she did an amazing job, look for her cotton ensemble to follow!
Wednesday we are starting our 2nd ensembles. Mostly everyone has decided to participate in the Cotton Inc. competition where your garments must be made out of 95% cotton. One person from each specialization will be chosen as a winner, and receive a $2000 prize. Intimate apparel is hard to make in fabrics that do not stretch, for fit and comforts sake, but some people have already made their garments, and they came out beautifully.
Enjoy.
