Hello all;

I cannot believe that after this nearest class that there will only be two left…

There’s three more left, with next class being the third to last.

That, in my opinion, is not nearly enough; I feel that I just went up those escalators for the first time.

Anyway, now’s not the time for reminiscing. Three more is more than none more!

I don’t have much else to say, however.

All I really have to say is that I’m planning on cutting out the fabric for my dress and perhaps even starting it.

(I’d say starting it with more certainty if it had not taken me so long to cut the pattern in the first place!)

-Tessa

This past Saturday marked the second trip that I took with my Fashion
Forecasting class. Unlike last time, I avoided my Weather Channel app, and went simply with my gut in order to choose the best outfit.

I knew we’d be walking a lot, so I decided that my white hi-tops would be the most comfortable to stroll in. Alongside those, I slipped on my slouchy boyfriend jeans, a plain white tee (can’t get enough of those!) and an army green, peplum jacket. From the time that I stepped out of my house to get to the train station, I could tell that it was going to be a gorgeous day. Even though commuting to FIT has become a routine, there is a sense of excitement that always runs through me, despite the fact that I’m half asleep at 7:30 to catch my train.

As the escalator brought me out of Penn and inches away from the city
streets, a warm aura surrounded me. The sun created a yellow glow in the sky and I stood still for a minute just to soak up the warmth. After realizing that I wasn’t alone, and that there were some bystanders staring at me, I made my way towards 7th ave and 27th street, where my Saturday morning would officially begin.
That morning, my time in the classroom was short. Once my teacher and all the students arrived, we quickly signed in, and then set out on our voyage for the day. For this trip, we were going to visit JC Penney’s and Lord and Taylor. Our assignment was to compare the latest trends within these two stores and look at quality, quantity, and price point. While I was looking forward to our trip, I didn’t want to spend the whole time in the stores because it was so nice out. Lucky for me, or at least at the start of the day before my feet felt like they were going to fall off, we did a lot of walking in order to get there.

Some of the most common trends that I picked up were floral prints, orange hues, graphic patterns, strappy sandals, ballet flats, and satchels/structured bags.
All of these trends have been extremely prevalent in other stores as well, so I was not surprised to see them being displayed here. If I were to choose my favorite store out of the two, I would most likely pick Lord and Taylor. While Lord and Taylor is known to be pricier and carry more high-end brands, I felt that the store was a lot more welcoming compared to JC Penney’s. Lord and Taylor was very organized and clean, which made the huge store less of a hassle to walk through. While I was in JC Penney’s, I felt less comforted with the gray walls, tight clothing racks, and messy
shoe department.

Although this trip was solely meant for looking, I did happen to do a little
shopping. While in the Free People section of Lord and Taylor, I found the perfect white summer dress, which is something that I have been hunting for. In my opinion, a dress like this is mandatory for your summer wardrobe, because it can be worn with anything: leather jacket, cowboy boots, bright jewelry, literally anything.
When we got back to the classroom, I was completely worn out. After all that walking and having only eaten a protein bar that morning, I was both tired and hungry (the worst combination of all). After picking up my belongings, I dashed over to the café across from FIT, and bought the most amazing smoothie that I discovered last year. This concoction, called the Oreo smoothie, is filled with vanilla yogurt, bananas, milk, and of course, Oreo cookie pieces. I swear I drank the whole thing in less than five minutes, partly because I was so hungry and partly because it was so
delicious!

Now that I gained some energy after having a smoothie “lunch”, I made way
back to Penn to board the next train. Overall, I would say that my day was a
successful one. I got a ton of exercise from walking, looked at clothing for 2+ hours, crossed off an item on my spring shopping list, and treated myself to smoothie you can only find in NYC. Next class, I will have to present my final project, which will be a forecast of I trend I believe will exist in Spring 2014. And what is this trends you may be wondering? You’ll just have to wait and see!

xxx, Caroline

I always check the weather before I go to bed. When I had checked it on Friday to see what type of outfit I would need for Saturday morning, a huge grin spread across my face as I read numbers that reached above the 60s. Though I was wishing for temperatures closer to 80°, the 60s would suffice, because I had the perfect spring outfit in mind.

When I woke up Saturday morning, I looked out the window to see if the sun was shining yet. There was no sun in sight, but I kept a positive mindset, and assumed it would peak out by the time I arrived in the city. After going through my regular morning rituals, I swung open my closet doors and eyed the pieces that I was going to wear:

- My gorgeous green suede jacket I got in France this February

- A pair of cuffed railroad striped jeans

- The simple, yet timeless white tee

- A brightly flowered scarf

- And my classic black Dr. Martens

To me, this ensemble screamed spring, which is exactly what I was looking for. I stood in front of the mirror and felt a happy feeling dance through body. I was ready to take on spring; and the city, all in one day.

When I arrived at Penn Station, I got my usual iced green tea (with two Splenda, I highly recommend) from Starbucks, and made my way to the escalator that brings you to 7th avenue. As I jumped on to ride the stairs, I felt a huge gust of wind fly over me. “It must be from an air vent, there is no way 65° feels like this,” I thought. Once I stepped out onto the street; however, reality hit me. It was the coldest 65° I had ever felt, and I was truly disappointed that my dear friend, The Weather Channel, had lied to me.

Walking down 7th, I tried to keep my positive attitude like before. I fought any gust of wind that came my way, and criss-crossed my arms tightly for warmth. As I watched people pass me by, I saw that I was the only one who was sporting a spring mood. Everyone else was dressed in blacks, grays, and browns, as if it were winter all over again. I was really off with my outfit this time, but I chose to blame the Weather Channel, not myself.

Upon entering FIT, I felt relief for two reasons: the building was nice and heated and the other girls in my class were wearing spring-inspired ensembles as well. I was so comforted to find that I would not be the odd one out. Some girls were even wearing shorts, tank tops, and sandals. I gasped!

For this class, my teacher had scheduled for us to walk along the highline and into the Meatpacking District. I am currently taking a Fashion Forecasting class and our assignment was to watch for and collect trends as we walked through the city streets. I was so pleased when we were told of this assignment because I love admiring street fashion. Aside from the hundreds of magazines and blogs I scroll through, the city streets provide with me with some of the greatest influences.

The only thing holding me back from this trip was the fact that I was going to be freezing the whole time. But once again, I kept my positive attitude, and embarked on the journey to the highline with the rest of the class. Whenever I felt extra cold, I would look at the girl wearing cropped jeans and a tank top, and became content knowing that I was not suffering as much as her.

Though I’ve been on the highline before, this experience was different. Instead of focusing on the shrubbery or sites of the city around me, I kept my eyes strictly on the people, even if it was creeping them out a little bit. Because it was early in the morning, there  were mostly dog-walkers and runners, but I did see some recognizable trends. Once the class finished walking the strip, we made our way down the stairs and into the Meatpacking District.

Now, I had around 3 hours to kill. We were allowed to walk around without the teacher, but had to find a buddy or buddies to go with, so I matched up with two other girls. This was my first time casually walking around the Meatpacking District, and I was excited to see what was in store. Even though it was cold, my group decided not to go in many shops, and strictly stay in the streets. Since none of us had really experienced the Meatpacking District before, we wanted to make the most out our trip and explore as much as we could. Once we spotted a Magnolia Bakery; however, we couldn’t resist. The cupcakes there are utterly mouth-watering and totally 400-calorie worthy. If you have never eaten one, I sincerely feel bad for you.

Unfortunately, the sun never came out, but I did not let it put a damper on my day. I had an awesome time walking around and getting to know the girls who I was paired up with, and the Meatpacking District is definitely the most diverse place I have been to in the city so far. There is a large mix of shops, ranging from high-end designers to European boutiques to vintage flea markets. There were so many delicious looking cafés that I was dying to go into, but sadly, there was not enough time.

And for the assignment, I’d say it was quite successful. I was able to pick up on many current trends while also witnessing some new ones that are being displayed for spring. All of the clothes made me so tempted to shop, but I had to constantly remind myself, “You’re here to work, not play.” I was sad to leave the Meatpacking District once our time was up, but I was glad that my frostbitten fingers would be exposed to the warmth as soon as we got back to FIT. I had an incredibly rewarding experience during this class, not only because I was able to explore a part of the city I rarely see, but because it helped me understand how to find, collect, and analyze upcoming trends.

By the end of the day I was exhausted and definitely ready to catch my ride home. I picked up a small cup of frozen yogurt before I got on the train because the sweetness always gives me a boost of energy. Besides learning about forecasting trends, I would say that the most important thing I took from this experience is: download more than one weather app.

xxx, Caroline

Oh My God! Oh My God! Oh My God! The day has finally come! Wait, what am I going to wear?! Now, of course this is the most important question. My mind racing with excitement and nerves, I needed to focus my energy on one thing and one thing only: CLOTHES! Now this day was not just any day (although I am faced with this dilemma every day.) But this day I had worked up in my mind to be the first day of my real life. The day I would get to place that first step on the yellow brick road to Vogue.

The train ride was seemingly endless (35 minutes is a horribly long time!) My fingers do this drumming, fidgety thing whenever my mind won’t be quiet. The only way to get them, and me, to calm down is to plug myself into my iPhone. I am not only plugging in headphones, but I really am plugging in myself. Music and fashion are linked in my mind. But I will elaborate on this in another post. My eyes always wander, too. I seem to notice some pretty random things because of this. For example, I noticed that I was not the only fashion lover in the car. A short, skinny man wearing snake-print skinny jeans and black Doc Martens was looking at this one outfit on style.com. He would zoom in on the crotch of the pants and slowly make his way down the seam of one leg. Then he went back down the other. In-between his legs was a bag with the word Mood written on it. Now anyone who watches Project Runway should know what that is. I tried to peek inside. Hoping to see rolls and rolls of fabric, but all I saw was paper. My face probably showed obvious disappointment.

Deep breath. Just take a deep breath and walk inside. You have your ID and obnoxiously green, uncomfortable wrist band on. I was either very nervous or the door was glued shut, because I could not, for the life of me, open that huge, orange door. I have way too much trouble with doors in general, but now was not the best time for my arms to fail me. Finally, someone opened them from the inside, and I could relax. I was a good hour or more early as they said to be, but I was sent straight up to my classroom. It took me only five minutes to get the 7^th floor of the C building, but finding my room was a different story.

It runs on my Dad’s side of the family to not ask for directions to anything, so I wandered around the 7^th floor for a good twenty minutes. Now, so I didn’t seem like I was a hopeless idiot that had no idea where she was going, I read nearly everything that was on the walls. I looked at every single picture, but I still couldn’t find my room. At that point there were two other kids that looked like they were doing the exact same thing I was. I don’t even know why we were having such a hard time! But we just kept wandering up and down the hallways, looking at everything on the walls for the 3^rd time, and swiftly glancing at room numbers above the doors. Now my first time around I didn’t realize that there were numbers on the door, but on my 2^nd time around I saw C702. I looked at every single door a good five times before I realized that the room with the faded numbers was mine, C707. I felt like an idiot.

The two other wanderers and I had about forty five minutes until class started. Slowly more and more kids did their sly, but clearly lost roundabouts and I couldn’t help but smile. HA! I know what you’re doing! The clock did not want to move, and the awkward silence didn’t help either. Even once the teacher arrived no one wanted to speak. About an hour into the class people started to loosen up. We were all drawing and something about it just felt right. I was with other people that loved the same thing I did, and even though we may want to get different things out of this class in the end, we were still there because of one thing: the glorious, tough, miraculous World of Fashion! Or for short, WOF.

- Rebecca