The Precollege Dream: Arden

I have high expectations for myself. Very high expectations. I dream to work my way up in retail whether it is starting at Claire’s and ending in Chanel, or Sales to corporate at Saks. I dream to be a top fashion blogger. I dream to work for Vogue and travel the world and learn from each experience. I dream to be invited to NYFW and strut in the most extravagant designer wardrobe. I dream to be personally invited to all kinds of fancy events and talk shows, to be honest, I just have a dream to wash my face twice a day. I have a dream and I dream to fulfill these dreams. I dream to go to FIT and work HARD. I dream to live the fashion dream.

I may come across as being a little dramatic because, well, you are supposed to dream of good health for yourself and your family. Dream of happiness and comfort. But I dream the fashion dream of glory and gratitude. But not to get ahead of myself, taking baby steps one at a time, one by one, starting at FIT, with my Precollege classes.

I have been growing. Each Precollege class I have taken there is a fine line form the first week to the last. My artistic interpretation has grown. My technique has grown. My personal vendetta has grown. I am growing, as a person and at this point in my life it’s all starting to come together. I have been dedicated in applying to Communication Design which has a high demand. So I would say that hard work does pay off, and it has been. Precollege class have been giving me a peek through the keyhole to pinpoint what I enjoy doing the most.

Visual Arts – Portfolio Preparation – AP Art


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Prior to any Precollege classes I started my art journey at my local high school.These classes have been so beneficial towards my success. It has given me the knowledge through trial and error of what media I use the best and ways of improving my drawing technique with practice.

HAD 150: Magazine Design

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I learned the essentials of Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. It has definitely taken a lot of time and hard work. I enjoyed it, creating pieces of typography from my notebook to the MacBook.

HFS 182: Developing an Eye for Styling

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Color, texture, flow- in a nutshell.                           

It took some time to get all 3 of those elements in harmony. In the weekly assignment of mood boards, you could see my development of skill from the first week to the last.

HPH 159: Digital Camera Use and Photography for the Beginner 

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The first class I was clueless. I am still learning the balance of taking a good photograph, the shutter speed, aperture, IOS; and that is just the start. This is the current class that I am taking and just being the third week in I can already see a drastic improvement of my skills being applied.

Improvement is essential in life. My improvement gearing to FIT is essential. I dream the Fashion dream along with the dream of good health and prosperity.

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The Power of Observation, by Arden

FotorCreated      I find it interesting to observe-people watch-observe everyone in their daily routine. This week’s focus in my beginner photo class was City Life. Now the cool part of observing “City Life” is diversity. There is so much to assimilate. We went on a trip to Madison Square Park in NYC, going with an open crisp mind to capture an epic moment. My goal was to apply the skills I’ve been learning in class these last few weeks. Most importantly an acute awareness was crucial throughout my adventure.

Screen Shot 2016-03-28 at 1.10.04 PMObserving led to my growth. From the first class I’ve been able to see a tower of progression just getting larger and larger. I realized how easy it is to categorize people. My camera was my muse of focusing in on myself and fine-tuning my future prospects. I found it interesting to see through my lenses and formulate perspective.

I was able to come to these humble realizations because of the hidden universal language of photography. Noticing how throughout this trip I step outside of my comfort zone and started a conversation with strangers by asking the icebreaker question, “Can I photograph you (or your dog!)?”Screen Shot 2016-03-28 at 1.13.07 PM

It’s important to observe and accept how we all see differently and that is the beauty of diversification. It’s important to STOP, take a deep breath, and soak in everything around you with the goal of becoming a more humble, well rounded, accepting human being.

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3 Lessons I’ve Learned At FIT

Hello readers! In the past days, I have reflected on how my life has changed since starting classes at FIT. All of these changes have been positive, but I never thought learning more about my field of interest would change anything. I obviously knew that by the end of the semester I would have gained more knowledge, but here are 3 things I’ve learned, that have also changed my life since taking precollege classes at FIT.

1. Time Management

When spending your Saturday mornings and afternoons in New York, you have to learn time management. Balancing school, FIT, and my social life was hard at first, but now is very simple. I’ve learned that if something is important to me, I have to make time for it. Time management is a vital skill that I will continue to use throughout life. For example, I’ve figured out how much time I need to make it to Grand Central from FIT, buy lunch on the way, and still make my train back to Connecticut. At home, I manage my time by scheduling when I should do certain assignments for school so that I don’t procrastinate.

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2. Using The Subway

New York’s subway system used to be the most daunting thing about the city for me. Now, I can use it with ease. Carrying around a map of the city and also having one handy on my phone has helped me tremendously in understanding how to navigate my way around New York. My family used to try to teach me how to get around, but now I’m teaching them! I like it much better than taking a cab everywhere because it’s cheaper and more interesting. I also find that I walk more than I would taking a cab and I love walking around New York.

3. Dressing In Layers

This lesson may be obvious, but I’ve found that I’ve utilized this styling tip more this semester. Not only does this keep me warm, but also makes my outfits unique. I love layering clothes I would usually wear in the summer with turtlenecks and then wearing a coat over that. Transitioning away for my warmer weather clothes is hard, so I like to wear them for as long as I can.

All of these lessons have changed me because not only am I using them in New York and at FIT, but also in my life back home. Not only have I seen these changes in myself and my life, but my family and friends have too. Overall, my experience at FIT so far has been absolutely positive and I’m very happy I decided to take Precollege classes. I can’t wait to come back next semester!

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Have a great week everyone!

Thanks for reading,

Kenzie Davis

My Fashion Merchandising Project

So after reading about all the fun things we do in the city in the Precollege programs, like shopping trips and walks on the High Line and whatnot, you’re probably wondering if we actually do any serious work. Yes. We do.

For example, for my fashion merchandising class we were assigned to head to Meatpacking (check out the post I wrote about Meatpacking) and shop around the stores, not for clothes, for trends. We went to over 10 different stores for the assignment, and I think I speak for everyone in my class when I say it was an amazing day.

However, when the day was over, it was time to get serious and prepare a presentation on a few of the stores we visited. We had to analyze the fabrics used (whether natural or synthetic), the prints and colors of the clothes, as well as the sizing, the silhouette, and any details on the clothes (such as buttons, zippers, ruffles, asymmetrical hems, etc.). Lastly, we had to summarize the overall trends of each store to come to a conclusion as to what we believe are the most prevalent trends of this spring for womenswear.

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If you’d like to go through my project, here it is.

http://prezi.com/evq0u-bqi7pk/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

Just copy and paste it into your web browser to take a look.

What do you think are the most prevalent trends this spring?

TTYL,

Arielle

How to Manage School and FIT Work

Long time no talk! I’m so sorry for the lack of posts. I’ve had some trouble with being sick and my old, no longer functioning laptop (you will be missed).   

But I am back, better than ever and ready to blog! The first few months of school have been pretty crazy for me. However, I’ve learned how to effectively balance school/FIT work, college applications and even have time for a social life. The key to time management is setting specific times to do things. Here are some tips that have really helped me stay on task with all of my work:

• Homework: Do all of your homework right when you get home from school. I know I used to want to relax and think about anything but school work but you will seriously love yourself for getting it out of the way. A really helpful tip I use is to set a time to finish all of your work by.  i.e: Make it a goal to finish all of your work before dinner. And if you meet your goal, treat yourself to something yummy like ice cream for dessert!

• FIT work: Finishing your homework earlier not only gives you the freedom to do whatever you want at night, but also some extra time to work on FIT class work. If you fall behind in class, the work can sometimes pile up. However, if you take a half an hour, each day of the week, you will definitely finish all of the work by your Saturday and/or Sunday class. Sometimes, if I am extremely busy in school, I will save my work for the train ride into the city. I guess living 2 and a half hours outside of New York City isn’t such a bad thing after all!

These tips might seem pretty obvious, but they definitely have helped me become more organized with my work! In class, we’ve just began to work on our boutique layouts in a software called SketchUp. Here is a preview of what my Bridal Boutique is going to look like:

It doesn’t look like much as of right now, but I promise I will keep you updated!

I’m so glad to be blogging again and I can’t wait to go back to FIT to continue to work on my store! Have a great Thanksgiving and I’ll talk to you all again very soon!

 

Lilli