connections. (and must-haves)

I have a strong emotional connection with fashion. When I was younger, my sense of style showed what my interests were at the time. I grew up in high school as a punk kid, but a punk kid in DKNY and Ralph Lauren. If you're thinking to yourself, that couldn't be possible, it actually was... I'm sure I have photos laying around to prove it.

I was extremely insecure as a kid... probably just recently in the past 5 years I've felt secure about the way I looked. I grew up being made fun of constantly about having a round face or being short, you name it; it's been said. It wasn't until I found an outlet with clothes, where my insecurities went away. Also, I like the fact that my flaws made me unique. I would never want to change anything about my body, because then it's not actually me. I always thought when I was younger, if I dressed well, then the ugliness went away. I know... you must be thinking that it didn't make sense, but it did to me and that thought process still follows me.

When a woman walks down the street in a pair of sweats and tennis shoes, you're probably not going to look at them twice (unless your thinking that she shouldn't be wearing that in public). Now if you saw the same girl in a Diane Von Furstenberg black wrap dress, she'll turn more heads. (Like this one below from www.netaporter.com which is actually one sale by the way.)

Now, I understand, not everyone has $300 for a dress like this, So there's always Target's Merona wrap dress that can look just as good for $24.99.

Also, there is this confidence that a women shows when she wears a dress. You just feel beautiful and feminine. Also, wrap dresses are really easy to dress up and down. Throw on a jean jacket and flats to dress it down or throw on a pair of colorful high heels and a clutch to dress it up. It's a must have in any ones wardrobe, because technically since it wraps around your body, it will always fit you because you can adjust it.

MJ

(image from E Online)

I skimming through the New York Post on Page Six and crossed some information on Marc Jacobs. Currently, Jacobs is not with Jason Preston and has been seen around L.A. and New York with his new boy toy Austin A. (You could see the article here) Turns out he was seen arguing with him in public in L.A. at their hotel in front of guests. After the argument, he left Austin there.

I'm not big on gossip amongst celebrities, but Jacobs is a very interesting person. He is the designer to look for in NY, plus Louis Vuitton in Paris. Jacobs is great at knowing trends and starting them. The world has always been constantly obsessed with celebrities, we want to know everything about them, what they are doing what they are wearing etc. He, himself, has become exactly like one. People around the world actually recognize his face rather than just his name.

He is just like all the other celebrities, Lindsay Lohan, Mary-Kate Olsen, Nicole Ritchie, etc. He went to rehab for drug and alcoholism and his love life is constantly in the media. Just recently, in the past few months, he has lost a large amount of weight and looks 15 years younger than before (in less than 6 months). This gave more reason for people to continue watching him. There has been a craze with celebrities that have became designers... but has Jacobs made it were he can be both? Of course he is an amazing designer, always innovative and constantly changing (like he has been since he did his show at Parson's and continued on to Perry Ellis). Since then, his celebrity followers have copied his designs and put their names on the clothing labels.

So does that make Jacobs ahead of the trend? Or is he just smart enough to start trend right before they come into place?

You decide.

the first reply.

I finally got my first reply this morning from a fashion magazine in SF. Even though ideally, it is my first choice when it comes to magazines in SF, I want to raise my standards a bit higher and try to get an internship in NYC... yeah I know just like every other fashion girls dream, right?

Well, allow me to give you some background on me and what made me want to be a part of the fashion industry. It was Alexander McQueen's Spring/Summer runway show in 1997. (Wow, I think I was 13 at the time.) I was hooked. I wasn't exposed to any fashion except what was in Seventeen magazine. I never knew that fashion can be theatrical at all. The only runway shows I've seen on television (at the time only on Fashion Television) were just normal catwalks, but it was water. The clothes were extremely wearable even though the makeup and hair would definitely cause a regular person to tilt their head. From that day on, I've been watching Alexander McQueen's shows and he has still to this day, been my absolute favorite fashion designer. He is so innovative and out there with his shows, but his clothing is wearable. It's really hard to be able to even get your hands on a lot of his pieces but I have a select few that I really treasure.

As time progressed, I started looking at fashion colleges to attend and they were just so ridiculously overpriced (my first choice Central Saint Martin's or Parson's) I could allow myself to get into that much debt. I went ahead and went the easy way but continued to watch and learn even more about fashion through books, magazines, internet, etc. But the people that really made the influence were people behind fashion magazines. Everyone doesn't sit to think to watch a fashion show. It's easier to look at a fashion magazine, I mean they are right in your face at the check stand. They get to choose what is the new "It" everything. I think that it's a small yet settle influence to the masses, because it does take a while (most of the time) for a fashion trend to trickle down to the masses.

So, I choose journalism. My mom still doesn't really understand what I'm going to become after I graduate from college, but all I could show her is a magazine and she just says, "Is that going to make you any money? Why not be a doctor?"

My replies have always been the same. "No, I don't want to do something because you want me to do it.. I want to be happy doing something for me."

She has finally given up after begging me to change my mind since I was 15. (:

So, I'm going to be done with my journalism degree (and art studio minor) and start to move on with something I'm so incredibly passionate about. The industry is a whirlwind and I want to be the last strong woman standing.

the nortorious fall... that makes you rise.

Everyone remembers when Naomi Campbell fell on the catwalk. It was Vivienne Westwood's Anglomania fashion show in Feb of 1993. I actually got to see the the 12 inch platforms at the De Young Musuem in SF last year. It's funny when you think about it because I'm sure she was really really embarrassed because she is suppose to be this amazing graceful model, but that fall made her like everyone else in the world. Models for some reason get categorized as if they were goddesses from another planet. Even though that was one of the worst things a model can do, it gave her so much media coverage. People even understood the mistake was just something simple.

I know so many people that don't know about fashion, let alone know who Vivienne Westwood is, but they remember Naomi's Fall. I was researching about fashion designers and ran across something very interesting that Vivienne Westwood said in an interview with SHOW studio. People in the industry and what not, asked her questions about her experience in the fashion industry. And here is what she said about her fall:

Naomi Campbell, London: Why did you continue to give me your special blockbuster shoes after I fell down the first time, was it that you had faith in me?

Vivienne Westwood: I wanted you to do it again because we had two more shows to do, but I would never have tried to persuade you if I had thought you really didn't want to. I thought you would want to because you looked so beautiful. You just looked so incredible in them. You know, Naomi, I think you're the Aphrodite of the modern world and the walk of century, this and the last. Remember, we gave you a stick, which you nobly accepted and then held it, and then flourished it a chest-height, demonstrating that you did not need it. The fall was spectacular. Your fall was better than an animal that's just been killed, because although it was physically natural, it was also artificial. Civilisation is artificial, not natural. Fashion is part of civilisation. What I have faith in is your heroic pride.


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What Westwood is saying to Naomi is a great inspiration because people do make mistakes and the first time is never going to be perfect. When you do it again and again, that is the only way you can perfect it. It's about taking chances and staying there until the end, because you want to prove yourself and everyone else wrong and there is this feeling about overcoming things. Honestly, I think it feels better than doing it perfect the first time.

I'm finally taking my jump into the fashion industry and since the industry likes to see what you've contributed, I finally caved and started a blog. I constantly browse blogs and I love to read things and see people lives and culture. I'm kind of weird about letting people know my thoughts but it's time to get over it. I don't think there isn't enough out there displaying fashion that isn't in a major city. I know that living in the suburbs, it's hard to find people with style, but I think there are a lot more out there than people think. Some of the best minds came from small towns with big ambitions... it's just so happens that they just eventually move to the city.