JWC Speaker

Today we listened to a presenter from a private school called Johnson and Wales University, to speak with us about the Fashion Retailing and Merchandising program. An interesting topic she brought up was the cost of private schools versus public. Typically, people think of private schools as more expensive, but according to the speaker, this is not always the case. She said that because private schools tend to give more scholarships, they can end up being cheaper than most private schools. They also have four campuses across the country, meaning they have the perks of a large school, but the feel of a small one. However, my favorite thing about it was that this college looks for well rounded students, not just high GPA's.

DIY Vetements jeans: Takes about an hour!

Hey everyone! Last week, I spent a bunch of time on the internet trying to find a tutorial for Vetements reworked jeans. If you're not familiar with them, this is what they look like:

from oraclefox.com

from farfetch.com

from oraclefox.com

These jeans retail for over $1000, which is understandable because each pair takes two pairs of vintage jeans to make, and each pair is a little unique. However, it's still way more than I can afford. All the tutorials I found just showed how to do the step hem, not the whole seam, so I decided to make a tutorial of my own. Instead of trying to copy one pair exactly, I combined a couple styles to make something that looked distinctly Vetements and wasn't too difficult to make.  The tutorial's a little rough, but I hope you enjoy! I'll post an update of the finished product on because I forgot to take a picture lmao.

You need:

• two pairs of jeans, or one pair of oversized jeans (should be >2 inches too big) 
• scissors 
• seam ripper (you can just use scissors if you don't have one)
• sewing machine and thread
• pins
• about an hour and a half of time
• jeans that fit you well, for measuring (optional)
• try not to use skinny jeans, because those stretch to fit. Try to use jeans with the same amount of stretch as the ones you're using

1. Take off the back pockets. I found that ripping the seam on the back made it way easier.
   
   
   
   
2. Cut of the bottom hem. Don't worry about distressing the bottom yet, we'll do that later.
   
3. Fold your jeans in half. If you're using two pairs, fold both of them in half
   
4. Using your scissors, cut a straight line from the hem to the waist. Make it about a third of the way in from the outer seam. This way, the line will be in the middle of your leg when you wear them. If you're using two pairs, do the same on both.
   
   
5. Unfold your jeans, and lay them on top of the jeans that fit you well. Take your side strip, whether it's from the same jeans or a different pair, and place it so that your new jeans are the same size as the jeans that fit.
   
6. Okay, this is where it gets a little tricky. You want to take the spot where the edges of the fabric meet, and fold them right side to right side so that you have a seam you can sew. Then pin the fold. Look at the pictures because that didn't make any sense.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
7. Now this is where what I did and what I should've done diverges. I wanted to make my jeans fit a little different than the ones I already, so I went ahead and sewed the front and then fitted the back directly to my body. I used a measuring tape through the beltloops to hang the jeans around my waist, and had a family member pin the back It looked a little like this:
   
    However, this process was super inefficient and so I would only recommend it if you don't have a pair of jeans that fit you well. 
8. Ok! If you do like how the jeans you already have fit, then go ahead and turn your jeans over and pin the back in the same way
9. Now let's sew! Sew the seams you just pinned. If you have some extra time, you can baste first just to make sure you like the fit.
   
   
10. I don't have pictures for these next couple steps, but I'll post some later! Now you want to try your jeans on, and pin the pockets where you want them. To really look like Vetements, put them off to the side to show a little bit of the dark patches. Sew those down.
11. Last step! Put a pin approximately where you want your jeans to end. Cut the front of the leg a little above the pin, and the back of the leg a couple inches below. This will give you a step hem. Pull out some of the white horizontally running threads to make it look distressed.

Final Product:

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Celebrities on Halloween

Celebrities seem to love Halloween, and that's awesome for us. Some are hilarious, some scary, but either way, they're entertaining! Celebrities have the unlimited funds and connections with designers and makeup artists, and elaborate parties to show their costumes off at, so why not? Let's take a look at some of the best celebrity costumes from this past Halloween.

• Heidi Klum



www.ew.com

• The Queen of Halloween didn't dress up at all this year! Instead, she arrived with 5 clones of herself! Each of these models was wearing prosthetics to look exactly like Klum herself. It's the most brilliant and creative costume I can possibly think of.

• Katy Perry



from US Weekly

• Katy is also known for her crazy costumes! Who can forget her hot cheeto costume, or when she was Justin Bieber? This year she transformed herself in to Hillary Clinton, who's she's known to be a strong supporter of. To make it even better, her bf Orlando Bloom dressed as Trump looking like a troll.

• Beyoncé 



from www.popsugar.com

•  Beyoncé actually had two group Halloween costumes this year! She dressed as the 90's hip hop trio Salt-N-Pepa with her daughter Blue Ivy and mom Tina Knowles-Lawson. However, my personal favorite was her black Barbie costume, with Jay-Z as Ken 

Quality Assurance

Quality assurance is the process by which quality is kept standard to keep consistency throughout the production of a product. A quality assurance inspector uses a set of guidelines to make sure the product is kept up to standard. They can check every product, or random samples. It's important for a company to have these quality standards because it represents their brand, reduces the amount of items being returned, encourages repeat costumers, and increases sales. For a factory, it's important to have quality control so that they can be hired by more companies. A QA inspector in the fashion industry might look at seam allowances, length of stitches, pressing, and straight hems, for example. Below is an example of a checklist a quality inspector responsible for weatherization might use: 

source

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Levels of Quality

Quality garments can be spotted by looking at materials used and construction. A good quality garment will use stronger and more expensive materials, and have reinforced seams and matched patterns too. However, the actual price of a garment does not determine it's quality. For example, lots of mid-range brands are not better quality than their lower-end counterparts, but are more expensive because they're ethically produced and have original designs. Think Instagram boutiques, or American Apparel. Streetwear brands too will often sell a simple Gildan shirt with their brand on it for high prices. In this case, you're paying more for the status and less for the garment itself. On the flipside, at thrift stores, especially big box ones like Savers and Goodwill, you can buy high quality items for extremely low prices.

plaids being matched at seams is a sign of high quality
http://reallyhandmade.com/sewing-plaids/

Halloween Fashion

Halloween is one of the best holidays, hands down. It's a little ironic because everyone's favorite holiday is the one that is the least religious, but it makes sense because people of all religious beliefs or disbelief can celebrate it equally. Like most holidays, it's totally lost touch with it's origin of being the eve of All Saint's Day, but I honestly don't really have a problem with that. That's because now, it has become all about costumes! Halloween costumes started as a way for mischief-seeking teens to disguise themselves, but now, they've become part of American culture.
Whether you prefer store bought costumes, simple diy, or all-out cosplay, Halloween is the day to wear something you never would wear on any other day. Like Jenna Marbles said in her video Sluts on Halloween, it's an opportunity for a person who typically feels regular to put on an outfit they might not feel comfortable in on an ordinary day.

"Vulgar" Fashion

The art exhibition "The Vulgar: Fashion Redefined" in London has recently been announced, and it raises a number of questions. Firstly, what is vulgar? What does that even mean? The dictionary defines vulgar as "lacking sophistication or good taste; unrefined." This seems like a bad thing, and vulgar is usually used with a negative connotation, but this show plays with the idea of the importance of vulgarity in fashion. They ask the questions, "what is vulgar? Are different things vulgar to different people? Is Vulgarity in the eye of the beholder?" It's based around the idea that fashion rules were made to be broken, and must be to redefine it, and I agree.

Fashion Costumes

Halloween is coming up, and original costumes are hard to find. Here's some ideas for fashion related costumes guaranteed to make you stand out at any party and won't break the bank

• Anna Wintour- Instantly recognizable by those in the know
• Blonde bob wig with bangs
• Oversized black sunglasses
• Tweed suit

link

link

link

• Suzy Menkes
• Short red wig, and a curler to make her signature hair flip
• brightly colored outfit

• Fashion Alien
• oversized bright glasses
• neon green puffer



link

• space buns

link

• Sexy Guy Fieri
• this is what I'm doing for Halloween 
• https://twitter.com/itscamillevo/status/772576020658479104

• Twitter Baddie - this one will only work if you don't normally dress like this
• Matching cropped hoodie and leggings, or nude bodycon dress
• Contour, oversized lips, nude smoky eye, and sharp eyebrows
• Thigh high boots
• half topknot hairstyle

Have Rappers Influenced High End Fashion?

It's been said many times that high fashion is a dying art. The only reason that I know or care about luxury brand names is from listening to rappers boasting about the brands they can afford. My question is: In a time when clothes have gotten so cheap and Goodwill is the hip kids' favorite store, can rappers be credited for keeping high fashion cool? And do you think labels have altered their styles to appeal more to rap audiences, who are the ones lusting after that Gucci? I have no idea.

According to a study done by GQ, the number of times designers were mentioned has not gone up, to my surprise. Only Gucci and Versace have been significantly trending up, most likely due Gucci Mane's emergence in 2005 and the release of "Versace" by G Herbo in 2013.

High fashion attempts to limit itself to high society, whereas rappers typically boast about being rich but still street. Do you think luxury designers try to fight this association with street culture, or do they embrace it? Let me know your opinion!  

Teamwork

Pros:

• many hands make light work
• more ideas that you may not have thought of 
• each person can do what they're best at for an overall better project
• more fun
• practice communication skills 
• collaborate to get other's opinions on your ideas
• stop
• collaborate and listen
• ice is back with a brand new invention
• something
• grabs a hold of me tightly
• flow like a harpoon daily and nightly

Cons:

• relies on communication which is difficult for introverted people
• some team members might not pull their weight
• difficult to incorporate everyone's ideas
• team members may not get along
• power struggles may develop
• other members might not believe in your ideas 

image from Maple Ridge Blog

CoverGirl's First Male Ambassador

This is James Charles, an instafamous teen who has recently been announced as the first ever CoverBoy.

source: The Independent

Although he's only been doing makeup for a couple years, he's insanely good at it. For him, makeup is a form of art- a way for him to express himself- instead of a way to cover one's insecurities. He says in this article the difficulty he had convincing his parents that he is not transgender, just likes makeup. It's interesting to think about how makeup has been traditionally limited to women, as if it was not allowed for boys, or if they wore makeup it meant they wanted to be a girl. Beauty boys like James are making a huge impact by questioning these gender norms that we take so much for granted. Because really, makeup does not have a gender. Makeup is not a boy or a girl. There is absolutely no reason why boys shouldn't wear makeup and why girls should wear makeup.
I've been thrilled at the emergence of Instagram's "beauty boys" over the past year, and I think James has made a huge breakthrough by branching from social media to advertising for a major beauty company, now in the public eye even outside of the makeup community.
In middle school, I remember girls would always complain and say "Being a girl is so hard, we have to wear makeup and boys don't have to." I always silently disagreed because I thought, it was unfair for boys because they couldn't wear makeup! Now that is changing, and I'm glad. I believe that by neutralizing gendered activities and expectations, we come closer to defeating the damaging pressure for boys to be masculine.

Common Jobs in the Fashion Industry

Fashion Merchandising

• puts designs out into the market
• monitor fashion and consumer trends
• business side of fashion
• requires a degree in fashion merchandising or special in-house training 

Fashion Journalist

• requires skill and passion for writing
• write about fashion for magazines, websites, PR firms, etc.
• must be up-to-date on latest fashions
• bachelor's degree in journalism is highly recommended 

Production Management

• work with suppliers and retailers to get raw materials to the factory, and finished products to the stores or to the runway 
• must travel frequently 
• may also plan events like fashion shows
• must have communication and organization skills, but not necessarily a degree

Fashion Designer

• is the basis of the fashion industry
• comes up with the design of the clothes that will be made
• requires artistic and creative skills, as well as basic production knowledge
• most designers have a bachelor's degree in a fashion-related field 

a designer might sketch looks before creating them

Chanel SS17

Okay, to start off, let's look at this dress:

from http://assets.vogue.com/

For the life of me, I could not imagine anything else besides the dress from 13 going on 30 crossed with a windows XP screensaver.

it's called "mystify"

The Iconic Dress

However, the rest of the show I adored. The first third or so was all variations of the classic Chanel suit. This time around, they were updated with oversized jackets and sexy zippers. Texture was the standout element throughout the show.

There were shoulder pads, side ponytails, big frizzy hair, and tilted caps, and solitary huge earrings. As if we didn't already realize it was 80's, the walls of the show were decorated as a data storage center. I think this show was meant to seem nostalgic to viewers. I disagree that it is trying to attract a younger audience by including a computer theme. Most teens right now are still obsessed with the 90's look, and remember the 2000's a little to vividly to be ready to go back.

Alexander McQueen SS17

Alexander McQueen and Chanel both confirmed our worst fears this season- the 2000's are back. There were mini skirts, lots of studs, and blazers throughout the show. However, it felt refreshed with more current silhouettes and an overall theme of leather and lace, which is seeming to become a new classic. I was also definitely thinking about pirates the whole time.

from telegraph.co.uk

This show stood out to me because while most deisgners are focused on minimalism and bold brights for spring, McQueen went totally against the trend and kept all colors within deep red, cream, black, and white. He did an excellent job of making his avant-garde style wearable by going all out with jewelry and metallic elements. Statement earrings, necklaces, zippers, and studs were seen on almost every look. To keep his clothes wearable, he kept a few common trends, such as slicked-back hair, ankle boots, cropped trousers, crop tops, chokers, figure-hugging dresses, sheer fabrics, super long sleeves, and caged looks.

from scmp.com

You can watch the show here!

What is avant-garde fashion? Why do you think many celebrities dress in avant-garde fashions" What celebrity behaviors support your thinking?

The Oxford dictionary defines avant-garde as "new and unusual or experimental ideas, especially in the arts." This type of fashion is not really meant to be worn just out and about. Rather, this clothing is created with the purpose of being expressive, rather than practical. To wearers and designers, it's a form of art. Many celebrities choose avant-garde looks to stand out and to appear more separated from the general public. However, this is typically seen in younger celebrities, who switch to more standard sophisticated looks as they become older and more established, ie. Nicki Minaj & Lady Gaga.

examples of avant-garde fashion from nickverrreos.blogspot.com

Lady Gaga from capitalfm.com

What are hems? How can they affect a garment's appearance?

Hems, although small, are super important. The biggest reason for them is that they make a garment look finished by hiding the raw edges. Sometimes, garments are left unhemmed for the exact purpose of not looking finished to match a distressed vibe. However, they are other reasons for hems besides aesthetic. Hems keep a woven material from fraying, and a knit material from rolling. Hems can also help a garment keep its shape because they keep the edges from stretching out of place. Typically, hems are sewn with a special machine, but in haute couture, they are hand sewn. Three common hand sewing stitches used for hems are the invisible slip stitch, herringbone, and whip stitch, which are all used because they are hidden on the right side of the garment. In the case of the whip and herringbone, which is called "Catch Stitch" in the diagram, they are decorative on one side which adds nice detail to a finished garment.
Images from blog.megannielson.com