Haute Courture

Haute Couture is a word thrown around a lot in the fashion world, but what does it really mean? It translates directly into "high fashion," but haute couture means much more than that. The exact definition found on Wikipedia is "fashion that is constructed by hand from start to finish, made from high quality, expensive, often unusual fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable sewers, often using time-consuming, hand-executed techniques." In France, there is actually a set list of requirements a fashion house must meet to have their pieces be legally considered "haute couture." The four criteria are as follows: a house must use multiple fittings to design for private clients, have a workshop in Paris that employs at least 15 full-time staff members, have 20 full-time technical workers in at least one workshop, and must present 50 original designs to the public every July and January (Wikipedia).
A single haute couture piece is reported to take between 100 and 700 hours to create! These exorbitant hours are due to every part of the garment being handmade and specially fitted for the client. And with exorbitant hours comes exorbitant prices, with daytime pieces starting at $10,000 and evening wear going up from $60,000. As you've probably guessed, the market for this kind of clothing is incredibly small. Only 2,000 women worldwide are reported to purchase haute couture, and only 200 of those women are regular buyers. 

I'll be sticking to Walmart.

Cite: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/uloop/all-about-haute-couture_b_6746770.html
images from Getty Images

What 'needs' do you think clothing satisfies? Physical Needs?Emotional Needs? Other Needs? Provide specific examples to illustrate your answer.

Clothing is used to satisfy a number of needs. Let's list them.

• Physical
• Clothes can keep one warm and/or protected in harsh climates.
• Clothes provide a barrier from a world full of germs, acting like a second layer of skin protecting one's skin.
• Clothing protects sensitive areas, like nipples, from being accidently stimulated.
• Emotional
• Clothing can be used to express one's emotions so they're not just trapped inside their body.
• Clothing can be used to boost confidence because a person can dress as they would like to feel or be.
• Because clothes keep one's body hidden from the public, trusting one another with their  unseen body creates a stronger bond between lovers.
• Social
• Clothing can be used to define social status and groups one belongs to.
• Clothing is a way for a person to show who they are to other people instantaneously. Since what a person wears is most often their own choice, a person can control how they want to be seen.
• Clothing has become a social norm, used to keep sex a taboo subject. This is important for population control and in the past, a way of protecting women.
• The more freedom is taken from a society, the easier they are to control. Because the requirement of clothing is never questioned and still allows room for choice within this requirement, it's a subtle way to foster organized civilization. 
• Clothing is used to draw the line between "civilized" and "barbaric." This is important because for a society to function, members must think of themselves as civilized.
• The clothing industry provides jobs and stimulates the economy because it can be created in places with limited natural resources.

In your opinion, does wearing school uniforms increase learning?

I strongly believe that school uniforms do not impact academic performance. However, I'm not outright against them for several reasons. First, they create a firm boundary between "school life" and "personal life" because by wearing different types of clothing, both settings feel like a different type of environment. They also make the school look more prestigious to a passerby because every student looks preppy; you wouldn't be able to distinguish the different social groups like the "stoners" or the "thots", which is important for a private school wanting to attract wealthy parents who don't want their child to be associated with "others." Also, by enforcing a uniform, a school can exercise even more control over a student's decisions, further nurturing the conformity that is essential for controlling a population. All of these reasons are valid, but they seem to be only beneficial for the school itself, not its students'.

Let's debunk a few defenses people use for uniforms. A common one is that they're less distracting, especially for boys. This is invalid for two reasons. Firstly, everyone's seen the "sexy schoolgirl" character, right? School uniforms are seen as kinky for many people. This most likely is because of the innocence that the outfit portrays, giving men a fantasy of corrupting this poor, sweet girl. The sexy schoolgirl, which was born out of being unexpected, has ironically become a total cliche. Also, even with very conservative uniforms, cute girls are still going to be cute. You can't stop them. Teen boys are always going to be distracted by girls, and the answer is not to stifle these girls for the sake of the boys, but to teach these boys how to control their desires, because the same temptations are going to be around for their whole lives.
Another excuse is that it saves hassle in the morning and frees up students' brain space to focus on academics instead of fashion. Now, I can't speak for other parts of the country, but in Silicon Valley where I attend high school, fashion is something only a few care about. Most girls have a "uniform" of their own, which is simply a t-shirt with leggings. Boys generally wear a t-shirt with shorts. I've talked to students who chose to dress this way (which is nearly everyone), and they don't put any thought into this outfit each day, which is exactly what uniforms claim to do. Instead of taking fashion away from students who love it, a better solution would be to stop expecting busy women to be fashionable. Again, once high school ends, people aren't going to have someone tell them what to wear each day. Students who don't particularly care about fashion must learn eventually how to dress themselves in a way that's comfortable, time efficient, and is appropriate for their environment. The only reason fashion is a "distraction" instead of a hobby is because it's culturally forced upon women who couldn't care less. We shouldn't be having a problem with a person wearing the same outfit every day, as long as that's what they want to do. That, not school-issued uniforms, will let students focus on their schoolwork while feeling comfortable and confident too. 

What messages do you think you send through your clothing? What about other people? What messages do you think they send through the clothes they wear?

For me, fashion is a way of expressing myself, and so I like to believe my personality shows through my clothing. However, I'd be lying if I said I never dress for how I want people to see me instead of sticking to my true self. That said, my vibe goals on most days is hot mess. I try to look like a girl who doesn't try; a girl who is just naturally cooler than you, a girl who hasn't done the dishes in a month but can still steal your man. However, this isn't me, and so my outfits end up falling in an juxtaposition between this hot mess vibe and vintage preppy. Like homework out my Trapper Keeper at 7:00 and  Sloppy Shoreline concert at 8:00. No matter how hard I try to fight it, to "try on" different personas, my style never fails to reveal my true personality. 

People always tell me  "Oh, Camille, those clothes are so cool but nobody else could wear it but you. Like I would never be able to pull that off." What I say is "Thank you!", but in my head I'm thinking how for me, it's not a choice. There's a reason why I'm experimental with my fashion and that's because I have to be. This is who I am and I must show it. The reason no one can have the same style as me is because no one is like me, the same way no one is like you or the person next to you. I couldn't take your style either, no matter how much I love it, because it's not mine, it's yours, and no one can ever be a better you than you can. Self expression is dire. DIRE. My medium is fashion. Some people choose painting, or pottery, or calligraphy, or totally different things that I can't even think of. Some people put passion into their everyday activities, and with this passion comes expression. The way I solve calculus problems is almost a form of expression for me. It does not matter what it is, it only matters that it's there, and that it's you. This is why you can not dress like me, no matter how hard you try, and why I can not dress like you. We could wear the same pieces, the same hair and makeup and whatever, but it would never look the same on us because we are different and would carry the outfit differently, and that's ok.

My style is fueled on my confidence. Without the confidence, it just looks like random shit put together. I have an incredibly stylish friend who always vibes sophisticated boho. Yes that is an oxymoron, but her meticulous and humorous personality can make seemingly basic pieces stand out beautifully.

This totally got off topic from the assignment and became me preaching Emerson and Whitman. This is also probably going to happen a lot. I fucking love Transcendentalism. 

Side note-- I'm hoping to eventually start photographing my outfits so I can put them on here to have some context behind my descriptions. For now, you'll just have to imagine. :)

**now I'm scared to post them because idk if I can live up to my descriptions

Why did you choose to study fashion? What do you hope to learn by taking a fashion class?

First Post!!! Whoooo!
This blog was started as an assignment in my SVCTE fashion class. I'm not complaining. I've always wanted to start a blog, just lacked the intrinsic motivation to do it. Now that I'm literally forced to run a blog for a grade, I've got no excuse. Now, let's get started.

I chose to give up my off period and add three extra hours of school to my already busy schedule because I wanted to explore the fashion industry and see if design is something I might be good at. I never thought of myself as "fashionable", but people say I've got style and I wanted to put that to the test. Living in the Silicon Valley, I knew I would be judged for pursuing something artistic, so that also influenced my decision to take fashion design in high school, instead of paying thousands of dollars to take it in college. I want to explore the side of me that makes me unique.

By taking this class, I hope to learn everything I can about the fashion industry. Did you know it's apparently the forth largest industry in the world? I definitely didn't. So far, this is my plan for the class:

1. See if fashion design is truly something I enjoy, besides just being a form of expression. I want to know if I truly have a passion or not. 
2. Now, am I actually good at it? If not, is it something that I would be willing to put in enough time and energy to improve on? Do I have something unique that the industry is hungry for? Is there anything new I can bring to the table?
3. My next mental step is to learn if the fashion industry is an industry I would actually want to be in. Can I picture myself working in whatever environment it would be like? (I have no clue what it'd would be like so I can't even give an example.) What are the different jobs/room for entrepreneurship that match my skill set and my thirst for superiority? 
4. If I'm like "Hecky heck yes I am ready to take this world by storm!", then I can use this class to build connections, or at least learn how to get started. If I finish the year and realize isn't for me, then that's good too! I'll be glad to know now without having invested much time and money into a career I would ultimately become unhappy with. Or, even worse, I end up living the rest of my life not knowing what could've been. I hate the smell of missed opportunity. 

So yeah, get ready for a wild ride because the blog of an actual 17 year old female grandpa on the internet has just begun.