Fashion Show

Hello Internet world. Our fashion class has not blogged in a minute because we've been scrambling to prepare our fashion show! Now that it's over, we can all breathe a little bit. Here is a link to some of the pictures from it!: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ih8ykbt3rrutnmw/AAA4tmTsO-PJEfY3mLIS2Wfsa?dl=0 A professional video should be coming shortly.
Being part of a fashion show was tiring but such a fun experience! I had part in designing 4 looks, three which were a collection done with a group, and the last one was avant garde which I designed but created with a group.
The avant garde collection we made as a class was entirely made out of oversized black polo T-shirts that were donated to us because they had a typo on them! The all black gave us a blank palette which was awesome to emphasize our crazy silhouettes. My piece my teacher dubbed "the upside-down dress". The concept was a gown with an extremely long train, which the model would wear like a cape, leaving the dress itself to drag on the floor. Keeping the materials in mind, instead of a dress, we had a singular t-shirt dragging. This is what it looked like complete:

Manufactured Fibers

I was excited for today's lesson in manufactured fibers, because I have just recently decided to study Material Science and Engineering at UC Merced to try and create new, high-tech textiles. The fibers our book focused on were rayon, lyocell, acetate, triacetate, nylon, polyester, olefin, acrylic, modacrylic, spandex, and elastoester. Interestingly enough, the fabrics which are the most common and that I was the most familiar with, were the worst. The one fabric that had no cons listed on the pro and con chart, elastoester, was the one with which I had the most difficult time finding garments. It was also interesting to see how many chemicals go into the process of creating chemical fibers. It leaves me wondering: are synthetic fibers or natural fibers more sustainable? Natural fibers may deplete natural resources and harm animals, but synthtic fibers use chemicals that may be harmful to the environment. The textbook did not touch on this, except for the mention of bamboo acrylic being favored by environmentalists.

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Natural Fibers and Wool Spinning

Yesterday in class we learned a lot about natural fibers. The ones we focused on were wool, silk, cotton, and linen. Wool and silk are called protein fibers because they come from animals. Cotton and linen, on the other hand, are cellulosic fibers because they come from plants. Here are some things we learned about each fiber:

• Wool
• Has lanolin oil, which is used in ointments and cosmetics
• Is the warmest natural fiber
• Comes from sheep and other animals
• Silk
• Is made from the cocoons of silkworms
• The process of harvesting the fiber kills the worm
• The color and quality of the silk can be varied based on the worm's diet
• Is lustrous and comfortable in a range of temperatures 
• Cotton
• Is relatively inexpensive
• Is used for warmer temperatures because it's absorbent and breathable 
• Is a plant fiber, coming specifically from the seed
• Linen
• The coolest natural fiber
• More absorbent than cotton, and considered more luxerious
• Wrinkles easily
• Comes from flax and is a "bast" fiber

We also had the opportunity to spin our own yarn out of wool fibers, which was a fun activity. By had, it took quite a bit of time to make just one foot of two-ply yarn! It was also difficult to keep the consistency the same throughout the yarn. Mine ended up lumpy in some parts and thin in others! It was cool how after handling the wool, all of our hands felt soft from the lanolin. 

Natural Wool Fiber, source

Denim Essentials: Review

For our blog today, we looked at this list of denim essentials by fashionista. It featured a range of prices and styles, for different garments made of denim. However, they were mainly selected for fashionista's target audience, which are young women, perhaps in their twenties and early thirties, not quite for teens. Therefore, most of the pieces didn't really appeal to me, mostly because they were significantly out of my budget, or a little more mature than I would wear on the everyday. However, I liked the pieces from certain brands, like TopShop and some higher-end designers. Structured silhouettes, embellishments, and a reworked look were definitely trends. It's not hard to tell that the thrifted denim look is what's most desirable. This is awesome, because thrift stores are filled with quality denim that just needs a creative mind to change it into something beautiful. I hope that shoppers are inspired by these trends to try shopping thrifted denim, or that the trend of high end brands "reworking" vintage denim into more modern shapes continues to grow. Here were some of my favorites from the spread:

http://fashionista.com/2017/04/shop-spring-denim-clothing-shorts-jackets-2017#&gid=ci0206eb87700026b7&pid=denim-jackets-1

http://fashionista.com/2017/04/shop-spring-denim-clothing-shorts-jackets-2017#&gid=ci0206eb54300026b7&pid=denim-overalls-5

Critical Thinking in Fashion

Critical thinking is defined on dictionary.com to be "disciplined thinking that is clear, rational, open-minded, and informed by evidence." So what does this have to do with fashion? Fashion design is considered to be creative, not logical. However, critical thinking is necessary in the fashion industry to bridge the gap between art and practicality. Designers, and anyone in the fashion industry, must balance they're creative art with the logistics, pricing, and efficiency of production. They must take into account that more seams are more expensive, and whether or not this expense is practical or harmful. They also must balance their own creative output with what the market actually wants. Even though art is a form of personal expression, it still has to be marketable. 

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The Second Dirtiest Industry in the World

In our fashion class, we do a lot of talk on sustainability in fashion and how big of a polluter the fashion industry really is. We read today an article, called It's the Second Dirtiest Thing in the World—And You’re Wearing It on alternet.org that summed up the disastrous impact the fast fashion industry has on our environment. The cotton used in clothing takes an enormous amount of water to grow, and synthetic materials release dangerous chemicals into our atmosphere. The boats used to transport these raw materials to factories, and then from factories to retailers pollute our water. Then at the factories, women slave for long hours in unhealthy conditions for minimal pay. Then, consumers buy these products for dirt cheap, only to throw the garments away after a couple washes. These garments then end up in the landfill, in an endless, broken cycle.

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Our Collection's Story

Our collection, called "Roses N Thorns" is our take on the "good girl gone bad" cliche. For our mood board, we tried to choose models and celebrities who appeared wealthy and nonchalant. We wanted models dripping in diamonds with a "don't care attitude." Our colors and materials are strictly limited to black, white, denim, blush, and nude. We have lots of leather and lace that we're going to be basing our collection off of. Our designs are feminine, with an edgy twist. We are also considering a menswear look, which will have the same "rich kid" vibe. We want our line to be very wearable and appeal to fashion forward women and men in their early 20's. On our mood board we have select lines from "Bad and Boujee" by Migos that we thought conveyed a wealthy and careless attitude. Because we are making our designs from thrifted materials, we don't have lots and lots of fabric to create layered looks with lots of pieces as is common on the runways lately. Even oversized coats will be a little unobtainable. Therefore, our collection may not have the same level of careless vibe as we intended, nor the sense of wealth. What was most important for us to remain intact was the femininity at a juxtaposition.

Savers field trip

Yesterday my class took a field trip to Savers to shop for our upcoming fashion show. We split up into groups of four to create lines of 3 to 4 garments made entirely out of thrifted materials. My group's theme is "Roses and thorns," and our palette is made up of black, denim, and blush. We wanted to give kind of a wealthy, bad-girl/boy attitude, and so we have leather, gold chains, fur, and bling. We also have lace to emphasize the femininity of the blush. Shopping at a thrift store is awesome because we were able to find high quality vintage pieces for very cheap. I'm so glad the popularity of thrifting is on the rise because the fast fashion industry is terrible for the enviroment and also unethical. Thrift stores remind us that clothing is not disposable. When you want to change up your look, there is no reason to not reuse and instead bring new clothing into this world that is already over saturated with garments. Even at Savers, which is a huge store, they get so many pieces of clothing a day they only sell about 10% of it.

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Fenty X Puma by Rihanna FW17

I LOVED THIS SHOW!
If I could only wear one line for the rest of my life, it would be this one. Each look was in-your-face, but comprised of bold but totally wearable pieces. The university theme was done perfectly down to every last detail; the models even walked on runways that looked like desks, complete with lamps and textbooks. I though exaggerating the school theme was the perfect way to bring out the punk schoolkid side of Rihanna's line, which is what made it stand out from her other more sporty seasons. The looks, while not for the faint of heart, were on trend, with bold orange and yellow, puffers, draper jackets, crop tops, oversized hoodies, and joggers. The punk plaids though made it not even feel like athleisure. These looks are definitely ons you'll be seeing on tastemakers everywhere. The attention to detail even came down to the soundtrack, which featured actually good music, like MIA, Radiohead, and Die Antwoord.

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Nina Ricci Paris FW17

I absolutely loved Nina Ricci's show! I had never heard of this line before, but now that I have, I'll be sure to keep an eye out. I ended up watching this one because the bright baby pink suit in the thumbnail caught my eye. It was difficult to catch a central theme; Guillaume Henry seemed to blend 1700's pirates, cowgirls, and 70s and 80s vibes into one posh and wearable line. He was able to keep a huge variety of silhouettes cohesive by keeping each look relatively monochromatic. At first, it seemed the color palate would be the same muted tones we've become accustomed to seeing on the runway, but he finished the line off with the most beautiful bright pinks, a refreshing sight for sore nude-filled eyes. The makeup was on trend too with monochromatic burgundy. Prints were limited but intentional: An exaggerated allover star print layered over cowboys was basically a "heads up" in case any viewers didn't catch the cowgirl theme. Large sallow looking faces on dresses with Renaissance neck ruffles braced the watcher for the bright pink to come. Overall, I thought this show was a perfect balance between art and lifestyle wear. I can't wait to see these garments on every fashion blogger!

https://www.ninaricci.com/en-INT/Ready-to-wear/winter-2017

Anniesa Hasibuan

Anniesa Hasibuan is not a new designer, but there's been a lot of buzz about her after her NYFW show back in February. Her show was light and feminine, with conservative styles that work with her religion's dress code. However, her line seems easily wearable to everyone, even women who don't follow conservative dressing. 
What's got everyone buzzing is her decision to cast only models who are immigrants or second-generation Americans. Although exclusive, I think this is awesome to show how much of America is made of immigrants, and how much we need and appreciate them. Each model also wore a hijab, which although might raise some controversy, I think is awesome to show the beauty of the hijab, and how it can be an expression of religion and not a sign of oppression. 

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Garment Construction Project

For second semester project, we had to create a garment of our choice using a pattern. The only rules were that it had to be made with woven fabric, have buttons or a zipper, and have pleats or darts. Other than these requirements, we were free to alter and create any pattern of our choosing. I chose this Butterick pattern with shorts and a matching bustier.

I loved the retro style with the tropical floral print, so for my project, I chose a similar print in a baby pink.
Here are the finished shorts, and I have yet to make the bustier:

The shorts ended up taking way longer than I expected! Cutting out the fabric and the general assembly, including the zipper, took no more than three days, and I thought I was right up at the finish line. But then hand sewing the waistband, fitting, attaching the hook and eye, and hemming, ended up taking over a week! It shows how tedious sewing clothes really is, especially if you're aiming for quality. The fast fashion industry has disrupted the value of clothes, because the prices do not reflect the amount of work that really goes in to making a finished garment.

Valentino RTW 2017 Review

This post has been written after seeing this review on Women's Wear Daily http://wwd.com/runway/fall-ready-to-wear-2017/paris/valentino/review/

Valentino designer Pierpaolo Piccioli created a beautiful, wearable collection by combining two unlikely genres. The long, silk dresses were reminiscent of Victorian romanticism, yet patterns, shapes, and colors were distinctly 80s. Yet he manages to make the looks feel of the moment. They're on trend, something you could easily picture any fashionable girl wearing down the street today. The punk boots and flowy dresses seemed at no mismatch thanks to toned down colors and bold prints, proving that "wearability" does not have to mean "basic". The looks were modest, understandably for Fall. Every single look had a high neckline. Here are a few of my favorites:

Images are from Women's Wear Daily

Do You Worry Colleges or Employers Might Read Your Social Media Posts Someday?

To answer simply, I don't. The bigger worry for me, and why I censor my social media posts, is that my family will see. I also know that my youth pastor follows me on Twitter and that there are underclassmen who look up to me, and I don't want to set a bad example. However, I wouldn't be surprised if in the future employers and colleges do look at a person's social media to get a better understanding of the person. It would be a good idea on the company's part, since people use social media to create a sort of online persona. Employers looking at an applicants social accounts could likely bring an end to cyber bullying, since people would realize that what they say online has consequences, just like in real life. A large part of why people cyberbully is because they feel as though their online persona has no connection to them, and so they can let out their inner rage or whatever without consequence. Again, however, knowing that employers can look at your social may take away from the unfiltered culture that has made the internet so great. For many, social media is a place where people feel they can finally be themselves without judgement or consequence. If employers started looking at social accounts, sites known for spontaneity like Twitter and Snapchat may become more like Instagram, where people already often post meticulously to create the exact persona that they want.

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How to Make a Rope Ladder So You Can Sneak Out of Your Second Story Window

Ok, so this post isn't super fashion related, but when you use your rope ladder, you want to wear shoes, which are fashion, and you can go to parties wearing your fashion. Alright. Fashion. Let's go.

You Will Need
- 100 ft of rope (make sure the working weight is well above your weight)
- yardstick or ruler
- something heavy in your room, such as a bed
- duct tape (optional)
- climbing clip (optional)
- bobby pins or tape (optional)

if you're desperate, you could use just rope, but any of these other objects will make the process way easier.

1. Take your window screen out
2. Drop one end of the rope out of your window, and lower it until it reaches the ground. Mark the rope on your end with your hand, tape, or a bobby pin. To use a bobby pin to mark, stick it in through the rope casing. Then pull the rope back up.
3. Use your yardstick to measure the rope to your mark. Multiply this number by 2.5. If you don't have a yardstick, fold your rope at the mark and then add half of that length. Put a mark at this new point. 
4. Tie a double figure-8 knot where this second mark is. If you have a climbing hook, put it inside the loop before you tie the knot. Go to this link for an animation. Then you can remove the marks. Roll the rest of the rope up after to make the next step easier.
   
5. Then, every 10 inches, you will tie a knot like seen in the image. This link will show you how. This is the tricky part: you want to make sure the knots are about 10 inches apart when tightened, so tie the knot loosely at first so that you can tighten it into place. Use the end of the rope that you measured to do the loop de doop side, and make at least 6 loops instead of 4.

   

   from http://www.instructables.com/id/Rope-ladder/

   Continue until the end of the rope.
6. Cut the rope when you've reached the end and wrap some tape around the ends so it doesn't fray.
7. Look closely at your room to find the best location to tie your ladder to. It must be much heavier than you. Probably this will be your bed, but if your bed is not near the window try a heavy desk. If you have multiple heavy objects to tie the ladder to , even better.
8. Tie a Halyard knot with the end of a new piece of rope to one side of the heavy thing. 

   

   from http://www.sailfeed.com/

9. Measure from here how long your rope need to be to reach the window, and then the other side of your heavy thing. At the point where the rope will reach your window, slide your ladder onto the rope and tie a butterfly knot. Click here for an animation on how to tie it. If you have a climbing clip, you can tie the knot and then clip the ladder on. 
   
10. Tie another Halyard knot onto the other side of your rope.
11. Test the ladder out before you use it! if the edge of your window is metal, you may want to wrap part of the rope in duct tape to keep it from chafing. Other than that, you're done!

Disclaimer: I have no professional experience on this topic and am not telling you to sneak out. If you follow my instructions I take no responsibility for any potential injuries. This is pretty sketch. Like I just researched a bunch of knots but this is by no means the only way or even the best way to make a ladder. Be smart, and know what works best for your situation.

History of the Zipper

This post is written in response to this article on the history of the zipper.

As any reader may know, I love history. However I never stopped to consider the history of the zipper. It's an invention I had always taken for granted, never imagining a world without zippers!
Well the zipper had a long run before becoming a common clothing notion. It was actually the man who invented the sewing machine who first invented the modern zipper, called the "Automatic, Continuous Clothing Closure."

from http://www.andreaschewedesign.com/

Even though he received a patent, Howe never really pursued the creation of the zipper. The actual introduction of the zipper can be owed to Whitcomb Judson and, most importantly, Gideon Sundback. Judson has been credited as the "father of the zipper," however his actual design, called the "Clasp Locker" received little commercial success. Sundback was head designer at Judson's company, Universal Fastener Company, where he recreated and improved the design of the zipper. He also invented the machine to create zippers. It was his design that first started being used on boots and tobacco pouches, which then later spread to clothing.
 

Academy Awards Fashion!

The Academy Awards, often referred to as the Oscars, are one of fashion's favorite events, and it's not hard to see why. Gowns this year were sophisticated and elegant, waving goodbye to the minimalism that has dominated in years past. Menswear shined too, proving that fashion is not just just for women! Color this year, however, was a safe zone, with the exception of a couple bright reds and yellows. For the most part, gowns stuck with black, white, silver and gold. The most striking gowns, in my opinion, were black and bold, with the structure of the dress as the feature. Here are a few of my favorite womensear looks:

Brie Larson in Oscar de la Renta

Janelle Monae in Elie Saab

Taraji P. Henson in Alberta Ferretti

Looking at all of the looks as a whole, it's clear that anything with shine was the way to go. Many dresses were metallic or bedazzled, or with shiny fabric. 

Another thing I noticed was that dresses tended to fall to two extremes, with the skirts being either very narrow or fantastically full. 

Even among tuxes, which often look pretty much identical, there was a lot of room for style and individuality. Here are a few of my favorite menswear looks: 

Mahershala Ali in Ermenegildo Zegna

Viggo Mortenson in Dior

Dev Patel in Burberry

And on a final note, is 2007 relly back already??? Please tell me this isn't true. While not as appalling as the Golden Globes, there were still a couple mid 2000's looks that made me want to cringe. (Looking at you Teresa Palmer and Halle Berry!) Maybe I'm just not ready for this era of fashion to be back? What do you think? Are these looks ahead, or behind? Let me know!

All images from http://www.eonline.com/

Toilet Paper Dresses (unconventional materials project)

A couple weeks ago, my class did our second unconventional materials project, and this time, we made wedding dresses out of toilet paper! It was difficult because toilet paper comes in long strips and is very delicate, so this created some unique challenges that we didn't face with the garbage bag dresses. It was also difficult because we were expected to create formal, elegant, wedding dresses, which are typically large and voluminous. As you could probably imagine, this is not easy to recreate with delicate toilet paper!

We created our dress with a very distinct top and bottom. For the top, we decided to go a little unconventional, which was fitting for our unconventional material. We folded small triangles and pinned them directly to the mannequin to give the suggestion of illusion mesh. These triangles were evenly spaced to create an edgy geometrical design. Then, for the bottom, we went totally romantic. We created a textured hi-low skirt with a short train by hanging layers of toilet paper strips that hung from the bottom of the mannequin to the floor. The came the cool part. We made small "flowers" out of the toilet paper by folding one square into a fan and then separating the ply. The, we pinned hundreds of these flowers all over the bottom of the dress. The result was an awesome texture that looked somewhat like crepe.

This was a group project, and so we did have to bring our ideas together as a group to create something we could all stand behind. However, there are a few changes I would make were we to do this again. First, I would plan the triangle top out a little better so it could be symmetrical and have lines running parallel to the ground. Since I created it trying to keep all the triangles the same size, the design as a whole does not move with the contours of her body and looks a little on the sloppy side. Second, I would make sure to incorporate other shapes of triangles to create more structure and order, and I would use long triangles to create a smooth sweetheart neckline to bring a bit of the romantic vibe into the geometrical top. Lastly, I would bring the bottom point of the flower texture on the front up to a peak, like how we originally had it. Currently, it reminds me of the "hi-low" dresses that were everywhere on Instagram in maybe 2012. The peak also complemented the geometrical top without clashing with it.

sketch of the dress after it was created

Norms

from The Literacy Booth

It's not your Great Uncle Norm. Norms, as defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary, are "a principle of right action binding upon the members of a group and serving to guide, control, or regulate proper and acceptable behavior." Controlling as they may seem, it's very important for a group to have norms. Norms are usually described by a process that becomes a habit. For example, in my fashion class, we have a norm of filling out an exit ticket at the end of every class. The procedure quickly becomes the accepted "normal" behavior, and so the work gets done without thought, and keeps order.

Thrifting

Hello Internet. Today I will discuss the trend that has taken over teens, for good reasons, called thrifting. Yes, I know thrifting has been around forever. However, it's just recently that this practice has spread beyond hipsters to the mainstream youth. Thrifting is buying second-hand clothes, typically vintage or name brand. Are people who shop at Goodwill because they're actually just poor thrifting? I have no idea. Although it meets the definition, thrifting is usually characterized by the hunt, and is usually associated with youth fashion culture.
I've found some pretty awesome cops while thrifting, and I'm not even super into it. I've been thrifting for maybe a year and mainly just go to Savers, but I still manage to find something name brand at least once a trip. I have Hugo Boss, Ralph Lauren, BDG, Calvin Klein, and more. It's dope.
I love that thrifting has become the cool way for teens to buy clothes. Fast fashion has made new styles so accessible that there's no scarcity in it to make them cool. With thrifting, you can find vintage garments that you literally could not buy anywhere else. If streetwear has taught us anything, it's that scarcity makes things cool. It's good for a teen budget. Stores like Goodwill and Savers sell items for even less than fast fashion. Local consignment shops might charge on par with fast fashion. We all know that fast fashion is very bad. It hurts designers, hurts our enviroment, and relies on underpaid workers in foreign countries. Thrifting is helping fight the dilemma, along with reducing the vast amounts of waste that American consumers notoriously produce. There is little wrong you can find with thrifting. It might be harder than just going to a store and picking something out, but should clothes really be that easy to get? I don't think so.

School Dances/What I'm wearing and who I'm bringing

My school's annual Winter Ball is coming up, and I had the trickiest time deciding what to wear. School dances are tricky to dress for because every school and every dance is a little different in style and formal-ness. Also, you have to make sure you can still pop and lock it in whatever you're wearing, without anything riding up. There also is the balance needed between looking hot and looking classy. It's technically a formal event, but you don't want to be grinding to Pitbull looking like a Puritan. Or maybe that's just me. Then on top of that, you may not want to draw too much attention to yourself, but also want to stand out a little from the crowd. Interested yet to see what I found that could meet all of these requirements? It's a sequined green romper I bought from a boutique where my friend works at. More on that later.

from lotuslook.com

While shopping at her store, another friend walked in and told me to come out to her car. I knew what was going to happen, and a was met with a typical cute asking, with rainbow roses and donuts and a pun kinda deal. (The pun was "I donut want to go to Winter Ball with anyone else." 4/10) It was nice and stuff. I had a feeling he was gonna ask me anyway. The problem was, ladies, that I had already decided I would say no beforehand. I knew I wanted to go to the dance with my girlfriends, and that a boy would slow me down. But how can you say no when a guy's so hopeful and has donuts for you and there's people watching! So of course you all know what happened, and now I am met with a shit ton of regret.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

help me out

Tinder is the best and worst

Yes I am a little late to the party, but I just downloaded Tinder about a month ago, and it has rapidly taken over my life. Let's look at some pros and cons because real sentence structure is for normies anyway.

Pros:

• can meet new people
• constant validation on your attractiveness 
• fun to sort through people like you're king of the world
• hookups whenever you want
• people watching
• funny ass bios
• your friends think you're cool because you have hella boys
• plenty of people looking for adventure, always have someone to take you somewhere
• you can see how nearby someone is
• no pictures allowed in app so no dick pics
• connects to Instagram and Spotify so you can learn more about how a person behaves on other platforms besides tinder
• so many hotties

Cons:

• fat chance of finding real love
• people will lowkey judge you for having Tinder
• If you do find someone you really like, you can't tell anyone you met on tinder
• objectify people based on their appearance
• Tinder uses a complex algorithm to rate people based on their "desirability," and then show's you profiles of people in your desirability league
• the CEO is kind of pretentious, or so I've read 
• sometimes it's overwhelming because so many hot people want to talk to you
• game like dating system seems mildly unethical
• most people are only looking for hookups
• many female profiles are fake, or so I've heard from male friends
• in-app purchases also seem mildly unethical (can pay to "super like" someone, or to undo)

To me, the pros outweigh the cons, but barely! I've been lucky enough to meet some really awesome people on the app, who I've ended up having connections with but never would have met otherwise. And, contrary to popular belief, while many people are just looking for hookups, many people just want friends to do things with, I've found. I suggest actually reading each bio and checking every person's Instagram out before making your decision, instead of "speed swiping." Often times a really hot person will have an irrelevant first picture to filter out people who aren't serious. Also, you can actually learn more about a person further than your first impression. Happy swiping!

New Years Resolutions

I made a couple New Year's resolutions this year, which I intend on keeping to the best of my ability. They're general, and focus more on mindsets that specific goals. They're also pretty cliche.

1. Get out of the habit of floating through life, and start staying on the beat.
2. Be the best me that I can be.

Let me elaborate a little. Maybe every couple weeks or so, I'll have random bursts of proactive energy where I'll get done everything that I needed and planned to do and feel super inspired and motivated and shit, and this lasts like 30 minutes. The rest of the time, I just kinda focus on getting through the next hour. I let life happen to me, instead of being the one to make things happen. I want to be aware of each hour passing, instead of just waiting for it to pass. This is the mindset I want to retain for the new year.

To be "the best me that I can be" is something everybody says, but kinda means nothing. What I mean by this is to live up to my potential, to be 100% Camille all the time. That probably still makes little sense. It goes along with the "floating through life" mentality I've got in the habit of. Once my brain realized how easy it was to not care about my appearance, not focus on my outfits, never wash my face, never sleep on time, and never participate, I stopped putting in the effort. However this little bit of effort put in to self-care gives me more energy and positivity throughout the day, I've learned. So really, my actions to achieve this goal will be to take care of myself, for the purpose of achieving the broader goal of being the best me that I can be. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, I'm going to rephrase my New Year's resolutions into two steps to reach my ultimate goal. I have a vision for myself, that I know I can become, but will need practice, hard work and patience.

Goal: To Be The Best Me That I Can Be.

Resolutions to achieve said goal:

• Take care of myself
• Keep a productive, future-oriented mindset

Where do you think designers find their inspiration? What inspires you?

Designers are nothing less than artists. Only, instead of paints and canvas, a designer uses textiles and the human body to create their art. Like any artist, they express themselves through their creations. So, who can say what designers are inspired by? Every designer is inspired by something different; that's what makes them unique. However I would guess that common sources of inspiration include colors of nature, famous paintings, historical silhouettes, other influential designers, and pop culture. At least all of those ring true with me. I also like to be inspired by music genres. I find it fascinating how a culture, along with style of dress, can grow around a certain genre. It's a true example of life following art. I go through phases with different genres of music, like pop, indie, punk, and hip-hop, and my style tends to follow with it. I like to combine my experiences working with these different styles when I design. I am also inspired by people around me. Sometimes I'll try to design outfits in my head to match the vibe of interesting people I meet. Human beings, with their unique combinations of experiences influencing endless thought, no two the same, I find to be the ultimate source of inspiration.

Hayden Williams is the fashion illustrator I have been most influenced by, picture taken from his Instagram