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