France: Not Even All of It

Now that I'm back everything is less exciting, and nothing is the same. The food is more sugary, the bread isn't as good, and nothing is as beautiful. France for me is an amazing and wonderful place, and I am already starting to plan out my next trip. Who knows, maybe I'll decide to study or work somewhere and actually get to live there for a while.
 







One week wasn't enough time, but I did get to experience a lot of things. I got to learn how to cook, pair wine & cheeses, learn about wine, do wine tastings (even 1 at a vineyard), and that's just the food related things. I had a blast walking and exploring around Riorges and Roanne, as well as getting to spend all of Saturday going around Lyon and experiencing a larger French city. 

I got to experience fancy pastries, classic quiches, see a movie in a French cinema (Deadpool in French is very different), and browse a few bookstores. Not everything is so different, but I do know I'll be making a few changes to my lifestyle from this trip. I'll be taking more downtime, especially when it comes to meals. Instead of rushing and eating dinner on my way to somewhere I want to take the time to sit and enjoy my meals. It doesn't have to be a multiple course meal with wine or take hours, but it will be nice taking that time out of my day and actually resting and enjoying life. Along with meals, I'll be cooking more and trying new things. No more soup or pasta once a week just because I have it. I'd like to make some vinaigrettes or maybe actually make a multiple course meal. I'll probably cook for my friends too. 

I'm pretty excited about adding some French touches to my life, but it's not the same as actually being there. I hope to return relatively soon, but with work starting in the next month I don't think it will happen for a while.  

"America is my country, but Paris is my hometown."  
- Gertrude Stein.

Study Abroad France: Silk Related

During my study abroad in Riorges we spent Saturday in Lyon. It was pretty amazing to see the city and spend a whole day out and about. I'll write more on the whole day, but this post is all about the silk. My mini group decided to go to the 2 different silk factory places with our free time. We started off at this really fancy looking place, but their tours of the factory had already taken place for the day. We got to walk around and see their mini exhibit, which was really nice. They had the process laid out for you on how silk is made and then the weaving and also some history on Lyon and their silk. A lot of what I saw regarding the process and machinery I had learned about in my textiles class. I did enjoy reading the history of silk in Lyon, it was very interesting.

After the first place we decided to walk to another silk factory location. This one was less fancy and older looking. It was great to see the differences. This location actually used the machines, they weren't just for display like the first location. I was able to get 8 "coupons" for 2 euros and I plan on creating my own fabric swatch book with information and such, similar to the books we made for my early design class (and then used in textiles). It was a great experience to go to both places and actually see the machinery, read the history, and just explore Lyon.

After heading back towards the center of Lyon we decided to just walk around for some shopping. I found a fabric store and just had to go in and look around. I had asked the woman if they had any silk, because why not, and they only had 1. It was a golden mustard color and cost 99 euros per metre...so I kept browsing around the store. I came across some "coupons" and decided to get them, they're white with black circles. Then I found a really cool upholstery fabric that is very colorful, different on both sides, and was really wide so I knew I could afford the 1 metre of 35 euros. It's not silk, but it's beautiful and I can't wait to finish my senior collection and make a really awesome jacket for myself.

Stay tuned for more on Lyon & the rest of my travels from this past week!

Spring Poems

Spring Poems by brimalotke

All this winter weather is making me dream of springtime, and also my upcoming trip to France. I'll definitely be posting a lot of pictures when I get back late March. Stay tuned for some more French related posts!

2015 in Review

This year has been a whirlwind of amazing times for me. Of course there's been some not so wonderful times, but I've done so much this year it's hard to believe it.
In January I headed off to London for a semester abroad at the London College of Fashion. I made some friends and got to travel to other great places like Scotland and Paris. When I came home I got to see my school's fashion show and my friend model my sustainability piece. 

A collar I patterned, sewed, and stitched
on an apron for "Hay Fever."

Then I was off for the summer to Illinois where I interned with the Champaign Urbana Theatre Company and got to help out on a few shows for my boss and her freelance costume design jobs. I was also lucky enough to land an internship for Fashion A Magazine and have been writing for them and doing social media posts since June.

In August I started my last year at Purdue and began working on my senior collection that will be shown on April2nd, 2016. I interned with the Purdue Costume Shop again this fall and was even lucky enough t be he costume designer for a small production. It was wonderful! I've finished the year with seeing John Oliver in Chicago and getting to spend some quality time with family. I'm really looking forward to this coming year, mainly the whole graduating college part but who knows what will happen after that!

 

Goodbye 2015 & Hello 2016!

 

Enjoying tea time in London at Sketch.

 



Exhibits From Around the World

Right now there are 3 exhibits that I would love to attend. The first, and most practical, is at the Indianapolis Museum of Art and is called Cutting Edge Fashion: Recent Acquisitions. The exhibition "seeks to explore how various designers were considered avant garde in their own ways, drawing from new acquisitions it has painstakingly made since 2006" (Indiana Museum...). I'm hoping to go to this over the summer, it's not too far away and I think it'll be really amazing to see the different avant garde pieces they've acquired over the years. One of the pieces (pictured in this post) is an evening dress from the 1920s by Callot Soeurs. It's a stunning dress made of silk velvet, metallic threads, and faux pearls. 

(From website, see Bibliography,
photo Courtesy Indiana Museum of Art)

The second museum exhibit I'd love to see happens to be in London at the Victoria and Albert museum titled Shoes: Pleasure and Pain. The exhibit contains around 200 pairs of both women's and men's shoes from around the world. It aims to explore "the complex relationship that people have with shoes, including the cultural significance and transformative capacity of footwear" (V&A...). I really wish I was still in London so I could go see this exhibit. I loved the Alexander McQueen Savage Beauty exhibit and I know there are a few more amazing exhibits going on this summer that would be wonderful to attend. 

Lastly, the third exhibit I'd be thrilled to see is in Madrid. The exhibit, Vogue Like a Painting, opens later this month and illustrates the artistic connection between the photographs in Vogue and the original artworks. Kolesnikov-Jessop writes that "Botticelli, Vermeer, Van Eyck, Degas, Hogarth, and Rossetti are just some of the painters whose works have inspired fashion photography in the pages of Vogue magazine" (Vogue like a Painting...). If only I could just up and go to any museum exhibit I want, I definitely would go around the world nonstop just visiting museums and art galleries. Maybe someday my career will involve lots of travelling and I'll get some free time while working and I can visit the sites.

Bibliography
Kolesnikov-Jessop, S. (2015, June 3). "Vogue like a Painting" Coming Up at the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza. Retrieved from http://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/1171691/vogue-like-a-painting-coming-up-at-the-museo-thyssen
Tay, M. (2015, May 11). Indiana Museum of Art Shows off New Acquisitions in Avant Garde Fashion Exhibition. Retrieved from http://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/1152499/indiana-museum-of-art-shows-off-new-acquisitions-in-avant  
Tay, M. (2015, June 8). V&A Explores Pleasure and Pain of Beautiful Footwear. Retrieved from http://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/1147857/va-explores-pleasure-and-pain-of-beautiful-footwear

My France Shoes

 While I was in France on my spring break from my semester at the London College of Fashion, I bought a pair of shoes that I am still in love with every time I wear them out. They cost me a little bit more than I wanted to spend but they were my splurge item I had planned on from the beginning of my trip. I bought them at the Galeries Lafayette in Paris and they're by Claudie Pierlot, a brand that rocks a lot of black & white combinations. I'm definitely going to somehow include these bad boys in my senior collection even if they're the shoes I wear during the fashion show. I'm really hoping I find some great models that wear US 8's because I've just been collecting and hoarding shoes I think might work for my senior collection for a while now and they're all around a size 8.

Back in the States

After wrapping up my time at the London College of Fashion I went on a mini vacation with my father to Scotland. We spent a day in Glasgow and headed off to Edinburgh and then during the week we went to Stirling. It was a great week and I got to see and do a lot more than I had anticipated. 

I spent my Friday flying back home and then yesterday I attended Purdue's Fashion Show. The show was great, it was lovely to see everyone's hard work and my model working it on the runway. I can't wait to start working on my senior collection...right after I finalize my ideas. But that's what part of this summer s for: working on my collection.

I'm pretty glad to be home, to be able to unpack my suitcase (yes I did my study abroad semester with 1 suitcase), and to just relax. I have proceeded to do loads of laundry, a little tidying, and of course more applications to summer internships & jobs. As of now I am currently writing for a website called MaghanItWork. I write weekly articles on anything regarding the world of fashion, and it's pretty great. I have applied to a few more writing jobs and design internships as well as working in a theater department with costumes.

I'm going to try & keep my blog updated as much as possible now that I have a little bit more free time. 

Bath In Fashion

A couple weeks ago I was in Bath for a weekend trip with a friend. We didn't know about it when we booked our trip but Bath was having their own fashion week events. They called it Bath In Fashion and had talks, designers, and shows going on. We managed to go to a talk on Thea Porter from the curator of the exhibit that is on at the Fashion & Textiles Museum in London, which we had gone to the week before. We bought copies of the book and got them signed! One of the other main things we did was go to the big fashion show on Friday night. It was pretty great. The clothing was from shops in the city & so if you wanted you could purchase them the next day in store. 

Here are just some pictures (some of my better ones, we were 2nd row) of the fashion show:

Great coat

I loved the millinery in the show

Finale 

Paris Days 3 & 4

Hall of Mirrors.

On Sunday we spent our day at Versailles. It took a few hours to make it all the way through the palace, especially with the audio guide. There were so many things to look at all around the building: elaborately painted ceilings, velvet walls, printed wallpaper and fabrics, vases and sculptures all around, and even paintings lining the walls. It was beautiful and even though I've been there before I took tons of photographs. We went out to the gardens and ate lunch at a little cafe off the path. Then we headed over to Marie-Antoinette's area but it was closed by the time we got there so we couldn't look around.

Fondue.

After Versailles we took the train back into Paris but it took a long time so by the time we got off we were starving. We decided to go see Notre Dame and take pictures and then grab something to eat in the Latin Quarter while we were over there anyways. We found a tiny fondue restaurant and ate dinner there before going across the street for crepes. I had a three cheese fondue with meat, potatoes, and bread. Across the street I had a crepe with strawberry and banana gelato inside with dark chocolate drizzled across it. By the time we got back to the room it was pretty late so we called it a night.



Trying Macaroons.

Sacre-Coeur.

On Monday we started off the day at the Musee de l'orangerie. We got to see the water lilies by Claude Monet as well as the Jean Walter & Paul Guillaume collection. After the museum we headed off for a small cheese tasting filled by getting macaroons! Then off to see the Palais Royal and ending up at the Moulin Rouge, just to take pictures of course, though I do want to see a show there at some point. We walked up to see the Sacre-Coeur church and get one of the best views of Paris. While we were up there we went in to the Dali museum and got to see some of his famous works of art such as Mae West's red lips couch. To finish our evening we went up to the top of the Arc de Triomphe. It was fantastic! Definitely one of the better views of the city, especially at night when everything is lit up. It was a wonderful way to end our evening and our last night in the city.

Paris Days 1 & 2

Part of my semester at LCF includes a trip to Paris for a few days. I was on trip 1 so I took the train from London to Paris on Friday, February 27th and left Tuesday, March 4th. It wasn't a very long train ride and then we were in Paris!
We took the metro to our hotel, checked in, settled down, and had a little bit of free time. I got lunch at a patisserie on the corner and then walked around the area with my friend Amanda. Our group met up around 1:30/2pm and we headed off to take a boat ride down the Seine river. It was sunny and while not very warm, an amazing time. I took a lot of pictures and was able to get some great shots of the iconic structures and wonderful architecture of the city. After that we went to a makeup store and then had the evening to ourselves. With two friends, our little pea pod trio went off to take pictures of the Opera House and then explore the Galleries Lafayette. I bought my first pair of designer shoes! They're black and white leather oxfords; I can't wait to wear them out and about. Then after shopping we went to a café restaurant near our hotel for a late dinner.
Day two started off with a trip to the market early in the morning. I bought a thing of strawberries at a stall for 1 euro and then got a small chocolate baguette and half a regular baguette to split with my roommate. After our early adventure we headed off for a full day around Paris. We went to the Les Arts Decoratifs: Deboutonner La Mode for an exhibit on buttons. It was amazing! They had a wide variety of buttons, garments, and information on designers and more. It was great to just explore through the exhibit and take lots of pictures for future use in my design process. A lot of this could be used in my research and inspiration. After that exhibit I went through their jewelry exhibit ad then went outside to enjoy the sunshine. Amanda and I took lots of photographs near the Louvre, and of course some very typical touristy shots in front of the Louvre! After that we were taken to the markets to check out the shops and area. It was pretty neat to see where there designers go to seek out inspiration and go shopping. Our little trio pea pod decided to go to the Musee Du Quail Brandy for the exhibit titled: Tatoueurs, Tatoues. It gave a history of the process and how different regions of the world go about tattooing and their views, history, and processes. I'll have to do a whole separate post about this exhibit because it was phenomenal.
We spent our evening trying to make our way to the Notre Dame but quit halfway when we reached the Obelisk and stopped to take pictures on a bridge. While we were there the Eiffel Tower started to sparkle and light up. I'm so glad we stopped to take pictures, we had perfect timing. We returned home to get pizza at a local restaurant. We ended up staying for a really long time. The manager liked us and gave us a free fruity juice drink to try. It was one of those where it had different colored juices and looked like it was layered. We also got desert, crème brule and chocolate cake with ice cream to share. We had a great, fun filled adventurous day in Paris.