Holidays

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I just wanted to say that this semester has been a lot harder and more time consuming than I had anticipated, and I am sorry for not posting as much as I said I was going to post. After this next week or so (my last exam is December 11th) I will be able to post a lot more. I have so much to write about and to share!

Stay tuned, I will try and post some things but there won't be a lot until my winter break.

More London Decisions

For a while I was planning on trying to go to London College of Fashion for all of my junior year. I would do the design semester in the fall and then the fashion business semester in the spring. However, after meeting with my adviser, I can really only manage one semester. Let me break it down a little- for the business semester I would earn credit for 5 classes, so 15 credit hours. For the design semester I would only earn the 2 classes  for studying abroad (which I included in the business already). So if I went a whole year I would only earn the 15 credit hours. Which would leave my senior year to be incredibly stressful at 18 and 20 credit hours, a huge no no when it's recommended that you take 12-14 each semester so you have time to focus on your senior collection. So instead of going all year I have to decide on which semester I want to apply for: business or design. Now one reason I even applied to Purdue was because of their connection to London College of Fashion and how excited I was when I found out I could learn how to make shoes. Therefore, I have decided to stick with me dreams and be a little less practical and apply for design. If I do design in the spring 2015, then fall of 2014 will be a little difficult at 18 credit hrs but I'm doing 19 now with 2 jobs so not too bad. And then senior year I'll have 16 and 14 I think. So a little high first semester but I think it'll all be worth it in the end, especially when I can say I can make shoes.

Model Laws

So I've been trying to catch up on reading Vogue UK online and one of the articles is about the new child model laws. It's a very interesting read and very informative, I didn't realize there weren't laws like these in place to protect children models. The article can be found online here: The New Model Laws.

In the article Milligan explains how the "Child models in New York- that is, those under the age of 16- will now be afforded the same protection offered to other young performers, such as actors and singers" (Milligan). I think it's great to have a definite age for when a model is a child vs. "adult". Also, parts of the laws make complete sense to me. For example, "A responsible person will be designated to monitor the activity and safety of each child performer under the age of 16 in the workplace" is almost common sense to me, an adult should be watching the child and making sure they are okay and nothing bad happens (Milligan). I also like how "An education requirement decrees that employers must provide teachers and a dedicated space for instruction" (Milligan). I would hope that children could be able to still continue their education while working and that they would be able to do schooling and modeling without having to sacrifice an education that could benefit them later on in life after modeling. I am new to this specific topic and I'm not sure what laws, if any, existed before these, but I'm glad they are putting child models in with performers (singers and actors) because they are performing and they are working just like the other children.

Works Cited

Milligan, Lauren. "The Model Laws." Vogue News. 23 10 2013: n. page. Web. 23 Oct. 2013. <http://www.vogue.co.uk/news/2013/10/23/coco-rocha-child-model-labour-laws-in-new-york>.

Technology and Fashion

So one of the things I've been trying to decide on is whether or not I want to get a tablet this winter season. This past summer I thought about purchasing one for the school year but then decided I wanted to save my money because of all the books I had to buy for my classes. However, as this semester has gone on I find myself wishing that I had one. Carrying my laptop around with me is a tedious task, especially on days when I have a lot of books in my backpack so it's even heavier, or when the weather is untrustworthy and rains whenever it feels like it. Having a tablet would be easier to store and easier to tote around with me because it's lighter than my 5-7lb laptop (plus charger and case). Another reason is a tablet just seems like easier access, laptops can take forever to take out of the bag and turn on and load and just get ready to use, whereas tablets appear to be faster. I haven't actually spent a lot of time on a physical tablet, so I definitely want to look at them int he store rather than simply looking online and then purchasing before physically getting the feel of the tablet I've chosen. I have decided on a specific one I would like to try out and I am hoping with the holidays coming soon that it will go on sale and I might even possibly get it for Christmas and not have to pay the $400+ for it and the accessories (case, plug, etc.).

I think technology in the fashion world is very important, especially with all of the advances being made with fabric and technology- solar power/personal energy charged fabric is just one example. Also, a lot of handy technology such as phones, iPods/MP3s, tablets, and other portable tech gear is putting a focus on the customization of those goods and thus putting an emphasis on style and allowing a person's personal style show through with their selections of colors, patterns, and other accessories like headphones. I look forward to seeing other advances in technology more closely related to fashion (such as the Goggle Glasses). And hopefully I'll be able to find the perfect tablet that can do everything I need it to and will make my life a little easier.

Never Too Old For Tea Parties

The Tea Party Gang

My friend Hale decided that for her birthday she wanted to have a tea party where everyone dressed up and we had cake and cookies and tea. So a few of us got together and did exactly that, we had a tea party. We all dressed up and our versions of dressed were definitely varied. Hale wore a peach lace gown she found at goodwill with black booties and a black bow in her hair. Haleigh wore slacks, a button down, dress shoes, and then suspenders, bow tie, and fedora to dress it all up. Celia wore a fun blue floral print dress with a bowler hat and black heels. Jessica wore a pale blue prom dress and I wore a bright red short dress with black sweater and black sequin fascinator and on my feet were my gold oxfords. We were all definitely dressed up, we just appeared as if we weren't going to the same function. No matter, we had a blast.

Hale had baked a wonderful cake and went overboard on the sprinkles. We also didn't have enough mugs so we had to use plastic cups. But we had a lot of fun sitting in sun and enjoying each others' company. It doesn't matter how old you are, tea parties can be a lot of fun. And if you don't like tea, serve something else.It's a lot of fun to see what other people's version of dressed up is and maybe next time we have a tea party we'll look a little more coordinated.

Apologies

Sort of an update/apology for my short hiatus in posting my writing. I have been incredibly busy with school and work but I seem to have a more relaxed next few couple of weeks.
A few topics I plan on discussing are:

• My 2 different jobs
• My different classes: What we're working on
• Spring Purdue Fashion Show Ideas and News
• Fall and Winter Styles

And more of course! I'm hoping to fill my blog with quality posts that will be both helpful and informative on different topics.