My Birthday

April 01, 2008

Editor's Note: Daniel V writes these awesome blogs so diligently, and this one slipped past us. We want to wish Daniel a very happy belated birthday! Sorry pal!
So you know when you have one of those crazy birthday parties, and the next day you are talking with your friends and thinking to yourself “Man that was good; there’s NO WAY next year can top this”.

Well, I just had one of those experiences -- it was AMAZING!!! My boyfriend Kieran planned and orchestrated this elaborate day filled with hilarious clues, my favorite people, and some of my most preferred spots in NYC! I was sure to remember to take along my camera as I knew it would be a memorable experience …. So get ready to relive it along with me. Oh, and I should mention that Kieran had written clues that would help guide me throughout my day, hinting as to where or who I would see next …. Unfortunately some of them were a bit “off color” so I can’t mention them, but believe me, they were HILARIOUS!

9:15 a.m. Kieran and I hopped in a cab and headed to Spring and Wooster to a café I had never heard of.

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A Sticky Situation

January 16, 2008

What a sweet deal this week’s challenge was! (I’m determined to make as many bad puns in this blog as possible – so be prepared) Granted, it could’ve turned into quite the sticky situation (YES!) but luckily most avoided the hazards of working with food, and merely fell into the hazards of boringness.

Oh, and I love how they were able to make the Hershey’s store in Times Square look large and grandiose, because in realty, don’t be shocked when you realize that the stores is actually smaller than the signage that hangs above it… nothing like some fast cuts and quick editing to make things seem large and in-charge. Also, I don’t think it was necessarily bad that most of the designers opted to use real fabric, as opposed to edible goods. As long as there was a bit of whimsy and joy brought to the design, I think it captured the essence of the challenge. That being said however, there’s nothing like taking a risk to wake the judges up; I believe Marc Jacobs summed it up best when talking about his controversial, much-delayed, latest collection “I love that reaction of love or hate”.

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Realistic But Not Extreme

January 02, 2008

Kudos to whoever thought of this challenge: realistic but not extreme, inventive but relatable, and models who really seemed to love walking down the runway! I gasped when I heard the amount of weight that some of these women had lost… 169lbs! AMAZING! Granted, it was still a very difficult task for the designers to cover so many basis, while still being relatively confined, but I thought that there were some really fun pieces… let’s get started!

Christian
Though I hear that people are griping about him designing the same jacket twice in the first few episodes, I really thought that it was a great match for this challenge. He toned it down and made the proportions much more approachable, and used the contrast of matte/shine to bring some visual interest to the jacket. Everything seemed to fit her very well, and though, as a rule, I despise Capri jeans on woman, I feel that it is modern enough to keep her looking hip, but still like a woman (as opposed to those creepy older women who wear their daughters clothes thinking they look sexy… I actually once saw a woman wearing a t-shirt that said “I’m easy”…while walking with her 5yr old daughter. I vomited.).

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The NYLO Line

December 19, 2007

Hello my little fashionistas,

I hope this finds you happy and healthy, cause everyone around me seems to be grumpy and sick… yuck. I wanted to pass on some lookbook images from my collaboration with NYLO Hotels, the project where I designed a collection to be used by all the front line staff (waiters, hostess, front desk and servers), but will also be sold in boutiques in every hotel, as well as online at www.nylohotels.com! The first NYLO opens in a week down in Texas, 50 by 2010, and 150 are planned to open in America when all is said and done – and they’re all wearing my designs! Oh, and I almost forgot, I also designed this great handbag/luggage line for men and women that will be sold along with the rotating collection (no worries, no wooden handles).

It’s been a great project to work on, and I really do love the concept of NYLO and I especially felt that the “uniforms” needed a complete overhaul. It was such a huge undertaking because of the high demands of the projects: I needed to design clothing that was wearable in all climates (northeast to the southwest), a huge range of body types, styles that mix-n-matched/layered with one another and were also, of course, comfortable to wear. I worked in the hospitality industry for years and know for a fact that I HATED wearing my itchy polyester shirt and boxy pleated black trousers, besides, the customers didn’t think it was anything special either.

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It's About the Work

December 11, 2007

Another team challenge… gahh, my stomach goes into knots when I hear that! Though this is the time to get all of the big, group ones out of the way, it still hurts to know that a designer’s position could be easily dictated by another designer’s skills, or lack there of. Sigh… but drama of course, prevails. Nevertheless, I’ve resigned myself to speaking solely about the fashion as that is what I’m best at, that is what you want to hear, and that is what this show should be about… so let’s get started!

Project Jillian
Overall I felt all three looks definitely looked like they were from the same collection/time period, which is an incredible feat, considering what they had to work with. All were young and flirtatious, and very smart move on their part by using the exact same fabric in all three looks – editing with so many choices was definitely the crucial part of this challenge.

Jillian
It was true what Tim said about these looks, Jillian certainly was designing for herself (which is a o.k… Donna Karen does it). I feel the proportions of the overalls are fantastic, lengthening the legs while still being flattering to the waist and torso. Also, by choosing light-weight denim it keeps the look from being completely overpowered by the one fabric, as it hugs and skims the body instead of becoming stiff and rigid like traditional overalls. Lastly, great job to Jillian for thinking of opening up the neckline; it really brings in a more feminine feel to the torso section.

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Boys Just Wanna Have Fun

December 06, 2007

Wow, the producers certainly like to throw the designers of Season 4 a curve ball, don’t they? I think it’s pretty well-known that womens wear designers aren’t always the best menswear designers, and vice-versa, but kudos to them for giving it their all! When watching this episode with my roommate, she said to me “Wouldn’t it be easier to do men’s clothing anyway, it’s all boxy shapes?” Well, that AND a whole lot of geometry, details, fit, and technique. For centuries men’s clothing has gone relatively unchanged, and because of that, delineating too far from the standard is like waving a big ole awkward red flag.

Before we talk about the designs, I wanted to note that Tiki is a good looking man, very successful, and seemingly, a very all-around pleasant guy. Unfortunately, his job description does not immediately scream “fashion forward man” to me … in fact, it’s the Today Show. Let’s not kid ourselves by thinking anything other than the traditional uniform of dark colors and a traditional button-down (a faint colored stripe if feeling REALLY risqué) is ever wanted, or accepted.

I guess I have issues with this challenge because I don’t feel the challenge and the subject match very well. This is a show about design and creativity. How about choosing a man whose job description is a bit more colorful -- an actor, a photographer, or maybe a young professor perhaps? I feel that this would allow the designers to really show their talent, and instead of seeing, for the most part, a mass of badly sewn ho-hum clothing, we could’ve really experienced something fun and exciting.

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Boys Just Wanna Have Fun

December 06, 2007

Wow, the producers certainly like to throw the designers of Season 4 a curve ball, don’t they? I think it’s pretty well-known that womens wear designers aren’t always the best menswear designers, and vice-versa, but kudos to them for giving it their all! When watching this episode with my roommate, she said to me “Wouldn’t it be easier to do men’s clothing anyway, it’s all boxy shapes?” Well, that AND a whole lot of geometry, details, fit, and technique. For centuries men’s clothing has gone relatively unchanged, and because of that, delineating too far from the standard is like waving a big ole awkward red flag.

Before we talk about the designs, I wanted to note that Tiki is a good looking man, very successful, and seemingly, a very all-around pleasant guy. Unfortunately, his job description does not immediately scream “fashion forward man” to me … in fact, it’s the Today Show. Let’s not kid ourselves by thinking anything other than the traditional uniform of dark colors and a traditional button-down (a faint colored stripe if feeling REALLY risqué) is ever wanted, or accepted.

I guess I have issues with this challenge because I don’t feel the challenge and the subject match very well. This is a show about design and creativity. How about choosing a man whose job description is a bit more colorful -- an actor, a photographer, or maybe a young professor perhaps? I feel that this would allow the designers to really show their talent, and instead of seeing, for the most part, a mass of badly sewn ho-hum clothing, we could’ve really experienced something fun and exciting.

READ MORE > >