Apparel Design

As I came home from school today I heard on the news a story about the usage of dog fur on winter coats. I jumped online and did a search on this subject and found an article at http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=dogfur24&date=20070224&query=dog++fur
The article talks about how the Humane Society purchased coats from Nordstrom from upscale designer labels such as the Andrew Marc’s New York line and Tommy Hilfiger. These coats were tested and the Humane Society reported: “Of 25 coats tested, 24 were mislabeled or misadvertised, the society said (Hunt). Both coats, Tommy and Andrew Marc contained fur from domesticated dogs and others tested used fur from raccoon dogs. The article mentions that most of the fur came from China and since the investigation Tommy pulled the garments off the market and confirmed that they would look into this matter.
After reading this, I am shocked and I cannot believe dog fur is being used as garments or as fashion accessories such as trimming. I understand that real animal fur has been a hot topic of discussion in the fashion industry for years now and many boycott the usage of animal fur as clothing or trim on clothing, but I have never heard of using dog fur, I mean this is man’s best friend we are talking about here! I am curious to see what you guys think about this because I am in awe that such reputable companies like Tommy Hilfiger would not take the necessary steps to make sure their products are labeled correctly.

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One reason that I enjoy watching award shows is to see what all the stars are wearing. I love seeing all of their dresses and how they look in them. A dress can look simply divine but it is up to the owner as to how they wear it and what they wear it with. Here are some of my favorite full packages (great dress worn well,) Penelope Cruz in Atelier Versace, Cate Blanchett in Giorgio Armani, Cameron Diaz in Valentino, Emily Blunt in Calvin Klein, and Reese Witherspoon in Nina Ricci. Not only were each of these gowns beautiful and unique, but each person wore the dress perfectly. My two favorite dresses out of them all were Cate Blanchett’s and Emily Blunt’s. The Giorgio Armani dress was breath taking to me. I felt like she glistened in this dress. I like the way it hugged Cate Blanchett’s body because it made for such a sleek look. I also thought that the floral beading at the bottom of the dress added a little extra jazz. As for the Calvin Klein gown, I thought that the color was very rich and I really loved how shimmery it was. I feel that sometimes shimmer can be too much or look cheesy. However, this dress was gorgeous. It was so simple but I felt that the material and color really helped make the whole dress pop. Also Emily wore it very well by not going crazy with jewelry and leaving her hair simple. The big hit of the night seemed to be Penelope Cruz though. I loved the bodice of Penelope Cruz’s dress; it was simple and sleek and balanced with the large ruffled bottom well. Also by not overloading with jewelry or big hair it made her whole look a huge hit; simple and stunning. In all, the dresses were to die for and I would obviously love to have any one of them.

Posted by Amanda at 07:40 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Fashion students with access to wgsn-edu take advantage of ALL this website has to offer. If you haven’t heard of this website, it is an awesome research tool for trends and fashion news. First time users need a special pin to log-on which can be obtained from professor Elaine Polvinen. But I recently discovered they have free tutorials for Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, to access them click on graphics in the top tool bar on the website then look to the left side tool bar and click on tutorials. This is a great resource tool and a great way to sharpen your skills and improve your designs! CHECK IT OUT!

Posted by Victoria at 02:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

The above are pictures of the making of the foundation of the chair, the skeleton, before it is upholstered at Pearson. Walking through that part of the factory, was very neat, it was interesting to see the foundations of an every day chair you may sit upon without knowing how much work really went into making it.

Another note on Wesley Mancini which I had talked about in the previous blog, here are some Words of Wisdom Download file on Textile design portfolios, or portfolios in general. He makes a lot of very important points, I would give it a good read, this is from his experience from looking at other students previous portfolios. This isn’t your professors notes but from someone in the actual industry!!

Lastly, ITMA sponsors a design competition every year, check out the link to see if you are interested in participating. Virginia Jackson Design Competition If you would like to participate, please contact Elaine Polvinen at 878-5803 or by email at polvinem@buffalostate.edu.

Posted by Victoria at 02:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

One thing that I have been reading about lately is how runway models are so thin. In the society that we live in it is accepted and normal for them so be so thin. In one article that I read it did a comparison with two pictures of the same model. One picture showed the model at her true size, which was skin and bones, and the other picture showed her 10 pounds heavier, not by any means looking fat but just healthier. Another article compared two different models, just saying that as time goes on they seem to be getting thinner and thinner. I personally think that many runway models are to skinny and look unhealthy. I don’t think that it is attractive when clothes are hanging off of them and they can’t fill them out. I understand that tall thin bodies typically look good in most clothing articles, but there is such a thing as being to skinny and I think we are seeing a lot of that with the runway models today. Not only is it unattractive and unhealthy for them, but it sends a poor message out to young girls and creates image complexes for them. I would really like to see runway models plump up a little more, but it is hard to change an image like that in the society that we live in.

Posted by Amanda at 10:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Home interior textile enthusiasts, where are you? I had just attended “Fabric: From Concept to Consumer” which was a three day excursion to High Point, North Carolina and sponsored by ITMA (International Textile Market Association). This organization’s education committee sponsors this trip once a year for a selected 30 or so students and faculty from universities and colleges from across the USA. Where the h%$# is High Point, North Carolina? It is practically in the middle of no where and the trip’s organizers kept saying it is the furniture capital of the world. I was like, “Here? Seriously?” I don’t know if that is a fact but when we were driving through High Point, there were tons of furniture and home interior design textile showrooms/store fronts and factories as far as the eye can see. It also is home to the World’s Largest Chest of Drawers. Anyway, getting back to what the trip was all about…. High Point, North Carolina is really a gem in the USA in a sense of being one of the last places where from actual weaving and production of home interior textiles to the production of furniture is all done here. If you’re not in the 411, all that work has gone over seas mainly to China because of competitively low wages and production costs. With in the past years, some textile mills were forced to shut down or merge with existing ones because of this. We were given tours of some textile mills/ furniture factories and fabric showrooms. The following is a picture of a fabric being woven on an air-jet loom that was taken at Valdese Weavers.

Continue reading "Part I: ITMA Industry Tours; High Point, NC is the furniture capital of the world?" »

Posted by Victoria at 01:17 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack