I have been pushing it off for some time now, but soon enough the weather is going to be nice enough to break out some swimwear. So I got serious about finding a swimsuit, and there are lots to choose from. One thing I have seen a lot of is a lot of fun funky prints and bright colors. I really like the suits with fruit prints on them in the triangle style bikini. I have also seen suits with that are very sparkly with really cute stitching patterns on them. I guess the hardest thing is finding a swimsuit style that flatters your body and then pick out the print from there. I personally love my traditional string bikini which I have in white and black, it never goes out of style and I can wear for lying in the sun and swimming around. I do want to purchase a colorful bikini with a fun print though. I saw a turquoise bikini that had small white polka dots on it at Target that I really liked. It was a cute low rise brief bottom and a halter top, I really liked the color too because it was so rich and would look great on tanned skin. I defiantly think that funky patterns and bright colors will be a big hit this summer.
Kate Moss fashion line
Kate Moss just relessed her new fashion line on May 1st in one of Englands high end stores called Topshop. They will also go on sale at Barneys in NYC on May 8th. I read an article in which she talked about the line a bit. One thing she said was that her line was inspired by vintage pieces in her closet and by clothes that she actually wears. If you see pictures of Kate Moss and note her different outfits, then compare them to her collection, they are the same style clothes. I think that this is great because she is true to her work and is really creating clothes that she likes and has passion for them. I think that is important for a designer if they want their collection to do well, they really need to sell the clothes themselves, and since her collection is an image of her real style her fans will love that and go crazy over her clothes. My favorites in perticular were her dersses, there were three I liked the most, they were all very different looks but really caught my eye. She also has a lot of skinny jeans and cropped vest tops. I think that whole collection overall is very rock and roll trendy. I am really looking forward to being able to buy some of the pieces next time I am in NYC.
Print Sublimation Graphic T-shirt designs- My senior project with Professor Elaine Polvinen
Here is some backround information on the process called print sublimation that I used to apply my designs on 100% polyester T-shirts and other novelty items:
What is print sublimation Click here for more information—>Download file
Sublimation uses a patented heat transfer process that employs special heat sensitive inks or toners to permanently dye polymer-coated surfaces. Simply print your clip art, scanned images, or computer created artwork on an inkjet or laser printer using high-quality paper and sublimation inks or toners. The resulting transfer sheet can be applied to a variety of surfaces with a standard heat press.
How is a sublimation transfer different from direct printing onto fabric/screen printing?
Heat transfers created with color laser, ink jet, or wax thermal printers use a polymer coated transfer paper to fuse ordinary toner or ink particles onto the surface of a substrate. The result is a “decal-like” transfer that can peel, crack, fade, and discolor over time. Sublimation transfers instead rely on special transfer inks or toners to transfer below the surface of a substrate. The result is a “tattoo-like” transfer that will not peel, crack, or fade and lasts for many years.
My Reflection:
I thoroughly enjoyed the whole process of designing my grahpics to the end product of print sublimating them onto t-shirts, keychains and even mousepads! You can view it by clicking this Link—> Vicki’s T’s There is endless posssiblities, tonal designs and photographs transfer beautifully and the designs fuse with the fabric fibers and are incredibly soft. They are not stiff like screen prints and don’t crack like they do. You can view a display of my T-shirts on display on the 3rd floor of Caudell Hall that will be up until the end of the semester. If you are interested in using the print sublimation press please contact professor Elaine Polvinen, for obtaining the press would not have been possible if it was not for her!
99% of my designs I had hand drawn with sharpie markers and scanned them in and manipulated them. I felt I could not have achieved my desired artistic effect if i would have created them in Adobe Illustrator. Sometimes the artistic free hand is the most beautiful and I believe the most original. That is why my future electronic investment would be in a Wacom pen tablet. They are very popular and helpful in digitizing freehand designs and when I had interned last summer in NYC, that’s what their designers used, they are becoming very common in the industry.
Thank you to all who have read my blogs, had commented or not, if it is one thing I leave fashion and textile technology students here at Buffalo State, it is this, Fashion is the utmost expression of oneself. Be true to yourself. The saddest thing I can see is a girl walking around with a $99.00 Coach change purse and wonder if (1)she bought that to obtain some sort of respect to fufill her insecurities, (2) Her friends had it, everyone has it and she wanted it too to be fashionable/trendy, or that (3) she actually bought it because she loved the design and detail and it fully expressed her individual fashion and self. With mass consumerism in America, most likely it is (1) or (2) but for all the girls who buy like (3), my utmost respect is for you, who value individuality and originality, embrace that, for you are the beholder of truth.
“Art is not the application of a canon of beauty but what the instinct and the brain can conceive beyond any canon. When we love a woman we don’t start measuring her limbs.”- Pablo Picasso
Popularity of Knock-off Handbags
My last blog I shared my adventure to NYC with all of you and it got me thinking. Places like Chinatown, flea markets, or kiosks in your local mall make a lot of money off of handbags that are designer look-alikes at a fraction of the cost. We’ve all heard of the infamous purse party where several of bags are displayed in a person’s home or in the convenience of your own home (if you choose to host one) and friends/family can come and purchase the different handbags of their choice. Most of the time if the seller makes a lot of money, she usually gets a free purse or accessory depending on how much money was made at the party. What my real question is: Does owning a knockoff handbag decrease the novelty or recognition of owning a real designer handbag?, I mean nowadays its difficult to decipher (well at the least for me) if the bag is real or faux. Places like Chinatown are multi-million dollar marketplaces where you can pretty much purchase whatever your heart desires because they probably are selling it. Much of the items sold are not put through testing or have to pass any type of standards therefore the quality of these products are generally very poor. In our society today its becoming more and more accepted that owning a real designer handbag whether its Coach, Prada, Fendi, or Dooney & Burke is almost unnecessary because so many fakes have flooded into the market and its truly becoming a growing trend among girls. I own several knockoff handbags and accessories and I love them just as much as the next girl, but until I can afford the real thing, it will have to be knockoffs for me. If anyone has any experiences/comments regarding this, please feel free. Till next time.
May 05, 2007
Buffalo State Fashion Show firsts!
Design by Trina Brown, Senior Apparel design major, ‘07
Good on you! Fashion students represent, yo! The fashion department here at Buff State are finally putting faces to our department and student’s original work. There were two held this past week, one a senior project class taught by David Brinson and the other and a Project Runway project class taught by Jim Siewart. I think this is a great thing the fashion department is finally doing and I hope they will keep up the good work, and improve year by year. I send my congrats to the seniors and every one a part of the show and all the fashion faculty!! The following are links to pictures of the show. Check it out!! Any comments? Favorites? Imporovements for next year?
http://www.buffalostate.edu/depts/fashion/fs2/
http://www.buffalostate.edu/depts/fashion/fs1/
May 03, 2007
Jeans
I am going to talk about jeans because they are one of my favorite clothing items. For one thing everybody wears jeans, no matter your occupation or clothing style, at some point everyone loves to get into a comfy pair of their favorite jeans. As far as I go, I love them and can’t have enough pairs. No matter what I am shopping for I always find myself browsing through the jeans and usually end up purchasing a pair. I think that jeans are great because there are so many different styles and washes. To me black pants are just black pants even in different styles, however, each pair of jeans has their own little touch, style and finish. Different styles can be worn for different occasions too. Some jeans are very casual looking and great for bumming around or just running errands, and then there are jeans that are great for dressing up and going out and look very classy. But the greatest thing about jeans is the variety; there is just so much variety. I could sit online for hours just looking through so many different brands and designers and all of their jeans that they have to offer. Some of my favorites are, Seven for All Mankind (these are my jeans that are comfy, yet stylish and can be worn day or not, they are very versatile,) True Religion (specifically the Joey jean because I like how the seam is twisted at the flared part of the leg, I think it makes my legs look better,) I also really like Express’ studio jeans in the flare leg style (these jeans flatter me very well and are comfortable as well, my only complaint would be that they stretch out a bit and need to be washed often to shrink them back down.) In all these would be my top three jeans for comfort and style that I love. I am big on dressing my jeans up so that I can wear them out for a nice evening and I feel that these three brands are great to dress up.
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