the ugliest shirt you've ever loved.

For the last five weeks, I have devoted countless hours drafting, cutting, measuring, pinning, sewing, seam-ripping, sewing again, pressing, adjusting, problem solving, and eventually presenting one of the ugliest shirts I have ever encountered. As I was working on it, my roommates sat idly by watching as every component that I added to the shirt made it even more bazar.  I have to give it to them though, they still remained positive about the completed project and showered me with kind compliments even after I kept them up all night with the obnoxious noise of my sewing machine and burned their eyeballs with my stripes, plaids, frills and ribbons. Thanks dudes.

So here's how it went down.

The assignment: rethink and redesign the classic shirt. 

The theme : pick a theme and let it evolve and organically incorporate other themes to create something new and original.

The Rules : the majority of the shirt must be constructed from a striped cotton. Other patterns and solids may be used but only as additions to the stripe. The shirt must also be a SHIRT and not a blouse (meaning buttons down the front as opposed to down the back or not at all). 

The final presentation : 10 illustrations of the entire collection including the shirt, a mood board (inspiration board), a fabric board comprised of all the fabrics used in the collection, a flat of the finished shirt, and the finished shirt. 

My theme started as victorian. Just your plain old victorian shirt. Standard theme, no? Well... as instructed, this theme evolved and organically incorporated other themes. Victorian turned into victorian-motorcycle-country-saloon girl. Yeah, quite the mouthful. What does a victorian-motorcycle-country-saloon girl look like, you might ask? Well let me show you.

Here are my 10 illustrations depicting my final collection.

As you can see, the victorian shirt completely transformed and was paired with some patent leather pants and overalls to bring in the motorcycle and country elements making this very Beyonce "Bow Down" look, as one of my peers put it. The first shirt in this collection is the shirt that I actually went on to create. At the beginning of the project, I drew 50 croquis and proposed them to my professor. Out of those FIFTY designs, he chose that one. I think maybe because it might've been one of the more challenging ones from a pattern-making/design standpoint. Nevertheless, it would have been more ideal to choose one of the shirts that I would actually incorporate into my wardrobe unlike this bazaro ribbon explosion... Oh well. C'est la vie.

These illustrations, paired with my mood board and my fabric board, created a three-panel presentation board. I used the excess fabric left over and some other crafty things I've collected in my time as an art student to bring it all together. We were required to include some of our process work which is why I included my two sketchbooks of research, inspiration, and croquis.

  

Since coming to the fashion design program, I have been introduced to technical flats which I have never been required to do before. It was a real struggle at first to figure out how the heck to draw a shirt in Adobe Illustrator and have the proportions correct and everything. Basically a technical flat is what you send to the manufacturer so it needs to be coherent and correct if you want to get the right shirt made and sent back. If there is even one mistake, you could receive a completely different shirt from the manufacturer and then you're screwed. So precision is key! I'm still just getting the hang of this but this is the flat I whipped up for my shirt.

And lastly, the finished shirt.

**The sleeve shoulders are puffier when arms are in them.

I was a little nervous to present this project on the last day of class. I was convinced my professors and peers would be thinking to themselves "what the…." and conjure up some horrid story of my being the next Betsy Johnson… However, my teacher seemed to flip that apprehension on it's side. When he saw my shirt he fell absolutely in love with it and went on a 20 minute rant about this generation of Parsons students being "hyper chic" and serious designing all androgynous, avante garde, oversized, no colour, clean line, boring clothing. He said "finally someone who can take a damn risk!" He applauded my experimentation and fearlessness (little did he know I was internally freaking out) and mentioned that it IS an ugly shirt, but the fact that it's so well made makes it hard to hate. He went on to talk about the need to be tacky and crazy in fashion school because as soon as you get into the industry, you're going to have someone telling you what to do and the opportunity to explore will have evaporated (until you have complete creative control of a company which is … in the very distant future … if at all). 

All in all, this project was a roller coaster of emotions, but well worth the ride. As my prof put it, I've created "the ugliest shirt you've ever loved." Not a bad title if you ask me.

Gift Guide for a Fashion Student

Let's be real here, Christmas shopping gets increasingly difficult the older we get. Not only difficult but expensive. For a college student, the expensive component of that equation is a death sentence, especially following Black Friday and Cyber Monday when it’s hard to put Christmas shopping before spoiling yourself...again. And isn’t that always the way? The one time of the year when the spirit of giving is in the air and you’re having a sudden epiphany of all these things that you ‘need’ and how you can justify purchasing them instead of that tie for your dad for the fourth year in a row. [Check out Harvey Nichols' Sorry, I spent it on myself gift collection, http://www.harveynichols.com/sorry]

So throughout this epiphany, I’ve been able to compose a list of gifts that a fashion student would like to a receive. A Fashion student like me. Hint, hint.

1. Illustration Markers.

My preferred brand is Primsacolor mainly because it’s the cheapest good quality marker. As a fashion student, you really can’t have too many illustration markers. Even if you have two of the same colour, they run out very quickly or they get murky from colouring over pencil. And then you have murky drawings and no one wants murky drawings because murky is murky. 

2. American Apparel ‘Easy Jeans’.

These are by far my favourite pair of jeans because they are so easy. Shocking, I know. I have them in black and wear them with everything and they look great no matter how bloated I am... A second pair may be in order. In medium.

They come in a variety of colours:

http://store.americanapparel.net/product/?productId=rsams300

3. Black anything.

Speaking of black clothing, there is an unwritten rule in fashion school, or maybe it’s the entire industry, or maybe it’s New York City... but all black is a must. I honestly never wore black before October - occasionally when I wanted to look cool but I was a classic crayon-box-wardrobe kind of girl. Then I worked a fashion event in Toronto in early October with a dress code of entirely black and I had sold my soul, crossed over to the dark side, and converted. I didn’t realize it until a friend pointed it out, and when my response was more defensive than ashamed I knew there was no turning back. It’s a habit. Now, this isn’t to say I don’t like colours, I love colours! I include them in my designs all the time! But as far as my own clothes go, well, I’ll be sporting the fashion student uniform: all black everything.

4. Large canvas bag.

You know that awkward kid running to class with his backpack on, lunch bag in his hand and science project slowly disassembling in his arms as he runs down the street? Yeah, that’s pretty much every fashion student at one point in their lives. Until of course, they acquire a nice, extremely large, canvas bag in which they can carry all their sewing, illustration, and pattern-making materials. New York is a busy place and pedestrians have little tolerance for those with too much stuff on the sidewalk. Not to mention the Parsons elevators are unethically small. Having multiple small bags of supplies in addition to your purse is a disaster waiting to happen, so let's just avoid conflict and obtain a canvas bag. Of the large variety. In black. 

Plain and simple:

http://makr.com

5. Fashion related books.

So we can look really cool when our non-fashion student friends come over. But also for inspiration…

“I don’t pop Molly, I rock Tom Ford.”

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tom-ford-bridget-foley/1017246140?ean=9780847826698

6. Unlimited gift-card to Starbucks.

Death before decaf, am I right?! Heh. 

7. Ridiculous shoes.

The more ridiculous the better. I can always take my shoes off to press the sewing machine peddle... 

For inspiration:

http://www.solestruck.com

8. Ridiculous sunglasses.

I mean hey, make-up can only disguise how exhausted we are so much. Sometimes you just need a killer pair of shades to get you through that bad-face day.

Like these:

http://www.nastygal.com/accessories-eyewear/

9. Candles.

I think it’s an artists thing, but an abundance of candles seems like appropriate decor. A New York City apartment could always use a little ambiance, especially when you can’t afford decent furniture or decorations or lightbulbs.

10. Money.

You had to expect this one. Materials are expensive! New York City is expensive! There is NO shame in accepting money for the holidays, and it is NOT uncreative to give money as a gift. So please, don’t hesitate. Really. I take all major credit cards.

11. Ironic apartment decorations.

We need to have our fair share of goofy dog sheets and princess chandeliers before our lives get too serious. Nice one on the spool-of-thread salt and pepper shakers, mom. You nailed it.

Need ideas?

http://www.modcloth.com/shop/apartment

12. Vintage anything.

Nothing rolls of the fashion-conscious tongue better than, “it’s vintage”. And the fact that no one else will have it is slightly appealing once you’ve realized that every other person in your class also heard about the sale at H&M in Times Square. 

13. Mason Jars.

For some reason it’s really trendy to drink out of these, and for some reason no one really knows where to acquire them except for finishing several jars of your mother's failed strawberry jam.

14. Instagram followers.
Won’t those look so nice with a pretty bow under the Christmas Tree? Actually, a group of strangers sitting in my living room doesn’t sound pretty at all…

I'm @herelovenyc by the way….

15. Patience

Because seam ripping.