Blog 22: Final 3-Column Chart

Click here to view my 3-Column Chart!

Three Column Chart First Draft

• Three Column Chart 

Senior Project and ESLRs

1. Effective Learner
2. The reason I believe I've shown most effort and accomplishments in being an effective learner is because of my senior project as a whole. More specifically, my independent component was to learn how to sew. I created several articles of clothing and even fixed up some that belonged to family members. In this, I had to manage my time well and keep up with my hours as well as, I needed to be creative. I was creative with the different things I decided to make. I can now say I have a perspective of a designer because I've learned one of the basics/building blocks, which is sewing.
3. Here are two photos. One of which shows me working on a pair of shorts made out of an old bedsheet. The other is the product. (More photos of things I made for my independent component are shown in the blog titled Independent Component 1.

2-Hour Meeting Answer #3

1. My essential question is, "What is the best way for a fashion designer to achieve a spot in LA Fashion Week?

2. The third answer to my essential question is to have a background in business. (Know how important money in the fashion industry is)

3. 

• It is important to consider taking a few summer courses or opt for checking out books on the topic. Being a designer involves much more than just sewing and sketching. Sure, it's great to be creative and have a bunch of ideas, but being in the business means being like a sponge. You need to know the design concepts and most importantly, the money concepts.
• "You need a lot of money to put together a show. Which is why it's crucial to know a lot about business (money) and know your basics in math. Putting on a show at fashion week whether NYC or LA is expensive, which is why you start off by putting a few smaller shows and become recognizable with your original designs and hopefully your great connections. From there, you work your way up." states a sale's representative in New York that works for David Meister. 
• At the end of the month, there is money that needs to be made. One of the greatest things people choose to ignore about being in the fashion industry is that money plays a huge factor in deciding a lot of your work. Think about it. You need to pay people to work for you, as well as models, fabrics, locations to have fashion shows, and places to advertise for you. That's a lot of money to consider.  

4. My mentor, Mary Vilchis helped me come up with my third answer along with one of my pieces of research, titled "The Teen Vogue Handbook: An Insider's Guide to Careers in Fashion".

5. I plan to learn more about the math/money that goes into creating a fashion line and a fashion show. I work in that section of the office with my mentor anyways, and that's pretty much what she's in charge of.

2-Hour Meeting Answer #2

1) What is the best way for a fashion designer to achieve a spot in LA Fashion Week?

2) The second answer to my essential question is to intern with David Meister. 

3) Once you've had experience working in retail (my first answer), the next step is to intern, intern, and well, intern. 

• Take opportunities as they come and go out to designers. By that, I mean to invest time in the future. Get a nonpaying internship, even if they only offer a part-time position. The experience will be worth it in the long run and it will help me to get my name out there.
• As an intern there I was told by my mentor that it's worth making sacrifices to ensure success. Real world experience can teach me things that I can't pick up at design school. Sure, design school is meant to sharpen skills and create industry connections, but it is not the only factor in determining success. The best place to intern is with a smaller label, because I'll become exposed to several levels of the company. I become familiar with the customers, the inspiration behind the designs, and other background of the business. I know of this because this is what I've done so far and what I've achieved with my mentorship.
• When interning, I learn to view the trends and the industry from the perspective of high-end designers. Working as an intern, I'm always around clothes. I touch them, see them, try them on, and see others try them on. I pick things up by osmosis. If I'm fortunate enough, they'll keep me around. I start from the bottom of the chain and as time progress, I make my way to the top.

4) The source that helped me come up with this answer was The Teen Vogue Handbook: An Insider's Guide to Careers in Fashion. This was my 30th piece of research. This was a fantastic book because it gave great insight on the countless ways to becoming recognizable in the industry. Another great source was my mentorship because my mentorship is interning with a designer and I was told from both my mentor and my research that a great deal of fashion designers get their start with interning.

5) I plan to continue my study of answer two by looking more into statistics and articles about fashion designers who got their start with interning for other designers of their time.

Senior Project Update

1. As of right now, I'm trying to figure out when the next fashion show is, so that I can start attending some of the work days that lead up to that. However, because the holidays are a busy time for most fashion designers because there are piles or work to get done, so being patient is my best bet right now.

2. I just picked up a good book called, Style and the author is Lauren Conrad, who is best known as the star of an old show on MTV, The Hills. I was skeptical at first when I bought this book, but now that I've started reading it, I'm glad I bought it. I love her sense of style. This book is all about clothing basics, make-up basics, and accessories basics with lots of helpful hints. This book has definitely helped me want to start a collection of fashion books/books about fashion. 

3. I plan on going to meet up with my mentor later this week to start talking about a fashion show and how she can get me involved so that I can have a hands-on experience. 

Blog 9: Working EQ and Possible Answers

1. What causes fashion trends and how can they best be exploited?

2. "I am not going to revise my EQ at this time."

3. My possible answers are the following: 

• Celebrities cause fashion trends. From the perspective of a celebrity, they need to keep an eye on trends, fashion shows, and major fashion labels because they're the people that everyone looks up to. They can afford the expensive clothing put out there by major designers.
• Fashion bloggers have say in trends. From the perspective of a fashion blogger, they need to find the time to go out and about and critique the work/lines of others. They also need to people-watch, attend fashion shows, establish a “voice” for their blog and not just say nice things, but actually be honest and state their opinions of things. They also need to be aware that they may get hate for what they say and not everyone will agree with them.
• Most importantly, fashion designers start trends. They're literally the masterminds behind how they get started and they're the ones who create the final product at the end of the day and decide how they can best get their line noticed. They need to think ahead, too. For example, a designer will need to start getting a head start on the fall line a few seasons in advance. When I went to do my mentorship hours a few weeks ago, the designer was already considering what should be considered for the line in summer of 2013.

Blog 2: Topic Choice

 A. 

My topic is fashion, I chose this because fashion has always interested me. It's been around for ages and it's something that always changes, literally every season. It sounds cliche, but I like to look good and finding out new trends is something that I've always enjoyed. Even thinking outside of the box and not following the hottest trends is fun from time to time. I like the thought that fashion can be whatever I make of it and there aren't any rules that I need to follow. I can explore with endless possibilities. If I don't like something (an outfit, possibly), I can start over from scratch, it's always interesting. I can recreate looks, get inspiration from everything around me, and base my outfits off of celebrities and fashion icons. Fashion is the only thing that's ever truly been something I could call my own because it's one of the few things that I've ever been extremely confident in. No one could ever make me believe otherwise. I can spend forever at shops and always manage to find something that I could pick apart, criticize, or really like. 

B. 

iPoly Citizen: The project will help me take responsibility for myself and not procrastinate. I will learn not to rely or depend on my group/classmates to get me through the year, but be independent. I will talk to my mentors when needed and anyone at the David Meister offices. I will complete as many hours as I have to until I feel that I have learned as much as I possibly can from my mentor about my topic until I know it like the back of my hand. Just like iPoly, one big thing in the field of fashion is that you need to get involved and talk to the right people or else nothing gets accomplished. I will need to work up to par and set high standards for myself so that I will not fail. iPoly works very similarly, in the sense that we must remain positive and take responsibility for our own actions. 

Effective Communicator: I will have to push through being shy when surrounded by a large group of people that I have not yet become acquainted with and talk to everyone. I must respect the designer, models, seamstresses, and others in the office in order to gain respect from them in return. Also, I'm not in charge, so not being respectful to those above me is rude and inconsiderate. I'm working alongside others and collaborating with them to achieve success. Whether it be by helping file a few designs or just modeling a gown they don't have a model for. The process of completing designs and getting them distributed is a team effort and couldn't be finished if there were to be a lack of communication in any given area. We will take into consideration what everyone has to say and not ignore the ideas of others, but listen in order to become what is defined as effective communicators. 

Effective Learner: When working in the fashion industry, I cannot be late or put off anything important because that will not only make my look bad as a worker, but my entire company will suffer. I cannot let others down, I refuse to. It's important to remain focused and stay organized because in the midst of it all, I need to stay calm under pressure and remain consistent with everything I do. Being creative and having an active imagination will get me far because in fashion there is no such thing as a crazy idea. As you guys have probably become aware of by seeing the trends change as often as they do. There never is an end to learning fashion, so I'll be consistent with gaining new knowledge as it comes at me and performing up to their expectations because anything less will just not be enough. Not only will I learn by listening to those around me, but I'll take time to learn things myself because those are the types of things that in the end, make me feel better about myself and I tend to feel more accomplished.

Effective User of Technology: Working in an office with so many softwares that keep track of data and the website that promotes David Meister will give me access to a lot of information and teach me how those that keep everything up and running actually manage. I will learn in the skills I lack. When demonstrating something new, whether it be a new design possibility or advertisement to promote the line in general, we're incorporating technology. I've already been given the opportunity to use their technology, such as emails to get in touch with anyone my heart so desires to get in touch with, calculated profits and the budget with the help of my mentor, Microsoft Word helped with it's many programs to keep things nice and tidy. Out of all these, the Internet is the most important of any forms of technology simply because  it's the reason they're able to get their name out there and become what they are. Technology has helped all of us achieve what we have today.