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mannequinns · 7 years

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Coming To A Close

Hello again Mannequins. I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and enjoyed the time to reflect and prepare for the close of the year. As always, I know I had way too much to eat and need a few more days to reflect on my wonderful decision making when filling up my plate.

But on a more serious note, my time in New York has taught me more than just classroom knowledge. Apart from the fact that I have the fortunate opportunity to study fashion in New York City, I found that I’m learning a lot about my self.Let me break it down for you. You know in the movies where people go away to college and come back for their first holiday vacation and they seem completely different? Well, New York City is that for me. My time at the main campus in Ohio was great, but it didn’t and hasn’t challenged or changed me as much as New York has. To move to a massive city when you have no prior experience with that amount of change and start a whole new life is something I don’t think many people my age can say. Even though it is a temporary housing option, the life lessons that I have received from my time in the city is something I wouldn’t trade for the world. It’s a true love-hate relationship with the daily obstacles I face in the city, but the bottom line is, I love it here and I can’t wait to come back for a few years. Here’s the scoop.

One thing that I have completely fallen in love with about the city is the amount of energy there is. There are a lot of things I love about the city, but the big picture that all of those things form is the energy; the bright lights and loud streets that make up Manhattan. This being said, I know I am going to miss this the most. I know for a fact that this level of energy doesn’t exist where I’m from and that might just be why I like it so much. Even walking down the street to the grocery store is an adventure of its own.

Expanding on the term ‘energy’, I’m grouping together a lot of things. I’m specifically referring to the feelings I get when going about my life here. There are balances of happiness and anger, excitement, and sadness; but never a dull moment. Now, I’m not someone that needs to be entertained 24/7, but to be apart of something bigger, and I mean that figuratively and literally, gives me some sort of life that I just can’t put into words. I am going to miss all of the street performers and the ‘interesting’...characters that reside on the streets and subway platforms; the people that look like they want to fight you, but are actually the nicest people in the world. New York is a city of freedom and expression where anything goes and maybe that’s why I feel I truly fit in. For someone who never really felt like they fit in anywhere, this city isn’t too far from the ideal home, am I right?

On that note, here comes the fun part. Yes, New York has its perks and it’s picture perfect moments, but there are the dark corners of conversation that really get my blood pressure going. The number one thing that I will be glad to leave behind are the bad commutes. This is where I have the love-hate relationship. I know I just spent the past whole paragraph talking about the energy, but you better believe that there is almost as much negative energy that hits me as there is positive energy. When I say bad commutes, I’m specifically talking about the people that should be enrolled in walking school. I understand that New York is filled with eye-boggling beauty in terms of architecture and billboards, but if you come to a dead stop every single time, well that just not healthy. Maybe the city needs to invest in sidewalk cops. People to help guide the congestion of the city. Either way that part I can easily wave goodbye to; the people that I have dubbed the ‘show-stoppers’. Shoo. Shoo you away like the pigeons who are also all over the sidewalks.

So we have the up’s and the down’s, but what does all of that do for me? Complaining is no good and you better believe that even energy can wear off after constant exposure. This city has taught me things that I didn’t even know about myself. The first being the fact that I’m not as nice or soft as I thought I was. Everyone always says that New York changes you and that’s because it really does! I’m all for friendliness and peace, but some situations that I have been placed in while living here required me to step up to the plate and put my foot down. It grows you up a little bit.

Well, I hope you all enjoyed a little bit of story weaving today with a side of sarcasm. I’m practicing up a little bit for my article for our magazine, Vignette, which comes out in a few weeks. You shold all be sure to grab yourself a copy! That’s all for this weeks blog Mannequinn’s! I hope you have a great week full of laughter and smiles and I will catch you all next week!

-Quinn

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mannequinns · 7 years

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Just ‘Cause

Hello everyone! I hope all of my mannequinns are doing well. This week is a little different in terms of content. This week, I have decided to tell a short story from my life and share a video too. I’m really going to let the video do most of the talking.

Everyone has their phases. I’ve gone through a film, acting, and theater, painting, sewing, sketching, cooking, and basically any other phase that a normal kid would dream of one day becoming; not to mention almost every sport. All of these things came and gone and I am more than grateful that I had such opportunities in my life and a loving family to help me pursue my interests. Looking back, I can say that all of my phases have given me skills and knowledge that make me who I am. However, one thing that has remained with me is music. Through lessons and self-teaching I learned guitar, piano, drums, saxophone, clarinet, violin, and even singing.

It all started back in 6th grade when I got my first computer. It actually started all the way back in 1999 when I got my first ‘kid’ piano, but for this story, it started back in 6th grade. I have always admired musicians and the art of music and, following my interest in film and photography, thought I would pursue the digital production of music. I took my shot at mixing tracks like a DJ, but nothing could compare to my interest in physical instruments. There’s just something in the way the strings vibrate on a guitar and how you can literally feel the music that just takes me to another world.

Throughout middle school, my love for guitar grew as did my ‘arsenal’ of stringed instruments. By the time eighth grade was coming to a close, I had a few guitars, one bass, two ukuleles, and a banjo; each serving a different purpose. By this time, my parents had also enrolled me into a music academy where we were trained for a specific interest, mine being music production, and I had also had the opportunity to play a few live shows at local fairs and venues with other students from the academy. This is a great story, but how does any of this relate to the video that you can clearly see below? Well here is that part of the story.

Eight grade was coming to a close and I knew I wanted to write a song for the first time. I was sitting outside beside my pool with my ukulele when I had a very simple melody begin playing in my head. I quickly went to go write the song and within the hour, I kid you not, I had my very first pop melody down in a song. Over the course of the summer through the academy, I was able to record my song in their recording studio and digitally master the entire project. From the ground up, I created every single layer that is this song and I was very proud. My mentor entered the song in a contest where I was selected to air on their independent artist station for a week too! So what about the video? This is the best part.

Okay, so here’s the story behind the video. Coming into high school, it’s a whole different world than the one I know, especially the part where guys ask girls to school dances. Now, at this point, almost all of my close friends knew that I had written a song, but it wasn’t really spread around the school much because I was very self-conscious about what others thought of my work. However, there was this girl that I had been friends with for years that I thought I would ask to the dance by showing her the most vulnerable part of me; which is my music. *insert crying meme*

So, my friends helped me set up a little surprise and I played her the song that I wrote and she said yes! Little did I know that she would flake on me for the dance, but that’s a story for another time.

My video of my ‘homecomingposal’ spread around Facebook and a lot of people that had never heard me sing were very surprised. Sure I got a lot of negative feedback too, but I was just happy that people were doing something I never had the courage to do and spreading around my music. However, it didn’t stop there.

I switched schools and quickly found myself in the middle of a perfect opportunity to make myself known as the ‘musician kid’, and you better believe I took it. Writing new songs, I began sharing them online and it was being spread around my new school like a friendly disease. When people found out about my ‘One of a Kind’ song, it took off again and everyone asked me to put it on iTunes and to make a video for it. I didn’t really have anything against a video or iTunes, so I gave it a shot and put it up online and began making a video with my close friend Kristen. What happened next blew my mind. Within the course of a month, my song had over one thousand buys and I had made over $700 in revenue. I really didn’t think the song was that great, but when I tell you that almost all the middle school girls were obsessed with it.... I really mean it. The weirdest part was when a little ‘fan group’ decorated my locker for my birthday and they each left little cards in the top section. It was oddly flattering, but I was still caught on the fact that the song had saturated as much as it did.

So, below is the video of little me singing my heart out with one of my best friends at the time. Before I had all my tattoos, before I knew what I wanted to do with my life; just a middle school kid having fun. I hope you enjoyed my story and the video! If this process has taught me anything other than skills that can carry with me into my field of fashion, it is that you’ll never truly know until you try.

I’ll catch younext week Mannequinns!

-Quinn

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mannequinns · 7 years

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The Ups and Downs

Hello Mannequinns! Welcome back. This week, we’re going to get right into this post and discuss something that has been on my mind from earlier this week.

This past week, my fashion in the media class watched the documentary ‘Picture Me’, which featured the modeling career of a girl named Sara Ziff. A small town girl from New York, Sara had been picked up off of the street to a modeling agency and began her career as a model. Throughout the documentary, she highlighted her outstanding success and rising level to fame, but also referenced the strains and hardships that come alongside being a model. Topics such as equality, sexual harassment, mental and physical health, and personal freedoms were the key topics of the documentary and I have a few things I would like to share after watching this film.

Although this film was made in 2009 and the world has changed drastically since then, it is still evident that social issue such as these still occur in the world today. The biggest issue that bothered me during the film was the topic of sexual harassment. There has never been a time in history when sexual harassment of any kind should be allowed. From a standpoint of “hey you’re a person just like me”, it deeply bothers and offends me when there almost needs to be a statement made of why it’s wrong. I find it repulsive and quite disgusting to think that there are people in the world that lack the simple elements of self-control and plain courtesy. Even from a young age, we are all taught to not take what is not ours and not to touch what isn't yours. Applied to adulthood and the fashion industry when it comes to highlighting women's figures and bodies in a sexual way; that still does not open a door for anyone to invade a woman’s, or man’s, personal boundaries. I do believe that the fashion industry is driven by a certain level of lust, but the fact that sexual harassment of models on sets and in their work atmospheres, behind the scenes, is abysmal. I know that today, there are new rules and orders in place to prevent such events from occurring, but sexual harassment towards models in their line of work is still very prevalent. The fashion industry has its dark corners that reach the daylight, but never really can be fully fixed because of the large size of the industry. An example of this is unfair working conditions in outsourced countries. These problems almost seem like they can never fully be fixed because just when you think you’ve fixed a problem another one comes up. It’s not a finger pointing game of who did it; the whole fashion industry is to blame and everyone needs to properly play their part in fixing the problems.

Following her time in the modeling section of the industry, Sara Ziff has gone on to start her own foundation called Model Alliance that stands for the protection of models rights and to speak out/ stand up to/about sexual harassment. Founded in 2012, Model Alliance has gone on to advocate the importance of women at every level of the fashion empire and highlighting the need for more light to be shed on these topics. I greatly appreciate her energy and outlook on equality in the industry and would love to spread her work. Please be sure to check the link below to read more!

http://modelalliance.org/

Zooming out, the issue of sexual harassment can be applied to various industries and different sections of the fashion industry itself. Everything from unequal pay, to sexual harassment of interns; this issue is prevalent across the board. It’s never too late to stand up for whats right.

Thank you very much Mannequins for tuning in this week. Please be sure to check out the documentary “Picture Me” starring Sara Ziff to inform yourself further and to see her true journey through her initial modeling career. As always, be sure to swing by next week to catch another scoop! Bye Mannequinns!

-Quinn

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mannequinns · 7 years

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Moving Forward (#7)

Hello Mannequinns! We’ve got some serious content to cover today. Thank you for clicking back this week and be sure to turn on post notifications for my page for weekly updates. Alright, let's dive into this week's blog! (Also, happy November!)

This week, I stepped into the new era of media. As we all know, technology and digital media are the front lines of marketing and broadcasting. It’s changing the way media is presented and ultimately changing the print industry. This past week, Condé Nast actually announced that they were cutting their print edition of Teen Vogue. This was a huge decision by the company and is justified by the traffic analytics and sales. The Millennial generation phasing into Generation Z cohorts are just not as driven to buy a physical paper print when there is a digital alternative that is more convenient and cheaper. What does this leave companies to do in order to combat this shift in culture? They up their digital media and partner with companies, such as Texture, that compile magazines for the general consumer for use at the tips of their fingertips.

Texture

Texture is a compilation of all of the top magazines from cars to fashion. Aside from the large selection of magazines, the greatest feature of this service is its price! If you had to guess how much one would have to pay for a monthly subscription to over 200 magazines, what would you guess? $25? $50? WRONG! Texture breaks the market pricing point at a surprising monthly subscription fee of $10 per month, with upgrades that bring the final cost up to $14.99 per month.

My personal review of this service is a solid 10/10 in terms of all of my grading criteria. Although I appreciate holding items that I am physically reading, I appreciate even more the fact that I can have more for less. Meaning, get more by paying less and I can have more content without having to carry around more magazines. Starting with access, this company is very technologically forward. The service is only accessible through an app on mobile devices and tablets for true reading ‘on the go’. I feel this targets the modern American in the sense that everyone is on the go, as should your work and entertainment Moving to cost, I truly believe that his company is doing people a huge favor by marketing at such a low cost. Typically, a single print edition magazine subscription would cost around $15, but now you are obtaining a plethora of magazines!

My favorite part about this app is that it allows for favoriting of magazines so that you can get notifications of the latest edition and stay up to date. I found this very useful over my seven day trial period where I read as much as I could about cars, fashion, cooking, and home decor; favoriting as I went along.

As a first-hand customer, I would highly recommend checking out Texture and all of the benefits that come from their magazine service. The first 14 days are free and then you get 3 months for $10 each! Here is a link in case you are interested.

https://www.texture.com/

Aside from Texutre, I actually checked out a few other apps this week to keep up with the digital world and to stay on top of fashion. This week, I went through various lists of fashion apps for mobile devices and have my results for the winners that I recommend checking out.

1. SHOPSTYLE by PopSugar:

Consider this like any other online fashion store, however, this is more of a blog form. Grouping together different products from companies and brands, ShopStyle groups products together by style and trend rather than by company. This allows you to truly engage with the style you are pursuing. With different filters such as price point or brand, you can find exactly what you are searching for with ease. The cool thing about this website is that you can follow bloggers and customers reviews and threads to truly immerse yourself in the product and trends to truly see why you need this piece.

2. Pose:

Pose is an interesting app that I found that allows you to browse and post pictures while tagging the brands you are wearing for easy searching like a hashtag. Very similar to Instagram, this app allows you to browse the snapshots and highlight key details in your outfit so that you can help others or brag about your tastes a little bit. I a way, it’s like you are a blogger!

3. Like to Know It:

Like to Know it is very similar to pose and Instagram in the sense that you can like pictures to see what the outfit consists of. The reason I chose this app in my top three is that I just really appreciate the technology and concept. I think it’s a healthy balance of fun and innovation.

How Does This Relate to Me?

All of these apps are great, don’t get me wrong, but how does any of this help me or you? I like to think of it that each of the apps can integrate itself into your job and work and really help you define your fashion taste and help with expression. It just makes it easier. In my own life, I can apply the app Like to Know It to my current internship at Jussara Lee; a company focused on couture garments made with sustainable methods and materials. This app is perfect for the company I work for because I combine ease of use with subtle integration. At my work, we do not like to brag about the fact that we put in days of work to get the perfect fit, it is something that is unspoken and truly appreciated by the client. The app Like to Know It is very simple, yet carries a certain level of sophistication that I can relate to my line of work.

As always, thank you my fellow Mannequinns for tuning in for another week of memes and knowledge. Please be sure to swing by next week for another scoop! Bye for now :)

-Quinn

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mannequinns · 7 years

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Playing the Part

Dear Mr. Jim Nelson,

Hello! My name is Quinn Borja. I am a third-year student at Kent State University studying fashion merchandising and minoring in fashion media. I am reaching out in regards to a school project that I have been assigned where my current department is Production. Within this department, I have been given the role of production manager and designer of our publication.

Our publication is called Vignette and we cater to a young adult target market of current or recent college graduates. Looking further into the name of our publication, the definition of the word by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as, “a brief evocative description, account, or episode.” Due to the fact that our print issue will be released Autumn/Winter, our group thought it would be perfect to base each article, spread, or section around a brief recap of the season. We broke this up into several different topics such as lifestyle, fashion, architecture, and food to truly broaden out breadth and depth of content for our audience. Taking this into account, I thought it would be fitting that I chose the production manager position instead of the other options for the following reasons.

Although I am creative, I do not have the strongest writing skills. However, I can honestly say that I make up for this in my abilities to create through visuals and arts to convey my ideas. The reason I chose this position is due to my artistic inputs or inspiration and creativity on a more managerial side. I would have chosen the Creative/ Art Director position, but that is more of the photography and physical artistic input rather than the contextual input.

After looking at your own experience in this field, I thought it would be appropriate to reach out to you. Through over fifteen years in this field, you have spent time as a senior editor, and now an editor-in-chief. This position not only deals with the written content but also the artistic vision of the magazine. Under your guidance, your magazine has been nominated for over sixty-two awards, notably the design, photography, and reporting. I personally appreciate reading GQ and aspire to your level of achievement. Furthermore, I have a few questions I would like to ask.

My main questions for you are for the input of my magazine, Vignette, in terms of cohesiveness across departments. Since I am the production manager of my issue, I have questions on the planning. When a group is called to work together, is there a general outline you physically send to each department to help them understand the vision of the magazine? Also, how far down the road is “too late” when it comes to advising revisions? Since each publication is ready for print or posting a few months beforehand, what does the typical lead time for a project in management look like?

I greatly appreciate your time Mr. Nelson and I hope I have given you enough to go off of in terms of our magazine. We are printing this fall with themes based on food, fashion, architecture, and season and I will be sure to send an issue your way.

Sincerely,

Quinn

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mannequinns · 7 years

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YES! You’re Going to Hollywood; That’s Going To Be a No From Me. Milan Fashion Week Trends.

Dear Mannequinns, I hope you’ve been keeping up in the fashion world because the last fashion week just closed last week. London fashion week closed the ‘world’ fashion week, following new york, and Milan. A lot of interesting sights and elements were brought to the stage across the globe, but the week that truly spoke out to me was Milan fashion week.

One trend from the runway in Milan that really caught my attention was the 70′s. Let me tell you that trend hit the runway hard! A lot of stripe elements and patchwork pieces, as well as elements that would make you want to frolic through a field of flowers. Love it. This can be seen in Stella Jeans Collection, Vionette, and Missoi. All of the elements here demonstrate 70′s principles of fashion with the slowly set and a number of sheer materials. The choice also displays a high level of luster even though the fabric choices are less muted than the 70′s. They still have the calming visuals that breathe 70′s inspiration. I’m totally here for that trend.

(http://www.refinery29.com/2017/09/173681/milan-fashion-week-spring-2018)

(http://www.refinery29.com/2017/09/173681/milan-fashion-week-spring-2018 )

However, just because I liked this one trend, I surely wasn’t on board for every one. One of the trends that really caught my eye in a bad way from Milan fashion week 2018 was the use of soft sequins. I’m not really sure why, but it really makes me think of those clear raincoats that were in style in 2011, only fancier. Examples of this trend can be seen in works from Salvatore Ferragamo, Alberta Ferretti, Bottega Veneta, Blumarine, and No. 21. Here is a picture to help you visualize the pain. Another note; all I see when I look at this style is Kim Kardashian from her rough days on the red carpet. I’m just really not a fan.

(https://fashionista.com/2017/09/milan-fashion-week-spring-2018)

However, it’s not all about the negatives. I really did enjoy this year’s week. My favorite collection from this year’s Milan Fashion week is Dolce & Gabanna. The collection was full of fluid and form fitted designs and colorful prints and patterns that really just resonated with my taste in fashion. Not to mention the embellishments and accessories, this collection really had elements from all over the place. The collection was titled ‘Queen of Hearts’ and had a backdrop of massive playing cards. It was really something beautiful and I have never seen anything like it.

(https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2017/sep/24/dolce-gabbana-brand-heritage-third-milan-show)

Overall, I would give this collection a 9/10, but the only reason I am not giving it the other one is because of the awkwardness of the collection in a sense of fit and color scheme.I love a beautiful mess. This collection is really what made Milan fashion week my favorite fashion week from global fashion week. So, I have a question for all of you Mannequinns; what was your favorite fashion week?

Thank you my Mannequinns for tuning in this week. I hope you enjoyed this weeks post and I will see all of you next week for another blog!

-Quinn

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mannequinns · 7 years

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I Spy With My Little Eye...

In the world today, media is everywhere and is the easiest way for news and current events to be broadcast to an audience. This ranges everything from print media to digital platforms, to broadcast media. However, although there are a lot only a few ways to deliver information to the customer and audience base, there are a lot of different formats. There are event coverages, blogs, trend reports, and fashion news that can vary in level of authenticity and sophistication to match the appropriate audience member. An example of this can be seen when looking at viewing at different fashion publications of magazines. There are magazines such as Vogue, where the information is very relevant to the fashion industry and contains a high level of affluence in its material. On the other hand, there are publications such as BuzzFeed where there is the discussion of fashion but with an opinion or societal influence as the driving force. It’s less of an industry channel and more of an outsider view. The question I had is what happens when you have two fashion publications of similar level caliber, but they are from different countries? Do they contain the same elements Do they cover the same type of information or is that influenced more by society and social trends or norms? I purchased a copy of Numéro Home and Wome’s Wear Daily and decided to find out the significant, as well as hidden, differences between the domestic and foreign fashion publications.

Starting with Numéro Homme, you can pick out one large difference. At first glance, you can see how this publication is in Spanish. A different language is something you can expect from a magazine from a different country, but there is also other content that isn’t too noticeable unless you're comparing it to another magazine. On this magazine for a male audience, there is the famous rapper, Travis Scott, featured on the front cover with smoke comin out of his mouth. This is a very dark and mysterious message being conveyed by the picture. Evidence to support this is the fact that you can not see his eyes or any other facial features other than his nose and teeth, which also have ‘grills’ on them. It is a very simple cover with very little words and a larger focus on the music icon. Due to the professional and purposeful lighting, it can be said that this photo was most likely taken in a studio setting with controlled external factors such as lighting, wind, and other elements that might make for a ‘picture perfect’ setting. The font on the front of this magazine also demonstrates a ‘manly’ message in that is is a very plain, yet bold, font. It is clear and to the point.

In terms of content, there is not much being posted here in terms of what is on the inside. The only real connection on the cover to the content can be found in the page number ‘33′ under the title. It can be assumed that on page 33 there is an article on Travis Scott and Nick Knight.

Aside from the little page number on this magazine, there is no advertising on the cover of this magazine. Often times, there are advertisements placed on the front or back of print publications due to the prime location. However, this magazine has no such details, as it is focused all on the picture of the featured article.

Moving on to Women’s Wear Daily, this magazine is a whole different visual story! There is a lot more material happening on this publication in all of the areas I covered above. To start, this publication is in english and is from the United States. The doesn’t change a whole lot, but it does make it more understandable to a reader like me who knows very little Spanish, but a native to the English language. In terms of the model, I am not sure who she is, but I am sure the article on her will link the two together. The font choice on this magazine is a little more artistic in the sense that it is a more ‘fun’ publication. Supporting that claim, unlike Numéro Homme, this photo was clearly shot in an outdoor setting with controlled lighting. All of the elements in this picture make for a coherent and fun picture. You can see this in the consistent shades of blue and tones of white.

The layout of this article also matches the picture very well because it does not cover any other the photo content, but more so bring out the model by isolating the attention on just the subject. The content of the front displays information about interior articles and would allow for a reader to become interested in its content by a mere glance, unlike with Numéro Homme where there is no such activity. The text also complements the imagery of the magazine by creating a clean layout and creating a sidebar of information on the left-hand side, which creates balance.

Similar to Numéro Homme, there is no advertising on the front of this publication either. However, this publication does have to advertise on the back in terms of a fashion spread of a photo shot of a model displaying a garment carried by the store that it is sold at. The advertisement on the back of this magazine is for the Moncier Flagship Store in New York.

After viewing both of there publications, I was able to clearly see the stark differences between of domestic and foreign magazine publications. Apart from the language barrier, these two magazines have major differences mainly due to the target audience and the social trends that they were influenced. Both are respectively great editions of their print and carry quality information and material, but you can clearly see that these two magazines were not made for the same reader. With that being said, I do enjoy the Women’s Wear Daily Magazine more, but only because I can actually read it. My spanish is not the strongest.

That’s all for this blog post! Be sure to swing by next week for the next scoop of fashion! Bye Mannequinns!

-Quinn

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mannequinns · 7 years

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Ins and Outs, Heres and Theres, Dos and Don’ts: Five Days On The Streets.

You better buckle up because I’ve got a crazy post this week for you Mannequinn's! Be sure to grab some snacks and a pillow to get comfy because I’m about to take up a little chunk of your time. Don’t worry; it won’t be for nothing. At the least, you’ll walk away learning something new or with a smile stretching ear to ear.

This past week I challenged myself to step outside the box with creativity and really bring something new to the table for myself. What’s the best way for me to get some creative juices flowing? Getting some fresh air! The best part about that is that fresh air and city life go very well hand and hand. Well, maybe not in this city all the time, but you get the idea. I headed out to the streets this week to get the latest insider scoop on fashion and which way the industry is heading.

DAY 1: Fa-Fa-Faux Fashion!

While I was browsing online I came across Stella McCartney’s Spring 2018 RTW Collection. For those of you who don’t know, or if you’re like me and you forgot, this past week was Paris’s fashion week! I’m going to be honest again; I’m not exactly ‘crazy’ about Stella McCartney’s designs, but I love what she stands for. Please correct me if I’m wrong, but she’s is widely known for her handbags, correct? If not, that’s okay too, it really is just to support my own stance on her new collection.

Sending out her invitations, she actually sent them out with “trashion bags”! I was so confused when I read that and instantly decided why that name was appealing and for what purpose. It turns out (after my digging), Stella McCartney believes in sustainability and green initiative and innovative products! Ms. McCartney sent out “trashion bags”, which are recyclable bin liners, with every invitation. VERY COOL IN MY OPINION! As a side note, my current internship deals a lot with upcycling and green initiative work. Sustainability is a very serious topic in my opinion and when I see big names in the world pushing the same values I believe in it’s hard not to take notice.

Another thing before I end today’s post is that her eco-initiative efforts didn’t end at her invitations. Searching a little further, I found that Stelle McCartney was an early adopter and believer of the faux fur trend. Well, I really shouldn’t say trend, but more so effort. Even now in her spring collection as see below, Stella McCartney is using the ‘skinless skin’ by using faux leather in her handbags and shoes!

(above: model from Stella McCartneys Spring 2018 RTW Collection- https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/spring-2018-ready-to-wear/stella-mccartney)

DAY 2: ‘The Best Time To Wear A Striped Sweater, Is All The Time’

(Stripes Trend Report):

Another day another blog! Today we went to Target to run some errands and I thought ‘What a perfect time to capture regular city-goers and their fashion trends’! While we were walking throughout the store, I realized that this just because this isn’t necessarily on a street, that doesn’t make it not-street fashion. Streetwear is just what people wear on a daily basis in their day to day lives.

(above: woman in striped sweater)

While I was walking through the target, I found that stripes are very in! Creepily taking pictures of people passing by, I tried to capture their fashion as best I could; even following them around the store to try and get a better shot at times!

(above: man in striped polo)

(above: woman in striped tee-shirt)

(above: friend in striped shirt)

So what’s the scoop on stripes? For fall 2018, I would definitely say that stripes are in and here to stay into winter. Stripes are a staple piece in fashion when paired with the right bottoms and accessories. I myself am a victim of stripes considering I own about 4 striped sweaters and 6 long sleeves. I personally like stripes. I find them very appealing to the eye and are very European. The biggest thing that I found interesting with the people I photographed is that there is nothing special about the stripes. They are all used as a basic layer of fashion as the outmost layer. This most notable thing about the trend is that there are complimentary colors incorporated in the whole outfit, which is good (heaven knows if I saw some stripes and plaid what would've happened)...

DAY 3: Denim On Denim: BRING ER’ BACK

(Denim Trend Report):

There’s no other way to put it; denim on denim is back! Woo-Hoo! I for one was always a big fan of denim on denim, even when it was clearly overdone. Taking heavy influence from the early 2000′s, the trend has come back around for another turn in the spotlight. As I walked throughout the store, it wasn’t hard to see that this was a trend.

You have your dark on dark, stone washed, camos, and bleached! There were so many types and styles of denim paired together that I was actually hard to get a good picture because my camera would swing to the next photo subject. Another notable trend that I found paired with the denim on denim trend is distressed clothing, including the denim.

DAY 4: T-T-T-T-TARGET

(event coverage):

Fashion is everywhere! It’s on the streets, in our cars and homes, and even on our bodies! I felt that the best way to see how the fashion industry has incorporated itself into our daily lives was to go to one of the great sources of lifestyle influence; T-T-T-T-TARGET! We considered this an event coverage instead of a trend report because we were actually going to a brick and mortar location and making references instead of inferences. Also, we were covering the store’s Fall 17′ lines that were in one location instead of the fashion industry as a whole.

I’m being completely serious! Target isn’t a fashion retailer since it obviously carries other products and goods like a discount store, but the clothes that are sold there are perfect examples of modern trends! It’s a different take on fast fashion in my own opinion. My roommate, girlfriend, and I decided to go over the clothing section at Target in a video format! That’s right, a vlog! I’ll give your eyes a break from reading and let you watch this video below. The video segment is called “Tipsy Target Trends”, where the whole point of the video is being tipsy in a Target and still being able to pick out the trends because of how evident they are. We’ll take you through women's’ and men’s clothing sections and assess and cover what is truly ‘in and out’. We thought this would not only be fun, but also appropriate since his blog is called “Manhattan On The Rock” I hope you enjoy today’s spin on a blog post!

youtube

DAY 5: A Dear Goodbye-

A sad day in history, respected and renown chairman of Condé Nast, Samuel Irving, passed away yesterday. At the age of 89, Mr. Irving left behind his legacy, but will never be forgotten. Condé Nast Publications has separate divisions of print, such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, and The New Yorker. Mr. Irving's father founded the company in 1922 and the image is still being carried today. For 40 years, Mr. Irving served as the chairman of Condé Nast where his loyalty and devotion to the company and the content was reflective through his work. I read in an article that he would sometimes show up to work as early as 4:00am to get a jump on a project or to see things through.

I don’t know too much about his past life or his work history, but I decided to do a little research and learn a little bit more about this icon who has sadly left us. I found a similar theme. Oddly enough, Samuel Irving is very similar to Mr. Bill Cunningham, who I am modeling a vast majority of this blog post after. The only real reason I made that connection is because they are both very hard working and loyal to the companies they worked for, they were very humble and modest people, and they really put their best foot forward; never skipping a step. This principles and virtues that they carried are really what made them such successful and powerful people in their positions! Thank you very much for your contribution, not only to the fashion industry, but to the world. You will be truly missed.

(above: Samuel Irving, Courtesy of Vogue- https://www.vogue.com/article/si-newhouse-obituary )

All in all, I had a really great week chasing down people for pictures and reading about things I didn’t know about. I think the number one thing I can say when looking back at this week is that fashion stretches a lot farther than what gets written or published. Even then, fashion is just the outward representation of a person’s personality. This city has a lot to offer, you just always have to be willing to search for it and if you’re lucky enough, you just might snap a picture of it.

Thanks for reading this week's blog! Be sure to swing by next week to see what type of shenanigans I’m up to.

Bye for now!

-Quinn

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mannequinns · 7 years

Text

New York Fashion Week, or Old York Fashion Week? Bringin It Back Around Town.

New York Fashion Week is built on inspiration from the past and the future. With this in mind, there are limitless possibilities for creativity!

No, but seriously. While I was digging around the for the best collections from Spring/Summer 2018, I found a lot of collections that took inspiration from previous eras and applied it to modern style and trends. There were a lot of designers that applied this to their collections, but I wanted to find something different; something that truly blew my mind. Here’s what I found.

So before I dive in, one thing to know about me is my love for vintage fashion; even more so, my love for 1940′s and 1950′s style. Of course, I’m sap for the flappers of the 1920′s and who can forget the flare legs from the 1970′s, but there’s just something about the midcentury silhouettes that I just captivate my attention. Your boy loves a good throwback. These two designers brought me back in time with their collections and really redefined the phrase ‘vintage fashion’ for me.

Let’s start with Flagpole, a client of Apparelmagic. Started in 2013 by Megan Balch and Jaime Barker, these two designers have built a bridge connects swim, active, and ready to wear. a For this year's New York Fashion Week show, they released their new line of bathing suits for SPring 2018. Let me tell you that this collection of bathing suits is something straight out of a movie; featuring style influence from the 1950′s and 1970′s. Their use of color blocking with vibrant colors and high-waisted elements really make this line pop.

I did some more snooping and found more shots from the photo shoots. This helped me better understand the design elements of the collection and connect it to why I believe this collection bridges best with the 1950′s. So what makes a 1950′s bathing suit a 1950′s bathing suit? The key elements of that era’s bathing suit are sliming elements that compliment the woman’s waist, bold and bright colors to slim or expand certain areas, strapless elements, and mid-body breaks. Although there were a few jumpsuit elements, the key style here is a high-waisted and accentuated neckline. I would rate this collection 7/10 Mannequinns, but only because of the large time frame that this collection possesses. It truly stretches from 1950 to 1970.

Moving on, the next collection that I thought established a solid connection between modern style and vintage fashion is CHOCHENG Spring/Summer 2018 Collection. Designed by Cho Cho Cheng, his main inspiration for this collection was a film from 1957.

The collection has a variety of vintage themed garments from jackets to sweaters and dresses. However, each of these has their evidence of style designs from the 1950′s (you know... besides the fact that he stated his inspiration was from the 1950′s). His use of shoulder pads to create a ‘boxed’ silhouette’ really connects back to the1950′s when America was coming out of World War II and there was a heavy military design.

Additionally, Cho Cho Cheng also used silhouette shapes and hemline elements from the 1950′s as they can be seen in the knee length skirts and dresses and their form-fitting contour. Not to be biased, but I really liked his collection, so of course, I will see anything that lines up with vintage style elements from the 1950′s. I would rate this collection 9/10 Mannequinns because of the styling elements that make me want to go thrifting.

Looking at these two collections, there is an obvious type of ‘vintage feel’, but I firmly believe that these two collections ‘rock the runway’ and bring me back in time. (insert cringe meme)

It’s not all jokes and cheesy one-liners here; we’ve got knowledge too! I hope you learned something here... or at least saw something new. Alright, go stretch your legs (I like yoga too..hehe) and get a snack because I hope this article made you hungry... FOR FASHION. Please be sure to bookmark this bad-boy and come back next week for the latest scoop!

SCORE:

FLAGPOLE ★★★★★★★

CHOCHENG ★★★★★★★★★

-Quinn

**I do not own any rights to these photos.**

Picture Sources:

https://apparelmagic.com/apparelmagic-clients-rule-the-runway-at-new-york-fashion-week/

https://www.instagram.com/flagpole/

http://resident.com/chocheng-springsummer-2018-collection/

http://nyfw.com/chocheng

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