Fiber optic dresses

Chapter 6 is all about light, and how it is used in stores. But it is also about how light looks on a garment. But very briefly, it talks about lighting on garments. And i'm not just talking about how lighting reflects off of a garment, i'm talking about how light can be included ON a garment. As in a fiber optic garment. On page 169 there is a picture of what looks like a bandeau halter type shirt, all made of fiber optic material that lights up. Is this the new face of fashion? Light up clothes? I've heard of light up sneakers, but that's about it. But I saw this one show on a fashion network called My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, and it was a British show, about these people that live as gypsies in London, Scotland, and places of the like. Anyway, these gypsies always go big or go home when they get married. It is required to have a big huge dress. This one particular episode, this girl (and she was literally just a girl, she was only 15. These gypsies always marry super young) had the hugest dress i've ever seen custom made. Oh, and it lit up. And it moved too. There were these huge butterflies on it, and when you flipped a swich, they would flap their wings. It was kind of awesome. The only scary thing was that her mom had to take a little fire extinguisher just in case the dress decided to catch fire. I would be so scared if i had to wear that.

Oh her veil lights up as well. You cant really see the butterflies, but theres one by her waist. I think the rest are on the back. But how crazy is that? Fiber optic clothes are so interesting. I'll put more pictures.
          
These are kind of sort of cool actually. Maybe that's gonna be the new thing. Maybe I need to start this trend. There could be some money in this...

Vivre la mode, tout le monde!

Why are these fish biting my toes? Oh, I guess that's a new pedicure technique...

Page 243 in the Principles of Art and Design textbook includes a big picture of little tiny fish biting a customer's toes. Let me just say... EWWW! I understand why that is in the book though, it is talking about different ways companies can distinguish themselves from others. It is also in the section under touch, and how touch is an important aspect of tactile sensations in the clothing consumption world. The tactical sensation the fish give is something different and definitely interesting. That is certainly different than the foot spa's I have been to. Anyway, I read an article one time about how those foot spa's are actually really unhealthy for customers because some of them don't change the water between pedicures. So the person in front of you, what if they had a really gross foot fungus? Or athlete's foot? I'm personally not gonna let those little fish who eat that stuff nibble at my toes. I like my feet not being bitten by strange dead-skin-eating animals. What are they going to come up with next? A dog that is able to lick all the dead skin off? A snail that is able to suck all of it off? Those just sound so gross, as does sticking my feet into a little pond in which little fish are going to eat the grossness off my feet. So I won't ever be going to one of those places, needless to say.

    

That just looks so relaxing. Not. Here's the link to an article about these spa's in case you are interested.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8833304/Health-risk-from-fish-pedicures.html

Virvre la mode, tout le monde!

Shopping on your cell phone?

So going along with chapter 2 in the Principle of Art and Design book, I want to touch on brand extension. So brands are trying to extend themselves in to different relms in order to get more revendue and build up a consumer following or loyalty. So like Timberland started off with just hiking boots, but then they created work footwear, to reach more people. So kind of like that, Vogue has their store in malls and whatnot, and then they have their online store, and now they have created a cell phone app called Vogue Stylist, and it helps people put looks together using the Vogue clothes. On all of these things there is the ability to purchase things, what a great way to extend a brand to reach more people in this technological age we are in.

But based on this recent article I read online on www.msnbc.com mobile shopping isn't really working. Here's the citation:

Gibson, Ellen. "Stores Not Connecting   with Shoppers on Mobile - Business -   Retail - Msnbc.com." Msnbc.com -   Breaking News, Science and Tech   News, World News, US News, Local   News- Msnbc.com. Web. 2 Oct. 2011.   <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4435  8674/ns/business-retail/>.

So for some reason, my font has changed to this pink and it keeps indenting randomly and it won't let me change it back. Let me just say technology isn't perfect, and actually it's quite annoying sometimes.

 

Okay so I have no idea what I did, but now it is back to normal. Anyway, this article states that people don't like buying things on mobile screens, like iphones, because the screen is too small to see the product clearly, and they don't believe that their credit card information is safe. I can understand that, because I don't like entering my personal information on tiny screens as well. It makes me feel like my identity can be stolen more easily. So I thought that article was interesting, that's basically all it said but if you want to, check it out sometime.

Vivre la mode, tout le monde!

You light up my world!

Okay, so I'm going to go on a little rant here. It has a point, I promise. I'm going to rant about lighting. Lighting is a very important key part of the fashion industry, it can really make or break your garment, as well as your overall shopping experience in the store. So why in the world would stores like Abercrombie and Fitch and Hollister keep their stores nearly pitch black? And another thing, why does Hollister keep their tables and merchandise so close togerher? They're just asking for me to run into stuff. I literally can't see a darn thing when I shop in there. When I was little, I was afraid of those stores because i was afraid of the dark. So i'm just wondering, what is their thinking behind the basically pitch black store? If the customer can't see what they are buying, they'll buy more of it? Well my thinking is, if i can't see what it is, it's either time to go to the eye doctor or most likely time to get out of the store. I guess they could be thinking if they have dim lighting in the dressing room, the customer is more inclined to buy the product, no matter if it looks good on or not. That's kind of a smart idea, but me personally, if i can't see myself in a garment then I don't buy it. I'm particular about the clothes I buy, I want them to fit me well and I want them to look good on me. If I can't see it, then sorry store, I won't be seeing the check out counter.

I really like the lighting in Anthropology, it's warm but not too dim, and it's not too bright to be harsh. It's just right, and it makes everything feel more homey. I literally love that store by the way. Because their image is like a rustic type store, kind of hippy-ish, very laid back, kind of woodsy, earthy, things like that. And the lighting just helps complete that mood. Its not directly overhead, so it's not too bright and in your face. It really makes the garments look their best.

  

So that was my little rant about light... Abercrombie and Hollister, I still don't understand why it has to be so dark in there. I never go in those stores alone, for fear that I'll get attacked. Hmm but maybe that is their tactic all along, the scarier they make it, the more support people customers have to bring along... which means more revenue... but if you can't see the product, then its a moot point... The world may never know the real reason behind their lack of lighting.

Vivre la mode, tout le monde!

The Many Shapes of Fashion

Yesterday was Thursday, and for those of you that follow fashion know what that means... Project Runway was on! I love me some Project Runway. One day I WILL meet Tim Gunn. And then I can die happily. Anyway, so Michael Kors made a comment to Joshua I think it was, and it was something about the silhouette of his garments. Now, up until the other day in class when we talked about this, I had no idea what they meant by silhouette. Thank goodness for Principles of Art and Design; because silhouette is kind of an important thing to know. So I figure that there are others out there that have no idea what people mean when they talk about silhouette. So I think I'll explain them on here :) it'll also help me remember what they all are. Of course I'll have picture examples :)

The first is a tubular silhouette. This is seen mostly in men's clothes. So it basically looks like you're wearing a big tube.
                               

The second is A-line. This means it's narrow at the top and wider at the bottom, like the shape of an "A"
                   

The third is an hourglass silhouette. This one isn't too hard to understand, the shoulders and hips are wider as the waist nips in. Classic style.
                                    

The fourth that is in the book is a wedge silhouette. This is the opposite of an A-line, the shoulders are wider and the hips are narrow.
                       

The fifth silhouette is the bell shape. That just means that the top streamlines down into the waist, then it goes down like an umbrella or like a bell
                                        


There are more silhouettes out there, but these are just the basic ones. I hope this helped someone out there :) it helped me at least.

Vivre la mode, tout le monde!

Express Yourself Through Your Clothes!

My roommate and I were talking yesterday, and somehow we got on the subject of accessorizing. She told me, "Logan, you accessorize so well! And you always have a matching headband. It's so you!" and we proceeded to gush about headbands and our favorite types of accessories.  But it got me thinking about individual identity. And I was looking in my Principles of Art and Design textbook, and it just so happens that identity is a symbolic quality based benefit under the umbrella of Aesthetic Benefits, which is a value derived from the 5P's. Everybody likes to be an individual; no one likes to fade in the backgroud and be unrecognized. Most clothes college students have these days come from the shops around their campus, so they are all going to slightly resemble each other; no one can stand out that waySo accessories help to give a look an individual touch- if you are sporty wear tennis shoes and a cap. If you are girly, add a sparkly necklace and a colorful statement bag. The important thing is that you stay true to yourself; that's the whole point of individuality.

So look through your closet and see which colors you have most in your closet. Are they prints? Are they a boring color? If you predominantly have a basic color like black or white, that's great because you could put whatever color you want with it. If you have prints, you have to be careful because you don't want your accessories to overpower your prints. And if you have a boring color like gray or a light peach or something, add color to it! Add texture! Add whatever makes you, you. Me personally, I am a super girly girl, so therefore I like sparkle, the color pink, and more sparkle. So what I do is I never leave my dorm room without having my earrings match something in my outfit. And if the look calls for it, I wear a necklace, or bracelette, or rings, or a scarf.

Thank goodness scarves are in this season, because they are a great way to express yourself. There are so many types of scarves out there, colorful, some with texture, some with sparkles, some with prints, words, basically anything you could want. Not only are scarves great to have because of the chill in the air, you can make any look you own by adding your own flavor with a fun scarf.

And I love me some picures, so I'll add some examples.

                         
3 looks, one scarf!                                                                   Excellent way to spice up any look
   
                                               
I love this necklace with Sandra's dress                                        Great necklace, bag and shoe combo

 
And my personal favorite, headbands :)


Vivre la mode, tout le monde!

Color me chartreuse?

A few weeks ago in my Principles of Art and Design class, we were discussing color, and all of the strange names that colors have. Like chartreuse, puce, cyan, vermillion and all that kind of stuff. The funny thing is, me and some of my band friends were actually talking about color tonight. In the dining hall we were in my friend was like "what color is that wall? is it green or black or what?" and my other friend replied "that's burnt sienna". I shot him a look because clearly that wall was not burnt sienna- that's a shade of brown. It was kind of an avocado green, but not really. It also resembled a forest green, but i didn't know what to say- anything other than your basic blue or green would confuse him. It occured to me that most people have no idea what colors go with the funny names. I just kind of found it interesting that people mistake chartreuse for blue, cyan for brown, and when I was little I used to think vermillion was a kind of animal instead of a reddish color.
I enjoy putting pictures on this thing, so to clarify:

Chartreuse is green:

Puce is purple:

                                       



Cyan is blue: 

     
Vermillion is red:

Just a question to those who might ever read this, do you think all the names of these colors are helpful? Or do you think they make more people confused and afraid of fashion because we have so many names for stuff? Well I think its possible all these color names and colors in general put people off, and i'm sure it confuses some people not fashion-savvy more than helps them. Especially guys, if you said you have a red scarf and a vermillion scarf and asked what's the difference, he would most likely say "the name is different." But on the other hand, if you are talking to another fashion person and said "a vermillion skirt with a puce top", not only would they understand, but they might cringe a bit for those colors don't really go together.

That was a daily dose of color :) Vivre la mode, tout le monde!

Hey there people of the Internet!

This is my first post ever on a blog! I don't really know what I'm doing, but this seems like a fun way to communicate with the world about fashion and things like that. I really like clothes and fashion, and I can't wait to share my views on it. Let me start of my fashion blog with talking about my favorite fashion tv show, Project Runway. This show rocks, and I finally caught up this past Thursday's episode. I just wanted to say, I loved Victor's collection. The lines and the styling of his 3 looks were fabulous. I know the judges said it was boring, but I loved the fact that they were toned down just enough that people could buy them straight off the runway. I would buy the leather jacket right off of his model if I could. The flowiness of the ruffles down the front was a great contrast with the fact that it was made with leather, and that it was paired with a blouse with lots of geometrical lines. Can you put pictures in this thing? I'm going to look for a picture of that jacket.

It looked something like this

Contrasting textures and prints is one of my favorite things to see and wear. Hopefully when I get more experienced with sewing I can contrast textures and prints of my own designing. Alright, that is enough fashion for my first post I think :)

 Vivre la mode, tout le monde! (that means live fashion, everyone :) yay french class)