God Save the (Mc)Queen Pt. II

This was the dress that greeted me at the start of the exhibit was from the 2001 Voos collection. The dress' bodice is made of glass microscope slides that were hand dyed red. The skirt is all ostrich feathers that were hand dyed as well. Truly stunning and the piece evokes the feeling of the blood right under the first layers of our skin.

These unique and stunning pants are from McQueen's Highland Rape collection from 1995. The pants are called "bumsters" and were an experiment in elongating the body. For McQueen, the most exciting part of anybody’s body, male or female, was the bottom of the spine. And the bumsters is really about showcasing that part of the body.

As one of my super favorite pieces, this dress from 2010 was in the same room as the "bumsters" and showed a technical maturity compared to that of the construction of his infamous pants. The dress is all jersey knit. Now to make a knit dress that impeccably and beautifully structured is pretty much impossible but McQueen Managed somehow. He also created the curves of the dress while the then finished product was on a mannequin and he just began cutting into the piece, free form, creating the curves you see now.

No words can describe the beauty in this piece especially in person. The fact that this is all soft hand dyed feathers, placed on such a structured piece is a exquisite contrast. From a 2009 collection, this piece evokes a raven and this symbolism of death and decay that is McQueen's signature style.

This piece from a 1997 collection was hand beaded with these rich, small, black beads creating the look of lace. This is meant to represents one of the stages of mourning with the lilac color. The jutted neck seems the act as a form of protection against the wearer from literally letting her guard down while silently in mourning.

This jacket from 1997 has the print: The Thief to the Left of Christ by Robert Campin digitally woven into the fabric. It is also unique in there is no shoulder pads creating the sweeping shape in the garment. The internal construction is what makes this piece.

This 1999 dress was literally created right on the runway. The model who was wearing the dress, which was at first, just a plain piece of gathered muslin, stood in front of two robot arms that began spray painting the dress with meticulously pre-programed software telling the arm what to do and what color to spray. The fact that people got to see the piece being made makes it that much more amazing.

There is some eerie beauty to this dress with its delicate lace ripped and worn away, there is a sense of helplessness and loss to the dress. McQueen created this piece for a show titled Highland Rape, to show the"rape" of Scotland by England during the Jacobite risings of the eighteenth century and the Highland Clearances of the nineteenth century.

This stunning dress in made of mostly real flowers from McQueen's 2007 show, Sarabande. The piece was meant to evoke beauty and a prettiness to death and dying.

This dress was part of a collection called It's Only a Game in which McQueen created sports inspired glamorous couture pieces and then for the fashion show, the looks were displayed with the models playing life-sized chess. Just watch this: http://youtu.be/M5gY5DXrb48

This crimson coat and delicate empire-waist dress culminated a collection from 2008, inspired by the queens of England. With an enormous volume of fabric at the neck that is all bulleted and at the hem is all bulleted yet still appears very light.The collection, called The Girl Who Lived in the Tree, was dreamy and romantically nationalistic, tinged with irony.

This final piece in the exhibition is from a 2010 collection entitled, Pluto's Atlantis. This ensemble is made of enamel palliates. McQueen commented on the show saying “[This collection predicted a future in which] the ice cap would melt . . . the waters would rise and . . . life on earth would have to evolve in order to live beneath the sea once more or perish. Humanity [would] go back to the place from whence it came.”

McQueen had one show after Pluto's Atlantis (and my personal favorite) Angels and Demon's.

The exhibit is stunning and amazing. While I learned a lot about McQueen, I also gained so much inspiration for myself as a designer and an artist.

"You’ve got to know the rules to break them. That’s what I’m here for, to demolish the rules but to keep the tradition.”

—Alexander McQueen

All photos courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

God Save the (Mc)Queen

Let me start by stating the obvious, Alexander McQueen was one of, if not the greatest fashion designer of all time. He was an exquisite master of draping, cutting, tailoring, construction and sewing extreme fashion statement making garments. His runway shows were a mix of fashion and performance art in the most beautiful and cutting-edge style. The depth and meaning in his clothing and the fact that he could translate his feelings into these impeccable couture clothes so that the wearer felt as though she had a part of his soul on was not only a great talent McQueen acquired after years of extreme dedication to the art, but a gift that no other designer will be able to replicate.

After he passed away about two years ago, the fashion industry was and still is mourning his death. As a “memorial” and honoring of such a great loss, the Metropolitian Museum of Art’s Costume Institute put together an exhibition of some of McQueen’s best and most breath-taking unique clothes. The exhibition, entitled “Savage Beauty” for McQueen’s rather dark and gothic yet absolutely stunning and awe-inspiring couture/ wearable art pieces, opened in April at the MET Gala’s annual red-carpet event and is set to close next week.

The whole reason I went to NYC about two weeks ao was to see the McQueen exhibit. While the tickets wee pricey, the experience will forever be one of my favorite memories. Just being able to see these garments in reall life, inches from your face, and to see the immaculate detail in each individual stich made my heart race. It still does as I am thinking of it all now. Sigh.

While there are truly not enough words in the world to describe how mind-blowing this exhibit was, I will try to at least give an overview of the exhibition. Although each piece is worth mentioning, this would be a LONG post. Each of the seven rooms that the exhibit was beautifully displayed in was based on a time and mood od McQueen’s work. So, going room by room, I will talk about a few of my favorites from each room. Before you read any more, if you don’t know much about McQueen, check out this link: http://nymag.com/fashion/fashionshows/designers/bios/alexandermcqueen/

Also, if you really want to see each piece in the exhibit and read more about McQueen, I suggest you buy the book the MET produced as a companion to the exhibit. You can order it from the MET store online or from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Alexander-McQueen-Savage-Beauty-Metropolitan/dp/0300169787/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312074207&sr=8-1. You can also watch this video to get a feel for it all.

Review of individual pieces up next!

Runways as Catwalks: NYC

WARNING: This is a totally descriptive piece meant to get your fashion imagination going!

The best place in the country to people watch is in New York City. There is something magical about walking down the streets and seeing a native New Yorker amid the sea of tourists. She (or he) stands out in the most beautiful way. These are two of the most common “unique stereotype” styles I saw. It is these two styles that one can really make a story out of simply what they are wearing.

There is the thin cutting-edge urban chic girl that stomps down the cement sidewalk, looking dead ahead with her big black funky shades and her sleek hair blowing back. She is wearing mostly black or other neutral muted colors. She has that effortless cool thin and flimsy flowing shirt haphazardly tucked into her perfect pair of tailored trousers. Blow the hem of her trousers are the quintessential nude peep-toe stilettos that she has no struggle walking in as she works her way through the maze of tourists, not missing a beat. She has a light but super structured sleek blazer on and peeking out from its sleeves are a mixture of colorful and sparkly bracelets and a classic Rolex watch plied high on her arm. Her large handbag is hanging gingerly from her arm and is a perfectly structured desert orange or honey mustard yellow leather and displays no brand name on the outside, just impeccably finished curved seams that adds a subtle softness to the look. She is trendy without trying. She has places to go; she is on a never-ending mission.

Then there is the late teens, early twenties hipster. She lives in the less visited SoHo and Tribeca areas. She has on a flowing cotton cropped off the shoulder band tee that shows her perfectly flat and tan stomach and a pair of high-waisted light wash jeans that have little pleats at the top, creating a fuller look. She has a neon coral turban-esc headband on. Her hair is full and thick, down to her shoulder blades and the only make up she wears is red-hot lipstick. She has a three-finger ring in a rusty gold color and three thick and chucky bracelets on one arm. Her small vintage clutch is squeezed tight between her upper arm and ribcage and she clutches a nondescript white reusable coffee cup. Her thoughts are racing as she walks gracefully in a pair of flat tan gladiator shoes and stares into space thinking of the many errands she has yet to do today.

With a look and attitude all their own among the “scenes” they fit into, these two styles are bold, beautiful and confident. Walking without a care but with purpose. They walk like no one is watching even though everyone’s heads are turning as they go by on a runway paved with gray cement.

I Love New York

There is a feel to New York City that I just love. Even after visiting the city about 7 or 8 times, I fall in love each time my feet hit the pavement and I hear the sound of taxi drivers blaring their horns. I love the constant quick pace that fuels people forward. I love that the people that are speed waking down the street have purpose. They are going somewhere. They have the passion and drive to be the best_______(insert occupation here). This is just one of the millions of things I love about the city. More to come later though.

Anyway, last Monday, I went to NYC for a short 3-day trip with one of my good friend and her mom. The main reason we were going was for the blow-your-mind-absolutely-crazy-amazing Alexander McQueen exhibit at the MET. Again, I will write about the exhibit later. So, at 6am, we got on the Amtrak train and got to the city at noon. My friend and I had planned the whole trip ourselves. I found a cheap and chic studio apartment in Columbus Circle area, near the Times Square District and the Upper West side. The place ended up being great and located super close to a major subway terminal. We learned a major lesson the first time we hopped on the subway on the way to the MET though; we didn't look at what letter the train was. We wanted the A train and we got the F train. It was more like the "we are f-ed" train. We got off in the middle of nowhere (which is REALLY hard to do in the city but we somehow found literally nothing where we were). After a frantic turn around and looking like a super tourist by asking for what train to take, we got back to where we started. The McQueen exhibit was set for 2:30 and it was already 2. We had lost almost an hour and a half because of our subway mess up. My feet were killing me, I did wear heels the whole time of course, and we were going to miss the exhibit that was $50 a ticket. We hailed a cab, screamed at him to floor it and got to the MET at 2:33. Fashionably late for the McQueen exhibit, how appropriate. After spending two hours at the exhibit, which again was breath taking beautiful and deep, we went back to the apartment and walked around the quiet and nice little area where the apartment was. We got dinner at this great little hole on the wall pub kind of restaurant and walked around more after dinner. Of course as all of the city is packed with shopping and food, space to build is precious and the sky is the limit. So even in the smallest of stores we went in, most had at least 2 floors and a basement too. The excitement is that you never know what you are going to find when you turn the corner in the city. There is something extremely intriguing about not knowing exactly what is so close to you under your feet or up in the air in the buildings that touch the clouds...

Later that night, we went to a nice restaurant in Tribeca called Thalassa. It was restaurant week while we were there so they had a great prix fix menu and we meet one of my friends, friend’s aunt who has lived in the city for 20 years. It was great to talk to her about the city and how it is to live there since I plan on transferring to Parson’s next year anyway. She was super nice and very informative and truthful about living in the city. Obviously, it is not going to be easy but then again, easy is no fun. Challenges are what make you stronger. After an amazing Mediterranean seafood dinner and chocolate lava cake that was divine, we walked down to one of the piers that had recently been transformed into a “sports pier”. The place was beautiful! Visiting that was what sold me on wanting to live in the city. There was a skate park, a mini golf course, 4 beach volleyball courts, a track and a star gazing area all on this one pier!!! It was awesome!

Before we left on Wednesday, we went down to SoHo and shopped. One of my favorite stores in the city is Scoop and they are located in SoHo so of course I had to go there! The designer clothing and up and coming designer’s that are featured there have beautiful and stunning luxurious clothing. All of it was to die for! Finally, on a long ride home on the train, I was happy that we were able to go on the trip. I had an amazing time and was so inspired as a designer and even as a baker. The lyrics “concert jungle where dreams are made of” could not be more true for me.

What I Learned from Senior Year

This past year for me has been crazy. I have had to fill out four college applications and put together a special portfolio for each. I also filled out about 30 different applications for all kinds of scholarships. Honestly, I think it is harder to get into an art school then it is to get in anywhere else! While I got accepted to Parsons, SCAD and VCUarts, each had their own twist or challenge to the application that added that much more stress. And while I advise that you start early, it is hard to motivate yourself to do so. Make a calendar of dates for all things college and them make a application send-in deadline for yourself about a week before it is actually due. Google search the crap out of each school you are applying to and go to sites like college confidential to get the scoop from real students. "Like" the schools you are applying to and post questions on their wall. Since the colleges pages are usually monitored and updated by an admission consoler, you should get a quick response and may find that lots of other applicants have the same questions as you. Figure out how to stand out. MUCH easier said than done I know! Be true to yourself though. Don't over exaggerate and make sure your art is uniquely you. Another thing about senior year that not a single person prepares you for is essays. Sure you can write little things in English but to stand out, that takes a lot of effort and outside work. Don't add a lot of fluff to the essays because they have to be short and represent you in a crisp and precise description. Don't be afraid to ask for teachers to read and help you edit you essay. They know what colleges want! Scholarships are even more work and even more competitive then college and have lots of random essay questions to answer. I recommend you start looking for scholarships now and make a resume for schools and scholarship so that you can save time by copying and pasting parts of your resume into each college application. Then, you have to get a tough skin to accept rejection from some schools and scholarships and learn to smile when best friends get into their dream school while you still wait in anticipation for an acceptance letter.

Here's the deal:

1. College is super competitive
2. College is super expensive
3. Student loans suck

The first thing I still hear after anyone, and I mean ANYONE, asks and knows what grade I'm in (senior in high school or college freshmen) is a) what college do you go to/want to go to and b) what do you want to major in/do? Being nice and polite, I respond with a smile as if I have never been asked the question. Those two seemingly simple questions are what seniors have been trying to figure out for our entire high school career. If the people who asked the questions really wanted to know the whole story they would have to listen to me babble for a good 30 minutes. I know for sure what I want to do with my life and that is fashion design. That answer alone can get you strange looks sometimes since most people have yet to accept and understand why you have to go to school for art and fashion. When you say fashion design most people then think that you have no brain and are some angst teen going to college to party. WRONG! I graduated 6th in my class and have over 30 college credit hours completed. Fashion designers are the farthest from being unintelligent and indecisive. If you want to be a fashion designer, you have to have a lot of smarts and a lot of creativity to succeed and you have to have even more drive and passion to be at the top then some doctor or lawyer.

Ok, sorry for the rant. It happens a lot and obviously angers me haha. But the second part of the question all seniors get asked: what school I want to go to? I had a list of 7 that I narrowed down to 4. But to respond on the spot about the place you only HOPE that you get into and spend four years at and eventually graduate with high honors; now that is what I call a loaded question. Maybe some seniors are the other way, they know where they want to go but what they want to major in? Wow.

Senior year, they say it's easy but the hard part is what you have to learn to do on your own.

However, I can say that it does help to get you ready for college because you have to be self-motivated and get yourself to where you want to be. The professors will not be there to hold your hand or give you a pity grade. You have to focus on yourself senior year if you are really determined to get that coveted acceptance to your dream school. You will learn a lot about yourself along the way and you will be able to rest next May once that diploma is in your hand and that college bumper sticker is on your car.

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Daylily and Wine Festival Cupcakes

This past Sunday, I went to the Daylily and Wine Festival. This is an annual event that I have gone to for pretty much as long as I can remember and is always on a hot summer weekend at a semi-famous flower nursery. While I can't drink wine from the 20 0r so different wineries sponsored at the event, there are beautiful garden and lots of different food and jewelry tents to visit. While at the event this year, I found various jewelry vendors and some pretty cool vendors that had different sauces and spices for any meal.

This cupcake was inspired by the event and the wine in particular. This is a chocolate wine cake with a cream cheese filling and a whipped cream frosting with a flower decoration. Since the alcohol cooks out in these as they bake, they are safe for those under 21 but it also makes it important to use good wine since the flavors reduce and add richness to the cake.

Ingredients:

Cake

1 box yellow cake mix

4 egg whites

1-1/3c. nice Merlot wine

1/3c. canola oil

4t. cocoa powder

2/3c. semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted

Filling

1 (8oz.) block cream cheese, softened

1/2c. sugar

splash of almond extract (careful, this stuff is strong!)

Frosting

1 tub cool whip lite

1/2c. sour cream

2T. powdered sugar

1/4t. lemon zest

Flower

12 yellow starbursts

72 mini marshmallows

red, pink or purple decorating sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 and line 2 cupcake pans with 24 paper liners
2. Place all ingredients for cake in mixing bowl and beat on med. until well blended and lump free
3. Using an ice-cream scoop, fill each cupcake pan evenly with batter. Bake for 15-17min or until passes the toothpick test. Cool completely.
4. While cupcakes bake, make the filling by mixing cream cheeses in mixer until lump free and add sugar and almond extract. Scoop mixture into plastic bag, creating a make-shift piping bag. Refrigerate until ready to fill cupcakes.
5. For frosting, place cool whip in large bowl and gently fold in remaining frosting ingredients, being careful not to "deflate" cool whip. Refrigerate until ready to frost.
6. To assemble cupcakes, make an X in the top of each cupcake. Using piping bag with filling, quickly snip a small part of the corner where the filling is concentrated. Place the tip of the bag in the X and gently squeeze the bag until filling starts to rise out of the X in the cupcake. Scoop frosting on top and smooth with an off set spatula. To make the center of the flower, cut a starburst in half and then each half into 3 strips. Arrange 3 of the strips in the center of the cupcake. For the petals, cut 3 marshmallows in half and dip the "sticky" part of each half face down into the decorating sugar. Lift and assemble around the starburst center. Repeat with remaining cupcakes.
7. Enjoy!

Butterbeer Cupcakes

The end is here. It is a sad day in the muggle world as the Harry Potter movie series come to an end. This past Thursday I went to the midnight premier of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2. The movie was sold out and so was every store that sold Harry Potter merchandise in a 50-mile radius of where I live. So while had all the good intentions of dressing up for the bittersweet event, it didn’t happen. However, these past twelve or so years of reading the books and watching the movies has left a special place in my heart for Harry. I started reading the books about a year after they came out and it was a part of my nightly routine to have my Dad read “Harry Potter” to me before I went to bed. We read books 1-6 together and went to the midnight release of the“ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” book together. I can honestly say that Harry has been a big part of my life and I am fine with admitting that I sobbed at the end of the movie. While as great of a series it was, there was a little part of my childhood that died when I saw that final scene and Ron, Harry and Hermione smiled back at me. Yes, I know it is a cheesy sob story but I am just telling the truth.

So in honor of the final Harry Potter movie, I decided to create this cupcake inspired by The Three Broomsticks famous butterbeer drink.

Ingredients:

Cake

1 box yellow cake mix

3 eggs

1/2c. (or 1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1 (12 0z.) bottle of cream soda

1/2 t. vanilla extract

dash of pumpkin pie spice

Filling

8oz. butterscotch chips

1/2c. heavy whipping cream

Frosting

1 (8oz.) block cream cheese, softened

1/2c. sugar

1c. heavy whipping cream, chilled

splash of vanilla extract

Snitch

24 yellow starburst

24 mini marshmallows

Green decorating sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 and line two cupcake pans with 24 paper liners.
2. Place all ingredients for cake in a bowl and mix on med.-high until well combined and no lumps remain.
3. Using an ice-cream scoop, distribute cake batter evenly among cupcake pans. Bake for 15-17min. or until it passes the toothpick test and cool completely
4. While cupcakes bake, place filling ingredients in double-boiler and melt over med. heat until smooth and well combined. Remove from heat and chill in refrigerator to semi-set the filling. Place filling in a gallon sized freezer bag, keeping filling toward one of the bottom corners making a piping bag.
5. For frosting, combine cream cheese and sugar in a mixer and beat until no lumps remain. Slowly add in whipping cream and beat at med.-high until mixture forms stiff peaks. Add in vanilla, mix and chill frosting until ready for use.
6. To assemble, make an X in the top of each cupcake. Using piping bag with filling, quickly snip a very small part of the corner where the filling is concentrated. Place the tip of the bag in the X and gently squeeze the bag until filling starts to rise out of the X in the cupcake. Scoop frosting on top and smooth with an off set spatula. Dip frosted top of cupcake into green sugar. Warm starburst with your hands and mold into a ball. Split a mini marshmallow in half and place on opposite sides of starburst ball, creating a small slit to stuff the marshmallow half in. Place on top of the cupcake. Repeat for remaining cupcakes.
7. Enjoy!

Why I'm Here

OK, so this sounds like I'm running for office or something right? Wrong.

Here's the deal: I'm a college freshman aspiring to become a fashion designer. I have been sewing for 7 years and have been creating and draping my own things for the past 2 years. I also love fashion illustration and art. Another passion of mine is baking. I love to come up with unique and different recipes all the time and have my own small baking company. One of my many goals in life is to one day have a flagship store for my fashion house, with clothing and a bake shop all in one. But there is a lot of space for "what if..." and "what now....." in between me and that goal. So while I share my college journey of what REALLY makes art kids so cool and weird and my plan to make myself a 'somebody' from a small town, I will share my fashion creations (with tips and tricks) and cupcake recipes that brake the traditional and domestic rules of baking and sewing.

There's my spiel.

In short come here for:

• fashion inspiration, trends and how-to's
• sewing ideas, tips and tools
• baking, recipes and yummy pictures
• college life and my life, what's it all about
• FUN!