Phreshly Squeezed

Christian Siriano Greets the Crowd

A bad day for me is not being able to get my seat at the Christian Siriano Spring 2010 show at Bryant Park (for Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week) and being closed out on the show’s standing line. Really, what that means is that I had to stand in the tent’s lobby and watch the show on the hi-def screen with the show’s music quietly thumping from behind the doors. Not bad at all, hah.

I can tell you that with the recession, Siriano definitely did play it safe. Or so I thought. The first several outfits that appear on the runway are close to the body and have little volume, and on top of that, are a neutral: cream/taupe. And we can’t forget Siriano’s love for hats; he introduces several of these cream outfits with relaxed floppy hats. However, this succession of outfits gets jazzed up with one of them involving the use of a strong blue that pipes along the body’s curves. Excellent transition and preview for what’s about to come.

This is where Siriano’s inspiration for the Spring 2010 collection becomes clear. Portraying the Mediterranean in casual wear, dresses, and a bodysuit (can you say daring?), Siriano makes use of a huge fashion trend: the tye-dye effect. While some may frown on the use of this style, Siriano uses it well -- he conveys the sea with its white froth, clear blue and green water, and dark depths with black.

Concluding the show is what Siriano is best known for -- his gowns. The stage is lit up with these gowns that a use of a lot of volume and layers, as well as fiery colors.

As the models come down the stage to finish the show, you can’t help but wonder where the famed designer is. After they walk off, he skids onto the stage in an adorable manner and thanks the crowd.

Understanding where Siriano is coming from, you could easily say that he has tamed the Mediterranean by showing off the seaside relaxation with the floppy hats and neutral colors, the characters of the sea, and the passion that the people of the Mediterranean possess.

Neutral Outfit

Mediterranean Inspired Dresses

Yes, it's the bodysuit

Fiery Gowns

Images courtesy of Racked.com

LOULOU Celebrates its 5th Anniversary in Style!

For some reason, I thought I was half-way through the month of September already. Perhaps it’s because if I haven’t been at school, I’m at The Ability Project office or at home freelancing. Thinking that the month was almost done with, I began savoring the issue that would follow the September issue of LOULOU magazine. On top of the fact that the September issue is considered to be the holy grail of the fashion scene, this issue celebrates the 5th anniversary of LOULOU Magazine’s existence.

Included in this issue are tons of great specials! Two events to note are the “Birthday Block Parties” in Toronto and in Montreal on the 23rd and 24th respectively of this month. What’s included? Well, you get to strut through the chicest blocks of the cities and get free goodies, save on your purchases, and help give back to Shelternet. In Toronto, expect savings of up to 45% off regularly priced in-store merchandise at stores, such as Puma and Banana Republic, and gift certificates to reward your spending at others, such as Joe Fresh Style and Town Shoes.

To add some spice to this fab issue, LOULOU gets an exclusive with singer Kate Voegele, offers five hot work outfits (which I need!), sixteen hot trends for fall, and one “must-have” item from each staff member that brings you LOULOU Magazine.

There’s still time to pick up your copy today, so head over to Indigo/Chapters and get yours today!

I’ve been working and interning since I was fifteen, which many would consider early. Let me put it this way: most retail stores don’t hire unless you’re at least sixteen, and many of my friends didn’t get their first jobs until they were seventeen or eighteen. I also never really never had any connections; as if anyone (family friends and relatives included) I knew had any influence over anything aside from the pen on their desk. The only way that was available to me was my own.

Blogging used to be my way of keeping a journal. It was incredibly personal and real, but let’s face it: no one cares to read about every moan and groan of life. That, and the fact that I was not a good writer. But eventually, I grew out of that phase and ditched the whole web design scene. Only recently did I discover the importance of having a blog and knowing to have a focus.

Over the past two years, I’ve not only watched a streetwear clothing line, JUZD, grow, but also their see company blog change. The content used to be very sparse and covered only the designer’s trips to the US and China. But over the last year, the blog started developing more with coverage of local JUZD events and fun ideas, such as weekly styling and re-styling of outfits with use of the JUZD shirts.

Accompanied by the various fashion blogs I was following, such as The F-Word, the F-List, POSHGLAM, and The Quest for “It,” I figured out what exactly I wanted to do in school – communications. I always had the idea that I would major in psychology and specialize in adolescent mental disorders, but truth be told, I’m not a very academic person. Well, I can learn, write, and analyze with ease, but I very much enjoy being hands-on and having practical training. Communications seems to be a good fit; it’s related to everywhere I’ve worked and I really do enjoy it.

One of the essentials for this work field, though, is to demonstrate knowledge of blogging tools and know how to write. I’ve got the writing requirement down pat with some of the articles that I’ve written for JUZD, but what about showing off that I know how to use WordPress? So I set up this blog again, and recently took the search engine optimization seriously, with an interest on fashion and trendy finds. No longer did my blog seem all over the place. Now there were ideas of what my blog was about and I could easily tell the blog directories and link exchanges that.

Proof that blogging really does help is the fact that I was recently offered a position with The Ability Project. They had found me on The College Blog Network and were impressed with my social media skills, and thus, offered me a fall internship before I even stepped foot in the city.

In a way, blogging shows off some of the technical skills I have, as well as expresses my interests and personality. Whoever said that blogging was for whiners and got you nowhere had no idea about what they were saying.