Form, Fit, Fashion, FABULOUS.

I just recently celebrated my birthday - go me! - and I got this amazing book as a gift. It's called "Form, Fit, Fashion" by Jay Calderin, from Rockport Publishers. This book is a fashion designers bible. I am about halfway through and so far it has touched base on just about everything I've learned in school thus far.
Here is a little excerpt from the back:

Topics encompass collection theory, forecasting, budgeting, specializations, color, textiles, silhouette, fashion illustration, patternmaking, stitching, finishing, digital technology, quality control, portfolio building, branding, merchandising, and show production. Interspersed throughout, interviews with leading fashion designers demonstrate how these ideas can be creatively interpreted in practice.

Unlike many of the textbooks we have to buy for our classes, this book is easy to read and small enough to fit in your purse. Aspiring designers, established professionals, and fashionistas alike can all take something from this book. It offers a comprehensive overview of the fashion industry focusing on six core aspects of fashion: research, editing, design, construction, connection, and evolution. If you are a fashion student, or thinking of pursuing a career in a fashion industry, this book is definitely a good investment!

Once Upon a Time in MexiCali

Designing my first collection, and I couldn't be more excited!
I find that my biggest inspiration for it is the song "Down in Mexico". Of course, it's a Spring/Summer line.
My fabrics are going to be light, flowing drape meets stretchable structure. The overall themes are Cinco de Mayo, Los Dias Muertos, little rocker girl all grown up with a touch of retro, and she's going on vacation. I want to do some screenprinting (when I learn how) as well. My creativity is flying and I've came up with 6 outfits so far that need to be rendered, so I thought I would provide the soundtrack to this collection to whichever poor souls actually read this blog. But if you DO read this, and need a nice summer soundtrack, you should track down these tunes, and then subscribe to my blog so I know you exist!!

1) April March - Chick Habit
2) The Centurians - Bullwinkle, Pt II
3) Chuck Berry - You Never Can Tell
4) Dick Dale & His Del-Tones - Misilou
5) The Lovely Ones - Surf Rider
6) NOFX - Cantado En Espanol
7) NOFX - Kill All The White Man
8) The Revels - Comanche
9) Jack Nitzsche - The Last Race
10) Smith - Baby It's You
11) T.Rex - Jeepster
12) Staggolee - Pacific Gas & Electric
13) Eddie Floyed - Good Love, Bad Love
14) Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mich & Tich - Hold Tight
15) Eddie Beram - Riot in Thunder Alley
16) The Coasters - Down in Mexico
17) The Tornadoes - Bustin Surfboards
18) Urge Overkill - Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon
19) The Blasters - Dark Night
20) Jimmie Vaughn - Dengue Woman Blues
21) The Leftovers - Toquay
22) Tito & Tarantula - Angry Cockroaches
23) Tito & Tarantula - After Dark
24) Angel City Outcasts - Bleeding Heart Saloon
25) Authority Zero - Chili Con Crudo
26) The Bodysnatchers - Ruder Than You
27) Chubby Checker - The Twist
28) The Clash - Wrong 'Em Boyo
29) The Specials - Pressure Drop
30) HorrorPops - HorrorBeach Pt. 2
31) Howlin' Wolf - Smokestack Lightening
32) The Toasters - Marlboro Man
33) James Brown - Papa's Got a Brand New Bag
34) Joe Strummer - Silent Telephone
35) The Specials - Ghost Town
36) Streetlight Manifesto - The Troubador
37) The Specials - A Message to you Rudy

Here Comes Treble!

Several years ago, whenever it was that I jumped onto the MySpace bandwagon (probably around the time it started getting unpopular... was great for finding new music), I was browsing Canadian punk bands, and discovered The Flatliners.
Hailing from Toronto, these guys are younger than I am. All it took was hearing "Do or Die", and I was hooked. I loved everything about them. The bass lines, the guitars, the lyrics, the drums, and the voice of frontman Chris Cresswell are smooth and rough at the same time. I spent nearly the entire summer listening to them, traveling 4 hours to Vancouver at least 3 times to see them play live. I was always mesmerized, and would stand at the front singing and dancing, loving every minute of it.Not long after I discovered them, The Flatliners gave me another reason to love them, by getting signed onto Fat Wreck Chords, owned by punk rock vet Fat Mike. When they released their second album, "The Great Awake" in 2007, I was at first surprised by the drift from a more ska sound, but soon enough I was cranking it in my car daily.

My three faves:
This Respirator - About life on the road, which makes sense, because these guys are fuckin' driven. They have been touring practically non-stop since I discovered them, all over Canada, the US, Europe, and Japan.

Eulogy - This song evokes so much emotion inside me, partially because it's played with so much raw emotion and energy. This reminds me of friends I have lost, and I have celebrated life and mourned its loss to this song. I plan on having its lyrics tattooed on me, "You will always be remembered, you will be celebrated". I can't begin to put into words how this song makes me feel, and no band has ever done that. The video to this song was filmed in Vancouver, BC the day after I saw them play with The Peacocks, The St. Alvia Cartel and The Toasters.

Mastering The World's Smallest Violin - I love this song so much that people tell me when they hear it, they think of me. I like that they brought back the ska influence. There is always one part that is sung, "You've got that look again in your eyes", and the way it's sung just gets me. SO GOOD.And the boys are at it again, April 13th they released their newest album, "Cavalcade." And let me say, I don't even know these guys, and I'm proud of them. All in their 20's and with a third album release under their belt, these guys have shown growth and mastery of their talent, musically and lyrically. I had ordered Calvacade before it was released, but it was backordered, so I eventually caved and downloaded the album. And it's so good, I'm still going to buy it, it's that good. I already have favorites:

Carry The Banner: "Live through, live strong, carry on and on and on." The repeated chorus chants a positive anthem that blows your face off.

Bleed: Fast and catchy. I loved the beginning, and when it picked up I felt my face blow off again.

Here Comes Treble: This song slays. If you want your face blown off in the best way possible, listen to this one. Lyrically, it shows the sacrifices made in pursuit of their music careers. Musically, if you didn't catch it the first time, it fuckin' slays. I can't wait to see what a jaded fuck you've become, and I definitely can't wait to see this one live.

He Was a Jazzman: Once again, to my pleasure, they went back to their ska roots on this one. Talking about death, is a heavy topic, especially for someone as young as these guys, but they execute it (no pun intended) it amazingly.

Filthy Habits: Originally released on their Cynics EP, this might be hands down my favorite track on the album. I think I've listened to it at least 100 times in the last week. I'm actually listening to it right now. It has the same energy as "Carry the Banner" and "Here Comes Treble". Haven't you heard cynics never recover?

Liver Alone: "I force these feet to MOOoOoOVE!!." It's infectious. And this song makes MY feet want to move. Another song I look forward to seeing live, and jumping around to like a wind up toy.

There are so many awesome tracks on Cavalcade I couldn't begin to talk about all of them. The only thing you can do now is check out their MySpace (See the link at the top), buy their record, and then see them for yourself.
The best thing about these guys, is that they are super nice. And unless they have become total assholes, I doubt that has changed. Super approachable, and extremely appreciative of the people who care about their music, there are few bands I could think of as deserving of success as The Flatliners.

So there you have it, but don't take my lengthy word for it, get on it and check them the fuck out!

(All pictures courtesy of myself, so if you're gonna use them give credit where credit's due!)

Beauty is More Than Skin Deep.

The frightening thing today with Hollywood is the overwhelming number of young celebrities no older than myself (24 next month) going under the knife and getting plastic surgery.

Of course, the reason I am bringing this up is because of the non-stop chatter about Heidi Montag's "Revenge Plastic Surgery." I'm not sure which is more sad, her music career, or her frightening likeness to Barbie, or Michael Jackson... I'm not sure which.Gossip magazines everywhere have brought attention to Heidi's ten surgery's in one day. The only thing I can ask myself, is why?

What is so wrong with this....That you had to transform yourself into THIS?
It's wrong on so many levels. I normally don't pay attention to fame whores, especially those that haven't done anything particularly to gain that fame. Famous for being famous? Well, this certainly will keep Heidi in the papers for a while, which is better for her, since The Hills is finally ending (which it should have after Lauren left - that girl is the only reality TV star I have respect for), and her music career won't go anywhere.

I was pleased to see that InStyle magazine also wrote an article on this issue. Not just Heidi, young adults have been getting cosmetic procedures since nose jobs became popular.

I think I would rather age gracefully. I don't know what kind of message these celebs are sending, or why we even care in the first place, but something is definitely wrong in Hollywood, and it makes me hope I never get famous...

" Women have face-lifts in a society in which women without them appear to vanish from sight." ~ Naomi Wolf.

Dead Leaves in the Dirty Ground

A friend of mine created a photo montage to the White Stripes' "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground". I love this song, and it always reminds me of her, and she has some pretty awesome camera skills. Plus her female model is another friend of mine, one I wish didn't live so far away so I could make her model all my clothes. Anyways, this was a long time in the making, and it turned out wicked, so if you read this post you should hit it up.

Check it out here!

Been a while!

It's not that I've been lazy, I've just been proactive in all other areas of my life and unable to post any blogs! School has been keeping me busy, coming to the last couple weeks, and I'm excited to be done this year. More so excited for the next couple years. I decided to stretch out an intensive 2 year diploma into a less-intensive 3 year diploma. It will work well for me, because I won't get overwhelmed, and will be able to manage my time more, learn more, and produce better quality work. It's going to be a relief!

There's only one thing that bothers me lately. Slackers. You know, the kind of people that you look at and wonder, Why are you here? These people are usually late, usually produce poor quality work that looks like was whipped up the night before, hand in assignments unfinished, are extremely hard to work with due to their lack of work ethic, and almost ALWAYS have an excuse. I know what it's like to feel unmotivated. I know what it's like to not feel fully invested in what you are doing. I spent 3 years in university doing just that. But these people seem to want to be in fashion, but their actions don't really reflect that. Maybe they need to learn from themselves. I suppose I shouldn't be too bothered by it, their shortcomings make me look like a prodigy in comparison. I have to remember I am older and have a lot more life experience than they do though... everyone has to make their own mistakes. Still, it's frustrating when I have to see it, and worse yet when I have to work with them... I suppose we'll see who comes back next year.

I got to go to my first fashion show a few weeks ago, at Lethbridge Fashion Weekend, which featured the works of 3 of my instructors as well as one of my schoolmates, a second year who is extremely talented. It was tons of fun, I helped set up and serve drinks, and had the privilege - or should I say challenge - of picking the best dressed female and best shoe. I hope that I could become skilled enough to put my clothes on the runway. The year end student fashion show will be a good start, all the first years have to make a skirt, and I spent about 7.5 hours working on mine today, and made quite a bit of progress! If I could be done next week I will be very proud of myself. Maybe I can even try to get a model and do a photo shoot. Ah, it will have to wait until summer. Only a couple more weeks! I CAN'T WAIT.

I'm Ready For My Close-Up Mr. Cameraman...

I met this guy one day several months ago while sitting at lunch with a mutual acquaintence, turns out, he is a blogger, running his own blog, Lethbian Love. Later on, he asked if I would agree to being featured in the Style portion of his blog. My! How flattering! Of course I agreed, and a few months later, here it is!

Click here to view the post!

He was really too kind, and so was his camera!
Thanks Jonathan, way to make me look totally rad!