Jason Wu in the Snow

After class today I made my way over to the Jason Wu fashion show. Even though it was hailing and snowing like crazy I knew I had to go because everyone was going to be there. I was surrounded by wannabe fashion bloggers--some familiar from last season--and stood around for two hours outside in the blizzard for the models/show attendees to let out. I am unbelievably happy with the photos. 

I am just about to leave to run to the Rag & Bone and Helmut Lang shows! So I will be blogging about the Jason Wu experience (and more) later. For now, please enjoy the beautiful pictures I managed to come out with! The frostbite was definitely worth it.

Rachel

Freezing Creeping

This evening on a whim my roommates and I decided to trek over a couple of blocks to 10th avenue and 27th street for the Kenneth Cole fashion show. It is the first day of New York Fall Fashion Week... so why not.. right?!? Well. We arrived around 6:30pm for the 7:00pm show to a line of the show's attendees who had the lucky golden (or should I say black..) ticket in hand. We stood near all the photographers at the backstage entrance--cameras in hand--hoping for the perfect photo to capture the brisk evening.

After a while of watching stressed out PR girls deal with NYC fire code building inspectors and usher fashionably late guests it was only a small group of people, including us, that were the only ones left. We knew the models would be coming out afterwards so we stayed and waited for the show to be over. However, after a few minutes of peering through the giant windows of the gallery out of sheer cold boredom we noticed that the show was actually visible! The show was located in the basement of the in-renovation-gallery and the huge staircase leading to the lower level left a perfect viewing slice of the runway. Thus, I would say we almost* had front row tickets to the show and watched it live.

The show was beautiful. It was filled with heavy-bulky sweaters and coats. I was loving all of the dark leathers--especially how the leathers draped and moved as the models walked the runway. I need some slouchy leather pants ASAP. The attention to detail around the collar area was also very intriguing. I'm glad to see neck/collar embellishments/details will be staying around as muted and matte rather than embellished and shiny.. (although this is only the first day of Fashion week so who knows what showstopping glitz is next)

Nothing is more exhilarating than seeing a fashion show live and in person. I always forget that these idols, models, muses, and characters are actually real people. They seem almost fake until they are right in front of your eyes. As much as I wish I was inside the warmth of the gallery it was fun to watch from the outside. My roommates and I agreed that this experience will make the moment when we arrive to a show with our own ticket in hand even more enjoyable and momentous--we will see the girls standing outside-- those wondering how they can sneak in--and think.. I remember that.

I am still waiting for that moment... but for now sneaking and observing the show from an outside perspective is where I'm at. My day will come, but why not go out and experience the shows atmosphere instead of watch a live stream from only a few blocks away? I'm not in Kansas anymore. I would rather go out and experience it all in the real.

Rachel

We Are Excited

I feel like it is time to resurface this video.. As fashion week starts tomorrow ya'll!!

It seems like not that long ago I was running from my classes to stand outside of shows. My first fashion week. It was an amazing experience and the only regret that I have is that I didn't have business cards. I had no idea how big the people would be on connections as they stood outside the shows, eagerly stalking fashion's elite crowd, just as I was. I had at least 30 people, some of them seemingly important, approach me asking me to exchange cards--of course little old me, who would rather have hidden in the shadows of the brick buildings or blend into the sidewalk, was not equipped with such a card. So I politely said sorry I don't and took their card and they walked off.

Now.. as I am writing this I am realizing that I DON'T HAVE CARDS AGAIN. So looks like for the next day I will be handcrafting--hopefully convincing-- business cards to hand out.

Maybe I will post a picture of my DIY-hopefully-not-disaster cards. Wish me luck?


And I see another dancing video in our future......


Rachel

Shine Bright Like A Diamond? Does That Fit Here?

My laptop isn't connecting to the dorm Internet. This is the most tragic thing to happen so far this semester. Now I am painfully typing out a post on my iPad. Oh the life. THE STRUGGLE (I hope you note the heavy sarcasm in those words). There are so many photo opportunities to bloggggg but there isn't "an app for that." It is so hard to get this post to look the way I want it with a touch screen. Actually recently I have been trying to find an app or something to make my blogging life easier in the iPad but there isn't one. SOMEONE GET ON THAT. It's moments like these were I miss my Toshiba's slow moving always-have to-be-plugged-in-or-I'll-die-on-you mindset.

To continue this last weekend my friends painted me gold for their homework. It was a fantastic and fun photo shoot even though I felt like I was naked in my roommate, Paulina's, living room (while her parents were frequently walking through to grab snacks from the kitchen.) Not to mention that the room had a wall full of windows and the jumpsuit they gave me to wear was only being held up by a couple of binder clips. 

They painted my legs first which turned out to actually be a disaster because they did it with poster board paint... HAHA it wasn't funny. After my legs dried if I turned, flexed, or bent my legs the paint would fold and give me this grandma wrinkle that was not very appealing... Or comfortable because it felt like all of these invisible little schoolyard bullies were giving me Indian sun burns from knee to ankle. 



After completing my body and spraying me down with a gold glitter spray can--which had to have been sitting in her car over night because it felt like they were spraying me with the winds of an arctic tundra-- it was time to shoot. They gave me glasses and jewelry and it was the most fun I've had on a photo shoot yet. It made me remember the days when I wanted to pursue modeling. Next time I think we are going to try a candy themed shoot. I CAN'T WAIT. There I will be featuring my new Candy Clutch that I received for Christmas! Who knows.. maybe I will be painted again...

But in all seriousness the moral of the story is to go out and do crazy things. Pursue your craziest thoughts because you never know what kind of art or fantastic moments can form out of them. GO PAINT SOMEONE GOLD OR STAND OUTSIDE IN A SWIMSUIT WHILE ITS SNOWING. LETS GET CRAZAAY

Check out my roommate and photographer of this shoot--Paulina's Flickr HERE. She is amazing. 

-Rachel

It's Time

Hey guys!

I am back and at it again. For the last month I've been living back at home in Kansas. I never realized how much I would miss home until I saw my parents and brother drive away from the steps of my dorm room in Chelsea. As I watched the car turn right on 8th Avenue and then turned the walk back up to my apartment style room.. I freaked. It was a weird feeling--having everything that you had known so well, like the back of your hand, disappear. And a whole new world at your fingertips ready to start and explore. I remember almost panicing. Because I was alone. If I got sick... I was on my own. If I needed food... I had to be responsible to go and buy it. If I needed money... I had to find means of making it and saving it. It was new, but I knew I could handle it.

For the first week of school I felt sick. I was excited for orientation but I kept realizing little things that I would miss about home. I remembered that my house always carried a familiar and comforting smell as the seasons changed--most prominently over Halloween. Oh and how on Halloween Day, lady bugs would gather and almost swarm my front door (making it extremely difficult to put up that stringy fake spider webbing material). How my family would always trek four hours to Springfield, MO to spend Thanksgiving with my Aunt, Uncle, and Cousins. This was my first birthday away from home.

As of about a month ago, I realized that this new life I have started is just as special as my last and has some of the same little things I admired in KS. I love the smell of my glue I use in my footwear and handbag classes: a common smell found in the accessories design department. Sounds funny.. But let me tell you, from day one of opening that can my classmates can all vouch that they love the smell too. Let's see... On Halloween the whole city comes alive. And instead of swarms of ladybugs there are swarms of gouls, ghosts, witches, and sexy disney characters! Over Thanksgiving I got to see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade live on the streets and trek to Long Island to see cousins from my other side of the family! And even though this was my first birthday away from home, I never felt like I was away from family. Because my roommates-- who I had now only known for a month-- had already filled the place and filled it well. They are two of the most amazing girls and I wouldn't have been able to make it in this city without them laughing and having the same experience by my side.  I am so lucky to have found them.

As I came home for my Christmas break I was excited and ready. I was ready to see my Dad, Mom, and brother. I was excited to see my best friends who were waiting outside the airport security with homemade signs. I was looking forward to seeing my dog and cat. I was just ready for relaxing and feeling home. And let me tell you it was all that  had hoped it would be!! After a while, I noticed that even though I felt very home in KS, part of me missed my other home and family I had made in this last semester. I realized that this new life that I had started is meant to be. If I could go back and tell my 'moving-in self' that I was more ready for this than I knew, it would have made life much MUCH easier. It feels good to know that I almost have two families, halfway across the country from each other, supporting and kind and everything I could ever hope for.

Now I write this from my roommate, Paulina's, guest bedroom in her house. I'm staying here with her wonderful family until we move in on Sunday and are reunited with our other third, Rachel E. Im looking forward to seeing what there is in store for us in the upcoming semester. What crazy and adventurous things will we do? The three amigos: Rachel E, Rachel M, and Paulina are about to take on the city agin. Look out New York, we're coming for you..

Rachel

** looking forward to getting back to posting... it's been a while. But I needed this winter break. Thanks to all that are still following along with me on my journey into the New York scene.