The early bird gets the worm.

I put off a major project yet again. If sleeping in class were a sport, I'd have gone past olympics and claimed my title as queen of all class sleepers.

This song I just discovered 5 seconds ago is rocking my world right now:


The band is The Happy Bullets and the song is The Vice and Virtue Ministry. I highly recommend a good listen, but I just checked their website and looks like it's been dead for years. Sucks when you get into things late, huh?


Speaking of getting into things late, I am the prime example of that. I never watched CSI, The Office, Sex and the City, Friends, or any of the shows I like now until maybe I don't know, 6 seasons later? It's the same with fashion. While all the young girls around me were wearing pretty little patterned frocks in the 5th grade, I wore boring ole' blue jeans and solid sweaters. Sure there was a butterfly here and there but lets just say I used to be a plain jane.

Now look at me, lusting over next season's patterns.



Chris Benz



Custo Barcelona



Suno
images from style.com

Oh, I know you're questioning my taste right now.

Now I have to get back to work, but before I do, some pictures from today.

I went to Chelsea Market during my break and after acting like a tourist, found some crack in the form of juice. You know those Tropicana ads where there's a straw in an orange? IT FELT LIKE THAT BUT WITH CANTELOUPE.

Thank God I didn't know about it earlier, or my fridge might've exploded. Sometimes it's a good thing I suppose.


I'll update later with what I've been up to this fashion week! Peace and love, y'all, peace and love.

I draw flats

Hello guys! Sorry I've been so MIA as of late--school and job is actually killer. I don't get how anyone does it.

That being said, I am currently doing my fashion art homework. Today I went major swatching (major being I woke up early to go to B&J for their student swatching hour, followed by a trip to Mood), and I can honestly say I am stoked about some of the swatches I got.
Here's a preview:

Can you tell what designer's sister brand I was inspired by?

Now for the big report: WHAT WENT DOWN FASHION'S NIGHT OUT? Well, a picture's worth a thousand words. And I have several:


Vintage Hat, Black Lace Tank, Zara's Red Heart Ruffle Tank, Sexy Dynamite London Cardigan, Uniqlo Jeans, [New] Capezio Boots from Ebay !, Bag from Daffys, Gucci Necklace, H&M Wrist Cuff






VV Brown (she's killer)



Twin Towers but I liked to think UFO






Versace Pumps

All in all, great night. Didn't get to see as many celebs as last year (celebs meaning models, designers, and uh, celebs). Did also see Pharell and Max Azria (although nobody seemed to notice when we passed but me . . . ). And today I happened to be walking past Soho and of course, KARLIE KLOSS PASSES BY AGAIN. I swear, it's a fashion week tradition now that I end up in the same vicinity as her but never tell her that I think she's AWESOME. Oh, and she always ends up driving away in a taxi, this time, a Derek Lam shopping bag on her wrist. Maybe some day.
Anyway, I ended up buying nothing because I couldn't hit as many spots as I wanted, so of course, I end up buying a $10 smoothie today at Health King. OF COURSE.

Well, all hail kale smoothies. Now I think I'll bounce and finish up that pesky fashion art homework. Adieu!

Fashion Week September 2010 Part 1

Images taken and edited by me

Irina Shabayeva Spring 2011

Tokyo Fashion Festa Full Report!

Hey guys, so because I have some time (what am I kidding? I have textiles homework!), I have a full report and pictures for you guys on the Tokyo Fashion Show that went on at FIT last Friday. It was full of laughs, tears (some shoes were too big on girls . . . although no actual tears, these were internal), and cam whoring.

Beforehand I will apologize for my sucky camera. I edited the pictures but they still manage to be grainy!


So I will quickly explain what went down all week prior to Friday: Basically, a week in advance, I went to auditions and met the man in charge of this event. This man happened to be a man I worked with before (when I was doing translations for a Japanese girl group, AKB48). He remembered me, and after a long conversation, I kind of was designated translator for Aoki Misako.
After a few days of late night calling (not shady at all) and planning, on Thursday, I was surprised with a quickie interview between Misako and the head of the school, Valerie Steele. This was confusing because I thought it was done while I was in class, but this was not so, so after much trepidation, I did my job. Much of the interview was about the word "kawaii" (cute) and it's connection to lolita, and overall it was a great interview. Then I was even more surprised when previously mentioned man told me I would be spending the whole day with Misako. Sadly, I had classes and photoshop was a class I could not miss a class of! So I declined. However, I did accompany her around my break of 12-2, where I took her to Macys and around Herald Sq.

Highlights:

1. Conversations with Misako about cold NY weather, trying to recommend cool places in NY and failing (she knew like all of them), and bonding over Johnny Depp after seeing a billboard for Alice in Wonderland
2. Misako's cute scared reaction to the old escalators in Macys (the weird wooden ones that clank)
3. Going into shady sock/underwear shops
4. Her shoes!!!!!!

It all ended with me bringing her back to school and me having to shlep my way back to class.


FRIDAY

Worst cold of my life (okay, so it was just the sniffles actually but it seemed worse since it was supposed to be an awesome day)
I was supposed to pick Misako up from the Roosevelt Hotel but had to report in sick. Another person went instead (I know, I fail, but I didn't want to spread my viral germs!) So I went backstage to hang out with my friends who were modeling for the show.

Sound check in progress.

Top picture from left: Sandra, Linda, Tara
According to Tara, she had about 50 pins in her hair (extensions). The hair looked fabulous though. Everyone also had these great falsies.

There was a lot of time in between rehearsals and show, so there was food to be had and the models did test walks. I sat and asked if there was anything to do. Misako came in much later, donning on pink loli!

My face is odd here, but after she recognized me (had on a wig the day before, and a wig again), we took pictures!

She left for a few seconds to take care of business, so I managed to take a quick picture of her cutely deco-ed out Hello Kitty camera!

Then people started to get ready for the show! Dresses and head pieces and shoes flew everywhere~

What emerged:

There was also a speech that Misako and a woman named Arielle had to give, that was rehearsed for a little while. After that, the real one was given, and the show began! Girls went out, girls came back. And round two began . . .

I really hate that the nails shot turned out to be such a blur because they were GORGEOUS. Really, there were probably 2 dozen nail sets (maybe more) for various outfits. The nail people even moisturized every girls' hands and gently took them off when they were back. I loved them.

Also in the first pic of this batch with Tara, there is a man wearing red and black in the background. He was SUPER nice and I had fun working with him. He didn't work/call me to death like aforementioned man (sorry, aforementioned man).

After the girls left another time, I had to head to the other dressing room where MOA and Misako had their stuff. I was helping the dresser assigned to Misako in case there were some things that needed to be translated. There was a bit of a struggle with the assembling of the outfit because I realized later the picture they gave us actually was not the outfit in question.

This was the outfit however:

The skirt was AMAZING! I really loved it. It was basically 4 blouses sewn on a skirt, and the sleeves were tied together to create bows. I LOVED IT, and Misako rocked it.

And me being the camera happy person I am, after Misako left to go out with the kids, I took a picture of my outfit (well, had a picture taken)

My nose started to match the red accessories I had on.

While I was inside, I also took pictures of some of the cute stuff!

In order, Misako's own clothes, bags and make-up, shoes!
I really love her shoes. I love sparkly pink things, and well, the fact that they're also Emily Temple Cute just made it a hundred times better. I actually asked about them the day before and she said she was kind of tired of the clunky loli shoes, and wanted something that would make her legs appear more lady-like (hence the tiny heel on them).

After that, the show pretty much ended with the Hide collaboration yukatas (of which I loved the big hair). Here is a snapshot of Linda and Misako.

The show was great and everyone worked their butts off! The big reason my shots are mostly blurs are because everyone was running around (shush, not an excuse!) But everyone did such a fantastic job, and the turn up was insane! Lolitas everywhere! And everyone was dressed so snazzy that I wish I was also on the audience end. The modellas and stylists were great, and I made more friends! Hope there's another gathering like this soon . . .

The day ended like this: Tara, our friend Kate, Linda, Tara's friend Laura, and I went to Woorijip for food. Conversation and company: topnotch. Creepers and guys hitting on Linda: not so much. But all was fun.

Gasp! We all got the same drink! It's actually that good . . .

And so ended our exhausting day. And no, I did not go back to school to work that night (however, the whole weekend, I did come into school to drape). But lets leave on a happy note. I hope you guys all enjoyed this post!