Graduation

Welp, it's that time for me to finally graduate! It's been almost six long years and I can't say that I enjoyed the ride. I did enjoy most of it, but it was a long process to finally get where I wanted to go. The best years I had were the ones that Immaculata because everyone here is so nice and helpful. The professors I had were great and always there to give advice to yell at me, either one, I took in stride. I wanted to thank everyone for making my time here memorable and teaching me so many things. I hope to see everyone in the future and I may be back to take some extra classes.

HORRAYY!!

Resort 2012

It is time for resort wear 2011/2012 and the collections are haute. Nothing like the holidays get the rich and famous shopping for frocks for their vacations. From little bikinis to flowing dresses, nothing says resort like color and less material.

Spring 2012 Shoe Trends

I love shoes, as do most women. There are some great shoe trends that are happening to Spring 2012. Posted are some of the trends that you are going to see. Hope nobody breaks an ankle!

2012 Makeup Trends

Trends are everywhere, even in makeup. Lets take a look at some of the makeup trends coming up for 2012. Pastel and bright colors are going to be big. There have also been some softer looks for Spring 2012, with the use of lilac, pear green, baby blues, and light yellows. Posted are some pictures from recent runway shows. Enjoy the looks!

Leaving for Florida, What Do I Pack?

I'm getting ready to leave for Florida in a few days, and I have no idea what to pack. I love warm weather clothing, but I have been out of summer mode for some time now. I'm not sure if I pack more summer clothes, or more fall clothes. I would love to break out some of my short fall boots again, but I don't want to be too covered up. Posted are some of the items that I'm thinking of bringing. I think I need to use polyvore to keep me some up with some outfit ideas, or just employ Sam to help me!

The Doctor Is In

The Doctor Bag, that is. Doctor bags, formally known as the Gladstone bag, are the hot new bag style for 2012. This has been a popular trend in the past, and now it is coming back. It is an oversized box-shaped bag that can hold just about anything. As a lady that carries just about everything in her bag, this will definitely be a must-have on my list. Posted above are some great styles from Louis Vuitton and John Galliano.

Kids UGGs -- Not just for kids

If you love UGGs, but don't enjoy spending an arm and a leg for them, considering spending just an arm. We needs to keep our legs so we can wear these expensive boots. If you are a size 8 and lower in a women's size shoe, you can wear kid's sizes. IMAGINE THAT! A womens to kids size conversion is just 2 sizes difference. If you wear an 8 in women, you can wear a 6 in kids. If you wear a 7 in womens, you can wear a 5 in kids. So on and so forth. I personally save money by buying mostly kids shoes. All my sneakers are in kids sizes, and of course, all my UGGs are in kids size. The kids UGGs retail for $30-$60 less than the adult ones, depending on the styles. Naturally I buy a lot of UGGs because I work for an UGG retailer, but we market them towards both kids and adults. Posted above are some the styles my store, Olly Shoes, offers. However, stores like Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, and Journeys also carry children's UGGs.

Philadelphia Fashion Week

I had no idea that Philadelphia even had a fashion week. This year, Philadelphia Fashion Week took place from September 14 through September 23rd. To learn more about this great event, you can head to http://philadelphiafashionweek.org/ I watched the videos and it looked like a great event, so hopefully there will be more in the future! It is great that Philadelphia is considered a fashion city and can have a week that is dedicated to fashion. The pictures that I posted are from the 2009 event.

Seeing Stars

I am OBSESSED with stars. I'm not exactly sure where this obsession came from, but I have just been in love with the shape since I was little. My bedroom at my parent's house is painted to look like a night sky with shooting stars. I still love it every time I go visit my parents and walk into my room. Stars have been all over the runways and magazines this fall and I wanted to share some star magic with all of you. Dolce and Gabbana really rocked out the summer with their collection of star printed dresses. Absolutely fabulous.

RIGHT HAND GIRL: HARRY ROBLES

Harry Robles knew early on what his calling would be. Trained as a classical dancer trough his early years in high school, he envisioned himself designing and constructing clothes. Harry Robles is a renown designer, with 25 years of experience in Puerto Rico, known for his classic style with modern twist, also known as "Master of Haute Couture" Robles has positioned his famous label, impressively... in Puerto Rico from the first dress he finishedin the late 1980's. Ever since 1994, Harry has consistently shown twice a year always in step with the international calendar and with each show his audience had become his fans and has followed him on his imaginative journeys of design.Harry has captivated his clientele with the immense scope of his work translated in clothing and the vehement respect he regards the labor of his ateliers and the never ending task of clothes assembled mostly by hand. Pleated Shirred,Draped Twisted Folded inside out Harry has most likely done it himself first, given that this unique artisan not only designs on paper but evolves the first pattern and cuts himself each and every single one of the pieces that come out of his atelier. Although sublimely revered for his otherworldly evening creations Harry has come of late with the notion of giving day clothes as much glamour and drama as his revered evening pieces. The result being new proportions and silhouettes for daytime and a sense of luxe and elegant mostly associated with Parisian fashion houses. Ask what his muse is Harry says; "Someone who wants to look well turned up, with a sense of drama but with much more sense of elegance and sophistication, and above all with a sense of how a woman should look at this most modern times"

Bling Bling Bling!

Bling is EVERYWHERE for the holidays. From Express to Anthropologie to JCrew to Old Navy. The sequins and the sparkle are everywhere. I am a huge fan of sparkles, whether it is on my jewelry, on my clothing, or on my shoes. I'm not gonna lie, I may have just bought sequin UGGs last week. I posted some of my favorite sequin clothing for all to enjoy. Happy Holidays!

RIGHT HAND GIRL: SOME PICTURES

HARRY ROBLES NEW COLLECTION

RIGHT HAND GIRL:RANDOM THOUGHT

It's been really interesting and fun reading about the different experiences we had in our internships. This was a really cool way of sharing our thoughts, great thinking Polly!

PS: I think this image describes us all!

xoxo

Shorts back in style for the winter

I hate cold weather and winter clothing. If I could, I would wear shorts and t-shirts all year round. Unfortunately we live in Pennsylvania and it happens to be 40 degrees out today -- not necessarily the best weather for shorts. However, shorts are back in style for the fall and winter this year. I recently bought a great pair of maroon courderoy shorts at Anthropologie on sale for just $28 (a sale on a sale) that I can pair with tights to wear now. I am planning on bringing them to Florida with me so I can wear them out at night with a cute top and some flat boots. I also bought a pair of tweed shorts at Express last week that are metallic and would look cute either dressed up or dressed down. I was out at Old Navy last week and scored an adorable pair of black jacquard shorts for only $20 that I am going to wear on New Years Eve. Just because it is cold out does not mean you need to pack away those shorts. Get creative with your styling and don't forget the layers!

It's that time of the year...

It's that time of the year where every single store is having a SALE! Anthropologie is no different. Presently, they are having 30% off all sale merchandise, both in store and online. They have had a lot of great promotions this holiday season, starting with their black friday sale that started at 7am! On black friday, they had a 4-hour sale that consisted of 50% off all their sale merchandise. I went and it was well worth it. Recently they had 50% off all of their sweaters in the store, which was an amazing sale. Since their sweaters usually range between $60 and sometimes up to $400, the 50% off sale made their sweaters more affordable. I was not anywhere near the $400 sweaters, but it brought the usual $88 sweater down to $44, which is more in my price range. Keep on the look-out for more amazing sales and definitely sign up to be on Anthropologie's mailing list. If you are part of their anthro program, you receive e-mails first about sales and promotions.

RIGHT HAND GIRL: PERSONAL PLANNER

A person should always be organized and prepared no matter what. Sonia being the creative genius that she is “never has time to clean up” and is always losing her patterns, designs, fabric swatches, celphone, and even money atleast 3 times a day. When the days were slow I volunteer to help her organize the workshop and her oh so messy fabric room, while we did this she found a lot of things she had previously “misplaced”. One time she had a meeting with one of her clients and she could find the sketch she had originally done we searched high and low but it was nowhere to be found. She had to re-schedule the meeting and that of course messed up her entire schedule for that week. In my opinion a person working in the fashion industry has no room for mistakes (or losing a clients sketch). During the internship I kept a clear journal/agenda since I wanted to keep track on everything that I had to do. All my things were always organized during that month so luckily I had little to know mistakes. I decided to keep that new found organization this semester and everything has been perfect. My planner has become my baby; I always have it with me so I can keep track of the 101 things I have to do.

RIGHT HAND GIRL:BEST THING LEARNED

Network, network, network!!!! It is sad to say but the people you meet and know can help you land your dream job. I got this awesome internship thanks to one of my mom’s friends, a lady I had never met put in a good word for me and 3 days later I got the internship. That’s why I made it my mission to leave a lasting impression on the people I met during this internship. When I was in charge of hand delivering the invites to the designers I of coursed dressed my best and introduced myself to all of them as Sonia Rivera’s assistant. Furthermore when I saw them in the fashion show again I gave them a warm welcome and invited them to the bar for a drink. I’m hoping that whenever I bump into them again that can remember my face, I really look up to that handful of designers and would love to intern for them in the future.

RIGHT HAND GIRL: ANALIZING MY GOALS

ANALIZING MY GOALS:
1. Explore the design process of a garment
a. I was present in a design consultation with clients.
b. Helped writing down the clients measurements and garment specifications
2. Increase knowledge and ability to figure out what a customer wants so I can meet those demands and create product with customer satifaction
a. I sat in on various meetings to see the costumer-designer relationship
3. Learn preparation processes for sales and other events on the wholesale level of the fashion business.
a. Help hands on with the production of the upcoming fashion show.
b. Sonia designated several task to me and had me in charge
c. Explore the process of assembling presentation boards for meetings
d. I was a key staff member in the deisgner preview fahion show for her VIP customers.
- Picked by Sonia to accompany her to a charity runway she was showing in the Hilton Hotel, worked backstage next to her.
4. Learn the difference in the processes of mass produced apparel versus customized garments.
a. Saw Sonia work hands on on over 20 patterns and pieces and learned how time comsuming the taskl of a fashion designer can be
5.Identify other careers in the Fashion/Apperal industry above and beyond my classroom to assist in choosing post-graduation career.
a. Learned that the disgn and construction side of fashion was not the correct career for me although I loved the event planning side of a fashion show.

** I would like to say that I fully completed my goals and then some, this was definitely a once in a life time opportunity that thought me so much and I am deeply grateful for experiencing it. I’m hoping a land another internship like this one next summer with one for the designer I met while working with her.**

RIGHT HAND GIRL: GOALS

ORIGINAL Goals:
1. Explore the design process of a garment
2. Increase knowledge and ability to figure out what a customer wants so I can meet those demands and create product with customer satifaction .
3. Learn preparation processes for sales and other events on the wholesale level of the fashion business.
4.Learn the difference in the processes of mass produced apparel versus customized garments.
5.Identify other careers in the Fashion/Apperal industry to assist in choosing post-graduation career.

DONE!

So here is my last post, I can't believe I am done. This has truly been a wonderful experience and I am so grateful for every minute of it! I was offered a part time position with Maki when I am done with school, she said she would gladly take me back as a wedding consultant, so that would be fun! Good luck on finals all you students, and have a great Christmas!

The competiton!

This weekend I was able to go to Reading Terminal Market, a great place! I saw this bakery, The Flying Monkey, it was so cute, and their stuff looked delicious. We ate our lunch and then I just had to try something of theirs. They are famous for their Whoopie Pies, but I wanted to try a cupcake, just to compare. I tried their "Fluffer Nutter", it was soooo good. I love those sandwiches, and I loved the cupcake. I love the fact that my research consists of eating cupcakes! hahaha

Surpise!

We have been told that the business world is dog eat dog, well I don't think so. I have been so lucky to have this wonderful internship. I cannot believe how amazing Maki and her company are! I hope that one day I can work for someone as blessed, and grateful as Maki. I love how she keeps Christianity and love at the center of what she does, but still has a thriving and growing company. She is a great role model!

BRIDES MAGAZINE

Cupcakes Gourmet is FAMOUS! We were in the Brides Magazine, voted one of the best in the NATION! This is so exciting! I am so happy for Maki and the company, it is a great opportunity for the country to taste the wonderful cupcakes. Check out this picture, it is the cover of the magazine, with the article!

New Seasonal Cupcake!

Just as fashion trends change, so do tastes in cupcakes! Cupcakes Gourmet changes up their flavor schedule every season with a "seasonal flavor". There have been pumpkin, cinnamon spice, strawberry lemonade, and many others. The most recent is Caramel Apple. Doesn't this just make you drool???? Come out and try one!

Bridal Show

Today I worked a Bridal Show at the country club right down the road from school. I got a chance to put the supplies together, and assemble the display with help from Sue, the account exec. I was surprised by the different things offered at the show. There was a live band, a few d.j.s, a dressmaker, who's dresses were amazing!, and a entertainer. It was so interesting. We were trying to sell the idea of the new trend of having cupcakes at your wedding, and I think we were successful for a few clients!

Meeting a Future Me!

So today, I was working a really cool event at the Helicopter Muesem for the chamber of commerce. It was a bunch of different businesses coming together to network. I had the oppurtunity to walk around for a little, and I ran into Angela Malicki, an event planner. She was so wonderful! The cool thing is that I had been researching her and her company since I decided to go this way for a career, so it was so weird meeting her! I asked her some questions, and got to chat for a little! Check out her website, she was so super nice! I can't wait to hopefully have a business like this one day!