P.D.D.

Post Derby Depression. It hits only few of us, but when it hits, it hits hard. What I'm sayin' is, I went to the Kentucky Derby this weekend and had an absolute BLAST and after all that fun I'm here in Kappa, trying to figure out a way to study/pack. Suckies to the Maxies.

More on the Derbs:

So going into this derby, i thought to myself, 'Self, this is a Derby where a lot of snooties go to wear big hats and few know about the actual horse race. How much fun can this possibly be?'. Well I proved myself wrong right off the bat. I went with my friend Rado and our two friends, Kyle and Miles. When we got to the HoJo (Howard Johnson Hotel ladies and gents, classy place eva), we had a feast of Taco Bell (obviously) and other amenities. On the way, we met this charming middle aged man at a stop light. We can thank Rado for starting this convo with him and the awkardly long awaited green light for ending it. Here's just a couple bleeps from the convo:

'girl, you so damn hott. i'm gonna take you home and BLEEP you until you're blue in the face. blue like the color of your eyes.'
'this is my cousin, Morning Milk Sugar' (I don't think he knew that horses were the ones that were supposed to have names like that)

yeah, nice man. uhhhhh... anyways... so we get to the derby after hailing a cab all NYC style (shout out Shana) where we pregamed by this statue of this Barbarro horse who i would come to later find out was all special because he won the derby in 06, then broke his leg and so his owners spent a lot of money on him to get it fixed (like thousands upon thousands) and then he ended up dying anyways. I don't really get it but the horse activists were telling me that horses get slaughtered if they break their legs and such so I guess Barbarro is a legend upon legends.
The actual race was cool. And by cool I mean we were in the infield and had about a foot of space to see, and there were two chainlink fences seperating us so we literally saw the horses run by and that was that... Still awesome we got to be there, especially in the infield, to see something people travel all over to see.
After the Derby, we all went to 4th street which was so fun. We went to this mexican restaraunt called Tengo de something and met these really nice people who were very accomadating and generous with their shotties. After watching the Bulls lose to Boston (GRRRR, HATE THE CELTICS) , we went and saw a live cover band called the Rumors which was bomb.com. They played all the best dancing/sing a long songs and Rado and I were of course rockin out front row.
Then, we met these Aussies who swept us of our feet. We danced all night in the street with them. They were so fun and took a month off to travel all around the states from NYC to LA to Chicago to the Derby to Miami.

Alright I gotta check out of the Blogosphere before Rado kills me for not packing up me stuffs. Check ya later after all this final/packing dies down!

JB

Marc Jacobs @ the NY TIMES TimesTalks 5/3

Last night was amazing. I had purchased tickets to listen to Marc Jacobs do a live interview by Stefano Tonchi. Tonchi started as the style editor for The New York Times Magazine and currently is the editor of T: The New York Times Style Magazine - published 15 times a year covering fashion, design, and travel. It is honestly one of my favorite publications to read - they collaborate with the most fantastic journalists, photographers, designers to pump out each issue. Other incredible positions Tonchi has previously held were at Esquire, JCrew, Self magazine, Vogue and Emporio Armani. The man is fabulous and was entirely suited to interview Marc Jacobs.

(Stefano Tonchi)

I found out about this event over my Sunday morning coffee and paper in bed. There was a small article announcing that the next "Sunday with the Magazine @ the Times Center" would showcase leaders in Fashion, Design and the Economy. Every person to be interviewed would have a one hour time slot and be interviewed by a journalist from the Times. The catch, every session was $30. haha. Other people being interviewed that day were : 1. Peter Baker and Helene Cooper (white house correspondents for the NYT), 2. Tyra Banks, 3. Thakoon Panchgul/Narciso Rodriguez/ Maria Cornejo (discussing style and how Michelle Obama is shaping the fashion industry today - this would have been the other talk I would have gone to had it not been $$. And I have a weird crush on Thakoon..hehe), 4. Paul Krugman (2008 Nobel Memorial Prize winner in Economic Science) and 5. Richard Holbrooke (Appointed special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan by Pres. Obama). The Times center only seats about 350 so it feels very intimate and personal. If you live in the New York area or you're ever visiting over the weekend - I absolutely recommend you looking into seeing if TimesTalks are going on. It was incredible.

So. Let's talk about MARC.

The man is my idol. Quick Blurb: Marc was born in NYC and attended the High School of Art and Design and then Parsons School of Design, where he was named student of the year. in '86 he designed his first collection with the Marc Jacobs label. The following year he became the youngest recipient of The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) Perry Ellis Award for New Fashion Talent. He became VP of Women's Design @ Perry Ellis in '89 and in '92 was named women's designer of the year by the CFDA.

He has been honored by CFDA with 7 awards over the years, including accessories designer of the year and mesnwear designer of the year. If the guys does it (and he covers almost every base), he does it well. in '97 he joined the prestigious Louis Vuitton as artistic director and opened his first Marc Jacobs store in NY. In 2001 he launched his secondary line, Marc by Marc Jacobs - which now includes eyewear, fragrances, swimwear and children's lines. Now he has over 100 stores worldwide and will be opening 3 new stores (London, Sao Paolo and Milan) in 2009. And what I love most about this man is his contributions and commitment to social responsibility - involved with over 60 charities world wide.

So - if you don't get it. Marc basically designs 2 lines (Marc Jacobs and Marc by Marc Jacobs) and is the artistic vision and contributor to Louis Vuitton. A small idea of how he has impacted LVMH. LV was a luxury trunk company. TRUNKS people. Who, honestly, finds it convenient to travel with trunks? Especially if you can afford the luxury market - you probably don't even need to pack enough to use a trunk because you have a home everywhere you travel stocked with every amenity! Since '97 Jacobs has been responsible for basically branding LV. Before Marc, that classic LV logo was hardly recognizable. But he was able to cue in and note that there was no other way to take that branding...it didn't have the history of equestrian influence like Ralph Lauren or the print design background like Pucci. He basically saved LV by turning their Trunk line into fabulous handbags, accessories and directing their clothing to embody luxury.What did I love about the interview? First, he was wearing a kilt. Pretty standard for Marc Jacobs, but to actually see this in person - amazing. Second, I loved when he talked about how his unwillingness to compromise his point of view or personality was the reason for the demises and rises in his career. When MJ worked at Perry Ellis he basically was fired for tapping into the movement that was his "grunge collection", kind of the anti glamor/fashion movement. Although Perry Ellis is very much a preppy, "safe" collection of apparel, it is the line Marc created that got them noticed world wide. What's confusing to many working in the industry is when designing for another person's brand, who's vision do you portray - theirs or yours? And it might not have been Perry's vision but he had hired Marc to portray his. He wasn't willing to compromise that and after doing so, created his platform for a successful future in fashion.It was super inspiring for me to hear him talk about what his signature was. Marc, simply replied, "what signature?" Tonchi then responded, "that's right, you are quite the signature of discontinuous change." Marc then went on to say "if you are they type of designer that needs consistency from line to line, collection to collection, and that works for you, fine. But I am inspired by art, music, color, and most of all, energy. All of those things constantly change. And what is a collection? Its a culmination of ideas. So if my first piece down the runway isn't cohesive to the last, who cares, those were my ideas at that time. I actually am thankful to people like you Stefano who write about my collections because half the time, you're the one finding something within them to connect the line and help them to 'Make sense' to the people who find that important." Going back to Purdue and designing my senior year is making me really nervous. First, because i want it to be a great collection. But second, because I've spent the entire year without a creative outlet. I have SO many ideas of where to draw inspiration from for my collection - so hearing from Marc that it doesn't HAVE to make sense to be great is a little calming and inspiring.

He also said it was important to him to not "ruin the world" by creating a brand with Marc Jacobs. For it to not all connect forces people to find their own style within the brand.

I loved Marc and everything he has to say. He is engaged to be married to his partner Lorenzo and says they are very much in love and excited about the rest of their lives together. They want to have kids to give their shared love to someone else and also have a piece of one another forever if something were to happen to the other. MJ is also hosting tonight's annual Met Gala. A fabulous party supporting an exhibition opening that allows designers to partner up with a model/actress/celebrity/socialite and create a design for them to show off for the evening. The exhibition this year is titled "The Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion." (Marc Jacobs and fiance Lorenzo Martone)

YO yo YIGGITY yo

i guess i'll be hollering at ya'll text-style dis week bc i haven't been doin' much o' dat lately.

first off, ran into a friend at the bars this week and he said that this blog is much more insightful than he thought it was going to be... so shout out to Chris Stewart if he sees this!!

second off... i have been a twit-oholic lately. I love it. It's like facebook but better because you don't have all the personal boo-sheet in your way and it's just the comedic stuff. You 'follow' people and your home page has all the people your following's updates. It's pretty simple to use and awesome if you love daily updates on things. People I like to follow are:

-Kevin Nealon from Weeds, I feel like his character on Weeds is him in real life.

-Kim, Khloe, Kourtney, Rob, & Kris Kardashian, they're such a close family and they get mad when they tweet and one of them is doing something without the other

-Michael Ian Black from all the VH1 "i love the *decade*" shows, his humor is so wierd that only few people will get him but i love him and the fact that one of his tweets said "contemplating getting a diamond encrusted mask for the swine flu"... haha genius..

-Russel Brand, basically because when I read his twits in my mind, I'm reading them in his voice... which makes them 10 times betta

-Nicole Ritchie & Joel Madden, they tweet to eachother and they're both smokin' hott so I just love updates on their lives

so yeah, that's my rant on twitter...

other new things going on in the world... WARNING: probably not politically correct, oh well, when am i ever?
I am looking for someone to give me swine flu so i don't have to take finals. i hate finals and feel like i can use this pandemic for my own good. so basically if you've got it, gimmeeeeee.
sorry if that offended the 3.5 people that read this blog.

on another note, i've had taco bell 3 times this week.

and another, the new season of Weeds comes out JUNE 8th at 10 PM!!! too legit to quit!!!

here are some things that have been going on in my life lately:

Grand Prix was this last week, it was hella fun

I got to go to Wrigleyfield for the first time, it was pretty cool! I liked that the stadium was in the city and that the stadium was old fashioned but Angels Stadium still trumps... waterfalls in outfield AND fireworks shows from Disneyland in the summer = amazing.
Sange came to visit for Mom's Weekend! We had so much fun rockin' out to Love Shack and bongin' beers together... just typical mother/daughter bonding time.
i got to go home for Easter as a surprise to my fam! I also go to hang out with these scrizzies and reunite with the long lost B-Mill!
and Shana came to visit us before Easter Break! we had so much fun togeth, as always, and dominated the frat scene -> pictured above


alright cybernuts, i'm out and about on this friday night! off to the kentucky derby tomorrow!!

my life, last week

so honestly, i shouldn't complain. i realize and understand hard work comes with any job. i also understand that you have to go through the shit to get to the dream job. when i got back from spring break i was completely ready for the school year to be over, and with that, the feelings of frustration of going to 3 full days of work at an unpaid internship. it isn't that the work i am doing is too hard, or too much, but typically when you are asked (or sometimes ordered) to do something at a job the compensation is money - it is hard to see the long term compensation on a regular basis when you are just feeling "over it." last week was for sure a hard one. I was asked not once, not twice, but three times to run around manhattan and pick up garment bags from publications that have recently cut back on expenditures (meaning they wont pay for messenger services to return theyclothing they borrowed from our showroom. My issue isn't running the errand, it is the culmination of annoyances that come along with the task. For example: using my own money to get on a subway (which is only $2.50 but times that by 6 (the way there and the way back comes to a couple meals or a bunch of drinks or even a cheap item of clothing... not that i can even afford that) or thinking I am only brining one bag back to the showroom and they load my arms up with 6 (and these things are HEAVY). To make things worse, as I was standing outside of Teen Vogues messenger center another (paid) messenger looked at me, laughs and says "you go to school to carry those bags?" I wanted to cry. i don't go to school for that - it makes the task i am doing seem so unimportant and labor driven rather than lesson driven. 

But after two full days of work shlepping bags around ny and checking clothes in and out of the closet (really this is all i did for two days) i was rewarded with someth

ing so great. Audrey, my boss asked me if I would like to assist her and May at an Elle Magazine photo shoot. I've been on the sets of shoots before due to my awesomely talented brother Joel but that was purely observation. To assist w

as such an incredible opportunity and learning

 experience. Yes I had to carry the garment bag to the location and unpack the bag but I also was asked my opinion for outfitting the model, I was to accessorize the shoot and 

I was to asked to help with prop styling. The

 location was so crazy. The photographe

r, Aliya Naumoff (who is also the

 girlfriend to Nick of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) suggested shooting at her brother's tenant apartment. From the outside this place looked like some lower east side apt above a small taco shack with a Supreme advertisement on the side. We walked up three flights of stairs to get to Adam (the brother's) crazy apartment. First of all, background on Adam - super out-there, corky guy who has had many past jobs in costume design (you can imagine the type of clothing laying around this place), prop styling (offering props throughout the photoshoot such as large swords, umbrellas and various animal heads and skulls) and now does set design (even contributing to Macy's annual flower show this giant tree...I can't find a picture of it online but believe me- it was incredible) 

Adam has painted his entire apartment to look or

 "feel" like cuba, thus bright pink, orange, and green walls. Large plants. Exotic animal heads

 hanging around, a giant beach umbrella and various cuban paintings. This place was wild. We were all a little confused why Aliya had recommended this cramped, outrageous apartment to shoot our April 77 story at but then she explained we would be shooting downstairs in the abandoned apartments.

As we went downstairs Adam explained the history behind the abandonment. Within two months of moving into his apartment it became evident that the super who lived below him and his next door neighbors had something going

 on. The super was an elderly rabi who 

hardly ever left his apartment. Next to him lived the rabi's

 prostitute and her brother (who

 had been incarcerated for murder for 20 years). The prostitute and brother were extreme heroine addicts and also acted as landlords of the complex. Basically, these three lived in

 absolute filth and decaying situations for about 15 years. There was no upkeep to their

 apartment what so ever. We are talking paint chipping, graffiti, needles laying around, exposed wood hanging from the ceiling; this was creepy to the extreme. AND made for a killer photo shoot.  (This picture is Audrey, the owner of archetype on the left, May reacting to the story about the murderer/rabi/prostitute, women's PR and the makeup artist)

We were photographing April 77 collection wear on Apache Beat's Ilirjana Alushaj. It was an awesome experience and rewardin

g to get out of the showroom for a day. It makes the two days of hell worth it all. It also helps to keep me appreciating the

 experience and educational value to my internship. I am extremely blessed to have such an awesome place to work and learn 3 days a week. My bosses are so knowledgeable and experienced and treat me as a friend. I would love to work at Archetype one day or in a similar working environment. Below are pictures from the photoshoot and one of the showroom too. :) 4 more weeks of classes before I graduate and return t

o Chicago. It's been a wild year.

some tings to please the eye... more lata.

the future is looking pretty sweet

how long til this happens?

i heart 3.1 Phillip Lim

so recently i have found mad love for Phillip Lim's ready to wear collection 3.1
his recent rtw line @ NY fashion week was an incredible showing of neutral colors. black on black textures and brilliant embellishment:




And despite the struggling economy and [my] empty pocketbooks - people aren't hesitating to invest in his killer collection. "People still like the prices," reported Lim a few days ago in his studio. (And good luck getting on the wait list for his incredible Spring zipper dress...bc it's not gonna happen) Under the runway set of an illuminated arch, hipster singer Lissy Trullie and her band played live throughout. This season Lim embraced the youthquake of sixties London, taking serious influence from Jimi Hendrix and Sergeant Pepper. He also added amazing touches of glam marabou and goat-hair coats/vests (a personal obsession of mine) while making nice with a slew of softly bohemian dresses "It's about fun," said Lim. And fun is what you see. He even makes some casual touches with distressed cotton t's and dresses embellished with sequin skirts.

I love, love, LOVE this line. wish I could invest. Unfortunately I will just keep hoping for a misdelivery at Archetype to play with Lim's collection. Last week, a garment bag got misdelievered to us with 4 of his dresses, including the one seen below. I couldn't pull it of but she surely does. and her shoes are flippin hawt. :) anyway - that's my fashion sense for the moment.

peace and love from the city that never sleeps.
<3 sb in nyc