Housing Crisis

The way the housing crisis affects the home fashion retail is petty clear, if you do have a house or if you can't afford a house then there isn't any need for decorating a room. You can't decorate something you don't have.
Times are hard for people. People are struggling to just to pay for their house, and with times being so hard right now the can't afford to buy new things for their homes. Some people are lucky enough just to be able to pay for their house. Also foreclosure are at a all time high, so a lot of people are loosing their homes.
Fashion all around has taken a hit from the recession, and things more than likely will get worst first before it will get better. It is hard time for many industries at the moment, but within time things will get better. They always do. With time you will have to go through hard time and right now fashion is going through theirs now. Before you know it people will be back shopping for things that they need(what they think they need) and most of all things that they don't need.

Elyse Mullis

I think Elyse was a good person for the listen to. It is good to see that a former student is good in the work field of fashion. Sometime in beening in school you start to wonder if there is any jobs out there at all, and with her coming by reminds me that if you want a job in fashion then you can get one, you just have to make it happen.
I was surprised that she had just finished school not to long ago. When I first heard that a former student was coming to talk to us, I thought it would be a student from 6 years ago or something. It give hope that there are still jobs out there in fashion.
Also I was surprised that she was a English major and a minor in Fashion. I liked hering that as well because my major is Communication and a minor in Fashion, so that lets me know that I could still land a job in fashion with a Communication major and minor in Fashion. I wasn't going to come to class today but I am glad that I did. Elyse did a good job.

Sweatshops

Sweatshop is an employer that violates two or more federal or state labor, occupational safety and health, workers' compensation, or other laws regulating an industry. (The Business of Fashion: Designing, Manufacturing, and Marketing; Leslie Davis Burns, Nancy O. Bryant; ch.10) I am for sweatshops and at the same time I am against them as well.
The way sweatshops are setup is what I don't like about them. How they are young children working there, and how they only pay them in change by the hour. I think that is crazy and unfair. Also it is taking away work from our country, just so the company can make more money.
Now on the other hand I am for sweatshops and I see why we need them. From a owners of a company point of view, sweatshops said the company a lot of money and the us as the consumers will not have to pay more for our clothing. Also sweatshops give a lot of people in other countries jobs. People that need the money to provide for their families, and it also may be keeping his/her out of trouble.
A good way of helping with the sweatshops would be giving the workers more breaks and making the working conditions a lot better for them. I also think that they should get paid a little more money. For example, if a person is getting paid $.40 an hour, then raise it to something like $1.50 or $2.00 an hour. I think there should be a balance somewhere. Companies should find how much the cost of living is in the area where the worker are coming from, and see how much more they can pay the worker and where as the company will still be saving money. Also us as the consumers will still get our item at a good price.

Fashion is Art

I think fashion is an art and at the Milan fashion show I saw a lot of designs that made me think of art. You have outfits you with different shapes, colors, and pattern that are similar to art, which I think designer are artist.

You have colors that are matched together that you may not have thought that would go together. You have clothing cut into different kinds of shapes. I saw a hat with a very long and round brim that made me think of a circle.

I think fashion is a art. It is a creation of something, which is the same as what a printer would do. It is just that you are expressing your creating though clothes.

Comments

Comments on Lauren Walker designs. First I want to say that her name sounds like she would be designer. I like her looks. The first one I am digging the colors. Designs with colors is always a stand out to me. The red, blue, and yellow is something that you might not think would go but is well put together here. The other dress to is a nice look for going out to dinner at a upscale restaurant, or red carpet.
Comments on Brandon Christian jacket. I think it is a very nice jacket. What makes it different from other jean jackets is the orange designs on it. That is what I like about it the most. Also I like the orange on the bottom of the jacket, which gives it a more fitted look. I would wear it.

My Design

What I was going for was a look for someone who likes to go out into the night life. A dressy but yet still a nice clean look as well. The jacket that I designed originally was from a navy pin stripe suit.

So what I did was take the jacket and I first closed the open vent on the back of the jacket so it wouldn't look as dressy. Next I added white pick stitching to it to give it more pop to its look.

After adding the pick stiching I added white button to match the stitching, which would look great with a white dress shirt or t-shirt. I would not recommend wearing this with any dress pants, unless they are white. I designed the to so it can be wore with jeans. Something to wear to a club, or a date.

Ethnic Influences on Apparel Design

I think a lot of our fashion designs are influences by different ethnic and cultures, since the begining. Erte who is Russian, did designs for movies. Erte' was best know for his colors and details like buttons, tabs, paockets, and buckles to name a few. He brought to the fashion world the high collars, handkerchief hemlines and dropped waists(www.udel.edu/orzada/toc.htm).

The Japanese brought the kimono, which was originally called the Kosode. "The kimonon communicates personal and social messages of gender, status, and aesthetics."(www.udel.edu/orzada/Janpan1.htm) Standard fabric from in the U.S. is 45 or 60 inches, kimono stardard fabric is 14 inches, which is a lot more narrow than the U.S. (www.udel.edu/orzanda/Janpan1.htm).

Another ethnic style that was a big influence on apparel design was the Empire style. The Empire got its name from Empress Josephine, who was married to France's Emperor Napoleon. This dress has a raised waistline located under the bustline. Fahion historians feel Napoleon was inspired by the the Greek silhouette. This trend is known as neoclassical, and is was big in Western Europe and the United States. This trend has been repeated many times thought out the years, like the 1960s, early 1990s, and again int the first decade of the twenty-first century.(The Business of Fashion:Designing, Manufacturin, and Marketing. Leslie Davis Burns, Nancy O. Bryant)