Showing posts with label i love NY. Show all posts
Showing posts with label i love NY. Show all posts

May 28, 2010

Merchandising Degree? MINE!

The comfort of Manila was left behind five years ago now to rejoin family, pursue FIT and try for a career in the industry that makes me hyper excited. For awhile I thought I'd never get to study fashion merchandising.  I got the official diploma last December so the excitement from capping this thing off has pretty much worn off. Attending commencement exercises felt a bit silly and not having a job yet made it seem like a mockery. My family would have none of it so we went. Thank goodness for that! I would have regretted it if I hadn't gone. How often does one get the chance to graduate from famed Radio City Music Hall with the degree that feels right???

Watch the following speeches.
Marie Claire Fashion Director, Project Runway judge, FIT alumna and author, Nina Garcia.



Norma Kamali, '64 alumna and creator of the sleeping bag coat which has been reincarnated by many, many brands. Can you imagine winters without puffer coats???!?!


Allen Hasselfeld of Hasbro Industries, toy industry leader and maker of Mr. Potato Head


I'm bullet pointing my takeaways: 
  • All you need to know is who you are
  • Words matter, civility matters 
  • Be citizens of the world
  • Compassionate imagination
  • Sensitive awareness
  • Rebel in you, be your own rebel
  • Hone it the right way
  • Be your boldest
  • Make some noise
  • No doubts
  • Create something new for the world
  • Harness technology
  • Wish of the love of what you do
  • Never stop playing no matter the age

Many, many thanks to friends who were with me via live streaming and for encouraging me to be patient, proud and to simply own it. It took me some time to go ahead with this goal. Now it feels amazing to finally look back, I have done it all on my own!!!

Now, on to the next thing.... Picking the job and being good at it. I can't wait!!!!

May 03, 2010

Mad World

I am grateful that the crude car bomb didn't go off in Times Square last Saturday. Thank you Lord! My brother's family was at Toys R Us when they started the evacuation. 

An oil spill that will hurt the economy and environment down south, school attacks/killings in China, earthquakes left and right, a bankrupt country - Greece, a controversial immigration bill in Arizona, crazy nuclear Ahmadinejad at the UN today, two wars with no end in sight, terror threats left and right -- yada yada yada from the past and present.

Are more things going on or are we just more in tune because of the speed of communication? 

This latest scare in the City? NAKAKAGALIT!!! Man made or not, sometimes this mad world makes me so mad!! I don't particularly like that feeling of helplessness. 

Okay, venting over. 


December 14, 2009

Winding Down With Alicia Keys

It's T minus 1 project/presentation, 1 final and 1 self-marketing plan/paper. O EM GEE.

Anyways, I like this version with just Alicia Keys better. The piano and her? Enough said.

Cliche for the Nth time. I NY!!!

November 11, 2009

The NYC Anthem

Posting the official video this time. Yeah, yeah. CLICHE CLICHE.

I NY...

October 15, 2009

New York, I Love You - Movie

I don't know when I'll get to see this but I'm hoping it'll be a good watch.

http://newyorkiloveyouthemovie.com/#/home


May 28, 2009

Michelle The Intern


It was my first day today and I enjoyed it a whole lot. I saw and sent samples for F/W 09 to fashion magazines, introduced myself to the Celine Madison Ave. boutique staff, was sent on a research mission and did sell through reports.

The mission was to scope out stores for markdown signages, discount percentages and foot traffic and report what I observed to the buyer. I walked a total of 5miles up and down Madison and 5th Avenue. It's only now that I feel the pain in my legs. When you're so into what you're seeing, you don't give a damn. I was asked by some store staff members what I was doing with my note taking. I told them I was a student yada yada yada and was just observing and applying what I'm learning. They were pretty helpful. Of course I didn't mention I was a Celine intern and was really looking at competition. It's fascinating how luxury brands try their bestest to be discreet about having sales to uphold and protect brand image. The signs were microscopic and the merchandise were not even labeled with the markdown prices. To me, this is done so that the customer gets curious, asks about pricing and therefore engages with the sales associate. Sales pitch time. Since Madison Ave is more for the locals versus touristy 5th Avenue, there were definitely more sale signages on 5th. Specialty Department Stores Bergdorf Goodman and Barneys skipped visible signs on their windows and opted for sale racks. By the way, footwear's on sale! A few women were going bananas.

Will markdowns continue? for now YES! Will they be as deep as last season? Sorry but NO! It seems like consumers will have to be re-trained to shop full price. Everyone's just waiting for markdowns these days regardless of brand level. It's a changing fashion world out there. As Kenneth Cole said on WWD last week, “these are not only the toughest times, but they are also the best, because it’s only in tough times that people look for creative alternatives,” “If one is inclined to truly make a difference and make an impact, there is more of an appetite today maybe than ever before,” Cole added. “There is more that’s broken; there’s more that needs to be fixed. There is more of an opportunity to significantly impact a very sustainable and transformative voice. It’s a great challenge and a great opportunity, and we are all very excited about it.” Exciting times I must say. I'm glad I'm in!

Celine has just tapped ex Chloe designer genius Phoebe Philo. There's quite a buzz about her first collection and I can't wait to be in the middle of the transition period. Aaaah!!!! I'm a mere intern but I choose to learn!! I choose to learn!!!! Grabe, kadaldalan na to. Excited lang talaga. Market week in June will be something to talk about again. Daldal!!! Daldal!!!

May 17, 2009

Current S/S Fashions

The word fashion is used so loosely. "I love fashion!", "What's in fashion?", "I work/study in fashion." Sometimes interchangeably with the word style. In class, it was defined as - A style that is accepted and used by the majority of a group at any one time. Style is defined as the characteristic or distinctive appearance of a garment. A neckline, sleeve length, stitching etc. Two different things. Simply put, if you see an article of clothing featured in a fashion magazine, it doesn't necessarily mean it's in fashion. It has to be accepted by people at a given time. A celebrity wearing a certain dress doesn't automatically make it in "fashion" either. It can be the start of a fashion trend though - a general direction or movement of fashion.

Anyways, commuting in NY has its perks. I get to see good and bad fashions on people going about their business. People in their natural unpretentious state. Here's what I've been seeing. I guess it's safe to say that these are "in fashion".

Maxi Dresses - Didn't really go away but merely hibernated.


(dvf, neal, aqua)

Tank Dresses - Named as such because of the tank top look. Just tuck a tank top into your skirt and voila.


(minkpink, theory)

Rompers / Playsuits / Jumpsuits
- I'm seeing these in all lengths and prints on students at FIT. As soon as the weather rose, it was all out. I'm in on the bandwagon.


(cynthia steffe, 3.1 phillip lim, DVF, helmut lang)

Boyfriend Blazers - Still on the raid-your-boy's-closet trend. Think boyfriend cardigans, boyfriend jeans and now women are after their tailored clothing! Let's see about guys borrowing from women's closets. That will be the day. Are we not the stronger sex or are we not the stronger sex? Haha!



(theory, aqua)

Harem / Pleated Front Bottoms - Really a variation of MC Hammer pants to me.



(forever 21, silence and noise, asos)

Leggings - Can this now be classified as a classic? Hasn't gone away the past three years but has now been updated with side zips, patterns and material. Topshop was said to have coined "jeggings" for leggings made of or have a denim look to it. Also, stirrup / open toe tights abound. It does kind of give you a leggier look than ordinary leggings which cut your line. See Marni f/w 07 runway look.

(silence and noise, bdg, express, magicfashioncloset, marni)

Cage / Gladiator Sandals - Another trend that didn't really go away. Updated with studs and more straps.





(margiela, kenneth cole reaction, steven by steve madden)

Bib Necklaces - the one jewelry item that stood out to me in my commute. A statement in itself, keep your top simple please.

(topshop, banana republic)

(photo credits: bloomingdales, urbanoutfitters, bananarepublic, asos, forever21, topshop, theory, barneys, stevemadden, express, netaporter, kennethcole.com)


May 02, 2009

Shop & Save Fashion At The Bus Stop



The Port Authority Bus Terminal is a strange place to be shopping at even if I wasn't a commuter but a tourist. It's not unsafe but most times there's a gillion people swarming around you, sometimes weird, strange people at that. Had a semi-scary experience two weeks back where this dazed, high guy whose face was all beat up and blown started talking to me and saying insane things about the world while I was waiting for my tickets to finish printing from the vending machine. I kept my cool, ignored him but still kept an eye on his movements and got ready to get the hell outta there. Anyways, it's just not a place where you'd hang out at for long periods of time.

BUT, for the month of May, a pop up shop (they're everywhere these days), Save Fashion, will feature different brands and designers on the corner of 41st and 8th Ave. A good number of sales people (fashionably dressed at that) were picking up after people and security was milling around so it wasn't messy or unorganized. The racks were properly labeled with brands and stocked up. It was an in between Barneys warehouse sale and sample sale atmosphere. I spied Boy by Band of Outsiders button down shirts and vests (almost snapped one up), Rick Owens' deconstructed tank tops and hoodies (the "secret" designer), Jcrew's Madewell tops, jeans and leather jackets, Melissa footwear, Charlotte Ronson plaid tops, Filippa K dresses and rompers, Cardigan cardigans etc... etc... I didn't see anything priced over $200 and $25 - 30 tops were many. I'm not exactly sure if regular commuters would bother (unless they were fashion students or shoppers) but hey why not? The foot traffic on that corner is high and tourists abound left and right, lots of companies too with workers that can check it out on their lunch hour. It's a good way for brands to sell out more of their past season inventory without the craziness and mess of sample sales too. They need all the help they can get in this 'wonderful' economy and this month long event can create a bit of buzz for them. I would have taken photos but I had but five minutes to catch my bus. Check out Racked's coverage here and here instead.

Next week, I'm checking out Rogan and Rag & Bone.

(photo credit: google images)

April 07, 2009

Billy's Bakery

I had time to kill before meeting up with my group mates earlier today for a project. Billy's Bakery was a few blocks down so I thought to swing by and grab myself a treat. Been craving for something chocolate the past few days. I heard that the brownies made here are quite good. According to their site, "Not only are our brownies made with rich, thick milk chocolate but they also have chocolate chips baked in the batter! So thick and fudgy, you'll think your mom was in the kitchen."


It was delish!!! Not to sweet which is how I like it and moist in all the right places. The cell phone picture does not do it any justice. I'm trying their cupcakes next. Must compare it to Magnolia Bakery and Buttercup Bakeshop.

March 18, 2009

Another Subway Hero

I pass by Penn Station to/from FIT. As I wait for the C or E train, I sometimes idly wonder as I glance towards the dark tracks, what if I or somebody just falls in. What would people do?? Would they help? Pretend not to see? Would I freak out? I tend to stay a good distance from the edge of the platform because of this. Hey, you never know. =)

It's comforting to know that once in awhile there are people who are fearless enough (at least at that moment) to literally "jump in".

Cheers to you!!!


----------------------------------
From the New York Times

Leap to Track. Rescue Man. Clamber Up. Catch a Train.

by Michael Wilson

Subway heroes, as they are inevitably tagged even before the grease from the tracks is rubbed off, come along every now and then — indeed, as the story of Chad Lindsey suggests, perhaps more often than we know.
Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

Chad Lindsey, 33, near the subway tracks where he lifted an injured man to safety as a train approached on Monday. Then he went on his way.

Minutes after rescuing a man who had fallen onto the subway tracks at the Penn Station stop on Monday, Mr. Lindsey managed to melt back into the anonymity of the city, escaping the notice of the police, paramedics and subway workers.

“I’m of many minds of being in the spotlight,” he said after a call from this reporter, whose short account of the accident on The New York Times’s City Room blog on Monday prompted one of Mr. Lindsey’s friends to disclose his identity on Tuesday. “But what the hey,” he said.

Mr. Lindsey, 33, is from Harbor Springs, Mich. He moved to New York City three years ago and settled in Woodside, Queens.

He can take it from there:

“I was waiting for the C,” he said from his office on West 30th Street, where he works as a proofreader. “I’m an actor — shocker.”

He said almost everyone seems to be an aspiring actor nowadays, but in this case, it is a critical point to the story: Mr. Lindsey currently appears in an Off Broadway show called “Kasper Hauser,” in a role that requires him to repeatedly lift a character who cannot walk.

On Monday, as he waited for the train, about 2:30 p.m., he was thinking ahead to the reading he was heading to. “I’m kind of zoned out, and I saw this guy come too quickly to the edge,” he said. “He stopped and kind of reeled around. I felt bad, because I couldn’t get close enough to grab his coat. He fell, and immediately hit his head on the rail and passed out.”

Mr. Lindsey said he sensed a train was approaching, because the platform was crowded. “I dropped my bag and jumped down there. I tried to wake him up,” he said. “He probably had a massive concussion at that point. I jumped down there and he just wouldn’t wake up, and he was bleeding all over the place.”

He looked back up at the people on the platform. “I yelled, ‘Contact the station agent and call the police!’ which I think is hilarious because I don’t think I ever said ‘station agent’ before in my life. What am I, on ‘24’?”

The man wouldn’t wake up, he said. “He was hunched over on his front. I grabbed him from behind, like under the armpits, and kind of got him over to the platform. It wasn’t very elegant. I just hoisted him up so his belly was on the platform. It’s kind of higher than you think it is.”

He stole a glance toward the dark subway tunnel that was becoming ominously less dark, with the glow on the tracks, familiar to all New Yorkers, signaling an approaching train.

“I couldn’t see the train coming, but I could see the light on the tracks, and I was like, ‘I’ve got to get out of this hole.’ ”

He remembered the subway hero of 2007, Wesley Autrey, who jumped on top of a man who was having a seizure on the tracks and held him down in the shallow trench between the rails as the subway passed over them. “I was like, ‘I am not doing that. We’ve got to get out of here.’ ”

People on the platform joined the effort. “Someone pulled him out, and I just jumped up out of there,” he said. With time to spare: “The train didn’t come for another 10 or 15 seconds or something.”

The man lay bleeding on the platform, and the police arrived. Mr. Lindsey soon got on another train. A large group of riders who had been on the platform entered the subway car with him, smiling and clapping him on the back and saying thank you.

“Then I sort of freaked out, and I was nervous and shaky. These five women opened their purses and gave me Handi-Wipes. I was covered in blood and dirt from the subway tracks.”

The fallen man was taken to St. Vincent’s Hospital Manhattan and was later released.

The police identified him late Tuesday afternoon as Theodore Larson, 60, of the Bronx.

Mr. Lindsey, of course, never learned the man’s name. His story told, he said goodbye, adding, “It was quite a New York day.”

Al Baker and Trymaine Lee contributed reporting.


March 14, 2009

Steakalicious!

I had no idea we were in for a treat this weekend. My ahiya's family treated us to lunch at Peter Luger in Brooklyn. Reviews we've read all consistently say that this is THE steakhouse in the whole country. It's also in 1000 Places To See Before You Die. So 999 more to go???? Peter Luger just tops steakhouse ratings year after year after year.


There was five of us plus Isabel but we ordered only the Steak for Four, three sides - onion rings, creamed spinach and their special German fried potatoes. As everyone knows, servings are always giant in this side of the world. They only charge a minimal $3 per person over the number of servings anyway. We had the steaks cooked medium rare and medium. I don't know how to perfectly detail the taste of food but let me just say that I thought the steak was awesome! I personally prefer my steak medium well but online reviews said to not do it!! At first the red worried me but hey, you gotta trust THE steakhouse right?


This is the special steak sauce. With or without, the steak was g-o-o-d.


Mom ordered a diet Coke. We thought the little glass coke bottle was cute. Haven't seen those in a long, long time.


Because there's always room for dessert we shared a slice of cheesecake served with their homemade whipped cream they call "Schlag" which could have been dessert on its own. The server "surprise threw" those gold chocolate coins on the table. Of course the little girl was happiest.


We were stuffed good... On the way home, we all just wanted to sleep. If you're ever in these parts, check it out. Best to make reservations though as it got packed real quick. No need to worry about parking, they had a free lot a block away. And oh, bring cash, they don't accept any credit cards but their own.

Peter Luger's been around over 100 years, they DO know their porterhouse steak. Hmmm... Smith and Wollensky next?

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