Meeting With Cannon

On the Saturday after the show, the 16 of us going to New York got to meet with our stylist Cannon. As a group we discussed possibly getting Billy B. to do the make-up - he has done make-up for Missy Elliott and Naomi Campbell. He pointed out a few models he has gotten to do the show from a DVD he brought in, and mentioned Saleisha, the winner from America’s Next Top Model – Cycle 9 will be in the show. He also mentioned that we would keep the music we had chosen, work on a line up that flowed well, and change up some of our accessories and shoes – possibly bringing in some Manolo Blahnik shoes! In addition, we talked about fittings, and how it would work going backstage to see the event unfolding (since space is limited, he said we’ll be called back in groups to see our collections being prepared).

Individually, he told me he enjoyed my point of view, stating it is a strong one. He thought my collection was very sellable – pointing out my first outfit and my shift dress as the most successful of the bunch. Other suggestions Cannon had for me were to revisit my second outfit, mentioning it was the weakest of the group, to look over my hems on the knit pieces because they looked wrinkled on camera, and to rethink the order of my collection, suggesting the shift dress come out earlier.

All in all, I was pleased with my meeting with Cannon, and am exciting to be working with him on the show – as is the rest of the group. I believe he’ll do an amazing job, and make our show every bit a Fashion Week show – as much as possible that is.

Fashion Show Mayhem

It’s the Tuesday after the show and boy does it feel great. The past several days are all a blur now, but here’s a bit of a recap…

Thursday, April 24 – Matinee Show
Out of the two days, this was by far the most chaotic for me personally. For starters, I was running behind, and things were still unfinished (although for me this is becoming typical – though on this day it was because my sewing machine had broken all the needles I had left). On top of that I somehow misplaced one of my coats, and couldn’t find it even after searching through my room and living room twice over. So I had a panic attack while trying to remain calm, and put a collection on runway. While I couldn’t control everything that occurred today, the show went well….I guess.

I did find the coat later that day - it was hiding in a garment bag, which was hiding behind a mannequin (both being similar in color). More sewing needles were purchased, and I was able to finish off what I needed to to make Friday a bit more successful.

Friday, April 25 – Evening Show
Today was much calmer, maybe too calm. I thought it couldn’t get much worse than yesterday, so I let whatever happen happen. Everything I wanted to accomplish between the end of yesterdays show and tonight’s show I got done, which in itself was a great feat for me. The show from what I could see was great, and everyone else I spoke with after the show seemed to agree. Cannon our stylist for the New York show was in the front row as well as Kelly Cutrone, founder of People’s Revolution (Whitney and Lauren from “The Hills” works for her).

Speaking of Cannon, our professor brought him backstage to meet each one of us, which was pretty cool. Those of us going to New York also got to meet him again on Saturday morning at our professor’s home for a brief group/one-on-one meeting.

Overall, they were two adrenaline packed days that felt very long. In the end it was well worth it, but again, I’m glad that it’s over…..for now that is……

T-minus One Day

So there is exactly one more day left until the fashion show and I am FREAKING out. There has been so much to do in terms of sewing in linings, sewing on buttons/snaps, rehearsals (there's one more tonight!), steaming to no end, etc., etc. This has not been easy considering the gorgous weather we've had in the past week. Although in the end all the long hours and months of hard work will be worth it. Hopefully the show will be well received over the two days.

Enjoy the show if you happen to go!

P.S. Look out for photos sometime next week.

¡It’s Amore!

While this is unrelated to fashion, it’s still worth mentioning…..

As part of campus life, the Office of Off-Campus Housing in conjunction with the Department of Hospitality and Management, have been hosting Healthy Monday Cooking Lessons. So this past Monday, two of my roommates and I participated in their Italian themed cooking lesson held in the industrial kitchens recently built for the hospitality program.

From the menu of about 15 dishes, my roommates and I made two of them – ricotta gnocchi and ricotta fritters. Both were rather simple to make, and really good. Some of the others dishes we had that night were vegetable lasagna, chicken parmesan, potato gnocchi, Utica greens, fried eggplant, a Capri salad, a micro green salad with blue cheese and walnuts, and more. Besides all the yummy food we got to consume, and take home with us at the end our three hours, it was all FREE! And as an added bonus, I won a New York Times Cookbook from the raffle they had. Yay!!