Gossip & Fashion

Some of my favorite TV shows

feature stylish clothes that are part of why I love to watch! My favorite TV show right now is Gossip Girl. For the few of you who don’t know, it’s about teenage socialites of the Upper East side of New York City. Each main character has a distinct style. Blair has a young & fresh preppy style and wears classy designer dresses, tights, diamond and pearl accessories and her iconic headbands. Serena’s style is unique, edgy, sexy, boho-chic and she is typically dressed in glam dresses, chunky jewelry and boots and high heels.Jenny’s style is punk-rock, and super edgy. I think my style is most like Serena’s- I have a major dress obsession and I love boots & heels. I also like mixing different looks to create an eclectic trendy look.













I also like watching Sexy and the City- Sarah Jessica Parker brought such an iconic fashion sense and style to her role as Carrie. Now girls anywhere can dress like the characters on Gossip Girl since fashion designer Anna Sui created a line inspired from the show that is now available at Target. I think it is great girls can buy clothing inspired by their favorite character- I’d rather be inspired from the show and create my own looks and develop my own personal style rather than it be Blair or Serena’s style. Do any of your favorite character’s inspire you to experiment with fashion trends?

Inspiration

Some of my favorite designers/companies are Marc Jacobs, Chanel, Romeo & Juliet, Ralph Lauren’s Rugby, BCBG and Moth. They come out with unique and high-quality clothes that are different than clothing in a commercial chain store. I think they’re so talented and creative and passionate.

Here’s a little info on my favorite designer & company- Marc Jacobs.

Bio:

Born in New York City.
46 years old.
Graduate of the High School of Art and Design.
Design Student of the Year at Parsons School of Design.

In 1986 designed his first collection with the Marc Jacobs label.

He was the youngest designer ever to recieve the prestigious award: The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) Perry Ellis Award for New Fashion Talent.

His website’s amazing and so interactive.

Check it out! http://www.marcjacobs.com/#/en-us/marcbymarcjacobs.



Take the Teen Vogue quiz on their website to see if a fashion career is for you!

Anthro Addict

It’s official- I have a shopping addiction. I always seem to walk out of work every week with a bag in my hand- even though it’s an unpaid internship. At least I get a discount? It’s a bit of a problem. I just can’t help it because I get to see everything first straight from the FedEx boxes they’re shipped in since the stock room is right next to me in the back. When we have a break we have mini try-on sessions in the back. It’s my favorite!But I thought I’d share some of my favorite shopping websites for you all to check out. My top 5 websites/stores are:

1. Shopbop.com

2. Fredflare.com

3. Anthropologie/Urban Outfitters/Free people

4. American Apparel

5. ModCloth.com

I think the way you dress says a lot about you and can make you feel more confident. My personal style is a mixture of romantic/eclectic/edgy. What's yours?

The Story of Abigail Truman

Anthropology is the study of humans, everywhere and throughout time.

Anthropologie, the retail store, is all about incorporating its namesake in its philosophy. Anthropologie is actually owned by Urban Outfitters Co., headquartered in Philadelphia. I really respect and appreciate the company and what it stands for. In the employee book I received on my first day, it outlined their philosophy: that they respect and value the customer- emphasizing for employees to be friendly, positive and attentive to ensure they have a unique and enjoyable experience. The same applies to employees and how they appreciate and value them. I think it’s cool how the company focuses on the displays and making the store not only a place for customers to shop but for them to browse the art the visual team works so hard to create.

On my first day, my manager explained the glorified “concepts board” to me. This board displays all the inspirations for the season and the design concepts for the displays and store. My eyes lit up! It was beyond exciting seeing the “behind the scenes” and all the raw inspirations and concepts for the company’s clothing, products and displays. Before me were six different posters lined up on the main wall in the back. I found out the reason for this is that the company divides each store into six different vignettes or sections in which different concepts are carried out. They told me the story of Anthropologie. I’ll share some secrets with you. They made up a character- an inspiration for the store named Abigail Truman. She is in her late twenties, has a trendadventurous attitude. As the story goes, she travels the world with her long time boyfriend all while looking fabulous and loving life. They make up a story for every season about her adventures according to the vingnette concept; three of which are centered on clothing/jewelry/shoes and 3 centered on home décor and products. This season, Abigail and her boyfriend are traveling through the country-side of Europe, where she wears casual day clothes.

For this reason, the first section or vignette has all the casual clothes in addition to décor that represents the countryside and traveling. Our store has paper airplanes, wire birds made out of paper hangers flying, a vintage bicycle covered in blue maps and maps along the walls, ceiling and on tables with the merchandise.






In the next section, Abigail and her boyfriend go on a romantic night out on the town in Marsais, France. So, our store has vintage French décor reflecting a romantic, trendy fun night out- chandeliers, vintage distressed French wall paper, stylish lounges and the fancier clothing including dresses, skirts, blouses and flashy jewelry. About two weeks into my internship, I worked on making vintage wooden neck forms to display glamorous necklaces.

The next one down is called “Miller’s room” and is themed around a Moroccan inspired hotel with their vibrant colored duvet quilts, pillows and other home décor.
The vignette on the right side of the store in the back is called rustic luxe
and has bedding and bed/bath products that incorporate the soft meets woodsy theme. Our main feature in this display has a bed made up of delicate romantic white bedding with rustic elements including authentic cotton clumps, chopped wood and winding branches.


Towards the back-middle of the store is a kitchen themed vignette inspired by a modern yet cozy and quirky cafe in New York City. The wall is a chalkboard with some of the employee’s favorite recipes scribbled on it. It also has a larger than life ostrich made out of newspaper feathers and chicken wire. Around it are home and kitchen products on tables.

The last home vignette is called “fireside” which has a cozy design with a life-size fireplace made out of light blue and natural wooden planks. Surrounding this piece are home/bath products like candles and mugs as well as knitted clothing.

The final vignette in the front right of the store is entitled “fifteen inches of snow” and features stained wooden rulers dipped in fake snow at different heights. Here there are more knits, coats and outerwear. This week is the last week we prepped for the big holiday front window. Everyone’s been busy making snowflakes and decorations and is ready to install and finish it! Next Monday we’re taking down the current display and installing the new snow-flake one Tuesday or Wednesday until the end of the week.

First Day on the Job

So, don’t judge me, but I’ve never had a job before…besides some babysitting. So I decided I wanted to find a retail internship or job at one of my favorite stores to 1) learn more about the industry and pick up some skills 2) see what it is I want to do in the industry and 3) get the discount!! So…when I found out Anthropologie was looking to hire visual interns this summer…I jumped at the chance! I was so thrilled to hear I got it and showed up to work the first day optimistic and excited about this new adventure in a carefully planned outfit. The manager of the store introduced me to the visual team- made up of two girls who are twenty-four and best friends. I learned they were looking for more interns in addition to me since there was so much holiday work to be done. There are two interns that joined a couple weeks ago. One is my age and the other is twenty five and went to school for interior design. Our little workshop is in the back of the store-off the floor. There’s a kind of art room where we store all the power tools, crafts and supplies we need to build the sets. In September I did a bunch of smaller projects- painting and making accent pieces for the vignettes around the store on the floor. Towards the end of September and all this month I’ve been working on the winter holiday front window. The theme is a snow-scape that kind of winds along the window. The snow is made out hundreds and hundreds of handmade tissue paper snowflakes in different shades of white. My work routine lately has consisted of persistently working with my bosses to finish the holiday window display by Friday, while listening to their endless playlists of indie music. We also made chandeliers out of strips of plastic garbage bags and chicken wire. My bosses explained that they try to reuse old materials since they are on a budget. Every vignette and concept comes from corporate and they post it on the computer where employees in each store reference pictures of creations (like snowflakes) and a prototype displays for the employees to go off of, copying and interpreting the designs. The visual team is in charge of creating all six of the displays around the store and the front window as well as keeping up the overall appearance of the store- clothing, accessories and home. I really like working with the girls on the visual team because they’re very creative, insightful, and interesting. Here are some examples of Anthropologie's creative displays:

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