Haircut, Cool Lecture, Rant on Judgmentalists, Lofty Dreams

The Haircut

That's Edna from The Incredibles- she's the mini designer who loves to say "Meeeelaaaahn, dahling, Meeeelaaaaahn!" ("Milan, darling, Milan").

Yeah my roomie got bored so she was living vicariously through me by giving me this really weird haircut. And I have not had short hair in ages. Lol. Well technically it's not short. It looks like an abstract painting really very much like a Picasso. My bangs look like Edna's and then the sides are just like that and then all of a sudden it gets really long in a diagonal swoop it goes down and ends on a tip off to the side. YEah it's really weird. It looks like I started cutting my hair and then suddenly changed my mind. LOL. It's interesting but it may take a while before it grows out. My roomie said two years but I freaking hope it grows out faster than that. This is what the back looks like:

See it's a total diagonal slant! The shortest part of my hair is the left and it's like that on the right in the front. If I really hate it, I'm just going to borrow Bonnie's new wig. I know, it sounds really odd to most non Parsons students, but loads of people wear wigs here. My friend, Gabriella, got her hair cut and hated it so much she wore a wig every day. Lol. Does that seem odd?

Sin, Art and Philosophy Rolled in One: LECTURE

So today we had a rather interesting guest speaker at our Intro to Design lecture who spoke about design and ethics. He said that many designers pay lipservice to ethics- by merely sprinkling in a little recycled paper to make themselves feel better about their products. And he thinks that if you aren't gonna go all the way, don't bother creating 'ethical products'. Design has to be ethical or it's a load of junk. He said since 1945 (creation of the atomic bomb) we have been living in a world of artifice where we're constantly seeking for a relationship between human, nature and technology. And we must live in this world of artifice because he said, "we are failed animals." And I was like "woah, wait a second here. What are you talking about?" He said animals need to be in a specific 'area' to survive- certain climate, certain terrain, certain plants and hunt to feed on. Adam and Eve were designed to live in this world which we call the Garden of Eden but since they sinned and banished from their natural state, humans have since been forced to live in a world of artifice where we are forced to create and invent tools and technology to help us survive in a world that is not our own- where we were not designed to live in.

And I thought "cooool..."

But I'm not sure if that point holds true- I mean, all the animals lived 'together' in the Garden of Eden didn't they? And they lived peacefully and didn't eat each other. But then again I may be totally off.

He had this really interesting way of defining art though. Let me get out my notes:

"Art: unrealizable fragment of possible existence."

What he means by that is that art and design is not problem solving nor is it merely adding glitter to a product, but it explores possibilities, negotiating between what is natural and what is technological. He claims that there are no laws in the artifice- that is beyond the laws of gravity and such. A chair doesn't have to look like the conventional chair. Designers are Possibility Seekers and Design is Consciousness. So fashion is consciousness encompassed on the human body. There is a famous pedestrian bridge which lifts up when a boat has to go through. But it's not just your normal pedestrian bridge which splits into two to let boats pass by- it's in the shape of a curve and it was inspired by the eyelid which lifts up and down. It's the greatest thing ever and there are very few people who could call this "ugly" because it looks quite poetic.

So today after the lecture, in our discussion class, our teacher told us that designers basically deal with the chaos, trying to find the ideal relationship between Man, technology and nature in the state of artifice and negotiating between all three to create something that is ethical.

And then she told us there she had a student who was in a bar one time and a guy tries to pick her up and asks her where she studied and when she told him, "I study at Parsons for fashion design." he said, "Pfft, fashion? I'm studying law at Harvard." And she told our teacher, "Darn I wish I had known that sooner because I'd go back into that bar and tell him what a designer is. I deal with chaos and artifice within a lawless realm of possibilities! And I'm sorry- did you say you study law?"

So jokes.

Fashion on the Defensive

On that note, you always wonder why I get so defensive and worked up about this particular subject. It's because those very people who think they're so clever, deep and wise are proving themselves to be the shallow ones by "pshawing" the design kids. And what does a Harvard student know about fashion anyway?

And yet I had ANOTHER encounter with this two days ago. I have to describe to you what I'm wearing first because it plays into the ridiculousness of the situation later on: a white blazer with short sleeves, a green tank top and black jeans. It's nothing really 'fashiony'- I look normal.

So that day I just came back from the fashion building and bought my roomie some fabric. I enter the apartment and I see she brought her partner into the room to do a project on ethics and design. He looks at me and I said a general 'hi' and hand her the fabric and then start typing away at my computer. Bonnie then tells me that he starts talking about the fashion kids and how he hates them because they're so stupid, shallow and dumb and then guess what he does? HE MOTIONS TOWARDS ME. What the frick?!?! I don't even know this guy and he assumes I'm in fashion because I gave my roommate a piece of twill??? Bonnie then proceeds to correct and tell him that we're both in IDC (Integrated Design) and he can't say anything against us since his girlfriend is in in the IDC program too. Sucker. We also have this mannequin with Bonnie's flowery prom dress on it and he assumes it's mine and says we buy too many clothes when all my clothes fit into my very narrow closet while Bonnie's entire room is filled with clothes- even her closet. He even thinks we're spoiled brats because we got an apartment right next to school- dude I worked hard to get this apartment and by the grace of God, I got this one but you know what? I have been looking for an apartment for half a year and I was the one who had to get guarantors who had jobs that paid $100,000 US (can you find me someone in the tri state area who does?), deal with brokers and superintendents and real estate companies while juggling school. Tell me someone who had to deal with that, and I can tell you that very few people my age have done so. I can say that I 'deserve' this apartment in a sense for the work I put into getting it and partially by the grace of God who allowed to make this happen.

So now I'm apparently a ditzy, spoiled fashion student who owns and displays all her clothes for everyone to see.

Talk about judgmental. He's in Design and Technology and pretends to be all high and mighty. All you people make me sick- you all think you are so clever and wise yet you judge before you understand.

Lofty Dreams

On the flip side, one person who has genuinely been vouching for me is my mom's best friend who is really eager to help me set up shop in China. China will rise to become the Number One luxury consumer, topping Japan and the US in a decade. All the high end boutiques and fashion houses are now flocking to Shanghai to set up shop before the Olympics and many have seen their sales skyrocketing. I, on the other hand, have devised my own plan to get into the market because of the following reasons/factors/observations/guesses:

1) With all the Italian/Western companies rushing in to push the Chinese to buy luxury goods (which were not available to them before hence the craze for status items), there will be a backlash and will generate a strong national desire for Chinese luxury goods because there is ALWAYS a flip side to the big trends like Dadaism is 'anti art' or Comme Des Garcons is 'anti fashion'.

2) Even though many Chinese yuppies are buying in to consumer culture, many still live on Chinese values of saving money and being frugal. However many people still do not have excess money to spend on things other than necessities. So by having the factory within China and selling products within China and HK, you create this production and consumption cycle.

3) 'Made in China' has always been related to cheap, mass produced, poorly made products. That can all be changed.

4) As one of the world's largest polluter, eco-friendly clothing using sustainable practices would do well in a smog filled country that paints its grass and roofs of houses green to appear more 'green' for the Olympics. SERIOUSLY. I think this one would be the hardest to devise. See this model again: Designer in a world of artifice trying to find a relationship between humans (consumer) and nature (what we are trying to conserve and save) and technology (creating sustainable practices and fabrics) which equals to my eco clothing industry plan. HA.

5) I see a future in more low end apparel lines that mirrors closely to H&M or Forever21. As much as I'd love to do luxury lines, it would be quite contradictory to create eco friendly clothing which is only available to a select group of people who could afford a YSL bag. OR I could go into slightly higher end where dresses are not $30 but $250 which would go into the realms of stores like Anthropologie.

In reality, this would not work. In actuality, this would be perfect. This is Sam's goal/ideal. In this world of artifice, there are no laws- just possibilities. Can you tell I've been muddling with this idea for a while now? I do not plan on opening big- spreading across the world- something I read within that book Andrew didn't want.. something about success does not mean having to branch out all over- it can be focused on a select few places. Yeah this makes no sense. It's 3am. Sometimes I laugh at my own plans for my future because they seem quite absurd. Right now I feel a little stupid for writing it all in here because I don't know what's going to happen ten years down the road. Perhaps I'll look back and laugh at my lofty dreams. Perhaps I'll be an Andy Sachs and die in some magazine company (at least I'll have a cute boyfriend- just kidding). Or I'll end up doing something entirely different. Or I'll end up working under another fashion house. Or become a housewife. Ugh, don't tell me I paid and worked $42k a year to become a housewife. -_-

So I only have $31 in my savings account and soon to have less than $1000 in my checking once my rent check is cashed in. Whoohoo.

Yup so that's my rant for today. My goal for Saturday is to write my take home exam paper (4 pgs) based on the statement in the Nudity chapter, "The more significant clothing is the more meaning attaches to its absence and the more awareness is generated about any relation between the two states." and compare it with the Robert Mapplethorpe essay on nudity and the art of undress. And I hate that essay so I have to read it again. Sigh. Any clever law or Design and Tech students want to help a dumb fashion student?