Ohmagosh ohmagosh ohmagosh! So I'm leaving in less than 48 hours for New York on a school fashion trip and I could not be more excited!!!! (I think all the "ohmygosh's" made that pretty obvious).
I always find packing to be a challenge, simply because I am an indecisive human being. I never know what to bring,  because I dont know what I'll want to wear until that day (it's a girl thing). But it's also a complicated thing because you can't bring all your clothes,  but you want options- it's like choosing which child to leave behind (but not that dramatic).
I'm the worlds worst packer, and probably the only person capable of over packing for a weekend trip.
Considering I'm in the big apple for 10 days, I've surprised myself. My suitcase is under weight, I DID NOT over pack (and I'm not just saying that), and I have tons of room for shopping!!!
To make sure I wasn't over packing, I tried on all my outfits, and made sure each piece I was bringing could be paired with multiple other pieces, giving me lots of variety.

I have lots of outfits planned out, so I will try to post them on the daily while in NYC. If that fails to happen,  then there will just be a mass of blog posts when I get back! So stay tuned!!!

The boyfriend jean seems to be a wardrobe staple. I have been on the hunt for the perfect boyfriend jean since high school... you can't just jump at the first pair you see. You need to shop around, weigh your options, make sure you're getting exactly what you want, and not just settling. Patience is the key to finding the perfect boyfriend jean. After looking for years and giving up, I stumbled across a pair when I was working at Hollister last summer. After trying them on and realizing they were a very flattering boyfriend jean (they fit where you want them to fit, and are not TOO oversized... they are a very feminine style, which I really like), I purchased the light wash, pinstripe, ripped pair of denim!

When you think about it, they are a very versatile pant: they can be worn from season to season, and dressed up or dressed down!

It's all in the accessories. The bases of both of these outfits are the same, but the accessories change the feel of the outfit. For a more casual look I paired a knit turtle neck sweater with the jeans, and kept the rest very simple- black bag, black cut out ankle booties, and minimal jewelry. The second look, the sweater and jeans stayed the same, but instead, I paired the ensemble with nude shoes with a silver heel, and my (Pharrell) hat, which makes the outfit more chic!

Now that it's officially summer for the Schreiner kids, that means Ben is taking off to Alberta to work for the next 4 months. So I thought I would post one last menswear look. He is a stylish jet setter, and looks the part of a business man. I'll keep this post short and sweet,  and just give you a glimpse of his airplane attire.

He kept his look simple and fresh for spring, and is wearing 3 different blues (which is a huge spring trend). He knows how to dress his suits up and down, and opted for a casual look by wearing demin, a soft blue button up shirt (collar done partly up, showing a white t-shirt), with his navy blue suit jacket over top (after all, he is leaving this Vancouver sun for Calgary snow, so having that extra layer when getting off the plane is probably much needed). To finish this polished look off, he wore brown leather dress shoes (brown always seems to look more casual than black, so if you're going for a more polished, but still casual look, opt for brown accessories), and a brown leather carry on from Danier.

Call me biased, but Kwantlen fashion students produce amazing work!! Every year, the 4th year students design a line, and showcase 3 outfits in their graduating fashion show, simply called "The Show". It is amazing getting to work in the same space as all the other students because we get to see their collection pieces progress and transform into a runway ready piece! Every single collection showcased at The Show was incredible, and the designers did such am amazing job! The fashion industry is in good hands, that's for sure!

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

**note: not all collections are shown. I only chose the photos that were not blurry.**

One of our last sewing projects of the semester was our menswear designs. This is an exciting blog post (for me at least) because you get to see the initial design, the cut pieces of fabric, the actual production process and how the design looks step by step, and the final piece!

This is a production face card. It shows a technical drawing of the garment (called a flat) front and back, which I designed using adobe illustrator. A face card also lists the style number, season, size of garment, the pattern and body measurements, and how many pieces you need to cut from each pattern piece (self, contrast, and fusing).

Layout is the worst process. This is when you take your finalized pattern, and start cutting all of your fabric pieces. Placing your pattern pieces on fabric is like a puzzle. Everything must fit with the grain running in the proper direction, and then all the pattern pieces have to be traced and cut out before you can start to sew.

This is where it gets good! Getting to finally sew your piece is very exciting because this is when you see the transformation of your 2D design become a 3D piece! And with every step...sewing the pocket, doing the topstitching, attaching the placket... the design becomes very easy to visualize! And lucky for me, it was a beautiful sunny day, and my sewing machine is right beside the window! So I got to enjoy some lovely vitamin D!

After getting most if it sewn in one day, I took the shirt home and got my brother to try it on. I had to warn him that without the collar, it sort of looks like a sushi chef's shirt... so he had to look past that. I knew I wanted to make some fit changes so this shirt would fit him like a glove, so he came into my school to have a fitting with myself and my teacher. My brother is very particular about the fit of his shirts, and I am very particular on making sure everything I make fits the wearer well. With that being said, I took the sleeves apart (after they were already flat felled........ dont even get me started on that....) and tailored the length and width of them (even after I attached the cuffs... I tell ya, the things I do for my brother). I also made some armhole and neckline adjustments.

After a slightly brutal second day of sewing, and an intense collar malfunction (I dont want to talk about it), I finished a beautiful menswear piece that I am incredibly proud of!

My brother knew this shirt was for him, after all, he did choose the fabric!!   So I decided to give it to him for his 21st birthday! I snuck it home from school, and hid it from him, which was tough because I was very excited to see his reaction and to have him try the completely finished piece on! (I had nightmares about it not fitting properly). To gift it, I folded it very nicely, displaying a Kachi tag that I had sewn in (you know, to make it official and all), and bought him a matching tie, that I learned how to tie so I could pair the 2 gifts together (like I mentioned in a previous post, I'm a killer tie picker outer!) On his birthday, he was so surprised to receive it, and I was relieved that it fits him perfectly!

  Well, I can officially say that my 2nd year as a fashion student is complete and I am halfway to getting my degree!!

     Luckily for university students, we look forward to a 4 month long summer after an intense, usually sleepless 8 months of school. After designing dresses for Plum, creating a lifestyle brand, designing coordinates, drafting and sewing jackets and coats, designing active streetwear for Lululemon Lab, drafting and sewing menswear, and not to mention, all the Gerber work (computer drafting), this is a well deserved summer!

     These past 8 months have literally been a blur, but the one thing that has always been clear and constant is the 36 faces we see every single second of every single day.

     These people aren't just classmates, they are family. They are the people you collaborate with, problem solve with, laugh with, and cry in a bathroom stall with when there are too many flats to make, and too many garments to spec.

     Whenever there are intense deadlines we can always count on each other for support and some humour... just to make it less painful- I mean.. stressful...  We practically know everything about each other, and things get weird in the drafting room late at night... everybody's crazy and weird personalities come out, which makes after hour drafting a "you had to be there moment"!

     During the summer, some of these people move back 'home-home', which means we dont get to see each other for 4 months.. which is a weird feeling when you spend 8 months together! But regardless,  once school starts up again, things pick up where they left off, and another crazy fun year is about to begin!

     We've got some sarcastic assholes,  and rays of sunshine, and the 36 of us combined make up one hell of an awesome group of people!

 

♥♥

There is finally a light at the end of the tunnel with this school project. At the beginning of second semester, we were put into groups of 3 or 4 and told to create a cohesive line inspired by the Lululemon Lab. (For those of you who don't know what the Lab is, it's a more streetwear version of "Big Lulu". There is only one, and it is located on West Broadway. All of the fabrics they use are leftovers from the larger Lululemon chain, and you can see the entire production process happening at this store- designing, drafting, cutting, sewing, fittings! You name it! You can see if all! If you have not been there, I highly recommend checking it out. It has a really cool, Vancouver street vibe, and is completely on trend!)

Anyways, my group and I came up with 2 designs each (8 total) and from there, we created a mood board showing our inspiration and fabric choices, then we created a tech pack showing our fabric testing to make sure we were using a good quality fabric. This tech pack also contained our 8 flats (which are technical drawings of our designs). Once my group settled on our 4 favourite designs, we began producing them- drafting, sewing the proto, and then the best part- SEWING THE FINAL! The prototype never amounts to what you hope it will simply because this is where you work out all of your flaws... but the final... now that's where the magic happens! Everything (usually) turns our perfectly!

As a class, we are fortunate enough to have one of the Lululemon Lab designers come in for our presentation! She is a Kwantlen grad as well, so she understands the pressure we have been under to produce perfect, fully functioning garments.

My group and I had a photo shoot today with each of our garments, and a friend of mine from high school was our model, and she was fantastic! She has the perfect streetwear look and embodied 'Easton' perfectly! I took all the photos, and each group member played the role of creative director when their garment was being shot, and we were more than happy with each of the looks! (Thanks Sabine!)

Anyways, the big presentation day is THIS THURSDAY!! Wish us luck!!

Here are some behind the scenes photos, and shots of my design- a very versatile vest with pouchy pockets and an enlarged collar that can be worn many different ways!

What kind of photo shoot would this be if we didn't get a lil sassy....

Alright, well we had sun for about 2 seconds. At this rate with all the rain,  its still winter in my mind. To get the best of spring and winter, I decided to go for an all black look (there's a shocker), that has at least SOME spring elements. The classic black t-shirt is amped up with coloured jewels sewn in clusters; this way, they reflect whatever 'light' we occasionally get. I finished the look with a bold burgundy lip amongst the all black ensemble.
     
I also have a confession to make.

I went to winners yesterday.

Beautiful black bag. Nuff said.

A lot of people dont understand why girls have so many bags- it's like a guys' version of having multiple cars... except on a less expensive scale. A good quality bag is like a good quality car, and you can switch them at any time to match your style for that day! It's basically an outfit 'make it or break it'.

Anyways, I {sort of} promise that when it ACTUALLY feels like spring... i'll put more colour into my outfits!

MY LOOK:

Black Thick Jersey T-Shirt: Lord & Taylor @ The Bay (40% off!!!!!!)
Black Skinny Jeans: Kensie @ The Bay
Black Cut Out Ankle Booties: H&M (another shocker....)
Black Satchel: Winners
Red Lipstick: Doubonnet @ Mac
Black Leather Watch: Anne Klein

     Blue on blue on blue on blue. For spring 2014, the colour blue is going to be a popular colour.. and quite frankly, its one of my favourite colours (other than black) at the moment, and it comes from Style Sight's Mega trend 'Creed'. The colour blue just seems to have a fresh look to it, and pairing different shades of this colour together create a very trendy monochromatic look that is perfect for spring!
     My brother had a school presentation today, so he had to dress up to sell the product him and his group were advertising. Wearing suits is not a stretch for him... he is the only 20 year old I know who owns 3 different suits. He also works as a marketing rep so looking presentable is just a part of the gig.
     He mentioned today that he doesn't get to wear ties too often (sorry, but no student wears a tie to school unless its for a presentation or they're a hipster...and that would be a bow tie). So when he does get the opportunity to wear a tie, he feels really cleaned up, put together, and smart. And not to mention, the tie he's wearing was one I bought for him. Don't mean to toot my own horn, but I'm pretty damn good at picking out ties!

***Note that my brother and I always have a coffee in hand***

His Look:

Sunglasses: Ray Ban
Powder Blue Dress Shirt: H&M slim fit
Checkered Tie: Tommy Hilfiger
Navy Blue Suit: H&M slim fit
Silver Watch: Tag Heuer formula 1
Printed Socks: Bjorn Borg
Brown Leather Shoes: Aldo