How Time Flies...

This last Friday my daughter turned 18! It's so hard to believe that she is now an 'adult' and has been here for 18 years. Time definitely does fly by. I'm so proud of her. Not knowing how the decisions you will make when you are raising your child is probably the most scary thing of all. How will you make sure to teach them everything you think they should know and stress the things you really want them to remember. It's strange because so many people compliment me on my parenting saying I did such an awesome job and I'm a great mom but I really don't feel like it was all me. I definitely could have made some of the same decisions with another child and not had the same positive results. She is who she is because yes, I did try and teach her all I could and I tried to stress what I thought were the most important things to learn, but she took it in and didn't dismiss the things I said. She made the right decisions to not give in to peer pressure, to not do things that would harm herself or others, to try and do her best in school and her job. I think that it's a collaboration and we found a way to make it work together. I know that she will continue to become a great adult and be whatever she wants to be. I have no doubt that she will become a great actress and will write amazing screen plays! I'm glad that I am her mom!

Happy Birthday Desta ;o)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

photo by Kate Heppner

Love Live the Queen....

Yesterday I arrived at work only to find my cube neighbor Matt doing his usual browsing of TMZ. Casually I asked, any juice?? Only to be told the tragic news of Alexander McQueen! Why, I wondered? Why would he be unhappy? I dream of fashion all day but sadly I don't have the wonderful gift of being able to create and dream up new things every day, I just bang out requests for business analysts and buyers and do mundane reporting. It's not that I'm complaining but I would LOVE so much to be able to do something I really LOVE. It made me really wonder why he would be sad enough to leave everything behind. He has become one of the few designers that are able to create unique things and still be accepted into mainstream enough to have their designs sold in many different avenues including Target. I think his collaboration with our GO Interantional area was one that I was most excited about (with Anna Sui closely tied)!! It was such an honor to see his designs on the floor!! I think I bragged for weeks before it set and told people that they HAD to check it out!! I don't think there was a spot in the fashion world that he didn't touch in some way, including costumes for Lady Gaga!

Such a tragedy! He will be missed!

Product Development

One of my new classes this semester is Product Development. I'm atually taking in independently so I can guarantee to graduate in the Spring. This is all necessary so I am done with school by the time we move in August!! My first assignment was to write a paper on things that inspire me when I think about design and also a designer that inspires me.I have to admit I did the paper in a hurry but it still really sparked my imagination and started me down the path of really looking at what I like and why. I don't think it has much to do with trends now but is somewhat influenced by them, but still I can see that it's probably been my still all along, even in the 80's when I seemed really trendy!

I do get my ideas and inspirations from a lot of areas, as I'm sure a lot of you do, like blogs, magazines, television, people on the street (or skyway now in winter), movies, celebrities, art, nature and so on. But the interesting thing is that we can all look at similar things and get inspired in different ways!

When I’m looking at photos there are things that I take literally like I might see a dress that I LOVE but can’t afford so I will keep the picture stored on my computer to use as a reference later so I can look for a pattern or try and make one myself. But a lot of times I will see something and even though I like it for what the item actually is, it will spark another idea in my head that is totally different. I think that’s why I appreciate photos because it allows my mind to wonder and then start creating things of my own.

I have decided that my style is romantic with a touch of darkness. I guess it's hard to explain but I like the kind of gothic hint but still a romantic feel with luxurious fabrics and lots of lace and vintage jewelry. I also like to look at a lot of Japanese Street Styles because they are so inventive and love to look really unique so you see things there that you wouldn’t see anywhere else and for some reason, I really like the old vintage costumes of Circus girls that rode the elephants and swung from trapezes which you probably gathered from my rants about the Circus!!

Anyway, since most bloggers are very visual people, here are some things that inspire me right now!

Alberta Feretti FW-08 (still love!!!!)

can't remember this site, please let me know if you know!

don't remember the blog here but I LOVE her style in these shots!

the Glamourai, definitely a favorite for daily inspiration!

Lula (online mag), I DEFINITELY need 2 find the source of lace like this!!

and of course one more circus photo for inspiration (from Polyvore)!