On a last minute whim, I flew out to Los Angeles last weekend to visit my friend, Constantine. It was my first time to L.A. and I am now officially in love with California :) Ah, I already miss the 90 degree days...
On the flight over, I found myself thinking how I can incorporate this project on my trip. Thankfully, when I told Const about my project he was happy to take me to some popular shopping strips in the area. I'm so grateful I had my camera on hand! The fashion in California is much more relaxed than in New York City-- everything is a lot more comfortable, bohemian, and a little crazy . (Personal Note: I came out with a cool vingate tshirt for only 10 bucks!).
When I got back from my trip I emailed my friend Noor in New York City to see when would be a good time to interview her about the fashion industry. I also looked into my local public library's online catalog for some books I can read this week. When I typed in "fashion" as my subject term I got 16 hits ranging from how to dress at work, an ultimate guide to accessories, and other style books.
I think I'm going to check out the following books. They seem like they are along the lines of what my focus is:
1. Ready Made Miracle, the American Story of Fashion for the Millions by Jessica Daves.
The author is a former editor of Vogue! The downside of this book is that it was published in 1967-- hmmmm, I wonder if fashion has changed much since then? Are the principles still the same?
2. Fashion Illustrated: A Review of Women's Dress, 1920-1950 by Deborah Torrens.
Rats! The online catalog says this book is missing. I may have to request an Interlibrary Loan for this book...
3. Best Dressed: the Born to Shop Lady's Secrets to Building a Wardrobe by Suzy Gershman.
Oh no, this book is checked out already. I may have to request an Interlibraray Loan on this book as well...hopefully I can get it soon.
4. Fashion: the Twentieth Century by Francois Baudot.
The cover of this book looks very cool. And it's translated from the French-- so it must know what it's talking about, right?
I also searched "fashion designers" as a subject and found several biographies: Coco Chanel, Calvin Klein, and Oleg Cassini. I may want to review these books out and see what fashion is like from a famous designer.
Once I interview Noor and select the books I want I can start connecting my ideas together.
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4 comments:
LA is wonderful isn't it. Ocean, mountains, and desert all come together. I wonder if you went to Santa Monica's promenade and pier? That is one of the best shopping areas I've ever been to. Right on the beach!
It was a great idea to take your camera, will you be incorporating pictures into your final product? I'm trying to find a way to do that - I love pictures!!!
Yes- I did end up going to Santa Monica's promenade and pier! It was so fun. I wish I was there right now...*sigh*
I took some pictures of important landmarks that I saw, i.e. the Beverly Hills sign, the Melrose street sign, and some random shots of stores. They came out pretty good-- but I'm having a hard time thinking of how I can use it in my final project. I'm not that great with technology- so I may have to ask some friends (or even my discussion group) how I can post my pictures on the Web.
Thanks for your comment, Kathy!
If you need help posting pictures, I know some html that I could show you.
Or did you know that you can creat a page in Word and save it as an html document and post it to the web? It's that simple. Have you used your free Steel web space from IUPUI (aka http://mypage.iu.edu/_username)? Well, let me know if I can help.
Maybe you could use those sign images as background images for your project, or a logo of sorts.
Unfortunately, my local public library didn't seem to have many of the books I wanted on the shelf. Fortunately there is IUPUI! Here are the books I checked out (from both libraries):
Arnold, Rebecca. Fashion, Desire, and Anxiety: Image and Mortality in the 20th Century.
New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2001.
Barnard, Malcolm. Fashion as Communication. London: Routledge, 1996.
Baudot, Francois. Fashion: The Twentieth Century. New York: Universe, 1999.
Daves, Jessica. Ready-Made Miracle. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1967.
Finkelstein, Joanne. Fashion: An Introduction. New York: New York University Press, 1998.
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