Fashionista Fun!

Back in early spring, I had the opportunity to take R11 to several university fashion shows. Not sure why I'm so late in sharing this with you all, but here we are! Through alumni resources we were invited to a reception before the Cornell show which we gladly took advantage of. Our sewing pal Mrs. R treated us to a lovely evening with a formal reception and the fashion show. The reception was attended mostly by parents of the students in the program, faculty, and other folks who paid- obviously alumni were invited. So, we say thank you to Dan, who is an alum of Cornell's graduate school!

R11 had already been thinking about Cornell's program in textiles- Fiber Science and Apparel Design...now she is planning her senior show! She would love to design clothing.

We were able to get a tshirt for R11 which she is about to refashion into a dress- seeing as the tshirt is very big on her.

They had a great packaged deal on the shirts and bags...and there was this bonus little bag she carries everywhere. Just made from a jeans pant leg. We are so going to make our own! CDL is the old name- Cornell Design League.

Syracuse sent me posters to advertise the show- who could refuse? This now displays on R11's closet door. Photo credit: R11...who needs to back off on account of the flash.

I can honestly say we had a great time at both shows! I'm more LLBean than fashionista, but it was really fun to see all the designs. Some of these girls are really talented. There were a few collections done by seniors at Cornell that were really amazing! It was fun to see the fabrics and how the designers chose to put them together. I think my favorite was an evening gown collection. Cornell was unique because they had male designers and models and a Pendleton Wool collection. I did chuckle about artsy type folks though...

Syracuse was a matinee show which we attended with other school groups. A few things to note about this fashion show. It was more modest than the Cornell show (and fashion shows in general are a great lead off for discussions on modesty- just in case this wasn't already apparent to you!). The colors were very monochromatic among the collections in stark contrast to the Cornell show. I saw more that I liked at the Cornell. However, there was one young woman who had an amazing collection. Each outfit (and she had maybe 8) could be worn two ways. The model would come out to the end of the runway and back one way and another model was waiting at the back of the runway and she would help rearrange the outfit. Then the same model would walk with the new arrangement. The most thrilling thing for me was that the second outfit was just as stunning as the first. Wow!

One last thought on attending a matinee designed for school groups. Let me just say I really only put our school name down as a folly. Then when I picked up the tickets and she asked if we were ___ ____ I thought- oh she is just confirming my address. Yeah...so we go in and find a quiet corner in an auditorium full of high school girls. All sitting by school. So, the announcer comes out and says, "You know what it's time for!" "I'm going to call out your school name and you are going to make all the noise you can!" (room erupts into wild shouting and screaming and clapping and stomping and I begin to think "uh-oh") Announcer then says, "We're going to start with ____ _____!" So, the three of us...R11, our sewing pal Mrs. R, and I make as much noise as we can. Ok...I'll be real with you. I wooted as loudly as I could and clapped, while R11 clapped and probably thought was it going ON? And Mrs. R, in a very dignified manner clapped and cheered me on.

That is the last time I put my school name on a dotted line.

I'm just sayin'.

I also think I need a new school name. Leave a comment below with ideas. And just in case I do go back to Syracuse University to respond to a shout out, I can't have any Care Bear type names. I need something bold and catchy, but slightly intellectual and not too stiff.

It's your turn. Help me out with a new school name!