The Housing Crisis and the Effects on Home Fashion Retail

The housing crisis has greatly effected the home fashion retailing business.  With the economy where it is, no one is buying a new house.  When you buy a new house you redecorate and refurnish.  Since no one is doing those things then no one is buying new decore or furniture.  Prices for housing aren't that high yet still no one is buying a house in today's economy.

Sweatshops

Overall, I am a supporter of sweatshops.  If the people that worked there didn't have that job then they would not be able to support their families and would most likely die of starvation.  There are however, a lot of things I do not support about sweatshops, such as, the long hours and extremely low wages.  I think that it is a good idea in retrospect but is not being carried out appropriately.  Sweatshop workers are often forced to work long hours for little or no pay, regardless of any laws mandating overtime pay or a minimum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweatshop).  Another thing I do not support is the fact that there is no job security.  If a worker gets sick one day after never missing a day, they are replaced immediately with no questions asked.

My Own Designs

A lot of things inspire when me when I'm designing/making clothes.  It could be a picture I se in a magazine, or something I see in nature.  Whatever the inspiration is, I love to make my own clothes.

Most of the time my friends and family will give me there old clothes that they don't want.  That is what i make my clothes from.  I love mens button-down shirts because it 

gives me a lot to work with.  So my process isn't really that i sketch something or use a pattern, I find old clothes and make them into new ones.  My inspiration comes from these old clothes.  I can look at an old shirt or old dress and see what it could be. Most of the time I will combine lots of different fabrics to make something new for myself.  This is a picture of a dress that I made.  The top black part of the dress is a black T-shirt turned inside out.  I cut the sleeves off the T-shirt and also cut a deep V-neck.  The bottom half of the dress was the bottom of a long prairie style dress that I found in a vintage shop.  It was a lot wider but i cut a section of the bottom out to make it fit my hips.  I then sewed together the remaining part of the section which give the dress the long piece on the o

ne side.  

So as you can see I don't really start with an inspiration or a sketch.  I use what I can find to make some that I would love to wear.  I hope to continue to do this throughout my life and maybe start my own line based on the pieces i've made from scraps and old clothes.

Ethnics influences in the fashion world

There are ethnic influences in more than half of what's out on runways now.  Everything from jewelry, to shoes, to apparel.  Influences include the vibrant colors of Indian clothing, to the animals prints that capture the feel of African wildlife.  

The most recognizable influence, i would say, is the asian influence in Gwen Stefani's Harajuku Lovers brand.  Every element of that brand has an asian feel.  The inspiration for Harajuku Lovers was Gwens fascination of the Harajuku girls of japan.  Harajuku girls are young girls who have a youthful and fun attitude towards fashion.  The patterns used have little asian characters in them, they also have japanese writing.  

Even just with bright and vibrant colors you get a feel of the East.  Much like in Anna Sui's Fall 2008 line.  There are alot of deep blues and vibrant golds and purples.

We see a lot of Russian inspired clothing as well.  You see a lot of pieces that look like traditional Russian dresses and blouses.  Anna Sui's Fall 2008 line also had a Russian feel to it.  She incorporated a lot of blouses and deep reds that looked Russian-inspired.  

Another thing you see a lot of is Grecian inspired dresses.  In Vera Wang's Fall 2007 fashion show there were a lot of Grecian goddess pieces.  My prom dress in my junior year of high school was a Vera Wang.  It was a scoop neck and was long.  The color was a pewter.  It was very Grecian.

I really like any kind of ethnic influence in apparel because i feel like I'm not just stuck in America.  Even if i cant travel to these places I can wear a little bit of the culture.  

Organic and Environmental Friendly Clothing

I completely support organic and environmental friendly clothing.  I think that everyone should process their fibers and fabrics through organic ways.  There would much less contamenated water from runoff and things like that.  One of my favorite organic processes is when cotton grows an actual color, not just white.  I think that because we can grow cotton actual colors there is no need to use chemicals and dyes on naturally white or off white cotton.  We can now engineer cotton to grow the colors we want.  To grow naturally colored cotton it takes less than one ounce of pesticides.  Along with cotton that naturally grows a color, I would like to see more Green cotton.  Green cotton is cotton that has been washed with a mild natural soap.  Green cotton has also not been bleached or chemically treated.

I also think that we should use more fabrics that come from animals like sheeps and camels.  Fabric that comes from animals who are not slaughtered for their hair is very envi

ronmentally friendly.  Sheeps, for example, are sheared and then the hair is washed, may be dye

d, and finally spun into yarn to be used for many different things.  If the shearer is good and quick then the sheep goes through no pain at all.  There may be discomfort but after the shearing is over the sheep would feel much lighter without that big coat of hair.  Sheep are typically sheared twice a year.

Alot of people are trying to be "green" nowadays.  There are alot of companies that only use organically grown and processed fabrics.  Such as Organic Childrenswear by Green Cotton.  The company behind Green Cotton is Novotex A/S.  All the cotton used in their childrenswear line is certified as organic cotton by KRAV, IMO, and CUC(different independent institutions that certify organic cotton).  

Anna Sui

My favorite designer would have to be Anna Sui.  I've always been into vintage shops and old clothes and I really love the updated vintage feel of her clothes.  The patterns and colors of all her pieces are simply beautiful.  I think that I am drawn to her designs because it's a similar style to the clothes that I make.  All her designs are very eclectic and worldly.  Especially in her fall 2008 line.  The fabrics she choose give a native american look but at the same time they also look a little russian and even swedish.  I really love that she can capture all those looks in one line.  Another reason why I really like Anna Sui is because her fall line isn't all black like everyone else.  She has some black pieces but she also has so many other beautiful vibrant colors it just draws me in.  The best part is that not only are they beautifully tailored clothes made from amazing patterns, everything looks so comfortable!  I admire greatly that she can design something thats breath-taking and well as comfortable.