Puma Black Label
When this one caught my eyes, I was like…ewwww…..I don’t really like design of this shoe, it isn’t trendy and fashion, but I knew that Puma style is more casual, they use black leather upper in a classic sneaker style with a round toe. Tumbled leather with overlays, Z-strap closure. Leather lining did really high quality technic, removable cushioning insole. Flexible midsole, rubber traction outsole. Overall is really suitable for who love classic style.
A Opera/Concert Review-Rigoletto
When I first heard that we are going to see an opera, I didn’t expect the theatre would be located inside of a normal building next to beach. It was a nice and special experience to watch opera in a small opera house like San Francisco Lyric Opera where I can get a closer look to the stage. Once I see performers’ facial express clearer, I feel more sense of the story.
Since Barnaby Palmer, my instructor of history of opera class, was the conductor of this opera, I paid more attention on the orchestra. I found that conductor is an extremely important role to connect the music and performance together by noticing what is going on up the stage and giving orders to orchestra at the right point to make a perfect match to the opera.
For the setting, I was confused about the timeline that sets in 1500’s on the original story with the setting I saw on the stage which seems more like 1900’s to me. However, I just assumed that the story has been revised to a modern version which is innovative and cool. The setting was simple but effective. For example, few tables and drinks simply brought out the sense of a bar. In addition, there was only an iron gate to present Gigoletto’s house, but I didn’t feel it too rough in anyways. I guess the lighting also did a good job to create the atmosphere on different themes.
There was a little girl and her mother sat next to me. I remembered the first scene was people flirting at a bar. The acting and dancing were pretty bald and I noticed that the mother kept checking on her daughter’s reaction. I think the mother had no idea what to do to the situation. It was very funny theme off stage.
My lovely teacher: Barnaby Palmer
SFMOMA Museum of Modern Art
*Roy Lichtenstein
American (New York City, New York, 1923 – 1997, New York City, New York)
Rouen Cathedral Set V
1969 Painting | oil and Magna on canvas
The one art work I enjoyed during this trip to the SFMOMA Museum is. Here is why I especially liked this work, when I saw this work; I really like the colors on this work. There s three painting with the same motif. The first work use color yellow and red. The second work use blue and orange. The last one was color black and red. Those colors are really attracting me to focus on this work. Also, the whole work looks very modern. Even though, the three painting has same motif, but when I look the painting individually, I have different thought with these paintings. The yellow and red on makes me feel warm, the blue and orange makes me feel relax and comfortable, the black and red one, makes me feel cold and stress. I didn’t know what the artist want to tell us, but this is how I feel and why I like this work.
These two art works I trying to describe two ways in which they are alike, and the three ways they are different.
*Georges Braque
French (Argenteuil, France, 1882 – 1963, Paris, France)
Violin and Candlestick 1910 Painting | oil on canvas
The “Violin and Candlestick” is Analytic Cubism. In this painting, Brogue uses three dimensional objects on a flat canvas and without use the traditional Renaissance perspective.
*Henri Matisse
French (Le Cateau-Cambrésis, France, 1869 – 1954, Nice, France)
Paysage: Les genêts (Landscape: Broom)
The “Landscape: Broom” was paint by Matisse and it is the Modernism in the twenty century. This is painting use a lot of bright color to show the landscape. The “Violin and Candlestick” use earth tone color to paint it. In this painting, the background uses the black outline and opening up. He transformed volumes in the still life.
Unfortunatlly, I was not allowed to take any photo inside of the Museum. >”<
Fashion Quotes 3
Christian Dior
Zest is the secret of all beauty. There is no beauty that is attractive without zest.
Marlene Dietrich
I dress for the image. Not for myself, not for the public, not for fashion, not for men.
Jean-Paul Gaultier
Elegance is a question of personality, more than one’s clothing.
Boulevard Restaurant
Boulevard Restaurant is rated as the top five most popular restaurants in the San Francisco Area by Zagat survey. It also received one star from the infamous Michelin Guide. Armed with friend recommendation, curiosity, and a tour of the restaurant website; I decided to give the restaurant a try. The restaurant is a traditional American cuisine with wooden interior design, which provides a warm feeling for the diners. The space is a little small but the leather-made menu shows attention to detail by the chef. Without a doubt, I am the youngest diner in the premise. The head chef is female, therefore, food portion is elegant and the right amount. I ordered foie gras and crab salad. These items taste good but a little bit cold temperature-wise. The steak is tender and juicy. However, all items that I ordered are fairly ordinary and nothing impressive. What I liked the most is the wine selection. Although I am not an expert in wine, but I followed the restaurant’s sommelier’s recommendation and ordered a 2005 Seghesio Old Vine Zinfandel. The wine is smooth and fruity. There is nothing tart or sour about the wine. The wine started my interest in trying more and more drinks made by grapes. As for desert, I ordered the banana cream tiramisu. The desert has the right amount of sweetness and it has a very full creamy and fruity taste. It is the only item I recommend from the restaurant. Overall, my experience at the restaurant is on par of my expectation. The price is quite high but not really worth the money. I would not really recommend the restaurant to my friends but everyone has different taste. People who go to Boulevard Restaurant will not be disappointed because of the fresh ingredient and the heritage behind the restaurant itself. Who knows, maybe my friends will love the restaurant on the first try and consider it as one of the top restaurants in their own list.
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Gibraltarian-British fashion designer—John Galliano
John Galliano, a chief designer of Dior, born in 1960, Gibraltar. He was born to a Spanish mother and Gibraltarian father, and Spanish heritage remains an integral part of Galliano’s life and work. He lived in Gibraltar for six years, and then in 1966, he and his family moved to London. A cultural shock immediately impacted him. He went to school in London but wasn’t a outstanding in his school until he went to a design school where he belonged more. A very important thing that affected his whole life is his graduation collection, Les Incroyables’, of Central Saint Martins. By Galliano’s talents and efforts, his graduation collection received huge approval. “His whole line was hastily snapped up and put into the window of Browns boutique. Galliano left Central Saint Martins in 1983 with a first class degree and a healthy stockpile of critical acclaim.”
Most of successful people have been through tough ways. So do Galliano. Although he received the ‘British Designer of the Year’ award in 1987, he lost his backers and didn’t have enough money to show for several seasons. In early1990’s, he decided to go to Paris for a better life. Although he was in very bad conditions, his critical praise continued unabated. In Galliano by Colin McDowell, he describes Galliano’s conditions in this time:” Nobody can pretend that Galliano’s career has been smooth-flowing. Though he may graze the Elysian Fields now, the fashion world has been prepared to see him face ruin in the past, capable of doing little more than beating its collective breast and saying, ‘Poor John. A genius – but so uncommercial. “As a judgment, it is as arrogant as it is misinformed; a knee- jerk, unthinking reaction; a blatant piece of guilt- transference, a refusal to face the facts of the man’s career”.
In 1995 Galliano finally got the break he so richly deserved: he became the first English man to head a French couture house, when he was put in charge of Givenchy.
In Visionaries: Interviews with fashion designers, the author Susannah Frankel asked John Galliano: “How would you respond to the accusation that your clothes are not modern?” Galliano answered: “What’s modern? I believe what I do is modern, if you want to call it that. It’s just such an overused word. Modern to most people in this game is what? Gucci? Or Prada? That’s just their interpretation of modern but it’s still on historical take.” He really has faith for himself. And he is right, what he does is really what modern is in these days. He is a genius, but he also put a lot of efforts in his work.
About inspirations, in Visionaries: Interviews with fashion designers also says that “Balenciaga used to begin to select his fabrics for his next collection on the day of his press show. Few designers are so obsessed today. All take a break as soon as possible after the show. John Galliano normally goes away for a week, to do nothing more onerous than lie on a beach in the sun and unwind. When he comes back, the creative process starts all over again. Ideas he has been mulling over, sources not used or fully developed previously, are revisited. ”
The reason why I want to write John Galliano as subject is because he is the one of designers who really impacts me a lot. Before I came to the fashion department, I actually knew nothing about fashion. Until I first saw Galliano’s collections on style.com, I was really surprised by his work that I suddenly realized that how wild and beautiful fashion can be. He combines many different cultures as his inspirations and transforms them into his designs. In spring 2008 couture, we can definitely see how he transforms those ideas in his collections for Christian Dior. The colors, silhouette of his designs are all used extremely well. Big hats, floral fabrics or big flowers decorations and are all appear in the spring collections. We sometimes can tell that some of his designs are inspired by Japanese kimono. Also, Latin influence sometimes can be seen in his collections. It is forgotten that John Galliano’s clothes in the 1980s had a strong linear quality and a bold sense of scale. The result of a highly developed and precise fashion sense, they were the qualities which raised his work above that of all the other fashion wunderkind jostling for attention in London at the time.
Luxury Boutique Visiting – Hermès
I visited the Hermès boutique at 125 Grant Avenue, San Francisco.The store is quiet with only few customers. There are 4 Sales assistants in the store. They all dressed in black uniform suits which female wore Hermès scarves and male wore Hermès ties. They gave customers enough space to look around by their own. In addition, they didn’t talk a lot nor give too much opinion about the merchandise to avoid giving pressure to customers. However, I think their attitude is not nice enough that they didn’t smile at all. They were being too polite that I think it’s a little bit cold. Nevertheless, they were well trained and professional. The sales assistant has competent products knowledge which can answer any of my questions about their products. Actually I have visited Hermès boutiques in many different countries. According to my experience, sales assistants should wear gloves when they touch and show bags to customers.
However, the sales assistant didn’t wear gloves when he showed me a “white” Birkin bag. It really surprised me. I was wondering if the rule is different in the US or it’s the mistake that the assistant made.
The shopping environment in Hermès boutique is comfortable. It’s well lighted and temperature is nice too. The merchandises in the store are classified by different category such as bags, accessories, time piece, apparel & shoes, infant, and home collection. Every section has comfortable space to shop. The newest and the most important Kelly or Birkin bags are presented on the shelves which are in the middle that customers can immediately notice when they enter the front door. The merchandises are well positioned and not too crowded. The overall visual merchandising is nice and refers to the brand image of Hermès.
There were 6 customers in the store. They are all couples. Most of them are looking for bags. Only one man was trying out men’s apparels. The average ages of customers were between 35-60 years old. They look elegant and well educated. The clothing they wore is classic and casual in solid color with high quality. They look like they enjoy their leisure time shopping in the Hermès boutique on the weekend.
What surprised me in the San Francisco’s Hermès boutique is that it always has new Kelly or Birkin bags on the shelf. It is impossible to have them on the shelf in any Asia Hermès boutiques. Every Hermès boutiques through the world have the same interior and visual elements which provide customers a familiar and comfortable shopping environment. Since Hermès targets on the classic luxury market, the design and ads of Hermès always present Hermès’s French elegance. Furthermore, this spirit of Hermès also presents in every Hermès boutiques.
Bottega Veneta
Bottega Veneta is first created back in 1962 and until now its fine leather products is famous through out the whole world. The good name passed down with their adhered to their very own special kind of style and taste, without making anything similar to any other brands.
As the time passes, his success made out through all Europe, America, Asia and many other places; its high popularity is established obviously in Japan especially. The good record Bottega Veneta made even catches the attention of Gucci Corp., who has announced to increase 96,200,000 US dollar to gain the 66.7% of the ownership. This action of Gucci Corp. really defines the success Bottega Veneta made.
What made Bottega Veneta so successful in the industry? Many brand names present their product magnificently, but no one did the element that Bottega Veneta added- space. Bottega Veneta focused on the whole space of the store to present their products which greatly enhanced the presentation of the qualities in their products. How one product can be presented by itself is what many focused on, but how the whole space present the product is a whole different field of art. By adding the art of space in their presentation, Bottega Veneta has made its way to the top of the industry and stand out among all the high quality brand names. I believe with this all new aspect of presentation and the well known reputation of Gucci Corp. Bottega Veneta is ready to take it to the next higher step in the brand name industry.
AAU 2009 Fashion Symposium
Location: Morgan Auditorium,10:30am Thursday, April 23rd
Individual speaker:
Martine and Prosper Assouline, founders of Assouline Publishing
David Downtown-Fashion illustrator
Madeleine Ziegler-producer, Fashion File TV
Patrick Cab asset-editor in chief, L’Officiel Paris
Moderated by Gladys Perint Palmer, Executive Director, School of Fashion, Academy of Art University
At the beginning, Gladys gave a speech and introduced guests about their informations, and accomplishments to the audiences. But be honestly, I didn’t understand what their speech , it is really hard to listening very clearly, because I was sit very back also those guests got really strong European accent, it is difficult to understand since I am a international student.
BIRKENSTOCK Sandals Spring09 Review
Birkenstock sandals for the spring09, The Girzeh-Peridot Patent Birko-Flor Gizeh for the women, it’s made of acrylic and polyamide with felt, I don’t like the style of this new collection, it looks like men’s footwear not for women. It’s not looks stylist. I won’t buy this kind of sandals. Compare to their other style The Plum Patent Birko-Flor Madrid, made same materials. The style looks more terrible than The Girzeh. In my opinion that women’s sandals must more stylist and glamorous, it would be really catch women’s eyes and wants to get.
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