Window Displays

While I was babysitting this week uptown and walking the dog I stumbled across the beautiful window displays of Madison Ave. Most displays consist of beautiful extravagant lighting and chandeliers. These bright lights lured me to the window where I would stop and stare at the beautiful jewelry, clothes and shoes in the window.

These chic window displays inspire me to hope to have a beautiful window display someday in a store that has my name on it. I think along with a lot of students here at Parsons this is the dream but seeing these displays makes this goal a huge priority for me. I would love to design a beautiful window display one day or be able to walk by my store and stare at the display and know I had something to do with it. It must be such a great sense of satisfaction to these designers who can look at their stores and think, "i did it."

Shiny Things

For my accessory design class I had to buy the materials for the bag that I am making. Although my design is black and has gold studs, I found myself ooing and ahing at the shiny embellishments that were glittering behind the counter.

Seeing these kinds of embellishments make me want to become an accessory designer or focus on accessories. I do love clothing design though so I can always think of ideas how to add these embellishments to dresses.

I felt very inspired by the different shapes and colors of the crystals. Whether they were gold or silver, black or even pink I found them all to be beautiful and thought of ideas on how to develop them into my clothing or accessories. The organic shapes also caught my eye. The crystals could be transformed into many different shapes and even look as if it is knotted string such as the one seen on the top of the second picture.

Time to relax...

The heated room where this takes place is incredibly relaxing with dimmed lights, mirrors with flowered frosted glass and a huge mural of woods on the far wall. This room is sort of like a little oasis from the noise of the city. As I am sitting in the room I can almost imaging the leaves rustling and hearing birds calling above. Nature is one of my biggest inspirations with organic shapes and natural colors. The area, for me, is the perfect recipie for inspiration. Many break throughs in my work have came to me here.

Not only is this class relaxing but I find it incredibly inspiring. Inspiring in the sense that it is a place to simply clear my head and think about things other than school. Then also on the other hand it can be a place where I focus on nothing but a project that i’ve been having trouble with and most likely I will come out of the class feeling completely rejuvinated and knowing exactly what to do with the project. Even though as school gets easier it is hard to set aside an hour to go to the gym, I usually try and force myself to go on even the busiest of Tuesday’s because it will help me to relax and maybe give me a whole new outlook on my work.

Crunch!

There is nothing that I look forward to more in the week then my hot pilates class on Tuesday nights. After just getting through two days full of 9 hours of class back to back this class is like the light at the end of the tunnel. Walking up to the building of crunch I feel so excited for the class i’ve been looking foward to all day. Hot pilates is a form of mat based pilates which is done in a heated room. The heat combined with the breathing exercises and strengthining work outs is just the bit of relaxation I need to end two very busy days of school.

Shiny Embellishments

I’ve always thought about adding trimmings such as chain, shiny clasps and studs to my designs but at home in the little suburb outside of Philly we are not blessed with the trimming stores of sixth avenue and Joanne fabrics just doesn’t cut it for an aspiring fashion designers material needs.

The shiny gold and silvers inspired me to embellish my designs even further now that I have access to all of these resources. I am going a little stud crazy but it is making up for so much lost time when I was not able to simple buy a pack at the trim store.

"hardware happy"

I’ve always been interested in jewelry and accessory design and the materials available to me now can help me to persue this hobby further. Because of my experience at the store I am very excited for the final product of my accessory design bag and am inspired to create the perfect bag. The huge wall of different shiny chain made me inspired to create something fabulous with this shiny metal emellishment.

Philly Inspirations

While traveling back to Philadelphia with my boyfriend from our home in the suburbs I was struck by the view of the city lights as we were approaching the city on the train. These beautiful views make me feel a special attachment to Philadelphia over New York.

Home Sweet Home

Over the weekend I traveled home to Philadelphia and surprised my mom and sister by visiting them in West Chester for a day. My childhood home is full of inspiration to me. In New York, I am inspired by powerful and meaningful things which remind me why I am in New York and help my education or career goals. In Pennsylvania it is a who different feeling where I find inspiration from things which remind me of my childhood or the people I know and love.

My dog and sister are both very important to me and inspire me very much. Obviously my dog I just think is adorable but my sister means much more. She is and will always be my best friend. Her strength will always inspire me to achieve my goals and I know she is always there for me when I need her.

Library Ornamentation

The beautiful ornamentation and designs found on the walls and ceilings inspired me very much. The swirl designs in the iron stair railings were very intricate and the sort of design that my eye usually gravitates towards. This trip ended up being much more exciting and inspiring then I expected.

New York Public Library

While visiting the library this week for research on a project it had been my first time ever going and I was not prepared for the size of this endeavor. Not only was I not aware of how big the location next to Bryant Park is but that there are tons of other branches around the city too. I spent a while when I first arrived trying to find my way to the art reading room. On my way I admired all the beautiful architecture and aesthetic of the interior. I felt more as if I had stepped into a museum then a public library.

Bryant Park

The look and feel of Bryant Park is incredibly inspired to anyone passing by. It is bustling with people sitting, eating and talking at tables throughout the park. The towering trees shade the park in a way to shelter the people in the park from the even taller skyscrapers above them. The history behind Bryant Park and the fact that the name is so widely known within the fashion industry was bitter sweet to me. The environment is incredibly beautiful and classic that it makes me disappointed that they moved the festivities of fashion week to the Lincoln Center. Walking passed Bryant Park still reminds me of one of the first times I was ever in New York City with my friends during fashion week and we walked around the tents strutting like models and hoping to catch a glimpse of a celebrity.

MILK salon pop-up

The decorations and style of this pop-up salon I found to be incredibly visually pleasing and inspiring. The metallics and bright colors made the salon look very edgy and dramatic. This sort of area made me want to just sit and get made-over...and live the life of the beautiful runway models.

MILK productions

Over the weekend I interned at MILK for fashion week. It was a great experience and I continuously found myself in awe and inspired of the set-up and production of the space. This Aldo pop-up store was a crappy old storage area and it was transformed into this beautiful make-shift coffee shop/salon. The decorative prints in contrast to the beautiful, bold shoes on the wall I found myself staring at for a while.

Anthropology Window Display 2

This particular display I felt attracted to the colors and the shiny contrast of the paint cans in relation to the wood on the floor and table. The primary purple with splashes of yellow was a cool color palette to have the paint drip in. For a clothing store, this was a unique display but I found it very inspiring and visually pleasing.

Anthropology Window Displays

I was around the area of the Chelsea Market this weekend and the window displays in Anthropology had beautiful designs. The reflection off the window in this particular display altered the sites of the street in a really cool way I couldn't help but snap a picture!

Fashions Night Out 2011

The beautiful scenes of uptown under bright lights on Fashions Night Out this year inspired me very much. I found myself looking around at the scenery more than worrying about which stores I was visiting. Living downtown, I don't find myself uptown very often so when I do I usually stop to take in all the beautiful architecture and people living there.

Inspiration Picture 10

Sometimes the writing on bathroom stalls are very inspirational. This particular image was so cool to be because someone had crossed out "nowhere" and written "everywhere." Being a hopeless romantic this quote I felt to be so sweet and inspiring.

Inspiration Picture 9

My friends and I went to Serendipity for dinner and I was very inspired by all the nick-nacks and vintage decorations in the restaurant. This huge metal key hanging from the ceiling I thought was particularly interesting especially because it was hung directly over my head. The whole place is just full of inspiring vintage images and the old rusted look of the key I thought to be very interesting.

Inspiration Picture 8

I was very inspired by this dramatic window display I saw this weekend. The bright white contrasted with the black dress I found to be very beautiful and dramatic. I thought the white flowers or cotton ball looking things hanging from the ceiling added so much to the design of the texture in the dress.

Inspiration Picture 7

The New Cafe on the second floor of Dylan's Candy Bar is decorated so bright and cute! I loved all the different bright designs and the colors were very inspiring. I couldn't help but me inspired by all the bright and sweet designs surrounding me.

Inspiration Picture 6

These flowers that I found walking in my apartment complex was such a beautiful assortment of colors. The bright yellow flower in the bottom left surrounded by oranges, reds and greens was a color palette that inspired me. These colors remind me of the fall season which is really inspiring to me right now with the changing of the seasons coming up.

Inspiration Picture 5

This is the fountain that is in my apartment complex. Whenever it is on the sound of the water is so relaxing and peaceful and when I can I love doing my homework out next to it. The flowers planted around the fountain are so bright and beautiful and the whole landscape is very rural and inspiring to me.

Inspiration Picture 4

Although it is not uncommon to find graffiti on the streets of North Philadelphia I was particularly attracted to this image. The colors were very vibrant and the edges were very clean. The Phillies hat in the 'P' reminds me of home and being a Philadelphia sports fan. Even though I love living in New York for school, Philadelphia will always have a special place in my heart and I always love the time I get to spend there with family and friends.

Inspiration Picture 3

In contrast to my last image this is the view of the Philadelphia skyline from a distance. The mural art all over the city I find very beautiful and inspiring. This particular painting on the side of the building says "we the people" and with the skyline in the background made me happy to be home in the city i've been familiar with my whole life.

Inspiration Picture 2

As I was waiting for my bolt bus to Philadelphia I saw this image of the empire state building in the distance and though how incredible it looked. Being so close to my home town in Philadelphia I always have mixed feelings about which city I feel the most at home. This particular view makes me inspired and happy that i'm in New York.

Inspiration Picture 1

I was walking past the green market in Union Square and the smell of all the different fruits, vegetables and flowers inspired me. I felt particularly attracted to organic objects and colorful things. I think I felt inspired by nature because of my most recent transfer from living at home in a rural area to coming back to the city.