Tar-jay: Go International Part Deux

Holy crap. It's pretty rare that I get too entirely excited about Target's Go International line, but the fact that the next three designers are so freaking amazing... is just so FREAKING AMAZING! First up starting on December 20th we have Rodarte. See the outfits below:
April 25 through May 30 the next Go International designer is Zac Posen!!! Queue the choir of angels PUH-LEASE! The only thing better could be Marc! And rumor has it that Jean Paul Gaultier is next!

Inspi-red!

Recently, I was at Target and I was directed by Jake to the "value" DVDs that were on sale for $4.75. I checked them out thinking there would be nothing that I would like or that I would already have the good ones. But as I was browsing I found one of my favorite movies that I didn't own, Clue! If you haven't seen this movie, you need to go out and rent it or add it to your Netflix queue because it is full of eighties amazingness and has probably one of the greatest casts ever.


One character in that movie that I was perticularly intrigued by was Mrs. White played by Madeline Kahn. I love her hair, her clothing, and her personality in the movie. Her character has a lot of subtlties you just have to keep an ear and eye out for because they are some of the funniest parts of the movie (particularly her actions towards Wadsworth played by Tim Curry).

Above: Madeline Kahn as Mrs. White

When I was thinking about Mrs. White and how she "immasculates her husband" it made me think of a similar female character, Lilith from Frasier. With her clothing style being masculine and feminine at the same time, just like Mrs. White's, I decided to design a line inspired by these two women.

Above: Bebe Neuwirth as Dr. Lilith Sternin

For Fall 2010, WGSN has forecasted something like what I had in mind for this line. So far I'm thinking that there are going to be a lot of mix and match garments and lots of suiting. And the color palette is obviously going to be a lot of neutrals and metallics but with pops of red too.

Homemade Bottega Veneta

As I was perusing my Blogger account this morning, Martha Stewart's Craft Department posted that the creative director of Bottega Veneta, Tomas Maier, was doing a segment on Martha Stewart's show about their bags but also the weaving technique behind the bags. And basically what we have on that post might as well be a tutorial as to how to make a Bottega Veneta style bag. Enjoy!

(Photos via Martha Stewart)

Weekend Update

Again I've been a little M.I.A. but in my defense, midterms were a little crazy. Wanda is loading the homework on us in both of the classes I have with her, the Gerber system for computer pattern drafting still isn't working, and my marketing class is sort of obnoxious.

But even besides that it's been a bit of a high stress environment at Alchemy Goods where I intern. For the past couple months I've been prototyping something (I'm not exactly sure if I can mention it on here since it's not yet in production and I signed a confidentiality agreement) and I've been working on the bill of materials, or more lovingly known as the BOM for us fashion designers. Every company does theirs differently but it's even more complicated when you're working not only in yardage but in inches as well.

My mind has also been filling up with ideas from numerous sources of inspiration like Day of the Dead, Clue the Movie, Plush You! and that's just the start. I am also going to be extremely busy over Winter Break because I plan to open my Etsy store and start my line of menswear for the Art Institute's fashion show in March. And last week I learned how to screen print (pictures to come) from one of my friends through Fuel Magazine, David Gallo.

So I have a bunch of posts in mind, I'm going to try and focus more time on menswear posts and I have a lot of outfit posts in mind which I hope to take care of next weekend. But with how my procrastination is going on this Sunday evening, you may even get a post out of me tonight but no promises!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from Mad Girl!

U-District Visit

A month and a half ago (I'm big on procrastinating, what can I say?), I was on my break between Summer and Fall quarter so I made my way up to the U-District to see one of my very best friends that I've known since middle school, Shelley. We went out to lunch where she ate and I just drank some Horchata (yum!) and then to Haagen-Dazs to get some ice cream for me! It was a beautiful windy Fall day and the perfect temperature to walk up and down the Ave. A few streets over, I made Shelley take an outfit picture of me and then I thought it would be a cute idea to take an outfit picture of her too, to show how the styles between people differ and work well on that respective person. Here's the results:

On me (left):
Faux Leather Jacket: H&M
Red Shirt: Target
Pinstripe Jeans: Gap
Boots: Urban Outfitters
Purse: Harajuku Lovers from Macy's

On Shelley (right):
Hoodie: Marshalls
Husky Shirt: Vintage
Jeans: Old Navy
Belt: Thrifted
Converse: Nordstrom Rack
Helmet: Bell
Backpack: REI

The Glamour is Hysterical!!

I was flipping through the pages of the newest Nylon and one picture in particular caught my attention. It was a babydoll dress with some sort of multi-colored print. Upon closer inspection I found out it was a collaboration with the brand Hysteric Glamour and Courtney Love. I guess they could only prop her up out of her drug induced stupor for a little while because they only designed one dress together (haha). But honestly, I'd rather see one really cute dress than a bunch of boring ones, so I think a congratulations are in order for Courtney on a job well done.

Above (Left to right): Photo in Nylon magazine and closeup of the print featuring pictures from Courtney Love's Hole days.

About That Time Again!

Today marks the last day of my one week break between Summer and Fall quarter. So in celebration I've decided to post a little something. Actually, I just feel like I should post something since I had a whole week to do so and I didn't.

My friend Jake (who styled my hair and did my makeup in this post) made me watch Lady Gaga's music video for her song Paparazzi. And if you know me, then you already know you pretty much have to tie me down in order to get me to watch videos on You Tube, partially because of the über obnoxious loading time.

Anyway, the video FINALLY loaded on my super slow internet connection and it was amazing! I like Lady Gaga anyway but the story line was compelling as well. Towards the end of the video, she is wearing a very interesting outfit I recognized as being a Jeremy Scott dress. After digging even deeper into the depths of the internet, on his website I found that he did a whole collection inspired by Mickey Mouse.

Above (starting from the top image and going clockwise):
Lady Gaga in the Jeremy Scott dress and sunglasses by him as well;
A Jeremy Scott dress from the runway (I just liked the silhouette of this one);
The dress from the Paparazzi video, off the runway.

Quickly...

I would like for someone to tell me that this is not one the CUTEST pieces of clothing they've ever seen! By UK design house Antoni & Alison, this makes me want to run around town wearing a beret, baguette in hand!

She & She

While researching for my post on Anna Sui's line for Target, I made my way over to Erin Fetherston's website. On the home page there's a slideshow of a photoshoot for her Fall/ Winter line. As I looked through the pictures one girl in particular looked familiar. I finally realized that the girl was Zooey Deschanel, an actress and singer (for the band She & Him). Here are the photos for your viewing pleasure!

Jimmy Choo for H&M

While browsing the internet, I found an article that will make all true accessory lovers swoon. Jimmy Choo is designing a line of shoes and bags for H&M. And not only that, Jimmy Choo has also designed a line of clothing inspired by the accessories. Again, clothing inspired by the accessories, not the other way around. And even more exciting is that this collaboration also includes a line of men's shoes, bags and other accessories.

Above: A sneak peak of the Jimmy Choo line for H&M.

Update: Jimmy Choo for H&M will be available in stores November 14th!

Photoshoot!

At the beginning of this quarter, I decided that I wanted some cool pictures taken of me for this blog and I am just now getting around to putting them up... two months later. Better late than never is my new motto!

Modeling turned out to be a lot harder than I anticipated! I had watched America's Next Top Model for years (before getting sick of Tyra Banks' ego) and wondered why some of those girls just couldn't take a good picture. But it is not about smiling and looking pretty. You have to get the perfect angle so it doesn't make you look like you're missing a limb or something.

Above: In the Art Institute's Photography Studio.

Dress: Betsey Johnson's Vintage Re-issue
Leggings: Target
Shoes: Delicious

Hair and Make-up: Jake Treat

These three pictures were pretty much the only three that came out but that was enough for me! Standing in heels on a concrete floor for an hour or so is not my gig. But not only do I now have a cool profile picture, I can upload them to Lookbook.nu, and use them as outfit pictures on here!

The Dress of My Dreams!!

Recently, I've been getting better and better about discovering and following blogs that I think are really awesome and Keiko Lynn's is one example. In addition to being the outfit queen of Brooklyn, she also sells clothing on her website Postlapsaria, which is how I found this lovely piece of clothing.

Most of my readers already know how obsessed I am with pin-up girls because they a) know me and have seen my tattoo (Native American pin-up girl, Pond Skipping Moon Flower) and b) have been in my apartment to see that my walls are pretty much plastered with pin-up girl posters. Anyway, as mentioned in a previous post, red, white and blue is my favorite color combination and I love anything slightly resembling sailor uniforms, explaining why it was love at first sight in regards to this dress.

Above: Keiko in her Reconstructed Nautical Dress design!

This dress easily qualifies as one of my favorites as it encompasses an amazing color palette, a classic silhouette, and a little sailor girl spirit. Even though this dress has already been sold, a girl can certainly dream...

Keep it up, Keiko!

R.I.P. Laptop

My laptop has (almost) officially kicked the bucket. For the past four months or so, probably longer, it has been freezing for no reason apparent to me. Has it been dropped a few times? Of course, I've had it for three years, but that doesn't make this any less upsetting.

I dragged my friend Anthony with me to University Village on Friday night to take my baby to the Apple Store and see if I could get it fixed. I knew the warranty was going to be up soon if it wasn't already, but this problem had to be solved regardless. So I take it in and the guy who helped me, Steve, has helped me at the Lynnwood store before so I just had a good feeling about this. The conclusion we come to is that we have no idea why it's freezing so it got sent out to be repaired because the equipment at this other place is more comprehensive. I also find out that my warranty had expired four days earlier, but Steve got a manager to override the expired warranty since I had brought my laptop in for the same problem before and since it was so close to the expiration date.

Now you may be wondering "why the hell is Chelsea explaining all this?" Well, me, without a laptop equals no for real blogging for a while. And once I get it back, I'll be making up for lost time, catching up on all the homework I couldn't do this weekend. Also, finals are coming up fast so blogging time will be taking a back seat. But I do think that finishing up this quarter and not totally failing is a legit reason.

More updates and posts as soon as possibláy!

My Trip to New York

A few months ago, my Grandma Merrell called me and left a voicemail saying "Hey Chelsea's voicemail, it's Grandma, I just wanted to know if you wanted to come to New York with me for your Uncle Louie's wedding and I'll pay for everything. Gimme a call back and let me know." I got this message just a few minutes later and was screaming with excitement, as you can imagine. And I, of course, called back immediately accepting this once in a lifetime offer.

So August 5th through the 8th I went to mecca, a.k.a. New York, New York. The purpose of the trip was to go to the wedding but how can anyone expect a fashion design student to be focused solely on family activities when in the Big Apple for four days?

Grandma and I flew into JFK around 5PM EST. We took two different subways into Manhattan and got to our hotel and checked in around 7PM. Fast forward an hour or two and I was on a subway uptown to hang out with my cousin Geena. We decided to catch another subway back downtown and ended up chain smoking throughout Times Square, just taking in the sights.

Above: Outside the Virgin Records store in Time Square.
Dress: Mac & Jac (Macy's)
Shoes: Vans (Urban Outfitters)

The next day we caught a cab to St. Patrick's Cathedral. The wedding was very intimate and very beautiful. How could it not be in a place like that?! Anyway, it followed 8AM Mass, so after the reception we took our tired selves back to our respective hotels for a cat nap and met up again that afternoon to walk around Central Park. The rest of our family got preoccupied with some guy and his collection of hula hoops, so while they were busy, Geena and I headed over to one of the park's many large rocks for a smoke or two. There we met some guys and one of them, Justin, had five passes his Mom scored from work and took us to the Museum of Modern Art. The art was amazing, to say the very least, and hanging out with three cute guys didn't suck either. On our way back to Geena's hotel, we walked through Central Park again and found a charming little bridge.

Above: Somewhere in Central Park.
Dress: Pinkerton (Anthropologie)
Shoes: Rainbow Sandals

The next day, Geena, Carly (her sister and my cousin), my Grandma and I went shopping all across town including Mood Fabrics, Canal Street, and Century 21 (a discount designer department store). I bought some amazing fabrics for my upcoming line, Valentino and Balenciaga knock-off bags and a little white dress. The last day we were there, Geena, my Grandma and I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art because I wanted to see the Costume Institute. Let me tell you now, that if you plan on going to the Costume Institute in the next two years, don't, because it's closed for the next two years. However I did get to the see the Model as Muse exhibit which was just as well.

Above: Outside the Model as Muse exhibit at the Met.

The wedding was amazing, Grandma had a ton of fun being shown around the sites (she hadn't been to New York in fifty or so years), we shopped 'til we dropped, and got to see all the art I had could have ever dreamed of. I'd have to say it was a very successful trip!

How I Spend my Breaks

Last night while lab monitoring and today on my break at Alchemy Goods I did another Polyvore set. This time around I chose stripes, but only those that were blue, red, black and white; typical Chelsea. I had to post it on here because my sets keep getting better and I have to share my excitement with my readers, all five of you, haha.

Target's Go International!

It wasn't until I was in my last semester of high school that I even heard about Target's Go International line and up until recently I wasn't ever very excited about it. I first got excited about it because Alexander McQueen's McQ label was launching a line for them and I squealed with delight a few weeks ago when I found out that both Anna Sui and Rodarte (due for release sometime in December) were doing lines for Target too. Anna Sui's line is launching September 13th and it's inspired by the female characters of Gossip Girl. Look for advertisements for it in the September issue of Vogue as well as a spread in Nylon.

From left: The Blair, Serena, Vanessa, and Jenny.

Each of the designs encapsulates each character perfectly. Blair's dresses are very girly, Serena's are cute and sexy, Vanessa's are urban bohemian and Jenny's mix punk and schoolgirl.

Vicious Studs

My friend Jake recently told me about a website, Polyvore, where you can make a page with a collage of your favorite items with the idea of representing a certain trend or theme. While lab monitoring I decided to toy around with it and this is what I came up. Studs are looking like a major fall trend and that's what I chose.

The Obligatory M.I.A. Post

There was a period of about 3 months where I didn't post a single thing, so let me catch you up. Nearly everything went according to plan. I got the internship at Alchemy Goods and I've been happily filing and QC-ing products since the beginning of July. The most exciting thing about interning at Alchemy Goods is that I've been given the opportunity to design a bag, present it to the owner, and possibly get it put into production!

A few weeks ago I got a voicemail on my cell phone saying I had been awarded one of the scholarships I applied for last quarter through my Dad's work. Fast forward three days and I had two envelopes in the mail. One from the ILWU (my Dad's union) and one from some woman I had never heard of. Naturally I opened the more mysterious of the two first and all that was enclosed was a check from the scholarship committee for $1000! After my squealing had subsided I opened the other envelope explaining that I had been invited to a lunch banquet to celebrate that I had won one of the two of the Laura Yearka scholarships.

At the end of June, I left Urban Outfitters because my availability was no longer going to work with my summer schedule. A smart decision on my part because I picked up two extremely flexible part time jobs, one as a lab monitor and tutor at my school and the other at the Seattle Athletic Club. So between my five classes, interning, and working two jobs, I'm away from my house at least 48 hours a week.

And there we have it. My (oh, so legitimate) reasons behind my infrequent posting!

MAC Makeup Art Cosmetics Collection

Tonight I had the opportunity to have a little fun and go to the MAC unveiling for their new products, the Makeup Art Cosmetics Collection, at University Village. This collection is all about celebrating makeup as an art form and Mac chose three different artists to aid in its design. They are as follows: Richard Phillips, a painter who focuses on photo realism; Maira Kalman, an illustrator who's style is colorful and playful; and Marilyn Minter, a photographer who renders erotic imagery.

"Der Bodensee" by Richard Phillips, retouched with MAC products.

The unveiling party was packed full of people drinking wine (with Jake and I picking a nice Sauvignon Blanc) and getting their portraits sketched by local artists. It wasn't a large release but it did stand out from their usual line of products. I picked up a technakohl liner from Maira Kalman's collection, an electric blue named Artistic License.

Maira Kalman's collection of technakohl liners. Mine is on the far left!

While the party wasn't all that it was hyped up to be, the collection was pretty impressive. All the colors popped, true to MAC form, but in a more exciting, modern way.

Taking It to the Blog

It's probably not obvious to anyone but me, but I have slacking on my posts. Working on my portfolio is taking up all of my time but now that I've been making tons of progress I actually enjoy working on it. As of right now we're in Week 8 and my entire portfolio including designed business cards and leave behinds are due in two weeks. I've finished quite a few boards and just have to add the final touches to them. Right now I'm mostly focusing on my technical boards and I'll soon be making a trip to Pacific Fabric in Northgate to buy my fabric swatches for each line.

Last week the tutor in my Portfolio class was helping a fellow student out with starting her website and while said student was working, Kristin, the tutor, noticed that I was having trouble learning how to use Adobe Photoshop. Alena is a good teacher and helped me a lot with the program but it was a little like the blind leading the blind (since she's new at it too) so I was really glad when Kristin asked if I needed any help. What I was trying to do is fairly simple; to make my boards have some sort of continuity between all the different lines I decided to put a frame around each technical and concept picture that coincides with each line's main theme. Alena taught me how to outline the frame and make it so I could put a picture behind it but Kristin helped me with how to use all the different layers and really do exactly what I was thinking in my head, which has made my portfolio really come together.

Now that I've got those necessary Photoshop skills down along with those in Illustrator I've been gaining some serious momentum on my entire portfolio. So much that I've sort of neglected the fact that I need to design a business card and leave behind along with planning out gifts for employers as if I was really graduating. While I know my "company" is going to be Chelsea Purcella Designs, I still want my business card to revolve around the whole Mad Girl theme with my logo being what reflects that. I'm currently working on designing some sort of girl pouting and figuring out the format for the actual layout of the business card.

Something else I've been working on, that I mentioned in my first post, is applying for scholarships and internships. I've applied for a couple scholarships through my Dad's union, one of which I actually won a couple years ago, so hopefully I've got a shot this time around. Also, in February I attended Magic, which is one of the largest apparel trade shows in the industry. And while exploring the Green (read: environmentally friendly) section we ran into a Seattle based company called Alchemy Goods. They make messenger bags for bicyclists and other accessories that are made out of recycled bike inner tubes. My teacher, Karin, exchanged business cards with the woman we talked to so she could send us opportunities for internships. Just within that last two weeks Karin was contacted about an internship they had for marketing and gave me the information about it. She helped me spruce up my resume and we sent it off to them. While the internship is for marketing, as opposed to design, I think it's going to be a really valuable learning experience. What I am really excited about though is that Alchemy Goods focuses on accessories, which is something I'd like to do later in my fashion design career and I'm all about getting my foot in the door anywhere I can.

As you can see, my life has been pretty busy since I'm juggling a full class load, a part-time job and trying to maintain some sort of personal/ social life. So if everything goes as planned, I'll get scholarship money and be able to cut my hours at Urban Outfitters so I can intern and make my life that much easier.

On a final note, I was walking home from the Folklife festival with my friend Anthony today and I was telling him how I thought it was a little pathetic that I was really excited to be at school all day tomorrow (on a day I don't even have class) just to work on patterns and boards. That was when he pointed out that that wasn't a pathetic thing at all because it means I love what I do. Good point.

Jelly, Jelly, Jelly Time!

Lately, I've been going window shopping in Nordstrom to do a little trend research for myself and for a little design inspiration. What I've been noticing, not only when I go shopping but also when I scour my fashion magazines, is that jelly sandals are making a comeback.

The first time I noticed them I was shopping with my friend, fellow fashion designer and blogger, Eunice. We were admiring the designer shoes when we, inevitably, walked to the Chanel and saw black jelly flip flops with a big white flower on top. My immediate reaction was "Oh, that's just Karl Lagerfeld for you..." But a few weeks later, I missed my bus so I walked into Nordstrom to kill some time. Again, I walked by the shoes and some Tory Burch flats caught my eye. When I got closer I saw that they were jelly flats! That was when I realized that this was no wacky Karl Lagerfeld reinvention.


Then just a few days ago I was reading the Spring 2009 V magazine and came across an advertisement for Melissa Plastic Dreams, a shoe company based out of Brazil that makes all of their shoes out of plastic.


While doing a little more digging into the Melissa website, I saw that she has had an ongoing collaboration with one of the most infamous fashion designers around, Vivienne Westwood. It took me about three clicks to even notice that this shoe was a bi-product of Vivienne Westwood; what attracted me to the shoe was that it's red and blue and has a big heart on it! So not only does it include one of my favorite color combinations but this shoe also toes the line of fashion becoming Pop art, which serves as one of my main inspirations.

All in all, I'm really excited for these jelly sandals. They've slowly been making their way back into our summer wardrobes and now that they're being designed by the likes of Tory Burch and Karl Lagerfeld, it is much to my delight that I bust out my own.

Print Designs

One of the things I'm working on for my portfolio is a set of print designs. I am picking three different regions to take my inspiration from, and at the suggestion of one of my teachers, Karin, they'll all be designed with graffiti in mind. Lately, everything I see serves as inspiration, but graffiti especially, with the names Banksy and Shepard Fairey (of the Obey fame) coming to mind.

The first region I chose was Africa. The geometric shapes and patterns seemed very unique to that lo-cal and a great place to start in the realm of print design. Also, the masks used in tribal ceremonies serve as excellent inspiration.

Japan was next on my list of locations, mostly because it is home to one of the largest and well known fashion movements; Harajuku. Harajuku is a shopping and entertainment district in Tokyo and every Sunday young adults come to this area to socialize dressed in the style of Gothic Lolita.

The last place I picked was Mexico! I've very recently been obsessed with their literature and their language, but also with the unique embroidery that is often on traditional Mexican peasant dresses. The dresses I'm talking about are usually white with bright flowers stitched on the top half of the garment.


Each of these areas have such a distinct flavor that, really, I had no other choices than these. What is going to be difficult about designing these prints is deciding which aspects of each culture to illustrate and then render in Adobe Illustrator. I have a feeling that drawing out a rough sketch of each and scanning it to trace in Illustrator later will be my best bet. And it all begins tomorrow!

White House Correspondents' Dinner

In Washington D.C. this weekend, approximately 2,500 guests from the fashion, film, and political worlds graced the city with their presence. Historically, the White House Correspondents' Dinner has been an annual event since 1920 with the President himself, this year being my beloved Barack Obama, as the guest of honor. Wanda Sykes, the guest speaker, brought the jokes, but Michelle Obama brought the fashion.

For her first White House Correspondents' Dinner as First Lady, she opted for a fuchsia Michael Kors dress. She is an excellent example of how less really is more. Also from the fashion world was Donatella Versace, in a gold creation of her own. According to the Women's Wear Daily coverage, none of the attendees dressed in overly elaborate gowns, which I think reflects the state of the global economy but also shows how economics effect the fashion industry.

First Post!

It's time to celebrate! Well for me anyway. Just this past week, I've gotten really excited about starting a blog around the realm of fashion and how it relates to what I'm doing. And now I've decided to do it; albeit I really have no idea how to get my page to look quite how I would like it to, but that will be fixed soon enough.

As I type, this is my 7th quarter in college, so technically, I'm a junior. This quarter's class load is a little rough especially with the added responsibility of perfecting my portfolio within the next four weeks. I've decided to re-do every technical board in Adobe Illustrator, apply for an internship, two scholarships and enter the Report Shoe design contest, all while holding down my part-time job at Urban Outfitters.This week is all about finalizing my plan for getting everything done by the time grades are due and we are out for our three week summer break.

I already have three to four blog posts planned out, so stay tuned! Besides those posts, one thing I definitely want to do is keep my camera on me at all times and take pictures of people whose outfits inspire me in some way. Also, I want to try to pick out noteworthy clothing and accessories that coincide with my sense of design and post them here.

Everything will be worth your while, I swear!