**First, some good news:  I just took my first midterm exam in 15 years and got a 97% on it. (And I must admit that I got one wrong in just a bone-headed wrote-the-wrong-letter-choice-when-I-knew-the-correct-answer move.

**Newest pet peeve: “It’s like, you know, um, I like, went to, like, New York and like, hung out or something.” I swear to the god of your choice that some of these kids can talk for an hour and say 1 minute’s worth of conversation. I fear for them when they try to get a non-Gap job.

**Getting older stinks. I’m crapping out in my Color Theory class because I can’t see reflected color or subtle tints any longer.

**True story:  My friend’s 5^th-grader took a math test on money. She breezed through the test and then got to the last one: “How did you figure out the above answers?” Her answer: “I know my money.”

** I’m learning to loathe exchange rates and credit card balances (and yes, they are connected).

**Sleep is good. Too bad I’m seeing so little of it!

**I take the Metrolink into downtown LA four days a week (1 day for work, 3 days for classes). It’s a commuter train, and takes me 1hr 20min to 1 hour 40 minutes, depending on time of day. Generally I catch the train at either 6:30 or 7:00am, meaning I get up around 5. Welcome to the real world!

**I’m really hoping that next term I’ll have some classes that are more collaborative – I’m learning a lot, but everything is so solitary. I’m hoping to get some work that’s more group-oriented.

**We’re never as good at things as we think we will be; conversely, we’re usually much better at some things than we ever knew or will realize.

**You just can’t find Bit-o-Honey candy anywhere anymore!

As a newly-minted fashion design student (2^nd week into the program), I felt it my duty to volunteer to work the Mercedes-Benz fashion shows. Here’s the story of what happened.

First off, I volunteered for two days, but the schedule changed, so I was only needed for one. On the day I worked, I drove out to Culver City where Smashbox Studios is.  They had us park In a public garage a couple of miles away, and ran a shuttlebus over to the studios so we wouldn’t take up the small parking area. I got there before scheduled, so I located the stop and noticed a Wendy’s just a bit down the street. Not having had lunch, this was fortunate, and I could see the shuttlebus stop from there. I got my food, then sat at one of the outdoor tables (okay, ON the table, more precisely). So there I am, dressed all in black as requested by the organizers, with black sunglasses on, sitting casually on the table with a french fry in one hand and a drink in the other, and the restaurant speaker behind me blaring out the song, “Beverly Hills” when a police car rolls to a stop in front of me. Of course, I had that tiny “What did I do wrong?” thought flit through my head. The cop says to me, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you look just like a Wendy’s commercial sitting there.”   So funny!

I caught the bus, and then sat with the other volunteers for 45 minutes waiting to be told what to do. All of the other volunteers were 18 or 19 years old, some of them also FIDM students.  Finally we were herded into the studio offices, signed our confidentiality agreements and were given t-shirts and badges to identify ourselves. Then they started divvying us up. Some were chosen to work as ushers, others to check people in off the lists, and then there were the dressers. Their job is to make sure the models get the appropriate clothing on before the show, and then help them make their change into the second outfit.

Since I had not had previous experience as a dresser, I was left in the “don’t know what to do with them” group. She kept coming back, though, saying they needed more dressers. On the third trip, no one new had shown up, so she had no volunteers for that. So I, smart-aleck that I am, said, “I dress my kids, does that count?” She laughed, blew me off, and disappeared. Less than five minutes later she returned and said, “There are eleven kids in this show. You. Come with me.”  And I was in.

The show was for Ed Hardy. This line is designed by Christian Audingier.  It’s streetwear using tattoo art as embellishment. It’s actually pretty cool on an individual basis, but when each piece the model is wearing has tattoo art all over it, it’s a pretty Cirque-du-Soleil atmosphere.  But cool.

So I was ushered backstage. There was a long wide hallway lined on both sides with racks of clothing, each hanger holding the pieces with the models’ names and photos. I was sent to the end of the hall where a little annex was tented out for the kids’ section.

The kids were between 8 and 14 years old, and they were Disney-style singer/dancer/model kids. Quite amazing, and really nice. They were all accompanied by a mother, and only one of them was the “stage-mother” type.  All the other volunteers had one model to coordinate, I had eleven! But it was fine. Surprisingly, the woman supervising me let me make some styling decisions (what should be tucked/untucked, rolled up, zipped/unzipped, etc.). We had to wait until all the models got dressed (to protect them from all the naked models) to herd them into hair and make-up.  Then the mothers were dismissed and I was basically the babysitter/mother hen for the rest of the show. 

I did do one thing I was very proud of. The kids opened the show with a big dance routine, and the smallest girl told me she had to do handsprings and such in the finale. I realized that it was going to be dangerous for her, because they had put her in knitted arm mitts that went over her palms and hooked over her thumb. Slip-per-y.  She wanted to roll them up, but I knew the stylists wouldn’t want that, so we worked out when and where in her routine she would pull the thumbs out and push them up over her wrists. She did it and completed her stunts safely, so there were no kids with broken necks in the show.

Being older than the other volunteers, I also ended up the expert de facto. Anyone who had any questions about what to do and when asked me first, even though I was wearing the same volunteer shirt they did. I got big kudos from the nerve-shredded woman in charge and my supervisor, and now I get to put experienced dresser on my resume.

Rush, Rush, Rush!

I have tried to start this blog SO many times, and then something else I need to write about comes around and I’m even more behind! I’m going to have to sit here for at least an hour to get down everything. Okay, maybe two.

First, classes started! It was really nerve-wracking at first. Would it be weird to be twice as old (and yes, that would be an accurate calculation) of a lot of the students there? Would it be hard being on the other side of the desk from what I’m used to? Will I be able to learn to do homework again? Would I be any good at this?

Orientation was a little odd, since it was a lot of, “Success strategies for college students” and “What is a student loan?” pep-inspiring speeches. Thankfully, the student body was not my worst nightmare – young people with inordinate skills and fashion-plate visages. No, they’re just ordinary folks who love to be creative and different. I met a bunch who are also in the professional designation program, which means they have college degrees and are thus a little older than the average student. And I only got mistaken for an instructor a half-dozen times that day.

The first round of classes was … interesting. Typical college stuff, I guess. The teachers come in and scare the crap out of you to get you in line.

8:30am Thursday (The first class of my new career): Textile Science. Yeah, it’s about as exciting as it sounds. We’re memorizing properties of fibers, how fabrics (natural and man-made) are formed and how to differentiate between them. It tends to stick in your head, though. I got a perm last week and caught myself thinking, “The towels are a hydrophilic fabric, but the cape is a hydrophobic fabric.”

12:00 Thursday: Fashion Sketching I. We have to learn to draw figures with tiny heads, legs as long as a presidential speech and big old clown feet. The first assignment I turned in, the instructor said, “Your model’s got man shoulders, big hips and tiny feet!!!” To which I replied, “Well, look at me!” Gotta get out of my reality for this class. That assignment was the very first one in 20 years, so a B+ is not so bad! At least I know I’ll be able to kick fake-model butt when we get to shading and perspective.

8:30am Friday: Color Design and Theory.  Value scales, color wheels, complementary colors. Basically general art. The first assignment due, though, I nearly set the house on fire. Debra’s house is filled with soft, atmospheric light, which is driving me nuts because you can’t sew or do any art projects to it. So I went out and got one of those little table lamps and a clear 60 watt bulb to go in it (which fit the manufacturer’s recommendation for fire prevention). Well, the manufacturer was wrong, because halfway through my project the house was filled with the smell of burning wire. Debra wanted me to unplug it, but I said, “I can’t! It’s 10pm, the project’s due tomorrow, and there isn’t any other light source in the house I can use!” I just stuck really close to it until I was done, but I know I’m going to have to go and buy a decent lamp soon.

8:30am Tuesday: Basic Draping and Pattern Drafting. This is the real design stuff! We use dress forms to create basic patterns. You’ve seen me do this on my little mannequin, but I was just winging it. This is with all the measurements and tricks of the trade they use, so this is the class I’m finding the most helpful thus far. I think we’re going to be creating a basic blouse and skirt set by the end of the 10 weeks through this method.

12:00 Tuesday: Industrial Sewing I.  I was really discouraged the first day of this class because the very first lesson was to practice sewing straight and curved lines on an industrial sewing machine to practice control. Well, I’m good at regular sewing machines, so I thought it would be a breeze, but I just couldn’t get anything right!!! Fortunately, I found out when I had to use a different machine for my homework that it wasn’t me at all – the machine I was on was total crap! Once I’d switched, I breezed through the work with minimal problems. I know a lot of the sewing terms and tools and such, so the teacher asked me last class whether there was anything in this course so far that I didn’t know. That made me feel confident, but I did admit there were gaps in my knowledge, as well as some of the terminology, that I needed to fill in since I’m pretty much self-trained.

So those are the courses I’m taking until Christmas. So far nothing I’ve turned in is below a B+(and they don’t give out A+s), so I think I’m doing pretty well. They are CERTAINLY going to keep me busy, as there’s LOTS of homework (which I should be doing right now, but I’ve not updated anyone in so long!).

And to make me even busier…. I got a job!

Yes, on Mondays and Wednesdays I will be at work 9 to 5. How I got it is amusing. I went into the California Market Center to interview with a showroom and walked out with a job in a different showroom! Here’s how it went: The California Market Center is the heart of the fashion district in downtown LA, and about 8 blocks from my school. It’s filled with showrooms, which are basically wholesalers for designer apparel, fabric, shoes, etc. People who wish to purchase clothing to sell in their boutiques, department stores, etc come and look at the clothing in the storeroom and then order it from the manufacturer through the showroom. During Market Week (which was going on when I went in for my interview), there are representatives from all over to look at the goods. So, anyway, I went for my interview, which was for “mature” women’s wear. It was really nice clothing, the guy who interviewed me was okay, but I wasn’t feeling ecstatic about it, and you never know if you’re going to get  a position right away. So I thought, “As long as I’m here…” and walked into several of the showrooms that were displaying clothing I admired. I made a little pitch, said, “I know you’re busy this week, but here’s my resume, and let me know if you need someone part-time.” The first few places kinda blew me off, but I struck gold at the next one. It was a big showroom (they represent about 10 different design lines), and it had a lot of people in it – to the point where they were looking a little overwhelmed.  I went in and got introduced to the owner, who asked me a few questions, then he introduced me to his business partner, who asked me more, and then they said, “Well, can you start tomorrow? We really need someone for market week weekend.” So I went in and worked all day Saturday and Sunday, getting trained and watching how everything worked. By the end of Sunday I overheard Cary and Allen (the owners) saying they thought I worked out really well and they were very glad they took me on!

Oh, and part of my job was to wear some of the clothing as a walking advertisement, which was cool. Most of the stuff is sample-sized, so wouldn’t fit me, but some really cool jackets did. They say if I ever want to purchase any of the clothes, I can order it from the manufacturer at that wholesale price, as long as it’s just for myself. Cool! (But I’m resisting, so I don’t spend all the money I earn!). My job is mostly the paperwork, and it does not pay much, but I’m learning the business end of supply, so it’s going to be worth it. Oh, and if you want to see the kimono-inspired jackets I was modeling, you can check out this website: http://www.spenceralexis.com/

Well, there’s TONS more to tell you, but that’s my allotment for today. Catch you next time!