MORE NYC PLANNING

Whilst having a brief idea of the things I want to do, I have researched further by using different platforms such as YouTube to be able to get a feel of what New York is really like. Here a few of the most useful ones I have found:

So here are more things that I want to do...

Go to the High Line, Grand Central, shop on Fifth Avenue, Little Italy, China Town, the list goes on... With just over a week until I go I am getting more and more excited. It is about time I began to pack though, I'll keep you updated on how that one goes!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Firstly, Merry Christmas!

This is just a quick post to wish you all a Merry Christmas and share with you my favourite Christmas advert of this year. It is not one that is plastered over the TV, yet a Mulberry tradition for the past year or two.

I just find this advert quite hilarious yet very clever. It takes the famous Baby Jesus narrative and turns into something of their own. Magical, and quite the #MulberryMiracle

Once again, Merry Christmas!

NYC PLANNING

With only a few weeks until I go on a trip to New York, which has come around quicker than imagined, it is about time I began planning on what I hope to do whilst I am in New York!

BROOKLYN:
Trust me to start with the one that is the furthest away! It is an area of culture packed with exciting things to do, eat and see. For me, visiting Brooklyn Bridge is a must, and being able to experience the subway to get there is another bonus!

UPPER EAST SIDE:
I can completely fan girl and pretend I am Blair from Gossip Girl, what more could I want?! This is one the areas I am most excited about going to, not only for the Gossip Girl reasons (try to believe me) but there are plenty of things to see and experience in and round this area also. Near to Central Park, so I can ice-skate and obviously visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art to then doing a spot of shopping and go to the ever famous cupcake ATM!

AND EVERYTHING ELSE TOURISTY...
like going up the Empire State, or The Rockefeller, or going to Times Square and obviously going to Sephora!

SUMMATIVE BRIEF - ADVERT COMPARISON

As part of our overall module grade, we have been set an individual brief to do over the Christmas break based upon brands and retail. The brief is called 'Market Visual Awareness' in which we visually analyse different aspects of the fashion industry.

From our previous trend work that we have done, we have been asked to choose one category to focus on for the whole of this brief. From our research, we had the choice to choose from check, herringbone, fur, the wrap coat or the trench coat. I have chosen to look at fur as the main category as I feel that it is an opened ended option in which I will be able to explore and look into at a further depth.

The brief is split up into three-
1) Brand and Retail Promotion Visual Analysis
2) Visual, Historical and Cultural Analysis
3) Contextual analysis, Idea and Concept

Further to this, each task is then split up into further tasks. The one that I am focussing on first is task 1a, in which I have to compare two adverts from a different market level.

Through research, I have found a variety of examples from a high end market level. I have found for sourcing these images, the best way personally is to search using pinterest, then click on an image example. This takes you to the original source/website which then houses more examples.

A website which I have found particually helpful is:

http://www.fashiongonerogue.com/best-fall-winter-2015-ad-campaigns/

As it has picked out some of the best current advert campaigns. With such a choice and variety of ads, it made it easy to clearly see which ones included my topic that were still edgy and interesting enough to analyse!

I found finding advertising campaigns at a mass market level to be much more difficult. When searching on Pinterest it was only ever editorials on offer, with the odd advertisement that didn't fit my category of fur. I resulted to doing a simple Google search, and after a while I began to find a couple of examples. Here are the best two that I felt were appropriate for my research:

TIME MANAGEMENT

Every Thursday, we have a 45 minute session with Teaching Assistants, who have not long graduated off the FCP course themselves. This allows us current students to be able to relate to them, and talk about any issues we are concerned with, instead of speaking to our course leaders.

The session last week was on time management, as this was a subject that a lot of people felt they needed help with. It can be hard to balance going to uni, doing the work outside of uni both independently and within a group, having a job and then trying to find time to have a life and go home.

Personally, I feel that my time management is fairly good. I can meet deadlines, get the work done and still find time to relax at the end of the day. Although, after work- the end of the day is usually 9pm! But none the less, it's still time.

As with everything, there is always room for improvement. The best way for me to organise myself is to write things down. I always know exactly what I have to do, but when it's wrote down, I know I can't forget. Seeing a list of things to do, and being able to tick them off throughout the day is very satisfying! I used to just do this on a bit of scrap paper, but I have now found an alternative- this 'Daily Journal'. Not only is it beautiful aesthetically, but it is very practical as well!

Each page is split up into sections. You can add the date yourself, which I find handy, because you aren't restricted. If there is a day where you're doing nothing then leave it out!

It has a notes section, a to do list, a time table and objectives section. There is room for everything. Here are some examples of how I use and fill this out...

I use pencil on the timetable section to block off the times that I can't do something. Basically the times I have committed to other things like going to uni and going to work. The blank spaces are free time for me to manage and organise myself.

I've decided to not only organise my time better, but prepare better as well. By writing things like a meal plan, it allows you to keep track of what you're eating. This also helps me budget wise. As by writing down everything I eat, I then know what I need to buy instead of buying things I think I need, that only end up being thrown away!

This journal is quite big with lots of pages. It will definitely take me through my first year of uni, if not my second as well.

I hope you enjoyed looking at how I like to organise myself, and how I spend my days!

This is available at Urban Outfitter at £13.50 with student discount!

COTTON CAUTION

Cotton is a white fibrous substance which surrounds the seeds of the cotton plant, which is then taken and made into a textile fibre and thread for sewing. It goes through a long process before it becomes usable or useful.

It is a material which is used in so many garments. Nearly everything I own is made up of a percentage of cotton. Its ready and easy to wear nature makes it an important material in the fashion industry due to popularity. However, you would never expect a bit of cotton to cause any sort of problems. It's just cotton, right? 

Well no, because conventional cotton is one of the most unsustainable fibres in the world. Picking the cotton is a job which is classed as forced labour. Making it tedious and dangerous. To produce the cotton, just one shirt uses 2,700 litres of water and a lot of pesticides. These pesticides cause 350,000 deaths of farmers a year, leaving a further million hospitalised also. 

It is shocking how you never hear about these disasters that happen from producing what is seemly an easy material for the sake of fashion. It is almost a secret that happens behind the scenes. I feel that it is important to raise awareness of the issues within the environment and society due to the cost of fashion and fast fashion. It is unnecessary and could be easily prevented if there were more regulations and people took more care.