Rose-Colored Lenses

Tuesday

Ooh La Leg Documentary!

Check out the documentary I did on the American fashion trends of the early to mid 1960's!

Sunday

Let's just be honest! Let's just be real! (addressing the anxiety elephant in the room)

Hello wonderful internet community! It feels like it's been forever since I last posted a new article on this site (yeah Tay a little over 8 months...great job!) which i sincerely apologize for, and I know I have a lot of explaining to do! However; after a very long hiatus full of anxiety, interning, college, work, and much self reflection, I am back for good to continue what I started!

When I first started this blog I imagined it as a creative outlet to share with friends and complete strangers, my creative works and my opinions on the costumes/designs and fashion elements in today's media. Through showcasing costumes in particular films and media; I hoped to cause the the viewer/audience to consider or notice certain elements that they otherwise would not. As viewers we often become so engrossed in the story telling, plot twist and character development of a television show, movie, etc. that we barely have time to acknowledge and appreciate the visual components that cause us to connect.

To put it simply, I created this blog because I absolutely love the entertainment industry! I am a very visual person and often times sentimental.(why do you think this blog is called rose-colored lenses) I'm pretty sure there is a quote somewhere about life being a series of moments and the entertainment industry allows us to experience various moments that we otherwise would have never dared or dreamed. Through this blog I hope to focus on and expound upon the many moments in entertainment that we loved(loved to hate), and how the costumes/wardrobe influenced them.

uhh.... thanks tumblr?

Your probably thinking "Okay...so what happened? Writing about something your genuinely interested in and passionate about may be stressful but it should be a piece of cake right?" Well sure and for most people it probably is! My dilemma however; is not the dreaded writer's block that inevitably plagues many an author. *Fun fact I have about 14 article drafts sitting in my folder right now* No, my dilemma lies in the fact that I tend to procrastinate when feeling stressed, and as a person who has been medically diagnosed with an anxiety disorder; I tend to feel stressed out a lot!

For those of you who don't know, anxiety is a normal part of the human experience, it is an emotion that everyone has or will at some point or another feel at some point in their lives. Feelings of anxiety or nervousness can occur when there is trouble at work, before an important decision needs to be made, or a grade-changing exam needs to be taken. However anxiety disorders vary in that the worry and fear a person feels is constant and overwhelming to the point that it impacts the person's ability to live a normal life.

This stunning photo by Katie Crawford captures what it can be like for those who suffer from an anxiety disorder

"My head is filling with helium. Focus is fading. Such a small decision to make. Such an easy question to answer. My mind isn't letting me. It’s like a thousand circuits are all crossing at once." -Katie Crawford

During high school, I had pretty much planned out how my life would be through college and where I would be in my career/social life four years later. I pretty much expected things to just fall into place. I mean why not right? I pretty much did everything right. I did well in high school, was in a lot of clubs, never got in any fights, or drug/alcohol related incidents. I knew exactly who I wanted to be and what I wanted to do in life!

So when life, took a very sharp and unexpected turn left, it unraveled me. Without a backup plan, or anything new and concrete to get myself back on track I completely spiraled, kind of like Blair Waldorf in Gossip Girl when she found out she got rejected from Yale (but with much less destructive behavior and alcohol involved). My life no longer looked the way it was supposed to, and try as I might to stay positive and salvage what was left of the path I had previously laid out for myself; I realize now, that I was only becoming more and more lost.

My anxiety would cause me to have panic attacks and intervals of severe depression. As a means of coping I would ignore or put off any stressful thing that didn't require my immediate attention (horrible, HORRIBLE way to cope by the way). In return, I neglected not only this blog but other things in my life like my academic career, appearance and social life.

So why write now? Honestly, I have been wanting to write about this for a while but I wasn't sure if this was the right platform to do so. The thought of having complete strangers, my peers or friends getting a glimpse of a time in my life when I was at my lowest and at my most vulnerable, definitely made uploading this difficult. However, I've been wanting to move forward with my blog for some time and I feel like addressing part of whats been holding me back will help me progress and could potentially help someone else dealing with anxiety or any other stumbling block in life.

Much like Rapunzel in Tangled I chose to stop waiting for my life to begin. Dr. Phil once said, "Life rewards action" and for some reason that still really resonates with me. I realize that ignoring your problems does not make them go away; you must actively seek to change them. Although I still struggle with my anxiety disorder, I strive everyday to be active in being the person I want to be and living the life I want to live.

I'm still unsure of which path I'll take or exactly what my future will be. My life is vastly different than what I imagined it would be four years ago, and my path is definitely different than the traditional road to success, but that's okay. In fact, it's more than okay! And for the first time, in the three years that I've told myself this... I actually do believe it.

If you would like to learn more information about anxiety disorders check out some of these amazing links below.

And a special thanks to these websites and blogs for helping me gif this article up!

Wednesday

My first internship! (Dressmaking, beading, alterations and more)

Share on Tumblr Okay ladies and Gents its been a while but I'm finally back! These past few months have honestly been so hectic. There's been ups and downs and hardly anytime for fun; but in the midst of figuring everything out for college, housing etc, taking classes and working part time I've managed to find myself a truly amazing internship on my own! In the past month, I've already learned so much and I'm very excited to share with you all what I'm working on, where I've been, who I've met and everything in between during this experience.

Sewing cat sews! *so cute*

So Tay what does the internship consist of?
Basically right now I'm working with an amazing experienced Dressmaker/Seamstress named Michelle Nnolum. Michelle has recently opened up a storefront called Sew Pretty Studio, in Haddonfield New Jersey where she does alterations, designs and constructs custom made gowns/ wedding dresses and is now teaching classes for sewing. And although the store is new, Michelle has worked in the industry and been affiliated with different stores like Macy's and Saks 5th avenue for over 20 years! While working with Michelle I'll be working on alterations, bead work, lace applique, constructing garments, cutting out patterns (basically anything and everything she needs help with lol) etc.

Lets go back in time to the beginning of the summer. After being less than fulfilled at my artistic and design oriented deli job at Wawa (sarcasm heavily included); I decided it was time for me to start looking for potential internship opportunities during the summer. Of course I stayed involved in fashion and costume design while I was out of school; looking for the right college to transfer into, and I kept myself busy with different personal projects (this blog included), designing different costumes,and making collages. I was confident in my drawing skills but in my sewing abilities...ehhh not so much. Sure I looked up videos on you-tube and bought books on sewing ("Sewing for dummies" anyone?), but who can beat real life experience!

l wanted to do more.I wanted to learn about my craft and learn how to do it right! But most of all;I didn't want to be alone anymore.

I wanted to be around people who were passionate about the same things I was; who was actually making a successful living in an industry where that's one in a million. To meet new people and be inspired!

How did you get it?

When I say obtaining this internship was one of the least difficult things I've ever done, I really do mean it! It was as simple as asking a question, being at the right place in the right time and pursuing it. Lets be honest, the thought of doing an internship can be really scary especially if your trying to find it on your own without the help of your school or career services. When looking at a bunch of internship websites I felt so intimidated! I wanted the internship because I wanted to learn but it seemed like the ones that were listed catered to people who graduated, or already had a bunch of experience! I knew I needed to try another avenue.

A close friend of mine (check out her blog here) actually got her internship by going to a company that never interned students before but created an internship position for her after she expressed her desire to intern there. Her story inspired me to do the same and I could only think of one place that I really connected to.I loved my senior prom dress so much, and the alterations done on it made it fit perfectly and made me feel like a goddess.

I knew I wanted my internship to come from Jans boutique.

The first thing I did was call Jans Boutique where I was informed that the store contracted out their seamstresses (which basically means that they work with the seamstresses rather than the seamstresses working for them). They encouraged me to come into the store to talk the seamstresses.

Now this is where being at the right place in the right time kind of came in handy. When I got to the store; I explained my interest in and internship with one of the seamstresses and why I was there. At first, the woman at the front of the store seemed confused and said that she didn't really know if any of the seamstresses did internships. She was really nice but I of course was disappointed. At that point, another associate happened to come up to the front of the store to hang up a dress; her name was Charron and she also happened to be Prom manager (which I didn't know at the time). She heard some of our conversation and instantly mentioned Michelle. She told me that Michelle was really the only one that did internships and had even hired some of them. She told me all about the different projects she had done and what she specialized in; she also gave me Michelle's card to contact her. To say the least I was very excited!

I emailed Michelle explaining how I got her contact information, why I was emailing, my background with fashion and costume design and what I hoped to achieve and learn while interning with her. She emailed me back and we set up a time for us to meet at her house. Meeting Michelle was a treat! Even though it was technically an internship interview; I felt so comfortable and she was so easy to talk to. As soon as I walked downstairs into her work room which was filled with color, spools, mannequins and fashion/sewing books; I knew I would learn so much from her! She loved my art portfolio and told me all about her background and the different companies she worked for/how she got into sewing. It was so nice to talk to someone who was so passionate and and knew so much about alterations and dressmaking; and was also venturing out into new things with her store. I filled out paperwork, we discussed availability, and she invited me to attend a fashion show she was doing alterations for that following week (which I could luckily go to).

Ever since then I've been going to her store a couple times every week helping her with different garment making/alteration projects and also opening her store! Its only been a month and while I feel like I've learned a lot so far I know that we've only just begun to scratch the surface(especially when prom season hits!)

But I honestly can't wait and if your still with me; then be prepared to take this journey and learn with me as I go. I don't plan on stopping anytime soon, and I know things will only get more difficult.

However, I'm up for the challenge, are you?

Thanks to all these fabulouse websites for supplying the gifs in this article

· http://www.reactiongifs.com/it-isnt-fair/
· https://www.tumblr.com/tagged/lauren-conrad-gif
· http://zingmagoo.tumblr.com/
· http://giphy.com/gifs/guho3hbXEqJIk
· http://happincss.tumblr.com/
· http://phuckyodopeblog.tumblr.com/