Nick Cave

On March 3rd our co-op class got the opportunity to visit the Cincinnati Art Museum to see the Nick Cage exhibit. Nick Cage is a textile artist. Textile art is art that uses plant, animal, or synthetic fibers to construct practical or decorative objects. Nick Cage is currently in his early 50s and went to school at the Kansas City Art Institute. In the summers he studied with a dance theater in New York. His mix of art and dance inspired him to create his "sound suits". These are suits that are made of different textiles and materials, usually very tall, where one cannot see the head of the wearer. His tallest pieces are up to 11 ft tall. One piece has a huge circular dome looking piece of wire running along the inside that rests on the shoulders of the mannequin. There were also two large "tondo's" in the exhibit, which are round textile patterns mounted on the wall. They were very intricate and handmade. Cave requested not to have any labels on his works explaining what they are because he wants the viewer to experience it on their own and come up with their own interpretations. He uses materials such as buttons, doily's, sequins, beads and more. All his pieces are very colorful and busy. He obtains most of his materials from secondhand stores and flee markets. He takes what we already have and what we don't want anymore and makes it new again into something beautiful. His designs are pulled from all different cultures to bring them together in a metaphorical sense in order to support his idea of community building.I thought this was a really cool exhibit and I would definitely recommend checking it out!

In the museum

One of the Tondo's

A sound suit

A close up of the second tondo

Formal! AKA: Dress central

On Friday my sorority KKG (Kappa Kappa Gamma) had a formal/date party, and you know what that means...loads of cute cocktail dresses!! So here are some pictures of my sisters and I before we left for our formal in Newport, enjoy :) 

My Date :)

Studio Visit to Lindsey Luisignolo

On February 24th our co-op class was able to go to an adorable little boutique run by designer and taylor Lindsey Luisignolo, a former University of Cincinnati graduate. Our class was able to visit her boutique as well as view some of her designs and listen to her talk about her business, school, how she got where she was ect. She is a very talented and popular designer in Cincinnati. All of her dresses are custom designed and made for the client. Many women go to her for fancy evening gowns or cocktail dresses but  her specialty is wedding dresses. The process between the first consult to the end product can take anywhere from 8 to 12 weeks but the dresses she creates are beautiful. I would describe them as simple classic silhouettes with unique and fashion forward details and fabrics. I loved everything she showed us. She co-oped in new york for a number of companies doing many designs. She also takes UC co-ops to work for her which I'm sure many people will take advantage of after this visit. Linsey has made appearances in a few magazines as well as had her designs modeled. She has been in Cincinnati's fashion week a few times. But what I find really inspiring is that even after she co-ped for many different design companies and had jobs lined of for her in New York she decided to do something very risky and start her own business right out of school. It took a lot of work to get where she is now but I find her very inspirational since she is doing whats she loves and is quite successful. All in all the visit was a really fun experience. 
Here are some pictures of Lindsey showing one of her designs that was molded on the cover of Venue magazine as well as a few other pictures I took in the boutique. 
Boutique's address: 1329 Main Street Cincinnati, OH 45220

   

Macy's Career Connections Event

On Friday February 17 my co-op class attend the Career Connections Event at TUC. Macy's was kind enough to show their clothes modeled for our class in a little fashion show. The looks were mainly business wear for every day while we are on our co-ops as well as nicer dresses for cocktail parties or going out. There was one black pants suit that was modeled that I loved. There was something about the cut of it that caught my eye. The pants were high wasted and the jacket was cropped, and the flowy blouse underneath completed the outfit so well. It made me want to go out and get a pants suit immediately. Needless to say when I get home for break I am definitely going shopping. 
Unfortunately I don't have pictures from the show because it was the day before my phone broke which had all my pictures on it. But I will however show a few pictures of looks from the Macy's web sight that were similar to the ones we saw. 

check out these and more business wear outfits at:

http://www1.macys.com/shop/womens/apparel/suits-suit-separates?id=39096&edge=hybrid

   

Catching Up

Alright so I've been having some technical issues with my computer and my phone, that being said I haven't been able to blog for the past few days. But everything is fixed now so I can finally post again :) Yay!  I have a lot to catch up on so I will now bombard this blog with posts. Enjoy :)