Memoir of a future fashion designer

My junior year of High school, I had so many interest and hobbies. I began to think of what my true passion was, what I would want to do for the rest of my life. Several options ran through my mind. I focused on those that were more creative than the usual doctor, or accountant, the jobs people assume makes you money. I wanted to do something more about me, something that comes out as my own, something that can’t be claimed by someone else. Fashion design! Perfect. I could design unique clothing pieces that no one could claim as their own. Even setting trends --like legwarmers in the 80’s and flapper dresses in the 20’s –would be a goal of mine.

Before now I hadn’t thought much about fashion design. I hadn’t created any designs or sketches. At this point I researched Design schools in the area and requested in formation on them. The first school to send me something was The Academy of Art University, San Francisco.

I received a DVD of all of the majors and what previous students have created --from Animation to Interior Design. I sat watching the fashion show of the previous year on one of the DVD’s. I couldn’t believe that these were students just like me, who had a goal and went for it. Later on the DVD, they showed students who were rewarded internships to work with established fashion designers. I thought having a fashion show debuting your own collection was exciting enough, but to have the opportunity to work with your favorite designer made me more interested in learning about the industry.

In January 2007, I asked my mom if I could attend a Saturday Art Experience course at The Academy of Art University. She immediately assured me I could. I was so excited to start the class in only a month.

The first day of class the fashion students (all girls) met our instructor. Her name was Camilla. She was about 5’2’’ with a strong Asian facial appearance. She had blonde bangs and black hair with blonde streaks. She wore skinny black jeans; a black hoodie and a red t-shirt with jack the skeleton on it with polka dot flats. She had bulky charm bracelets on her right arm and simple rubber band like bracelets on the left. She wore cat-eye glasses with rhinestones on the sides that covered heavily applied mascara on her eyelashes. My first impression seeing her was that she would be more open minded than other teachers I’ve had, and would let each student do their own thing.

All of the students in my class had to brainstorm ideas for their collection. We had to find some sort of inspiration whether it was a time period or something in nature. All of us made our way to the library. I immediately knew what my inspiration would be: The 1940’s. I loved how the clothing accentuated their waists and the undergarments like bustier and corsets helped any woman improve her physical appearance. As I began downloading pictures from the Internet and reading books about the time period, I realized that pinups were another part of the decade that embraced a woman’s curves.

Walking upstairs to the studio I had so many ideas I couldn’t wait to get them down on paper. I opened the door, and looked into the room I was in just an hour before. The room was empty. I couldn’t believe how boring the room was. White walls, tall windows with long black drapes. Tall black metal tables with wood whitened tops, and high black desk chairs. Black. White. Boring. I began cutting and pasting the photographs I had downloaded into my sketchbook. I tuned out the pureness of the room and looked back over what I had researched. Then I began sketching.

The first piece I sketched was a corset inspired top with a tie up back and high-waist shorts that were cuffed at the bottoms. I really got excited about what my ending collection would look like.

Within the next three weeks I had made thirty-seven designs. Camilla had all of us students cut our collections down to eight pieces. Eight, I thought. I had thirty-seven designs and could only use eight in the final collection.

She began walking up the aisle. Each of the girls had questions for her—“How many dresses or skirts should I have?” “Pants?” “Jackets?” She told everyone to add one thing or another to balance the variety of their collection.

I walked down stairs to the light table room, were there were also samples of students work. I began to trace my figures onto vellum paper [thick construction paper], when Tessa – one of my classmates—entered the room.

Tessa had tanned skin, light brown hair that curled in waves and eyes the color of the ocean – faintly blue green. She was nearly my height, which was uncommon because Im usually the tallest girl in class. She was the only girl I had ever really talked to.

She begins to draw her figures when she notices one of the pictures I have is the same as hers. “ I have that same picture in my sketchbook” she said smiling.

We both continued drawing our finalized designs quietly. When I had finished, class was nearly over. I went back upstairs to tell Camilla that I had completed my figures. She told me that I could leave early and to bring my supplies for next week, including the presentation board.

The next week, students had their supplies and final figures. As soon as we got into the studio everyone dove right into their projects and chats with the girls around them. With me not being a social creature, I sat listening to my MP3 player. The sounds of the beats put me in a daze, a box with only me inside focused on my work. This was soon interrupted by an announcement that the class time would soon be over. Over. I had no idea so much time had passed.

I began packing up when Tessa walked over and asked if she could see my sketchbook. I handed it to her as she sat across from me. As she flipped through each of the pages, she nodded in interest.

After a while, I asked if I could see her sketches. She handed me her sketchbook from the table in front of us – which was covered in construction paper and glitter. As we flipped through each other’s books we both pointed out our favorites to each other. She liked the red pencil dress with the back cut out from my sketches. I favored her design of an empire waist dress with halter straps in red and polka dots.

The next week we had only one hour to finish our posters in class. My poster had already been finished and was laid out on the desk in front of me. Camilla came around the room in the last few minutes, reminding people that they needed to prepare what they were going to say about their collection.

I hated talking in front of groups of people, so I was really nervous. Every girl went before me. I had made sure to place my poster on the very end to make sure that I would be the last to go. Each girl went on talking about their collection: What the inspiration was, the fabrics they used and their main colors. As each girl finished her presentation the more nervous I became.

I was surprised at the compliments and feedback I had gotten from them, girls I hadn’t talked to over the eight Saturdays we had been together. They especially liked how I made each croquis [Human figure] entirely black, with the exception of the clothing. They thought that if I had draw faces, hair or shoes they would have taken away from the designs.

I was so proud of myself. I had succeeded at something that I would be able to enjoy. I knew that this was what I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing.