'Cuse Graduation

I officially have a master's degree! Actually, not officially yet, I still have the next 3 weeks in Charleston, SC as my capstone. Forgive me as this blog gets shoved to the back burner for that time; I'll be busy with that and this past week I moved from Syracuse back to the Chicago burbs... you never really realize how much stuff you have until it has to be packed in boxes and loaded into the back of a truck.

 

But can we talk about the ridiculous design of my grad robes for a second? Look at that stupid, hanging, square sleeve! If anything, it should be hanging off the bottom of the whole sleeve, but it isn't, it's actually hanging from the top. Dumb. 

And the hood had a point on the but that hung right above the butt. I dubbed us the Dinosaur Crew.

 

The many ways to wear a master's hood, neither of which are correct.

 

On the drive home, we stopped at this huge gorge with 3 waterfalls in the Finger Lakes, this one was on Cayuga. And notice I'm wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants. That will never happen again in public. I had a 13 hour drive ahead of me, real clothes were not going to happen. 

Upstate NY can be pretty sometimes!

VPA Spring Fashion Show at SU

Next week starts my class week of classes (ever. EVER!), thus I'm at school on a Saturday to do work. I came here so I would be less distracted. Obviously, I'm blogging. Dang.

I went to the senior VPA spring fashion show the other day (reporting for thenewshouse.com, I'll link up once it gets published), and was pretty surprised by the 35 student collections. I expected big, frilly dresses but actually saw some interesting pieces and a fair amount of tailoring. I sat at the end of the catwalk with the press section and felt like a twerp with my digital camera in a sea of huge DSLRs. I really need to learn how to use a legit camera, since I'll be running the street fashion blog for the Post & Courier in Charleston, SC in about 3 weeks.

But anyway, here are the less blurry pictures that I took of the looks that I liked and my less formal comments. For something more substantial, see... (here. once it's published :):

This collection by Amanda Rhoads was pretty riske in comparison to the others. Niiiiiiice! Glad someone did something different. She did some crazy awesome stuff with weaving and unconventional materials. And yes. That is a whip in the background. 

A fabulous collection by Annie Petersen, in which all the clothes were black. Props to her for sending her models down the runway barefoot! Loved her textured collection.

The sleeves on this top by Emily Barnes blew my mind. I didn't even notice that the sleeves were rolled up until she pulled them down. Great performance element.

Erin Marie Hedderman's collection looked Alice in Wonderland inspired to me (she even used "Heads Will Roll" by Yeah Yeah Yeahs as her music). I loved the tight corsets, they looked great from the back since all we saw was skin between the laces. Love!

The look second from the left was fabulously accessorized with that cute round travel box. And I think the middle model was the only one in the whole show to wear tall boots. Collection by Hollis L'Estrange Daniels.

I wish I had great pics for every look in this collection. Joshua Eder-Hart is an amazing tailor and craftsman and it totally showed. He had a huge variety of pieces. The program said that he won competitions for best costumes at Cons. That made me love him more. 

This collection by Lauren Nicole Kessler was super mod and chic. Great lengths on the skirts and skinny belts with round sunglasses. A very well-put together collection overall. And how fierce is the model second from the left? Git it gurl.

Maxi Britt Roberts must be a professional already as her collection was pretty spot on. She used bouquets of lavender a la Ashish Spring 2012, perfectly placed hats, and a western theme that was echoed in the music. I think it was a Johnny Cash remix? Not totally sure, but it fit wonderfully. There's a bright future for this girl for sure.

I also liked Peter Joshua Borsky's collection because he showed a variety of looks. The colors looked nice together and I loved that he used all brown oxfords instead of heels. It's an entirely wearable collection.

I loved this look from Talia Hermesh. That front white piece swayed when the model walked, really great movement.

Wei Chang Chen's collection was so cute and girly. If pastel-neutral is a color category, that's what I would use to describe it. 

And that's it for the relatively focused pics I have. Everything is way worse than these even. Shame, that. 

Syracuse Pride Pumpkin Suit

On Saturday, I experienced my first bit of grad school spirit at a football game. We got to the game super early and scored front row seats in the student section. I expected rowdy Syracuse fans in ridiculous outfits and some people did not disappoint. There were orange wigs, some body paint, headbands galore... but I made this tremendous find just down the row from me.

Look at this fabulous orange suit. He even has an orange tie AND orange sunglasses. My only complaint is that his pants need hemming. Gimme dat please, I can fix for you. And the shoes choice is a little off. Granted, it is a football game... but if you're going to wear this, at least complete your whole ensemble. Some patent tangerine shoes would have been smashing, no?

The owner at Mr. Tux would just die if he saw this. And I guarantee he could sell it to some poor prom kid who thinks he's being flashy for not wearing black. We have one super ugly sparkly navy blue tux and also a purple one that my boss always manages to rent out every year. It amazes me.

(Btw, I just labeled this under "fashion" and "football." How often does those two words coincide?)