RPL

That stands for Recognition of Prior Learning. 

I decided to apply for it for one of the subjects I'm studying. Since I've already studied management in the past, I didn't want to study it again, not after I had that disappointing experience with Marketing. 

Yesterday, I had a meeting with the coordinator and I'm scheduled for a test on the 21st of June. If I pass, which I know I will (prepping myself up), I'd be free in August to enjoy the break and not think about class when I get back. =)

So, I've been refreshing my memory by going online and checking out management principles and practices. I also went to the library today but after scanning some books, I decided to go to Borders which was a good thing as I found a book that had a bit of what I was looking for.

Now, back to studying. 

Full Window Display

Today, our Visual Merchandising class ended.

As a last class work, we were to make a full scale window display.

This is what Roberta and I came up with.

Our contemporary window

But I liked Eileen and Ruki's display better. Ruki used her ball gown from last year and they gathered leaves and twigs from the nearby park.

Another contemporary window

Open Day

Melbourne School of Fashion had an open day today.

Since I never attended any open day before and since I wanted to do some work with my felt hat, I decided to go. It was also a good opportunity to see which works were selected.

Here are some photos.

JD Mannington's vintage eagle feather hat.

Arnavaz Lindsay's felt hat

Karen Jeffer's dress

Karen Jeffer's dress coat

Karen Jeffer's ball gown

Visual Merchandising

We went to Oswald Sealy and Mei+Picchi today. They have two names but they're in one place. Visual Merchandisers / Installation Artists apparently go to them to buy or rent items for shop windows and exhibitions.

Amazing stuff.  I didn't know they have different kinds of mannequins now, from the traditional to the fibre glass to size zero dynamic mannequins (they're from New York).

Then we went to RMIT's Visual Merchandising Department and I got depressed seeing how they had their own cutting studio and painting studio. They even get their own mentors and they work with different companies like Ray's and Country Road which gives students the opportunity to work with industry people while still studying.

Oh well. I'll just keep on working on my thing.

Flat Pattern Hat

Remember what I wrote about me not being artsy-crafty? Well, here's proof that I'm not. 

My first hat. It was such a disappointment even after I did several revisions. The skull cap wasn't the issue since I did a fairly good job of doing the patterns and toiled it a number of times. No, it was the actual petals that gave me the biggest disappointment. 

I thought that I could just use a hat stiffener to make the silk dupion stiff but after using quite a bit of it and letting it dry that the fabric barely got stiff. I experimented with hairs spray and wood glue but none worked. It was only on the day of submission that I realised I should have used wires to give the petals shape. But it was already too late since I've bagged out the petals and glued them together.

Lesson learned: Think everything through and don't assume reality would conform to imagination. 

Marketing Plan

I was supposed to upload some photos but then we were given this task to make a marketing plan. I had been undecided for the past weeks and now I have this week to finish it. Procrastination is never good especially if you're supposed to hand in what essentially would be your mark for the course.

So, I have decided on Roger Vivier. Yep, him again. This time it's not about the man but the brand. It's a bit satisfying showing continuity in my assignments.

Now the problems I've been encountering. I just realized that I had no idea whatsoever how much luxury brands spend on their advertising. I know that the likes of Chanel and Hermes never do TV ads unless it's for a perfume (Chanel) and they would only (as far as I know) only advertise in say Vogue US but how do they maintain brand image? Sure they use celebrities to promote their products and they come up with collections every season but do they really just depend on those? I find it intriguing to say the least.

Happenings

Lots of things happened but I was just too lazy to post. Not good when I'm trying to detail what I do. =P

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First, I finally met my mentor. The school organised a mentoring program with Holeproof, an underwear company owned by Pacific Brands. The program's objective was a bit vague in the beginning since the mentors and mentees were unsure how it was supposed to work. I had a bigger problem since my mentor only started working for the company the day after we visited Holeproof to meet our mentors and to learn about the mentoring program. I didn't have a good feeling about it since I knew that new employees would be very busy with training and orientation and a voluntary mentoring program would be an added work for them. Also, nobody could tell me about the mentor's background, whether he's a fresh graduate (in which case, I wouldn't be learning much) or someone who's had loads of experience in the industry (which would be a great thing). 

After about 3 or 4 weeks and some slightly panicky emails to the program coordinator, I finally met my mentor, F. I was invited to sit it while he gets briefed on the new design range. L, his supervisor, and F were fantastic letting me ask questions and elaborating on the answers. My eyes kinda glazed from all the info but I learned about the process of designing and the amount of work and collaboration that goes with designing and tweaking a range of underwear. F had 4 weeks to change some bits and pieces, to include graphics, to incorporate colour, etc but not tweaking too much with the silhouette all the while consulting with the other team members and the graphic print designer and staying within the price range. 

The briefing went on for an hour and a half. And I wanted to learn more but I had to leave since he had to start working. I did get his email address though so I'll be emailing him some of my questions.

***

For Fashion Business, I was surprised and happy to get my very first 100 mark. The highest I got since I started studying Fashion Design was a 97 and that was in Computer Aided Design II which was funny since I got a 67 in Computer Aided Design I. Lol.

I had to do a report on a fashion item, didn't have to be clothes, it could be shoes or bags, and write about the history of the item and how it became well-known. I wanted to do my report on the red high heels but when I found out that a lot of my classmates were doing their reports on shoes, I changed my topic to  the Wrap Dress, as popularised by Diane Von Furstenberg.

My report was a bit long but I'll try to upload it along with my report on Roger Vivier, which I did for Fashion History. Now that one I found very interesting. Not many people know about him but now that they've relaunched Roger Vivier, the label, I'm sure his fans will increase. 

***

For Millinery, we had to do a flat pattern hat. It was a hat where you had to do a pattern and cut out fabric and sew them together. I had so much problem doing the skull cap for it. I think I did 5 patterns and did 6 toiles on calico. Finally, I gave up and used sinamay, which was great for holding the shape but the rough edges makes it itchy on the head. Will have to change that I guess.

Photos will follow.