4 Things to Know Before Attending a Fashion School in NYC

1. Always have confidence!

The fashion industry in general can have demeaning and arrogant environments. Fashion schools typically are no different. So make sure you stay true to who you are and not change yourself to be what the people in the industry want you to be.

2. Collect as much black clothing as possible!

You're going to most likely see a lot of black around your school. Black is a very popular color for people who work or want to work in the industry. You're going to have to wear black when you volunteer, possibly when you intern, and also at your job if it's related to the industry. So collect as much black clothing pieces as you can so you can be prepared to wear a lot of black for most likely your whole fashion career.

3. Adjust to your new life before carrying too much responsibility!

Most people trying to seriously obtain a great career in fashion are most likely to be extremely competitive. So they'll be doing anything and everything they can to take new opportunities as quick as possible. My advice is to stay calm and know that everything will work out the way it is meant to. Remember you are at school to succeed, so stay focused with school and let the extra opportunities be as few as possible. That way you don't over work yourself and it won't conflict with your school work.

4. Volunteer directly with CFDA!

Trust me volunteer opportunities for fashion week will go fast. So if you want a for sure opportunity to volunteer you should try to do so directly with CFDA, who helps put on the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week. 

Advice for Saving Cash & Room in your Closet

My closets have always been full starting at a very young age, thanks to mommy ;), and had followed me into my adulthood until now. I have learned not to be wasteful in just buying things and filling up space in my closet unnecessarily. I've come up with 5 basic tips in helping anyone who is interested in doing the same.


1. Rotate

Start a cycle when before or after you go shopping for new clothes you take the time to empty out from your closet the older clothes you've grown tired of. You can bag them up and give it away to some one you know personally or donate them to strangers. That way you're not hoarding but instead giving while you'll receive new things. It's also great, because you will have less clothes to clean in your room and that is a true blessing.

2. Plan

It's fun going to stores all day taking your time in deciding what to get browsing for hours and picking up all types of different merchandise that you think is gorgeous at the moment. But shopping this way usually leads to spending more than you were trying to and leaving with extra "stuff" you're probably not going to wear. It's literally someone's job to carefully plan out how shoppers will pick up different merchandise they never planned on buying and arrange the store in a way that will attract you to picking up all types of "stuff". Go with a plan and stick with it. You'll save yourself from regret you'll be feeling later on, your closet will have more space, and your pockets won't collect more dust! :D

3. Budget

A budget isn't as bad as most people think. It not only saves you money, but it teaches you to be more organized in a lot of areas of your daily routine. The younger you start using a budget the better it'll help you as you get older. Having a budget in a clothing store is so important when your money is low, though I recommend it for all earning wages. My tip is to start with a very low number of money to spend and when you actually start shopping and you go to the register and it rings up over what you set, you won't feel as bad that you went over your unrealistic low number and you most likely still won't spend way more than you should have.

*Story Time*

For example, you have gotten your check and you were paid $150. Before you go into Forever 21, you decide to make a budget of $20 to spend. You go in and you plan to only buy some shoes, a dress, and two new pairs of jeans. When you go to the register, with the merchandise you planned to buy only, she tells you the total is $50. Now you only went over by $30 and you still have $100 of your paycheck left. Now imagine not going with a budget which makes you not focused on not going over your budget, therefore you end up getting distracted by the extra "stuff" in the store. In the end you walk out of the store with a hat, socks, a headband, sunglasses, one pair of jeans, a skirt, a dress, and some shoes. Spending $120 instead of $50. Now you only have $30 left and that's going to have to cover your phone bill.

4. Basics

Trends rotate in and out so quickly and so many people want to be on top of them. My advice is to collect a lot of basics and very few trendy items as possible. Trends in today's times are very unoriginal and are being brought back almost every 3 years. But one thing for sure is basics NEVER go out of style. EVER. This is when you need to shell out a few extra dollars so you can have high quality basics that will last a century...literally. This is how you build your wardrobe and put to the test how strong your fashion skills are to pair your basics and maybe one trendy item into a gorge ensemble.

5.  Sales

It gets your adrenaline pumping when you know you're about to leave a store with a bunch of good deals. But you shouldn't be too trusting with the "stuff" in these sales. Sometimes we just buy things because it was only $5, but it's actually ugly. Now you have something hideous in your closet you're not going to wear and you can't return it. What sense does that make? Let me answer that...zero. These stores are trying to get rid off all this "stuff" for a reason and will lower it to any price to do it. So, it's better to go into a store and get what you want that may not actually be on sale instead of getting something you didn't want. But if you're lucky, you might find exactly what you wanted on the sale rack.

What I'd Like To Try: Giambattista Valli for MAC

What better than your two favorite brands doing a collab? I have admired Giambattista Valli for a few years now. I believe that the brand has produced some of the best haute couture on the runways these past seasons. I hope that one day I'll be able to buy a beautiful and extremely expensive gown of theirs, but for now I'll stick with the lipstick they have at MAC for only $17.

These lipsticks have been selling like hot cakes since being released. Majority of them are already sold out online. Hopefully I'll find them in the store, because these lipsticks look so fab. MAC has done it again with another fantastic collab. I wonder who's next and if they can top these?