FASH 49/FASH 54A – We made it to the end!

Hello Everyone,

Well the semester is over and what a semester it has been!  A big thanks to both my fashion classes (Visual Merchandising – FASH 49 and Fashion Styling – FASH 54A) for sticking by me this semester; for those who do not know, I became extremely ill for almost most of February, and I’ve been playing catch up ever since then.  I had to cancel classes, or call in a substitute, and even teach while sick, but you stayed with me and didn’t drop my classes, THANK YOU!

Final grades are already posted and as always please contact me at school if you have any questions or concerns regarding the grade you earned.  I think most of you will be happy with your grades as the talent was exceptional!  My next post will be showing some of the work from both classes.

I wish you all a wonderful summer break!  I will be teaching summer school in the construction program.  I’m sadden by the fact that some of you will no longer be by students, as there are no more classes I teach for you to take.  Please keep in touch and let me know what you are up to, and “friend”me on Facebook if you like.  I use Facebook predominately for work and school and I am connected with many of my past students.

See you in the fall!

 

Happy Holidays!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas (if you celebrate that holiday) and here’s to a fantastic new year!

It’s been an amazing year for me and I can’t express how grateful I am to all of you, especially my students.  I have never cried in front of a class but this past semester my fashion styling students brought me to tears.  Your kind words were too much for my little heart to bear ♥!

This class was such a hit, the department chair has asked me to teach it again in the spring (it is usually only offered once a year), and it is already filling up fast.  I’m allowed to take 59 students and last time I checked I was already at 52 (FASH 54A – Beginning Fashion Styling).

I will also be teaching visual merchandising again this spring.  This class is also filling up fast, with a class cap at 59, my current enrollment is 47 (FASH 49 – Visual Merchandising).  If you are new to this blog, these classes are offered in the Fashion Department at City College of San Francisco, as part of the Fashion Merchandising degree of Fashion Styling certificate.

I know I don’t post as often as I should around here, work does take a huge amount of my time…I do post on my tumblr daily.  It’s called the Fashion Teacher.  I’m fairly new to tumblr and had no idea I would become so addicted to it, even more so than my Pinterest.  I guess it makes sense, we are after all very visual people and tumblr allows us to express that quite easily.

Wishing you the VERY BEST in 2013!

A mannequin Christmas tree!

[FASH 54A] – A Little History of Fashion Styling

History was my concentration in college for my degree which is why I love to read and research.  Fashion styling is a somewhat new career title which made me very curious to research the history of it and find out how it all began.  Here’s the synopsis of my Powerpoint lecture from class:

The History of Fashion Styling:

The first stylists were editors who worked exclusively for fashion magazines. They “edit” the clothing and fashion pages, and they chose the designers to be featured in the magazine. Under the direction of the editor, there was the photographer and model. It was not uncommon in the 60s for models to do their own hair and make-up, as well as provide their own accessories for photo shoots.

It was during the 80s the first freelance stylists appeared. New magazines appeared which did not have a permanent fashion staff, which gave freelance stylists the chance to showcase their talents without being tied to one magazine.

Ray Petri:

Ray Petri is thought by MANY to be the first stylist. He was well known in the 80s for his Buffalo style, an eclectic mix of urban, ethnic, sportswear, and high fashion. He used real people in photos instead of models and people of mixed race. He oversaw and did everything on the creation of a photo, except take the actual picture!

“Petri was a fashion stylist long before this was a coveted job description. Indeed, in the early 80s, selecting and arranging clothes on models was still known, if it was known at all, as ‘fashion editing’, but he was an instinctive stylist, using his visual flair and magpie intelligence to produce elegant, unfussy and invariably sensual images of timeless modernity.” 

The Observer, September 2000

Unlike stylists of today Petri did not live long enough to become rich, or even celebrated, the way we idolize those today. But his influence is still felt and he even 20 years after his death he is STILL regarded as the king! There was a time when stylists were all but invisible to the world beyond fashion’s inner circle. But a growing shift in the fashion industry has given license to a special breed of visionaries, who are not only the interpreters of fashion but oftentimes the originators.

(research sources – Styling by McAssey and Buckley, Stylists by Katie Barron)

Welcome Back to School Everybody!

Hello everyone and welcome back.  I especially want to say welcome to my FASH 54A students whom I’ve directed to this site for all their class info.  FASH 54A is a new class for me this semester – Beginning Fashion Styling.  I’m super excited to be teaching this class!  I spent practically my whole summer researching and preparing for this program.  I hope all 60 (yep I’ve got 60 students!) of you enjoy this class.

This class is not based on your typical textbook theory, but a practical hands-on approach to fashion styling; by the end of the semester you will have a stylist kit assembled, a portfolio with images you created, a directory of the best places to “pull” merchandise, and source props, and the business acumen for working as a freelance stylist.  Many of you wrote to me over the summer, telling me you were taking the class because you want to begin working immediately as a stylist; so that’s how I focused the class.  You will learn about the different types of photo styling in the various medias, but this class is definitely a “how-to”.

I hope my students from FASH 49 – Visual Merchandising, and other readers interested in visual work will learn something too, in fact I will touch on visual work in this styling class, as you will see styling a mannequin is no different from styling a model.  Visual display artists do what stylists do everyday, the only difference is their work isn’t photographed – the skills are very much the same and transferable from one trade to the other.  After college my “9-to-5” job was doing display work, but I was repped by an agent for freelance assistant styling work too.  Having an agent is great and I recommend it, especially if you live in a small editorial market like me (San Francisco).  The freelance work wasn’t as plentiful as New York, LA, or even Chicago.

I hope in the next few weeks to also be making some changes around here.  I am hiring another former student who will be upgrading this site and helping me with a new design.  I may at that point decide to move FASH 54A to its own blog – the working title I have for that idea is I’m a Stylist.  I chose that name because I laugh every time I hear someone say it.  I’m not trying to be mean, but now soooo many people say they’re stylists (Thanks Rachel Zoe), it’s become the default career for the fashion industry.  Years ago “everyone” was a model, then “everyone” was a designer, nowadays, “everyone” is a stylist :)!

At least at the end of my class you’ll be able to say it and really mean it – welcome back!

FASH 54A – Beginning Fashion Styling

I have some exciting news to share!  Part of the reason I’ve been M.I.A. from here is because I’ve been given a new assignment (on top of everything else – not that I’m complaining, I LOVE  to work).  This fall I will be taking over the fashion styling program here at CCSF.  I will start with FASH 54A – Beginning Fashion Styling in the fall and then FASH 54B – Advance Fashion Styling in the spring.  Yes, I will still be teaching visual merchandising.

Styling for editorials or ad campaigns is very similar to dressing a window, and I always say, if you can dress a mannequin you can dress a model!  Many of the same skills you use in visuals are transferable to photo styling.  You still have to pay attention to lighting, props, and the merchandise.  One major difference I see between the two jobs is the amount of people involved.

Visuals are done by very small crews, even large department stores might only have five people on staff.  Each person in charge of a department or floor.  That trimmer does everything, and you grab help as you need it.  Photo styling has a small army involved!  The photographer, the creative director/editor, make-up artists, hair stylists, the models, the client, not to mention all the assistants, and you the stylist. It’s exciting but hectic.

I use to freelance as a stylist whenever my agent could get me work.  I found it more challenging than display work, but it paid better and there’s always good food on the set (lol)!

I’m currently nose deep in writing curriculum and reviewing textbooks on the subject (who knew there were texts on being a stylist!!)    This isn’t going to be a class strictly on how to style a shoot, but on how to be a successful stylist.  What are the tools and information you need for your portfolio and stylist kit, what goes into a contract, working with the other professionals, sourcing props, etc.  This class is suppose to focus on fashion, but I also hope to touch on set styling (hey that’s visuals 101!) and prop styling.

Instead of starting another blog for that class, I’ve decided to post on here.  I think both fields can learn from each other, besides visual merchandisers “style” all day every day, in fact some of the books I’ve looked at touch on visual merchandising as an alternative career for this skill set.

[This book hasn’t been released yet, but I’m lucky enough to be getting an advance copy and it will definitely be required reading.  Look for it in the spring of 2013.]