Bill Cunningham recently discussed a trend he’s been seeing — long legs! He compared it to the blooming flowers popping up all around the city, but especially the long drooping wisteria flowers that bow and flow in the wind.

Check out his short video blog here, and learn more about Bill’s Street Style Fashion blogging and career here!

All this summer the Metropolitan Museum‘s Costume Institute is displaying an amazing fashion exhibition – “Punk: Chaos to Couture”. The other week they had their opening gala where celebrities from all over wore Punk-inspired couture that totally rocked the runway.

The exhibition examines how the punk movement impacted high fashion – from the 1970s to today. The exhibition includes original punk garments as well as contemporary creations, haute couture and ready-to-wear as well.

I think this is an amazing mash up of “do it yourself” and “made to perfectly fit one person” and so cool that such a big established institution like the Met are taking the time and space to explore this! From the official exhibition description, “the seven galleries will be organized around the materials, techniques, and embellishments associated with the anti-establishment style. Themes will include New York and London, which will tell punk’s origin story as a tale of two cities, followed by Clothes for Heroes and four manifestations of the D.I.Y. aesthetic—Hardware, Bricolage, Graffiti and Agitprop, and Destroy.”

The exhibition displays garments as well as music videos, special audio immersions spread over seven galleries within the museum.

Make sure to make an appointment to check it out sometime before August 14!  You can find out more info here.

Photo sources: 1, 2

We love when our students take their skills and apply them to a new project. It’s the best thing when they see that they can use something we learned in class in a whole new context… to make whole new things!

Can’t wait to see what they come up with next!

Aliya

Emma made an amazing denim vest out of her old denim skirt that no longer fit her. She added a great translucent panel in the back and hand-sewed a gold beaded chain (it used to be a chunky necklace) to the bottom of the whole vest! She finished it off by attaching pieces of an old bracelet to the lapel of the vest for a surprising sparkle!

Zora took an old pair of denim shorts that she didn’t like any more and turned them into a two-toned long denim skirt! She added pieces of an old worn out pair of jeans to the bottom and made sure to leave a slit so she could walk properly in her design. She then decorated with some fabric flowers and pieces of leather to make the garment truly unique and her own!

Dahlia is ready for anything with this incredible utilitarian AND fashionable hip-pouch! She took the pockets from her old jeans and attached them to a strap of denim. She added a touch of glimmer and glitz with some buttons and beads and closed the belt with some velcro. She says she will use this pouch to carry around her My Little Ponies… it’s the perfect size!!

We’ve been having so much fun in this class turning old, ugly things into amazing new things we actually want and wear! Look out for our next project — turning old t-shirts into beautiful breezy summer dresses!

Aliya

At the Fashion Class we have something for everyone! If you’re just looking to try out sewing to see if you like it, we have one-day, one and a half hour “Intro to Sewing” workshops on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays! During the workshop, students learn the basics of the machine, test out sewing seams on scrap pieces, and then they sew a unique tote bag that they get to take home! Each student gets to pick out the fabric and add an optional pocket and decorations. We’ve even had some students get really creative in the type of bag they make, taking the simple totebag to a whole new level!

Here is a great group of teens that had an amazing workshop last week — they made pockets inside and outside of their totes, and also added some really professional trims to the edges. They walked away from the workshop knowing how to sew with the machine, and with a great tote to carry all their sewing supplies once they get going!

If you’re interested in registering for one of our Intro to Sewing Workshops, just email us with your interest and we’ll let you know all the upcoming available workshops! You can call 646-329-6663 or e-mail create@thefashionclass.com to reserve your spot!

Paper, cardboard, or even tin-foil or old milk-cartons make great crown bases! Cut out a shape like this….

… out of your desired material, and then decorate it all out — with jewels, glitter, other materials, zip ties, sequins, the list goes on and on! You can switch this pattern up by using felt for a totally different feel and a softer look:

Another easy way to make crowns is to take a basic plastic headband (from the dollar store for example) and glue on special beads, old costume jewelry, silk flowers, or anything! You can also do the same thing with a barrette or a bobby pin, for a smaller head-accessory. Check out some of these possibilities:

Another idea is to make a base out of wire — electrical wire (with a plastic covering) or florist wire (with a paper covering) are great options because they don’t poke your head or mess up your hair! You can hot-glue or weave (or twist-in with the wire) your favorite decorations such as felt or foam shapes, paper flowers, jewels, etc.

A simple ribbon or scrap of fabric can always make a great headband/crown as well! Try braiding three strips of fabric together for a more complex look!

What have you made crowns out of — for fun, dress-up, or  your everyday life?!?

photo sources: 1, 2, 3, 4

First you’ll need to get some studs — the ones with little prongs in the back. Silver or gold or any other color works the same, whatever your preference is!

Try looking for studs at your local sewing supply shop, online, or at dollar stores even.

Once you get your studs, find the garment you want to bling out. A pair of denim shorts or pants work great, but a vest or jacket are also great.

Get a butter knife and start studding! With your fingers press the stud, pointy side in, into the spot on your garment you want to stud. Once the pointy ends have poked through to the other side, flip the garment over and use the butter knife to press the points in, and make them flat against the inside of the garment. Voila! You’ve made one stud! Repeat until the area or line you want to stud is done!

Don’t get too carried away…. this can be so addicting!! But a jacket COMPLETELY covered in studs would be so heavy… and you’d set off metal detectors everywhere you go.

If my instructions didn’t clear everything up for you, take a look at this video to help clarify!

Happy stud-ing!

image source and here

P.S.  Did you know we have our own Fashion Accessory Design Classes at The Fashion Class?? Check them out and look for updates here on the blog about what they’ve been up to in class this semester!

I especially loved the adorable flowers and floral themes, and the way that each piece is infused with fun and playfulness, making these serious trends kid-friendly. The boys collection has some great surprises of neon and bright color which I am very excited to see on the streets! I also love seeing individual details and very tiny touches of designer style — micro-sequins, unusual fabrics, and bow-ties, even for toddlers — which make these children’s clothes go beyond just a uniform for kindergarten!!

What kinds of trends are you seeing for kids these days??

In this interview with Adweek from earlier this month,Tavi discusses a whole range of things – from her fame to running a business to going to high school. I especially loved the parts where she talks about how her views on fashion have shifted as she’s gotten older:

ADWEEK:  There’s so much conversation around whether you can like fashion or read fashion magazines but still be a feminist.

TAVI:  Oh, totally. Sometimes I even still get embarrassed when people are like, “You have that blog, right?” And I worry that they’ll think I’m shallow because I write about fashion, or used to. I definitely think that fashion and feminism can be friends. I even think that fashion can be a tool of feminism and of self-expression and individuality and empowerment. But clearly there are flaws with the industry that still really grind my gears.

In this interview with Audie Cornish of National Public Radio, Tavi talked more about fashion and what it’s like to have a fashion blog, and be known as someone who is setting the rules of fashion, in some ways:

NPR: I was a pretty terrible dresser in junior high and high school, and was probably even nervous getting dressed this morning knowing I was talking to you. That being said, it’s sort of hard to think of chronicling how you look at that age, and putting it out there as fashion.

TAVI: It’s hard to like, judge yourself on this. So I don’t even really know if I did have good style or if I still do. But I think that what appealed to people was that I just found a lot of fun in getting dressed, and finding inspiration in different places. And I guess it was really exciting when the response was positive and eventually, I could meet some people who I was just used to admiring from afar, being kind of a nerd over.

I see Tavi as an inspiration to be passionate and go after things you love. With fashion, don’t feel limited by the trends and what everyone else is wearing, but just use it as inspiration and HAVE FUN!! Have fun in everything you do…. and take it somewhere big. Even if you have self doubts, share those and be real – Tavi is so easy to relate to because she’s so real, even in her celebrity status.

Good luck young fashionistas! Please share with us what you’re up to and what you’re making — we’d love to support any budding projects and entrepreneurs who have been inspired by their time at The Fashion Class!!

Aliya

The students had a great time with this quick workshop, and it was so fun to get to know everyone’s dolls! We finished the afternoon with some quality decorating — bows and jewels and everything else you can think of!

It was fun making a project for a doll because there was no fitting or tailoring required and everyone’s doll fit perfectly into the dresses we made. We’ll definitely be doing another workshop like this soon — look out for the next dates and we hope to see you there!!

Aliya