DC in NYC | May 2018
May 17, 2018
Hi All!
I'm so excited to share with you about my recent trip to NYC where I was asked to present at Parsons New School of Design about Plus-Size and Fat Fashion at their Every/ Bodies event.
Well, overall it was AMAZING!!! I love NYC and it was extra special because I got to meet with a former student and connect with other professionals who are passionate about body diversity and equality in the fashion industry.
Here's the run-down!
Arrived Sunday (5/13) around 4 p.m. We stayed in the Flat Iron District and it was great! However, that means I didn't venture too far because I was only there for about 72 hours.
We stayed at The Marcel At Gramercy and it was a very nice hotel in a great location. The room was small but when you're in NYC, I don't think people spend a lot of time in their hotel room anyway, so it was perfect. They had the CO Bigelow Products in their bathrooms and I loved that! They use great ingredients and is the oldest known apothecary in the USA.
Our first night in town we went to The Tap Room and they had some delish beers to taste! I got a sour beer sampler and my parter got the cider sampler. We also got to connect with Dominique Norman - a former student of mine from Washington State University who just finished her Masters degree in Fashion Studies (we'll be doing an interview with her later about her research).
Monday May 14, 2018: The next morning we made a quick trip to Brooklyn to visit my cousin Kasey and her baby girl Amelia. It's always a blast to meet up with her. We had so much fun playing with fashion when we were younger! Here's a pic of me playing with Amelia at one of the many parks in Brooklyn. I was really impressed with all the playgrounds and facilities.
We then made a trip back to our hotel where I made a few last minute notes on my presentation. I then met up with one of the event coordinators, Ailiana. Aliana is a visiting phD student from Brazil where she is focusing on plus-size fashion in Brazil and the USA. We chatted for a few hours before the Parsons Every/ Bodies Event started at 5:30 p.m in the Theresa Lang Center.
The event was amazing! Here's the program:
PANEL 1: APPROACH FOR EVERY/BODIES: STIGMA, BODY POSITIVITY AND FASHION
5:30- 6:30 p.m
Dr Kathleen LeBesco (Professor of Communication Arts, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Marymount Manhattan College). She wrote the book Revolting Bodies, which I highly recommend.
Yoni Doyeon Yu- Designer (Parsons BFA Fashion Design senior student)
Tamara Oyola-Santiago (Director, Community Health, Wellness and Health Promotion, The New School University)
Moderator: Aliana Aires (Ph.D. Visiting Scholar/ Researcher)
BREAK 6:30-7:00 p.m Informal discussions (Beverages and snacks will be served)
PANEL 2: DESIGN METHODOLOGIES FOR EVERY/BODIES: EDUCATION AND PRACTICES
7:00- 8:30 p.m.
Dr Deborah A Christel (THAT'S ME!) (Assistant Professor, Department of Apparel Merchandising, Design and Textiles, Washington State University)
In summary, I talked about how we (as fashion educators and designers) need to focus on 5 main principles in order to do our best work towards creating body diversity within the fashion industry. For full details, Read More About the Presentation Here.
Greta Valigi- Designer (Lane Bryant/ Parsons BFA Fashion Design alumni, 2014)
John Paul Rangel (Design Director, Full Beauty Brands)
Tianjiao Hayley Qu- Designer (Parsons BFA Fashion Design alumni - Winner of the BFA in Fashion Design Social Innovation Award, 2017)
Moderator: Fiona Dieffenbacher (BFA Fashion Design Program Director: Collection and Product). This event was organized by Parsons School of Fashion Research, Scholarship and Creative Practice Committee.
After the event, we went out to dinner at the Fraunces Tavern. The building was purchased in 1762 by Samuel Fraunces and opened as the Queen’s Head Tavern (also known as the Sign of the Queen Charlotte.) It's been operating as a tavern since then! The oldest tavern in Manhattan! It was a perfect ending to a great day.
Our last day in town was Tuesday May 15th, 2018.
We enjoyed a walk around popping into Grand Central, 2nd Ave Deli and the Museum of Sex.
My favorite exhibit there was The Female Gaze.
NSFW: Female Gaze, co-curated by VICE Media’s Creators, showcases over 25 emerging female artists from various disciplines dedicated to powerful feminine narratives. Every day, women are faced with a world of images that reflect male perspectives on sexual desire. The artists in NSFW Female Gaze both reclaim and break out of women’s historical roles as muse and object. The exhibition showcases a fearless new visual language of desire that defies social norms and expectations. The artists featured in the exhibition are working at the intersections of identity and life experience, genre and process. They are exploring sexuality on their own terms, bringing to light new angles of expression. From Instagram and GIF platforms to textile, painting and photography, these artists take a diverse and fearless approach to sex, shattering mythologies of female sexuality and restructuring stereotypes to explore a more complex relationship between gender, pleasure, fantasy and desire.
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