How To Stay Inspired

Hey guys! Sorry about the break in post during the holidays. I am back with new posts about fashion styling, art history, and creative advice for 2020!

Sometimes life can get you down and everyday chores and responsibilities can get in the way of your creative juices. Right now, I am struggling with just that. A lot is going on with my life at the moment and big life events are moving very rapidly. I do not have the energy to be innovative, creative, or charismatic about projects. I am trudging through finishing up my clothing collection, and the cold weather has me feeling like a hermit. But in order to move forward in life, one must push through any obstacle, and I am trying my best to still create during these winter months.

One thing I want to touch on in this blog post is my theory on productivity. I tend to go through two different phases of productivity and alternate back and forth. The two phases of productivity I experience are assertive and passive.

During the assertive productivity phase, I want to constantly create. I am always inspired and want to do ALL of the things. I tend to agree to too many things and overextend myself, but I feel so good about it. While feeling assertive, I am drawing, writing lyrics, making more blog posts, just DOING things.

During the passive productivity phase, I want to kind of draw inward and evaluate my life. I lean towards activities like yoga, reading, and shopping. In this phase I am still remaining productive but I am taking information in instead of exerting information. While I feel guilty in the passive phase that I should be doing more things, it is also important to take that time to reflect and slow down.

Both of these productive phases influence how I stay creative. If you, the reader, also resonate with these, let me offer some advice to keep alternating between phases and not being stagnant with your growth as a creator and human being.

• Always try new things. 

• Go out with friends, but alternate your friend groups and what you do with them to keep a healthy balance and to always be learning from them and making new memories.

• Make some time for yourself to learn something new! 

• Even in the passive phase, try a new restaurant or place to shop at.

• Listen to new music.

• In your assertive phase, try making something everyday, whether it be a sketch, a poem, meal prepping

• Never be afraid to take risks and say YES - just make sure you have the energy for it.

These things I do to keep myself moving forward. It is healthy to alternate between being assertive and passive with your habits and hobbies to keep your creative juices on their toes and flowing! Inspiration can come from anywhere - and it’s okay if you hit any roadblocks, writer’s blocks, or just need some downtime to reassess your needs. Do not force creativity and productivity.

I hope this blog was helpful to read! It is definitely something different than what I typically write up but sometimes we all just need a boost, especially since we creatives are always so hard on ourselves and our productivity. 

Thanks for reading!

How Pop Culture Affects Fashion

Hi all!

This week I am going to discuss how pop culture (mainly focusing on musical artists) have a strong influence on fashion, and the bottoms-up theory.

Life imitates art, and art imitates life. Years and years ago, when fashion originally became dubbed as a marketable art, most trends were birthed by new designers and high-end fashion houses. But as creativity took hold of the everyday population, and music started booming past the crooners of the 1940s and 50s, creative icons started to influence fashion trends more than expensive designers. (I.e. Twiggy, Andy Warhol’s pop art movement, and the influence of disco and punk through multiple artists).

Skip ahead to modern times, and fashion trends come and go so quickly, and they are often created by online influencers and oddball musicians. (I.e. Lady Gaga, goth subculture and music).

Vivienne Westwood is a fashion designer that brought the punk and new wave fashions into the mainstream with her designs. Working with creative musical acts of the underground, she made those fashions come into vogue. Vivienne Westwood is the reason of the genesis of the term “bottoms-up theory” in relation to the fashion industry. She popularized trends from everyday creatives and made them fashionable for the masses.

I like to compare my designs to Westwood, and aspire to bring pop-cultural inspirations into my own work. By grabbing inspiration from other avenues of creativity in the world, fashion can be more accessible and understandable to more people wanting to express themselves.

I hope this quick little history tidbit has enlightened y’all. Fashion is not just a business, but a form of expression, as seen in many alternative subcultures. I encourage everyone I know to express yourselves through your appearance and what you decide to wear.

Thanks,

Lorraine

Designing in the Entertainment Industry

I just want to explain a little bit of the “how” and “why” of what I do, and give a big thank you to all of my creative friends who have helped me along the way with building my business. 

I am extremely thankful for the creative community I am a part of in the valley; we all lift each other up and help each other reach our career goals. As a fashion designer, there are specific routes you can take to build one’s business, and I got lucky enough to be surrounded by other wonderful creatives in the local music scene to help bolster my career path.

Many fashion designers start out in the music industry, and that is exactly what I aim to do as well. Jeremy Scott, who is now creative director of Moschino and his own namesake label, started out designing in Paris and then moving into the entertainment industry, and to this day still designs Katy Perry’s costumes for performance and videos. An extremely inspiring story, it has motivated me to support my local scene by offering fashion advice, styling services, and by selling my own creations that are tailor-made for musicians. 

Being a young designer in the music industry is quite informative and rewarding and I am extremely thankful for the opportunities that have come my way because of it. 

My tip to any creative of any media and avenue is to branch out and support other creatives of different mediums, it will pay off in the end and give you an outlook on other creative industries to inspire your own approach. 

Thank you, again, for everyone who has supported me in my journey as a young fashion designer. My dreams of clothing musicians are coming true and it is quite overwhelming.

Lorraine

Shop Ethically / Why I Shop High End

I love purchasing more expensive clothing and view it as investing in art and collecting, but many people make fun of me for it and just do not understand. A goal of mine is to educate my peers about my shopping habits and why I spend the money I do on clothing, so here is one blog post of many explaining the reasons behind my madness. 

In undergrad, my coursework introduced me to all aspects of the fashion industry, which included sustainability and ethics in fashion production. The fashion industry is a HUGE contributor to Earth’s waste problem, and we must take steps to lower this. Right after the oil industry, the fashion and textile industry is the second largest polluter in the world. It takes 2,700 liters of water to make ONE t-shirt. The average American will throw out nearly 81 pounds of clothing each year.

 On top of being a top contributor to waste, the fashion industry also has a disgusting and dark history of hiring out workers from developing countries to produce cheap fast-fashion garments. Production workers in some countries will earn about $50 a month to live off of. That Forever 21 crop top you’re wearing that is already falling apart at the seams was practically created through slave labor. Pro tip: DO NOT purchase any garment that says it was made in Bangladesh on the label, that is the absolute worst country for working conditions in the industry.

Fast fashion and Capitalism urging consumers to constantly purchase new garments is hurting the world. The internet and social media have brought on a “see now, buy now” attitude for consumers. EVERYONE has to have the latest trends they just viewed on the ‘Gram. Consumers will go out and purchase the cheapest item for that trend just for that item to be tossed once the fad is over and the cheaply-made garment falls apart, meanwhile workers in newly developing countries working in extremely poor conditions will already be creating new cheap garments for them to purchase next week. See how this attitude affects the world in many ways?

Let me try to drill this through y’all’s heads: FAST FASHION IS A CANCER.

So how do we fight this problem?

There are basically two ways to slow down the fast fashion industry to help the environment and our fellow humans; do not be a victim to Capitalism and consumerism. Shop ethically. The first way to do so is to simply thrift. Styles are always recycled and a good way to avoid fashion waste while not contributing to cheap fast fashion is to purchase thrifted clothing. Another way to shop is to purchase high end garments like I do. (To be honest thrifting kind of freaks me out in many ways I will not get into, but everyone has their own shopping preferences and habits). I shop high end because I know the garments are made ethically, my garments will last MUCH longer and I will not be tossing them out, most of the time high end clothing is not a fad and does not go out of style as quickly, and also I have a smaller and more concise wardrobe compared to a cheap pile of fast fashion garments.

To each their own, but I will say: stop buying into quick trends and fast fashion.

Thanks for reading!

Lorraine

Survival Tips for a Creative Millennial

Hello, all!

I thought I’d start a blog tab to add to my portfolio website so anyone who stumbles upon my work can also get to know me as a person, and I will also be blogging about art, fashion, and anything creative.

I might as well write for my first entry about how to survive as a young creative in a world of Capitalism and nine-to-fives.

As many creative artists of any medium know, creative work very rarely is your main income in the beginning. I’ve learned over the years that in order to feel fulfilled and a well-rounded Renaissance person, one must have a day job, and then wear a million other fantastical hats for other creative side projects. My first survival tip to any “creative millennial” reading this is hustle, hustle, hustle. Do not quit your day job too soon, but also do not give up your passions and dreams. Let both of those aspects of your career growth fill up your time.

Another tip of mine that I strongly adhere to and tell my friends to stick with is to remain positive. Life will throw many, many punches but the most important thing to do is to remain positive and keep trekking forward. Especially as a creative who wants to get one’s voice out there, the most important thing to do is to keep going and keep creating, against the odds one is facing. I have encountered many speed bumps on my journey and career growth but as long as I keep telling myself better is out there and I have a good future ahead of me, then I will continue to work towards that and become a better artist every day.

Lastly, a tip that I do not listen to that much myself, is to have fun. Have fun during the process of growing as a person, as a professional, and as an artist. I struggle with this because I am always focused on finishing things in a timely manner and try to reach my goals prematurely without stopping to smell the roses. The beauty of being a creative in this fast-paced millennia is that we have the opportunity to create things to make the world a better place - we have the opportunity to work towards our goals while having fun with it. The general millennial generation is described as enjoying the ride while building a career, and that’s what us creative millennials must do as well. Do not let society pressure you to get things done at a certain time, or achieve certain goals at a certain age. One of my favorite quotes is by the toy restorer in Toy Story 2 who worked on repairing Woody: “You can’t rush art.”

For a recap on being a successful “creative millennial”: Be well-rounded with your hustle, remain positive, and have fun with your journey.

Hopefully this blog post is not that all over the place, I haven’t taken a formal English class in four years and sorely miss college.

Lorraine