Spanish Inspiration!

Today we got back to being students as we visited both the Balenciaga exhibition and the garment district!


We were meant to visit the 20th century women of style however upon arrival we realised the gates were shut so we headed for greener pastures and walked through central park to Balenciaga instead. 


Seeing the Balenciaga exhibition is comparable only to seeing Valentino. To be in the prescence such greatness was outstanding and much like Valentino at GOMA it left me feeling inspired and changed. Balenciaga was one of our industries greatest gifts and being able to literally see his drawings and witness first hand the simplistic details present in each of his garments (some which were literally hand sewn by the man himself) was absolutely awe inspiring. To be honest it was exactly what I needed to throw me back in the swing of the New York study tour as I was beginning to feel like it was more about the shopping than the studying and - even though I love the shopping - I came to be inspired and learning about Balenciaga and his literal mode of designing, his love for black and general love of spain was incredible and exactly what I needed. I left Valentino knowing the aesthetic style of who I am, but I left Balenciaga knowing I am ALLOWED to  be as both as literal and as vague as I want to be with my inspiration. 

Sketches

Spanish embassy

After visiting Balenciaga and both being extremely inspired and noting that the 20th century women of style exhibit was closed we decided today was the day to visit the garment district and go fabric shopping!


This was quite literally a dream come true. I lost my head! I knew it was definitely going to be amazing but I just wasn't prepared for what I saw. I have never been into choosing fabrics - I always thought it was because I am horrible at it. However being in this area and seeing the genuine abundance of beautiful fabric on offer made me feel like maybe it wasn't me who had been 'fabric stunted' - but instead spotlight? Jokes aside, for the first time I actually felt like a real designer and understood what people outside of a small TINY city have at their grasp and it was surreal. Finally insight into the real world. Going to mood was out of this world. Even now I am struggling to put words to how excited being in this haven made. Words literally do not cut it. I have called mum and she has begun working on dad - perhaps a trip back when it comes to third year fabric shopping? (What a dream)

I purchased a fabulous Missoni fabric - I don't know what i'll do with it but lets hope I don't stuff it up!! 




After fabric we went to Thai for dinner where we were abruptly interrupted by Shannon and Kellie running in to tell us they saw GRACE CODDINGTON - the only thing I can say - bitches. (I'm kidding but i'm so jelous!) 


After thaaaaaaaat - Janey, Grace and I decided to see 'Burlesque' that was an extreeeeamely good move! The whole seating was gay men, a.k.a they made a bad move awesome!! Comedy gold. 


A great night out!

Liberty.

Today's adventure was made 10 times more enjoyable by the fact that today, I slept in!


Stef and I decided to skip todays markets due to the obscene amount of money we've been spending! Instead we decided that today was going to be specifically dedicated to seeing the statue of liberty and her nearing islands!


As I am jewish and my grandfather was a holocaust survivor the statue of liberty held particular significance to me and there was no way I was going forgo this experience like some of the other girls did.  My grandfather passed away nearly 2 years ago now and today I felt a huge twinge of pain as I got into that ferry and came toward Ms. Liberty knowing I couldn't call him and share this moment with him. His favourite thing to tell us about his time in America was the joy he felt when he rode the refugee boat into Manhattan and saw the statue of liberty for the first time and actually felt the free. His story was incredible and today I would have given anything to be able to have called him. 

After Ellis and Staten island had been conquered we decided it could be fun to visit century 21 which is a designer outlet department store - huuuuuuge mistake all the stock was ruined and there was 30, 000 people searching through it - way too intense. That endeavour lasted 10 minutes max unfortunately so we decided to head home and continue our desperate search for a japanese noodle dinner.....

Which we found, a block from the hostel!! Dinner was AHHHHMAZING just what I had been craving since we arrived in the cold climate of a NYC winter, a huge udon noodle soup! 

Amen!

Dogs!

Anyone who knows me knows I have an indescribable love for animals - particularly dogs. One of my absolute favourite things about New York is the fact that people take their dogs everywhere! Its incredible! in the department stores, resturants, anywhere!


I love it and it deserved its own post thats how fantastic it is!

Don't Tell Mama!

Just like yesterday and the day before - today was primarily about exploring the endless shopping possibilities new york had to offer my wardrobe - only today it's about investigating the NYC markets! 


First up were the antique flea markets! These markets were absolutely incredible. The colours and hidden treasures were absolutely overwhelming!

 Beautiful french lace 40's dress I had to invest in!

The first markets we went to were incredible and had a huge out door area as seen above. The second markets we went to were a bit of a dissapointment  however which was a blow considering they were called the young designers markets. They were cute but it was mostly jewellery and a lot of the stalls had extremely similar product. On the upside as a young designer budding to be 'found' thats good news for me right?


After a serious day of shopping and walking Alannah and I decided it was time to have some kick off our rubbish flats and don our new heels for some fun and thus we gave Chelsea, Mark and Marc a call to see what we could do for the evening!


After conversing with Marc we realised we both have a love for jazz and cabaret and thus mark bribed a random hotel concierge to give us the best place in town and we ended up at 'Don't Tell Mama'. 


This had to be one of the best nights i've ever had! The bar was absolutely incredible not to mention the best part about it - every waiter could sing as though they were directly from broadway and they each had the character to go with it! My personal favourite was the chubby waiter who insisted on wearing the classic statue of david apron and singing vulgar (But absolutely HILARIOUS) songs! Aside from the grogeous waiters there was also 'Kenny' the singing piano player! He was so talented and all we had to do was send requests up on aprons and believe you me he could sing them! We gave him everything from 'That Titanic Song' to Gaga and he rocked it!

After that Allanah and I decided it was time to test the golden arches in America and so we got happy meals and headed back to the warmth of our hostel! 

Driving in Times Square

Today was a 'free' day because today - was the black friday sales and no one wanted to be tied down in a group! This is one of the highest grossing days in the american calandar becuase when Americans have sales they mean it!


It was chaos everywhere! 


Stef and I made the executive decision to avoid fith ave at all costs due to the claustrophobia that was bound to surround us! Instead we stayed up all night googling and plotting a list of 23 vintage and designer stores in SoHo, NoHo and West Village - and man oh man did it pay off!


Personally I got a ridiculous amount of beautiful things, my favourites being my new clear blue scalloped cat eye frames and my black waisted scalloped vintage valentino skirt! So amazing. 
But it still doesnt come close to stef's incredible purchase - A vintage coutour japanese gown made out of copious scarves from the neck to the ground. Words cant do this dress justice but its incredible!


Some other amazing things!

 Oh Nespresso - you genius invention!

Bag made out of real bones??

SQUIRREL!

After a seriously tiring day of shopping in New York City I met up with a friend of mine from Jersey who I met in Brazil last year! It was incredible to catch up after so long! My friend decided to take me on a tour of NYC - local style! We even drove through times square and I won't lie, no matter how good friends we are I still feared for my life!


After a motor tour of NYC we headed to a tiny creperie in China Town for crepes and headed back to the hostel - I had been informed earlier of 'free booze, doughnuts and comedy'! Upon getting home to the dingy hostel we realised the comedy show was over however there was four guys from england staying the hostel who were playing music and they were awesome!!


Yet again a fabulous night in NYC - How am I going to adjust to boring Brisbane ever again?

Today We Gave Thanks!

Today i gave thanks for the Macy's thanks giving day parade, harry potter, the empire state bulding, my groovy clear umbrella and New york for simply being New York. 

Experiencing Thanks-giving was by far one of the most wonderful things yet. Never before had I seen so many people embrace such a family driven tradition with so much vigour. That is by far one of my favourite things about america, whilst alot of it is simply just consumer driven behaviour, the local embracement of the 'Holiday season' is amazing and as a tourist it is a very wlcoming and warming feeling. 

The Macy's parade was like nothing I had ever seen before! There were literally THOUSANDS of people. The colours and excitement of the festival were by far the best bit however. Take a look!

How gorgeous is this couple!

Unfortunately, Stef and I had to leave before the parade had fully ended as we were absolutely freezing! Fortunately however, we were the only two idiots who didn't dress warm enough and thus getting a cab was simple! Above is Stef and I huddling for warmth - Our cabbie thought this was hilarious. He then proceeded to tell us that he actively supports polygamy? ....... he wasn't altogether useless though, he did also explain the real story of thanks giving. I googled the story to check if it was actually true and it was - have a look!

Most of us associate the holiday with happy Pilgrims and Indians sitting down to a big feast.  And that did happen - once. The story began in 1614 when a band of English explorers sailed home to  England with a ship full of Patuxet Indians bound for slavery. They left behind smallpox which virtually wiped out those who had escaped.  By the time the Pilgrims arrived in Massachusetts Bay they found only one living Patuxet Indian, a man named Squanto who had survived slavery in England and knew their language.  He taught them to grow corn and to fish, and negotiated a peace treaty between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Nation. At the end of their first year, the Pilgrims held a great feast honoring Squanto and the Wampanoags. But as word spread in England about the paradise to be found in the new world, religious zealots called Puritans began arriving by the boat load. Finding no fences around the land, they considered it to be in the public domain. Joined by other British settlers, they seized land, capturing strong young Natives for slaves and killing the rest.  But the Pequot Nation had not agreed to the peace treaty Squanto had negotiated and they fought back. The Pequot War was one of the bloodiest Indian wars ever fought.  In 1637 near present day  Groton, Connecticut, over 700 men, women and children of the Pequot Tribe had gathered for their annual Green Corn Festival which is our Thanksgiving celebration. In the predawn hours the sleeping Indians were surrounded by English and Dutch mercenaries who ordered them to come outside.  Those who came out were shot or clubbed to death while the terrified women and children who huddled inside the longhouse were burned alive. The next day the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony declared "A Day Of Thanksgiving" because 700 unarmed men, women and children had been murdered.Cheered by their "victory", the brave colonists and their Indian allies attacked village after village. Women and children over 14 were sold into slavery while the rest were murdered.  Boats loaded with a many as 500 slaves regularly left the ports of New England. Bounties were paid for Indian scalps to encourage as many deaths as possible.   Following an especially successful raid against the Pequot in what is now  Stamford, Connecticut, the churches announced a second day of "thanksgiving" to celebrate victory over the heathen savages.  During the feasting, the hacked off heads of Natives were kicked through the streets like soccer balls.  Even the friendly Wampanoag did not escape the madness. Their chief was beheaded, and his head impaled on a pole in Plymouth, Massachusetts -- where it remained on display for 24 years.   The killings became more and more frenzied, with days of thanksgiving feasts being held after each successful massacre. George Washington finally suggested that only one day of Thanksgiving per year be set aside instead of celebrating each and every massacre. Later Abraham Lincoln decreed Thanksgiving Day to be a legal national holiday during the Civil War -- on the same day he ordered troops to march against the starving Sioux in Minnesota

This story doesn't quite have the same fuzzy feelings associated with it as the one where the indians and pilgrims are all sitting down together to enjoy a huge feast - but then again neither  does the commercialisation of christmas or easter when you compare them to their historical beginnings!

We decided to defrost a little before heading out into the cold again which was lucky because shortly after we got to the hostel Allanah arrived blue and also needing to add some layers! After warming ourselves we decided to head to the Empire state building! Both the building itself and the veiw are simply beyond description! A 360 degree veiw of New York City! It was incredible and to top it off - we even got a little bit of SNOW!

After this we met up with Kay and the rest of the girls to enjoy a classic thanksgiving dinner together! unfortunately the food sucked - but the pie was awesome :) 

After dinner Grace, Allanah, Stef and I treated ourselves to seeing Harry Potter 7 at an old theatre IMAX in Times Square. 

Happy Thanksgiving!