You've Got Mail

I don’t have a lot to write today because I’m gearing up for finals before I go to Paris. But I thought I would write something anyways…

(By the way, sorry about the You've Got Mail reference. I couldn't help it. People always tell me that my name reminds them of Kathleen Kelly, and I love that movie with a passion).

I’ve been taking an advertising class this semester, and I had a group project for a direct mail piece. You know. Those annoying post cards you get in the mail that you never read—except you would totally read mine. Just sayin'.

The goal of the assignment was to find a willing client and make a direct mail piece that they could realistically send out in order to get more people to their store or organization. My group chose my friend Amy, who owns fine fabric store in Salt Lake—Yellow Bird Fabrics.

Put a bird on it!
But ignore the address. They are now at 988 East.

Trends I Heart and Trends I Hate: Neon and Sustainable Fashion

I’m probably not what you would call “trendy”. I tend to err on the side of classic, but this does not mean that I don’t love trends. After a great evening of walking around Salt Lake City’s marvelous City Creek Mall, I can’t restrain myself from talking about my favorite trends.

With no further delay here is Trends I Heart and Trends I Hate.

Trend I heart: Neon

When I was in the eighth grade, my language arts teacher told my class to write a letter to ourselves  five years later (that would be my nineteen year-old self). Needless to say, I was embarrassed about the things I actually liked back in 2004, however, I was taken by something I wrote. It went something like this:

“Dearest Kathleen,

You are probably reading this while wearing a loud shirt and spandex pants, and you probably think you are really cool…”

Oh my hell… I was doing just that...

A Bright Future

As many of you might know, I studied fashion design for a while. During the fall semester 2011, I was working on a seven-piece collection for school, but I was unable to finish it because I was working and taking classes at two different schools—full time. Recently, however, I unearthed my notebook full of designs for the collection, and I thought I would share them with you.

Just to give you some context, at the time I was working on a collection for the spring fashion show at Salt Lake Community College. I went there after high school to study general education so I could transfer somewhere else later, but I ended up getting sucked into the fashion design classes. By the time I finally transferred to Westminster College, I almost had enough credits to graduate with an associate’s degree in Fashion design.

Each year the spring fashion show has a theme that everyone must follow, and this year’s was “speed”. I was really confused and panicked at first (classic Kathleen). It sounded way too esoteric to work. Then it just made me think I would have to end up making clothing for raves with special built-in compartments for meth. Eventually, I started listening to my professor as she explained that the Utah Museum of Fine Arts was installing an exhibit—at the same time the fashion show was going on—with a bunch of beautifully designed cars called Speed. Suddenly, things started to click.

Jaguar XK–SS from the Speed home page.

On a Quest to be "Parisian Chic"

Travelling is one of my absolute favorite things to do, and I travel out of the country a lot. I will admit, however, that I actually hate the travelling part of travelling. I hate packing. I hate sitting on planes. I hate getting strip-searched at the airport. My saving grace is taking sleeping pills, so I don’t have to be conscious on the plane.

Story of my life...

When you travel as frequently as I do, you tend to pick up tricks on how to make the process of getting to (and being at your destination) easier. Things like what shoes you should wear to the airport and how to live off of a small suitcase. My biggest travel trick, however, is to try not to look like a tourist.