can someone get me a fan?

Hello.
Have I mentioned before, the benefits and suckers of living in central Central London?

The benefits basically fall into one broad category: envy-inducing.
Where I live now (the eastern edge of W1 which should really join WC2), it takes me little more than 30 minutes to get a snack at Princi, do some fabric research, pick up groceries and walk home through Gaytown. I've got Chinatown at my doorstep too, which could be handy or annoying depending on what time of the day it is.


And so, I do not have a view of greenery. On weekends one could almost always guarantee some rowdy noises at 4 in the morning. It's dusty, cramped and badly ventilated. Which is why, on hot days like Friday onwards (average of 28°C) I become very irritable and listless. I'm even switching on the stove extraction fan to make it less suffocating. The bathroom is somewhat worse; the perenially running heater that was morning shower comfort a few weeks back turned the room into not-quite-sauna facility (which is unnecessary when it is this hot!) My sister chuckled and wondered how on earth I would cope with the temperatures back home...


Coming back into the millieu of college, the other day whilst printing some files I saw a fashion student in CSM doing her journal pages on Photoshop. Since the computer I was using took its time loading up a few PDFs, I simply paid attention at what she was doing. Initially I thought she was just pasting photographs of garment mock-ups alongside inspiration pictures and design drawings to illustrate how her idea evolves. But then she manicured her garment mock-up photos on the spirit of 'the mock up didn't look right so I'll give its photo a helping hand'. If she had time to laboriously nudge and reform her photographs, she could have fixed the root of the problem itself. Man.

A lot of the third-years in my program are also getting disinterested in coursework. I find it hard to pull myself together and produce work when it is this hot (it's not the holiday effect; my brain runs slow under excessive heat.) But then I negotiated a project that will benefit me in the long run, so it is not like a box-ticking exercise the major project once was. Most of my classmates are already in summer holiday mode. Talking to a mid-aged couple over dinner last night, my conscious view of June to September is of the professional industry entry/self-employment/unemployment nature, which means I will tsk-tsk-tsk myself for behaving in any remotely unproductive way. I'm not really keen on holidaying, except if the place I'm going to is set to be breezier and cooler than London.

On the domestic menial front, I wonder where my flatmate keeps the vacuum cleaner, or whether she has one at all. I found a small dustpan + brush set and the mop so far.

Also, this Supermalt thing tastes 22% of malt only. Most of the taste hit comes from carbonated bubbles, then sugar, then this flavour that reminds me of hot drink mix I used to have in my teens.

OK, I'm gonna get drawing now. Enough chattering. Take care!

ululu falala

Hiya,
as promised before. The collection.


In the next six months, my homeworks are:
- personal portfolio website
- collection/show
- a particular competition
- setting up production

Busy life, eh? Or maybe not quite... I've been sleeping upwards of 10 hours a day lately. Most of the time, whenever I managed to fall asleep with the lights on, it is much more likely for me to sleep for longer. (Note to self: switch off lights, wake up earlier.)

In the past two weeks, I have been generating samples (colloquially called stuff or c*** depending on whether I liked it or not) slower than I would have liked to achieve, and pretty good (faster?) than what the tutor expects. He's a fresh breath of air, given that I had had the same design tutor for the past year ending March 31. And some contemporaries in college give me the cold shudder whilst others actually get friendlier.

Remember Rob and his educatively entertaining talk a few months back on Mongolian fashion? (Well maybe I haven't mentioned it on this blog, but anyhow.)
Today I got to confront him. That his joke on fashion in Outer Mongolia is becoming true. With this.


And the poor man wailed that nothing is sacred anymore. *pat pat*

On the essay front:
Reflective summary is due in, according to rumours, on 28 May. It has not been confirmed on the online noticeboard, nor have I consulted a member of teaching staff on the matter. Regardless, it's time to start. I'd probably do it by categories, given the fact I'm prone to covering a good few diverse topics in one post. I wonder how nitpicky the marking team will be on bibliography (references to one's diary? doesn't that count as self-promotion or bogus referencing?)

I want to post an intellectual topic on music as well, as a way of philosophical and technical progress from where I was three years ago, but I guess it'll have to wait till the near future.

Take care!

this plus this plus that

I've been trashing my living room floor with photocopies, tear sheets and fabric scraps for the past some time (was it November when it had some semblance of a normal living room?) Yeah, yeah - blame three projects running at the same time, blame my preference for a warm bed, blame the overcommitment, blame me in general...

Anyway.
My course is notorious for the lack of academic writing its students are expected to dish out - the lack of reading other than visual imagery vampirism. Or, exposure to non-picturebooks.
I've also been happily traveling around a very small area on the continent (as dear blog-reader once read/heard/came across), picking up bits and bobs of fabric. Whatever fine fabric, or dream material, or strange invention I would sample in the faint hopes of actually marginally benefiting a textile manufacturer. And preferably share the courier cost with some other folk from my intake. Oh yeah.

Almost three months down the line, I find myself replying to a forwarded email on how VAT charges work, and how much should be paid to the supplier and courier respectively, etc etc etc. (It's not 20 bloody percent, it's 7.6) Managed to come up with two possible alternatives, which is probably doing not much comfort to my courier-share other half and probably not what a tax consultant would give to its customer. (Note to self: you have just reduced your chance of working in tax/finance consultancy. Cue boos.) But then, non-awareness of tax and tariff is everywhere - myself included - and probably it's good that there is some sort of information available to clarify how much charges are applicable to different types of goods, and at which point in time they become payable. The commerce degree makes me comfortable mucking around numbers and reading self-looping circular logic of T&T. I may have just found myself a niche area in fashion I can work on.

I am truly my mother's offspring.

=.=

Why am I doing tax stuff at midnight?!
Whatever happened to designing and cutting and job-hunting?

In light of £45 courier charges, I. Must. Order. Fabric. In. One. Shot.
Next learning hurdle: How to buy just enough to sample, all in one order.
I guess this is what Adele meant by 'they didn't teach us this stuff in college'...

Marsha,
wanting a daschund,
been reading Suhu lately.

[ex]changing minds

I'm quite happy to have design tutorials again, even when it means working myself crazy over the things I need to prepare (why does mmy head feel so giddy these days?) It means there is someone I can bounce things off with.

Also, I suspect my assigned design tutor is probably happier with Hoxton-type folks, which I tend not to be, even though I live in Hoxton. My mannerisms are probably too Sloaney for college folks. Or mumsy, depending on who you hear from. Last night I went to bed early in the morning - a combination of late finish at work, bus-waiting and a drawing spree - but it was very strictly in bed at home, granny style, and living in the heart of clubland hasn't increased the appeal of changing and trotting down for a long night at the clubs... although it's helpful to have a 24-hour neighbour dealing in electricity and gas. And two doing late-night (early-morning?) trade in kebabs and fast food.

Last weekend I met up with a certain ex-Miss (from 3 years back). She, her London-based friend and I went for tea, and only from this non-domiciled girl did we find out that M&S has a beauty line! How strange is that. Note: actually, how normal is that, considering that apparel companies have a hobby to branch into beauty products.

Coming back to designing, I'm finding myself to be a serial polygamist when it comes to sketchbook and log-keeping. Two sketchbooks (each with mutating functions), a to-work-on photocopy pile, a reject-but-potential photocopy pile, endless loose sheets of paper, drawings on bits of design on torn-off-from patern paper. And a somewhat catalogued database of digitally collected imageries and photographs. I do think a lot. And I find myself to be quite scatty, too.

Sewing-wise, this has led me to start bagging cut-up fabric pieces that belong to different garments into a bag of their own. Hopefully this approach would help.

And, erm, actually, I quite like darts in sleeves... if they are somewhoat horizontal. Because they blend with elbow-area wrinkling (thanks to Bertrand.)

Shoes are in the pipeline, although for now I am rather freaking out and feel like running around like a headless chicken. This giddy head addition isn't doing me a favour, either.

Have a good day!

seemingly carefree, but actually dragged around

Having been way more than happy to drop dead after dinner, I put aside my online/virtual presentation aside, and now it's high time for more other bloggers' posts-inspired talks. Of this nature.

The circumstances surrounding a scholarship student's life in Singapore may be as far removed as it could be by one parental-funded thousands of miles away in good old Blighty. But regardless of how financially easy life can be, for students mettling their skills overseas one thing remains true: the weight of expectations heaved upon shoulders are potentially crippling.

It is almost common fare to hear comments along the spectrum of "since you studied overseas you can definitely be on top of everyone else". Comments of this genre are pervasive. The issue here is not about the seemingly mediocre quality of education that Indonesia offers (interestingly there is a younger generation of home-raised bloggers who emulate their thoughts at least on the same level with their internationally educated counterparts.) The issue here is about how a period of a few years, culminating with a piece of paper and photos of youths in togas, is seen as a talisman that bestows enviable skills and a securely fast-tracked career path.

In art schools, a particular emphasis is put on the final degree show. This is where usually heavyweights of the sectors descend to lend their gravity and legitimation to what the media believes will be those 'to watch'. (And quite unsettlingly, the 'to watch' posse will be on show in the media much to the chagrin of those the media deems to be more difficult to pull a selling story from.) More specifically, in fashion design pathways it is common bitter medicine to learn about how and why a final degree show collection could be stolen, shredded into pieces and/or burned to bits. There is an almost feverish quality about 'making it in the degree show' as a finished and perfect end product of design education. Given the fact that talent is developed and nurtured to mature over an extended period of time, this kind of instant noodle mentality is disturbing. (If not ultimately destructive, that is.)

I personally feel these burdens are starting to creep up, niggling my consciousness. There will be times when my errant mind (whilst the body is in commute) runs financial simulations of "what next year will cost", compares it with "what I know is available plus what I can earn", then consider the time burdens of "what I can earn" against "how much time I can reasonably spend in life next year". Or when I consider in which direction I might need to expand my skills, how much extra learning and extra cash I must put it, and how it relates to gainful employment. They invariably leave me feeling depressed/negative/pessimistic at worst, and mildly amused at my own adventurousness at best. Decorate the dreaded cake with an icing of pride stemming from a desire to be financially independent, and you get an unpleasant dessert to consume.

Oh man...
Despite of how relaxed the image of an art student is, an image is a representation of reality and in itself is not the reality - the reflection in the mirror is not the actual object, no? I barely have time to read more literature works that I want to read for the sake of reading them. I promised myself to watch Australia, Che, Valkyrie, Doubt, Bride Wars, Benjamin Button and a host of other highly fantastic popular movies, yet I haven't gotten around to them... and this is March already.

If you see me acting a bit insane and morose, please be understanding and help me accommodate the slice of life served on my plate.

Hope you have a good day :D

why education matters, and a degree is now worthless

This is an important talk on the current state of educational hierarchy and its increasing lack of relevance towards economic progress and, conversely, the future workplace.


What do you think?

disregard, hoo haa!

So, seems like I've broken a self-imposed rule on post titles.

Anyhow.
Next term, the industrial placement will entail a full-time work experience at a label aptly titled "the little slut", doing who knows what... technical work and sampling. The label is not going to show on runway at the coming A/W'09 showing in February, but it will travel to Milan and Paris for buyers' appointments. Naturally, I will be nosing my way in for these appointments, so we'll see how things turn out.

The pay for above-mentioned placement is predictably nihilistic (travel expenses covered), so packed lunch and possibly biking to work options will be scrutinised. It was quite interesting, though, to discuss with the studio manager person that "I know my legal rights of being paid £5.73 per hour for full-time internships longer than four weeks in duration", "yet I know many students will be flocking to London to do an internship in order to pass their units", and "more desperate skilled people means less pay ceteris paribus". I wonder if what I said in regard to payments made them break into sweats. With what they said, and given that last time I was given £10 travel money a day, I'm looking at £50-60 per week. Not much, but better than something.

Despite FBRS and Careers Office crowing about minimum pay, many choose to flout the rules: some out of desperation, and some riding flush on others' meagre situation. I, for one, must do a ten-week placement supplemented with paperwork and a 4000-word student report by mid-March, or risk failing the module and be forced to repeat one whole year (paying extortionate fees). Don't get me wrong, it isn't personal: all others in my course must do so when their placement term comes. One place pays £140 a week - sadly I didn't get the job despite coming in earlier than everyone else. Although I do wonder, how many other students get so anal/blunt about getting remunerated on their interviews... and how talking about money rates with employers.

As for the more mundane side of things:

Visa for the Antwerp trip got approved on Wednesday, and it was for... one entrance, five days only? Good customer service at VFS Belgium though; I got my passport back within less than two weeks, with mild e-mail pestering. Hopefully it will be smooth sailing with the Italian VFS.
(Note: VFS is an intermediary company that supposedly 'helps' embassies deal with high-volume visa application paperworks.)

I'm flying out to Melbourne tomorrow, and will get there in... a few days? :))
I'm not going back to Jakarta. Despite being relatively close to Melbourne (it takes me at least 24 hours to take to that side of the world anyway), the stopover option is significantly more expensive. Moreover, I don't think I can physically tackle a side trip to Jakarta, remembering that many would demand me to "do the rounds". So, for my health, sanity and financial well-being, Jakarta this Christmas is out of question. Thank you.

So, now it's time to pack... have a good day, everyone! ^__^

(stitch it where it's needed)

Too many students are coming out of fashion design courses in universities and art colleges lacking practical skills.

These past few weeks, whenever I go for interviews and show my portfolio, I would invariably ask for a design position and be offered a pattern-cutting/production one. They both have their own advantages: designing lets one look at how supposedly great designers conduct their trades (if you're lucky enough not to be told to bring the dog for a run); pattern-cutting lets one learn technical know-how that makes garments work.

The reason why I ask for a design position is because I would like to practise more of the design skills I learnt at uni. The reason why I prefer not to do a production position is because it brings back jibes about tukang jahit and horror stories about how internships are little more than a foiled-up sweatshop labour source. When I worked over summer, the moment I sat on a sewing machine and produce a dress mock-up needed for fitting the following afternoon, others in the studio made jokes about how there was "a new sewing technician". I relished in giving them a nice surprise, but their comments allude to how ignorant fashion design students can be when it comes giving [physical] birth to their ideas.

The squabbles between CSM and LCF highlight what seems to be a gap in current fashion design education. LCF students are often accused of lacking artistic integrity, wheres CSM students are jibed for being impractical and not knowing how to make what they design. Now, these accusations are stereotypical and I know quite a few people who prove otherwise, but the point is... there is a gap between what is to be made and how it is to be made.

When it comes to my skills, I'm much more in 'home territory' with pattern-cutting and garment making up. I can draw and develop my drawings using digital manipulation softwares. I do have my 'pet hates' - technical specs, trueing patterns - but I do my best to do them. I take extra classes to improve my garment-making skills, and I will start taking design classes to hone my design development skills.

That's the end of it, for now.
The frequency of post should alarm you that I'm under pressure to produce technical drawings and illustrations pronto, so I'll scoot off...

(18 months)

I had a good time talking to my parents over the phone in the past two days. Here are some excerpts from the talks...

Dad (B): Thank you for calling, be wise with your spending, don't burn your money... [herein referring to mobile and calling card spending]
M: Don't worry dad, the money's already burnt, I'm just using the ash.
B: (laughs)

I went to see Bora Aksu's show in Natural History Museum this morning. I never knew the designer's actually a Caucasian-looking guy!! I've always been under the impression that the designer is a she with African heritage. Never mind the confusion, my head's probably just not quite right. Also, timeliness and being early are very important things in fashion - having a ticket doesn't mean the guards will guarantee your entry into the tent. That is the case, unless you're Suzy Menkes or some other uber-important personality in the industry (even then, I'm not too sure the guards will remember your face... excuse my skepticism.)

Ah... no, I didn't pay for the ticket. The standing ticket got me in and I somehow managed to sit myself on the third row (out of four.) It was a good show with lots of nice floaty dresses and leather bodices. Question is, with the show being held to showcase designs available for autumn/winter merchandise, where are the coats?

Another thing I'd like to post is 2008-09's term dates.
Pathfinding Week --- 29 Sep - 3 Oct 2008
Autumn Term --- 6 Oct - 12 Dec 2008
Spring Term --- 12 Jan - 20 Mar 2009
Summer Term --- 20 Apr - 26 Jun 2009
Looks like next year starts and ends later than usual :))
Alright, that gives me 18 months of preparation time to start of third year. I have somewhat narrowed down my subject choices to about 4 (from ten). I still need to arrange which disciplines I'll be taking in short courses, which, given what's been jotted down my calendar so far, doesn't leave me with much time to faff around.

Compulsory working experience term, although not yet disclosed by college, is possibly going to take place on the spring term for my group. So, I'll be happy to work between mid-December and mid-April, save the off week or two for Christmas and Easter.

Alright... I guess that's all for now! Take care and wish me (and help me to get) all the best ^__^

(purple skies)

I'm due to submit my elective subjects selection for next year in three weeks' time. It feels overwhelming (if not slightly disconcerting) that I can only submit selection for three subjects out of the 20+ offered.

One thing I'm glad about is for a close friend's courtesy to help enslave me last year. Despite spending over half of my waking hours for two weeks hunched over some strangely shaped concoction of fusible interfacing, jersey and rigilene, I learnt that: (1) corsetry is not dead (2) there's more to corsetry than T&A tightlacing. This knowledge, combined with my parents' generosity to let me do any short courses 'as long as they're relevant to your career', helps me jump on the learners' bandwidth early on. Maybe UAL should give me a discount card for the courses I've taken with them.

Which does make me think... these few days I've been reading several strange and thought-provoking academic articles on fashion from an anthropological/cultural viewpoint. It's interesting to learn side-saddle horse riding in a long skirt is definitely a safety hazard, or the fact that men are more harshly expected to conform to a narrowly defined aesthetic standard.

As for not having the internet, it clearly limits my blogging time, but I don't find this limitation too bothersome. I got myself an overlocker (that's mesin obras for home folks) and as a consequence my fabric consumption has trebled - I've gobbled up the fabric allowance the school's stockroom has given me. Well, to be honest I didn't take the prerequisite jersey fabrics (ended up buying them instead) and used my allowance to get myself a nice bright green canvas fabric for... a rug. My flatmates have cheerfully dubbed it 'the grass'.

And, oh yeah, the man's gone. Long dead the man.
(If he came back to life I'd definitely freak out and start shooting silver bullets.)

On a tangent, I found this interesting obituary in the Guardian. What you make out of it is up to you.

Anyway, time to go off for shopping! That's fabrics for you and me :))
Take care ^__^

Itu Aku

Despite the fact it's Day 8 of the Gregorian calendar year 2008, I feel no qualms on... fretting about the previous year. Blame the fireworks, fabric-hunting and globe-traveling for the lateness :}

With my general state of health back in check, I'm happy to start the year doused in work (save the untouched holiday homework for next week's presentation). When it comes to 2007, my mind inevitably comes to these...

Getting into a BA course
For most of February and March, my favourite pastime (other than doing schoolwork) included hand-wringing and UCAS form-filling. The pageant experience came in handy for BA placement interviews.

Spending summer
Didn't score a job at Maticevski, wasn't needed for costumes and sets. So, it was London for summer. The weather was good on occasions, the pay was kinda okay, made lots of friends, learnt lots of things (both academically and life-wise), felt lonely, went on a Sloane Ranger life... summer flew out of my window and painted my memory with vivid colours. Which reminded me, I did win something.

Moving out
So yes, I moved out of SW3 (who knows I'll be back?? living in my own property?? XD) It was like comparing Yve to Rumah Susun Kemayoran. But then, central London residential buildings on average are old and dinghy, so there weren't much shock involved. I was way too timid, and I'm glad to have friends who managed to send chills down the spines and make me pick up my acts. I still cringe whenever 'toilet' and 'elevator' come to mind, but other than that life's fine and my flatmates managed to make that place feel like home.
(Oh, and they took the TV out of my room too, thank God I have more space now.)

Being not ashamed of myself
Big homework starting from last year, and probably will last for a while.

The resolutions
No new year resolutions for me - I'm sticking to this. Deadline is less than five months away.

Socialising
Moving in with friends is like marriage - each found out about the dark sides of the others. It helps me to be less politically correct and more astute in expressing my views and preferences on many issues, some of them being nutrition and personal hygiene.

The BF question
Once and for all, I shall make it clear that I do not like to be hindered by anything or anybody while pursuing what matters to me. I am normal, I appreciate guys and occasionally I like them too. But if asked whether I'd leave my study uncompleted, please don't be suprised if a d'oh glare becomes currency of the day.

Desire to own...
Pantone colour fan, exquisite fabrics and the ability to fly private jet on demand (visa included.)

Well folks, I think these sum up a lot already. Have a nice day! :))

P.S. shopping in Dubai yielded reasonably-priced face wash and isotonic drinks, $40 Nintendo DS excluded.

Carmen Cubana

I just read an article about education in Indonesia.

According to this article, in a social studies text for first-grade primary school students, one of the questions consisted of the image of a woman holding a small child (an infant?) in her hands. The multiple-choice answers made available were (A) domestic helper (B) father (C) mother. One of the students picked (A) and was penalized for giving the 'wrong' answer, as the 'correct' answer was supposed to be (C).

The story made me think of a number of issues.

Is a domestic helper a form of mother substitution available to kids in general these days?
Prior to starting primary school-level education, I spent a lot of my time at home with my sister, neighbours and domestic helpers. My parents were both working at the time, and I do not recall any moment when I thought a two-income household arrangement is 'weird' or 'unnatural'. Social studies lessons at school didn't do much to change my view on the arrangement; I merely and secretly envied my friends for having their non-working mum pick them up at the end of a day's lessons, ready to whisk them off for a lunch in a fancy restaurant somewhere around town.
So yes, a domestic helper is somehow a form of mother substitution available to kids nowadays. Other forms of substitution I have observed are grandparents, extended family (uncle/auntie), neighbours and childcare services.

Why was 'father' the only non-female option included on the list?
This would be a bone of contention if the kid grew up only with his/her father as sole parent in the family. A lot of things can happen for this circumstance to take place (death and divorce to name a few), and I'm not into entertaining my thoughts for too long on this question.
Oh, and by the way, when I was three I wanted to grow up to be a father... so much for gender roles assignation.

Why does the correct answer have to be 'mother'? is this some sort of gendered political correctness on a female's role to the public eye?
Mothers killing their offsprings bring on a greater public display of outrage when compared to child homicides done by the father. Isn't a woman supposed to be more caring about her offsprings more than her male counterpart? Does that mean a father has less onus in ensuring his offsprings turn out alright in all walks of life? (Just some thoughts I had.)

I don't have a hobby of making life difficult for others, but there are moments when I feel compelled to have some disregard on the concept of political correctness. These are one of those moments. After all, creativity exists to question our way of doing, and consequently our reason of being.

Have a good day ^__^