Neville and Anabel's Timeless Allure






Charles James: An American Icon
By: Neville Boasiako

Haute Couture. The century old practice of fine tailoring and craftsmanship in high fashion. Many people know the names of Coco Chanel, Christian Dior, Hubert de Givenchy, Valentino, Gianni Versace, etc, yet many don't know the name of fashion designer Charles James. He was one fashion's best kept secrets and was considered to be "America's first couturier". This year, The Metropolitan Museum of Art has honored this forgotten genius with a new exhibition that is sure to wow new audiences.

Charles James was an architect, doctor, scientist,and magician when he created his clothes. James was very well known for his grand evening gowns that were heavily constructed and sculpted. Many of his dresses used yards if materials and had many interior layers.

Charles was not keen on using typical dressmaking techniques to make his statement pieces. James used science and geometry to gain the shape he wanted in his dresses. You would look at one of his dresses and think that the simplicity of it would not make it a standout, yet you would really have to see the infrastructure of the garment and see the complexity of his work. It's mind-boggling! His famous Four Leaf Clover evening gown was constructed using a total of 30 pattern pieces! That might drive a fashion student crazy!

Charles James dresses the top tier of high society women in the 1940s and 1950s. His clients included Millicent Rogers, Babe Paley, Gypsy Rose Lee and many others who looked divine in his creations. His dresses made the perfect outfit to wear to a social event back then.

Though very talented and highly praised, James was not successful in keeping his fashion house afloat. He was a terrible businessman who had a hot temper and burned a lot of bridges towards the end if his life. Charles continued producing garments, while he was in debt and living in poverty at the famed Chelsea Hotel on 23rd street. He would pass away in 1978.

After his death, his collection of work was donated to the Brooklyn Museum, who later contributed their collection to this year's costume institute exhibition.

Charles James: Beyond Fashion is the new exhibition on this uncredible genius. The exhibit examines James' creative and technical process as a designer and really shows the actual construction of the garment. You would be amazed at the techniques used to concoct these works of art. I would definitely recommend anyone interested in fashion to go and see this exhibit and learn about a man who creativity and talent was respected by designers like Dior and Balenciaga and inspired future designers like Gianni Versace and Zac Posen, who some say is the heir apparent of James himself. He is definitely someone to admire.
                                           
 
                                                                     





 
                                                         Androgyny According to Nev



I wanted start out by saying that I wanted this post to be about my fun and quirky side of fashion that likes to play dress up. It reminds me of when I was a young child, playing with my mom's clothes. I want to show my glamorous, bourgeoisie side with my selfie. I borrowed a Diamond tiara and put on a fur coat and my look was complete. #Flawless.
 
 



 
For this day, I was feeling a bit whimsy and playful. I borrowed a garment from the school fashion show and created my own bunny alter ego. He is a tall and haappy rabbit who loves to dress preppy and loves to have fun. I paired a white dress shirt and burgundy bow tie with a fur mini skirt ( and I do mean MINI) and rabbit ears. I had be on the lookout for any wardrobe malfunctions. I loved this outfit. I felt so happy and playful. I felt like a cartoon character! It was great.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 I am a huge Clueless fan. I love the attitude of the characters and the fashions of the 90s. I love the pastel colors outfits that were youthful and preppy and sophisticated. My friend Fabian Salazar made this adorable tweed coat with fox fur cuffs and panels. i could reasist asking if I could wear to seee how it looked. I love tweed.Wearing it made me want to create my own Chanel style jacket for when I start attending classes at FIT in the fall. Perfect time and season to show off my future creation.
 
 
 
 
 This jacket was actually a creation of mine for the school fashion show. It was in the evening short section of the school's fashion show. It is a peplum jacket with an organza bow at the neckline. I could not actually fit the jacket, so I decided to drape it over my shoulder.
 
 
I was in a mysterious Victorian mood this day. I want to create an aura of noir and intrigue. This long coat is very reminiscent of the victorian era with tight bodices and full skirts. Wearing it was cool, due it lightness in fabric, yet the top part was a bit tight on my ribs, though. It was sleek, yet restrictive. Just like victorian times.
 
 
 
Here is my Steampunk inspired look. I paired a women's military inspired peplum jacket with a full ball gown skirt. I wanted to infuse the feeling of victorian steampunk with 21 century modernity. The skirt was apart of a ensemble for halloween made by fellow design student Fabian Salazar. I t was a hassle putting it on, yet i got it on. I was lucky enough to find the jacket out of nowhere. It completed my look so well.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Letter To The Editor
 
 
 
Fashion has been known to be a ever changing and diverse universe, yet for years there has not been diversity of race in the fashion world, most notably on the runway and editorial side. There has been controversy and outcry over the fact that there are not as many models of different colors featured in fashion.  The past few years the fashion world has started embracing the diversity of models and featured many more models that are "non-white". Models like Chanel Iman, Liu Wen, Jourdan Dunn, Joan Smalls, Sessilee Lopez,etc, have been able to break down the fashion barriers and score the top runway spots of top fashion houses like Chanel, Prada, and Balmain. It is wonderful to see how these women are abke to reach top ranks in fashion and join their legendary predecessors like Iman, Naomi Campbell, China Machado, and Pat Cleveland. It shows that fashion is not color blind. It does not exclude people. It is a place to show your beauty, imagination and creativity, no matter what color or race you are.
 
By Anabel J.
 
 
 
 
 Today's look is smokey eyes that compliment my brown eye color. The lid has a peachy tone while
the crease is defined with a coffee brown. I brighten my eyes with a light cream at the corners.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


The beginning of Freshman Year in High School you meet a whole bunch of great people. Everyone
has different personalities and different goals, dreams and morals. Throughout the whole four years
you basically mold yourself into the person you want to be and set yourself around the people you
feel will push you and encourage you to better yourself. Basically my point is that you won't always
end with the same people you started with. There is nothing bad about that, people just grow apart 
and want different things.
 
 
 
 

The beauty about high school is the amazing people you get to meet. You know you can count on these people to be there in whatever they can and be brutally honest with you. I can honestly say that I can be completely myself around them. I make silly faces, talk about crazy ideas and just do the weirdest things. Instead of judging me or thinking I'm a freak they actually join me. They're just the best and I'm happy I met them
 
 
 

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