O'More Culture

The aDARable label: Part Three

Today’s guest blog post is written by Martha Montiel-Lewis, the founder of DAR Project. The non-profit organization works with consignment sales around the country to collect items for distribution to low-income communities, both domestically and abroad.

This spring, the “Designing for a Cause” class at O’More College of Design is partnering with DAR Project to produce a Spring 2014 children’s clothing line that will give hope to Haitian women in extreme need. Martha and the participating fashion design students will periodically record their experiences through this blog.

I believe everyone has a special destiny, but not everyone resolves to attain it because it takes hard work. Reaching one’s destiny requires leaving behind familiar surroundings. It also demands persistence, the ability to change, when appropriate, and the willingness to respond to those incredible gut-checks that point you in the right direction.

I’ve been persistent in following my personal destiny, but while in Haiti I came to a mental and physical road block.  I thought to myself, “How in the H-E-double-hockey-sticks am I going to make this work?”  Like I mentioned in my previous post, Tibuk, the village we are working in, has no running water.  No electricity. No resources. I knew it was going to be crazy tough, but I didn’t realize how tough it was truly going to be. Then I thought about my partners at O’More. I thought about Annette and the students designing the line. I thought about Emery and Gigi. What lesson was I going to teach them if I just threw in the towel? Then I got to know the personal stories of the women sewing the line. It was at that moment I knew I couldn’t quit, I couldn’t give up. These women need this opportunity more than we can fathom.

                          

Meet Gabrielle Aliette. Gabrielle was born with a severe clubfoot defect. She has used crutches her entire life. She most likely needs an amputation and a prosthetic, but in Haiti this is almost impossible. Gabrielle has never been able to work because of her clubfoot. It was amazing seeing her sewing patterns using her one good foot. I was amazed by her fun spirit and her determination to do as well as the other women.

Gabrielle’s story changed me. From that point on I’ve been determined to make this project happen. And what do you know… things have started falling into place.

The first pieces of the puzzle that fell into place was when we found an incredible Haitian project manager who knows about quality and teaches at a vocational school on Cap Haitien. He is thrilled to be a part of this project. He has the kindest heart, and he was truly an answered prayer.

Second, on my flight down to Miami, I sat next to a wonderful couple. We exchanged stories, and we actually ended up knowing some of the same people. That’s not the part that is exciting. It’s that on my flight home, I sat next to a lady and again we shared stories and she ended up being the sister of the woman I sat next to on my way down!! She knew all about DAR Project and aDARable because her sister shared our conversation! What are the chances of that?!

Then there was the fact that the women needed new industrial sewing machines. We needed one for each one of them. A total of 10. I had only been back for a week when we received news of a donation of 7 industrial sewing machines!!! Jamie and Annette at O’More have opened their hearts to believing in this project and were able to give the women the donation of the sewing machines.

I guess what I’m trying to say is nothing good comes easy, right Kayla?! I am meant to be working on this project. These women need us, the town of Tibuk, Haiti needs us, and we…. well, we need them just as much.

The aDARable Label: Part Two

Guest Blog Post: the aDARable Label

Today’s guest blog post is written by Martha Montiel-Lewis, the founder of DAR Project. The non-profit organization works with consignment sales around the country to collect items for distribution to low-income communities, both domestically and abroad.

This spring, the “Designing for a Cause” class at O’More College of Design is partnering with DAR Project to produce a Spring 2014 children’s clothing line that will give hope to Haitian women in extreme need. Martha and the participating fashion design students will periodically record their experiences through this blog.

HOLA, soy Martha! As I type, I am on a plane to Haiti—just another step in an exciting project I will tell you about.  

Let me tell you a little about myself: like a lot of you, I have this strong desire in my heart to make a difference and change someone’s life. Growing up with a father in the Army, and as a first generation Latin-American, I’ve had the incredible experience to see more of the world than most of the people I’ve met. As a young person travelling the globe, I was struck at how some children had so little, while others were blessed with an abundance—and this based purely on the family and community where they were born. It’s a fundamental concept, one of fairness and justice, that has always torn at my conscience. 

GUEST BLOG POST: Jazz Age Lawn Party

Today’s guest blog post is written by  Emily Mae Anderson, a fashion design alumna who showed her “I Got Life” collection in the 14th Annual Eloise Student Fashion Show. Emily is the personal and research assistant to President Dr. Mark Hilliard, and assists with event planning, research, the O’More Publishing division and more. Emily Mae will periodically record some of her travel experiences with the College through this blog below.

Jazz Age Lawn Party
by Emily Mae Anderson 

After Dr. Hilliard and I arrived in New York City, we immediately we took the ferry over to Governors Island for the annual Jazz Age Lawn Party. We came to the Big Apple for it—this event that Women’s Wear Daily calls “one of the best fashion parties of each year.”

It was like stepping right into the Roaring ’20s! Everyone on the Governors Island was channeling the Prohibition era (including Dr. Hilliard and I!) in old-fashion fun with fringy skirts, boater hats and antique threads. Nearly everyone was dressed in costume and either languidly sprawled out on picnic blankets or perched on the dance floor doing the fast-paced Charleston. When the band wasn’t performing, an antique phonograph played vintage records to sustain the lively and on-point mood.

We were surrounded by vintage dealers peddling everything from beautiful Twenties attire to ’30s clothes and accessories. A spontaneous croquet game even started up in an open patch of grass!

It was an amazing event—one that the College intends to throw in similar fashion within the next year.

Emily Mae Anderson of Joelton, Tenn, is a 2012 fashion design graduate of O’More College of Design. She is a personal and research assistant to College President Mark Hilliard. 

Jazz Age Party on the lawn

Elaborate picnics were set up everywhere

Dr. Mark Hilliard and Emily Mae Anderson

Guest Blog Post: Costume Creation Chaos

Today’s guest blog post is written by Aja Blumanhourst, a May 2012 fashion design graduate who showed her “My Muse” collection in the 14th Annual Eloise Student Fashion Show. Aja, who has aspirations to pursue costume design in the film industry, was scheduled to report to Imagination Costume in Las Vegas this month. But due to uncanny circumstances, she had to change her plans.  She will be documenting her internship experience through this blog below.

Costume Creation Chaos
by Aja Blumanhourst

If I had internet access the past few days and had told this story piece by piece, it might’ve sounded a little discouraging. But over the past few months, God has been preparing me for a week such as this–-so when plans changed at the very last minute it didn’t seem quite so disheartening.

On Wednesday, Aug. 1, [husband] Eric and I began our 2,000-mile adventure across the United States, from Nashville to Imagination Costume in Las Vegas. I was so excited to move forward and begin my own career in an industry I love.  The first day we drove more than 700 miles and stopped at a hotel. By 7 a.m. the next day we’re on the last trek of our journey… or so we thought.

My spedometer read 1,700 miles when I received the call from my teacher. She informed me that between a lighting and sprinkler issue, Imagination Costume—the amazing professional costume shop I was scheduled to intern with in mere days—had just lost millions of dollars in costumes and products. They wouldn’t be back up and running for me to intern with them for at least a month. I think my jaw dropped. I was speechless for a few minutes and my brain was racing, wondering what the hell am I supposed to do now? We were (literally) thousands of miles into the trip.

After several attempts to actually talking to the person I was supposed to intern under and with the day light wasting away, it was time to make a decision. I had to weigh this out and think it quickly through. Here’s what through my mind:

1. I’m not about to drive all the way back to Nashville.

2. There is nothing in Las Vegas if I’m not doing my internship.

3. After my internship was over my husband and I were going to move to Los Angeles.

4. L.A. is only four hours away, but where are we going to stay on such short notice? I thought I had over a month to figure this out!

Each of us called our family and friends—-and we finally catch a break! A relative on Eric’s side will let us stay with them for a few days while we switch gears.

There is no news to report yet. I’ve planted seeds, now I’m waiting to see which ones grow.

After all this, I just want to thank the people God has put in my path that have provided for me. From my family and friends to complete strangers that have offered their hospitality at a moment’s notice, it has really amazed me. I hope that I have the opportunity to do the same.

I strongly believe that everything happens for a reason and if this waiting period is only so that I can have the time to sit down and spend the afternoon catching up with people I haven’t seen in a long time, then I can deal with that… and I think I can get used to the scenery here, too.

Stay tuned for more of Aja’s journey.

Aja Blumanhourst of Altoona, Iowa, is a 2012 fashion design graduate of O’More College of Design. She will be interning for Imagination Costume in Las Vegas. You can read more about Aja on her blog here.
 

Imagination Costume work

Imagination Costume work 

A look from Aja’s “My Muse” collection that premiered at the Eloise Student Fashion Show

Another look from Aja’s “My Muse” collection 

Los Angeles scenery 

Happy Birthday, Dear Hemingway

Today’s guest blog post is written by Jessa Sexton, Director of the Teaching and Learning Center at the College and Executive Editor of O’More Publishing.  Jessa recently traveled to Illinois with O’More peers to celebrate the birth of Ernest Hemingway and documented the experience below.

On July 21, 1899, barely making it in before the turn of the century, the writer who is credited with defining his generation and changing American literature was born, and on July 21, 2012—113 years later—I stood in the very room where he was born.

Ernest Hemingway has been a favorite of mine since I wrote a small thesis on him during my graduate studies. With the popularity of The Paris Wife by Paula McLain and Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, Hemingway has been thrust, once again, in to the spotlight of current culture. He was a man known for his bravery, manliness, larger-than-life personality, writing talent, and many wives. Beneath all of that was a cat enthusiast, an interesting lover-fighter mix, a well-traveled adventurer, and—in his heart—a sensitive observer of the nature of human kind. 

I’m teaching Hemingway in some of the literature classes offered at O’More this summer and fall, and I decided that I am far enough into his works to make it my goal to read everything he has written. On top of that, I am reading biography after biography written by researchers, friends, and those women he loved and wrote about. When I found out about a birthday party in his home town of Oak Park, Ill., I did something completely out of character—I took a spontaneous trip to celebrate his birth in his birth town. Accompanied by President and fellow Hemingway fan Dr. K. Mark Hilliard, his personal assistant Emily Mae Anderson, and Publishing Associate and fashion student Ashley Balding, I said, “Happy Birthday, dear Hemingway,” in the best way possible.

Nothing compares to the experience of travel. We not only enjoyed Hemingway sites in Oak Park but also saw Frank Lloyd Wright’s home and studio as well as his Unity Temple, an interesting design for a place of worship. In Chicago, we took an architectural river tour and saw the blending of a myriad of styles that came from the minds of multiple designers after the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. We spent hours looking at the works of Monet, Van Gogh, Dali, and Lichtenstein in the Art Institute of Chicago.

It wasn’t Oxford, England; the midlands of Ireland; or a tour of Germany—but I think we sometimes forget the treasures that lie only about an hour’s flight away from our front door. And on July 21, there was no place I wanted to be more than Oak Park, toasting one of the writers who has most influenced my teaching, my scholarship, and my own creative outlet of writing. 

(L-R) Emily Mae Anderson, Ashley Balding, Mark Hilliard, Jessa Sexton

Jessa Sexton in Hemingway’s birth room

 

Guest Blog Post: Fashion in Firenze

Today’s guest blog post is written by Lauren Cunningham, an O’More fashion design and graphic design student completing a summer internship for Italian menswear designer Borgo 28. Lauren will be periodically documenting her Florence summer adventures through this blog.

Fashion in Firenze
by Lauren Cunningham

Fashion design student; 2012 Borgo 28 intern

You know, waking up in a foreign country isn’t much different than waking up at home. Same ‘ole routine, same ‘ole breakfast…but the real magic happens when you take your first steps out the door and feast your eyes on the beauty of the city and unfamiliar culture that surrounds you. It’s exciting. Or at least that’s how I’ve started off every day in Firenze, Italia (Florence, Italy).

I came here to do an internship with menswear designer Borgo 28 (pronounced Borgo Ventiotto). They do contemporary mens clothing, focusing on details with a sartorial flair. All of the design work is done in Florence, but the collections are produced all over the world!

Getting the opportunity to intern with them has been such a spectacular opportunity. I have not only had the chance to attend Florence’s Men’s Fashion week (PITTI uomo), but also to attend PITTI filati, which was a kind of fashion market geared towards yarn, knitting companies and knitwear. Not only did I feel important as I drank my water out of my crystal goblet, but I was also responsible for deciding which yarn companies should send us color cards and samples for our collection in Fall 2013.

In addition to going to the fashion events, I’ve also had a hand in designing the Fall 2013 men’s knitwear range, as well as assisting in the design and creation of many of their marketing tools for Spring 2013 (such as their lookbook, visual aids for their swimwear displays in department stores in the U.S. and a target market presentation for their other label in Columbia).

It’s been a lot, but who can complain with these office rules?

1. Wine is always acceptable.

2. Lunch breaks are at least an hour.

3. 15 minutes late to work is actually being on time.

4. Caffe (coffee) breaks should happen often.

5. Your boss is your friend and your co-workers are your family.

With those in mind, it was impossible for me to ever have a hard day at work.

Ciao Ragazzi!

Lauren Cunningham of Little Rock, Ark., is a fashion design and graphic design student at O’More College of Design. She is interning for Italian menswear designer Borgo 28 in Florence this summer. You can read more about Lauren on her blogs here and here.

Guest Blog Post: Stranger in a Strange Land

Today’s guest blog post is written by Nathan Chapman, an O’More fashion design student completing a summer internship for American fashion designer Christian Siriano. Nathan will be periodically documenting his New York City adventures through this blog.

Stranger in a Strange Land: The First Week
by Nathan Chapman
Fashion design student; 2012 Christian Siriano intern 

A month ago today I landed in LaGuardia Airport to begin my adventure in the big city. Assuming that I would be identified immediately as an outsider, and then promptly mugged, I found a modicum of solace in the kind words from my fellow fashion design majors. “You don’t even have an accent, you’ll be fine.”

Repeating this comforting mantra to myself, I walked off the plane and down to baggage claim. This was my first experience in New York—my first time north of the Mason-Dixon Line, for that matter. So I was pretty overwhelmed when I walked out of the airport and was greeted by a chorus line of taxicabs. Luckily, I ran into an old friend from Tennessee named Jack who helped to alleviate some of my anxiety. The rest of the trip to my temporary home went well as I waited for my internship with designer Christian Siriano to begin.        

Monday morning was fairly typical. I tried on somewhere in the vicinity of 1,000 outfits before finally deciding on the perfect one. During my train ride into the city I ran the gamut of possibilities on how my first day would go, but arrived at the studio to find it was a completely normal office environment. I was immediately given an assignment with another intern: go to one of the many notions stores in the city, pick up an assortment of bust cups and deliver them to one of the factories that makes the clothing for the Fall collection. After returning to the studio, I was greeted by the lady who had given me the summer internship.

“You must be Nathan,” she said.

“Yes ma’am.”

“Oh, you even have a little accent, don’t you?”

I’d been discovered! My courtly Southern manners had given me away.

The rest of the day held standard duties: we ran errands, went to fabric and notion stores and took said items to either one of many factories or back to the studio. All the while my fellow (female) intern asking me: “Do you remember where this place is?” With “no ma’am” always being my reply.

And now, here it is, a month later and the Garment District seems as familiar to me as
downtown Franklin. The rest of Manhattan is a whole other monster, but the Garment District I’ve got on lockdown.

Over the past month I have become familiar to sewing on industrial machines, beading ball gowns, working on the Spring collection—but more importantly, I’ve become comfortable speaking with my boss while resisting the urge to scream like a girl and hug him around the neck.           

I consider the latter to be my greatest accomplishment of them all.

Nathan Chapman of Nashville, Tenn., is a fashion design student at O’More College of Design. He is interning for American fashion designer Christian Siriano in New York City this summer and will be documenting some of his adventures through this blog.

O’More College Returns To The Homeland: the last batch of photos

Ten students and professors traveled to Ireland on Monday, June 11 to experience the ancestral homeland of the O’More’s and returned Wednesday, June 20. This is the seventh summer for the O’More “Irish Experience” trip.

From walking the 3,000-acre estate of de Vesci at Abbeyleix to exploring the lush Heywood Gardens, the group experienced both the pristine beaches and the rolling (and sometimes rocky) hills of the historical rich country.

This is the the seventh summer a crew of students and teachers have traveled for the O’More “Irish Experience.” We’ve published more than 20 photos here for you to live vicariously through!

Abbeyleix Church of Ireland/Photo by Krista Allison

Abbeyleix Church of Ireland/Photo by Krista Allison

Abbeyleix Church of Ireland/Photo by Krista Allison

In front of Preston House at Abbeyleix/Photo by Krista Allison

Church doors of the Most Holy Rosary in Abbeyleix. This was formerly a Catholic boarding school for girls. The group’s tour guide, Karen, used to be a student there!/Photo by Krista Allison

The group taking a walking tour of the 3,000-acre de Vesci Estate in Abbeyleix/ Photo by Krista Allison

Church at Abbeyleix estate/Photo by Emily Mae Anderson

One of many gardens at the de Vesci Estate in Abbeyleix/Photo by Krista Allison

This tomb at the de Vesci Estate in Abbeyleix holds a distant O’More [and O’Kelly!] ancestor. Pictured here: The Kelly twins/Photo by Krista Allison

Heywood Gardens/Photo by Emily Mae Anderson

Heywood Gardens/Photo by Emily Mae Anderson

National Museum of Ireland in Dublin/Photo by Krista Allison

St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin/Photo by Krista Allison

View from the top of Ballaghmore Castle in Laois, Ireland/Photo by Krista Allison

Group’s view from the Rock of Dunamase/Photo by Krista Allison

The Bay of Dingle. Breathtaking!/Photo by Krista Allison

View from the top of a mountain on the way to Dingle Bay/Photo by Krista Allison

Inch Beach/Photo by Krista Allison

A cave off the peninsula of Inch Beach/Photo by Krista Allison

Dingle Bay/Photo by Krista Allison

Lunar Landscape/Photo by Krista Allison

Lunar Landscape during the girls’ “Moment of Zen.”

Castle Kilkenny/Photo by Emily Mae Anderson

Photo by Emily Mae Anderson

Photo by Emily Mae Anderson

Photo by Emily Mae Anderson

Ireland 2012 doodle/By Emily Mae Anderson