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Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Fashion 2010 (I'll try to stop whining)

So I haven't actually been using this blog for any fashion and since I'm stuck in Minnesota, might as well. Anonymous angst certainly has its cathartic perks, but regardless, how am I going to re[de]fine fashion engineering with that kind of an attitude? 

Nonetheless dear reader, you will still find dramatic, confusing, depressing, and sometimes clever bull on here more often than not, but for now I'll show you some of the fashion I've discovered this past year (and wank just a little more). 

Alexander McQueen, your death frightened me unimaginably. Because of you, I've realized my heroes are mortal. Of course Feynman's been dead for a couple of decades, but never was I there to witness it. The deaths of my idols I noted with passing awareness, but they were always overshadowed by their deeds. Yours was the first I saw on CNN and during which cried about in physics. Mr. McQueen, you were one of my inspirations for coming to MIT and for going into the nascent field of wearable technology. It kills me to know there will never be an opportunity for me to thank you. 

Regardless, Sarah Burton has, in my opinion, done a good job designing pieces that are a tribute to not only McQueen but the McQueen sensibility. The other-worldliness, wildness, and forever costume-esque were prevalent and it was just delicate and lovely. I expect good things to come from this house. Ms. Burton seems up to the challenge. 

Long Live the McQueen.

From the Spring/Summer 2010 Collection. 

























By the way, I liked the collection so much, 2/3 of it is up here. Haha.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Does my pocket protector make me look fat?

I bet you've never heard of a fashion engineer. Don't worry, you're not the only one. My name is Qiaodan (often pronounced as Jordan) Jin Stone. FYI, Jin Stone is my complete last name, no hyphen. Once upon a time, I wanted to be a fashion designer, yet through a series of miracles (both big and small), I managed to get into MIT and now am trying to figure out a major. For the longest time, engineering was never my interest. Fashion was. Fashion still is. Strangely enough (due to a little thing called calculus) in high school, math was my favorite subject. Naturally, engineering projects drew my interest and soon I was making robots by day and sketching evening gowns by night. With three inch heels and a garter protector (imagine a pocket protector but a garter belt), I surprisingly became the captain of my high school math team and founder of its robotics club. It was great fun. Didn't help my career choices though...

See, I didn't want to be a fashion designer anymore. There was something missing from clothing - the ability to directly affect people's lives. Sure a little black dress can bring about confidence, but can it also locate its wearer if s/he were lost or regulate its temperature to keep its wearer comfortable? I'm too much of a pragmatist to just love an aesthetic design. A tool must be both pretty and useful. Beauty and utility became my personal optimization problem. That's why I ultimately decided to pursue my own (at the moment nonexistent) field - Fashion Engineering. Whether I'll be successful or not, who knows, but come watch me as I grow up on the fabulous campus of MIT, and let's see how far I can stretch my lace gloved reach.

After all, someone must bring the tech back to clothing tech!