Blog post 7 Part 1: The Pros & Cons of Texture app
As technology takes over our life – literally – think I’m kidding? Look around you everyone is on their phone constantly. I am a victim of this, we all are, it’s just what we’re used to. Don’t get me wrong technology can be great, but sometimes it’s best to put the phone away for an hour or two during the day. When it comes to reading magazines I prefer holding the magazine, it’s just less distracting for me and I can be in full engagement with the content I’m reading. If you aren’t someone who likes holding a magazine because let’s face it magazines can get heavy if you read more than one, then here’s an app you might like. It’s called Texture where you pay a small monthly fee of $9.99 per month but get loads of different magazines to read. Right there in the palm of your hand! But to be honest I’ve only used it for a day and here’s what I learned so far. Day 1: Right off the bat I should say that you could try it for 14 days for free! Which is what I am currently doing to experiment with it. First I downloaded some magazines that might be interesting to check out on this app. Elle, Seventeen, J-14, Rolling Stone and W were the magazines I chose to test out. Just from day 1 I can say that I still like print better. The stories load slowly but are easy to read and are better than magazine websites. Yes you still have those annoying ads that pop up but that’s how magazines make their money. Each day I will point out one or two things I really like about it and the first thing is I like that you can easily find content, the fashion calendar and other things. Stay tuned for the next four days about my honest opinions! Day 2: Thinking I would find something else I would like about this app on the second day I couldn’t be more wrong. Stories are still loading slowly and I still prefer to hold the magazine in my hand. I will say that it’s definitely better than online because it’s cleaner but so far that’s about it. Day 3: So far I still don’t like this app., the only good thing about it is having access wherever I go and once the page loads it’s still easy to read for the most part. Again I will say its much better than online because annoying ads won’t always pop up. There is also a wide variety of magazines to choose from. Day 4 & Day 5: I’m combining the last two days together because I am still not fond of this app. Personally it’s annoying to have to wait for the stories to load and I don’t like that I have to zoom in to read the stories. I found myself on it for less than 30 minutes these past five days and it’s really just not worth the money. Blog post 7 part 2: 3 Apps any Fashionista must use
I’ve used Polyvore for quite some time but haven’t actually bought anything from the website It’s fun to browse through what items are for sale because it’s an app where you can compare prices of outfits/handbags/accessories and other items from different stores. Even though I haven’t made purchases from this app before I know people who have and say it works really well.
This is a really cool app when you’re looking for something you saw on your way to class, but didn’t know a person to ask where they got it. If you take a photo and post on The Hunt it will give you store suggestions on where to find the item. Personally I use this app because I like to see different styles and what’s trending. It’s a good app to use when you want to be aware of what people are wearing or want to wear.
This app allows you pick your favorite designers/brands and it will make a personalized feed for you. I only used this app for a little bit because let’s face it my bank account would be very sad if I tried buying all the things I liked from here. It’s a convenient app because it lets you know when your favorite designers/brands are on sale and you can also read fashion articles, which is something I personally like about this app. Unfortunately I do not have an internship currently and haven’t had one yet to pass on my expertise of these apps. However if I were recommending them to a friend I would suggest The Hunt because it’s cool to see other styles and the fact they give you store suggestions. I think it’s also a good tool for trend reports because you can see what’s trending or what could be trending!
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To be honest I am writing this blog post earlier than I should because it’s hard enough wrapping my mind around that I leave New York on Saturday July 30th. I arrived in New York on June 3rd with my fabulous mother and our family friend Eileen. It was a long 7 and a half hour car ride which turned into about ten hours or some annoying amount of time. We had a little detour because we ended up on the entire opposite side of the city and then got stuck in traffic trying to find our way to the Upper West Side. That was the first journey of many that have taken place in my two months here. After taking a week or two to adjust to the pace, subway, being away from my family (and 9 month old puppy), homework load and exploring the city - it was a lot to take in. However, taking a couple days a week to do absolutely nothing but veg was a way for me to re-fuel. You’re probably thinking, what will I miss most about the city? I mean…do you have all day? That list is really long! I’m going to miss the culture - there is so much you’re exposed to in this city. I’ve been exposed to Indian culture, Chinese, Muslim —- the list could go on. I’ve been exposed to fashion and art in different cultures as well. I’m very grateful that I’ve seen so much diversity and learned about it because back home I don’t get that so much. Besides culture being a huge learning aspect for me I’ve gotten to learn about art, fashion in different ways, being aware of my surroundings and of course learning how to get myself around. I’ve also learned so much about my writing and how to show my voice, shout out to Trina for the motivation! I’ve also been able to visit a lot of sites like The Met, Premiere Vision, The Jewish museum and many other places. Yes all the things I’ve done might seem fabulous in a sense because I’m not in boring Ohio, but I am excited to go back home. I didn’t realize how much I would miss my parents until I had to say bye to my mom and my dad wasn't even able to move me in because he had a conference for work that day (thanks dad, you’ll never live that down). It only took a day for me to really miss them because I still live at home when I’m taking classes at Kent, I found myself calling/texting them every day or every other day. The hardest thing about being here is being away from my parents, surprisingly my 2 bone head brothers, my grandma (who I call just as much being here) and my puppy Rosie. Family is so important to me and it’s been an adjustment being away from them but I do feel somewhat more independent being here. I’ve learned how to get myself around, how to get a taxi and how to adjust to New York pace but that wasn't hard because I’ve always been a fast walker. And I also talk a thousand miles a minute. Although I am sad to leave because the city is incredible and has made me a more confident person I know I will return. As much as I love the country and not being around cars honking outside my building every day, I think I’m meant to be in a city. When I return I hope I’ll be working for a fashion magazine like Seventeen, Vogue or Cosmo writing stories. I know it will be hard work but I think these two months have opened my eyes that I can handle it because pressure motivates me to work harder.
Dear Mr. Bartolomeo,
I am writing to you on behalf of your current position with Seventeen Magazine as executive director. Recently I was chosen to be Executive/Managing editor for a class project. My team and I have to put together a digital media kit for our fashion studio’s Vignette magazine. At first I was unsure of which position I wanted because every job is important when putting together magazine content as well as being a team player. After much consideration I thought Executive/Managing editor suited me best because I’m not one to be a leader, but I am always up for challenging myself. Having said that I am a little nervous for the job because a managing editor is the second highest position next to the editor in chief. With your experience in the industry and expertise, how do you handle the stress? I know that it can be a time consuming job with having a lot of responsible. Also, what do you learn on the job that makes you better each day? I admire what editorial teams do for a magazine because eventually it all comes together because of the teamwork and long hours put into the creativity behind the masterpiece. I look forward to hearing from you and hopefully getting some personal insight of what this job is like. I appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule in reading this letter. Sincerely, Kayla Sturm http://www.seventeen.com/about/a12135/about-us/ Being a current resident of the fashion magazine world I haven’t been too adventurous in looking at fashion indie magazines until now. But what makes these publications so great? Isn’t it just the same as “Seventeen” or “Harpers Bazaar”? No, it’s not. Not only are fashion indie magazines cooler, they have a different style. A magazine I have been looking into recently is called Bullett magazine because of how much it gives a ‘fashion indie vibe’ to it. Unfortunately it is only published online, but the online version is still journalistically content driven. Truthfully it was surprisingly fun researching about this magazine and looking through the media kit I learned a lot. So let’s go way back and start with the brand decision, this is the first step in creating a successful magazine. The company decides who they are, Bullett is a magazine geared toward readers who are independent, trendsetting and interested in fashion. Then the customer swoops in and asks, well where do I fit in? They are intelligent women with a high quality but modern fashion sense. Then lastly, culture ties everything together. This magazine exists based on its wide variety of content and appeals to a reader who wants to engage in a culture conversation. After all this is decided, and long hours stuck in an office and probably major caffeine intake, the brand needs to know how they satisfy their customers and who they are targeting. For Bullett magazine they satisfy women’s needs with inspiring, independent, a trendsetting audience and fashion investigation. These are women who want to step outside the box and experience a new perspective for the fashion industry. Their target market is a confident, independent and stylish woman that ranges in all ages. The reader should have a cultural view in media, high quality fashion as well as creativity. With all this new information comes with figuring out the brand identity of the magazine. This will include the logo and personality behind the magazine, what makes them different than other magazines? This is something I really look for when I’m browsing at a magazine store. The logo is a big part of the brand identity, we identify brands with logos on a daily basis and to me this is something I associate magazines with as well. For Bullet the logo is very simple, bold but still looks classic. Not only is the logo important to the magazine but also so is the personality that comes with it. And yes magazines do have personality, how else could the reader relate to the style of writing? Bullett’s magazine personality comes off as cool, exciting and trendy. To tie this all together Bullett is very edgy and would get someone’s attention. I know this might seem like a lot of boring useful information – and we’re almost done here – but really this is the glue that holds the magazine together. All these contributing factors make the magazine what it is. So lastly before I bore you anymore, we’ll talk about brand communication. Brand communication informs, reminds and convinces the reader why they are loyal. Bullett informs readers about what’s going on in the world. They do this successfully through Twitter and their website. Yes this was a lot to take in, but deep breaths, and I applaud you if stuck with me through the whole thing! To me Bullett is a unique magazine because it’s trendy, edgy but still shows a different side to the fashion world unlike other publications. Although this magazine is independent and only available online now it stays true to the reader and brand. Resources: http://bullett.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/BULLETT-Media-Brand-Kit.pdf Many of us have our own style: chic, laid back, athletic leisure, girly, edgy, the list can go on and on! As for some people they dress specifically by event (school vs work) or location (big cities vs small town). For veteran supermodel Anja Rubik, she bases her style from location. To me this is interesting because I base my style on comfort and event and as long as I like it that's all that matters. But I guess with being a supermodel there is a reputation to uphold. Anja said that she will wear pajama pants in New York City while walking her dog but if she were in Paris forget it - she wants to look chic (http://www.whowhatwear.com/anja-rubik-paris-vs-new-york-outfits/slide2). Fashion is also about the creativity and with living in New York for the past month I can see why someone might be more comfortable just throwing on whatever in the city because it's so diverse and you're gone in a flash. The city has made me more confident about not caring what people think of me. I'm comfortable with wearing what I want and when I want. I can agree with Anja because some places you feel obligated to dress up a little more. Even when I'm back at Kent in Ohio I feel like I have to dress up for school sometimes, but I'm also extremely girly and dressing up is fun for me. To me I think this is relevant in the fashion world because people have their own style and will dress based on location or event. It's also something common I've noticed in the city and how popular athlete leisure wear really is and if a supermodel can feel confident doing that, anyone can. References: http://www.whowhatwear.com/anja-rubik-paris-vs-new-york-outfits/slide2 “I, Kayla, have a problem with buying too many magazines” - is something I should truthfully admit right off the bat. If there is a fun cover or someone famous on it that I really like then I will most likely - usually always- end up purchasing it. The magazine obsession also comes with the territory of being a magazine journalism major, but I’ve always been really into the art form of magazines so of course during my time in New York City I’ve made several trips to a store called “Around the World Fashion Publications”. Unfortunately my bank account doesn’t like how much I love this store, but I’m able to pick up an American or Global magazines.
A couple weeks ago I picked up “W Magazine” because I’ve never read it and wanted to try to read some other magazines that I’m not used to - I’ve read one too many copies of Seventeen and Vogue over the years, no shame, but it’s nice to read new things- I also picked up a copy of The Gentle Woman which is published in London. These two magazines are very different and I I like the global one better. American and global magazines show differences in design based on the cover, advertising, content and imagery.”W Magazine” uses photographs that are less natural looking and are given an airbrush affect. Covers are still what draw me in, depending on who’s on them and how much busy work is on the cover. This issue of “W magazine” caught my eye because J.Lo was on the May issue. Like, who doesn’t love Jenny from the Block? This issue was also less content driven except for the profile written about J.Lo’s career. After reading J.Lo’s story I realized there wasn’t too much of the magazine for me to see other than ads, ads, ads! It’s obvious that American magazines focus so much on advertising and aren’t as content driven like global magazines. Global magazines look much nicer and are more focused on the content instead of the advertising. The imagery used in global magazines are much more natural and laid back, and the advertising isn’t so ‘in your face’ so to speak. These differences show how much print magazines are still important even though more people are drawn to online content. As for online media the layout is much different and has easier access, even though online media can be even more clustered. For instance http://www.seventeen.com/ is an American based magazine which is also available online.To me the online version is just as clustered as the print issue - even though I do prefer the print publication - but everything online is much more annoying to deal with. The content still revolves around fashion/beauty but also does more celebrity news and quizzes. Since it’s online there is no cover and the imagery is more used online especially with how much this generation is obsessed with photos. Unlike Global online publications they are set up differently. For instance http://lucire.com/ has been published in New Zeeland, Romania and Thailand resulting in being a global fashion magazine. After looking through Lucire online I noticed I liked the American online magazines better. Lucire’s front page is a bit confusing until the navigation is found, but there are still a lot of ads throughout the main page and along the side. The content is still fashion focused and celebrity driven, use of imagery and advertises about the same as online American publications. Overall I would say that global print magazines are better than American magazines, but as far as online content goes I prefer American publications. Even though I will always prefer holding a magazine in my hand, it’s nice having easy access to content online. References: W magazine - May 2016 issue The Gentle Woman - Summer 2016 issue http://lucire.com/ http://www.seventeen.com/ For the longest time I've been wanting to see The Rockettes and today I finally got to! When I first got to the city I was skeptical to see their summer show because I've always wanted to see the Christmas show. And didn't want to be disappointed. Ask anyone about how obsessed I am with Christmas - I'm basically a Christmas fairy - anyway my roommate and I decided to buy tickets. I've been following The Rockettes for awhile as well as their social media pages, the show had good reviews, so we thought why not? We bought tickets for the New York Rockettes Summer Spectacular show! And it really was spectacular.
Not knowing what to expect other than the story line being based on these two kids being separated from their parents and getting lost in New York it was easily relatable. Not only was it relatable but it was absolutely magical. So many creative numbers that were modernized with a great dialogue. If you're a theatrical person like me it's hard to pick a favorite part of any show, but I think my favorite part of this show was the "Vogue" number. At one point in the show when the kids are trying to find their parents they're on Broadway and then are brought to Fashion Avenue. Once the Rockettes came back on stage wearing usher like uniforms and carrying flashlights they rolled out a red carpet. "This could only mean one thing," I thought to myself. Then the song "Vogue" by Madonna started to echo in Radio City Music Hall but the orchestras own version. "No way," I then thought. But they did, their number was based off a Fashion Runway show. Unfortunately photographs weren't allowed so I let my eyes take the photos. In this number the cast dressed up in different decades of fashion costumes. They were of course extravagant since The Rockettes pull out all the stops but I noticed a lot of decades were put into thought. As The Rockettes strut down the runway there could be silver bell bottom pants, colorful dresses and even street style. Not only was the fashion show part of the number cool but in the dialogue a few cracks about Anna Wintour were made, which is hilarious especially if you know of Anna, and who doesn't know Anna Wintour? On Saturday June 25th, fashion photographer Bill Cunningham died at age 87. A lot of you are probably wondering, who is Bill Cunningham? Until Friday I didn’t know myself - officially - who he was until we watched the Bill Cunningham New York documentary in my fashion in the media class. Once we started to watch the documentary the name started to sound familiar and he reminded me of a fun, lovable grandpa type of guy. Cunningham was known for wearing his blue jacket, riding on his bike and taking photos of street style fashion in mainly New York City, but occasionally different events. Even though I didn't know of him for a long period of time, I wish I did. Cunningham had an eye for what was different, beautiful and didn’t necessarily care about celebrity fashion. Once he had a column at The New York Times his street style photos made him legendary in the fashion industry. Wishing I lived in New York City before this summer - and knowing who he was - it would have been amazing to get a photo taken by him. But then again, my fashion "style" might not have caught his eye, it's not exactly the most unique but it's what I like to wear. However learning about Cunningham is inspiring and now I see fashion differently. His way of revolutionizing fashion photography should motivate others to think like him. Don’t be the paparazzi, see what people are wearing and get their perspective. To me Cunningham taught me to be inspired by unique street style fashion and not be afraid to take chances. Rest in peace to a legend in the fashion world and to those he touched. Reference: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/26/style/bill-cunningham-legendary-times-fashion-photographer-dies-at-87.html?_r=0 On June 26th the LGBQT community and many others celebrated Pride Day in New York City. These photos will show the fun, crazy and colorful ensembles that were put together for this years parade! It was incredibly awesome to get to celebrate love and see everyone show it in their own way.
On a hot Saturday afternoon, my roommate and I went to Soho, which is something I’ve wanted to do for the longest time! Besides the sun beating down on my skin basically all day and slow walkers - cough tourists - I was able to go in some stores that I wanted to see that I couldn't in Ohio. Without an agenda and not knowing what stores were in Soho we picked a random street to start on. Before putting a dent in my wallet, we came across a display of Harry Potter books, where my inner nerd freaked out. It was the Scholastic office! Of course I had to stop for a minute to take it in because of the awesome Harry Potter display, but also because I love books. It was crazy to be standing right there! After staring at the Scholastic office for a couple minutes we walked past cute little boutiques, where I could never afford to buy anything so we skipped those but eventually came across Brandy Melville. I’ve shopped online from this store but haven’t actually seen it in person since it’s only available in cities which is a bummer. It was cool to see how the store was set up, which was totally fab and girly, and the style of clothes is adorable. Not far from Brandy Melville was Kate Spade and I might have gotten too excited, what’’s not to love about the beautiful purses and clothes she designs? So of course I had to go in. Different colored bags caught my eye, especially the summer collections, but I knew it would make my wallet very sad. However, I did end up buying this cute little Kate Spade notebook with the initial K on it, you know for Kayla? So, I can say I shopped at Kate Spade :) There was some more roaming around Soho without an agenda and more popping into little boutiques. It made me wish I saved more money, the shopping was to DIE for, but let’s be real I’d rather spend money on food or coffee. Before leaving Soho I stopped in American Apparel just to browse the racks since I’ve never been in one of their stores. This store was within my budget and had some really cute clothes. I ended up buying this cute floral dress and a white tank top. American Apparel was the last stop because Soho becomes exhausting after a couple hours. Unfortunately we made a couple detours heading back to our dorm to the Upper West Side because apparently there was construction on the subway, would’ve been nice to know before we left. Eventually we made it back; exhausted, shopped out, but came back with cute items! |