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American Beauty: Aesthetics and Innovation in Fashion


New York, NY (Vocus) August 11, 2009

The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) presents American Beauty: Aesthetics and Innovation in Fashion, the first exhibition to explore how the “philosophy of beauty” is allied to the craft of dressmaking. Each of the 75 looks on display was chosen to exemplify the relationship between technical ingenuity and artistic excellence. Curator Patricia Mears has focused on approximately 25 American fashion designers, ranging from the obscure, such as Jessie Franklin Turner, whose work dates from the late 1910s, to rising stars of the present day, such as the Mulleavy sisters of Rodarte. Other designers featured include Adrian, Bonnie Cashin, Maria Cornejo, James Galanos, Halston, Elizabeth Hawes, Charles James, Charles Kleibacker, Claire McCardell, Norman Norell, Rick Owens, Ralph Rucci, Isabel Toledo, Pauline Trigère, Valentina, Yeohlee, and Jean Yu.

“The garments in American Beauty are connected by one overriding criterion: They have all been created by designers who utilized the craft of dressmaking as the point of departure to create beautiful, wearable objects,” said Patricia Mears, deputy director of The Museum at FIT. “This focus on construction further illustrates that each designer’s method of attaining innovative shapes and forms could only have come about because craft was the central focus of the creative process. While this exhibition most definitely is not a retrospective, the range of clothing types included in American Beauty is comprehensive in that it includes both high- and low-priced fashion from the past 100 years of American fashion.”

American Beauty includes such dressmaking disciplines as draping, geometric forms, tailoring, and rigid construction from a broad spectrum of clothing styles, including daywear, suits, evening gowns, and active wear. The link between aesthetics and innovation will further be explored by illustrating the diversity of creative styles in the United States, from highly functional and economical ready-to-wear garments to elaborate couture creations and Hollywood costumes. The exhibition will be designed by Charles B. Froom.

A lavishly illustrated book, also called American Beauty: Aesthetics and Innovation in Fashion¸ will be published by Yale University Press, with proceeds going to the Fashion Institute of Technology. A wide range of public programs, including free lectures and tours, will accompany the exhibition. For a program of events, call 212 217.4585 or email museuminfo (at) fitnyc (dot) edu.

1stdibs, the online resource for antique and vintage design, is a main sponsor of the exhibition, American Beauty, and the American Style symposium. Throughout the run of the show, 1stdibs will present editorial features on its website, including exhibition coverage and a book review, interviews with the exhibition designer, and an exclusive conversation with museum director, Dr. Valerie Steele, about MFIT’s permanent collections.

The Coby Foundation is a New York-based organization that supports exhibitions and educational programming that combine excellent scholarship and effective interpretation of the needle arts, including fashion.

Yoox.com, the online retailer, is the museum’s media partner for American Beauty. The site will post interviews with some of the key designers featured in the exhibition, including Ralph Rucci, Yeohlee, and Rodarte. Yoox.com also will produce an insider’s view of the exhibition and detail the construction of featured objects, such as the interior of Charles James’s magnificent evening gowns, Adrian’s complex tailored suits, and Halston’s geometrically-cut evening wear.

A FASHION MUSEUM:

The Museum at FIT is the only museum in New York City dedicated solely to the art of fashion. Best known for its innovative and award-winning exhibitions, which have been described by Roberta Smith in The New York Times as “ravishing,” the museum has a collection of more than 50,000 garments and accessories dating from the 18th century to the present. Like other fashion museums, such as the Musée de la Mode, the Mode Museum, and the Museo de la Moda, The Museum at FIT collects, conserves, documents, exhibits, and interprets fashion. The museum’s mission is to advance knowledge of fashion through exhibitions, publications, and public programs. Visit www.fitnyc.edu/museum.

The Museum is part of the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), a college of art and design, business and technology, that educates more than 10,000 students annually. FIT is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) and offers more than 44 majors leading to the AAS, BFA, BS, MA, and MPS degrees. Visit www.fitnyc.edu.

The Couture Council is a membership group of fashion enthusiasts that helps support the exhibitions and programs of The Museum at FIT. The Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion is given to a selected designer at a benefit luncheon held in the Rainbow Room every September. For information on the Couture Council, call 212 217.4532 or e-mail Couturecouncil (at) fitnyc (dot) edu.

MUSEUM HOURS

Tuesday-Friday – noon-8 pm

Saturday -10 am-5 pm

Closed Sunday, Monday, and legal holidays

Admission is free and open to the public.

www.fitnyc.edu/museum

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Elmer’s Disappearing Purple School Glue Sticks, 0.21 Ounces Each, 2 Sticks per Pack, Purple (E522)

Elmer’s Disappearing Purple School Glue Sticks, 0.21 Ounces Each, 2 Sticks per Pack, Purple (E522)

  • Number one teacher brand
  • Perfect for school projects
  • Goes on purple so it is easy to see
  • Dries clear
  • Washable, safe, and non-toxic

Elmer’s Products, Inc. is a company rich in history and tradition. Since the 1940′s the Elmer’s family of products has developed to meet the ever-changing needs of consumers. They range from a full line of adhesives, arts, crafts, and educational products for children to a complete offering of craft, hobby, office, and home repair products for adults. Elmer’s Disappearing Purple School Glue Stick is the number one teacher brand, a favorite for easy, no-mess bonding. The Elmer’s disappearing purple formula goes on purple so it is easy to see, yet dries clear, providing a strong bond. It works well on a variety school projects, crafts, and decorations. Elmer’s Disappearing Purple School Glue Stick goes on smooth and dries fast and colorless. It is acid-free, washable, safe and non-toxic. You can trust your best work to Elmer’s. Through years of growth and innovation Elmer’s has proven its longstanding commitment to quality and fulfillment of consumers’ inherent need to imagine, build

List Price: $ 2.21

Price: $ 0.01

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Scrapbooking Fun – 7 Methods To Get The Best Off It

Almost everyone in a nation must have come across scrapbooking. Scrapbooking helps us to commemorate our past with the help of images and objects. We don’t have trouble in recalling memories as they are preserved in scrapbooks. Scrapbooks can be known as time capsule otherwise.

While creating a scrapbook-follow this:
1) Innovation – Scrapbooking is one activity wherein you can invest your creativity to express yourself. Scrapbooking reflects your individuality. Only innovations can make it yours.

Wonder how people bring out their innovations while scrapbooking? For this, you have to feel and realize the importance of various objects and how they kindle emotions. Show these emotions in combination with the factors of scrapbooks, said below:

A. Order – A deep message can be well expressed if the scrapbook objects are placed in a peculiar order. It can express more than what the object does. Does it hurt you? Does it make you happy? Then express such emotions on the arrangement.
B. Colors – Colors can convey feelings. The use of different colors can convey different feelings. Give each page of your scrapbook a different color to radiate your emotions. The readers can intake the message easily from the color of the page.
C. Semblance – Adding appearance to your creations is important in scrapbooking. Photo albums can show pictures only. But scrapbooking spreads various emotions with corresponding appearances. Scrapbooking needs little touches too. Your message gets delivered easier with added appearances.

2) Resources – Scrapbooking requires many materials. We need to be well prepared
before starting the work. Collecting materials can save time. Time is saved because searching for materials is avoided.

Gathering resources can avoid distraction from work as your mind is relaxed with the feel that you have all the requirements. Concentration on work is required when creating a wonderful scrapbook.

3) Plan – Before starting, you need to set the outline. The outline describes the positions of various items. Plan the final appearance of the scrapbook. Craft the small information’s that complements the outline. Planning the outline saves you time, and also gives a chance to very well interpret your ideas. It also gives you choice to pick the best among them.

Planning the outline confines the expenses within a certain limit thereby it maintains and controls the budget. It paves way for you to buy the needed things. Planning saves a lot of time because you need not change the layouts.

4) Interpretation – Pictures and objects form scrapbooks. A symbol can be represented in many ways. Interpret them according to the creator’s innovations Giving hints to specific pages that are important to you can avoid upsets with anyone.
Using captions for scrapbooks can add flavor as they relate events with pictures. Sometimes are pictures are obscure that they do not express feels. In this case captions are very handy.

Don’t s:
1) Copying – Scrapbooks reflect one’s uniqueness. So copying from another scrapbook would not give the satisfaction that it is your effort. Each person is exceptional. Everyone has the ability to create his own scrapbook from his own thoughts,
2) Being obscure – Scrapbooks help in commemorating events. It should not confuse you. You should know how to lay your message changing the importance of each item.
3) Change – Do not change the notion of the object. Keep it as it is. Do not change facts or moments. Changing events- good into bad or bad into good is not the intention of scrapbooking. Be honest to yourself to make your scrapbook impressive.

Abhishek is a Scrapbooking expert and he has got some great Scrapbooking Secrets up his sleeves! Download his FREE 73 Pages Ebook, “Scrapbooking Made Easy!” from his website http://www.Fun-Galore.com/821/index.htm . Only limited Free Copies available.

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Organizing Craft Supplies

Involving ones self in craft works is a great way to relieve ourselves from the stresses that overpower us in the form of our every day tasks and responsibilities. Therefore, it is important that we remember that the art of crafting is primarily aimed at stress relief, not accumulating them all the more. One can experience some good times being involved in the arts and crafts. The very experience in enriched as it calls for the element of inventiveness within; that very inventiveness, is otherwise almost never sought after. It gets even more enhanced and refined if we can device ways for craft supplies that are well organized. It is a matter of simple sense that there is a direct bearing of the nature of craft supplies ready at hand and the most that we can make out of our crafting efforts. Once we make sure that the craft supplies are in perfect condition, it is never stressful to get hold of the various things that we may possibly need to indulge in our craft work. This also allows one to indulge in greater degrees of innovation as one item or another may slip in to the peripheral vision and invoke creativity.


In order to make sure that the craft supplies are in perfect desired condition, we need to follow a few important steps that will ensure that the craft work is a real fun. It is not that there is only one type of craft work that all people take to. You, therefore, first need to decide on the particular type of craft work that appeals to you the most and which you really find quite delightful. There are several cases where people try one type, get hold of the craft supplies, and then, after spending a good deal of time with that, come to the conclusion that this type of craft is not the right thing for them. Do not let this happen with you as well. Take your time, relax, and come to the decision as to what kind of craft supplies will be the ideal thing for you. This is the first step to your task of organization.


Give yourself some time to go through all the boxes of craft supplies. You should never hurry in this work. It should be one box at a time. Throw away all the garbage and also make a note of such craft items that are of no use for your purpose. You can donate those items to others who will enjoy using the items in their craft work. On the other hand, you will have only such items left as your craft supplies that are useful for your craft work.


Keep a tab of the craft supplies that you already have and the ones that you may need in future. Plan and devise the most effective ways for storing those items. For this, you have to well assess your needs. It may be that your work needs you to travel a lot in your car. In that case, you should organize the craft supplies in such a way that you can easily store them in baggage. There are also several other considerations such as whether they need protection from insects or moisture, and so on. Take care of these little things and your organization of the craft supplies will entail you to make the most of this wonderful activity of crafting.

Looking for a large variety of craft supplies? Please visit http://www.craft.com.au and you’ll find one of the best craft related sites on the net.

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