Monday, June 3rd:
Another start to the week and already so much to share! Today was the first day we actually had our Fashion Styling class on the correct day. So again, class all day from 9 am to 4 pm. Today's class was so interesting and interactive. We started on our third project, a project all about deconstruction. We had to find an item whether it be an accessory or an article of clothing to deconstruct and turn into something new. The night before I went to Camden Market, where I visited a thrift store and bought a midi-length denim skirt to use for this assignment.
During class I ended up turning it into something more detailed and unique. I ended up fraying the bottom of the skirt and hand-stiching white denim stars onto the front and back. It took a lot longer than expected, and now I have so much more respect for designers. It takes a lot of patience and creativity to come up with something different and new. Tomorrow, we are going to shoot the photos for the look so we can add them to our portfolio.
Tuesday, June 4th:
Today is my roommate's birthday so we are celebrating her! We had to make sure to take our photos first for class today, because that is due next week, and this will be one of the only days where it isn't raining yet. Both of our designs give off a street look; therefore, we figured shooting our looks in front of a graffiti wall would be perfect.
We headed to an area of London called East London and shot our looks there. It ended up being pretty rainy by the time we were done shooting, so we wanted to head back and stay inside before the group dinner that was planned for Madeline's birthday. We went to our favorite spot called Witherspoons, where you can get cheap food and cheap drinks. The night ended off with us all hanging out and it ended up being a chill day.
Denim Skirt Deconstruction photo
Wednesday, June 5th:
Today was an extremely busy and jam-packed day! We had class from 10 - 4 pm, and we also attended Graduate Fashion Week from 4 pm to about 10 pm. Class was lecture based, but started off with an amazing and inspiring guest speaker. Paul, our guest speaker, teaches people across London about how to properly build your own brand, influencer marketing, and he also spreads awareness about mental health. He has worked with the best of the best, including Tommy Hilfiger, and he is only 29 years old! He taught me so much, and I am excited to take his advice and gear it towards my fashion blog while continuing to come up with different content for college aged students.
The rest of the class we worked on our final project, and it is coming along great! I realized the importance of coming up with a consumer profile for my two brands in order to create a mixed consumer profile that will be used for my brand collaboration. We started off with making a consumer profile for our US brand (mine is Aerie), and then we will expand to create two more consumer profiles (one for Sweaty Betty and one for the new line). I love this project so far, because I am able to take it wherever I chose and be as creative as possible. I am choosing to create an athleisure line that combines the two brands' (Sweaty Betty x Aerie) aesthetics while making the price point more affordable than Sweaty Betty and also adding extended sizing. Both brands support woman empowerment and confidence, so I figured this would be a good path to take.
Our Fashion PR class was able to all get tickets to the show; it was exciting to be able to go to such a prestigious event. After class, we took a cab to the show and immediately I was impressed. The show featured all the top designers from all the Fashion graduate schools across London. They had an exhibition before the catwalk show where the designers and marketing students were able to show off their portfolios, and they also had other various interactive parts to the night such as pop-up shops (brands and student designers), an open-bar and tangible pieces we were able to feel created by the students.
The show started around 7:30 pm, and we ended up leaving a little after 9:30 pm. The show took place in East London, so we had about a 30 minute commute in order to get back to campus. Today was definitely long, but I learned so much! Each designer's line were so unique and creative. It was eye-opening to see a different side of fashion that I am not normally exposed to at my university.
Thursday, June 6th:
It is finally the weekend! It is nice starting off the weekend on a Thursday, because it allows you to do more things throughout the city. Since yesterday was such a long day, everyone in my class just wanted to have a chill day. I took this morning to catch up on schoolwork, because I know my next upcoming weekends are going to be extremely busy.
Later in the day we went to Oxford Street to walk around and shop. Oxford Street is known for their shopping, and they have stores such as Zara, Forever 21, Adidas, Primark and Top Shop. Even though it was mid-day on a Thursday, there were so many people out and about. Today is the last somewhat sunny day for a while, so we wanted to take advantage of walking around outside while we can.
I mainly shopped in Forever 21 in order to buy clothes for my next photoshoot coming up on Tuesday. It is themed the "Future of Fashion", so I bought some neon clothes that I am going to style for two looks that I need to shoot in the photo room for my Fashion Styling class.
Friday, June 7th:
Today was honestly one of my favorite days so far in London! What started as a rainy, cold day, ended up being so much fun. The day started off slow with completing some schoolwork. We decided that we wanted go to a museum in order to be inside and stay out of the rain. We took the tube to the Tate Modern Museum in Southbank; however, we never made it to the museum. On the way, there ended up being so many fresh markets filled with every type of food you could imagine. We stayed there for a couple hours trying so many different foods from all different cultures. From there we kept walking and walking down Millennium road and went into little boutique shops, food stands and attractions. It was such a relaxed, unique day, and sometimes I feel as if the unplanned days are the best. The weather ended up being nice and cool, and we were able to walk outside most of the day. My roommate and I had so much fun just walking around places we have never been before, and went back home and relaxed for the night. We definitely walked off a lot of our food for sure! Tomorrow is going to be a long and busy day, so we wanted to get back early and prep for an early morning.
Vanilla Cheesecake with Brownie Bottom
Skatepark
Shops
Saturday, June 8th:
Today was one of my favorite days so far! I experienced two really cool once in a life time events. First, a couple of us attended the Queen's annual birthday parade. This parade happens once a year, and it is where the Queen, as well as the royal family, comes out of the castle and gets to interact with the community of London. The parade started around 10:45 am, but people were marking their spots for hours and hours before in order to get a good view. It was so exciting getting to see the Queen in person, even if it was from a distance. We stood in front of Buckingham Palace and watched her come out on a horse and carriage.
After the parade, we walked around Picadelly Circus to go to M&M world, Shake Shack and other touristy places once more.
The afternoon continued as it is was finally the day of the Summertime Ball concert! About half of the people from my summer program decided to attend the concert, and we were definitely all so glad that we did. Our spots were right in the front, and we could come and go as we chose. The Summertime Ball is one of the biggest concerts held each year at Wemberly Stadium. At first, I didn't realize the significance of the stadium, but I ended up putting the two and two together that this is where Queen and other historic musical icons performed during LiveAid. We got to the venue around 2:30 pm, and listened to the artists until it was over (about 10:30 pm). Some of my favorite artists were Khalid, Lauv, Jonas Brothers, Maroon 5 and Calvin Harris. It was unreal to be so close to some of these people! I will never forget this experience, and I am so glad I got to spend it with the people in my program.
Outside of Buckingham Palace
Queen in her carriage
Wemberly Stadium
Lineup
Khalid
Jonas Brothers
Joe Jonas
Maroon 5 - Adam Levine
Outfit Details (Top - Zara, Bottoms - Show Me Your Mumu, Jacket - Forever 21)
Sunday, June 9th:
Another Sunday spent the same, but the days of relaxing and completing school work always allow me time to reflect on my experiences throughout the week. I still cannot believe that my time in London is already halfway over. I am so grateful to have experienced so many things in such a short amount of time. I knew going into this trip that I wanted to make the most of my time in order to fully immerse myself into the culture and the people around me. Going abroad has taught me that life does not always have to be so serious, structured and planned. Enjoy every moment that is given to you and experience each time in your life to the fullest. Sometimes being abroad can be hard, but knowing that I come back to the states shortly makes me want to keep filling my days with lots more! London is ginormous, and I still would like to see so much more. My biggest tip would be to always say yes, and try to not miss out on anything. You never know what you might stumble across on, or what you might find out along the way!
The next few weeks are extremely exciting. My family is coming Tuesday morning, and I will be traveling to different parts of Europe the next two weeks. Before I realize, this trip will be over, and I will not be typing my blogs in my favorite spot on campus. I have learned so much in and out of the classroom, and I cannot wait to see what the last three weeks have in store.
Xoxo,
Syd
Also...
Everyone in the summer program at Regents is accepting hand-written letters from family and friends :) Feel free to send them here!
Here is the address:
Reid Hall, Regents University Inner Circle Regents Park, London NW1 4NS