Fresh Faces in Fashion!

Living on the internet 24/7 has finally paid off. And thank goodness blog surfing is my #1 past-time when avoiding French homework.

Through some amazing twist of fate, Jenn, Crystal, Kevin and I ended up at the Peterson Automobile Museum Thursday night around 7pm

. We finally met Christine Ngo (great to finally put a face to all those emails/tweets), who was wearing an adorable mini-dress with feathers at the hem and nude heels that were studded within an inch of their life -- totally fabulous. She is super down to earth and really great, thanks so much Christine! Anyway, she ushered us into the museum and showed us around before the show started.

Things I learned:

1. Being on camera is very...awkward. Christine interviewed

us about the use of plastic in fashion and I was definitely very tongue-tied and self conscious. I'd rather be behind the camera next time..haha.

2. People don't eat...they drink. Open bar, no snacks. Surprisingly enough, the only snacks we found were backstage, where the models were. Irony?

3. Everyone wears black. EVERYONE. It makes these already waif-like girls appear even thinner, as if they're some last remnant of a black hole that will disappear as soon as you blink.

Oh and YES, we went backstage. It was really cool to actually be there and see the SUPER tall models hanging out being fierce with each other. It was just like anything I'd seen in magazines where they take you "behind the scenes", but I guess on a smaller scale? Tons of make up artists dressed in head to toe black, tons of clothing racks, tons of clothes being steamed, products everywhere, models everywhere, bustling around everywhere. Une vie de reve!

Had the great opportunity to meet a bunch of bloggers too! (: I got to talk to Neekoh of livelovela for a little while, and she is so down to earth and super nice. And during the show I stood with Rebecca of stylewithbenefits and Melanie of wreckedstellar, and we ogled the collections and discussed our faves of the night.

The show itself was amazing...I'll let the pictures do the talking.

PHOTOS HERE! All taken by Crystal. (:

Sigh. I really need to get rid of my ghetto camera and INVESTTT in something legitimate.

We lingered and mingled for a little while after the show. Some highlights:

1. Talked to the designer of Stampd LA (LOVE THIS) as well as his sales director (?), who graduated from UCI in 2005, apparently. YAY ANTEATERS!

2. I officially love bartenders. Mike, Marc, something, I forget. But they were all super nice & talkative (just like in the movies!) and one of them mixed me the greatest drink I've ever had, totally improvised. It had Peach Schnapps and cranberry juice and 7-up...I think. Anyway, it tasted like heaven in a cup.

3. Talked to some people from Myspace about how amazing the internet culture is and how great it is that minorities are breaking into the media industry. Then Jenn felt his soft hair and he got her number...time to peace out.

4. Got a picture with Kaley Cuoco! She is so sweet and actually really pretty in real life, haha. Also her dress was pretty much amazing.

5. Kevin was told he looked like a young Alexander Wang. EXCELLENT, stick to that story. Definitely our line of the night.

6. Saw some girl who had the same heels as me. BITCH PLEASE. Haha, just kidding. She must have excellent taste. (;

We left the museum around 11:30 in a haze of alcohol/life-induced euphoria, still somewhat amazed at the preceding events. Original plans were to head over to Tiger Heat and dance the night away but we ended up roaming the streets of LA and taking some angsty photos.

And after eating nothing for 12 hours, we headed to the late night Mecca for teens like us: Jack in the Box. Screw you, anorexically thin models, I want my meaty burrito. After an accidental explosion of ranch sauce in the back seat we decided to sit outside in the parking lot and devour our treasures. So there we were... midnight in LA, dressed to the nines, stuffing our faces with curly fries and soda while squatting in the parking lot of Jack in the Box. Who said my life isn't glamorous?

Definitely a night for the books. It was the birth of the fuckupellas: four young Asians, interested in fashion and writing and designing and photography, trying to find an in. Starstruck and hopeful, self-conscious but ambitious. We're fuck ups if you ask any Asian parent -- we're not studying to be doctors or lawyers. I mean, it takes me WAY too long to figure out how much to tip at restaurants, and I'm pretty unaware of the state of the world as it stands. But hey, chasing our dreams never sounded so good. And if anything, at least Jack in the Box will always be open for us when we're poor and depressed. Nothing like a good burger and fries to compensate for your losses.

Gen Art's Fresh Faces in Fashion

A quick google search of Gen Art will tell you that it is the "leading arts and entertainment organization dedicated to showcasing emerging fashion designers, filmmakers, musicians, and visual artists."

A little further probing will tell you that designers like Zac Posen, Phillip Lim, Rebecca Taylor, Vena Cava, and Rami Kashou (Project Runway anyone??), among many others, have debuted with Gen Art.

Nine designers are presenting collections this year:

-Womenswear: Leyendecker, Rory Beca, Seneca Rising, and Valerj Pobega

-Menswear: MG Black

-Accessories: CC Skye (bags), The Generic Man (mens and womens shoes), Ludevine (fine jewelry), Stampd L.A. (sneakers)

The show is presented by Plastics Make It Possible, and hosted by Kaley Cuoco (of Big Bang Theory/8 Simple Rules fame).

Plastics Make It Possible is partnering with Gen Art this year and showcasing the importance of plastic in the fashion industry. You wouldn't think it but plastic is the key ingredient to stretchy clothing like skinny jeans (!!!) and socks. Plastic is also responsible for adding that extra glittery oomph to dresses and other items of clothing. Double check your closet and think about materials actually go into the clothes you wear on a day to day basis -- you'll likely be surprised.

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MOVING ON from all that technicality and (actually really interesting) information, can I just go on for a minute about how ECSTATIC I am???

This is like...a LEGITIMATE fashion show. I will be rubbing elbows with the rich and fabulous ["Expected guests include Debi Mazur ("Entourage"), Johnny Galecki ("Big Bang Theory"), Monet Mazur ("The House Bunny"), Lo Bosworth ("The Hills"), Karina Smirnoff ("Dancing with the Stars"), Nicky Hilton, Ashley Palmer ("Paranormal Activity") and Shiva Rose, with many more others..."].

And I still effing don't know what to wear.

How is this happening to me? Part of me feels like this will not actually come through, and I will just be at C3 tomorrow night as usual, sweeping the floor and dying of boredom as girls dressed up in clubbing apparel sweep through our supply of Rockstar and Trident gum.

I'm going to be crossing my fingers until I actually get there. And when I get there I'll probably just be dumbfounded and forget to uncross my fingers. But whatever.

MUCH thanks to Christine Ngo of Ogilvy PR, as well as Teresa Wu for hooking it up.

And the countdown begins! My closet is going to barf itself all over my room as I frantically try to put together a decent outfit. I feel poor and raggedy.

fashion show!

The title of this post may give it away...but hey, Chery, what are you doing this Thursday night?

Could you possibly be at your boring job at the convenience store on campus, in your oversize polo and visor, swiping credit cards and making coffee until 9:30 PM?

Or could you be engaging in the typical Thursday night club scene? Dressed to the nines and ready for a night of revelry?

Maybe...you'll be at the event that UCI is hosting, with Gabe Bondoc and AJ Rafael performing for Kababayan club?

Answer? NONE OF THE ABOVE.

I'm heading to LA for this:

http://genart.org/freshfacesinfashion/2009/los-angeles

Gen Art is hosting the annual Fresh Faces in Fashion show, presented by Plastics Make It Possible.

Honestly I'm not 100% sure what it's all about, but I do know the following:

a. it's a fashion show

b. Kaley Cuoco is hosting

c. FASHION SHOW

d. free tickets.

BASICALLY...I'm THERE. Now the dilemma: what do I wear???

weekend wardrobe

Lately, school has become more like work. Appropriately enough, I started approaching the lengthy and rigorous school days as work days and planning outfits accordingly.

As a result, my weekday look is much different than my weekend look. Saturdays and Sundays are my days of disregard; I take this time to lounge in non-glamorous pajama bottoms and white Hanes V-necks until mid-afternoon.

If the occasion calls for it, I will wear normal-people clothes to go out. But on weekends you will mostly find me in t-shirts and jeans.

I guess I'm imposing some sort of uniform on myself, am I not?

daily outfit

This was last week sometime.

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I woke up this morning to a dreary view. Usually the sun bursts into my room at 8 in the morning, promptly waking me up and giving me enough time to shower, get dressed, and get ready. This morning routine has become something I look forward to lately, usually because I know exactly what I need/what I'm wearing and because it's usually accompanied with some good Mraz music...or lately, Gabe Bondoc or AJ Rafael.

Today was different. I woke up because of my alarm and not the natural beams of sunlight...trudged to the shower and spent 15 minutes in there trying to figure out what to wear today.

The weather merited jeans and a jacket, this much was clear enough. But what to do within those confines? Cold weather makes me so uninspired when dressing, and not to say that I'm the most fashionable beast when the sun is out, but seriously...all I really want to do when the sky is this shade of grey is settle back into bed on my pillow that is the same color (and softness) as the clouds.

I ended up with an easy outfit soon enough. What this outfit succeeded in doing was

a. keeping me warm

b. grouping me with the hoards of other UCI girls who consider this jacket/v-neck/jeans/boots combo their cold weather uniform.

I've heard it said that only dead fish swim with the stream. And today I felt like a very dead fish.

I mean, this is the kind of weather that makes me resort to boots, jeans, v-necks, and American Apparel jackets...definitely comfortable but a variation of this exact outfit is seen on probably 90% of the girls stomping around UCI on these dreary days. This is the wintertime equivalent to the denim shorts/v-necks/rainbows uniform of sunnier times.

Lost in this fleece zip-up kind of weather, I am looking for some inspiration. Comfort is key, of course, but standing out and dressing excitingly is also something of great importance to me. Also not ruining my shoes, because my suede boots have little water splotches on the toe region and frankly, I'm scared for their well-being. Get well soon, boots.

I might as well start somewhere

This blog is still severely un-prepared for launch. But maybe it doesn't need a giant launch and will instead grow, as slowly as it may, as I decide what to discuss here on a day-to-day basis. I'm growing, too...slowly it seems. A friend and I discussed how I'm not much of a risk-taker, and I suppose this is evident both in how I dress and in...how I blog.

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Today I wore three different kinds of eyeliner. It was that kind of day.

I haven't slept earlier than 3:30 for the past five days. The result is evident and taxing: I woke up today with bloodshot and squinty eyes, as well as a stress pimple that looks like it could be a lip piercing. It doesn't make me feel as badass as a lip piercing would, so it gave me a lot of grievance. Anyway, a hot shower did nothing to relieve this intense pot smoker appearance so I resorted to the trusty makeup bag.

I'm not one to wear much makeup...and even on regular days I feel like I wear too much eyeliner. It's kind of an addiction...I just can't stop.

But anyway, what I tried today may well be a replacement for my usual black and more black. A thin line of black on the top with a slight upwards wing, brown on the bottom outer corners, and silver on the bottom inside corners. I've heard white/silver on the inside of your eyes is supposed to make you look more awake and this may turn into my new favorite technique.

As for the pimple...I don't even own concealer, much less understand how to apply it, so I made a brave face and set foot into the world, zit and all. It happens, people...zit happens. (WOW that was lame, I'm stopping now, I promise.)

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Tomorrow I'm having a home-cooked dinner with a friend I recently met. I'm really excited, because 1. she seems really interesting and unique, and 2. she wants to be a fashion writer. (!!!)

She wrote on my wall: "do you mind eating in though, i'm poor haha i can bring spaghetti"

How appropriate...and so begins our ventures into the world as starving writers. Sooner or later we won't be able to afford spaghetti! Stay tuned.

salmon fresh

This blog is dedicated to swimming upstream. I struggled with the title of it for a while...well, okay, I lie. I had the idea of calling it "salmon fresh" since relatively early on, and I even doodled some cute logos in my Anthro notes before I decided to stick with it. It took some convincing to get me to really commit (something I SUCK at, of course) to the name. I mean...it's really weird. Good weird? Who knows. And did I really want a blog to be named after a fish, of all things?

Ultimately I'm pretty satisfied with it. Now that I've made the decision there's no looking back and I'm not really inclined to, anyway. I was impatient to get this up and running, because in typical fashion, I have lists upon lists of things that I want to write about and post on this blog. And what's in a name, anyway, right?

Actually, in this case, quite a lot. One of my favorite quotes is "only dead fish swim with the current." Now, I don't know if this is true or not, because I'm 98% sure that fish usually do swim with the current. I mean, when nature's just helping you out like that, what are you supposed to do? But then I thought of salmon and how they swim upstream, no matter what the struggle is. Granted, it IS for sex, but that's beside the point. SALMON ARE DIFFERENT!

Plus I kind of liked that salmon is also a shade of pink. A reference to color, nudging my blog into the fashion realm perhaps? I do plan to discuss clothing quite a bit, among other things.

And the fresh part...well, I was not about to name my blog "salmon" and just leave it at that. My goal with this blog is to shoot for something new, express anything and everything that runs through my mind, and praise those who swim against the current. It's going to be less introspective than a personal blog, and instead speculate about the people and places around me. In a world as commercialized and homogenous as ours can be, the individuals who learn how to be themselves and stand out in a crowd are truly the ones that fascinate me the most.

So here's to...salmon fresh.