Esquire Magazine’s Best Dressed Real Men in America

Featured in Esquire Magazine’s September and October Issues 2009

Featured on the Today Show

Spoke to our students March 2010

www.ontarioarmstrong.com

The Why behind the What

I have always been enamored by clothes. How did they get so beautiful? Where did the fabric come from? How was that garment made?

These were the questions that led me to Parsons School of Design in NYC. Once there, I found that it was not the finished product that I loved, but the process behind the design. The history of fashion; the personal stories of Charles Worth, the Duchess of Windsor, Salvador Dali. The personal struggles of fashion; Tommy Hilfiger’s failed business attempts. The pressures of the fashion world; evidenced recently by Alexander McQueen’s suicide, and Fashion’s tremendous success stories; Phillip Knight on the Forbes 400 list. These were the stories that spoke to me. These were the stories I wanted to share with the world, and who better to share that with than the minds of the future! Welcome to our world.

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*photos courtesy of:allposter.com,metmuseum.com, telegraph.co.uk, thegirlinthetrilby.blogspot

Today in class we talked/learned about Alexander and how he committed suicide. When I heard about it I was very sorry for him and who he designs shoes and clothes for.

We also learned about fashion week. We learned that it is hard to keep track of  all the fashion shows you are going to that day and you also don’t get much sleep. But at the same time it is very, very exciting. We also learned that going into the fashion  industry is a very big and hard thing to commit to.

~Gabbi Montgomery

Today, I purchased the new Pantone iphone application and have to say I am AMAZED.  We use the Pantone “fans” and the Pantone seasonal color report to help the students understand how the “hot colors” of the season are selected and to help them forecast colors to use for the collections they create in the studio.

As we consider using the app in the classroom, I decided to purchase the app to see what it was all about.  What I discovered are amazing ways in which this app can help people other than designers.

1) The photo option.  Do you need to buy a top to match a skirt you have in your wardrobe?  Follow these directions:  Take a picture of the skirt.  Open the Pantone app.  Hit the image button.  Hit the Camera button.  The picture will appear on the screen with a Pantone swatch that matches the color of the garment in the side well. The swatch also shows up below the photo in the bottom well.  Hit the color swatch.  Next hit the button with the three dots next to it.  Harmonious color swatches appear.  Voila-colors that work are a no brainer! (For those who don’t know, the circles on the left represent color schemes on the color wheel.)

2) Putting your wardrobe together for the season.  You can check out Pantone’s Fashion Report to see which colors will be hot for the season, but, suppose you have a few of the season’s hottest colors in your wardrobe and want to add ones that will compliment those.  Hit the search button and put in the Pantone name or color.  Drag the swatch to your well.  Hit the button with the three dots and choose a color from the harmonious colors that appear.

Have fun with it and let us know how you use the app in the comments section!

I like how different designers bring different things to the table.  Like Herve Leger and Vassilios Kostetsos. Because you have everything.  Even something from out of the blue.  I liked it.

-Shaye

I really like fashion because it is a chance to be creative, no one can judge you because it’s your special voice.

Whenever someone tells me it’s over the top or weird, I take it as a compliment.  I love making things that are out of the box because it’s my signature look and I think it’s just o.k.  I hope I can inspire people someday when I am older.

-Grace

I like fashion because you get to express yourself and you get to have fun!

(It’s official! Style Sanctum is FUN!)

-Elizabeth

I LOVE fashion!  I would like to teach fashion.

(Ummm, maybe at SCAD or Parsons?)

-Raechel

I love fashion because it gives you something to really think about and it brings out your style and you learn to get inspired.  What I don’t like is that people copy your style and put inappropriate pictures in magazines. (Enough said!)

-Carly

I love fashion because it is creative!!!  I agree with Carly-people should not be naked!

(in response to seeing this D&G ad in Teen Vogue)

-Sarah Grace