Fashion

Fashion Forward is Eternally Greatful

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The fashion show on Saturday was a total success, we heard nothing but compliments and positive feedback! I am incredibly relieved that the show is over however, it feels like a bitter sweet ending. I am excited to begin a new chapter in my life, but it saddens me that routine hard work is now over. The challenges that we faced were difficult, but they made life exciting and gave a sense of pride when those challenges were overcome.
On behalf of the entire fashion show production class, I must thank everyone who participated in the fashion show. This production required so many helping hands and it wouldn’t have been possible without the help and support from our school and community. I myself would like to thank Mike Perry, for devoting so much time into editing our pre scene and preshow videos; Marc Tillery, for editing our music and making our show sound spectacular; Barry Chow, for returning to us with just enough time to organize the video recording of our show; Amy Slusser, for guiding her class to make a ugly space beautiful, making our design theme carry through to our after party, and refueling our guests with refreshments and hor’dourves; Al Leight for creating our Behind the Scenes and DVD; Tim Landers and his maintenance team, for putting up with our preciseness and setting up our stage decorations; Ashley Ricketts, for filming, directing, and editing our preshow video ; Security, for protecting our merchandise; Gary Glaser, for photographing our show; Todd Sloat, for lighting up our stage and adding dramatic effects to the scenes; all of our designers, interns, hair/make up stylists, models, parents, and everyone else!

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The most important person I would like to thank would be Mr. Rick Dudkowski, our fashion show production professor who led our class to obtaining a impactful reinvented show. Without his guidance we would’ve ran into many more issues and wouldn’t have been able to produce the quality show we had. I recommend to all upcoming fashion show production students to LISTEN TO MR. D!!!
Honestly, this show came together because of a group effort and no one individual would have been able to do this alone. Each and every person that participated in this show played a key role and we cannot thank you enough.
The lessons I have learned in this fashion show production class are priceless, I will take them with me throughout my lifetime and will always remember that teamwork can achieve greatness.

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Fashion Forward – Genesee Community College’s 32nd Annual Fashion Show, 2013

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Fashion Forward Poster

Professional Dress with Personal Best

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Susan

Susan Makai is the CEO and founder of Personal Best, which is a modeling and talent school located in Buffalo NY. Susan inspired everyone in the room by tell us of how she started Personal Best 24 years ago with just someone believing in her and her talent in making people’s dreams come true.  Ms. Makai came to Genesee Community College and talked to the Fashion Majors as well as others who wanted to listen in. She began her presentation by telling us the top ten personal appearance mistakes that make employers shutter. 

  1. The fit of clothing- nobody cares what size you are as long as the clothing you have on fit you.
  2. Provocative clothing- such as skirts that are too short, sheer fabrics and garments, garments that are low cut in the front. Provocative clothing can cause unnecessary attention in the workplace.
  3. Denim- can give the wrong impression to your employer making them feel that you aren’t serious.
  4. Trendy clothing- isn’t the best investment to make because they don’t stay in style as well they aren’t always a good fit for most body types.
  5.  Novelty wear– is not acceptable to wear in any professional setting.
  6. Accessories-these should be subtle and shouldn’t take the attention of everyone else in the room.
  7. Shoe don’ts- flip flops and crocks are not shoes that are appropriate to wear at the workplace, they give off a laid back vibe to employers.
  8. Grooming- be careful how much makeup you wear and how you wear your hair it can give off the feeling that you aren’t clean to potential employers or current employers.
  9. Mismatch- it might be cool looking but for work you must stay professional and consistent looking.
  10.  Distracting- different patterns on a garment may pull the focus off of business and on to you.

Ms. Makai also gave us advice on what to wear in the workplace such as black dress pants are always a classic. The suited look is always popular for men as well as solid sweaters are a nice change up for men’s apparel. She also discussed how to connect with others which was very inspiring. She showed everyone the proper way to do a handshake because as we were taught a handshake shows you’re confident and professional.  Ms. Makai also told us eye contact body language and your tone of voice are three things that can give the person you are with the feeling that you’re not interested in what they’re talking about.

We want to personally thank Susan Makai for coming in and talking to us, you truly gave us some vital information that will stick with us forever.

Written by Natalie Brown, Kelly Wetherby and Shelby Wallenhorst

Mini Fashion Show for GCC’s Visitors

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Natalie Brown

Natalie Brown

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Today, April 24th, counselors from high schools all around came to visit GCC, along with their secretaries for a surprise event. This years gathering was to educate these visitors about the Fashion Program in a fun and exciting way. During the event, the counselors and secretaries  designed their own t-shirts. The end product was then displayed in a mini fashion show. The 3 people that had the most creative design and knew how to strut their stuff, on the mini runway, were awarded with a trophy.

Natalie Brown, one of the project manager’s for this event, said, “they’ll learn by doing.” In order to better understand the Fashion Program here at GCC, today’s visitors participated in the ‘design process’ and through the mini fashion show, experienced a little bit of event management.

This event was a fantastic way to get the word out about the great Fashion Program offered here at GCC. In involved a great amount of participation and the visitors were able to see what the program has to offer. The rooms where the luncheon took place was decorated and set up beautifully by all participants and helpers.

I could tell the counselors and their secretaries enjoyed the time they spent here at GCC today. They learned a lot about the program and were able to have fun at the same time. They put on a show that was enjoyable to watch, and they will be sure to remember the greatness that GCC has to offer future students.

This event could not have been so great if it weren’t for the GCC staff, helpers, and participants.

Candice Cooper/Natalie Brown- Project Managers

Tanya Lane-Martin- Assistant Dean of Enrollment/Director of Admissions

Rachel Blecha- Enrollment Specialist

Kerrie Sputore- Admissions Specialist

Christie Hale- Admissions

Ebony Ross- Admissions

Judges: Rick Dudkowski, Candice Cooper, Natalie Brown, Donna Ehrhart

Bridal Scene – Fashion Forward

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For this year’s fashion show Fashion Forward, I am the scene coordinator for the Bridal Scene titled Eternal Inspiration. The gowns I will be featuring in my scene were donated from M. A. Carr bridal, to the GCC fashion department. The tuxes are being provided by Tuxedo Junction in the McKinley Mall. My three designers and I will be taking the gowns and completely deconstructing them into new styles of bridal gowns. Jill Kowalczewski, my main designer will be featuring an original design based on the sketch, which was drawn by Shawna Platt, on the poster and tickets for the show. This original design will be created without a pattern or guidelines as to how to create the gown. I am very anxious and excited to see the crowd’s reaction when this piece is unveiled. Jill is an incredible designer who will be designing 8 gowns for the bridal scene this year!

Fashion Forward

Another featured designer is Karen Sessonnia. Karen is a wonderful designer who is inspired by movement. The gowns she is reinventing feature, tulle, accordion organza and feathers. These show stopping dresses will move the audience with their enhanced beauty and demand the attention of the room.
Last but not least I will be featuring Jill Bates, a designer from the Rochester area. Jill will be designing a bridal gown with a party twist, this gown will feature a high-low hem and a cape for additional dramatization.

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A New Show

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Fashion Forward, the title and theme for the upcoming fashion show at the end of April, has been completely reinvented from previous years. The 32nd annual fashion show is features an array of new aspects to the fashion program. The fashion show is featuring original designs created by freshman students, sophomore students, and community members. These designs will be created exclusively for Fashion Forward this year. In light of the large donation of over 40 gowns to the fashion department, from M. A. Carr Bridal, Fashion Forward is featuring reinvented deigns. These bridal gowns will be completely deconstructed to create a totally new look. I have heard talk of many designers even dying the gowns different colors to stray away from the classic bridal white image.

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In conjunction with the design aspect of the show, we also have broadened our merchandising horizons. This will be the first year in GCC fashion show history that we will be featuring a New York City Trunk show from Buffalo David Bitton. This famous designer has been kind enough to send us their upcoming line of clothing, which will be featured in the scene Reckless in Fashion Forward.
When recreating this show we looked at all aspects of designing the show from chair covers to changing the show times, eventually after a lot of discussion, we decided the most impactful aspect about the show we could change would be the commentary. Therefore we came up with a concept to remove a live commentator and transition between scenes with video commentary. These videos would be individually be created by the scene coordinators to give the audience an idea of what they will be seeing next and where the inspiration for the scene came from. The video commentary will be a tremendous change to previous years but hopefully with a lot of hard work we will be able to make this change a positive one, and have a show worth remembering.

Fashion Designer Profile: Shenique’ Johnson

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Shenique’ Johnson is a sophomore fashion design student here at Genesee Community College, with the passion for fashion running through her veins. She is also one of the scene coordinators for this year’s fashion show with the scene called “Mad House”, where she will be showcasing her fashion line called “The S-Jay Collection” for the spring/summer collection this year. The S-Jay Collection will be the start of her official fashion line starting this year.

Shenique' Johnson

Hailing out of Rochester, NY, Shenique’ Johnson has always had an eye for fashion.

“I’ve been taught by my grandmother, who was taught by her mother to sew and design clothes. So designing clothes has been in my blood since the day I was born.”

From taking her first fashion class in 9th grade, she always had an idea that it would be her mission for people to see her creative eye within her own taste of fashion. Her 9th grade fashion teacher noticed that she was good at designing and sewing when she gave out the assignment of creating their first pair of pajama pants and a matching purse to go along with them.

Shenique’ was known in high schools for being fashion forward, wearing crazy bright clothing. This sense of style led her to style the models in her high school’s fashion show in 2008 as well as designing her friends senior togas. By the end of school she knew that fashion design was going to be her perfect career.

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Since attending Genesee Community College, she has interned during freshman year for a sophomore fashion merchandising student in last year’s show “Soiree” and was giving the opportunity to feature her talent. Given a tight deadline, and having to intern as well, she went from creating three outfits, to one final piece that the coordinator loved.  After the show, a lot of friends and family asked her when it was going to be her turn to really showcase her designs? Their answer will be in this year’s fashion show, Fashion Forward, on April 27th at Genesee Community College in Batavia.

New Fashion Concentration: Event Planning

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Events can be thought of as, “a creative solution to recognize products,” and “an experience people will write about,” says Professor Amy Slusser. From my own experience with event planning, it’s fun, exciting, and a hands-on job. When planning/creating an event, whether you’re planning a birthday party, business meeting, or a fashion show you’re able to put your creative side to work.

“An academic concentration is a cluster of courses focusing on a specialized topic,” says Michael S. Stoll, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs. The students who pursue this new concentration will receive a Fashion Business Degree.

The need for events, especially retailing events, is growing. Students completing this concentration will be able to apply the knowledge they have learned and put it all to use for free-standing events and for complex event projects. In addition to events, students will be able to conduct activities at trade shows and conventions.

The coursework included with this concentration are classes, such as; Customer Relationship Management, Principles of Event Management, and Meeting and Convention Planning. These courses will assist in being able to understand topics like customer behavior, how to decorate, food choices, entertainment, and other elements.

Tasks of Meeting | Convention | Event Planners

  • monitor event activities to ensure compliance with applicable regulations and laws
  • converse with staff at chosen sit to plan the details
  • inspect event facilities to make sure they meet the requirements
  • coordinate services for event; accommodations, transportation for participants, facilities, catering, signage, displays, security, etc.
  • consult with customers; meetings, conferences, conventions
  • meet with sponsors and organize committers
  • review bills for event/ approve payment
  • evaluate and select providers
  • arrange audio-visual equipment, transportation, displays.

The average wage of an event planner is $46,020 annually. In 2010, the employment was 72,000 employees. The projected growth is 29% or higher from 2010-2020. All-in-all there is a bright outlook for this position. bdfl

 

2013 Ducky Derby!

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The 5th annual Ducky Derby fundraiser for United Way was a success! The contest was sponsored on March 7th, 2013. We raised a total of $1,821. Our first place duck was sold for $1 so the winner, Cathy Costello, received $182 while the remaining amount, $1,629, went directly to United Way. The race itself was fun and exciting, and the turnout was great!

A special Thank You goes out to:

Student Project Managers: Amber Sharick, Natalie Brown, Candice Cooper, Emma Peirick, Kelly Wetherby, and Maria Pia Camarra

Swimmers: Kylynn Bank, Jennifer Merle, Leah Staley, Chuck Malone, Nick DeFelice, Devon Phillip, and Gary Batchellor.

Swim Coach: Mr. Eric Fix

GCC Staff: Cheryl Young, Elizabeth Downie, Diane Marchese

GCC MarCom: Donna Rae Southerland, Michael Garrett, and Ilkia Solano

GCC Cheerleaders

GCC United Way Committee Members

GCC Student Activities Office

GCC Business Forum Club Members

GCC Faculty: Rick Dudkowski, Barb Shine, and Lauren Paisley

Door Prize Sponsors: Mr. Todd Plouffe, General Manager The Del Monte Lodge Hotel & Spa and Mr. Michael Horan, Assistant Manager, GCC Bookstore.

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Victoria’s Secret: Behind the Scene

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In the 8:00 a.m. Professional Sales class, we were lucky to have a guest speaker from Victoria’s Secret. Allison Suttell was Shelby Wallenhorst, a Fashion Merchandise major,  guest speaker who introduced Miss Suttell to the class. Allison Suttell was very successful at backing up everything that Mr. Dudkowski has taught us thus far.

Allison Suttell (Left)Shelby Wallenhorst (Right)

Allison Suttell (Left)
Shelby Wallenhorst (Right)

Miss Suttell is the Beauty and PINK manager in Henrietta. She told the class that she actually fell into her current position. Going to school for teaching, Miss. Suttell decided to apply for a job on the side. After being hired at Victoria’s Secret, Miss Suttell gradually began moving up in the business. She is now responsible for 160 people; scheduling, payroll, evaluations, interviewing, and making sure her employees are doing what they should be.

Even though Miss Suttell, went to school for teaching, she enjoys her high ranking job. She went from no experience with sales to her current position. She stressed to the class how businesses that are “customer oriented” are more likely to be successful,  and engaging customers with open ended questions is a tactic to build a relationship with potential customers. The word-of-mouth technique of marketing if more efficient than advertisements; she explains that if one can create a great experience for a customer, they will most likely return, tell their friends, or come back with others. Miss Suttell also explained the importance of training employees. If a person is trained in every category and aspect of the business, they will be more valuable, versatile, and most importantly, helpful to customers. Effective training keeps each location consistent; therefore, the customer who had a great first experience at one store location, can have that same great experience at another.

Having Allison Suttell as a guest speaker was extremely beneficial to the class. I think I speak for the whole class when I say that we gained more knowledge about real life experiences when it comes to professional selling. Thank you Shelby Wallenhorst and Allison Suttell for your time and effort!