Unwritten

I know I blog a lot about songs and song lyrics. But to me, song lyrics are my poetry. I have so many songs that I feel "fit me" are or "my song". I guess there are a lot of artists out there who are able to capture the thoughts and feelings inside my heart and my head.

2009 set me on a new path and led me to experience some really incredible adventures. When I started this blog I was gearing up for Henri Bendel's "Open See", and all that has transcribed since then is at times mind boggling.

Kelly made me a picture slide-show set to music four years ago when I left Scottsdale for Manhattan. The very first picture on the cd was a picture of when we went to New York to look for apartments, I was standing in front of Parsons. Kelly set that picture to Natasha Bedingfield's song "Unwritten".

And then Brian would play "Unwritten" over and over again on his computer because it reminded him of the opening scene of "The Hills" which made him think of a happy, sunny place -- I know, I know ;-) So the song reminds me of both of my awesome roommates and of course as I re-listen to the lyrics I see how fitting they are for this next adventure and for the fact that it is a new year...

I am unwritten,
Can't read my mind
I'm undefined
I'm just beginning
The pen's in my hand
Ending unplanned

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words
That you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten, yeah

Oh, oh

I break tradition
Sometimes my tries
Are outside the lines, oh yeah yeah
We've been conditioned
To not make mistakes
But I can't live that way oh, oh

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words
That you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
drench yourself in words unspoken
live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
the rest still unwritten

(Gospel)
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words
That you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open *****
Today is where your book begins

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open *****
Today is where your book begins

The rest is still unwritten

The Adventure

For the past two weeks "gems from heaven" keep dropping out of the sky for me. 

My Monday began with several emails from Melky Jean (Wyclef's sister) personally thanking me for her birthday headbands and praising my designs, the NY Post came to the hair event at Henri Bendel and asked to photography my headbands, and then of course my most precious niece was born. It was killing me that I was in New York City doing my trunk shows while my sister was giving birth. 

But blessings were being sent to both my sister and I, and when things are great, they are often AMAZING! And my little niece sure is amazing! She is beautiful, and perfect, and the most priceless gift! 

However, listing all these great things is barely scraping the surface! I have been given the most incredible opportunities and it has all happened in less than a week! The chance to go global, and the chance to collaborate with two really big business ventures. 

It is interesting because this year has not been 100% smooth sailing, but when I learned to let go of "the bad" and just focus on what is important and re-direct my energy, well, I feel that God has then opened up some amazing doors for me. Negative energy is never good for anyone or anything. It is toxic and life is too brief to get caught up in it. 

The adventure is barely beginning, but I am excited to see what else is in store....Two of my all time favorite songs are 1) The Adventure by Angels and Airwaves & 2) About Midnight by Sarah Kelley -- both do a good job of explaining my life this past year...

Uptown Chic, Downtown Diva

I have so many stories I want to document from my trunk shows last week at Henri Bendel. It was quite the adventure and I met a slew of people, as well as some real "characters". For now, I 'll just post pictures...more of stories to come later....

signing off from Scottsdale for now...

Things Have Come Full Circle

I started to reflect on my own "fashion-history-time-line", thinking about where things began and how far a long they have come. 

Kelly and I used to go to French Connection at Keirland Commons in Scottsdale all the time in search of the perfect party dress or outfit for  Axis Radius. Nicole, the manager of French Connection, had graduated from PRATT and was a trained fashion designer. We would always chat about fashion and New York City. 

I was wanting to do something more creative with my career and I was toying with the idea of design school. Nicole suggested I take some of the fashion illustration classes she taught at Mesa Community College. That truly was the beginning of this current adventure. 

The first night of Nicole's class, I met Evonne Bowling, the director of the fashion program at MCC. Evonne was handing out flyers promoting the New York Fashion Trip she does every May. She takes a group of students on a tour of the fashion industry -- you meet with designers, photographers, stylists, journalists. You name it, Evonne covers it. But mostly Evonne just shows you "Fashion" is not a pie in the sky/Hollywood dream. It is very attainable if you work hard enough and apply yourself. 

And that is what I did. I applied to Parsons Fashion Marketing Program, all the while taking fashion classes at MCC. I took a history of fashion class, color theory, visual merchandising and 2D design. I met some incredible people a long on the way, one of whom is my current intern, Katie. Katie and I instantly hit it off, when we realized we would laugh at the same crazy things that seemed to be unfolding during class.  One of these days Katie and I are going to write a book about all the "Characters" we seem to bump into, especially those in fashion. 

One of our projects was to create a window display. My brand was "Juicy Couture". I bought a case of styrofoam cups from Costco and I had labels made with the Juicy logo. Then I got pink straws and tons of pink tulle. I stuck the cups to the wall, and lined the ceiling and the floor with the pink tulle and I made a poster that proclaimed "Juicy Couture quenches your thirst for fashion".  Evonne suggested I look into visual merchandising, and I actually got paid to "dress" a window on Mill Ave in Tempe. 

I did not go into visual merchandising, but in a way I guess I did. Creating and designing headbands is creating a visual for a live person versus a display. 

Tomorrow is the start of Henri Bendel's Hair Atrium. I still can't get over the fact that I am selling at Henri Bendel. When I set out to do all this, Bendel's was a goal, but it seemed like the golden dream to actually get in! And that I got in, and now my merchandise is going to be on display!!!! In the 5th Ave window no less! It is all pretty amazing to me. All those trips to Keirland Commons, all those shopping sprees, well they paid off! I just wish I could get in a few more trips to Keirland Commons with Kelly, I hate that we are on exact opposite coasts. Dreams really do take you to far away places...

Henri Bendel Trunk Show

Delivered

I am officially a Henri Bendel vendor. I dropped off my 59 headbands today. It took me two weeks to finnish all the merchandise, and at times I was feeling like I might miss my delivery. But it all came together and I made my "X-Factory" date -- retail lingo for when merchandise leaves the factory :-)  

Of course, I have a long list of people to thank -- my amazing sister for working her magic in AI, Bessma's mother for helping me glue buttons, and Amanda for taking care of all the invoice and packaging slip templates. I have an amazing community of friends and family and now I am a ready for all the amazing things that are about to take place...

Elated

Henri Bendels picked 7 styles to merchandise!!!!!! And I am going to have several trunk shows. I am beyond elated!!!!! Well no time for blogging. The next few weeks is all about headbands and getting my LLC in order!!!!

Henri Liked Me

My day started at 2:30am so that I could be in line by 4am. By the time I got to Henri Bendel's there were already seven other people ahead of me for the Open See event. The lady that was first in line had gotten there at 1am!!!!

I opted for the fashionista-look, meaning my open-toe, Chloe' , 4-inch-platforms and a cropped, sculptural jacket from Zara that was very Oscar de la Renta -- which of course offered no protection against the wind and chill, over a little black dress.  But as one designer explicitly proclaimed "This is F**ing Henri Bendel's, you have to play the part!" Okayyy, check, style accomplished, just five hours to see if my collection will make the cut. 

Jen Tan-Chi was in line behind me, so we got to visit, and my friend Berit was a doll and got there at the crack of dawn to help be my assistant.  I am so thankful for her help!

After five hours of waiting, you had less than 2 minutes to present your collection. My professor, Tom Handley from Parsons, had told me about a friend of his that was working the event. And she was the one that ended up reviewing my headbands, it was meant to be! She was really enthusiastic and she immediately pulled over the head buyer and had her look at my headbands. 

They gave me their card and said they wanted me to come back for a full appointment. In "Bendel Speak" that means everything. A lot of designers left with no business cards, and I guess from the past those with cards and an appointment were "in". It felt like I was trying out for a play and I got a call-back.  

I made a lot of great connections standing in line and met a lot of fun designers. People came from all over the country, and even the world -- Brazil, Canada, Chicago, LA, Miami, Atlanta. It was interesting to see everyone else's creativity and how they presented themselves and their goods. 

My adrenaline kept me going and now I am absolutely ready to crash. But Amanda is cooking me an amazing dinner with the boys in my honor, so I am off to celebrate for a bit...and watch some 24, Heroes, and Gossip Girl -- have to get some more inspiration for the next round. Well more from Blair and Serena, Jack and Peter - not soo much ;-) 

Excited

I got my labels back from the printers last night. I have to admit, I was like a giddy, little girl on Christmas morning! I was so happy with how they turned out. I wanted a way to not only carry my headbands to Henri Bendels, but also a way to merchandise them so that they told a "story" -- which is huge in the retail world. There's some of my visual merchandising classes being put to use  :-) 

My Life Is Headbands

My apartment has become one big art studio. Ribbon, paint, feathers, sequins and a slew of other art supplies have taken over! At first, I kept everything in a large duffle bag. However, being OCD and a bit of a neat freak, that only lasted so long!

Now I have a stack of silver, mesh drawers on wheels to keep everything neatly organized. It is perfect! Still my room looks like I live and breathe headbands. And until the Henri Bendel Open-See for new designers is over, I do LIVE and BREATHE headbands. 

I told my roomate, Brian, I will have reached my fashion zenith if I can get my headbands into Henri Bendel. Well, into Henri Bendel, Fred Segal, and Kitson as well as onto the cast of Gossip Girl and Victoria Beckham. All fashion icons to me!

Parsons taught me a lot, and when you have this desire to create, well there just isn 't any stopping it...so we will see where it goes. I formed an LLC ,  I have a website  www.jenniferpaigedesigns.com ordered a bunch of woven tags to glue on as my tags, and purchased a case of headbands from Goody in bulk!  I am ready to roll!

So here is to the modern girl's headpiece aka the Posh Prepster.